as cozy as spring

Experiments

"The first of June; the Kings are off to the seashore to-morrow, and I' m free!  Three months' vacation! how I shall enjoy it!" exclaimed Meg, coming home one warm day....

-Little Women

We are facing three months free from extracurricular obligations and I while I do have goals regarding education, there is the constant threat of boredom when we spend all day at home.  I've already heard the phrase, "I don't have anything to do" far too many times just today (oh how I hate that phrase!).  My 4yo is particularly dependent on me for entertainment.  My daughter, however, has already decided to (like Jo) learn 'plain cooking' for her holiday task.  She has mastered applesauce, grilled cheese, quesadillas and even risotto.  This morning, we had a lesson in buttermilk pancakes ( from Joy of Cooking, best ever).  I admit to emphasizing the importance of cleaning after oneself after cooking.  My parents are probably doubled over laughing now, as I was not known for cleaning up after my own kitchen experiments.  

I'm keeping with my New Year's Resolution of trying new things.  I ceased writing about it here when my "new thing" was taking my son to the emergency room for pneumonia in February.  Lately, I am riding a bike and roller-blading every day.  These are things I haven't regularly done in ten years but I love, love, love having them as a part of my day now.

I added a skill to my knitting repertoire I thought to be impossible with children - lace!  Apparently, if you dangle a drawing for free yarn in front of me, I can do anything.  As part of the Sunshine Yarnies group on Ravelry, I completed the May Lace KAL with the Brambler scarf from Anne Hanson.  The pattern was lovely.  I'm already eyeing the Fiddlehead Scarf.

Started - May 5

Finished - May 31

Pattern - Brambler

Yarn - Sunshine Classic in Emerald

* I made it quite a bit longer than the pattern suggested, somewhere around 72 inches I think.

Boy, it was hard to get a good photo.  This one was taken by my 8yo. Seriously don't like this picture of myself, but I also think scarves look better actually on someone.

Wrapping this up!  I read this on the internet this morning.  I know nothing about ticks or Lyme disease and found this particularly terrifying/informative, especially as I am planning on canoeing and camping this summer.

Homemade Yogurt - Week 7, I think.

My daughter is sitting behind me eating my second batch of homemade yogurt.  She sort of cringes after each bite and then gives me an encouraging smile.  Clearly yogurt making is not as foolproof as the internet would like you to believe.

I ordered the EuroCuisine Yogurt Maker with an Amazon gift card thinking it would:

1) Provide my children with a healthier snack

2) Save us tons of money on yogurt

3) Reduce our impact by eliminating all the plastic containers

4) Satisfy the cravings of my inner mad scientist

Option 4 was the deciding factor and I'm glad because I'm not yet saving any money at all.  And yes, I know, I know - I read all the articles on how you can make yogurt on a heating pad but I tend to actually sleep on my heating pad and it reminded me of one of the few "Seinfeld" episodes I saw where Kramer was making salad in the shower. 

Batch 1 - I had grand dreams and used the last of our summer berry jam to flavor the milk.  I think I overheated the milk and ended up with highly separated yogurt - curds and whey.  It was tasty, but odd.

Batch 2 - A bit smoother, with absolutely no flavor.  I don't want to over sweeten it and tinkering with the recipe is a bit more wasteful than I'd like.  I can use this batch for smoothies.

Any recipes out there, friendly readers?  Because my daughter has ingested all she can stand and has moved on to M&Ms.  

The Baby is Married

We didn't need Disneyland or Sea World.  We didn't make it to the San Diego Zoo.  We just barely made it to the beach.  It rained every single day, almost all day, while we were there, but there was enough light and joy coming each other to make it one of the best vacations.  

It will come as no surprise to long time readers that I love, really love, my brothers and sisters.  And with two brothers in the Navy and sisters living far away, a gathering including all of the original six is a rare occurrence.  The weekend passed in a blur of laughter, far too much completely sober dancing and far, far too much video and photographic evidence of said dancing. 

And with this wedding, we added another sister to our family and in turn infinitely more.

I did get about ten minutes on the beach thanks to my incredibly generous husband who had to deal with me saying, "Honey, I don't know what the plans are for today, we just need to roll with it." every single day.  He made sure I did all the things I really wanted to do including meeting a few new-old friends (and Erica who is one of the kindest and most gracious ladies I have ever had the pleasure of meeting).  Thank you all for the wonderful afternoon friends!  Pictures later if I can get caught up on everything else.  

My "new things" last week:

Visit California, make a bridal bouquet, laugh so hard I gave myself a headache, learn to say "yes" in Laotian, take my children to the ocean and many other things as well.  

Too dizzy and tired to proofread, but that's not new at all.

Remembering Summer Colors (and Week 5)

I am closely eyeing our hyacinths.  There is the tiniest bit of pink petals peeking out from within the deep folds in the leaves.   I am always a bit shocked at all the lush color when I look through my stored photos.  Was the world really ever that green?

And because I don't know when I'll be back on the computer, I'll put my Week 5 challenge up now - playing the piano properly.  I have always played the piano - badly, very badly.  I can read music.  I can manage to play a song every so often, but I never really learned the correct technique.  As we have enrolled little Lucy in piano courses, I thought I'd have her repeat what she learns in class with me.  And we both play a bit each day.  It's not particularly exciting, but I'll put in some time now learning the basics and hopefully in a few years I will have improved.  Might as well take that first step now.

Week Four, Giant Bore

My something new for last week (I'm running behind because this was so boring, but it still counts.).

I learned how to do a rolled hem on my sewing machine.  That's all.  

And also - I've found myself sort of overwhelmed by the computer lately - the blog is one thing, but emails and Twitter (which I'm kind of on, but not really) and Flickr and the 2-3 thousand blogs I read.  Whew!  It's just a lot.  Our schedule is fairly busy lately, so if I'm not here as much, it's not you.  It's me.  Really. :)

Enhancing my domestic resume with orchids - Week 3

My next challenge this year is to add orchid grower to my list of conquered domestic tasks.  When I worked in a nursery, I spent a good deal of time caring for several different types of orchids so the knowledge is there, if not the experience.

I got a couple of out of bloom Phalaenopsis orchids for free so there's no reason not to stick them in my south facing kitchen window, hoping they enjoy the daily steam bath from my dishwater.  Truthfully, I don't much care for tropical flowers of any kind (though the mere thought of the smell of jasmine on an early summer evening is making me sigh contentedly - can you imagine?)  Anyway, I prefer mountain flora.  But you never know what you might try and love, so I'll do this just because.  And the roots are gorgeous.  I think I'll take you on a photographic tour of my favorite garden roots someday soon.  That will surely send my blog stats through the roof. ;)

Week One - Caramel

I am toying with challenging myself to try something new every week this year.  Which is actually nothing new in itself, but it would be official.  But then I thought that this is one of those good ideas that dies in follow through.  But then I thought "Well, if I never try I'm guaranteed to fail."  And then I thought "Let's make caramel!"

I stumbled upon Fleur De Sel Caramels at Epicurious last night. It's good, but not great.  It's missing something.  More salt?  Vanilla extract - surely not.  I don't know.  And then I thought, "Maybe 'Buddy's Mommy' has a good caramel recipe.". I clicked over and found just that.  I should have asked her first.  These are perfect in color and texture but not tasty enough to justify the splurge, so I will probably just dispose of them in the garbage rather than in my stomach. 

New for next week: Try a new hat pattern with a top down construction.  My babies need new hats.  I saw this hat almost a year ago at Grace's and loved her version.  And oh too funny!  I just re-read her post and realized I unintentionally chose Manos del Uruguay yarn as well.  In cotton though, for my boy and his sensitive skin.