Advertising on Patsy's Ponderings

Lately I've been getting a lot of interest in advertising on Patsy's Ponderings. I'm negotiating with a couple of people, but want to be clear with readers.

What you read here is MY content. No one has anything to say about what I write about, or what I say, except me. I like it that way. And it will stay that way.  If I talk about a product, book or place here it's because I liked it, hated it or wanted it. It's not because someone paid me to write about it. Period. No exceptions. Ever.

When I get some sort of special treatment or special access, like during the blogger fam tour, I am specific about that in the post so you know.

I'm open to advertising, but it's no trouble to tell that's what it is. I have google ads, and will sell advertising to other entities, as long as they're in keeping with the spirit of the site. I'm thankful to those advertisers - they pay for the costs associated with maintaining this website. And hopefully readers find something of value in their offerings and click over to read more about them - the ultimate win-win. I also give free space to organizations I believe in, like Kiva.

I will never accept any advertising that is designed to look like content. I was recently approached by Linkstar for advertising on another website I own. I was very clear in my initial contact that I would not allow anything that looked like content. They agreed and then reneged on that, insisting their paid paragraph be inserted at the bottom of a page of content. I refused.

So, rest assured that if you see me talking about how cool something is, it's because I think it's really cool - not because someone paid me to say that.
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Myth of Immortality

I've been rereading "Care of the Soul" by Thomas Moore. To be more accurate, I've been rereading the parts I had highlighted that I thought I'd want to go back to. The book is marked with post-it flags and there's pink on nearly every page.

Lately I've been mulling over the following passage:

"The soul, for example, needs an articulated world view, a carefully worked out scheme of values, and a sense of relatedness to the whole. It needs a myth of immortality and an attitude toward death."

It's an interesting mental exercise to see if you have all those covered. I know I have a carefully worked out scheme of values (Patsy's Rules for Living) and an attitude toward death. The others I'm still thinking about.

These questions of the soul are major ones, are they not?
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

May 11

For the last seven years, May 11 has been a day to honor Mama.

She died on May 11, 2001 and every year since then on this day I do something that makes me happy. One of my mother's greatest gifts to me was that she taught me to do the things that make me happy. It's such a simple concept, but an incredibly powerful one. How many of us actually do the things that make us happy?

I do those things often. But, on May 11, I take the day off and devote it to such endeavors.

Today I went to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County Kansas. I'll have a full report on my visit soon, but suffice it to say it's well worth a visit.
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

My Title of Domestic Goddess is in Serious Jeopardy

My title of "Domestic Goddess" is in serious jeopardy.

Truth be told, I'm not sure anyone has ever referred to me as a domestic goddess, but I've always hoped someone would. Frankly, I would have been a wonderful 1950s housewife in so many ways.

I've always wanted to be the perfect combination of Alexandra Stoddard, Martha Stewart, and Bree Hodges. The only problem  is that one of them is fictional, one is well-staffed and other is married to a man who made it unnecessary for her to make a living when she got started, and I have none of those things working in my favor.

Despite these obstacles, I have persistent fantasies of welcoming people into my spotlessly clean, well-appointed, completely renovated Victorian home where the fresh citrus scent of my homemade cleaning products lingers in the air. (Of course I'm wearing pearls in this vignette.)

I'll serve freshly baked scones with berries from the garden and my homemade lemon curd. The linen napkins will be pressed crisply, smelling of sunshine and just a hint of the vanilla rinse I put them through. People will ooh and ah, and I will bask in all this appreciation for my domestic prowess. After a lovely gathering during which we'll gather around the piano in the music room for a couple of songs, I will retire to the sitting room off my boudoir with a nice cup of tea. I'll lie down and rest with a good book or do some delicate handwork.

In reality, of course, I'm working all of these hours. And, if you drop by you're likely to find a paint can lying about because my renovation now stretches into years, and nothing in my house is spotless. Not even close. "Sanitary" is the most I hope for. While I love handwork, I find it more expedient to buy pieces at sales than to spend the time making it myself. And my piano is so out of tune I wouldn't even let a child bang on it for fear of ruining their budding musical talent.

Today is an example of the startling difference between my real life and my fantasy life.

I've been working all weekend to eradicate the ants who insist on taking up residence in my kitchen cabinets. No matter what poisons I use, and how much silicone caulk I smear over tiny cracks here and there, they persist. So, the dining room table is covered with the dishes that have already been through the dishwasher, and both sinks and the counters are full of things waiting to be washed. Alas, it is not the scene of someone who has been testing which tomato variety makes the best marinara sauce.

Between running the dishwasher, I've been cleaning in my home office. My home office is such a disaster area that I close the door when company is coming, and yet it's where I spend most of my time. It's a wonder my fingers have not been crushed by an avalanche of things careening onto the keyboard. And the top of the desk is one of the better areas.

Today I sat in the floor and started sorting through the piles. While doing so I found a fuzzy piece of Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal. I don't even recall when I last ate that for a snack, which means this has been there for some undetermined, but lengthy, amount of time. Although one might think you could gauge timing by the amount of dust, much like rings on a tree, I declined. Instead I decided to use the archeology method and take note of what was near it. It was nestled between a green and white speckled breath mint, the remains of a roll of Wintergreen Lifesavers, and a French Franc that is no longer legal tender. None of that was helpful.

I don't think domestic goddess types have grungy cereal underfoot. Cereal they don't even know about. And I cannot blame children or pets, as I have neither. The responsible party would be me. The shame of it all. This is not how practitioners of the domestic arts conduct themselves.

Of course, I have a full time job that pays for the house which is the stage for my domestic goddess-ness. Unfortunately, it takes the time I could spend whipping up chocolate mousse for dessert to top off the gourmet dinner I would throw together in between planting the herbs, polishing the silver, and planning my next dinner party complete with engraved invitations and matching place cards. (I also own no silver - mainly because it requires polishing - which would take time I don't have.)

Don't get me wrong, I can hold my own with the average, every day, domestic goddess wannabe. I can write a thank you note with the best of them, and my handwriting is more than passable. My homemade lemonade is made with freshly squeezed lemons, a simple syrup and some fresh lavender from the garden. I own a considerable amount of china and can set a lovely table for almost any occasion, complete with fresh flowers in a glass flower frog.

But, I believe on the domestic goddess tally sheet that cereal of unknown origins lying about on the floor undiscovered for some extended period of time, negates a nice thank you note. If only I had a scone to fortify me. But who can cook while waging war with ants?
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Constant Motion

I've been in constant motion since 7:40 this morning. Isn't that how everyone's Saturday goes. I woke up an hour earlier, but stayed in bed thinking surely I would go back to sleep.

At 8 we bought tickets for some State Fair shows we wanted to see. We ended up with decent seats.

Then I started my day of working around the house. I discovered ants were in my kitchen cabinet. So, I've been trying to figure out where they're getting in and caulking their little entry ways. And, of course, washing every single dish in the cabinet. I've been taking them dishes of the dishwasher and stacking them on the dining room table until I make sure I've gotten rid of the ants and disinfected the cabinets.

I have this odd mix of cleaning habits. My house is almost always cluttered and "lived in." The linens I bought at the MCC sale three weeks ago are still piled in a chair by the door if that gives you any idea. But, germs are another matter. I can't handle the idea that anything food related might be germy. So, the cabinet will have to be washed down and then redone with a bleach solution to kill anything that might linger there before the dishes can go back in.

I understand the ants are bad - probably because they're being flooded out. I wish I knew ant-speak to put up a sign that said, "Danger - No Buddhists Live Here." But, I don't know ant-speak.

Jason came over this afternoon and worked diligently for three hours. He got down a lot of the landscape cloth, although there's more I want to get put down. But he got the majority of it. I worked a little bit more in the yard late in the day but not much - it's just not comfortable for me to bend over for extended periods of time.

Besides, I was occupied in the house - not just with the kitchen, but in my office. I've made a big mess so far. About all I've accomplished is to drag some of the piles out of the office and into the dining room. Ultimately, the furniture I have in here isn't working well. What I really need is a room about three times the size of this one, but since I don't have that I need to make better use of what I do have. My office, where I spend a huge amount of time, is one of the smallest rooms of my house, but it's the logical place for the office to be. Fewer piles would definitely help things. But, there's not much in this room that doesn't belong in here. It's just that there isn't enough room for it all.

But, my time is getting precious enough that I need to make sure all my freelance and consulting things are run as efficiently as possible. Getting the office in tip-top shape will help that.
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Hail and plants and newsprint

Last night we had rain. And hail. Hail on my baby plants I grew from seed that I just put outside in the last few days. I haven't even had the courage to go to the backyard yet. One of my petunias in the front shows the result of large hail, unfortunately.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice. Jason is coming over to help with some things in the back yard, and I'll be so glad to get that all done. I bought more tomato plants tonight - hopefully we can make room tomorrow for them to grow.

I also discovered with a phone call today that I could buy the end of the rolls of newsprint for a few dollars. So, I have paper on rolls and that will be much easier to put under the landscape cloth. Newspaper laid down kills the grass. I've used it for years. But, I knew I wasn't going to have enough to do all the area I want in the back yard. This should work great.

Although it's practically unheard of for me, I'm headed upstairs to bed soon. This week has been a stressful one and I need some rest. I hope your weekend is off to a good start.
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All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Star Trek Movie is Great

No Spoilers!

The Star Trek movie is really great. Go see it if you're at all a Trek fan. Greg, Sharon and I went to a preview tonight and all really enjoyed it. We could all think of tiny little things to nit pick, but they are really tiny. It's a cool story, the casting is great, and you'll walk away feeling like you got your money's worth, plus some. ________________

Subscribe for free to Patsy's Ponderings in email or your choice of a reader.

Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, cooking and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.
All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.