“Hello,” as my dad says, “from Smallville!” ‘Cause that’s where I live too. And I like it 
here. Sometimes the world just seems too big ~ but the bigger it gets, the smaller I get ~ because here in Smallville, it’s always a nice day. There’s plenty to do in Smallville too … it’s not a boring place.
Things that don’t count in the big world are EVERYTHING here. When the world tries to get into Smallville and upset the smallness, I shut it out, turn on the MUSICA (listening to this now), light a fire (hearing it crackle), watch the birds busy at the feeders (peep-peep), and do what needs to be done.
Like cleaning shelves. Nothing more common sense than this, sometimes it needs to be done. I give myself a sense of purpose and accomplishment by getting the cooking juices off 
my shelves with a hot soapy cloth; washing dishes (I wash the ones with gold trim on them by hand) and putting them back on the shelves, shiny and clean. Standing back and looking at my handiwork and saying, “ahhhh, look at that sparkle!” I’m always happiest when my corner of the world is clean and organized and a new year for me always includes organization, which my mom says, is the key to success.
Some of the dishes are washed by hand, and these just came out of the dishwasher.
It’s before dawn and my audience is very quiet, just waking up, she pussyfoots around. No loud applause. Just purring.
And speaking of organization . . .
The other thing I wanted to share with you is an organizing thing that has turned out to be SO GOOD I had to tell you about it. I had this old (no longer in print) unused address book lying around, so I grabbed it and turned it into a brand new thing.
It’s now my “Internet Address and Password Log Book.” Before I thought of this, I had all my 
websites and passwords written, but not alphabetized, on four pieces of paper (adding more pages all the time) that got limper and more tattered and worn by the day; torn on the fold and messy with additions and pencil smears ~ I would have to “re-do” the whole thing every so often.
Now I have a real book I can put everything in. Like here, under C, the phone number and email address for Customer Service at my Studio.
It’s a hard-cover book with alphabet tabs that keep everything I need right at my fingertips.
For instance, under M, for Mom, here are all the websites, user names and passwords I need in order to pay my mom’s bills online. There are copies of her two credit cards, in case I need them. (These pages look a lot better in real life than they do in these photos ~ I didn’t think it would be very smart for me to show the world my passwords so I sort of squiggled them out; I knew you would be proud of me for the quick thinking.)
Under G is my Google Password, and all my contacts with the people at Gladys Taber, my Gmail and Goodreads Passwords too. Under S, I have web addresses for all the online places I like to Shop, passwords and usernames for shoes and sweaters and art supplies (sometimes I cross-reference and put art supplies under A, or U for Utrecht); under P, I have my Pinterest and Paypal account numbers . . . under C I have my Computer fix-it people, my Credit Card account numbers and contacts, and so on. I can pack this book up and take it with me no matter where I go! Very handy don’t you think? SO much better than my previous way of doing it.
I thought maybe this was something you might want to do. And, just in case you don’t have an old address book lying around . . .
I do! Two in fact, you can choose! You like yellow? We have yellow. You like blue? We have blue!
Both come complete with alphabet tabs . . .
They’re both in full color, binder style, they come with lots of pages. I blow on my fingernails, polish them on my sweater, say to myself, Brilliant! It makes me feel good to be organized.
And if you like it too, I have something for you!
A new drawing for these two “Internet Address Books,” one for our lucky winner, and one for the lucky winner to give away to her lucky friend! All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered into the drawing. (NOTE: If the blog is mailed to you, you might not see a place to leave a comment, go directly to www.162.240.10.175/~susanbs3/susanbranch/, scroll to the bottom of this post, look for the tiny word “Comments” at the very end in tiny grey letters, click there to comment so you’re entered into the drawing.) Vanna (she’s our virtual in-house Game Girl and “random number generator,” although she would hate to be called this) is on high alert, ready to do her job in a few days, to choose the winner.
So here in Smallville, all is well, even though it’s freezing outside . . .
And everything is coated in this crisp frozen-on snow crust . . .
The wind whistles and the shutters bang and ice crystals grace all our upstairs windows ~
Inside Smallville, it’s 72°, it’s organized (within reason) and as flowery and summer-like as I need it to be while I paint for our new 2016 calendars.♥
Last but not least, I realize there’s not enough Kitty Love in this post, in case you need a fix, go HERE, for full and complete inundation.♥
And a reminder of the best of the little things in life:
A kitty will make you laugh every day and that is simply priceless. Love you Girlfriends. ♥ Don’t forget to leave your comment. Have a wonderful day! All my love from Smallville, USA. XOXO
cut glass, etched glass, sparkling glass ~ it’s the reason I watch, besides the clothes, the jewelry, the views of England, the history, and the witty repartee ~ but this brick house is my favorite ~ Violet’s (the Dowager Countess’s) is the one I would take if they offered me my choice. Yes, much more than Downton Abbey itself. That’s just too much house for me. 
Here are the downstairs characters . . . Alfred has gone off to cooking school, Ivy’s gone and Edna is evil and gone too, but now we have Phyllis Baxter, who is Cora’s lady’s maid and just gave away the secret that Barrow was holding over her head.
