it's almost there! and just in time. our youngest chicks are almost eight weeks old. and they are not chicks anymore. luckily big b found a larger temporary home for them, but they are still in the bathroom. which is interesting. and kind of smelly. can't wait to move them in.
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big b. he makes it look so simple. he and owen built this great bean trellis for our garden in one afternoon::
it should be large enough to accommodate the usual sugar snap and snow peas, as well as some green beans and a couple of cucumber plants. thanks boys! let the growing season begin :)
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those charm clutches that i made for the girls have a little cell phone pocket sewn into them. i found a toy phone on amazon that looked like a smart phone, didn't take batteries or make noise and was made of wood. when it came in the mail, it was literally just a painted piece of wood. you know, kind of like the online description. uh, yeah. why hadn't i thought of that? i showed it to big b and then returned it. the results::
they came out perfect! and the girls loved the fact that their pocketbooks from mom had a surprise handmade treat from dad inside. indy spent christmas morning padding around the house, trying out her lip balm and "texting" grandma. her pocketbook slung over her shoulder all the while. suddenly my cute idea for christmas had turned into a disconcerting glimpse into the future. oh man! since when is first grade the new junior high? are there any all-girls schools left in this world? let's hope so. luckily i had ellie at the other end of the house putting her lip balm on maisy; her pocketbook balled up in a pile of dog hair under the couch and her wooden iphone on the floor smeared with modeling clay. i've got time on my side with that one! phew.
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i wish i could remember the source for this idea, but i bookmarked it in my head, which is never wise. at any rate, i had almost given up hope for these themed cupcakes. they were meant to be served on a rustic wooden cake stand. i waited all week for an idea to come to me. the night before the party i still had nothing. frustrated, i was about to hot glue a bunch of moss to a serving platter and call it a day. no tiers or anything. not to mention the fact that 'frustration' paired with 'hot glue' hardly ever ends well. then big b and owen went out to the woodpile with the chainsaw::
and just like that, like it was nothing, a little fairy cake stand was born::
i felt like it was my birthday! suddenly all i had left to worry about was a little frosting and strategically placed m&m's, though there was a bit of hot gluing in the end for fairy accents::
a very successful sixth birthday party! and a very full weekend. hope yours was equally magical.
and happy, happy earth day! with a little luck, i'll be doing some seeding today to celebrate.
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getting an early start. splitting, hauling, stacking::
the wood shed is quickly filling up. last year we only had to rely on our heating system twice. i like those numbers. of course, it was an unusually mild winter. here's hoping this season will be more of the same (as far as having the wood burning stove heat us all winter long goes). i wouldn't mind a chillier, snowier winter!
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big b and i have a little deck off of our bedroom. its my favorite part of the house. but for very good reason, i only use it when hanging laundry, and even then i have to be careful about who follows me out and what they are doing. the problem? it wasn't built to code and the railings are so far apart that a curious toddler, or even a mischievous five-year-old, could easy slip through. this past weekend, after discovering a pile of extra red cedar tomato stakes, i decided to do something about the situation.
this is a shot of the railing as i was starting, that horizontal strip was the first to go up and i hadn't yet leveled it, i just forgot to take a "before" picture::
moving right along....the tools and the cutting station::
and look, my ipod saved me a trip to the basement to search for big b's level::
i know, it's a little off, but it's close and looks straight enough to me. who's to say an ipod level is really accurate anyway? and besides, any inconsistencies in the leveling are overshadowed by more noticeable slip ups, such as::
and::
but in the end, the deck is now a safe spot. perfect for sitting in the sun, bird watching, book reading, tea sipping, or just enjoying the view::
i'm so happy this was finally accomplished. a nice little table and some chairs and this will be a great new hang out. sans anxiety!! phew! it's a whole new world out on the deck.
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this fall we decided to have a yard sale. i know i've mentioned the hoarding tendencies of my parents, but my dad also knows antiques. the following is an example of how those two traits sometimes come together and make magic. i had seen this old trunk down at their house, amidst the rubble, and fell in love with it. turns out he spent a lot of time completely refinishing the outside. when he caught wind of our yard sale, he decided to put up a few tables with us and out came the trunk. i assumed it would have a pretty high price tag. he carefully put it in its spot at the sale and it was the first item to be inquired about. when i heard him tell a woman it was 25 dollars i tried not to panic, held my breath while she debated and as soon as she turned her back on it, i dragged it into the garage and shut the door. done and done.
as you can see, the inside needed a lot of work. these pictures were taken after an hour of picking and peeling off old wallpaper. from there it went to tiny bits of soapy water and scrapping, scrapping, scrapping::
big b noticed i was getting serious and offered to line the bottom with some cedar planks he had on hand! he also picked up some new sanding discs for the sander. a few blisters later::
then he made a little shelf that i could lift out::
my dream realized! i've always been secretly envious of girls that have those beautiful hope chests passed down to them. both of my grandmothers seemed like hope chest kind of people. i don't know what happened. this trunk makes up for it all! it even came with the original little key! where was this thing in highschool?::
if only it hadn't filled up so fast::
but thats what its for, right??
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with our favorite, most conveniently located skate park now closed for the winter, the boys (and bella) have taken matters into their own hands::
this is part of an extended plan which entails tree felling and concrete slabs! largely dreamt up by big b and continually fueled by the boys, its been on the drawing table for a while. for now, they're keeping it simple. the ramps won't be done for christmas, but it really doesn't matter. they're having just as much fun building it as they will when its ready to ride. well, that might be an exaggeration, but you know what i'm saying.
also, its never too late to learn to skateboard right? we'll see. past attempts have proven very, very unsuccessful. but those ramps look like fun and with no one around to watch me continually bite it, it just might happen!! i can do the painful and embarrassing part here, then i can take it to the skate park once i'm cutting it up like a pro. do skateboarding pro's "cut it up"? probably not, i'll have to learn the official lingo, but the dream remains!
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