I got creative

I have a confession.  I am forgetful.  Actually, I am beyond forgetful; if I don't write it down chances are I won't remember.  I have to have a calendar, one that I can write on and look at easily (i.e. not on a computer which baffles Husband).  My kitchen cabinets and backsplash are littered with post it notes that I've written various recipes on (sad thing is I don't always label the recipe and then I forget what it's for).  I had a list started with what I wanted to plant in the spring.  Oh and the grocery lists.  Yes, lists.  I would constantly start grocery lists because I would forget that I already started one.  Needless to say, it was not working.

 

Hello door!

I was unsure of what to do as I was already wasting trees worth of post it notes and I didn't want to do that.  I didn't think tacking up a list would work nor do I have a lot of wall space left anywhere.  Then I saw this post on SouleMama. It was so brilliant in its simplicity it hadn't even occured to me.  This is the door to the toy room that is off the office/sewing room and super close to the dining room.  

 

I bet you can tell what Husband wrote

 

I hesitated painting the whole door black though.  It's a small room without any windows (yet) and I didn't want to make it seem darker.   I figured I could always add paint later if I need to; it's a lot harder to cover it up.  I contemplated making my own chalk board paint, but I've had bad luck with it in the past.  It went on really chunky, which made it difficult to cover, and it was hard to erase.  Sometimes I opt for the quick way.

Also, for those that asked, Son's white outfit stayed clean for as long as we needed it to.  After that we didn't care that he went and played in the dirt and ate lasagna.

 

Fall

 

I accidentally denied you of cute yesterday.  The shoes, my absolutely favorite part of the outfit.  I wish I could have him wear them everyday.  Maybe in the fall.

 

Speaking of fall, my tomatoes are starting to dwindle, the clothes are taking a little longer to dry and somebody said they saw leaves turning color.  It does seem to me that there may be a few extra leaves on the ground.  I can't believe it.  I need to get some spinach and lettuce in for a fall harvest and perhaps the pool one more time.  It's supposed to be pretty hot by the end of the week.  This summer went by incredibly fast and I'm glad that I can say I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'm ready to let it go just yet.  

 

Random tidbits.

 

 

 

• I think Son wore what was possibly the cutest outfit I ever put him in yesterday.
• Daughter looked pretty cute too.
• Daughter got a vetrinarian kit and promptly used it on the most patient 20 year old cat.
• I want to know why Son loves playing "nigh nigh" under my desk but refuses to sleep past 6 am lately.
• I'm currently listening to the sounds of a new furnace and duct work being put in.
• Hello efficient furnace and returns in every room!
• Hello more laundry room space!  (We opted for the attic furnace to gain space.)

How could this not be it?

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a link in the comments to your moment.  Soule Mama

 

Preserving Cucumbers

When I planted my cucumbers in the spring I didn't think ahead and plant pickling cucumbers.  It's on my list for next year, but since this is now and I have more cucumbers than Daughter and I could ever possibly eat before they went bad I needed to find a way to preserve them. 

 

 

So I did a search and it turns out you can freeze cucumbers.  You can just wrap them in foil and freeze them but they'll taste like mush that way, but you can make a salad with vinegar and put them in jars to freeze.  I chose the second option because the only mush I like is corn meal.  I found this recipe on Cooks (which I'll paste below) and I was still a little hesitant so I kept on searching and found this blog post.  As you can tell from my comment on that post, I decided to try it.

 

 

I whipped out my mandolin slicer and got to work.  Now you would think that 7 cups of cucumbers would be quite a few cucumbers, at least that's what I thought, but that is not the case.  I used all of 3 cucumbers for this recipe.  I made it again and used 2.  So I either have very large cucumber (possible since I planted the Japanese cucumbers which are long and thin) or 7 cups really isn't that much.  The mandolin slicer made this recipe so much easier, but take care to always use the guard.  Otherwise you may have a sliced thumb (I may or may not know this from experience).

 

 

Cucumbers for Freezing

7 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

3 medium onions (optional judging from the blog post)

1 green pepper, chopped (again, optional)

2 cups sugar

1 cup vinegar

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1 tablespoon salt

 

Mix all ingredients in large bowl.  Refrigerate for 24 hours.  Put in containers (I love mason jars - the same kind you use for canning) and freeze.  Great side dish in the middle of winter.  Just defrost to serve.  

 

 

I see cucumbers

If, like me, you are pulling 2-3 cucumbers daily and receiving your neighbors cucumbers because they don't like them (thank you!) you're going to want to read this blog for the next two days.  Starting now, I'm going to have some recipes for you to use up some of those cucumbers.

 

 

The first recipe is Alton Brown's Bread and Butter Refrigerator Pickles or Ab's B and B's.  I originally saw this recipe on the Food Network website, but it seems that they've pulled it.  It hardly makes sense why they would do this considering half the world is in summer right now.  Summer is cucumber season.  You would think that they would want to keep a recipe that will preserve your cucumbers for a short time, and non-pickling cucumbers at that!  But I digress.  I'm putting this recipe here because it's amazing and I believe more people should make it.  Also, it's really hard to find pickling recipes that aren't for pickling cucumbers so I don't want to lose this recipe.  Don't be scared off by the yellow color; that's just the turmeric.

 

Ab's B and B's

1/2 onion

2 medium cucumbers

1 cup water

1 cup cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

pinch kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric 

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon pickling spice

 

Put the onion and cucumbers in a spring top jar.  Combine the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 4 minutes.  Pour the hot liquid into the jar covering the cucumbers and onion.  Allow pickles to cool to room temperature before topping off with any remaining pickling liquid.  Refrigerate.

First Day

 

 

 

 

This one is for all you kids out there.  It's a lesson of sorts, on how to make your mom not be too sad to see that bus pull up.

1. Wake up at 6:30 a.m.  
2. Immediately start complaining.  It doesn't matter about what.  Complain that your doorknob is the wrong color even though it's been there for 4 years now.  Find something trivial to complain about and make sure you keep complaining for the next hour and a half.  I personally enjoyed hearing about how she has to wear white socks.
3. Refuse to take the vitamin that you picked out at the store.
4. Refuse to let your mom put your hair back - not even a barrette to keep it out of your face; only let her brush it.  
5. Refuse to do anything your parents ask of you without a fight.  They want you to pick up dishes?  Say no until they take away tv time.  They want you to wash your hands after going potty?  Start crying.
6. Hide your face in the couch when she tries to take a photo. Eventually you should let her get a decent photo; she will really appreciate it.
7. Bounce up the stairs of the school bus so fast your mom can't get a decent photo.  

 

Reflections on Summer

 

Tomorrow Daughter will start Kindergarten.  The first day for the rest of the kids is today, but she'll just have a bear hunt (which Husband is taking her to).  She's already in her uniform waiting for her dad to get home; she is so excited.  I feel like I should be more broken up about it, but I think that her going to school, being prepared to do this, is a good thing.  Maybe Husband and I have done something right after all and neither of us thought we'd have kids for them to stay babies.  We knew this day would come and we've prepared her for it the best we know how.  

 

 

Sadly, I do feel like summer is ending and it's been a good summer.  One of the best I remember.  Maybe because it wasn't crazy hectic and Husband hasn't been gone 12 hours a day (thank you new job!).  There wasn't any major vacations, but we had the mini vacation to Chicago, a couple of camping trips with one still planned, new clotheslines, time in the pool and a bigger garden than previous years (I'm planning bigger next year).  I've enjoyed this summer and this is coming from someone who usually hates summer.

 

Bubbles in the Rain

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a link in the comments to your moment.  Soule Mama

 

 

Links

Good advice for life (it also happens to be a free dowload if you want to print it)

As uncool as macrame is I think I might need to make some of these so that I can have plants inside my house. (I found that link on NotMartha the other day)

Ab's B and B's - refrigerated bread and butter picles for all those cucumbers I have

Basil Walnut Pesto - for all the basil I have

Inara - my next adult sized sweater (I just need to finish Mud Season first)

Camping

 

 

 

 

 

We've been trying to cram in as much summer as possible now that the weather's nice and school will be starting in less than a week.  Last weekend it included camping at a State Park about an hour away and it was awesome.  There were torrential downpours the day we arrived and we managed to set up the tent in a lull between two storms (we were lucky).  We actually had to go out to civilization to eat that day because there was no way a fire was going to start.  But the next day, oh the next day, we could not have asked for more perfect weather.  It was amazing.  The temperature, the sky, the lake.  We cooked two meals on the fire, Daughter fished for the first time, and Son went canoeing.  Personally, I prefer to stay away from all things that put me in the middle of a body of water in something that could easily tip over, but Son was a trooper.  I think he enjoyed himself since he wasn't trying to climb out of the canoe, but he's a man of few words so we may never know.

At the Moment

 

• Our tomatoes are finally coming in.  I have enough to make sauce now, although Son prefers eating them like an apple right off the vine (see above).
• Daughter has a new appreciation for flush toilets since our camping trip last weekend.
• Yesterday was granola and yogurt making day.
• Daughter starts kindergarten next week.  It's bittersweet.  
• I have really enjoyed this summer in a whole different way than other summers.  
• I'm learning to embrace where we're living instead of just wanting to live somewhere else.
• I've been busy knitting for the White Rabbit Gallery.  I should be able to ship a box soon.
• I am thoroughly enjoying this weather even though my clothes don't dry outside quite as fast as they used to.
• I have another sweater done, but I can't show it to you.  I'm not sure who reads this blog and it's meant to be a surprise.

Vanilla

We tried cloth diapering after Daughter was born.  Due to circumstances surrounding her birth she was in the hospital for a little less than a month.  She got used to those disposables and their urine soaking ways and when we got home and put her in cloth she cried every. hour.   Brutal isn't enough of a word to describe how horrible it was.  Needless to say we gave up and kept her in disposables, eventually switching over to Gdiapers when we found out about them.

With Son we started out with the Gdiapers and found that for some reason they leaked.  A lot.  We were washing so many Gdiaper pants that I suggested just going to cloth because it wouldn't be any more laundry than we had.  That was over 2 years ago and we never looked back.  

That is also how long it took me to make a wool soaker.  I'd heard amazing things about them, but just never got around to doing it.  I still didn't use it as an actual soaker, just more of a diaper cover when it was hot so that Son wouldn't take off his diaper.  

I used the Vanilla pattern* and I loved it.  It was really easy to follow, no seaming(!), and it has four different sizes for 3-4 different yarns.  So if I had a newborn I really wouldn't need another pattern (although I'd probably try more out).  This is the newborn size in the aran weight wool.  Son is tiny; I can not stress that enough.  These will probably only fit for about a month and only because I'm using them over a very trim bumgenius diaper.  

 

Nice Weather...Finally

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, go to" Soule Mama or leave a link to your moment in the comments.

Momhood

When I was in college I tried to take a creative writing class.  It took all of one class for me to realize that my writing wasn't like anyone else's.  Automatically, I thought that was a bad thing and dropped out the very next day; before there could be another class.  Now I know that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing; not everybody's writing should be the same as the next.  Just like not everybody's parenting styles should be the same.  It doesn't automatically make it bad or wrong, just different.  

 

 

I worry about my kids getting bullied; I also worry about my kids being the bully.  I managed not to get bullied in school by keeping my head down, blending in, and staying very quiet.  I must have done okay because I'm not remembered by most of my high school class nor do I really remember them (and I am perfectly fine with this).  It's not that I hated them, I hated myself, I hated adolescence-hood, but I had a close group of friends. I've always been one for a few close friends and not a lot of acquaintances.  I still prefer it that way.  That being said, it can also make life difficult; especially when you're the only stay at home mom in that group of close friends.  I wouldn't trade it for the world though, and just because I'm the only stay at home mom doesn't mean I can't relate to my working mom friends or that they can't relate to me.

 

 

Sure, being a stay at home mom comes with it's own unique and different set of problems than being a working mom. But, like that creative writing class, just because they're different doesn't make one worse and I'm betting that most Moms would agree.  I don't understand why there's this need to pit working moms against stay at home moms.  I see it in the media all the time; that one type of mom is supposed to better than the other.  In reality though, shouldn't the mom be able to do what makes her a better mom?  Whether it's staying at home or working?   I would really like it if the media would just shut up about it.  There's only a war between the moms because they try and make one.  

 

Perfection, or lack of

There was a time in my life where I strived for perfection.  Where I tried to be everything everybody else wanted me to be.  And I failed miserably and I was miserable.  I did things to myself that no mother would ever want their daughter to do.  When I started dating Husband he was told not to date me, that I couldn't possibly love him because I didn't love myself.  When we got engaged he was asked are you sure you want to marry her?  But he did marry me and I have loved him the best way that I know.  Maybe not perfectly, but I've learned that's okay.  

 

 

I no longer strive for perfection.  Do you see that dirty counter and those crumbs of confectioner's sugar on the edge of the cake stand?  I'm okay with it.  I don't want my kids to try to be perfect and I don't want to be on that pedestal that kids tend to put their parents on.  If I'm never on it, I can never fall off it.  I've seen my fair share of people that are crushed when they realize their parents are human and imperfect.  I don't want that for my kids.  I know that there may be nothing I can do about it; that maybe we're just programmed to put our parents on pedestals, but I will try.  I apologize if I've done something wrong or lost my temper or patience.  In doing so, I hope to realize that I don't try to be perfect and that it's okay to apologize; it's not a sign of weakness.

 

 

Just because I don't try to be perfect doesn't mean that I don't try to better.  These three people make me want to be a better version of me (Is that a Fiona Apple song?  Did I just show my age by knowing that?).  

Sweater #11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Used the Boys Can Wear Pink pattern using 3 skeins of Quince and Co Chickadee in Bird's Egg and 1 skein in Peacoat
• I am starting to love knitting with wool and how it looks after blocking
• The tie is a little crooked, but that's okay because what little kid has a straight tie?
• I love when the way the sleeves and bottom of the shirt are hemmed (the Hourglass Sweater had a similar hem)
• I am fighting a summer cold (they are the worst!) so this is going to be short

Hand Knit Love

 

The Pebble Vest, originally for newborns, but I loved it so much I had to try to make one for Son.  Ravelry is filled with people who made the pattern larger or just used large needles and chunky yarn.  I'm one of the latter.  The yarn is Cascade Eco Wool that I had leftover from the bedroom mats and I chose size 10.5 needles.  

 

 

I chose to keep the buttons on the side and shoulders because that's part of what I liked about the pattern. I won't need to undo them to put it on Son, but I can understand why it would be so great for a newborn. When I had newborns, I knew it was hard to break them, but it always seemed like they were so fragile.  It was awesome when we had clothes we didn't have to put over their head.

 

 

And this is how I know he loves it.  It was 82° F and humid as all get out yesterday and he begged to wear a 100% wool sweater over the clothes he already had on.   I sewed the buttons on during nap and when he woke up he immediately gravitated towards it.  He held it up and followed me around saying "on" until I finally put it on.  I've always heard that wool was breathable enough to wear in the summer but I didn't think Son would be the one to put it to the test.

Picnic

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, go to" Soule Mama or leave a link to your moment in the comments.

 

Baby Wearing

I was never able to wear Daughter as much as I would have liked.  We bought a house shortly after she was born and our extra money was going into that.  Plus I couldn't find all the information on slings, wraps and soft shoulder carriers that you can today.  I probably wasn't looking in the right places, but I'm pretty sure a friend of mine had the same problem when her son was born a year and a half after Daughter.  We had a baby bjorn and that's what we used until it got uncomfortable.

 

 

Right before I went on bed rest with Son I was sure to get a sling and a diaper bag.  It was two of the best purchases I ever made.  I used that sling everywhere.  It was so convenient and easy to use.  I recommend it to anyone that has a newborn.  We used it up to about a year and then it started to hurt my back to carry son on one hip; we now use an Ergo carrier, but I didn't switch too early to pass the love of the sling onto Daughter.

 

 

She recently used this sling* that I made her (out of the same fabric that I made her curtains out of) at the Farmer's Market and so many people were impressed with her.  Maybe they just thought she was cute, but I like to believe she was carrying her own doll and not forcing me to carry it.  Because truly, that is my favorite part of her having a sling.

 

*The pattern came from the book Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule (of SouleMama.com).  I can not say enough good things about this book, but you should borrow it from your library and then when you find yourself checking it out all the time, buy a copy.

Respect

I try to live my life humanely.  I try to do as little damage to the environment as possible; I try to eat sustainably (meaning locally by buying through the Farmer's Market and preserving as much as I know how/am able); I try to think about where my purchases come from, what went into making it, if I really need it and if it were tested on animals; I try to teach my children the same.  

 

 

Much of what I try to do is for them because I want the Earth to be here; I want them to grow up learning respect for nature and others; I want them to think about their purchases (food and otherwise) and the mark it leaves in the world; and I want them to realize that people are imperfect.  There's a reason I used "I try" in every statement above, because that's what I do, try.  

 

 

It can be difficult living life the way I try and the way we try to teach our children.  It's not just hard because Daughter sometimes wants what "everybody else" has (she has friends that apparently know these things) but also the resistance that we're met with outside of the household.  Their are people that can't understand why I'd want to hang my clothes out, people that complained because we made donations in leiu of Christmas gifts last year; and people that don't understand why we just don't go out and buy a new one.

 

 

I don't ask that people understand.  Everybody has their own way of living and not a single one is either better than or the correct way.  But in order to live peacefully, I try to respect your way of living and what you're teaching your children.  Perhaps you could respect mine.

In the Garden

 

I wasn't able to plant nearly as much as I wanted to this year.  Life with a precocious 2 year old can sometimes be difficult, and there's not nearly as much sun as I'd like in the backyard and the 7 tomato plants that were given to me got the best spots.  Also not pictured is the huge cucumber plant I have.  It was the second one that I planted as the first got eaten by something, a jalepeno pepper plant, and a banana pepper plant (that was supposed to be a green pepper, somebody switched the labels).

 

 

Behind the basil in the above photo are the strawberries.  They became huge this year and I thought I'd be lucky enough to have enough to freeze and bake with.  Son had other plans and decided that he enjoyed strawberries no matter what color they were.  He has eaten so many strawberries it's unbelievable.

 

 

I was able to get some really beautiful herbs, both in and out of pots.  Two types of basil (pictured above and below), thyme, rosemary (pictured in the very first photo), oregano (behind the basil below), mint and sage.  All the herbs I need for spaghetti sauce and then some.