as cozy as spring

At home

Our peaches are ripening.  It seems early, but the warm winter is to blame (credit?), I suppose!  I'm not complaining.  I had plans for tea cake, but I can't do it.  The peaches are too good to ruin with sugar and butter.

My son checks his blackberries and blueberries first thing in the morning.  

I dismissed the whole notion of "nesting" until yesterday when I found myself compelled to remove, wash, and press all the drapes in the house.  This has not been done in recent memory (based on the state of things), but it seemed like a very good use of time.  These are my daughter's.  I love that fabric.

Also in the laundry (oh good heavens, I'm blogging my laundry) teeny tiny loads of teeny tiny baby clothes!  Yay!

Oatmeal sandwich bread (rolls) for yesterday's dinner and today's ham sandwiches for the children.  I subbed in 1 cup of whole wheat flour for white.  It was finally warm enough yesterday to set the bread on the back porch for a quick rise and my husband was welcomed home to the scent of freshly baked bread instead of you know, the burned frozen pizza of late.   

Fair Isle ends and lots of them!  This project is going with me to the OB this week.  Just out of curiosity, how long does your 'lady doctor' usually take to see you?  I average about an hour and a half wait just to get back to the exam room and then another wait back there.  This would be fine, but my children usually accompany me.  We bring plenty of books and such, but it sure eats up the day.  

Monday at Home

A little reworking of the schedule and I have two (2!) full days at home now most weeks.  This is such a blessing.  I hope I can make the most of them.  I took a nap this morning and I think that's a super start.

I'm hoping to...

• Prepare a lovely, healthy dinner of pasta salad with chicken breast and loads of fresh, chopped vegetables.  We sat down on Friday to a pathetic, emergency dinner of (brace yourself) 4 month old frozen, fried cheese sticks.  We didn't even make to to "and these thy gifts" before cracking up at the absurdity of considering cheese sticks a blessing from the Lord.  They were, of course, on a week when the grocery store fell off the priority list entirely but oh, it seemed a little insulting - like God was thinking, "I want no part of the old, frozen cheese sticks!"  I made a meal plan and did the shopping yesterday so I hope that will make for a smoother week.

• With 3 dance classes, 4 baseball games, and 4 rather stressful doctor's appointments last week, I finished up 5 hand knit socks.  I hope to wrap up pairs this afternoon.  It's a beautiful, cool spring day and I hope to just sit in the garden for awhile and knit.

• Clean up a bit.  We're still in the process of decluttering.  My husband insisted he didn't need to and then we found 8 pairs of his old jeans with unfortunate holes rendering them unsuitable even for a garage sale. I'm trying to think small and just work on a drawer, box, or shelf every day. Every little bit helps!  Even if I can't assess and repurpose a newly empty space, it makes me happy and keeps me going.

• Think about lesson plans for next year.  I would really like to get this squared away before our baby is born.  I hope to begin our next year in July so we can take our usual Christmas and Spring breaks.  My daughter's plan is fairly simple because we've been on track with her for some time.  My son, who will be in second grade, is a little trickier.  I always want to order a boxed curriculum but it doesn't ever seem to work.  Though I'm up for suggestions if anyone has a prepackaged set they just love for second grade.  Isn't CHC's First Communion prep supposed to be brilliant?  Anyway, I'm printing out calendars for July through April to get me thinking.

• My doctor insisted I take it easy for the next few weeks so all gardening is offcially off limits.  I'm bribing the children to weed and plant for me.  My gardening plans are ambitious every year and this year is no exception.  It's hard to say no - to hydrangeas, a new clematis in the most perfect deep pink color, watermelons.  But I'm growing a little baby and there's nothing more exciting than that.

During this long and difficult pregnancy, I have repeated to myself daily, 'When the tomatoes are ripe.  The baby will be born when the tomatoes are ripe."  It seems so much closer that way.  I wandered around this morning and saw several tiny green tomatoes set.  Hardly any time at all. :)

Friday (Not) Morning Book Post

On Sunday I took a look at the schedule and knew it was going to be a rough week.  It ended up quite a bit busier and more stressful than expected.  But we made it through and I've penciled in time to have myself a good cry tomorrow night when all is said and done. My husband has penciled in running an emergency errand tomorrow night.  All coincidence, I'm sure.

I am reading a book every now and then.  It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh.  I've had this for several months but it never really clicked with me.  We're not that bad.  I really do try to keep the clutter to a minimum.  Alas, the prospect of fitting another person in our little home shifted my perspective.  I really do hang on to a bunch of junk.  We already replaced a pricey, but broken coffee maker and yet I hadn't thrown the old one out, thinking that it might heal itself if it sat in the cabinet long enough?  I don't know.  I've been pretty surprised at how much space I've been able to clear and am excited about continuing.  Walsh writes about how most people decide on where to put stuff the day they move in and that's what happened with us.  So no, not everything is perfectly placed.  It really does help me to imagine an empty space and think clearly about how best to utilize it.  This weekend, I hope to tackle the bookshelves.  This is entirely unrealistic and has zero chance of actually happening, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

That's all for today!  I hope you have a lovely weekend, friends!

Diversions: English Paper Piecing

 

This started out with the realization that, despite my best efforts, I have accumulated both a yarn and a fabric stash.  This became glaringly obvious when it seemed logical to store the yarn and fabric in bins in my unused bathtub.  This way lies Hoarders, y'all.  Something had to be done.

I spent a few days sorting fabric.  First up: I ditched the fabric I no longer liked.  I folded and sorted any yardage I still planned to use.  Remaining were many tiny scraps that I absolutely loved.  I didn't want to trash them, even though some are super tiny.  Enter the hexagon.  Perfect solution.  I am snipping and basting all of those precious, tiny scraps into hexagons.  The best part?  It's all hand sewn.  I appreciate my sewing machine, but I much prefer hand sewing.  

I'm not 100% sure how these are all going to come together, which is why they aren't sewn into any pattern yet.  I'm curious to see whether I will love a finished project made entirely of much loved, but random components or if I will want to sort them by color.

This will probably be in the works for some time - especially since I have no idea what it ultimately will be- but it has been lots of fun to turn a bin full of wrinkled, frayed scraps into something pretty and functional.  Win.

The scrap bin.

The scrap pile.  I did decide to work on this whilst my husband is on a business trip because I knew it would get messy.  Also, knowing I wouldn't finish, I committed to sorting the scraps into color groups and stashing them in ziploc baggies accordingly so I could easily pick it up at a later date.

Seriously, what else am I going to do with a piece like this?

I made my first hexagons a summer or two ago using this tutorial, but think I do it differently now.  I baste them all down first and whether you go through the paper or not seems to be a matter of taste.  I do not.  A quick search will return many tutorials.

I plan on tackling the yarn next.  It is a small bin, but it is a bin and exceeds my comfort level. 

A Little Nursery

We live in a smallish home meaning I have to be careful about what I bring into it, but it is also more than enough space for our smallish family.  This baby, however, will not be getting an entire room to herself.  Our other two children bunked with us for months, if not years, so I'm not at all concerned about it.

I did carve out a little corner for her.  Her new quilt hangs on the wall above the cradle that my father made to hold our babies.  The cradle is filling up with hand knits and hand-me-downs (and a handmade book just for her, written by her sister).  I moved my chair next to the cradle for feedings.  It is all very cozy and sweet and a little unrealistic.  The cradle will end up smooshed beside my bed for months for nighttime feedings.  The clothes should be sorted into a temporary dresser set while the baby stays in our room. And I dearly hope the quilt will be used outside on the grass this summer while we all enjoy the mornings in the garden (with coffee I hope!) before the days heat up too much.

Quilt notes: I fell in love with this fabric line when it came out last year, but I thought it was a little too little for my not so little children.  So I jumped at the chance to sew with it for my baby.  The blocks are mostly simple nine patch blocks with one oddball because that's how I do things.  I used 2.5 inch sashing between and really fussed trying to make it all straight and square.  I'm glad I spent the extra time with my seam ripper to make it as neat as I could.  Quilting was just casual meandering, but not too closely as I wanted to keep some softness and drape.

The punch line is that my not-so-little 11 year old daughter loves it and wants it for herself.  We shall see.  This was a joy to make and I have no problem sewing another quilt.  

Now I should probably start thinking about a car seat.  

Amaryllis

 

A Clean Kitchen

A couple of people asked about my clean kitchen notecard.  It's really pretty basic.  I have five four (I miscounted) tasks I run through four times a day.  This keeps it, more or less, presentable and peaceful.

1. Put away food
2. Collect, wash, put away dishes so that the sink is empty and clean. We don't have a dishwasher, so this step is easy to do after every meal.
3. Wipe counters and cabinet fronts
4. Sweep the floor

That's really it.  I go through my card at 8:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, and 8:00pm (or just after breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner).

I've been able to manage a more thorough cleaning the night I take out the garbage.  Those evenings, I check the fridge and pantry for leftovers, expired foods or empty containers that my children refuse to throw away.  I wipe down the fridge and mop the floors.

And that's all!  I'd share the other rooms, but they aren't as streamlined yet. We have regular days for certain rooms - the children's rooms are always cleaned on Fridays ("always" meaning if I both remember and have time). Sheets are washed Friday.  I iron Saturday morning.  I'm still tinkering a bit with everything else to see where it fits best in our new weekly layout.

Spring Snowdrops

 

I planted these several years ago and they are blooming for the first time this year; pure white twirly corollas with green kissed tips.  

I'm still sick and losing patience with my immune system.  I've spent the last few days alternating drinking hot coffee with failed attempts at falling asleep while my children watch The Cosby Show on DVD.  Not days to be proud of, but boy, that is such a great show.  It's so much funnier to watch now that I'm a parent.

I'm going to go back to neglecting my parental duties.  Happy Tuesday friends!

I've been here all day.

We all camped out here today with new school books (and a fun one for me), Journey North, a mitten pattern and a warm fire.  

A couple of fun links: Lissa sent me to PragmaticMom last week.  I spent a good bit of time there over the weekend.  Excellent resource for book information and educational games.  And Haley sent me to Smitten Kitchen in search of the homemade Ding Dong cake. I do, as I mentioned, love Ding Dongs, but I'm too afraid to eat them more than once every other year or so and only if my husband buys them for me.  I'm so making this!  Soon.  Did y'all see how late Lent starts this year? 

OK, it's getting chilly over here.  I'm headed back to the fire.

In the Office

Thank you all for your comments on the last post.  I hesitate to post about potentially divisive topics because I don't really have the time or temperament to discuss them.  I would assume everyone who reads here knows where I stand on things and it seems there are many people out there who share my thoughts.  That's rather comforting!

When I refer to these rooms in my blog posts, it's categorically speaking because really, it's all the same room.  We have a petite maison.  

For no particular reason, I decided to get my personal office stuff in order.  Usually this is prompted by the despair that only comes from a missing document (kindly read in a menacing tone).  Two things I then added to cart last week:

Michele's Small Catholic Day Planner.  Just wonderful.  I need to have a spiral bound calendar to carry 'round in my purse.  This one is particularly helpful in listing all the liturgical dates and details - I used it during prayer last night as it was late and I could not remember what week of Ordinary Time it was.  Ah ha!  It's on my calendar.  I still somehow managed to think February was about three weeks away instead of tomorrow. But I can't blame the calendar for that.  

Quicken - I used this years ago and loved it.  But when my computer died, I didn't buy a new copy.  I spent all of Saturday staring at categories.  I manage our family's finances and think I do a pretty good job but there were some dizzy moments as I saw everything illustrated on a pretty pie chart (and no, it had nothing to do with yarn).  I had the sudden desire to clip coupons and I guarantee that has never happened before.

I also started sorting through tax documents which is always fun.  

This overflowed to the schoolroom too and we're staying a little more on task.  I have this dreadful feeling that I'm failing Kindergarten.  We're just not having the year I wanted for my son.  I was thrilled to see him finish the first Faith and Freedom reader on Saturday.  I think he's fine but.  I can't finish that sentence.  I'm not 100% sure what it is I feel is lacking and I'm wearing myself out trying to provide it.