Tag: Doright Manor

March Minimalist Challenge, Days 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and Perhaps 20.

Confession: I’m probably cheating a bit for the next few days.

For those of you who have been breathlessly awaiting my next minimalist challenge post, for heaven’s sake, breathe. I’ll not be responsible for any injuries incurred on my behalf.

Currently I’m far away from Doright Manor, visiting my daughter and her family in the great state of Illinois. My goal before departing on my cross-country trip was to sort through enough items at home to carry me through the eleven days I’d be away. I was going to snap photos, write some alliterative prose to accompany each photo, and schedule the posts for publication. I didn’t come even close to my goal.

But, in the back of my mind I thought that this item might suffice for the entire trip, as a backup plan in case I didn’t do my due diligence:

Inside the jar (1 item), underneath the lid (1 more item), are 174 pretzel nuggets that I discovered while cleaning out the trunk area of my car, for a total of 176 items.

12+13+14+15+16+17+18+19=124 items! Even if I don’t arrive home until the 20th, I’m covered!

Plus, I’m pretty sure I have something scheduled to post for the challenge on the 16th, so I’m not a complete loser.

Quick story about why I even had the long-expired pretzel nuggets in my car: Every now and again I decide I need snacks in my vehicle just in case of a zombie apocalypse or an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) attack by North Korea. Pretzel nuggets would keep me going for a few days, at least, as I made my way to a safe location. I might even be able to use them to barter with others along the way.

Zombie

Zombie

Kim Jong Un

Kim Jong Un

Okay, I’m lying, but that explanation is way more interesting than the truth.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 11

I awakened bright and early, okay, neither bright nor early, but I awakened, nonetheless, on this first Sunday morning of daylight savings time to find I didn’t have a minimalist challenge blog post ready to publish. Here I am at my daughter’s home, a thousand miles from Doright Manor, without a photo of 11 items to discard. Did I panic. Not I! I just rifled through my handbag:

The sad thing is, I can do this another day of my vacation if need be.

For those dazzled by my brilliant use of alliteration on prior minimalist challenge posts, please forgive my lapse. I made almost no attempt at alliteration today. I’m on holiday, after all.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 10

I’m on my way to Illinois to spend some time with my daughter and her family. Before I left Doright Manor on Friday morning; though, I preemptively purged the prescribed number of paraphernalia for each day.

Snack packs of pudding and peaches are presented for your viewing pleasure. We purchased these when the grandchildren and their parents paid us a pleasant visit in the past year, but these products have expired. Pooh.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 5

On day 5 of March, I turned to the recycle/reuse cabinet of my kitchen. And what did I find there? Plastics. Plenty of plain, plastic repositories for putting away paltry paraphernalia. Plastics.

Side note, the tall container was the jug I mixed the nasty liquid laxative in preparation for a colonoscopy I had several years ago. What kind of person saves her colonoscopy prep bottle? Don’t answer that.

https://media2.giphy.com/media/l41Yzjtm0YbybMLHG/giphy.gif

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 3

March 3: A trio of tired tops; two are too tight:

Minimalist Challenge, At Long Last Day 28

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November,

All the rest have thirty-one.

February has twenty-eight,

But leap year coming one in four

February then has one day more.

2018 is not a leap year, thus today, February 28, is the last day of the February minimalist challenge. It has been a good month to get rid of stuff, beginning on day one with this green bath rug, which developed its own story https://nananoyz5forme.com/2018/02/08/be-careful-what-you-ask-for/.

Along the way I’ve surrendered books,

And old makeup containers.

I’ve also bid adieu to spices, shoes, sample products, and a boatload of other stuff that I won’t bore you with.

Don’t worry, the cat didn’t get tossed.

On this 28th day of February there was only one object I deemed perfect to celebrate the finale. Wine corks. Twenty-eight wine corks.

My cropping is lousy, but trust me, there is one cork for every day of a non-leap year February. I worked hard for those corks.

Thanks to everyone who followed my progress this month. Blogging about the challenge made it fun and gave me something to look forward to every day. I’ll continue in March, sparing you all the details, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that I have junk to spare.

Now, I think I’ll pop the cork on a new bottle of wine and celebrate the end of February properly.

Peace, people.

Minimalist Challenge, Puttin’ on the Ritz Day 26

Last night Studly Doright and I were watching the University of Kansas basketball team play Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship on television. It was a great, too-close-for-comfort game, and Studly worked up a powerful hunger while cheering for the Jayhawks.

Late in the second half he asked, “Do we have any snacks? I feel like I need to eat something if we’re going to win this game.”

Rather than throwing something at him or telling him to get his own damned snack I hoisted myself out of my chair and went in search of some munchies. The first likely snacks I came upon were several boxes of Ritz cheese crackers and a few more of the peanut butter version.

We don’t normally keep these on hand, but I recalled buying them in preparation for hurricane survival last summer. There’s nothing like a Ritz cracker to see you through the dark times, am I right?

Before asking Studly if the crackers would fill the bill for his snack I thought to check the expiration dates. November 17, 2017, was stamped on each box. So while they didn’t get to fulfill their destiny as snacks, the crackers were pressed into service for today’s minimalist challenge.

Twenty-three packages of Ritz crackers plus three of the boxes in which they were stored makes a total of 26 items for February 26.

I found Studly another snack, and the resulting energy revived him enough to power the Jayhawks through to a two-point victory over the Red Raiders and KU’s 14th straight conference championship. I doubt they’ll publicly thank us, though.

Minimalist Challenge, Day 24

Today I’m ridding myself of a group of decorative items, a couple of pieces of clothing, three Texas license plates, an empty perfume bottle, and half a dozen empty boxes. There are actually more than 24 items in the mix on this 24th day of February because once again I made a purchase (perfume, because the old bottle was empty) that was merely a want and not a need; although, some would argue that perfume is a must have. I love to smell pretty, but I don’t mind going sans scent, either.

About half of today’s haul will go to Goodwill and some will go to the recycling bin. As long as they’re all gone, I’m a happy camper.

There are only four more days to go in the February challenge, and I feel like I’ve barely made a dent in the acclimated clutter. I’m still trying to decide if I’ll begin anew in March.

Spring for Some

Spring for Some

By Leslie Noyes

Spring comes early in Florida.

Flowers blossom and the grass grows taller. Bees pollinate, birds court, squirrels scamper. It’s a time of life and renewal.

But as I walked around my yard today taking these photos I was overcome with grief. Surrounded by this display of life in bloom, I stopped to pray for those whose lives were cut short by a gunman last week in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people who won’t experience spring’s beauty. Young people who will never get to hold their own babies or experience the joy of being a grandparent, growing old with their spouses. I prayed, too, for their families whose lives will never be the same.

One individual with a high-powered rifle ended the hopes and dreams of 17 people in less than five minutes. Was he mentally ill? Perhaps. Did society fail him? More than likely. Did numerous agencies fail to do their jobs? Perhaps, but until someone commits a crime these agencies often have their hands tied. If he hadn’t had easy access to guns would he have found another way to attack? It’s possible. BUT, he DID have easy access to guns, and this access allowed him to literally destroy 17 lives and figuratively destroy hundreds of others.

So stop with your second amendment talking points. Let’s do the right thing and begin looking at real solutions to gun violence in this country.

Peace, please, people.

Wakulla Springs Ride

Yesterday while poor Studly Doright had to toil away at the office I rode my CanAm Spyder RT out to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. From our home outside of Tallahassee it’s only about 42 miles to the park, and best of all, most of the ride was on shaded back roads with very light traffic.

Once at Wakulla Springs I walked around the park, had a light lunch, and enjoyed the scenic boat ride before starting home. I had intended to take photos for the blog, but using my cell phone as a gps ran my battery awfully low, so I only snapped a few pics:

A beautiful blue heron

A not-so-beautiful, but impressive gator

A tree framed by the window of the boat

Next time I’ll take along a charger for my phone. There were so many more shots that had to be foregone.

This was my second adventure on my Spyder, and I’m really beginning to enjoy the ride. I’m much more visible to drivers on this machine, and that’s always a good thing. The Spyder has plenty of power, and I feel comfortable in the seat. The only thing I haven’t tested yet is its performance on the interstate. Soon.

This is me pre-ride on the Spyder, before I put on all my gear:

My brother commented that I look tiny on the bike. Yay! For once something makes my butt look small.

Peace, people.