Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this past weekend by a lot of little things that needed to be done. You know, little things like sprucing up the flower pots on the front porch, changing the AC filter, and sewing a button on a sweater. None of them are large jobs, but too many of these little jobs pile up and feel like one big burden.  I guess they become a burden because I let them be a burden -  I let them be a heavy weight in my life and grab the focus away from what I should be focusing on. My solution?  I put them in their place.  I put each item on a list and then scheduled a time to complete the task just like I make an appointment for a dentist appointment.  So even though I haven't completed any of these tasks yet I know when it will happen and I'm OK with that.  I'm free to focus on really important things without those distractions.  What can you put on your list?

Got okra?  Well, our neighbor had tons of it and came to our backdoor with a 5 gallon bucket filled with the pods.  I washed a bunch of it by scrubbing each pod with a green scrubby pad to remove the hairy coating.   I cut off the top and bottom of each pod and sliced them up.  If any pods were tough, I tossed them in the compost bucket. I tossed them with olive oil and some Old Bay Seasoning. By the way, using parchment paper on your pan makes clean up much easier and keeps the okra from sticking to the pan.  I roasted the okra in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Hubs likes these veggies a little on the crispy (slightly burnt) side so I may have roasted them a bit longer. We used the roasted okra with homemade salsa and some grated cheese to make nachos.  I roasted the rest of the okra and froze it to use later. 

  I received two solar lanterns as a birthday present from one of my daughters and son-in-laws.  They are a beautiful blue color with a great pattern.  They got them at Target.  Although designed to be used on a patio table or deck, I had to brainstorm ways to use them differently (is anyone surprised?)     I took the top off of one of the lanterns and put a canning jar down inside to hold water for flowers.  Instant vase!  The other lantern worked perfectly as-is for a candle holder.  I simply placed a large candle on top.  I love the pop of color the lanterns add to my dining table and I get to enjoy this gift inside and outside.  Can you think of any other uses?

If you're following the Monday Motivations for this year, you've just cleaned out your car.  I wish I could say that mine is clean, but I haven't gotten that far yet.  Our humidity is dropping and so I hope to use the nicer days to work on my car. One of the things I do to help organize my car is to keep my coupons together and handy for quick shopping trips.  If there's one thing I hate it is standing in line at a store and remembering that I forgot my coupons at home.  I like to keep them in the car, but they can get out of control and build up to be a heaping mess of paper.  I like to use the arm rest console in between the two front seats of my car to hold my store coupons like Bed, Bath, & Beyond,  Michaels, and restraurants.  Whenever I get a coupon,  I set it with my purse to take out to the car.  When I get into the car, I simply slide it next to the other coupons in the arm-rest consol...

 After a bit of a break, it's time to get back on track.  September is a great month to clean out the car.  After a whole summer of coming and going, the inside of my car is looking pretty grungy.  This post is a collection of last year's September Monday Motivations.       source                                 (This is not a photo of my car) Has your vehicle become the latest site for an archaeological dig? Are you missing some items and you suspect they could possibly be in your car but you're too afraid to look? Is there a strange odor coming from somewhere in your car? Do you always ride with friends because you're too afraid to sit in your own vehicle? It's time. It's time to declutter and organize your car. 1. Grab a trash bag/can and some boxes/bins...