"I Like" Thursday # 17

Welcome to another "I Like" post... Do you know what time it is?
Think about time, and how all the countries around the world work together to agree on a given time so we can function as a global village. Coming to agreement and working together is a GOOD thing isn't it?

Time, and the somewhat artificial "new year" is my number one...
1. I Like parties at our friend's (Jackie and Hal) home. They attract a diverse and accepting group of people. They are all smart so conversation is lively, and are safe to be with. Know what I mean here? None of them attack anyone or make fun of anyone so I feel safe to be my best self.  I love to laugh and entertain and we all had such a good time. One couple brought their 15 year old son. Amazingly enough he and his father, my husband and myself had some very interesting conversations about science and people and we all related to each other.
I Like smart people so conversation can flow, and it did. After we four kind of reveled in the excitement of the luck of finding stimulating flow of ideas, at a party! Age doesn't matter when it comes to relationships. Age like Time itself is a bit real and a bit artificial way to organize life. It's a person to person connection that really matters. I love a good conversation!

2. This group also plays games. Like Taboo for example. People come and go, mostly joining in, and it leads to many laughs. It is rare to find a group like this these days! No one including the 15 year old stared at their phone. We interacted and left happy and enriched for it. I LOVE board games.

Did you expect to get out of this post without something shiny and sparkly?

3. I Like shiny sparkly things! Look at these new lamps at IKEA! Whee! Every day's a party with these table top glittering lamps!

Speaking of IKEA we joined thousands of people New Year's Day seeking just the right organizers at IKEA
I have a lot of books I want to keep and needed another Billy shelf. They are tall and thin and I figured if I turned them 45 degrees to the right that three, not two shelves would fit in that space, so we got another one.
4. I Like books! Some other day I'll show you the spreadsheet I used to log in my quilt/art books. I have them divided by type, so one shelf holds applique books, another holds paper piecing etc. I ran out of room for new books so the shelf number might change now but organization is a liquid thing. It changes as needs change. I'll tell you how I manage my books later and all of you who only read from digital can be excused lol.
5. I Like Beads.

speaking of organization and sparkly things, I spent yesterday with my good friend Cindy. She showed me around her well organized studio. It really deserves it's own post but I wanted to include just this little part here.
I LOVE her system of bead organization. She makes lovely beaded items, like me she enjoys adding beads to every day items and quilts as well as doing beaded jewelry. Unlike me she can follow a pattern (grump)

She uses her beads by color so she organizes them by color. Note it is so easy to find a bead because they are all in the same shape/size container and displayed. She invested in one system, and it's a big help. This is a tray of blue green beads in various sizes and shapes.
6. I like to learn new techniques from a real person in real time. I enjoy being shown and led through a technique like beading as opposed to trying to decipher a diagram or pattern. Lucky for me, Cindy and I are sympatico and like each other so any time spent together is a good time. She is so kind to walk me through "beadborough" so I can learn to make pretty things. I settled in to make my friend pugmom a leopard beaded bracelet with hot pink, purple and gold beads.

the beads were so pretty, ans sparkling and well, hopeful! .... until.... I got this far on the chart, and noticed sparkling on my fingertips... wha???? The really pretty Darice pink beads were shedding their coating as I handled them. If you lbow up the image you'll see the bottom row is nearly clear. OY!
Not only is Joann's hard to return to, but now I couldn't work on learning the technique.
Not to be undone, Cindy said let's make the "islands" bracelet using herringbone stitch and crystals.
OKAY! I scrounged together some beads I had with me in red and purple and the clear swarovsky crystals and Cindy provided additional colors and started...

Look at my indented finger tip! Think I might have been a little tense at this point? I was able to learn the pattern, and have high hopes I will remember the pattern when I pick it back up today.
Anyway, I Like being with other creative people and learning techniques from them too.
( I will do a whole post interviewing Cindy and showing her studio soon)

 7. I LOVE looking in other people's sewing spaces. I want to see how everyone else handles their Space VS Supplies and how they create comfortable work areas.

8. I like these flamingos and pigs at IKEA right now...

Gayle......
Lookie!

And I like this hamper from IKEA

It stands up on it's own two feet, the metal handles fold together to carry it to the washer. We actually have a double one of these. Separate the dark and light clothes. Our fabric holders slip off the frame to take to the washer.

They seem to take up less space than regular laundry baskets and hide it better.





9. I Like sweet and savory together so my latest favorite snack is this...

The turkey sausage is hickory farms and seasonal (yes we bought several to hoard, so what?) the jam is a perfect blend of savory and sweet and the crackers are sort of healthy for a carb. We slice the sausage thinly, layer the three items for the perfect bite. We get the jam and crackers at our local grocers.

10. I LIke puzzles. On our recent trip to Newport we got a newspaper daily at the hotel. Oh I love a newspaper but we canceled our subscription because the hydrocarbons in the fresh newsprint became overwhelming to my allergies. I miss looking at comics and doing this puzzle every day...

I have very fond memories of doing this coded puzzle daily with my cubical mate years ago.

We were doing social work for the State, and on our first coffee break of the day we would pull out the puzzle and do it in tandem. She was so much fun and so good with people. She and I started therapy groups with teens, and often collaborated on difficult casework, two heads being better than one.




She used to say, "together we make one great social worker!" Miss her, but not the heart wrenching work.

11. I Like having friends around the world to share our lives. Recently two of my dog-blog friends have experienced grief losing their poodles. I reached out with my phone number, hoping they would call and we could talk in real time. A grief shared is a burden lessened. Both of them called, and we were able to comfort each other. To experience that kind of loss is overwhelming. When a person listens and understands, it helps you to feel less alone. Sometimes I replay Monika reminding me Time will take the edge off.

So I bring this post back to the start and our discussion of time. As my Tampa vet once told me,
"Tincture of time" is our hope right now.

What did you find to like this week? These posts fall on a Thursday as I feel Thursdays are the forgotten day of the week lol. They are not I Love Thursday, but "I Like" round ups on Thursdays. I try to remember the thins I liked all week.
As usual if you did an I Like post let me know to include it here. Please visit these fine folk:
1.https://littlepenguinquilts.blogspot.com/2017/01/i-like-thursday-12-happy-new-year.html
2.3poodlesandanana
3.http://craftscaviescontras.blogspot.com/2017/01/i-like-thursday-tea-edition.html