Jan 27, 2014

Mom and Dad



My Knights
 MOM and Dad
 Parenting. The Labels that rivals no other!

Tis when the stork drops the bundle on our doorstep that the clock starts. You do not have to check in to this job because you will never check out. Time on the clock now counts the time between the last feed and the time left to clean up the mess in their bed and no longer acts to gather the hours accumulated from one pay period to the next.
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Jan 23, 2014

At the cost of staying home.

 Lillian the Domestic Engineer
 I remember life before the "Net" and what a lonely place parenting could be!
Amid the middle of the muddle you would find in the midst of me, a Mom a bit removed from reality, babbling incessantly about the need to check in on my normalicy.


 No outside input.
Nope, you just sat quietly where you were put! LOL.
No Blogs of inspiration, no Google to behold, no Facebook friends, no Twitters told.
 Bringing the "Net" to my doorstep brought the word to me along side a web of information that dared to overwhelm. I suddenly feared the input of the worlds output.

A day in the life of a Domestic Engineer ain't what it used to be...ain't what it used to be.
 
 And then along came I-Phone....
 Had my fear subsided in the face of never being alone or had it grown into the joy of being at home?
Perhaps I should Google that with the free app that claims to know?
 You are not alone the phone flashes at me, this is Suri, Talk to me!
The world sits no longer idly by seeing things in black and white...

Life is in living color!

 Get busy in the company of physicality.. laughing, crafting, mastering and mess making!
The Art of making messes blogs me today! At the cost of staying home, I am able to play.
Click HERE to see more at MY PAGE

Spending time in the kitchen has always been a great place to play
Life has been full , Life has been fun
living the science of messes as the Mother of 4 Sons!i


The greatest Science FUN you can have in your kitchen is inexpensive and never grows old.

This slimy goop has always and ever been a hit at my house.
In fact not long ago a bowl of Oobleck was shared at the kitchen table amongst teenage friends!
A full box of Corn Starch was dumped into a large metal bowl to which approximately 1/3 cup cold water is added and stirred to a liquid looking consistency. Drops of food color can be added to the mixture creating wonderful effects
The green is great for Halloween but then so is the red.

The potion is a liquid in motion and a solid at rest. It's Science in the Kitchen and time well spent..
 It's too cool not to feel. Go on, do it,  Put your hands right in!
 Left to dry and then re-bagged the Oobleck can be stored and reactivated at a later time( time after time)by simply adding more water.
It does drop and plop in bits and pieces here, there and everywhere but once dried you can pick up the drops and plops (with a sheet of paper and a swift scoop) and put them back into the bowl or bag. You can quickly wipe up ( the kids and the counters) with a wet cloth and be onto the next thing.

 Follow the link for more
       http://mossymossy.com/?p=298
             

Popular Science, Gadgets, Science, Technology  

http://www.legacystation.com/ScientificExplor...   Gross Science Fun
 Click on the link below to read more:

Jan 13, 2014

A Lightbulb Moment

Put on a Happy Face!


These Hand Painted
 Light Bulb
 ORNAMENTS
 are truly one of a kind!

Each year,
for two years
in a row
our familys annual acquisition of

 Hand Made Christmas Tree Ornaments,

were made from light bulbs and lovingly created by Grandma!




A Bright idea


Christmas Ornaments

Light Bulb Tree Ornament
These
Hand Painted 
Light Bulb
Christmas Tree
Ornaments

are priceless to me.
 Grandma made and impossible to replace!

The faces are painted in Acrylic paint onto a regular light bulb to which a primer coat of white Acrylic paint has first been applied and set to dry.
 Once the face painting is completed it is sprayed lightly with an acrylic sealer which gives the finished bulb the shiny finish as well as giving a little boost to the bulbs overall durability.
I must say however that I don't find the Light Bulb Ornaments to be any more breakable than any other glass tree ornament.




                                  Holy Cow, how lucky we are!

Lillian the Domestic Engineer Blogspot.ca
The hats were purchased at the dollar store and the hair and other embellishments are gathered through out the year. Be creative! Hot glue is used to attach the hair, the hats and the hanging cord or ribbon to the light bulb.

Light Bulb Christmas Ornament

Hand Painted Light bulb

MORE at Things I do for Love PAGE

Jan 11, 2014

An Old Friend

Lillian the Domestic Engineer
I wanted to dedicate a little blurb on my blog today to an old friend. An old friend of mine in the literal sense of the word.
    I work outside my home on a part time basis providing Outreach Home Support for local Seniors in their homes. 
    I love my job. I set my own hours and am able to select both the number of days and the number of Clients that I take on each week. I don't drive any farther than 15 minutes from my own home to work and I immensely enjoy the people that I work with. 
    I look forward to seeing, visiting and assisting each of my clients on either a bi weekly or on a monthly basis. I help them with their requests for assistance with everything from laundry to lunch. 
   I love to see their faces light up as I enter their homes; my presence sometimes, 
simply filling the void in the loneliness of living alone. Rather than wash down the fridge or move a chair to the other room, I am silently requested to listen up as they speak of how they are doing.
    It is somewhere in the course of time, between the words spoken and the memories shared that I come to realize just how much I do care. My work is much, much more than just a few clients to me.
   I lost a client and a friend yesterday..
   I learned a lot about him in the 6 months I was lucky enough to know him. I learned that he had had family living in the area for many generations. He often spoke of his Sisters and of his younger Brother who lived just down the hall. I learned he had been pre deceased by his Dad and recently, his only Son.  I know how proud he was of his Son, the Dancer who went on to win at the "Worlds" several years in a row. I know how quietly and graciously he mourned his loss. I know he was very excited about making a trip to this years Worlds Dance Competition, in the company of several of his Sons former dance students,  to lend his support, in spite of the pain resulting in the recent absence of his Son.
    I learned that he taught short courses for many years at a local College and that he could shoe a horse with the best of the best. I learned that he had quick wit and a great sense of humor. I know he was particular and to the point.
    I learned that many years ago he had had surgery done to remove the cataracts on his eyes. Sadly I also learned that one eye had been damaged in the process, leaving him blind in his right eye. He spoke of his Diabetes and the resulting loss of his left leg at the knee as well as the stroke he suffered, that would temporarily rob him of his ability to speak.
    I know he struggled long and hard in his recovery although never fully recovering his speech or the use of his right arm. I remember him saying that not being able to clip his nails was the worst part of his immobility. I helped him put a new boot onto his prosthesis that day; his inability to pull it on and then to lace and tie it up, kept him from acting for self.   
   The last time we spoke, we were standing at his kitchen sink, where I had just finished washing and wiping up when he asked me
  "Why do you do this?"
   "Do what?" I asked him.
 "Why do women set the drain plug crookedly in the sink hole?" he continued.
 "My last home care lady, my x wife and now you do the same" he lamented as he reached down to set the askew plug straightly and down into the sink hole. 
 "It does no good sitting in there like that" he informed me.
 "I'll be more aware of that" I promised him as I reached out to say goodbye.
 Touching his arm, we shared a laugh before continuing as I usually did. 
  "Take care yourself Brian and I'll see you in a couple of weeks" I'd tell him
  knowing each time that he would say,
 "Why" 
  I replied to him time after time "Because I enjoy seeing you" 
 I'd see him smile just before closing the door.

In memory of my friend Brian.

Jan 7, 2014

A Stitch in Time

 Aren't these precious!

I found this lovely little collection of Hand Made Felt Ornaments all together in a freezer bag, at a garage sale many years ago.

Somebody, somewhere, put a lot of love and an awful lot of time into the making of them.They are meticulously made. The simplicity in the designs are exquisite!!.
 Don't you wish they could talk,
 revealing the story behind their very creation and their colorful existence?

Felt Applique Owl Ornament


                                         The Felt Horse
Lillian the Domestic Engineer Blogspot.ca

                                                             Frosty is fine
                                                           but does require a stitch in time.
                                                   The gold loop has hung for the last time.
                                          A quick stitch will mend this wonderful Frosty Ornament of mine...

                                                              More Ornaments HERE

Christmas Tree Ornaments

                   The Ornaments that memories are made of..
                                     
                                              It is -38 degrees below outside this morning.
                                          The high for the day is expected to climb to the low -20's!
                   Increasing winds late in the day promise to add to an already chilly evening, 
                 a wind chill, factoring temperatures to feeling like 48 below..
                                               
                                        I think I'll spend the day inside today
Christmas Tree Ornaments
                          Hand made Christmas Ornaments

Tis Monday morning. The house is quiet, everyone has gone back to work or school.
I am left alone with my thoughts and with the task of packing up the past and getting on with planning the future.
 I reflect upon how busy the season has been.
 After pouring my Java I sit down beside the Christmas Tree that I first plugged  in when I awoke.
I love the glitter of the lighted season!
 As I sat gawking at the flashing tree, in the quiet contemplation of another passing year,
I found myself overcome by the emotions of memories and by the pure splendor of my Christmas Tree!
The sight made me weep...

 I indulged myself in moments of memory...


Every year now for over 20 years my Mom has created a handmade Christmas Tree Ornament for each of my four Sons.

That's a lot of handmade ornaments!


Handmade Christmas Tree Ornament

Best Craft Blog- Tree Ornament

Christmas Tree Ornament.
A Light bulb Moment. More Tree Ornaments HERE



Light Bulb Tree Ornament

For two years
in a row
  the annual acquisition of
Grandma made
 Christmas Tree Ornaments
were made from light bulbs.

My Mom is truly a master at her craft.




There are a lot of memories hanging in the tree!

 Every year at Christmas time, for many years, each of my four Sons have also made and brought home  a treasured tree ornament.
My favorite is the classic toilet roll fashioned into an ornament by gluing a school pic to one side and attaching a string at the top.
I also love the puzzle pieces all glued together lovingly, forming a frame around each little face, all hanging proudly on our tree, in it's annual place...and then there's the string that was placed into sugar water and left to form crystals that would grow on the string, creating a snowflake like ornament that would continue to shine, year after year... the sparkle I must say has turned to a rather brownish grey.


I refill my coffee cup and blow my nose.
It's now 9:00 am. in the world of this Domestic Engineer.
The world is awake and reality will soon call.
 The cat's down the hall bawling that he can't make his way out
and the morning rush has no doubt left the human facility in dire need of a flush out!





The bathrooms are a mess and the floors are too, the fridge needs a dunging out so today I'll make stew....
I need to book an MRI and an appointment to extract wisdom teeth, I need to submit my paper work for last years tax receipts.. I should re organize the storage of my seasonal trunks but find I need to dispose first... of all this other junk. I could use a dunging out and a washing up too, in fact it should probably be the next thing I do.

Time waits for no one. 

As I finally finish packing Christmas carefully away I smiled to myself.
It is within the moments of our days that the memories of our lives are created
and the joy of  re experiencing the memory is found in the presence of time made.

Twas without guilt that I savored the time I took to enjoy.

Angel Ornament


The face of an Angel
Handmade tree ornaments











              Frosty and Friends
Lillian the Domestic Engineer -Tree Ornament


Handmade Christmas Ornaments


Angels are present..
Angel Ornament












and Pooh is too 





Rudolph's' are rampant
Lillian the Domestic Engineer.blogspot.ca
Rudolph Tree Ornament
Christmas Tree Ornaments

and Balls are too



 Lillian the Domestic Engineer

                                                  Happy New Year
                     May your coming year be filled with precious memories

Christmas Tree Decoration


Christmas Ornaments


Lillian the Domestic Engineer - Best craft blog

                       more Originality here

Christmas Tree Ornaments


Jan 3, 2014

Upcycled Neck Ties- I Phone Case


Lillian the Domestic Engineer.blogspot.ca

Neck Tie  up cycled.
Lillian the Domestic Engineer.blogspot.ca
              
Newly realized
neck ties.

These beautiful Neck Ties become fashionable satchels for your I Phone,  Eye Glasses,  ID and  credit cards, keys and  lipstick too!





 


Up Cycled tie project
Silk Ties and 100% leather strapping come together.

There are fabulous silks laying around in bins out there
all existing as undesirable neck ties waiting to be realized.

Often found in the second and sometimes even third and forth time around second hand store,
neck ties of every imaginable texture and design are bountiful.

 The leather strap can be knotted to shorten the strap to perfect the length.



Neck Tie up cycled


Wider neck ties work best for
 I Phone satchels.

The tie width accommodates the width of I Phone with case.


Lillian the Domestic Engineer















This great neck tie lent itself well to the project.

 The Grey and Silver add a depth and a classic evening feel. 

 The button takes it a step further.

This strap is made with  Hemp Cord.


DIY Neck Tie
Neck Tie Satchel
 
I used Velcro as a secure fastener for the satchels closing fold. This keeps the phone from falling out when you lean over. The buttons are all for show.

Neck Ties DIY




Lillian the Domestic Engineer Blogspot.ca

up-cycled I Phone case

I Phone Case - Up Cycled project

Up cycled neck tie

Up cycled project
Lillian the Domestic Engineer

Lillian the Domestic Engineer.blogspot.ca

Up cycled neck tie satchel



                                       Check out other craft ideas @
                                                                   Lillian the Domestic Engineer
                                                                        My Page  HERE

http://lillian-thedomesticengineer.blogspot.ca/


MORE HERE Up Cycled Neck Ties

Preview
Up Cycled Neck Tie Project



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