Rewiring an Antique Lamp

 I picked up this gorgeous lamp at a yard sale years ago, minus the shade. I found the shade at another sale and am loving the two together. The lamp had old wiring that was crumbling and in much need of replacement.

I finally decided to tackle this job so we could actually use the lamp, instead of just looking at it. It's really not that hard to do if you know some basics. Here are some things I learned in doing this project.
1. You can buy lamp cord at a hardware or home improvement store. Make sure you get the right cord for the job, as in the right size. I had to get a smaller cord as I found out quickly that the other I had purchased was just a tad too big.
2. light sockets come apart so you can rewire if necessary. There are two screws that will hold the wire in place. Lamp cords are made of two bundles of copper wire. You can cut down the center to the right length needed and strip each end only enough to be able to wrap each side around the little bracket that holds the screw to tighten down and hold the wire in place. I found out the hard way that you should only strip the wire about 5/8 of an inch, otherwise you will have exposed wire that can touch each other and blow a fuse as well as ruin a plug. My hubby kept saying that I should take the lamp to a local electrician, but that would have cost a pretty penny I bet so my stubborn, do-it-yourselfness came out in full force...lol.
3. You can also buy the pronged plug  and wire them the same way. I knew this as I fixed my old sewing machine by replacing the pronged plug because the wire had been tweaked so long the plug no longer worked right.
4. Fixing a lamp or appliance this way saves not only money but landfill.

Next time you are out and about a spy an old something that needs new wiring, something you could put to good use, take it home and see what you can do. You may find it as easy as pie, and gain a new skill in the process. 

Becoming Self Reliant - Part 1

 I was fortunate to have a mom who was willing to teach me whatever I wanted to learn. I know it probably annoyed my sister to death as Mom always tried to include her in whatever I was interested in, whether it was crocheting, embroidery, cooking or art, but Joanne was more interested in playing outside and running with her friends. That wasn't my cup of tea so I spent a lot of time with Mom, learning domestic diva skills.
It's been fun to see a resurgence in hand made and hand crafted clothing, jewelry, aprons, and the re-purpose, re-cycle, re-use movement. I grew up with folks that naturally thought that way, but we lost those skills somewhere along the way.

The LDS church recently put out a publication "Daughters in My Kingdom" a veritable jewel of wisdom and knowledge, designed to enhance what we women do best. On page 51 of this publication there is a side note box with tips on becoming self-reliant. In light of the turmoil going on today in the world I was drawn to what is listed in the box. So today I'm going to tackle the first tip which is "Learning to love work and avoid idleness".
Vacation versus being home and working, most would say no contest there, but have you ever noticed and perhaps it's my type A personality, that when on vacation, sitting around gets old quickly. Okay, I might be the only one here....lol. Really though, it's okay to take a break from work, but there is a pervasive thought that being a domestic diva and all that goes with that is boring and just not fun. Having raised a few children myself, or dealt with them in our home, I can attest to how hard it can be sometimes. I think though, we tend to dwell on the negative and not look at the positives, such as hugs and kisses from little ones, having the opportunity to be creative in the kitchen, decorate our homes the way we like, create something uniquely us. I love how so many young moms are getting into sewing and knitting and crocheting, and how many folks are discovering the joy of raising a garden and eating the fruits of their labors. It's refreshing to see all the DYI shows on TV and publications in the stores on raising farm animals, making cheese and bread and so on. There are other ways to take the work we do and make it enjoyable, like having a purpose when we cook, perhaps adding extra ingredients to take an extra casserole to a sick friend, or as in the case of the collar you see above, bring joy to the receiver of a hand made gift. My mother-in-law loves to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune as well as Who Want's to Be a Millionaire so I sit with her at night and crochet. She loved the yarn I was using to make this, which for me was a test of my skills, so it became a gift for her. I can't just sit and watch TV unless I have a bowl of popcorn or something to occupy my hands, and popcorn 5 nights a week would not be a good idea as much as I love it. Mom lost her husband recently so sitting with her is the least I can do, and since she doesn't see well enough to do most things we understand her need to keep her mind active by the shows she watches.  Learning to love work is not as hard as it seems, and avoiding idleness can help us find what we didn't know we could do, as well as bring joy to someone else.

Sabbath Share - Desires dictate all other decisions....

Recently at the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Dallin H. Oakes said this, " Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions." It has become clear to me that my children do see the reason for choices I've made over the years, and why I've tried to correct mistakes when possible and not redo the things that I know lead to misery instead of happiness. I can also see that they have a testimony, whether they realize it or not. I was lamenting to my youngest the fact that going to Alaska always seems to be a priority to my children and that I wished for once that some of my children gave me more priority. I try to not to put them on a guilt trip or get into the tug of war game that divorced parents can get into with their adult children but I felt it was time to speak up and see what the results were. So she tells me that she and her siblings know I will always be around for them, but with their Dad, he may go soon. He recently had a stroke and is still doing things that go against his doctors advice regarding his health issues. I asked her how she knew I would always be around and she said that she was talking with her brother or sister about the situation and they brought up my patriarchal blessing and how it says that if I'm trying to do as I should I will live a long time as she put it. Those aren't the exact words in the blessing, but you get the gist. It took me by surprise to say the least!
My desire has always been to have an eternal family. It took me awhile to fully understand the importance of following certain doctrines and commandments set by God to achieve that goal. I've made my share of poor decisions over the years, partly due to feelings of unworthiness regarding Heavenly Father and the Saviors love, but through trial and error, a lot of error, I'm heading in a better direction because I love my children and grandchildren enough.
I'm grateful to know that families can be together forever. I know I've said that over and over again, but with our recent visit to Arizona, and the heart rending goodbyes we have to make after a visit with our grandson and mommy, it's so comforting to know that no matter what happens we will see each other again some day, and if we obey the commandments, there will come a time when we don't ever have to say goodbye again. Won't that be wonderful??? I know that some folks don't even try because they think they can never make it, but I'm here to tell you that if I can make it anyone can! If we are honestly doing our best, the Savior has made up the gap for us.  That's also very comforting as I know I will never be perfect in this life. I'm very lousy at setting goals, so I think I will type up and print off the quote from Elder Oakes to remind me every day to keep my eyes and heart set on the right desires.
What are your desires?

Monday Muse.....

I don't post here often lately as things have been a bit crazy.... Okay when are they not anymore? I saw this hymn yesterday and thought that the words apply so well to today.

KNOW THIS, THAT EVERY SOUL IS FREE

Know this, that ev'ry soul is free

To choose his life and what he'll be;

For this eternal truth is giv'n: 

That God will force no man to heav'n.

He'll call, persuade, direct aright,

And bless with widom, love, and light,

In nameless ways be good and kind,

But never force the human mind.

Freedom and reason make us men;

Take these away, what are we then?

Mere animals, and just as well

The beasts may think of heav'n or hell.

May we no more our pow'rs abuse,

But ways of truth and goodness choose;

Our God is pleased when we improve

His grace and seek his perfect love.

Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 - "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God".
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and doing good to all men: indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul--We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Articles of Faith 1:13
In a talk given by Bishop H. David Burton last October he pointed out that the spelling in English of many individual virtues concludes with the letters ity: integrity, humility, charity, spirituality, accountability, civility, fidelity and the list goes on. The suffix ity means quality, state or degree of being. He talks about the decline in society today as we push aside these virtues. He quotes President James E. Faust who suggested that integrity is the mother of all other virtues. President Faust also suggested that "integrity is the light that shines from a disciplined conscience." From both of these good men, the thought is that as we promote the "ity" virtues within our homes, families, communities and institutions will be improved and strengthened, and faith and integrity will bless individual lives. In closing Bishop Burton states, " I testify and declare that our Heavenly Father expects His children (you and me) to exercise integrity, civility, fidelity, charity, generosity, morality, and all the "ity" virtues. May we have the humility to take the opportunity to act upon our responsibility to demonstrate our ability to do so, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I hope this touches your heart as it did mine.

The words we use... My Yay! for the day.

The other day in Sunday School the teacher asked who doesn't ever swear. I didn't raise my hand because I didn't want to be put on the spot as he sometimes does that. It's true though, I don't swear and don't even think that way. We are judged by the words we use. While I was a little miffed at the question as it wasn't appropriate to put us on the spot like that, it does bring me to my YAY! for the day.

Some one I love deeply has decided to clean up their language for various reasons. They are too well educated to speak that way for one, but mostly to be a better example to family and friends.

So, how does one clean up their language? Well we all know people who will say things such as "freakin", or "flippin" in order to avoid dropping the F bomb. Like we all don't know what that means! The one I hear from the college kids is "shez" or "shezzy" as a replacement for the S word or "shoot" or "shucks". Clever? Not so much. Some of the old tried and true are "heck" to replace hell, gosh, goshdarn or golldarn to replace taking God's name in vain. The one that really get's my goat is the P word for anger. When I was growing up it was considered a swear word, and now I hear women use it that I would never have expected to hear it from. They will excuse it away saying it's just a little crude?? Really?
I have never forgotten a lesson I heard when I was younger regarding the use of these replacement words though. Most likely, if you are saying the replacement word, you are thinking the word you are trying to avoid saying and thus will slip on occasion. We are what we think and speak so how do we clean up both mind and mouth? It's funny that we even need to but society has lost much of it's civility in language and behavior. Anyway, it's something you can have fun with. There are so many marvelous words that can replace a crude or foul word that won't have you thinking the one you want to drop. Children appreciate this as well. Here's an example.
The school I used to substitute teach at has mostly Mexican students. They will gasp in horror if they hear someone calling someone else stupid, but have no problem saying OMG or dropping the F bomb. Not sure why that is, but it seems to be a cultural thing, and not a bad one to avoid calling someone stupid, even if they deserve it...:-). So I started telling the children that they should say, "Oh my goodness" because to say the OMG phrase is disrespectful to God. They had never thought of it that way, but the funny thing was that they started saying what I taught them, and then would tell their friends to do the same. It also snowballed into cleaning up other words in their vocabulary as well.
Here's my list of words or phrases I use when I get hurt or angry.....
Boo boos - Ouch! (Such an under used word), rats!, it hurts, it hurts it hurts!, wow! Here's a funny one.... oh swear word!

Angry - get's my grits, perturbed - ing, frustrating - ed, want to slap someone ( okay, maybe expressing violence isn't so good so I will work on that one), annoyed, furious ( a very good word for extreme anger), irritated, and not necessarily last or least, just plain ole' mad!

To exclaim - Oh wow!, how wonderful, marvelous, fabulous, horrible, awful, terrible, delightful, wicked, evil, charming... this list could go on and on.

So my YAY! for the day goes out to that special someone who is trying to improve. What words do you use to avoid swearing, that don't mirror the words you are are trying to avoid?