Sunday, June 30, 2013

cinnamon rolls and other day off stuff

Thought about this last night before I went to bed ... I used this recipe: Joy the Baker's Cinnamon Biscuit Rolls and it was very easy.  I didn't have buttermilk, so I used whole milk.. we'll see how that goes.  I tend to not do well when I don't have everything in the recipe (duh) but ... I've made very similar biscuits to this recipe before and it was always whole milk.

I have some chestnut hair dye (I've done that before - but it was at least two years ago) that is wash-out 29 shampoos.. and I'm going to do that later today.  I didn't have the courage for mahogany purple.  Mark doesn't see the point of dyeing hair at all... 

I've been making some progress with my Minecraft world (which was restarted a few weeks ago from scratch) and had a very awesome comic book dream with time travel in it last night... drawing up storyboards and text for it at my desk.  Esme is bopping to Bubble Guppies and keeps wanting me to find some game called 'dishes dish'... which I can't - so she is somewhat upset with that.

Also found out that her K starts July 8th, not the 10th.  I might have to be dropped off at work very early that day so Mark can take her in at the right time.


Saturday, June 29, 2013

remember

Yesterday morning in the kitchen - Esme wakes up and has another one of her theories.. children should not eat things that make them throw up, like broccoli, no, we should not feed them those things because then they will not grow up... it continued to what she DID want for breakfast, since broccoli was not on the menu - and then she said she did not want to grow up, she wanted to stay like a kid, and play - and she should not have a breakfast that makes her grow up (she is still obsessed with this idea from the Sims game that at some unknown moment you will just 'swirl around' in a poof of flower dust and grow up.. she wants it immediately some days, and wants to hold back from it forever other days.. typical 'human philosopher' feelings but they are brand new for her and I am glad she is telling me about them now - I can see her brain work so much more.)  I assured her a breakfast of an orange and some animal crackers, along with some juice sounded like a good breakfast and it would take a LONG time for her to grow up - definitely another school year... she said 'ok'... the pink rash on her face is going away - might have been sunburn or poison ivy, I'm just glad it is gone.  I react so strongly to poison ivy (or have in the past) that when I see any signs of 'might be' I get on guard.. Mark told me it didn't look like anything serious, and he was right - but I still needed to check her face every time she got up or I came back from work just to make sure.  She still had a face, Mark said - with mud on it.. ha.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Cucumber Cabbage soup with chickena and lentils

Make do with what ye have...

4 medium size cucumbers, ends cut off, sliced and then diced
1 small cabbage, shredded with the hard parts cut out and discarded
6 small banana peppers, deseeded and chopped up
small amounts of radishes, sweet peas, beans
onion (from the freezer)
2 small pieces of chicken frozen in the freezer
1/2 cup washed and sorted red lentils
salt, pepper, bit of olive oil, dried basil leaves


cooked long until the red lentils were soft and the chicken could be broken up with a spoon
poured up into two quart jars for consumption at work

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

bits

Reading 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline... pretty good.. about halfway through.  Ordered another copy of Last Legends of Earth.. .can't find my copy and can't even remember if I had ordered one last year after losing that one in the flood in Duluth.  I feel a need to get back in touch with that part of me that really likes that book, and all of the loops and multiple meanings hidden inside it.  My mom sent me a terribly off-base letter and a birthday gift but as usual it is as if she has no memory of who I am... her dementia is too much for me sometimes.. and I know I shouldn't take it to heart or let it bother me.. yet it does sometimes when it is just at the wrong place and the wrong time.... big storm over Kentucky to the North - lightning, thunder.. Esme is crying because she can't catch a lightning bug.  Mark caught one for her and put it in a little jar by her bed - she named it 'Shelf' with the knowledge that it may not live long.  I have late work tomorrow.

//Note//
Esme has this 'orange peel' looking redness to her cheeks and Mark doesn't think it is anything serious but it is worrying me... it has been there two days now and it doesn't look like 'classic' poison ivy but it may be more than sunburn. She seems to be fine with it until I ask her about it then she tells me it itches and that everything itches all over her body (it is only on the face) then gets mad when I tell her to leave it alone... and she doesn't touch it at all otherwise. Mark says leave the subject alone with her and just watch it ... *hate unidentified things like this*

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Back to work

Back to work.. *sigh*...  It would be better if I could just serve my customers and not worry about political / numbers type tracking.  Esme has become a little more grown up during this week - doing more for herself, able to take herself outside and be loud instead of running around the house madcap (usually...)  I've heard her language improve quite a bit - used someone's name at work, told me that 'herbivores have flat teeth and carnivores have sharp teeth' and her theories are getting a bit more complete.  But still, she is five and it is the difficult and still 'flip floppy' line between 'play with me all the time all the time' and 'I have things to do, make them happen.'...  but it is nice to see the 'maybe I can make that happen' switchover happen sometimes... and I am giving her more room and encouragement to do those.

On the last day of vacation we put some things in order in the house, dressers in place, bulletin board on a wall -- got rid of some old clothes and cut down others for garden use..  I will try to trend in that direction more as we go.  I was impressed by the Singer Heavy Duty's being able to put seams in tshirts if I went slow.  I cut the backs down the middle of several shirts and sewed them back together with less room in the waist (as I need much less than they were offering) while keeping the shoulders wide.  I cut some of the necks down and seamed the edge over so they will be tank tops, and cut the sleeves off and seamed them over.    I have one more to cut down will try to take some pictures of the process as I do think it is fairly cool and useful!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

harvest and dragon

 Sweet peas from today.. two different varieties
I tried to save about ten big ones for seed and a pod from the other variety

 Cucumbers (one that was hiding really well), pepper, zucchini, basil, beans and sweet peas  Esme said it had lots of spikes on it like a cactus.

A purple squishy dragon from the zoo gift shop.
Her name is 'Violent' the dragon.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Zoo trip and bits



Giraffe feeding at the Memphis Zoo

 Mama Giraffe saying 'don't drop the food!'


We bent down and gave a baby giraffe some food under the fence, which the Mama let it have after consideration.

Tyrannosaur art sculpture at the zoo 
Esme never did quite reach his chin - she was too scared.. but it was very cute!

Most of the animals were asleep as it was very hot for them.. and Esme was upset she was not allowed to go swim in the fountains like the local children (the bleach reeked to high heaven probably masking a world of other ills).  She kept asking 'Can we go to the zoo now?'... which was an annoying disconnect because she wanted to go play on park equipment she had seen by the cafeteria and we finally told her to stop asking - the animals were 'the zoo'... she was quite upset all the way through the Teton trek because of the fountain.  She tried to sniff the grizzly through the 'grizzly sniffing slot' and it was not interested.  
 
Esme trying to sniff the grizzly through the 'sniffling spot'

China exhibit with some beautiful architecture and sculptures

 I loved the China architecture and the statues in there, although the panda bears were asleep.  The red pandas (which I loved from Fargo zoo) were very cat like, following the keeper around and rubbing on his legs.  I was glad Mark got to see them in action.  We fed the giraffes, which Esme loved, and when we got to see the elephants Esme said 'There is a little child over here, look at the child elephants!', to which Mark cracked up.  We got a squishy purple dragon at the gift shop, but had to wait in line forever so we were not interested in going into any of the other shops. 

see all the pictures at Mark's album zoo trip 2013


 


The polar bear kept coming up to the window and grin growling at the people, backing up and doing it again.. some lady said he was neurotic, but we thought he was just having his own fun with us.

Esme got happier at the polar bear and seal exhibit, the air conditioning helped.  She probably would have watched the seal for another hour if we let her, as it was having fun between this room and the lower windows with all the people watching its 'show' as well.


 seal breaking water in the pool

 Penguins swimming


The penguins were what Esme had originally wanted to see, and they put on a swimming show around their keeper but since it was the last thing of the day we were kind of tired out at that point.  We let Esme go to the playground for about 10 minutes and then started the trip home.



 Esme at the dino

Thursday, June 20, 2013

bit

We had an eventful morning.. try again for the zoo on another day.  Mark demonstrated his excellent road skills and made me aware I need to practice them more, too.  Esme is up at Grandma's house and I went out to the garden to weed corn and mark some plants to *especially* save seed from later...  I should finish the second pair of pants I abandoned halfway through last night.  My right hand is green as grass and probably will be quite sore later tonight... and my shoulders will be glowing with sunburn.

Tomorrow is 5:30 am sunrise - I checked... and contemplated more in the garden while I was down in the corn pulling grass, on places I have been over time, and the memory of being at the experiment station down in the corn and pumpkins weeding and stealing shade in the plant rows in the middle of the afternoon....cold water evaporating on skin that was beginning to speak of sunburn and dust sticking up to the elbows in the splatter pattern, the smell of grass and roots and the sound of water gurgling down into holes that are invisible to the eye..carrying water again and again over the land tracing the same steps lightly and carefully through the field while leaning lopsided to balance the bucket weight.  That is a muscle memory that still 'feels' the same even twenty years later...  I didn't quite appreciate it as much back then - when I was fourteen - but I do now, and the moments string forward to me across the years as I unwind a vine from this or seek the roots of a weed there...   I imagine living in an endless summer to just grow corn and pumpkins and beans all year long... and think about time travel being in actuality this specific skill - to pull a moment forward and 'mix' it across all the years and learn more from time in a 'stack' of moments year after year.   That is because this is how my memory works -- a moment is only a moment because you have done something in it that 'sticks' and it can pull you back to it time and again - a twisted stitch or stop in a seam, looking deeply and seeing light shining a certain way, unexpected discoveries, a word of advice that suddenly makes things clearer and purposeful...

This is the time of the year I am the most contemplative...my habit to be reflective and think about 'being' in general.  As I weeded I thought distinctly of the moment last year watching the sun rise over the Duluth cityscape, receiving a beautiful birthday text from Mark, but not liking where I was, who I was with or what I was faced with and feeling all of the buoys of my spirit, Mark, Esme, home... were far away from me.. they were somewhere, safe, .. but I wanted to get back to them and could not yet.  I remember pulling the jacket around me...feeling 'bare' as the other clothes we had worn were in the washing machine, seeing people stream by in vehicles as the morning just barely lightened, and being whistled at for being out on the street with a newspaper that early in the morning...    I am home this year and where I want to be - family safe, corn in the garden growing, sewing on the table in the house... and time in time, to feel the sun rise up and turn.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

//In Other News//  :  The Cherokee White Eagle corn is almost as tall as the Glass Gem corn, although they were planted two weeks apart.  The Peaches and Cream Sweet Corn is tasseling and silking.. while the Mandan Bride mixed Indian corn is tasselling at half the height and no silks yet to be seen.  The Japonica corn (planetd just after the Glass Gem) is just as tall as the Smoke Signals corn... and the Pink Hopi Corn is hanging on in the very back of the garden.  I should have kept better records on it all - but tied some orange tags around some stalks to indicate that I think they are doing better than their peers and I should save their seed for next year. 

The pea crop is excellent - our first in many years, maybe ever for me, that has produced 'food'... I did not keep them separate either, the Mammoth Melting sweet peas seem to be the ones that are dying off now and the Wando Peas are the ones that are just starting to go gonza... the Bosnian Bean is starting to put on beans and is wandering as high as it can - over six feet.  Shackamaxon beans starting to climb, the King of the Early have flowers on them already.. lots of green tomatoes getting ready, cucumbers.. the zucchini family is not doing very well out there - very little produce but there is some.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

vacation bits with pictures

 patchwork pattern pillow
unusual shape but it was fun to make

 zinnias in pniks and yellows in our garden

 gladiolus that were in need of bringing in

simple turquoise dress for school
her closet is actually getting 'full' now.. maybe just a few more to go and we'll be well set.

Esme and I baked a pan of cupcakes from a scratch recipe, and I have two pairs of plain blue pants (with different scrap for pockets) on the table today.  I am building a castle in Minecraft which is something I would not normally have time to do...  soon Esme wants to bring some of the cupcake to Grandma and we'll see about how the rest of the afternoon unfolds...

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

vacation bits

Took Esme to the library today, then for a scoop of ice cream.  Sewed the turquoise dress for her school clothes today, worked on her blanket some, finished a patchwork pillow for our bed out of some scraps - pretty design, unusual.. will take pictures tomorrow maybe.  The gladiolus is blooming and beautiful.  I saw silks on some of our corn.  Got a good amount of food out of the garden, cucumbers, peas, beans, radishes, zucchini... more than one meal for me - cooked some turnips as well (from the store) and put them in a jar with the leftovers in the fridge.  Esme was a little sour that I didn't play in her room with her more, but even if I had played twice as much she wouldn't have been satisfied.  It was quite hot out, and we spent more time inside than she wanted.  We watched the first disc of Frontier House and enjoyed it.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Mark! - although I have to work today.  Esme would say it if she could read better but she means it all the same :)

I found a white peony bush at work yesterday as the non-official gift for him (we will have to look hard for the roasting pans during vacation!) and we will have to decide where to plant it.  Seven days off begins at five o'clock!  We were thinking of moving the zoo trip up to Tuesday because of free admission day... but Mark thinks it will be too crowded and unsavory at this point of the summer... and a chance of rain...  so we will probably still go Thursday.  I need to get a plumbing valve for Mark's mom as well tonight after work...*reminder* to do some work on her faucet.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Working ahead

Another dress for the school clothes.. the puppy has already put a hole in one sleeve but I think I can turn them under a notch and hide it.  I have some blue fabric that is set aside for another dress and then scrounge in my crates for some more to make pants out of.  Back to work today - vacation starts on the 17th.  After I had finished this and was putting the zipper in Esme inspected it and said 'Ok, now you make one for my baby from I grow up, ok?  Do that.'  Daddy and I told her she could make her own dresses for her babies when she grew up - which was a long time from now.. but she wasn't happy with that.  It takes a 'long time' and that is not something she likes now.  We watched Harry Potter again and I think she still has a false sense of how fast things should grow up.  She told me in the kitchen that plants grow up 'like this' (get down on floor and spring up).  And puppies grow up, but slowly... it takes a long time.  And then I asked her about how fast she grows up.. she said 'just a little bit.. a tiny bit.' 

She did get in trouble for doing headstands on our bed and knocking coffee out of my hands and all onto the blankets yesterday... we were just about to watch the movie and she was over-excited.  I rarely yell harshly at her but warm coffee (luckily not hot) on me, blankets and a notepad I was writing in did get my tone of voice where she was hurt by it even after apologizing.  She stalked off and took a nap in her bed for an hour. That was for the best, as when I got her back up and made food she was in a fairly good mood all night.. ate most of her dinner, played Minecraft, watched the movie off and on and then kissed and hugged me goodnight early and bopped off to bed with her Mr.Frog to feed him his bug dinner before sleep.

dress alterations: shortened skirt from last one, added pocket, shorter sleeves, split only back and side pieces and did not use front skirt piece.  Gathered one 'back and side' skirt across the front, split the other and gathered it across each back bodice.  This method worked really well last year and it still gives plenty of room without the 'gown' look of the full skirt.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Purple Gray dress for Kindergarten

 Probably a touch on the 'formal' side - she said it was 'just like a gown', but it is the same basic idea as the other dresses I made for her last year, and which she wore to preschool.  This was fabric I had on hand and a remnant from her other dress for 'pretty'.  I had some pink fabric I wanted to use but it wasn't washed and dried yet.  The fit is just about perfect so it should be easy to whip up a few more time permitting.

I played with the front pleats a little because the back pleats were SO full... hopefully it looks like a happy medium.  The sleeves on this work out the most perfect of any pattern (this is Butterick 3600 again, size 6 with very few alterations, copyright 1960).  The zipper up the back does make it really easy for her to put on - doesn't sound like it would, huh?  She can get her head and arms into it without any 'trapped' feeling and then come to us to pull the zipper up.  It fits on a hanger nicely and she is learning to pull the zipper down to get the hanger out.

A few more of these and she will be ready for K this year - and a few new pairs of pants.  As Mark said last night, she will be 'teased' by those kinds of kids no matter what she wears - and this works for us on all levels.  Until she asks for something else in particular I'll sew her some high quality well-fitting clothing and send her off in it and we'll see where she leads me about it.

For pants I'm using size 5 Simplicity 6583 copyright 1974 and it is a perfect fit, as well - just the right length and with a 21 inch elastic in the waist.

Interesting:  We are watching 'Colonial House' on DVD borrowed from Grandma, and I am examining the set of their sleeves, and the arrangement of pleats and tucks while I was sewing this dress up at the same time... ironic :)  I know that those clothes were made by hand by someone for the show - but I doubt they were made specifically for those people, just to a general size.  The people on the show think the clothes are uncomfortable...  I am making these dresses for Esme because they fit her better and last longer than storebought..

I'm sure the insides of the 'period' clothing are much less simple though.. and multiple layers would not help with comfort, and being in an environment full of bugs without air conditioning in the heat or heat in the cold adds on to that as well.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Garden Pictures

 A lovely bee in our garden enjoying the petunias and lantana

 The flowers are starting to bloom and spread... this is the 'pretty' part of the garden.

 Some smaller pollinator lifeforms enjoying the cucumber flowers.   We might even get some cucumbers in a week or so.. saw one or two just beginning.

Today's haul from the garden - this is the second haul of this type, sweet peas, beans, tiny zucchini squash.  It was a nice combination before cooked up.. going to cook it later.

In other news:  Mark and Esme and the dogs found a turtle up at the top of the road and Mark brought it in and put it in a box for the night to save it from the dogs and from his mowing this morning.  He took it back out this morning after we painted 'L2013' on the top of its shell in small letters in enamel paint.  I remember my mom said she did that when she was young and found the same turtle years later, still living there.  An hour or so after Mark had taken it out and released it back into the wild (where he wasn't going to mow) Esme came running through the front door with a purple clover plant saying 'I have a gift for the turtle!'.. but the box was gone.  She was so flattened.. stalked dumbfounded back to the door, out to the porch and sat holding the clover and looking at it like 'I didn't get to say goodbye'... what she told me when she came back in was 'It was a gift... it was a gift.'  So sad, and sweet.

Spud puppy is up for leash training.  It isn't working very well.. but we're trying.  He went to town yesterday and got everyone to feel sorry for him at the flea market.

I made Esme another pair of pants, and need to kick my butt into gear on the pink dress fabric.  She washed her feet in the bathtub all by herself yesterday (self sufficiency) .. which is progress.  She asked me this morning what 'passengers' meant.  After I told her it was anyone in a car, truck, train, plane etc that wasn't the driver she thought.. then came back with some story about all the passengers would crash and fall out, and die and the girls would be witches and the boys would be vampires and mummies, who were not mothers, but dead boys wrapped up in string - that is what mummies are... and we would all have to run away from the passengers.  ??  At least they are words, lots of words!  She is asking for a lot more definitions now and using them, which is excellent for her.  She also got into her Minecraft after I reinstalled the computer and is trying to rebuild things.  She asked me in her 'long rambling HUH' type fashion to rebuild the things I had before on my world 'The thing that is really tall and open and they fall and they are at the bottom and go WHEE they are hills and we go down and up them and you can build that one more three more times, ok?'  Hmm... well, I'll build something ;)  I think that means she wants my minecart system back...but that is what we are up against sometimes, still.

Monday, June 10, 2013

A Monday hurtling towards vacation...


At least, I hope it will continue to feel like that.  The vacation starts the 17th, hoping for zoo on the 20th.  I haven't heard anything yet about my interview for the promotion... we'll see.  Either way, things will continue.  Trying to organize a little bit, think about what we really want to accomplish with the garden, what I need to sew for school and household.. how to get over this sinus cold for good etc.  Little things with long tendrils.

We've been watching 'Rough Science' that Grandma loaned us.  It is a PBS series about scientists dumped into an abandoned workshop and told to make specific goals happen.  Esme surprisingly likes it.  We watch 'Fringe' and that is a 'science-r movie' she does not like too much.. we watch this series and she is asking questions and cheering them along.  She told me she needed to find a cup of water in the bathtub, like the science-rs (we're working towards scientist, but it hasn't taken yet) were trying to find water.  She loves it when they put things in pots and cook them, and the electronic gadgets they build.  We should dig up our Junkyard Wars again and have her watch that again.

Continuing the self-sufficiency thing with Esme.  Pouring cereal this morning from start to finish, putting on her own headband using the mirror instead of screaming about it.  Critical thinking skills, stick-to-it-iveness, 'you're growing up'...  She's taking it about as well as she can - she is so prone to frustration when something doesn't go her way...

Sweet peas, green beans and a baby zucchini out of the garden this morning...just enough for a one person meal mixed with a little chicken, garlic, olive oil and paprika.  The flowers are very pretty - the gladiolus and zinnias are getting ready to bloom.

Very simple dishcloths for my lunch box and a table mat for Esme's table for when she eats supper...

Sunday, June 09, 2013

small wonders

Esme washed her hair with only vocal assistance tonight.  Considering she is 'Rapunzel', this is a major step towards being ready for Kindergarten next month.  Further, I insisted she remove her dress from her hanger by herself and get it on without help.  Mark has been encouraging her to get her own glass of water and add Dr.Pepper to it from a 2 liter in the refrigerator.  She got a glass and filled it mostly with water today - put a little bit of Dr.Pepper in it - then claimed it was 'ok' and tried hard to drink it for a while before putting it in the refrigerator and not touching it again.  Little steps...

Friday, June 07, 2013

crashed bit at the end of the week

This was my first day off (non sick day) in a while, and even though Esme got to do a lot of what she had intended to do today, she had anticipated and planned so much herself for the 'day' that nothing satisfied her much, and her attitude was pretty sour, whiney, wanting things but not really wanting them, just the attention from wanting something etc.. so Mom and Dad (who are both slightly under the weather still) didn't want to cooperate in all of the little repetitive type games - so she has went to bed crying at 7:30 and crashed deep for a nap.  She may also be coming down with the same cold for second time around.. I hope not.  I'm sure some of it is just five years old normalcy, too... but even Mama sometimes has to say I've had enough of it for the day.

She might also just be tired out - which she should be.  Early in the morning (around 9 am) we took her out to the park, to a yard sale, and then home again.  She ate a big bowl of cereal before we left - and was rearing and roaring ready to go.  I played with her a lot on the slides, monkey bars - getting her to run and use her muscles.  Then we came home, played in the sand in front of Grandma's house and she went to see Grandma for a few hours, during which I planted six tomato plants Grandma gave us and then had a computer re-install when I meant to be cleaning my sewing table and cutting out a project.

We picked up Grandma and headed for town to a landscaping company's sale - picked up a few things - Stella d'Oro daylillies and lantana camara.  Grandma got some very interesting plants, including a mallow and a bee balm.  Esme started her whiney fits there - wanting everything her way, seeing what she wanted to see - not walking or waiting nicely, not wanting to look at the plants at all out of disdain for not spending hours looking at the water fountains, bumping into some people and wanting me to ask the waterer to make her puddles where she wanted them (Which I did not.)  I found myself asking her in public just to be quiet for a little while.  There is irony there.

 From there we went to get some ice cream cones to bring home - added on some strawberry syrup for a sundae for her at home - instead of going out for one.  More whines...ate her sundae at home and wanted me to play play play geckoes and all the other games she wants to play in order each time for five minutes at a time...as soon as you ask her what the game is she wants to do something else, something else -- daisy-chained short attention span type thing that gets annoying for me.   Instead I planted flowers, which she protested greatly the entire time and then came back inside not letting her take off with the shovel for her 'little child statue' game.  More whines.

She wanted to play her games on the computer but it was not entirely reinstalled with all the addons yet - so she whined some more.. and then we sent her to her room complaining she was not tired.  Ten minutes later she was out like a light.  Early day again tomorrow, and no more days off until Wednesday.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

notes as I climb back out of my sinus cold into normal functioning...

The other day on the way to town we were looking at the beautiful sunrise and Esme said she saw a cheetah running fast in the clouds.  It really did look like it - she has the eye, and she communicated it beautifully as well.  She looked at some leftover food on the stove and told me I needed to 'clean this grill' - which was true... she then asked me what that was called - the grill - was that the word?  I told her it was a cooktop (I couldn't think of the word burner) and that grill was a very good word to use.  She called 'coolmath' 'cool mammoth' the other day - which was funny, but she described the game as being the ball with the tongue that sticks and goes whee... which is the iq ball game on coolmath ;)  She saw me looking at some clothing designs on a children's clothing website (to copy), which showed lots of pictures of the same little girl in clothing and asked me where was the 'Esmegirlworld' website - and if we could find it and go there.  She then paid very close attention to the URL and asked me what that spelled.

She keeps telling me 'there's just one more thing..' or 'the one more thing is..' which is different to hear from her.  We walked down to the lake and she looked at all the daisies and told me not to step on the flowers - they were all in blooming, pretty white ones.  I know she must have used the word 'blooming' before, but it was music to my ears.  She asked if the tiny fish that ran away in the water lived there in its home.  I said yes.  She asked why it ran away, and I tried to say it didn't want to be where she squished the mud.  Because she would step on it?  I said no, because the mud is all over where it was now - and it ran away to get away from the mud cloud.  Because it cannot see?, she asked.  Yes, exactly.  I told her the ground was mushy and was squishy.  She asked which one, mushy or squishy or both.  So I described mushy as sinking beneath your feet and squishy as sinking and stuff squirting out as you sink - so it was both.  She then asked me where the part of the shore was where the octopus lived - was it the orange rocks there?  No octopi live in our lake.. I am sure ;)  She was disappointed.

She wanted to sit up on a branch in a tree so badly earlier today but I couldn't find one that didn't have poison ivy on it or sharp bits or too weak etc etc... I told her we would go to the park tomorrow and had a lot of arguing about wanting to go today....She went to bed early (9 pm) on the promise that I didn't have to go to work tomorrow and we can play more, go to town and go to the park.  I made up the pair of pants I had cut out weeks ago at the library, adding a pair of contrasting cuffs to the bottom.  I have to get on the ball and start sewing more bit by bit.. and I have to organize my table - all of our paint stuff has dominated it and I am not sure where else to put it.

I found some of what I believe is this pencilflower growing out on the roadside... it looks so pretty, tiny little orange yellow flowers.  I took a tiny piece of it into our garden and we'll see if it survives.  It is in the bean family ... that fits with me I guess. ;)

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Handmade art by Mom for Esme's room

I still get my paintbrush out once in a while -although not for anything as elaborate as I used to make.  Here is a pirate painting for Esme's room and also some animals I painted on her new closet doors.

Pirate dreams painting - details asked for Esme are the scene on the left with the treasure island and the dreaming pirate, and the stars, and a 'whale' which I made an attempt at by the sunset/sunrise.

Once the closet was in place in her room the doors looked a little plain.  So, I grabbed a paintbrush and freehanded some animals onto it - I had intended two giraffes facing each other and instead made a tiger in pants and shoes, and a giraffe with a coat on :) 

We already have some dresses hung up on hangers inside and I am trying to get her to keep her boots and shoes in here at the bottom - socks and loose thins in the shelf above.  She has taken the dresses on hangers out and played with them saying it is dress up time - is this too small - is this just right?  Try this on, won't you?  I need to get more hangers - and looking at her clothes I know that August is just a little ways off.. I will need to get sewing if she is going to have something in decent condition for school every day. 

I just haven't had a lot of time for sewing since that last coat.. and even that took me weeks from cutout to finish.  Note to self:  Need pants too, have one pair cut out but they are summer length - and now that she requires nearly a full two yards for a pair of pants, they have gotten more expensive - not as much as jeans, though... still have to think if we might have her try on some jeans to see how they fit, and compare the investment now that she has grown so much.

 Esme with her horse pretending the pirate ship is a castle and she is a 'knight girl with the armor'

This is where the painting is in her room, by her sleeping light on the shelf. 

Sunday, June 02, 2013

day off with cloning machine cardboard box fun

 Esme wanted to play with cardboard this morning.  I have a head cold, but this seemed like a better bet than wandering around outside behind her in the mud.  I robbed a length from my pvc tent bag for the rod and would like to get some plastic hangers and a few wooden knobs to finish the project.  She wanted a 'tube with the (lever) that you turn and open the door and there will be a sister inside, or maybe a brother - and it will be all the things and go 'boom' and it will be fun.  She told me this while she was in the bathtub this morning and was very upset we could not build a real one -- she has been on this kick for a while, actually... and we finally discussed we could make one like 'pretend'... 'no not the park with all the things pretend - the part with the (building) like pretend' (her strange words), but finally accepted that we would build the machine like pretend.  We found a few boxes in the garage and talked about how to build it.  She got inside it and pretended she was a Mummy coming out of a sarcophagus (like a Scooby doo mystery show) she said, and then we finally settled on putting doors on it.



The doors are laced on the side with yarn after punching through with a crochet hook and a double pointed needle (mom work)... She wanted to keep all the white part white (good!) and I insisted we paint more than just the doors so it would look nicer.. She had a mad fit about that - but then came back with the blue and we continued.

Helping me paint the doors yellow like the sun coming inside... the other door ended up pink after she used up most of the yellow paint ;)

This was earlier when she was playing Velma with her glasses and trying to make hot dogs out of playdough.