Here We Go Again. . .

Looks like months beginning in “A” are good for this!

L1 and I have been talking about doing this for ourselves again because we feel like we’ve been decadent (for us) of late. My birthday is this month, but it’s not like I’ll be buying anything for myself. I’ll post about what I’ve spent money on for the month of August rather than getting lost in the Sunday Confessionals at Crunchy Chicken’s blog. I already know we’ll probably have to buy some new shoes for the kids for fall, though maybe that we can wait, and some school supplies, too. Anything else we get besides the essentails will be used or made by me/us.

How many of you are going to try it this time? Come on, you know you want to do it!! Click on over and sign up!

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Needles Teeming

I haven’t done much sewing lately, though there are plans in the works for it. But with my kiddos around 24-7, it’s much easier to knit. Portable, easy to pick up and put down, and I can even do it while playing Sorry with L3. The most sewing I’m up to is hemming pants for my grandfather. Maybe I’ll sew during quiet time this week. Anyway, I wanted to show the knitterly among you (or even those who are knitter wannabes  among you (um, Inkwench?)) what I have been up to lately. There was a bit of a sneak peak of one project from the vacation post. I currently have 4 WIPs going on. Here they are:

1. Apres Surf Hoodie (I’m calling it my yoga hoodie) from IK Summer 2008
2. Emma’s Unmentionables from Knitty Spring 2008 for L4 (someday I’ll make the adult version for me!)
3. Snicket Socks for KABs (her yarn, reknitting because she wasn’t digging the stockinette stitch sock she made for herself out of it. The yarn is delish!)
4. February Lady Sweater as a KAL with KAB.

And the pictures of it all:

I know some people like to focus on one project at a time, but I like to be able to switch. Some are better for trips ’round town then others, and some are good for reading and knitting or talking and knitting and some just aren’t. The one most suitable for taking with me to book club this evening, L4’s Unmentionables, have a broken needle, courtesy of L1. He sat on it or something like that and it is cracked. We’re going to try and fix it, but if we can’t, I’ll need a new set of US 5s. Drat. While I knit I am daydreaming about when I’m going to wear the items for me, or watching L4 prance around in her little pants. Daydreaming–one of the little moments of bliss in a day filled with parenting and self challenges.

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Signs of the Season: Ripening

Peas, zucchini, rapsberries, tomatoes–our garden is beginning to burgeon. The peas are on their last burst of production, but we’ll take them while we can. They’re a favorite of L4’s. She loves them from the vine, and she’ll even wander out to the garden on her own to pick some.

As I walk the garden paths, I am able to ignore the overgrown grass and focus on the sense of peace that comes over me when I am amongst all of that life. The insects, the soil, bird song, fruit on the vine — all surround me and fill my senses. It’s the one place that I want to weed. I get lost in the moments of watching it all change, sometimes daily, and then I also find myself thinking to the future, to next year’s garden and what I’d like to change or add or take away. It’s a balancing act between mindfulness and looking ahead. I find contentment in the fact that I am helping my family eat more locally and become a tiny bit more sustainable. I have grandiose thoughts of greenhouses and sharing or selling surpluses and all of the things that we’ll make and eat from my place of refuge.

In my head I have a kind of fantasy place to which I can escape, my special place, but I am also lucky enough to be able to walk into my backyard and find a sacred space as well. Time can be suspended as I search for a ripe strawberry or watch the bees dance over the borage and dip into a zucchini blossom. Do you have a place like this, real or imagined? If so, what is it like, what does it do for you?

All sensuality is one, though it takes many forms; all purity is one.

–from Walden by Henry David Thoreau

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Babies and Bundles

This afternoon I was lucky enough to meet two new babies, including getting to hold them. I was also able to take them, via their lovely mothers, gifts to celebrate their lives. I thought I’d share them with you now!

First up is Mya’s bundle. Mya just came home from Vietnam last week with her mom Amy. We’ve been waiting over a year now for this wonderful event. Mya is happy and healthy and such a sweetie. She and Amy are a perfect match. Amy’s family are big proponents of wind energy. To honor that I did a freezer paper stencil like those I did for my babes for a onesie for Mya as well as embroidering a wind turbine on a patchwork blanket for her. I also did some other embroidery on the blanket inspired by Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray. The embroidered bits are my favorite parts of it, and the back, which is a vintage sheet with daisies, Miss Amy’s favorite flowers.

Sarah was the other baby I had the privilege of meeting today. Sarah is only a few weeks old, but was very calm and good natured and her mom, Kristen, also calm and laid back about being a new mom. Sarah’s bundle included a pair of baby booties knit from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristen Nicholas, 3 bibs from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Carole, and a bag inspired by a project in The Crafter’s Companion.

One last project–Don’t look Tara and Declan!!

My friend Tara’s little boy shares a birthday with L3. I worked my hands to the point of cracking to get the gift done in time to mail out for Dec’s first birthday… and then didn’t mail it. I’m a loser. But it will be mailed before the month is out!! Anyway, I have a tradition of making sweaters for baby’s first birthdays and despite the fact that Dec lives in South Carolina now, he’s getting one. I figure he’ll be able to wear it sometime in the fall and winter. Here is it:

Sweater Stats:

Pattern: Garter Cardigan from the above mentioned book, Knitting for Babies. As an aside, this was the first knitting book I ever purchased, way back when, and I still think it is a good book. I looked at it forever in the store before I’d let myself spend over $20 for a knitting book! Makes me chuckle now.

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Fedora. This yarn is very soft, nice for knitting. I made L3’s birthday sweater out of it, too, in the exact same color. I figured the boys could share the yarn for their sweaters, though not the pattern. I’m using this yarn for one other project, in a different color. I’ll share all of the projects on the needles currently (yes, plural) later.

I made the sweater big, as I always do, in hopes that Dec will be able to wear it more than one time. I hope that works out–not I just have to mail it to him!

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Vacation Begins

With a long drive,

knitting,
and a stop at our favorite watering hole
before heading to our friends’ home. Beach, berries, and more later!

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Socks Lickin’ Good

Lookie what I made for me:

This is the first pair of socks I have ever knit for myself. I’ve knit many pairs for other people, evidenced at our knitting flickr folder. It’s silly, really, because I have knit sweaters for myself (yes, plural) but not socks. Really now, socks take less yarn, time, and are much more portable for knitting on the go.

Stats on the Socks:

Pattern: Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn A. Clark

Yarn: Lornas Laces One of A Kind colorway (as in, can’t buy it!) gifted by Katy, read about it here.

Needles: US 2s

I like the way the pattern looks, but I probably wouldn’t make it again because it was boring. And I’m not a huge fan of having to knit through the back of the loop over and over again. That’s probably why my Cables and Os sweater has been on hold for so very long, despite how much I have done on it.

Other random life bits:

• I bought two t-shirts for myself last night at Target. I haven’t purchased clothing for myself since last August.
• I finally have harvested carrots that are proper carrots and not carrot-wannabes. The evidence:

Aren’t they lovely?

• We’re leaving for NH tomorrow. Visiting with good friends, the ocean, blueberries, UNO, a little bit of alcohol, lots of good eating, garden ogling, nostalgia for where we used to live… All of this is in store for us over the next few days. I’m sure we’ll get pictures, I just might not blog about it for a few days. Which, I suppose, isn’t that different from how I’ve been lately, which is a sporadic blogger. Our days fly past and before I know it, it’s been several and I haven’t done anything on here.
• L3 got a zip line for his birthday. Oh, do I have some great pictures to share! Kim, can I post the pics of you?!?

I love summer.

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Twinkle Little Star

Our Star Has Arrived….

That’s what L3’s birth announcement said 7 years ago. We called our baby “star” because we didn’t know if baby was a girl or boy. Star interfered with Mama’s plans for a pedicure before birth (it was a shower gift) by breaking the birth waters right after the prenatal massage (also part of the same shower gift–Thanks Mrs. R!) Despite that, Mama explained to Star how excited she was. Thirty-four hours later we met face to face and the world was changed for me forever. We have a Brian Andreas piece that was given to us when L3 was born just as we were given one for L4. L3’s picture says:

The first time his laughter unfurled its wings in the wind, we knew the world would never be the same.

Our little star has shown himself to be dramatic, creative, wonderfully imaginative and smart. He is excited about so much and I love seeing the little details to which he pays attention and the ideas he tries to put into action. Though slow to talk as a baby, you wouldn’t know it now. Ask anyone who knows him!

This past winter Star was diagnosed with ADHD. We had suspected it for several years, but didn’t feel he was old enough to warrant too much concern. But now so much is explained and knowing this helps us help Star continue to shine, so far without medication. As he put it to me recently, “Mama, I want to be wild. I don’t want something that changes me.” We don’t want that either. Keep twinkling, my little star. Happy 7th Birthday.

***This post is late (though written on L3’s big day) due to the fact that L3 was a baby when we didn’t have a digital camera and therefore we had to scan pictures of his sweet little face. ***

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Catch the Wind

That’s the phrase from our power company for using wind energy. I love that it is available to us, and that my kids literally quiver with excitement anytime they see the wind turbine that powers my friend Amy’s dad’s business. (Speaking of friend Amy–she’s in Vietnam at last united with her adoptive daughter!!) As with symbols like recycle signs (example: my Bed Pals), I love when my kiddos recognize symbols related to a crunchy life. 🙂 When I get to tie that into crafting, it’s even more blissful. My most recent adventure was to finally try freezer paper stencils. Here are the results for my babes, their t-shirts for catching the wind:

Both were anxious for them to be dry and “set” so they could wear them. I have to say again: It is so great having littles who are excited to have what I make for them. My boy’s birthday is tomorrow, so I’m sure I’ll have a post dedicated to him just as I did for the girl.

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I’m It!

Channyn tagged me a bit ago, but I’ve been a slow about blogging lately. Some might say that summer is a time to slow down, but the beginning of summer always feels fast paced as we have a flurry of things to “get done” once school is over.

What was I doing ten years ago?

• Lived by myself with two cats, three hours from L1 (north) and Meg (south), family was 7 hours away.
• Just finished my first year of graduate school
• Just got engaged, so was beginning to plan a wedding for the next summer, 500 miles from where I was living
  • Sadly doing this planning without my mom because she had died the previous November. Future step-mom was great, but still sad that I didn’t get to share it with my mom.
• Was beginning to study for my BTE (literally “Big Tough Exam) that I would take 1.5 years in the future
• I would soon meet Tracey for the first time. 🙂
• I didn’t knit and didn’t want to! *gasp*
• I still hadn’t had my first alcoholic drink.

Five Things on My To-Do List:

Rather than give today’s specific, I’ll give a list of what it generally looks like this summer:

1. Knit, sew, or some type of crafting and reading
2. Some sort of activity with the kids, including reading, crafting, being in the garden together, swimming
3. Working in the garden
4. Some sort of exercise (lift, ride bike, yoga, walk)
5. Working in the kitchen (examples: making bread dough, baking bread, cooking beans, making granola, jam, freezing peas)

Snacks I Enjoy:

• Cheese, crackers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and soy pepperoni–this actually becomes a meal for me and not just a snack
• Brownies
• Homemade granola with yogurt or cottage cheese
• Big Sur Bars (homemade power bar for which I found the recipe on the Internet)
• Snap peas and snow peas (from the garden in the summer)
• Fruit of the season
• BREAD!!! This could be with or without something on it, and could range from wheat or artisan bread made at home or banana bread or zucchini bread or most types of bread…. Did you know that the only reason we grow zucchini is to make zuc bread? I have told myself that this year I really should try to make something else with it….
• And if there are some around (which doesn’t happen in our house, generally, but if we’re at a party/picnic) I admit that I like me some chips, particularly some type nacho chip (Garden of Eden Black Bean chips are tasty… or blue corn chips) or Sunchips or maybe even Doritos.

If I were a billionaire:

• Pay off all debt for myself and my loved ones.
• Make our current home more sustainable with solar energy and whatever else codes would allow in our town.
• I’m torn on this one: expanding attic to make craft and yoga/meditation area.  Why torn?  I’d love dedicated space (besides the hallway for my sewing machine & fabric) for those activities, but at the same time I don’t want to use up more resources for that.
• Set up funds for our children.
• Invest in research on alternative energies in hopes that affordable alternatives would become widely available.
• I might buy some yarn and some fabric. 🙂

Really, that much money is kind of scary to me. I don’t think I would want that much. L1 and I have always said that we don’t want to be rich, but instead that we would like to be able to our bills, save money, and then still have some to be able to donate to charities, take a vacation without worrying about paying for it, and be able to indulge in things for the kids or ourselves on occasion. So I could go on with that list above about being a billionaire, but it isn’t what I want in my life.

Some of the people about whom I would like to learn more have already done this! I’ll just list a couple of people , some of whom don’t have blogs:

• Kerry
• Tara
• Tracey (you know where you can answer these!)
• Val

Play along if you’d like!

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The Dehumidifier is Hungry (aka June Energy Report)

That goal we had of 10 kwh/day or less for June? The dehumidifier dashed those hopes, soundly. Despite its Energy Star rating, it still has an insatiable appetite for electricity. We have to run the dehumidifier in our basement in the summer months because it gets too damp down there otherwise. And since we have had a blessedly wetter summer thus far than last year (we had a drought!) things have been damper. Good for the garden, not-so-good for our daily average. Without further ado, here are our June averages:

• Electrical average was 11.63 kwh/day (up from 10.51 in May) with a range from 7 to 23.5 (eek!!) kwh/day.
• Gas average was .33 therms/day (down from .63 in May) with a range from 0 to .5 therms/day.
• Water average was 5.57/day (~56 gallons/day, down from 7.61 in May) with a range from 1 (we were gone for the wedding!) to 11/day.

Lessons from June: Be patient, don’t get too upset when goals aren’t met. Try to make up for it in other ways, such as riding bikes more and working on getting more local food (finally started getting local eggs from our Public Market–so happy!! Free-range, veggie fed hens lay eggs with such golden yokes!). Realizing that we can’t fight nature, but we can work with nature more. In that vein, I’m hoping to build a solar oven in the month of July to help dry some food or maybe even cook things. I’ve book-marked some plans for solar ovens, but if anyone out there has any advice or links they’d like to share, they would be welcome here!

Since June is over, so are sign-ups for spreading the wealth of Living the Good Life. Jessica, if you’re reading I need to get it to you first! 🙂

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