Actual Knitting Content

I have been avoiding sock #2 in this pair for months now. I just haven't felt like knitting. I have felt like sewing, but haven't had the time nor the budget to go shopping for materials. So I'm kind of in this weird crafting limbo. But I finally got inspired about a week ago to pull these out again and finished the top and then pulled them out a day ago to knit the heel flap and turn the heel. Now all I have left is the decreasing and the foot and toe and I am done! Yay me!



and in kid news, we made it over to Whole Foods today (we only go once a month at most because it is a bit of a drive) and, for the first time ever, found a rice based yogurt for B. Poor guy is very dairy sensitive (he breaks out in eczema and can't digest it so he is up screaming in the night) and soy affects him (and the rest of us) badly too so we generally stick to Rice Dream around here, but so far no yogurt. They had this brand at Whole Foods today and I bought some. It has an odd brown color, a bit of a watery testure (like Rice Dream) but it tastes pleasant although not exactly like regular yogurt. He seemed to like it enough to eat half the container. Not bad for a 2yo.

Today's letterboxing

I had to share this because the stamp is so beautiful.

Here's the view:



Here's the stamp:

And here's the vantage point (with 2 adorable models, if I do say so)

Biscotti and coffee

the breakfast of champions!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day, Thursdays get like that. I feel the pull of cooking most on Thursday and I don't know why. I should figure out how to harness that.

I pulled the rest of the chard out of the garden yesterday morning because it was bolting over and over again, clearly summer has set in. So the kids and I pulled it up, cleaned it and I made chard soup with it. But one of the ingredients in my chard soup is sorrel, or if sorrel is unavailable, juice from one lemon. Well I only had one left and didn't want to waste the zest, so of course I needed to bake biscotti. I also made a summer vegetable stew with some garden gatherings and had enough zucchini left over from that to make zucchini bread. Since that is a good breakfast over here for Z who refuses to eat eggs, or pretty much most breakfast foods except for toast or bagels, I made a loaf to put away slices for breakfasts.

I also needed to make cornbread to accompany the chard soup. So my oven was on for 3+ hours on a hot day. Did I mention I have no air conditioning? But there was dinner when we came home from our playdate and there was breakfast this morning and leftovers for lunch today and biscotti for DH to take to work, have for Shabbat treat tonight and a couple to have with my coffee this morning.

I have never had a garden like the one I have now. I have planted a few things here and there over the years, but this is my very first garden and I am overjoyed with how it is working. I love going out there and picking what is fresh and ready to use to cook with. So much more inspiring then the grocery store.

Off to the zoo

We headed off to the zoo today for another school summer outing. This one was poorly attended. Is it strange that the only people who seem to show up at these are the people who were in Z's class last year? The whole school is invited. Maybe I need to get a life. Well, another one anyway.

Here is B watching the giraffes:

"Where should we go from here?"

I have another of us feeding the giraffes, but mostly it focuses on my big ol' butt, so you shall be spared.

Going on an Expotition

...but not to the North Pole. Actually it is what Z calls Letterboxing. Today we went on a letterboxing expotition that had 3 boxes along the trail. Well it was supposed to...

1st box:



I forgot to take a picture of the squirrel hole in the tree where letterbox#2 was supposed to be. But this bent over tree is where letterbox #3 is supposed to be.



It was located in a place the person who left the letterboxes calls "Hawk's Nest Village" Here's a sample of what you see when you look up. There are quite a few of these.



And here are 2 boys resting on a fallen log after a long hike and a fruitless search.

Photos by Z

So sometimes the kids take off with my cell phone and take pictures. And I trash most of them because they are pictures of fingers or blurry undecipherable things. But a few I save and they give me a peek into their perspective.

Here is a photo of B walking through the garden taken by Z.




And here is one of Z's cars in a very funny (to me) pose.


"Hey baby, can I check your oil?"

School at the beach

Well a School Community Day at the beach anyway. It is really wonderful that Z's school tries to keep up some level of community even over the summer. They have a Wednesday Beach Day every week until school starts and we all meet up at the beach and play with school friends.

It is notoriously difficult to get pictures of kids at play anyway, add sand and hats for sun protection and you get a vague idea of what the kids look like LOL.

Here is Z and his classmate playing:

And here is the back of B's head as he watches his big brother and friend playing at the water's edge. Can you guess where we took off to about a minute later?

And, just because it amuses me, Here is the chard I got out of the garden the other day:

We ate up every bite of it. It took a few days.

The Fairy House and other sundries

So much going on and so little time or opportunity to write. My dad and his wife were in town (Hi!!) this past weekend and it was wonderful to have them here. Unfortunately for them, the day they were due to arrive, I dragged myself to the doctor for a combo corneal abrasion/eye infection which left me unable to even leave a darkened room for 2 days due to pain (unless you count the doctor visit) I still can't go into heavy sunlight for an extended period because my eyes just wear right out

Today we went to the park and I sat in the shade and the boys played around me. They rode their bikes, chased birds and made fairy houses. Here is one:



Z has also taking a liking to tree climbing, mostly because there is a very climbable tree at one of the parks we frequent. For my Dad, here is photographic proof of him in a tree! LOL



I promise a longer post soon. With non-cellphone pictures!

Wrapping up school

A kid and craft post all in one today because Friday was Rainforest Animal Project Day at Z's school. And Z's animal was the Spectacled Owl. So I designed (my very first design!) a felt owl to sew and we made a diorama for it which Z did almost all the work on (I help with the tougher sewing on the owl and sawing the branch and writing the bigger words onto the leaf cutouts so they would fit, but Z did everything else entirely)

First is the Owl hand puppet



And then here is the diorama in the classroom. The Owl was in its diorama rarely because everyone wanted to fly him around the room. Hee!



All that is left of school is game day (today), tomorrow's promotion ceremony and the last day of school at the beach on Friday. And then kindergarten is over. *sigh*

Still nothing really to post about.

But here's a pic of B! (My current pics of Z involve most of his classmates and they may not like me posting them here)

In Z news though, we have signed him up for 2 classes this summer, including swim lessons for two weeks in August with his good friend and tennis lessons starting next week (he seems to enjoy it whenever he gets a chance to play). I'm trying to keep the summer pretty low key. Lots of outdoor time, not a whole lot of scheduled activities but regular ones like pool on Monday, park on Tuesday, playdate on Wednesday, etc etc., that sort of thing.

And I'm excited to see what school next year brings. He will likely be going to a male teacher who is new to the school (but not to teaching) and is apparently very musical and also very interested in outdoor education, both things I am interested in more then the classroom based, recorded music based learning he has had this year. Fingers crossed on this one for sure! I don't mean to be mean about it (altough that kind of sounded it) but I really think that children should be making the music they sing, not singing along to recordings.

Happy Father's Day

a day late, but we were off celebrating yesterday. Brunch out, then a little Sporting Goods store window shopping and then a full afternoon at the beach running in the shallow parts and digging in the sand and exploring for rocks, shells and beach glass. But I have been bad about bringing the camera with me lately, so I have no photographic evidence of this.

My favorite parts though?

-B saying 'mere ocean. 'mere

-Z running in the surf with DH trying to find cool rocks. And of course each one was cooler then the one before it. I never thought he cuold sustain that for hours, but then again, I guess I forgot to account for the fact that he is 6!

-DH finally getting his dual line delta stunt kite up in the air. He has been trying for ages to do it and had so little luck that it was pretty exciting that he finally did it.

Kid pics

Because sometimes family wants to see them and can't figure out Flickr (seriously, just sign up with your Yahoo ID, let me know, and then I can make you a friend and then you can see all my Flickr pictures. Just saying.)


Retrieving a toy car from in the flower bed


Playing with aforementioned car


Climbing on the table to get hold of the good art pencils. (And no that is not a real Chagall on the piano LOL)

All by himself

Someone loves playing Lincoln Logs with his brother. He's getting pretty good at it too!

Bedding and Mending

First the new beds for Z and B



The side rails for the top bunk make the perfect toddler bed rails. Funny how much more comfortable the mattress is when it is on a decent bed.



And then Z's newest project - counted cross stitch. This all got started when he saw me sitting and mending a shirt of his and he wanted to get in on the sewing game. So he ran and got his sewing basket, but he didn't have any projects in progress.



He's been wanting to do embroidery but getting frustrated with me because I won't let him start sewing on whatever he picks up (washcloths, baby clothes, etc) So I got him started on a ladybug start-to-embroider kit that I bought a few months ago knowing that he would be asking soon to start. He took to it quickly and with much aptitude. He has always really enjoyed sewing, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but the kit says it is for ages 8 and up. I know an Aunt of his who will be pleased to share this hobby!

Garden Blog?

Apparently that is what this is morphing into. There really hasn't been much knitting the last few months, just sewing and gardening. Unless you count the sock I picked up and did a 20 row repeat on last Thursday for knit night. At the rate I'm going with it, I bet it will be ready for next winter. Maybe. Which reminds me, I actually made it to a knit night!!! Thanks hon!

In the meantime, look what popped up in the garden this morning - zucchini flowers!



And the tomato plant has been working steadily on these:



And last, but not least, as my children (and their friend) will attest, when you find a train climber at the park, crawl under it and find the best place in the whole park to play.



On the agenda today? New beds for the boys! We bought them over the weekend and they are slated to be delivered this afternoon. Woohoo!

Love Garden

I can't believe how much I am enjoying gardening this year. I loved working in the compost, and giving the blank canvas of soil water, I loved planting seeds inside, I loved buying seedlings, I loved watching everything find a new home and planting them in and I am really loving watching it all explode from the ground. Both the vegetables in the back bed and the roses and flowers in the front. And the pots surrounding the playhouse which I am hoping will be covered in morning glories and surrounded by sunflowers and calendula and zucchini and lamb's ear and Hopi red dye amaranth and sage and... Here is B next to the lamb's ear and half an empty planter which will not be empty for long (pole beans? more morning glories?)

I bought a giant half wine barrel and I am planning to plant something climbing (maybe fuschia?) and then some trumpet vine in the planter at the back near the Mexican Marigold.

And here is Z with scissors. He is a bit outdoors-ed out since he has had school every day for the last two school weeks at one park or another while the older grades are participating in STAR Testing. But we had a playdate this afternoon and he had a great time painting and putting on an "art show" with his friend (and little brother although that part wasn't planned)

Man in the Moon

And here he is. The Man in the Moon mobile that I made for Z's room. I ran out of stuffing, so it took awhile before I could finish it, but here he is in his recently hung glory! He is made from wool roving and the stars and moon are made from wool felt. B keeps pointing to him and saying "cool!" so I think he rates. LOL

In other news, we had dinner from the garden last night with a green salad and pasta with chard. So cool! (to borrow a phrase from my 2yo)



The garden is fairly well bursting from the ground. I even bought more planters yesterday because we are running out of room at a crazy rate. I forgot tomato cages, so I need to get back there today because the tomato plants are getting huge. The broccoli is huge too and I had to spray a garlic oil/clove oil combo on it yesterday because they had mealybugs. Ugh. The bugs are kind of embarrassing. The seamy underbelly of gardening I suppose. I took a picture, but I think I'll just keep it to myself. Trust me on that one. ::shudder::

Blur in Yellow and Blue

Here is the blur in a rare still moment.

And then I asked him to please hold still. This is the picture after that.

Star of the Week

This week Z was Star of the Week in his class at school, so we made up a poster of photos and packed up 5 of his favorite things to share and we went to celebrate him. And wow! was he amazing! He read, played chords on his guitar, showed off his trains, talked about his photos and shared his paper airplanes book. He then got to help me (and DH for a time) lead a center on making paper airplanes. He was interesting and excited to share and just seemed to blossom right there in front of all his friends. And the paper airplane center was fantastically popular. Kids kept "finishing" their other centers early to return to ours. So instead of 5 kids around the table we always had at least 10 and often more!



He had a really good time and, for once, when he was asked how was school today, he answered "Fun!" instead of "booooooring..." But they are off to a fantastic storytelling festival on a field trip today, so I expect we'll be back to boring by pickup time! LOL

Here we go round the Maypole high

Let Colored ribbons fly!

This is what the Nature Table looked like this morning to greet the day.

And even the little nature table in Z's room got some fresh flowers to celebrate.

And this is the chard we harvested from our garden and ate. Yum!