Raige Creations

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.  Ann Landers Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/fire-quotes When you get to enjoy a lovely fire, do it. A little nice music helps too. 

Back in the mountains, I love it. I forgot how lovely the summer is here, and finally the weather is gorgeous. The flowers are out and everything is green. Wildflowers My musing this weekend are as simple as enjoying two of my favorite things:  Walking and  Bread It has been tough for me to let myself take the time to get a few walks in ~ yes I was too busy to get walks in and I know that is just an excuse but sometimes you just gotta take a break. From everything.  And any more than that, I just do not want to dwell on. Also, I am not feeling too wordy today, so will just let the pictures speak for me. The road to the RAD and the bakery nestled in the district with the bread (no beer for me)  A river crossing - it sure did look muddy today probably from the recent rains. Bread and soft pretzel - yumminess. River crossing heading home - lovely even if still muddy. At some point, we may be those paddle boarders in the river, if you look close enough they are ...

 I can hardly believe how long it has been since I added to my blog. I often open a tab, create a new post, and watch the blinking cursor tempting me to type something. But it blinks in vain. I sit there, my mind blank. Mind you, it is not blank any other time. In fact, I have written many a great post in my head while laying in bed at 1am or 2am, after a 2 or 3 hour nap on the couch. But the minute the cursor blinks, great words and ideas disappear. I wrote this blog many months ago, but never thought it was quite ready to post. Plus, I had to ask my friend if I could post her picture. We had both been so busy we didn't get to talking about that, or even swimming much. But here this is, I am sharing now because I finally asked and she said sure! The sad part is, we were chatting because she is moving away. And I said, " NO!!! - What will I do without my Swim Buddy!?!? Oh, by the way I have this blog....." So much like the original night I wrote this , I am sitting here o...

So I got a new filing cabinet. I am bizarrely excited about this. Like, butterflies in my stomach excited about this. Why?  First of all, it has been more than 7 years since I have had a filing cabinet in my home. When we made the  last BIG move , I left the $3 filing cabinet I scored while in WNY. (I LOVED that filing cabinet too - who gets a metal 2-drawer filing cabinet for $3?? Awe.Some) Second, I had fallen in to the terrible habit of piling up papers that needed to be sorted and filed. I had bins I was keeping files in. Bins that are meant for blankets in the living room that you can put your feet on as an ottoman or sit on. These bins are not meant for filing. So, it was awkward trying to file in them. Instead I just piled up the papers and threw them on top of the few files I DID have in there.  Third, in addition to the above, I had a bankers box full of papers filed somewhat haphazardly, as this box is from when I left my last job (more than 2 years ago). I was...

I have been full of sour moods lately. I didn't even realize until I started scrolling through my FB rantings.  And, apparently I really have been ranting. My comments without a picture are the most telling. I guess mornings have been rough. Luckily, some old humor found me. Thanks hubby, that one still makes me giggle. Still, it has been a rough road, for over a month apparently.... But, little rewards are helpful. I sure hope the next month and a half gets better.  On a more happy note.  Today is Mango Day.  I got some leftover jars ready to hand out / sell. And pulled some Mango from the freezer for popsicles and smoothies.  Today is not the day to make more jam. After the several weeks I have had, I am taking it a bit easy today. Just some happy popsicles, please. Even just the smell of mangos lifts my spirits. I have been sneaking tastes as the mango defrosts. The first smell literally made me smile. The first taste reminded me life ain't so bad really....

Grateful. Thankful. It is said if we acknowledge what we are thankful for regularly it will make us happy. If we write down what we are grateful for we live a more fulfilled life. Lately, I am thankful for a good murder mystery. Who doesn't love a good murder mystery? Or is it just me? Source Reading, of course. I mean reading good, fictional murder stories. Though I am slightly fascinated by stories of serial killers, but that is another tangent, and lately I just like a good book that has a murder mystery to solve. I have been gobbling up suspense and mystery books lately. With the 'rona and being stuck on this rock I have been lucky enough to call home during it all, reading has kept me away from the news, which is a different kind of scary , and allowed me room to see different worlds and times all from the comfort of my couch. I have read mystery after mystery. Very light reading, most of them mildly predictable, but humorous and entertaining. This author , I like. I have...

 It had been raining for days and days.... Not that I was complaining. I love rainy days. And I don't mean a little rain and then back to normal sun. I mean grey, cool, rainy days. Whole days of clouds and rain. Days where you can just settle in and chill under a blanket.  Sadly I had to drive in and home from work during most of these days. Forgetting my rain coat, many a trip from car to building and back. But I didn't mind, a bit refreshing actually. And there is a beauty in rainy days.  Rainy View in Traffic And going in to work gave me some break from the news . Today I can breathe a little easier though, knowing some dignity can be restored to the world. I try not to bring my political views in to my public postings, but dang am I glad to be rid of the current POTUS. That's all I have to say about that.  From NOAA National Hurricane Center From  NOAA National Hurricane Center Saturday brought some heavy winds, and loads of rain, from TS Eta . We weren't ex...

I always thought a note in a lunch was a fun way to let the kids know I was thinking of them, and that they should smile, or have a good day, or have fun, etc. I even leave notes for my hubby to find throughout the day, just for fun. But I never thought my little notes were anything more than a little written hug - to be enjoyed at that moment, and then tossed away. They were often messy, on scrap paper, I mean nothing fancy here.  Sometimes, I ( try to ) draw a little something, but the 'talented artist' gene is not with me. Usually my signature ' happy face with a curl ' is all they get.  Never did I think they were worth saving. I never meant them to be saved, actually. It was always meant for a quick reminder, to be thrown out with the lunch bag. I never had anything profound to say, just a ' hey I love ya! ', or a ' Enjoy your day ', or ' SMILE ', or something like that. When my daughter moved back home after college, I had the chance again ...

I had procrastinated enough. I had filled our freezer full of cut mangos. There is little room for anything else. I had not settled down to make jam until the other day.  I had finally found the mood to get down to making some jam. It was an order, actually, that brought the mood on. Well, it was more a mood of "I HAVE TO make some jam". I was asked for 3 jars, please, by Sunday.  Thank you to my previous customer who placed the order, you have lifted me out of my anti-jam making funk. Voila, my first batch of mango jam. First Batch Mango Jam 2020 This batch, I am told, is better than last year. Hubby was the taster - compared the very last bit in the very last jar I have from last year with a taste of the slight overage of this first batch. His conclusion was that this year's batch was better than last year's.  It has a great flavor and set very nicely.  So I am not sure really if I tweaked the recipe differently, I may have been a  bit more heavy handed i...

This year, we had the mangos come a wee bit earlier than last year. And (thankfully) not quite as many mangos. This year, I wasn't sure how I would be able to keep up with the mangos. Working full time doesn't leave much time for jam during the week, and mangos don't wait until the weekend to be ready. So that is why this year I am thankful we are getting them off at a more mangeable rate. About 1 - 3 every day or so. An amount I can deal with, even with the gifted Carrie Mangos from my SIL. Then, yesterday, my sister-in-law gave us a bag full of Carrie Mangos . I had a slight panic moment. How am I going to use all these mangos?? Ours are Valencia Pride mangos, my favortie for just pealing and eating. Carries I have to figure out what to put in, because I don't like eating them outright much. A slightly different flavor, and texture. Still good mangos, don't get me wrong! But I will use them in something, just have to decide what that will be. I hav...

Sometimes, when so much pain and sadness and frustration is dumped on us, we withdraw. We just can't take it all at once. So we step back, and go to our little safe spaces. We avoid what is causing us pain, sadness, frustration. We stay far away, slowly letting little bits in as we feel we can handle it. Source Me? My little safe space has me lost on bee butts. Totally. On Pinterest , once you start looking at them, they appear in your feed like reproducing bunnies. They are everywhere. And they are so cute. I am not just guessing that withdrawing is a normal reaction, I just know it is. I don't have any fancy study to prove it. My statement is developed from complete personal and anecdotal evidence. I feel it, I see it, I hear people telling me what they feel, or see how they cope. Also, it is all over the internet, especially since this COVID-19 pandemic urged us all to stay home, or we could get sick and die, or someone you know could. And then one violent natur...

I shouldn't feel lazy, right? I shouldn't give myself a hard time for my unproductive behavior. I keep telling myself this, but we are our own worst critics, aren't we? We all are going through strange times. Our lives have abruptly changed. There is stress, worry, anxiety, and rules. Harsh rules. I am not allowed out and about from 7pm to 5am every day. Only from 5 am to 7 pm can we venture out. And even then there are further restrictions. Sundays I am not allowed to leave my yard at all. I am allowed to leave my house to exercise for 90 minutes daily during the hours mentioned above - except Sundays. I am allowed to go to the grocery store, gas station, or liquor store { yes they are essential apparently } only on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. They split the alphabet and the first half can go those days, the 2nd half can go the other day, you have to show your ID to get in the store. I will be arrested or fined if I break any of these rules. I am working...