Why to toddlers feel the need to draw on themselves with any available writing utensil? It's not like we have no paper or coloring books. Do they have some aversion to clean skin? You would think I might have some insight here after 5 kids. It's not like he is the first to do this, nor is this his first try at self body art.
At least he doesn't hunt down pencils and eat the erasers like his co-conspirator loves to do.
This year the boys were excited to usher in the autumnal equinox with a bit of egg balancing:) The theory of course is that it's easier to balance an egg on the spring or fall equinox due to the earth rotating straight on it's axis for a brief time. Not sure how scientific this is, but they enjoyed themselves, and yes, they did get an egg to stand on end. Several times:)
Finding a level surface in a century+ home, not so easy.
This is what arrived at my door today. This crate contains 500 tulip bulbs in two different color blends and now is the time to plant, at least in my area. No way I'm planting them one at a time in their own separate holes, that would take an eternity and I'd likely lose track of where I was in the pattern partway through and end up with gaps.
The answer for this many bulbs is a trench. The area I want to fill is nearly 60' long and runs just inside our front fence. As mentioned in a previous post, we had this area filled with wave petunia's and other annuals this year. This looked good and was mostly maintenance free for much of the season, but as the summer wore on it began to look faded and sparse. I'm hoping for a bigger punch of color next year with the tulips.
Once I had all the topsoil out, I simply walked along and set out the bulbs, simple and quick. I want a big impact when they bloom, so I put 300 bulbs down the middle and 100 bulbs of a different blend on each end. Both should bloom at the same time and I'm hoping for a real traffic-stopping display.
After setting the bulbs out, the soil was shoveled and raked back in. This part turned out to be the most labor intensive and I was so happy to be done! All this took about 3 hours working intermittently. I have toddlers, nothing gets done all at once around here.
Well the summer is winding down and even though it never really got hot and stayed there, I did manage to grow a few things in my new garden. I'm still waiting on a few hundred tomatoes to ripen, but I'm not holding my breath. I will use them up, just not as sauce.
In the meantime, I've decided it's time to clean up, amend, and expand. Lucky for me I have several sources of manure close by and some great neighbors willing to help haul it for me. Best of all, the manure is already well aged and broken down, a perfect soil amendment.
So yesterday was spent hauling and shoveling shit, literally:) We managed to get 3 truck loads, plus a loader bucket full before our friend had to get back to work.
Losing weight is a wonderful feeling, until the jeans start sliding off your rump and all your shirts look like tents. Most women would be thrilled to go shopping for new clothes, I'm not most women. I do like new clothes, I just don't like trying stuff on, this has been a problem in the past. I can't tell you how many clothes I've donated with the tags still on or that I picked up second hand but never wore. I have finally learned to try on everything first, but it's exhausting:(Today I went on the hunt for jeans that fit, and hunt I did. I've been searching for a few weeks at thrift stores and yard sales, hoping I wouldn't have to buy new, after all I'm not done with my weight-loss journey. Seems kind of silly to buy new and shrink out of them in a month or two, but I finally realized how silly I looked with my super baggy rear-end jeans and I'm getting tired of holding them up.
After trying on several pair I came to two conclusions; I'm smaller than I thought in more ways than one and designers are clearly not thinking of me. Not only is my waist smaller, so it would seem is my stature. Regular jeans are too long, petite are too short. gah! Then there is the tush and leg problem, my waist hasn't quite caught up, so if it fit my waist the legs looked ginormous and frumpy.
After trying on several women's jeans I happened to notice a junior-plus pair hanging in the changing area. They had a skinny leg and looked about right for length so I thought, what the heck? Wouldn't you know it....they fit:/ After that I went shopping in the juniors section and was surprised to find things that fit, but the style........not so much. Almost everything is low-rise and the finish looks terrible. Why would I want to buy something with holes already in it or loose threads hanging out?
After much back and forth and many pairs tried on, I finally found jeans I can live with for now. Still a little short in the waist, but the legs fit good and they don't look too grungy. I could also have gone with a size smaller, these just won't fit for long, but I could not bring myself to buy jeans that look a thousand years old or cause crack back.
Since March of this year I am proud to say I have dropped from a 22W down to either an 18 junior or 16W, depending on style or manufacturer. I still have about 78lbs to go, that should make shopping a little easier, right?
Antique folding rocker found at a junk sale for just $2.00! Needs a few minor cosmetic repairs, but it's solid and just beautiful. We also picked up a maple drop-leaf table with two extra leaves for $40.00. Much nicer than what we had, fits the room better, and it gives us more room at dinner time. Now if I could just find some nice chairs to go with......
I downloaded the pattern for this little birdy from Bustle and Sew. I had thought of making a series in different color schemes for a table runner or quilt, but now I'm not so sure. It's cute and sort of primitive, but I don't love it. Perhaps a pillow?
This crewel work was a kit I picked up at a thrift store. You can find these kits cheap at yard sales and second hand stores and while they are often from the 1970's with garish colors, sometimes they don't totally suck. I took my time working on this one over the moth of August. I'd love to make a pillow and display it in my living room, but I'm afraid my kids would just ruin it. One of these days this house will be mine to decorate with all the pretty things I have to hide away for now.
