Inspired

Today I found some new blogs; just what I needed to inspire some fall decor for September. 

A Creative Mint
Rose Hip
Ann Wood

LOVE the boats.

Red MJs

(You know, because SpiderMan calls her MJ instead of MaryJane.)

I started these cute little booties with my left-over sock yarn for fun, and then when Audrey told us she was expecting, I knew just who they were going to!  So this is part of my Pay It Forward to Audrey, who was one of my first three commenters; I also made her a book bag with the sock monkeys.  Afterall, it's back to school time, and who couldn't use another book bag.  These booties are so cute and easy.  I could have finished them in one night, but I needed a crochet hook to make the button loops, and it took me a few weeks to find it on my craft table!  The buttons are vintage, from my dear grandmother's tin of saved buttons.  I'll definitely make more of these! 

This and That

We've had a weird growing season here in the Metro Denver area. Lots of rain - bonus! Not a lot of sunny - bummer. Finally, I found a red tomato in my yard. How delicious was it?!!? Only the dog knows. That's not a metaphor; luckily I took a picture of it a few days ago.

A generous woman at church invited the boys and me to her home this week. What is the definition of a farm? She grows A LOTof her own veggies and cans most of it, but it's all for her own family. She showed me how to use a pressure cooker, and gave us free access to her green beans and corn. We canned a batch of beans at her house, and a batch of beans at mine, and then I did the last few jars by myself. It is fulfilling to be a little more self-reliant and know that we don't lean so hard on the big machine of society. (Why isn't it called "jarring?")

Oh! I had the most aggravating time yesterday, trying to find school supplies. Apparently I was the nincompoop, waiting until I needed something to buy it. I was informed at the second store, which was completely out of Elmer's glue, that they had put everything on clearance to make room for the holiday stuff. Silly me. By the fourth store, I gave up. Luckily, we pieced most of the list together, but I still have a few things to track down.

Now that school has started, I am looking forward to a little peace and quiet. I am still working on Christmas items, and pleased to be (almost) done with my first of the three PIFs from May. I didn't want to wait a year, so I'm working on them a bit at a time. I'm planning to meet up with Audrey this weekend, and will show you later what I made. (Judy and Cheryl, I haven't forgotten about you!)

I hope you're all enjoying the end of "summer"!

Ice Cream, and the Dual Cable Trifecta

Two of my cousins from Lincoln came to town on Wednesday and it just worked out that we had four tickets to the Rockies game that night. On our way home, we took the scenic route and passed this giant milk jug and BFJ said, "OH!" Apparently he'd been told about this tremendous ice cream but hadn't ever seen the giant milk jug. And then, there we were, so we figured we better stop and get some ice cream. I got chocolate, just plain chocolate, and it really was the best just-chocolate ice cream I'd ever had. (I'm very partial to Haagen-Daz's Belgian Chocolate Chocolate, but this might edge it out... Maybe I should try them both again.) BFJ had Butter Pecan and says it was awesome. One cousin got chocolate, and the other got both mexican chocolate and coconut gelato. I tried the gelato, it was heavenly. I better take my dad there sometime.

Oh shame on me, I forgot to post pictures like I said I would. I made these for the Bijou Basin trunk show, possibly coming to a yarn shop near you. It took me forever to figure out how many stitches to pick up for the scarf but once I got the hang of it, it really flew by. Fingerless gloves - how did I live without them?, a scarf, and there's also a hat but I didn't get a good picture. When there's no adult in the house and you have a postal deadline, you take what you can get!

After finishing these projects, I spent Friday in the basement, cleaning up what is currently my craft area. It is also the laundry room, so I ended up doing some laundry, but it needed to be done. I found all the summer clothes I had confiscated last fall - just in time for the last week of summer break. Oh well. Now everything is straightened and organized. I also took stock of my yarn and pinpointed some holiday projects and the supplies for those projects. We've had some cool nights, lately; it makes the holiday projects a little more fun. (Don't tell BFJ, but I did listen to some Christmas music while I straightened the craft dungeon. He has a strict not-til-October rule.)

Ah Summer

I hope you all had a nice S'mores Day on Monday. We did!

Summer is winding down, here, with less than 20 days left til school starts. Unfortunately, the storm we had a few weeks ago took out a lot of our plants, or at least set their growing season back several weeks. BFJ moved this rose for me at the beginning of the summer and it has never bloomed so much! I guess it needed a new spot. It is either Distant Drums or Distant Thunder, I can't remember which.

I have been working on several knitting projects, and hope to be done with them in time to mail them tomorrow... I hope to share some pictures with you, also. We'll see!

Same Kid

Second summer, second arm, second cast; same kid. At least this time we didn't have to spend 18 hours in the ER.

Accomplishments

So far this week, I don't have a lot checked off the list. There are piles of clothes everywhere but we have all the wedding invitations assembly and addressed,


and I made a sock for Marly.

Monday Funny

I've cut back on soda and brewed myself some green tea instead. Speed insisted on trying it and then said, "It tastes like the zoo smells."

Appetizing.

Contentment and Handmade

You might have noticed I haven't been here much, lately. My sister got engaged! I am pleased to be her Matron of Honor and have been trying to help pin down dresses, locations, invitations, etc. with her. I immediately volunteered to address the invitations, because I LOVE doing that, and no one else seems to... The wedding is in October! Between that, the storm, and being out of town, I just haven't had time to write or read blogs lately. I've also been working on some test knitting, but I think we are getting back to normal around here.


Back when I was starting out as a mom, I really wanted to nurse my kids, but one of my friends told me, "It's so hard, you'll never be able to do it." Of course, that made me more determined to try, but I was really afraid she was right. Luckily I did some research and found a great book about nursing. One thing that stuck with me from that book was the author talking about how being unable to nurse is an American concept. Mothers from most other countries don't have a choice, and don't give it a second thought. I realize some people really have a physical problem with nursing, but most of us have just grown up with everything being easy. And I can't even believe the things my kids are growing up with! Remember when you had to go to the arcade to play video games? Remember when you had to stand in the kitchen while you were on the phone? Remember when you either saw a movie in the theater, or you didn't see it? And when you saw this at 7:00 on a cold Thursday evening, you yelled for your siblings/children to hurry up and get to the couch before the ONE airing of the Charlie Brown holiday special started. Ah, the good ol' days. Yes, this actually brings tears to my eyes.

I was struck recently by a post that Wendy wrote about handmade stuff, and how she sometimes feels downgraded from "woman" to "crafty woman." I don't know that any of my close friends feel this way about me; most of the people in my Inner Circle make their own Something. Although I expressed longing for a dark room recently, and the other party said to me, "Would you want to shear your own sheep and comb the wool, too?" I just might.

We've been tightening the money belt here, and instead of being lazy because it's hot and I put dinner off all day so we go for fast food, I have actually had to make stuff. I really prefer to prepare everything myself, but sometimes I just don't prioritize the way I should. One of my little boys had a birthday this week, and requested homemade chicken noodle soup for his birthday dinner. BFJ was not so thrilled to have this in the middle of the summer, but the poor child had actually been requesting this for weeks, so I agreed. It turned out to be a cool and cloudy evening, so it worked out well. And I have an awesome h.c.n.s. recipe from - guess who - my mom.

Today, I finally got around to making some other favorites, including my own pasta sauce.

Never quite perfect - needs a pinch of salt? and yet, so much better than buying it from the store. And fresh basil. YUMMMMMMM. And now, a nod to my mother-in-law, who raised her son to appreciate actual garlic. Along with my pasta, I had some fresh lemonade and I've just pulled some foccacia from the oven, with rosemary from my garden. I think it is because of this recipe that, when I smell rosemary, my mouth waters. I'm looking forward to breaking off a crusty piece! It's nice to be content with what I have. It makes me feel resourceful, and environmentally responsible, and it makes me feel like a good parent to show my kids that we don't need More.

I am looking forward to giving some handmade gifts this holiday season, and I trust I won't need any of these. I hope my family will know that, were I to be paid for my time, they'd all be getting extravagant gifts! but as it is, they are gifts with a lot of love. And now, for an apology: TWO of my sisters-in-law gave me handmade gifts for Christmas, and as they were garden-related, I did not get pictures of them at Christmas. I'm sorry. But I appreciate them very much, and intend to show you before the garden season is much older.