Relyn at Come Sit by My Fire is doing this:
“On the last day of each month I plan to post a list of things I learned paired [with] my own favorite photo from that month…. I hope you’ll play along.”
I’ve decided to play along this month. Here’s my What I Learned In June list.
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• Hanging pictures is my kryptonite. I use the 60″ rule as a guideline, but it doesn’t always hold true when working with an eclectic collection of art. I love having artwork on the walls, but admit that the process of getting it there makes me cross-eyed and anxious.
• Being stuck inside because of wet Summer weather is every bit as annoying as being stuck inside because of wet Spring weather. You’d think that just because it was Summer, it’d be better; but it’s not. Stuck is stuck. And I’m tired of it. Where are my weeks of sunshine?
• 52 Acts is a project based on the idea that: “one small act of kindness can change a life forever.” Cheri at Naples Girl Blog sent me a 52 Acts bracelet + booklet. Cool, huh? Now that I know about 52 Acts, I’m happy to be a part of it. Thanks, Cheri.
• When putting a casserole dish with a Pyrex glass lid on top of it into the microwave, it is easy to knock the lid off the casserole dish causing the lid to bounce off the granite counter and onto the kitchen floor. This creates a five foot radius of broken glass and shards, leading me to ponder the wisdom of cooking in bare feet.
• Planning a vacation seems like a good idea until you actually begin to price it. Then visiting the local zoo, followed by an afternoon at a German brew house, suddenly sounds like a grand idea. An adventure. Something with the exotic elements of a vacation, but without the inconvenience and cost.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Thanks for the mention and for accepting the challenge. I am on week 3.
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Cheri, thanks for including me. It’s a great [simple] idea that makes sense. I’m on week 1.
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Pyrex is great until it breaks. You’ll still be finding teeny pieces of that stuff for months. Don’t go barefoot in your kitchen. Seriously. Been there. And speaking of “there”–I’m right with you on this lousy weather. Cloudy, humid, chilly, then hot, cloudy, humid, then wet, wet, wet. WHERE IS MY SUMMER?
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nance, thanks for the advice about the glass. I’d never seen Pyrex break before & it was incredible. The kitchen looked like a disaster zone. Just awful.
And about this whole lack of summer issue… MEH! Not fair. Not right. Not fun.
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I was thinking that Pyrex broke like safety glass into non-sharp chunks? It’s been a long time since I broke any but I do recall that trying to pick up a Pyrex lid hot from the oven (without a hot pad) results in glass and casserole everywhere.
Feel free to come to southern Missouri to find summer. It’s not as hot this week but there’s plenty of sunshine. You could go to Branson and see the Shanghai Acrobats, which was the best show we saw when a friend visited a few years ago.
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Zazzy, this lid broke into a huge mess that went into an adjacent hallway and under a hutch and under the frig and over toward the stove. AND on top of my bare feet, of course!
I’ve never been to Branson. And if the weather is actually summer weather, then…?
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Get a hotel with a pool and/or hang out at the water slide?
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Or the lake! Why didn’t I put the lake first? It’s very big and just across the lake to the east, more or less, is my house.
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Sounds lovely. Maybe someday.
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Ally–I definitely understand your dilemma of hanging pictures. I just eye-ball where I want them to go, then pound away with the nails! It’s surprising that this works most of the time:)
Yikes! Sorry you had the Pyrex disaster! Hope you got it cleaned up with no problems.
We are wet here, too. I’ve never seen so much rain. When we lived here before, there was a drought. My potted plants are drowning:(
We did a fun thing last weekend. We used hotel points and stayed about an hour away at a lovely Hampton Inn that was situated on a beautiful lake with a walking trail. It also had a salt water pool, which we enjoyed and a separate workout room. And of course, a great breakfast. There was an Applebees within walking distance, and a movie theater close by. The hotel also accepted pets, so Mozart even had a great time! We will definitely do this again at another location close by!
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Beth, you have a better eye for hanging such things than I do. Plus the confidence of an art degree behind you. Me? An insecure English major with a propensity to overthink all things visual!
Your mini-vacation sounds like fun. It had all that two people & one puppy could want! Good for you guys.
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It was 93 here yesterday which was brutally hot. We’re having a very nice summer right now; it may last a while or start raining again soon. Hard to tell–we have unpredictable seasons. I love this idea; hanging pictures is also nearly impossible for me. Breaking or spilling seems to send stuff EVERYWHERE! It would be fascinating(in someone else’s house) to film something shattering on the floor and then slowing it way down to see how in the WORLD the pieces get in such odd spots.
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Margaret, I wish that we, too, were having a nice, normal summer. All this rain has begun to wear out its welcome.
I agree that a video of what happened with this lid would be amazing. It’s probably the only way to find out if I got all of it cleaned up or not. Hoping that I did…
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You and Nance should come to sunny CA. Hopefully our heat wave (100 degree plus) would be over by then, and you could enjoy the 80s and 90s and sunshine. We could drive up to wine country. 🙂 The problem, of course, is that coming to CA to escape the rain there would be expensive, and against the ‘staycation’ that you have mentioned. Travel is indeed expensive. We’re going to Oregon in August for my father’s 70th birthday, and staying with family, so doing it on the cheap. Even then, it’s about $600 spent without having any fun whatsoever. Blech. Why can’t it be cheap to fly or drive?
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J. you ask the question that I kept asking as I was looking into planning something! Why isn’t this cheap? I want exceptional quality at an inexpensive price, so you can see that my demand is quite reasonable! 😉
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Ally, I love this post! Of course I am totally with you on the weather. And these afternoon rain showers right when I get home every day?! Not fun. They mean no working out and a wet garden, again. Great for the plants (that is if you like a jungle look, since it’s managed to rain almost every weekend too)! As far as hanging pictures, the 60 inch rule is the standard, but I hardly ever follow it since I am super short and everyone in my family is a lot taller than me. I usually just eyeball it and see how it looks once everything is up. I think the standard is a good rule, but there are always so many exceptions in design! 🙂 Oh and on the vacation, yup. We usually just do something like your zoo “trip” but this year we’re actually going on a beach vacation for a week – which of course has me alternately hyperventilating with excitement over the fun to be had and also the cost. Fun!
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Kristen, I’ve don’t remember any other late spring/summer being as wet and ridiculous as this one. No one I know is happy because no one can do anything that he or she has been looking forward to doing all winter long. Meh.
The 60″ rule has quickly become my starting point. I realize that picture hanging is, in the end, all about what looks good to you, but I have such a time deciding what looks good. Like I said, kryptonite.
Your vacation sounds lovely. I like beaches. Bet that you enjoy every moment of it.
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Gah! The hanging pictures bit. I believe it’s my lack of patience. I don’t want to take the time to measure–I’d rather hammer in ten holes until I get it right. It certainly doesn’t help that I can’t ‘draw’ a straight line to save my life . . .
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Amy, you’ve described my process precisely! I just want those things on the wall NOW. But then worry and whine about where we put them for the next week. It’s a sad story.
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I love your list. Thank you so much for playing along. 52 Acts is a wonderful idea. I, too, am glad to learn about it. I’m with you on the vacation thing. Everything is so expensive anymore. Even a short weekend to a nearby big city costs hundreds of dollars now. UGH!
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Hey there Relyn, I think you started something fun with this idea. Glad that I was able to participate this month.
It’s interesting to me how many ppl have mentioned not going on vacations anymore. Like you said, even a short weekend trip is big bucks now. Used to be so easy and reasonable to do a weekender, but not anymore.
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I found my way here because of Relyn and I’m sorry but I just laughed. I’m uber clumsy so it’s so me to have the dish fiasco and hanging pictures because I do zero decorating even though DH keeps encouraging me. Enjoyed your list.
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LaTonya, thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to laugh at my clumsiness– I certainly do! But even by my standards when this lid shattered and spread glass EVERYWHERE, it was a bit much. Such a mess and no one to blame except myself.
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I love to play that I’m going on vacation and find dates and rates and plan a wonderful vacay that I never get to take. Ugh. And I’m hopeless with any patience at hanging photos. I just eyeball it and hope it works.
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Jamie, I do the same thing. I plan vacations, but something always gets in my way so that I never get to go. I used to fret about it, but now I just *sigh* and move on. With age comes wisdom, I guess.
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Vacation costs is such a downer…..but after exploding casserole lid, you need to soothe the soul.
(I hate that shattering into microscopic pieces…is it a darn time release conspiracy?…that casserole was given to me buy someone whom I suspected never really liked me all that much….)
I like the picture and the idea of kindness…will wander over there. Thanks. ( trying to shoo sun your way)
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philosophermouse, you know now that you mention it… that casserole with the lid was a wedding present to us… so maybe someone a very long time ago planned the whole thing. I like your conspiracy theory. Very plausible.
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