"She refused to be bored, chiefly because she wasn't boring." Zelda Fitzgerald

Monday, April 28, 2014

Staying Outdoors Longer

We are spending all our time outdoors on every single warm day, soaking up every drop of sunshine, slowly mustering up tans and freckles and ignoring the dirty floors and the poor, sad houseplants.On cold days we feel dejected and don't even look out the windows, we curl up with good books and drink more tea and pretend it isn't spring yet, refusing to go out in the bitter chill and feel cheated when the wind is way colder than it looked and a hoodie isn't warm enough. Its that mid-ground season. Mentally we are living in full on spring but in truth its sometimes bitter and then randomly so warm you break a sweat walking across the yard.




Its whip-lash season. Time to make green juices, roast the last of the big cuts in the freezer, dream up spring soups for the cold days, check your stock of vases and make time for walks every single.darn.day.

I am trying to remind myself to go hard in the garden, pushing myself until my bones ache because I am feverish to stay outside on these sunny days and because I know once the weather really turns and its blazing June I'll feel like nothing but sitting in the shade with a lemonade. Now is the time to lay mulch like a crazy woman, divide plants, sprinkle grass seed, assemble the raised beds, put peas in the ground and dig up the email address of the lady I bought amazing tomato plants from last year. Time to go, go, go outdoors. I'll regret it later if I don't.

The boys and I found a pair of wooly bear caterpillars out in the garden who promptly spun cocoons on the glass sides of the mason jar they call home. They are now incubating on the kitchen window sill, next to a jar with a praying mantis egg case in it that we found two days ago. We are assembling  a small zoo, as we love to do. My next goal is to score some frogs eggs. Dee was asking me hopefully if we might be able to hunt up some turtle nests and raise baby turtles, this morning at breakfast. I explained that turtle eggs are a little more fussy to raise than frog's eggs and that there are laws protecting them but I loved his optimistic, sky's the limit outlook. Shoot for the moon! Raise turtles! Why not?!? Those little bits make me feel like a great mama.
The two blow-out diapers and one peeing all over the car by accident episode that also happened this week, not so much. Real life over here folks, don't get any funny ideas! 
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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Then Me

I found pictures of myself as a little girl yesterday in the attic. It's always interesting to get a taste of background and childhood and see a snatch of where people are coming from.



These are some of my favorites.

First ,this is me around maybe five or six on our front steps.


This is my sister Foxy and I on Papa's lap. Must be some holiday. Christmas? Thanksgiving?



This is my most favorite childhood photo. Papa and , making music together. He plays guitar by ear and here I'm playing harmonica with him. :)


This is my Grandma Sally and Grandpa Mack with a tiny, toddler me. I am amazed how much I look like Nib.

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Monday, April 14, 2014

Four Neckties

Ru: "Guess what, Mom. You can tell how prideful a guy that I am pretending to be, based on how many neckties I wear."


(Pause for me to absorb this new data....and count his play silk neckties.)

This particular guy was a four necktie humdinger. ;)

Love it when my kids make me smile, double-take and appreciate the valuable role that play has in understanding and digesting the world. No short-cuts y'all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Fiber Arts Surprise

Love it when my kids surprise and amaze me.





I tried to teach Ru to finger-knit a while ago but I wasn't doing something right and it kept falling apart so we ditched it.

That was months ago....then yesterday, he comes and finds me and says, "Hey Mom! Look what I figured out!" And there he was....finger-knitting...all by himself!

He has been knitting madly and at last count I think he'd made something like four or five scarves. Time to find some projects he can make and stash in our gift box out of finger-knitting strands.


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