6/10/13

Funny Thing

This morning I started a new project.  It's the Wonky Houses from Jenny of Elefantz.


I'm hoping that by the time I'm finished with this, I can gift it to Erik and Mae...that would mean they have found a house to buy, and are going to move in.  Somehow, I think I'll finish the project first, but you never can tell.  Yesterday, I traced out the four little house motifs, and this morning I got a good start on the first one.


It's kind of fun stitching on that lemon yellow, which is brighter than it looks in this image.  Usually I'm working on something white or cream colored.  

That was as far as I got before I needed to head out.  I returned to doing my Curves workouts this morning after getting distracted for pretty much the entire month of May.  May is always so busy with three birthdays, mother's day, and our anniversary in the same month.  It makes for lots of celebrations, and therefore, lots of eating.  I like the eating part.  I don't like the getting fatter part.  Actually, I didn't gain any weight, but I didn't lose any either.  So I'm back to working out now, and hopefully, I can keep my momentum going at least through the summer.  (Yes, I like to aim big.)



Regarding dieting and weight loss, I read something totally liberating the other day...at least, to me it was liberating.  I saw this blog post on a blog called MindBodyGreen.  I haven't been reading the blog for long, but I started following it after reading this post.  I really liked what she had to say about healthy eating and dieting.  You can read the article for yourself, but the takeaway (for me) was this:

I think many people out there are just like me. They’ll do well to drop the diets, and all the labeling of foods as “good” and “bad,” and to simply work on eating for nourishment (and joy!) instead. 
Listen to your body, not to the author of the diet du jour. Eat plentifully of wholesome stuff and don’t eat so much of the stuff that’s not. Your body needs food (all different kinds and plenty of it) to do everything it needs to do. Don’t eat too few calories. Or fats. Or carbohydrates. (I’m serious about this: there's a good chance you're not eating enough, especially if you're a woman.) 
Don’t deny yourself real foods that you enjoy. Make sure to move your body, get lots of deep sleep, and work on managing the stress in your life. Strive for balance instead taking healthy habits to extremes. 
Do these things not because you are trying to change yourself into a more perfect version, but because you respect and love yourself. Do them because you deserve to be healthy and happy.
Lately I've been crabby when folks make suggestions about what I should or shouldn't eat, or what diet plan I should adopt, or what entire food group I should eliminate.  I think it's the biggest reason I wasn't happy on the Curves Complete diet.  For me, it's a good rule of thumb to say I'm going to make healthy choices more often than not, but not deny myself wholesome foods that I love.  And I heard something else the other day from Michael Pollan, whose newest book is "Cooked".


It's next on my list of books to read as soon as I finish what I'm currently reading (a tome about the civil war--I love historical fiction).  Anyway, Michael Pollan's philosophy is that the single most important thing you can do for your health is to eat food cooked by a human being rather than a corporation.  Since I'm a person who loves cooking, that's a very easy lifestyle for me to adopt.  In fact, I'm already there.  No changes necessary.

But enough about food.  You're probably wondering after all that griping and whining about food what the "Funny Thing" is.  Well.  The prompt for the Photo A Day Challenge tomorrow is "Something Funny".  Generally, those prompts are kind of hard because one person's funny isn't necessarily humorous to the next person.  To try to photograph "something funny" is harder than it sounds.  But then I went to the grocery store this morning, and as I was walking past the wine section, I was reminded of the many clever, funny, and creative wine labels I've seen lately.  Here's a sampling of what I saw today:









See the cat?  Who remembers Figaro the cat?


It was hard to fit the whole label in a picture.  TATT stands for "Tried and True Tablewine."





For you dog lovers.



For you rooster lovers.


For you apple lovers.

Fun, huh?  Are they funny?  Which one do you suppose I picked?  Well, it isn't shown here.  For that you'll have to wait for tomorrow's post.

As for the rest of the afternoon, I'm hoping to finish the June block for the Hello Moon BOM.  


What about you?  Did you do anything fun or funny today?

20 comments:

WoolenSails said...

I started a new stitchery too, just a small quick one though, fun to do and relaxing while I catch up on my programs, lol.

Debbie

Ranch Wife said...

I agree wholeheartedly about eating food made my humans. I'll bet we eat out 6 times in a year. The rest of the time I cook. It's homemade and 98% from scratch cooking. Like you, I like to cook. Not sure all of this homemade bread baking is helping my weight loss, but at least it doesn't have a lot of preservatives in it.
Wines - we've tried some of those! DH and I love perusing the wine aisles and finding something new to try. We too are entertained by the different labels. We liked the Rex Goliath. We're Cabernet drinkers and don't like it super sweet. We opened a bottle of Smoking Loon last night. That's kind of our 'go to' wine.

Teresa in Music City said...

Good words to live by I think regarding what to eat and not eat! I'm working on learning how to be a better cook so that we can eat healthier - that's not easy for someone who really doesn't enjoy cooking, but I'm working on it :*)

Love your little wonky houses and the yellow background - it adds a sunshiny happy note to them. Perfect for a new house gift :*) And as for the wine - what a hoot!!!! My favorite is "flip flop" because, really, who wants to drink something that reminds you of a stinky shoe that has been walking in all kinds of God-knows-what all day? Too funny! I suppose it is supposed to evoke the beach... ? I also noticed that "red" must be considered the current sexy word in marketing circles :*)

Cath said...

I hear what you are saying about the photo prompt. The one I am using is because when I saw it, it cracked me up! but others may not see the funny side. I love those wine labels, they are so creative. Nice idea to made that little quilt for the new home owners, hope they find what they are looking for by the time yo are finished.
Cathxx

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

I like Barefoot wind, sort of goes with flip flop. I do hear that the REx Goliath is good. Are you sampling each?

gpc said...

I love Michael Pollan -- his 'omnivore's dilemma' changed my eating forever. The wine all looks good for me! :)

Denise :) said...

You've got a nice start on your new stitchery -- it's a really cute design. How's this for being behind? I'm so out of the blogging scene I didn't even *know* there was a "Hello Moon" bom going on. That's my funny (as in odd) thing for today. :)

Sher S. said...

I love your little houses. We have friends that just bought their first house and that would be perfect. You always find the best needleworks! I agree about diet and healthy eating. I've tried many diets and they don't work for me. I'm proud of you for all that you have accomplished. I just started a stitchery of the month called "Mind Your Mama!", I'm on the third block and am enjoying it. Your stitcheries encourage me to keep at it and do the best I can. Thanks! :)

Sher S. said...

where can I find the pattern for Wonky Houses??

Dana Gaffney said...

A few of those wines I would buy just because I like the label, some of them would make great gifts for people with a sense of humor.

Snoodles said...

OH MY GOSH!!!!! (Can you tell I am excited?) The red truck looks just like my hubby's red Studebaker truck! LOL It's a vintage model...1953. That is so fun; now I need to look for that here!

Diane Wild said...

The wine labels are a hoot. I bet the funny part was you taking pictures of all the different wine bottles in the store, huh? Have you seen Fat Bastard wine? Get a kick out of that name. You're absolutely right on the foody thing. Since I don't eat out as much, my weight has dropped a bunch. Staying away from processed foods as much as I can is my goal.

Celtic Thistle said...

Love your house stitchery, hope the timing works out just as you imagine. Great wine labels, they would definitely count as funny for me.

Dar said...

There is a bad wine??? LOL I think those labels are all pretty funny when you think of what's in the bottle. If you drink enough of any of them, everything will be funny regardless.

Your little wonky houses are adorable.

kc said...

I'm with Dar - drink enough of 'em and everything'll be funny! I love those labels - so much more interesting than anything we have here....I think our most unusual is something called Barefoot, but then again, I haven't really looked at labels lately (we tend to stick to Moscato or margaritas). Maybe I'll got take a peek.

Our funny thing today...we went to the beach and never got there. Visited some friends & their new camper instead, then went to "lunch" at our favorite, romantic Charlotte Plummer's....nuthin' like fresh flounder and shrimp, on the dock of the bay, right off the boats. (we have been known to drive (quite literally) clear across country for dinner at Charlotte Plummer's)

Our funny thing yesterday - one minute my glasses were on top of my head, and when I went to swap my shades for clears...they were simply gone. No idea where they went. Guess it's time for a new pair. Not so funny after all.

quiltzyx said...

I like to peruse the wine labels once in a while too - even though the only wine I enjoy is Chocovine! They really have gotten so creative with the labels these days.

I try to relegate the food police to the same locked room in my brain as the quilt police. I have been trying to eat more human-made food too, even tho' I'm not too much of a cook. But good for you for returning to the exercise part of Curves!

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle said...

Enjoyed your wine labels and your wonky houses. Thanks for sharing.

Brown Family said...

I can not wait to see the little houses finished!

Nan

Lyndsey said...

Love your new stitchery design, it will make a great present when they move into their new house. I hope they find just what they want. the wine labels are fun, I wonder who thinks up the names. I agree with your reading and comments on food. As I love cooking almost all of our food is cooked from scratch and so we get lots of variety and all the food groups. So long as I don't make too many cakes I don't put on weight.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Diets make me HUNGRY! I learned long ago to not diet, but, to watch what I eat, and try to cut back on portions. I've been craving snacks and sweets in the past 2 months, and, I've been eating them, too, but, I've really limited the 'how much' of them. It must be working, since some of my pants are getting 'too big' lately.