A Modest Garden

Great Show for Homeschoolers

2012-01-31T12:39:00.001-05:00

Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe is a terrific series for kids! This guy, Mike Rowe, goes to all these different jobs that are dirty and shows how things are made or done. It's really fun. We watched catching slimey hag fish, cranberry farming and making bricks this morning. We found the DVDs of a few of the seasons at our library. (Wish I could put up a picture here but I haven't figured out how to copy and paste pictures on a mac yet.)

It's My Birthday

2012-01-30T15:51:00.000-05:00

And look at what my neighbor Amie (that's her above. she loves having her picture taken.) and her daughters made for me! I am so impressed!

The peas were my favorite. I think they were made with chewing gum and m&ms. The shovel was chewing gum and pretzels. So awesome!

I am loved.

(Joffre had to cut it because I didn't have the heart.)

New Homemade Bath Mat

2012-01-26T09:50:00.003-05:00

I needed some bath mats. So I tried making one myself. I took an old towel and cut it in half then sandwiched between a quilted top I put together and some fabric from an old curtain on the bottom. Needless to say I was lazy and didn't measure anything but I still like it and it's quirky bit of crookedness. ( By the way, some of the fabric is from a vintage sheet I found at our local Goodwill Clearance center where you buy stuff by the pound. It is a great way to find fabric super cheaply. I recently found a sheet set from Pottery Barn Teen that is so pretty. I am trying to decide how to use it.)

Amoretti Giveaway

2012-01-26T09:43:00.003-05:00

Rebekah Merkle is giving away some of her pretty new fabric line, England Swings, at her website, Amoretti. I love lots of reds and blues.

Tanya Whelan's New Book

2012-01-22T21:26:00.001-05:00

So I am excited about this book by Tanya Whelan. Her fabric is so PRETTY and I mean that literally Not all fabric is so pretty and feminine. I am also really like the dress patterns I saw in the previews.

I got a free bag pattern from her already and I think I am going to make 3 of them, two for my handmade swap I am putting together at my church and one for me. This is the pattern I picked.

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

I Love Making a Mess

2012-01-21T20:13:00.002-05:00

This is what my room looked like for a couple days while I was working on making those baby shower gifts. I actually wanted to leave it and get some more scrappy projects done but I was going to have company. I think I will make a mess again this week trying to work on some bath mats.

Changing Pad and Diaper Sleeves

2012-01-21T20:10:00.001-05:00

I have 3 baby showers coming up so I decided to make them all the same thing, diaper sleeve and changing pad. This is from the book One Yard Wonders. I am showing the sleeves with the back side of the changing pads. You can fit a diaper and the changing pad in the sleeve. It was pretty easy to make these and I am going to put some children's books with them for the presents. Hopefully they are not going to look at my blog anytime soon.

CD Weaving

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

As an art project for the kids last week we tried this art project, CD weavings. The bottom picture is my example and the top is Renata's. She loved it and wants to make a mobile or wall hanging of them. (I think she was better than i was at it.) The boys on the other hand had a terrible time with it . They were too young or I made too many strings for them to weave between. I recommend it for 7yrs. and up.

Slingshot Fun

2012-01-17T13:23:00.001-05:00

We are learning about David and Goliath this week. So we were going to make slings but Joffre was not happy with the idea of the kids possibly hurting themselves or our windows. So I convinced him to let them make slingshots. ( I also made a sling so they could see how it works.) I used leather scraps from our local craft store that sells a bag of them for $3. Then I bought elastic cording in the sewing section ( I bought too thin a cording. Buy the thickest you can. The ones you buy use a rubber cording but I'm not sure where to get it.) Then we found the right sticks and made a few rules. =)

Wardrobe Progress Part 2

2012-01-17T13:15:00.001-05:00

Worked a bit more on painting the wardrobe.

Changeable Kid's Artwork Frames

2012-01-13T09:37:00.002-05:00

I saw this idea (actually a similar one) on Pintrest and I decided to try it. Sorry the pictures are not great but this is the best I could do in this part of the house. I am determined to actually do the things I pin on Pintrest. So I took some spray paint and prayed some frames I had and I put white paper in the frames and put the glass back in the frames. Then I hot glued the clips to the glass (it is easy to scrape/peel it off later if I want to use the frames in the normal way). The original way I saw had the frames empty and clips nailed to the walls. I didn't do this because 1) holes in our walls get huge because they are plaster and 2) my walls are ...er.....dirty ( I have flat paint and scrubbing produces smears . I just need to repaint!) so I didn't want the dirty walls behind the pictures framing them.

And here we are. I do need to put the kid's pictures under books so they are flatter and make a few mop0-ore horizontal frames. (Kid's seem to really like doing horizontal pictures more than vertical. ? Wonder why?)

Wardrobe in Progress

2012-01-11T16:42:00.001-05:00

I painted this wardrobe white awhile ago but have been mulling about what to do with the panels on the side. I started working on it and have only gotten to poppies and grass. I am still working on them and need to find a good fabric to put in the middle. I definitely am going to add some bent buds and maybe a second poppy on one side. Still mulling and thinking about the next step.

Great Kid's Craft/Art Projects Sites

2012-01-11T11:40:00.001-05:00

I recently found a terrific blog authored by an art teacher. She puts up a bunch of her art projects that she does with her students and I love it. She's really terrific about sharing and gives tips too. I have found a few great craft blogs/collectives and thought I'd share my favorites here.

Make It....a Wonderful Life
Crafty Crow Kid's Craft Collective
Ziggy Crafts ( mostly more adult)
Skip to My Lou

Boys Adrift

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am almost finished reading the book, Boys Adrift, after reading a post someone else wrote about it. This is one of those books people around me have been talking about but I just wasn't paying attention . It's very good and I highly recommend it to moms with boys.

It is about a family physician who noticed how many boys were not motivated, lazy, and on drugs for ADHD. So he researched to find conclusions as to why. He has 5 factors that he thinks play into the problem. Some are the school's systems, environment toxins and things like video games and porn. He ranges in talking about kindergarten boys to adult men still living with their parents.

His studies and research are so interesting and he comes to some good conclusions but I think he only scratches the surface of what need to be done to make things better. He talks of system changes that need to happen in schools and with manhood rituals among different cultures but he doesn't say much about the parents or family systems that need to change (probably because that is a bigger problem to be fixed and controversial one.)

A Wardism

2012-01-06T17:34:00.003-05:00

So we are studying marine creatures right now in our homeschooling and we are learning about lobsters. We learned that there are 40lb lobsters in the ocean. This was a big deal for the kids when I observed that most of them are less than 40lbs or right at 40lbs.

Fast forward to a Dad hugging Ward and George and saying "I am hugging my two littlest boys". Ward responds, "But I am getting bigger. Bigger than a lobster."

Laugh Out Loud

2012-01-06T12:03:00.000-05:00

So I just found out about this whole set of pictures that take the actor Ryan Gosling and pretending he is your boyfriend saying sweet things to you, the viewer. They always start "Hey girl".They have a series for the crafter that are so funny! Here is a link to a few more.

How to Seduce a Woman

2012-01-06T11:59:00.000-05:00

This is my husband's advice on how to seduce a woman.

More Sewing

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have a nice little antique desk that was my Grandmother's that I use to work on my computer. The finish on top is a little bit worn in spots so I decided to make a computer rug to protect it from my computer rubbing on it. So I did and here it is. I am still having a lot of trouble with binding and machine quilting. I think my machine isn't strong enough for some quilting. The back has some thread "bubbles". Maybe I just have the tension wrong for quilting. Any way the linen is lovely but was tricky at the binding and got a tad messed up at the top.

Here it is next to my mug rug. that I made a while ago.

And lastly here is a notebook cover that fits over a sketch book. I was enjoying experimenting with the scrappy squares next to linen thing. I found out two things. One is that even if the squares don't look great next to each other when big they look fun when cut into a thin strip. Two -it is easy to get a bit too Rainbow bright looking. That's my only complaint about the cover here. Too many colors. (I should have left out the purple.) But it was fun and now I know what I like.

Tabasco

2011-12-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

My hubby "won" a gallon jug of Tabasco. He has been doing surveys and posting pictures etc on the tabasco website and earned a bottle of reserve tabasco and a gallon jug.

Fun Barrettes

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some fun barrettes I made with a hot glue gun. Yep, it was a lot of work to dab some hot glue on the end of these pins and place the flowers on the end. Phew. So easy and cute and cheap.

Books I Am Reading

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

I managed to do some reading recently and hit on some gems. I read The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner on recommendation of another author I like and LOVED it and the whole series (there are 4 books so far). Joffre read them too and we both really liked them. The best part is the surprise endings!

I can't describe them without ruining the surprises so I will just say they are super fun. They are "young adult" books and would be great for anyone over 9 or ten I think.

This book Travels With Charley by Steinback is about his travels with his dog to "discover America"via a long road trip. His insights into some of American culture (1960s America Culture) are very interesting. I am half way through and really like it.

This book, The Gift of Thanks, is sadly disappointing me. I heard an interview with her about her book, The Rituals of Dinner, and wanted to read it and this one. It is about the rituals of Thanks. So far I have been annoyed with how she is avoiding religious influence on thanksgiving rituals. I have not read much so hopefully it will improve.

December in the Garden

2011-12-28T16:24:00.002-05:00

These were part of my Christmas present from my husband. A new wheel barrow and camilla as well as some more dirt for more beds.

Here is a climbing rose I planted and made a cathedral window-like trellis for.

Here are my peas finally covering my teepee poles. It looks really fun.

Lettuce and spinach. I have more mixed lettuce in other beds too.

Garlic and rhubarb.

kale. I have cabbage growing too but they are so small I don't think I'll get any before a freeze. I am amazed how much I have growing still in December. We had turnips out of the garden with our Christmas meal.

The Organizing Has Begun

2011-12-28T15:20:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the long silence, my friends. We got sick, went to Florida, got strep throat, and had Christmas and I just didn't feel like blogging much. We actually had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas between sicknesses. I hope you all had great holidays too.

I am resolved to get back in the blogging habit.

I am also resolving to get organized like everyone does this time of year but I have such limited closet space that I was struggling with where to put stuff. Then I had inspiration hit me. Hanging door organizers. So I started making them and haven't stopped. Here are a few of the things I've made to try and get organized.

This is a trash receptacle for my car. I used the cut off sleeves of a dress I decided to make short sleeved. The sleeve ends were tapered at the bottom with elastic. I sewed up the top ends and folded them in side the plastic. Then I put a cut off 2 liter bottle in the tube and sewed on a velcro strap and voila!

This is our new chore chart. Each child has 2 pockets. (They got to pick what fabric they wanted.) One pocket has laminated cards with the jobs on them. As they finish a job they place it in the 2nd pocket. They have to finish all their jobs before school time. I drew pictures of each job for the nonreading little kids (and because it was fun =).

A shoe holder for my bedroom door. I am making a very similar one for packs of papers and craft supplies for the back of our homeschool closet. These and the chore chart are made from some plain old curtain panels I had. I have more and I am thinking of making some more for other closets.

Garden Plans

2011-11-02T13:57:00.003-05:00

I have been having a great time drawing out my garden plans for the yard. The kids think it's super cool. Which makes it even more fun. They keep asking, "what is going to go here, Mom?" and "What's that supposed to be?" I think they are looking for a treasure in the map too.

These are two drawings. The top and bottom are the same larger one and the middle one is one I did of the side yard. The hard part is that much of this is in place now but the plants are teeny tiny. So now we just have to wait.....

Soccer

2011-11-02T13:50:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our soccer season.. The two older two really got a lot better this year especially Renata. Last year she was so timid but this year she was blocking the kids big than her with gusto. Joffre did really well and was very gungho. He's even more excited about basketball. And George was a little Fire Ant ( the name of his team). He scored most of his teams goals and just ran the entire game but remained the most excited about getting a snack at the end..

Firepit Love

2011-10-28T06:57:00.000-05:00

We have been using our partially built fire pit and enjoying it. Joffre is reading The Lord of the Rings to the kids now and it was especially fun be around a fire while the characters are too. The cat even sat perched next to Joffre for much of the story listening. Then she snuggled between Ward and I .

2 Books I'm Loving

2011-10-27T06:52:00.004-05:00

I have been reading these two books and loving them so very much. The first is Peril and Peace. This is a children's book series that teaches about the people in church history. This is the first book in the series and starts with Paul. I am very excited about this because I think church history is way too neglected among Christians. You can learn so much about where ideas came from and how long they have been around and why. It is especially great to know heresies and see where they came from and how they are recycled through the ages. I am not sure this series examines the heresies but it is a great beginner church history series.

The second is a great gardening book about being creative and keeping the costs down. My favorite part about it is the balance she has about spending money. She tells you it is worth it to spend the money on a 15gallon tree because it has been researched to grow larger over the long haul but then she tells you what things are not worth spending the money on. For every purchase she gives 4 options of spending according to what you can afford and includes pros and cons for everything. There are lots of creative ideas and a surprising amount of pictures. I like books with pictures.

Remodels

2011-10-23T16:43:00.002-05:00

So life has been busy. We got a new roof (I haven't taken a picture yet.) and a new bathroom floor!After lugging four boxes of tile (which are VERY heavy) home I decided I didn't like it and lugged it back before picking out this one. I really like it and now I am going to repaint this bathroom. I had a green linoleum floor before and had to work with a green color. Now I think I am going blue.

While the plumber was replacing the toilet in this bathroom he noticed we needed a sink in the other and offered this nice pedestal sink to us for free. It looks so nice.

Getting Ready for Reformation Party Time

2011-10-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

These are the kids dressed as "The Chronicles of Narnia...and a knight". Earlier today all the boys were dressed as cowboys. I have a feeling they will be changing their minds about costumes a few times.

Projects

2011-10-23T16:30:00.002-05:00

I have been working on some other projects. Like making this planter holder for the chicken coop. It's from an old display shelf from our bookstore.

I also planted a jasmine vine to make the coop prettier and hopefully a little smellier (in a good way). Next I am re roofing the coop and then I'll get a full shot.

Here is the beginnings of our fire pit. I want one similar to this one. we've just begun but we put an old church pew from our bookstore out by it.

Here is a rock bed I am expanding.I've been using cardboard as weed barrier.

There are mostly the "before" picture to the hopefully great "after " pictures I will later show you.

Some of the Boys in My Life

2011-10-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

Garden Update Fall

2011-10-23T16:20:00.002-05:00

peas

kale

green beans

lettuce seedlings

muscadine grape

So I'm back. It's nice to ignore your blog for awhile because when you go back you have lots to blog about. I planted some veggies for fall but I'm not sure I'll get to harvest before it gets too cold. I have been planting a bunch of plants I propagated and they look good but they are small and not worth photographing. I am excited about trying grapes. Wine making maybe?

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

I love when cats find just the right sized place to sleep.

Painting

2011-09-09T12:57:00.000-05:00

Renata's Birthday

2011-09-09T12:55:00.000-05:00

Renata had her birthday and we got her a CD player she is playing nonstop in her room now. She also got a giant Teddy Bear she was coveting from Costco from her Grandpa. Here is a picture of her finding it as a surprise.

2011-08-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

Ward: That's ripickulis!

Me: That's ridiculous, Ward?

Ward: No Mom, that's ripickulis.

Visitors Yeah!!

2011-08-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

Grandpa Swait and Margaret are in town. Renata is showing off her cooking skills to him. And my cat decided to bond with him which is funny if you know his apathy for cats.

Then we got a double dose of fun with my friend Kendra and her son coming for a visit. This was great and hopefully will become at least an annual event. My kids really enjoyed all the extra reading they got.

Kid-Safe Insect Repellent

2011-08-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to an insect repellent recipe that is deet free. It's made with an herb mixture and cider vinegar. You can buy the herb mixture or separate herbs from this store and it has a legend to go with it (I'm a sucker for a good story). I'm in the process of making it and was pretty excited to be able to use all herbs from my own garden except the wormwood.

Fun Shirts from Grandma

2011-08-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

My Mom sent some shirts for the kids from Montana. They were so cute I thought I'd share. Georgie got a Batmoose shirt.

Ward got a forest animal rock band. The bear twirling his drum sticks is very fun.

Renata just got a horse shirt (no pink Batmoose shirts.)

Joffre's is my favorite. I took a close up so you can see it for yourselves.

Meet the Girls

2011-07-31T17:15:00.001-05:00

So a friend of mine got 4 chickens as chicks and raised them for a time. Then when they reached coop size decided it wasn't a good time buy a coop and wanted to get rid of them. I was excited to get free chickens when all the hardest part ( raising them from chicks) was done. I have been debating it for awhile and decided I did want to walk out my door and get great fertilizer and fresh eggs. So we rushed to put together a coop from an old shed at our bookstore. And now we have 4 new girls in the family. Let me introduce you.

This is Sunshine ( the kids named them with our approval.) I think she is lowest in the pecking order and she is the smallest.

This is Marigold who is the the most adventurous and first out the door when we open it.

Here is Luna, I think. She is the largest and can fly up to the perches now.

And lastly is Speckle.

Here is our coop. I think I will paint door the same red as my trellises .

George is demonstrating our door that opens to the nesting boxes I built inside. These hens are still a few months too young to lay but hopefully we will get some this fall. I am doing everything I can to keep them cool enough to make it through the summer heat. We are still working out the making of a run right now. We let them in the yard for now with the kids watching and shut them in at night but I have had to catch them a few times now and I am looking forward to having a run they can go into on their own.

Peach Jam

2011-07-30T06:11:00.003-05:00

So I thought I'd show a little tutorial about making peach jam. I just made a batch and it was yummy if I may say so. 1 batch is about 8 half pints or 4 pints of jam. Here goes:

Wash your peaches and if they're not organic use some soap. Rinse well.

Blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes till their skins split open.

Using a slotted spoon place them in prepared bowls of ice water. Then slip off the skins and discard them. Chop peaches into small pieces (I skipped this part because I was lazy. I will have very chunky jam.)

Mash peaches with a masher.

Put jars and lids in pots and heat them. Don't boil the lids! It ruins the seals. The jars don't have to be completely submerged but make sure they are nice and hot all over.

Follow the directions on the package of pectin you bought and I mean this seriously. Each pectin is a little different about amounts. Stir in pectin and then stir till you hate stirring...er I mean till the jam boils. Don't stop stirring but add sugar. I like low sugar pectin and only put 1-1 1/2 cups of sugar in one batch. ( for comparison, regular pectin has about 6 cups of sugar a batch.) Stir some more till it boils again and starts looking a bit thicker and kind of glossy.

Ok this is where you need to move a bit quickly so things don't cool down too fast. Pull out a jar with tongs from your pot of hot water. Get out a jar funnel and pour the jam in leaving about this much head space.

Stick a knife in it to get out air bubbles and wipe the top so it will seal well.

Get out a lid with the fun magnetic lid lifter thingy you get in a canning pack ( it's my favorite canning tool!) and stick on a lid. Twist a ring on but not too tightly just fingertip tightly.

Cover your jars with a towel as you work because my neighbor told me this helps them seal and she is an awesome canner so I do it.

The Last Airbender....again

2011-07-29T06:40:00.000-05:00

Friends gave us the entire set of the Avatar The Last Airbender animated series and we have been watching a couple of those episodes a day to go through the series. It is so fun and so much better than the live action movie. We've already seen it but it's so fun. I have to catch myself from watching them again.

In the show the characters use elements( fire, earth, water or air) to fight bad guys.My kids have decided what kind of element bender they want to be. So Renata is a water bender, Joffre is an earth bender and George is an air bender. So they go around making karate like motions and pretend to fight each other with whatever they can supposedly "bend". I saw Ward making motions too but couldn't quite figure out what he had chose to fight with. So I went up close to ask and he was saying, "Apa" Apa. This is hilarious because Apa is the giant flying bison the characters ride to go places in the show. Bison power!

Trying to Beat the Heat

2011-07-28T20:34:00.002-05:00

So it's been 99degrees everyday and we have been mostly hanging out inside trying to find things to do.
The kids have been reading and playing tons of legos. Unfortunately our bigger baby pool died and they have tried squeezing into our sandbox one but it's pretty tight. Ward was trying to push everyone out today to give himself more room. He is such a buffalo. His nickname is The Hug Buffalo.

Even the cat is lethargic except today when she decided it was time to go into heat! We are having her spayed tomorrow. If you have never had to deal with a cat in heat let me tell you it is not a treat. I am ready to fling the hussy out on the streets... but I won't. We also have more excitement but I'll save that for another post. (and No, I am not pregnant.)

Harvest

2011-07-28T20:22:00.000-05:00

I've been harvesting butternut squash and have some giant ones on the vines still. I pulled up 2 of the plants but still have 1 prolific plant cranking them out. My tomatoes are ripening up all at once in the heat so we have tons.

Garden Update

2011-07-25T06:46:00.006-05:00

I was very excited to get a Knock Out rose plant on sale at Lowes. They are so disease resistant you can treat them like any other shrub and don't have to spray them. Now i am looking for a disease resistant climbing rose.

This butternut squash plant is growing beautifully while my other two are definitely on the decline. This has 8 growing on it and the other two gave me 4 fruit together.

This is celiosa? flower. They are usually about 6 inches high but these are 2 feet! I have had the same thing happen with marigolds. They are just now about to flower.

These are my cantaloupe and pumpkin plants which are actually twice as big now. This was a picture from last week. i only have to cantaloupe growing on them though. No pumpkins forming yet. I am hoping the heat doesn't kill them.

This is my cucumber plant that was giving me beautiful looking cucumbers that tasted awful! They are so bitter. We got a few nice ones at the beginning and then I think it just hated the heat. I pulled them out last night.

My zinnias are 4 feet tall and still pretty.

My tomatoes are stressed by the heat but still giving me 8 tomatoes or so every 3 days. They are sprawling everywhere because my cages didn't hold them up.

And here is the worst garden pest ever...the squash bug. I kill 5 a day of these monsters and still they come. They have to be squished by hand (with gloves on of course) because they don't respond to organic pesticides. I don't pay my kids for chores but I offered 10 cents a bug if they killed any squash bugs.Joffre Jr eagerly has been searching for them and got one last night. I'm thinking of offering M and Ms too.

The Hobbit

2011-07-24T06:46:00.000-05:00

Joffre is reading the Hobbit to the kids for the first time and they are loving it so much. We had a few nice evenings before the horrid hot came and he took them outside to read one night . So I took some pictures. Our kitten almost got called Bilbo before we realized he was a she. We were reading the Chronicles of Narnia but we took a break to read The Hobbit. I am surprised how much the little ones are comprehending but they love it as much as the older one do.

Meet June

2011-07-24T06:37:00.000-05:00

I have had such craziness going on at my house. Mostly good craziness just all happening at once. We have a new member of the family, June the Kitty as Ward calls her. He says the whole thing. My neighbor's daughter who I love (as demonstrated by this story) came over holding this kitten. She said, "I found her in the gutter crying." And as she hands it to me, "We're allergic." I will ignore that I held out my arms and said, "oh poor thing lets feed her."

It all my neighbor's fault that I now have a new cat. That's 3!And this is the best part- I have mice again and they are not catching them! Lazy ...well fed...furballs.

We are also getting some other new animals that a friend wanted to get rid of but I will leave that as a surprise for later.

I love the spot on her next to her nose. Should have named her Cindy after Cindy Crawford and her big mole.

So Cuddly

2011-07-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

Shirred Dress

2011-07-08T06:07:00.002-05:00

I wanted a long maxi dress and I wanted to learn how to do shirring. So I made one....that was way too small. So small I cut off the top shirred part and made a shirt that fits Renata ( third photo). Then I made on for me that fits . I used fabric I got for free at a yard sale and didn't use a pattern. It was fun to try it without a pattern and it made patterns make more sense to me. Shirring is really pretty simple. You just put elastic thread in the bobbin and use regular thread on top and make rows of gathers.Viola!

Garden Update

2011-07-07T08:01:00.002-05:00

After a couple storms my tomatoes refuse to stay up.I need better cages. So I have been draping them the way I want to harvest them. It has been really dry and hot so I have to water a lot right now.

I made a little trellis for this butternut squash in my rock plot.

And these butternut squash and watermelons are doing really well. I have a bunch of little baby squash, baby watermelon and this one big squash.

Getting lots of cucumbers and starting to get okra.

And my crape myrtle is blooming and looks so pretty.

Propagation

2011-07-06T06:51:00.003-05:00

So I am still propagating like a mad woman with mixed success. I thought the rooting hormone would be magical and make everything I cut root but alas it didn't quite work that way.

I couldn't get the roses to root ( I still have one of 3 alive.) And I am about to give up on fig cutting forever. The hydrangeas are rooting because they are the easiest in the world to propagate. The crape myrtles were easy also.I had no luck with holly but the boxwoods seem to be alive. And lastly I am trying to do some Muscadine grapes from a friend's vine.

And here is a picture of Ward in sunglasses because I know some of you are as bored of propagation as he is.

A New Table

2011-07-05T06:47:00.001-05:00

After our party we decided to switch out our old kitchen table with this one from the old store because we like it so much. Now I think I will finish painting all the chairs different shades of red.

Bugs!

2011-07-04T08:19:00.001-05:00

My garden is so lush right now and I have been enjoying it so much.Unfortunately my least favorite part of gardening is happening now. The bugs have come to suck the life out of all my beautiful plants. I can deal with heat and diseases but I do not like dealing with the dumb bugs

I have a harlequin bug infestation in my collards. I squished tons of them and pulled out the collards only to find a bunch more on my 2nd set of collards the next night. I hate the little pop! of squishing their little bodies. I tried to get the kids into but they didn't like it either. I also found 2 squash bugs ( otherwise known as the spawn of Satan) on my butternut squash. I kinda enjoyed the pop that time. AAArgh. The battle has begun.

Swait's Super Summer Soiree

2011-07-04T07:47:00.000-05:00

Joffre and I decided to have a big party this summer, the Swait's Super Summer Soiree. We brought home some furniture from our old bookstore and got out some decorations. I made 3 big pots of Fejioada, a Brazilian stew of pork and black beans. We bought some rum for mojitos and beer. I started preparing for the fun early in the day.

I hung paper lanterns and some of the colorful banners I made for parties.

I cut some hydrangeas from the hedge of them we have at the old store ( they are huge and beautiful.) This is one of tables from the store I repainted with chalkboard paint on top because the top was a mess.

My friend had the brilliant idea of putting my too small chalkboard painted door in the yard for the kids to draw on outside.

I was all set and then.....it rained!!! The bane of all outdoor parties. I had to take all this down and try to reset up 10 minutes before the party (no joke 10 minutes!). I was all for canceling but Joffre was determined to make it work. So we reset up on our porch and in our carport and it all worked out. I was just a little flustered and out of breath when everyone arrived. My neighbor came and helped out setting up all the food stuff (you are awesome Amie!). My good friend from out of town arrived and it was so terrific seeing her and her family. Later in the evening we were able to move everyone back out to the backyard and had a great time. Yeah!!!

Family Worship Thoughts

2011-06-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

I really appreciated this article about "family worship". We have done various "family worship" type things at different times but they change and evolve a lot. I think that is the part of the point of the article- evolve with your families needs. Anyway it is a good read.

2011-06-25T06:21:00.000-05:00

Harvest

2011-06-24T07:20:00.001-05:00

It's time to harvest finally.The beets were delicious and look at my pile of chard. we have been eating a lot of greens lately. I have already frozen some collards and will probably do some chard too.

The pickles and rhubarb came from a friends garden. I think I'll freeze the rhubarb and make jam or pie later. We almost have enough cucumbers to make a salad from our garden and the tomatoes are turning red.

Extract Experiments

2011-06-23T07:16:00.009-05:00

I had such good success with making vanilla extract that I tried orange and peppermint extract. You make the orange (or lemon) extract by using a veggie peeler to scrape off the skin of the orange but not the white bitter part. Then you stick it in vodka for a few weeks. It has been 2 weeks and mine smells nice and orangey. I also tried peppermint but it was trickier and I am not as sure about the results. I used fresh mint leaves and put them in vodka for a few days then strained them. But I think I needed to either cook it or use dried because it doesn't quite smell minty enough. I kept worrying the leaves would rot or something.

Butter and Spies

2011-06-22T07:51:00.001-05:00

Ward has been a bit devious lately. I found out that for a few days he has been drawing on the walls and furniture in his room during nap time. When I had my first child this was caught right away but by the fourth it took a week for me to see it and it was a lot more drawing. Sigh, I am getting rusty.

Then other day I walked into the kitchen and saw a very guilty looking Ward looking at me. I knew something was up and asked him, "What are you doing Ward." His response, " Oh, I just eating peanut butter, Mom."

( He calls butter "peanut butter" right now.) And you see the above picture of the results of his "snack."

In the midst of being a booger he said something yesterday that made me forgive it all.

Renata ran by and said, "I'm spying Mom, shhh." She ran to a doorway and leaned out cautiously to see if the coast was clear and then ran into the next room. (She LOVES Nancy Drew books right now and wants to be a detective.)

George came in behind her sucking his thumb with a backpack on his back. "I'm spying with Renata, Mom. This is my spy pack!" ( He is more interested in the spy gear.) And away he went to follow Renata.

Lastly Ward comes running in and says," I spicy, Mom! I spicy!" and runs off after his siblings.

New Dress for the Niece

2011-06-19T06:44:00.000-05:00

I made a dress for my niece a while ago but decided I like this one better. So I am sending this one to her. It is linen cotton blend and the red cotton print with the ever necessary rickrack on the top edge.

Painting the Bathroom

2011-06-18T06:28:00.003-05:00

Before in seafoam green

Add caption

After. They drywall is a bit lumpy but I get what I need to do next time and it is am improvement. The color didn't end up as brown as I wanted but it looks a whole lot better.

Hail Storm

2011-06-17T07:20:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of the storm we had here Joffre took with the kids.

Hail Damage

2011-06-17T07:07:00.001-05:00

Squash before the storm.

Squash after the storm.

Tomatoes down. They are all leaning in weird directions now.

My snapped blueberry bush. I am going to try to propagate it now.

We had a rough storm the other day and it was a bit rough on my garden. Thankful I had only one serious casualty. I lost a blueberry bush. sniff sniff. My poor squash and swiss chard are quite holey now.I took pictures the day before and it makes an interesting before and after photo .And after the storm I saw my first zinnia bloom.

The Bad Day

2011-06-06T06:06:00.001-05:00

So I had one of those bad days that leaves you not upset as much as curious. Why did everything I try to do today go wrong, God? It was weird.

It was when I tried to finish some of my unfinished projects. I went to screw in the threshold to the floor of where I was going to hang my chalkboard door and couldn't get the screws all the way down and the stripped the screw and couldn't get it out. Nothing like a screw sticking out an inch above the ground in the middle of a doorway. Joffre managed to hammer it in with brute force and I was so relieved. I thought I hope the door will be easy to screw into the door jamb. Well when he brought it in I realized the door was way too small and I had measured it wrong. So no chalkboard door for awhile.

Then I decided I need to get going on painting the bathroom. So we went to get the paint at Lowes and I got the wrong white! AAAAAAARRGghh. I reconciled myself to it and came up with a plan involving 3 different colors in the bathroom. I got to work painting the ceiling only to see this weird fuzz all over the ceiling. It was the fuzz from the too cheap rollers I bought! Then I realized the joint I drywalled looked really bad in one spot and I was going to have to sand and redo that one area.

I knew better with all these things it was all my errors. That is what bugs me the most. I decided I needed to sit down and read a fun book and not touch anything for few days. That's what I did. I hope this week goes better.

Red

2011-06-05T15:06:00.000-05:00

I wanted to paint the trellises a sedate green but Joffre convinced me to try red and boy are they red! Now I like a lot of color in my house but the garden was going to be mellower. But I do like red. So we went with the red and it is only for two small trellises and I like it. I was thinking we could get some chairs or a picnic table and paint it the same red to put in a sitting area elsewhere in the garden to tie it all together.

My cucumbers are going crazy up this one already.

My tomatoes are growing really well and we have lots of little tomatoes forming on them. Just a few more weeks!

And this tiny sprout has me very excited. It is an artichoke. Artichokes are perennials so if I can get it to grow it will keep coming back. I had just about given up on them. A friend also gave me a rhubarb plant that I have growing inside till fall.

Trying to propagate roses on my kitchen windowsill.

Radishes

2011-06-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

I decided to paint a quick painting of a radish i harvested this week. I kinda like it.

Unfinished Projects

2011-06-01T06:03:00.000-05:00

I think it is a very bad thing to have lots of unfinished projects. Ahem... I have lots of unfinished projects right now and guess what? I want to start new ones! (and I am not even showing you the unfinished chair and painting in my room.)

My neighbor and good friend has told me I can not start anything new unless I can finish it in a day.
So I am determined to get these projects done the next 2 months or less.

Some are almost done and some are waiting on funding or help, etc. (Just trying to justify the madness a little!)

So here they are to keep me accountable:

My chalkboard door that needs to be hung in the den in front of the bathroom.

My bathroom that needs to be finished painting (this is the biggy
because it is oil paint and not fun to paint with.) You will notice I am also painting some frames to hang the kids artwork in along our stairs.Just another little added side project. I am so bad right now!

)

A really cool armoire that needs some serious love.

A coat rack that I made with different knobs that I really need to figure out how to hang on the wall!
One step at a time.

Chalkboard Paint Pots

2011-05-31T06:55:00.004-05:00

I saw this project in the book, You Grow Girl, and have been wanting to do it for a while. I was painting a door in chalk board paint for the den/schoolroom and thought now was the time to do it. It is super easy. You make a cardstock stencil and tape it to the pot. Then carefully paint the chalkboard paint on the pots to make a label. I did have to "fix"a few spots on the edges where the paint leaked under the stencil but not much. I think they look really fun together as a set. Now the only problem is that I am not sure I am spelling geranium correctly?

Propagation

2011-05-30T08:47:00.009-05:00

I am trying to propagate more this year and I am determined to do better than last year. I am trying to learn about softwood and hardwood propagating.The soft ones you can do now and it is where you take cuttings from new growth. I am doing lots of hydrangeas (below)(only got 2 to live last year), some figs (above) ( all died last year), and some crape myrtles ( far below). I have always done these successfully with herbs like mint and lemon balm, etc but the larger plants not so well.

Joffre Jr.

2011-05-28T09:35:00.000-05:00

Joffre Jr. got to try out the lawn mower the other day under the careful supervision of Dad and here he is helping Dad get the compost for the garden out of the truck. Can I just tell you how awesome it is going to be to have this work force at the house. Pretty exciting! Joffre also begged to show off his lego model. He loves his legos.

Garden Love

2011-05-28T08:46:00.001-05:00

I don't want to be inside this week. I am in love with my garden. So many of the plants are so small still but the hope I have for them makes me feel like they are babies I gave birth to. I know I sound ridiculous.

Peas starting to creep up the bean teepee I made.

Turnips and beets getting close to harvest time.

I love the different shades of green in this bed. it's tomatoes, bush beans and peppers.

This bed isn't even finished getting it's compost but the collards and onions are doing great.

I think we are actually going to get some yummy peaches this year.

My hydrangea is in technicolor this year with whitish, purple and blue blooms. Super fun.

This has not been so fun. I have been trying to weed this very old bed of irises. I finished about half before I gave up last night to renew my strength. It is all grass to weed with ridiculously long roots. Nightmare. But it will look good for a couple weeks.

We have had a lot of rain this spring and I think my blue berries and raspberries have grown inches! So happy about this.I really want them to establish this year.

Finished a few more trellises. I might paint them to get them to last longer. One is with another vintage baby gate, one an actual trellis we found at the old bookstore, and one is with sticks.

My rock plot. I planted a lantana, but still deciding what else to plant in it.

Slip N' Slide

2011-05-21T06:18:00.001-05:00

George

Joffre with a side position.

Ward needed a little help from Dad first.

and Renata

I used to love to slip n' slide. We used to set it up so it would slide right down into the lake behind our house. It was also pretty awesome that our yard slope quite nicely down into the lake. It was fun watching my kids exhaust themselves sliding over and over again. Ward was really cute because he would run on the slide and accidentally slip and..slide.

Shorn Lambs

2011-05-20T06:09:00.006-05:00

My boys have all been shorn. It was the first time we have used clippers on the boys and they did not like it . (Ward screamed the entire time.) Joffre Jr. keeps wearing a hat because he doesn't think he looks cool. Man, already! Joffre also got buzzed and even got rid of his beard but he is not happy either. They all look pretty cute though.

A Tiny Harvest

2011-05-19T15:09:00.001-05:00

I have been staring longingly at my little vegetable and fruit plants. They are growing so well and I can't wait for the tomatoes and peaches. So I was excited to actually get to harvest something now. It was one potato plant. The kids thought it was awesome to see me lift up the plant and see the potatoes hanging off of it. ( It came out especially easily because of all the rain we have been having.) I finished up my bean tepee and it seems to be a highlight for everybody.I have baby snap peas growing that I think I can safely say (without being too goofy) are super cute. I also got working on my raspberry arbor.

Dresses

2011-05-19T14:58:00.001-05:00

I have learned that the way to manage sewing time with kids is to make 3 of everything you sew. So I made 3 of these cute dresses from this Oliver + S free pattern (Popover sundress in the free patterns sidebar). One is for Renata, one is for a baby yet to be born, and one is for my cutie pie niece's baptism. I even added a little rickrack to the little top portion because every baby girl needs just a little rickrack in her life.

Onions Galore

2011-05-15T16:54:00.001-05:00

I have so many scallions right now I am considering pickling them. This recipe with orange or lemon zests looks good.

Davy Crockett

2011-05-14T06:11:00.001-05:00

...with a fluorescent gun and seersucker shorts! Awesome, baby.

Garden Colors

2011-05-13T16:11:00.001-05:00

Red roses ( yes, I need to spray them.)

Orange impatients

Pink begonias

Yellow marigolds and orange geranium

And lots of green

And lots of green. I have tomatoes -12 of them I think, 4 green peppers, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bush beans, snap beans, wax beans, cucumbers, butternut squash, summer squash, watermelon, swiss chard, onions, potatoes, collards, strawberries, garlic, and lots of herbs.

My cucumbers all in a row.

I found this lovely parsley plant growing out of my compost. I was so glad because the one I planted from seed look spindly. If by wild chance you have not looked into the Square Foot Gardening method I highly recommend checking it out. Especially if you are only interested in a very small scale garden.You can get the book from your local library.

Garden Fruit

2011-05-13T15:56:00.002-05:00

It is our 11th anniversary today and Joffre surprised me with an apple tree. I was thrilled and thought it was fun to inform him we have to buy another to get any fruit. It was a fitting present but we can't keep up this tradition for too many years.Our nectarine tree from last year will need another two years to produce edible fruit. Here is some other fruit growing in my garden.

Blueberries

Raspberries

Peaches

Bread Making

2011-05-11T06:18:00.001-05:00

I decided yesterday that I need to get the kids doing more chores because it's good for the soul and nice for me as well. ( For some reason it seem to always come up this time of year.)

They have such a love/hate relationship with responsibility ( much like the rest of us ). It will make adult hood a lot easier if I stay more consistent with it having them do jobs. So I got the boys watering the porch plants and emptying the dishwasher. Ward had to pick up the puzzle pieces.

Renata suggested her own chore- baking or making bread. I love how sweet she is about this. She suggested she get up at 6 in the morning and make bread by herself for the family everyday. Can you tell she has been reading Little House on the Prairie? So I said we would make bread every other day when she got up in the morning. Needless to say, she was thrilled with the whole process and the excitement of getting to do this by herself regularly. I am too.

Ward's Potty Mouth

2011-05-10T06:45:00.018-05:00

Ward was sitting on the potty trying to pee because he really wanted some almonds (his new potty training reward of choice (crazy huh, he loves them)). He then comes into our room where Joffre and I were sitting wearing only a t-shirt (that would be Ward I am talking about) he points to his pee source and says, " Mom, I can't pee pee. It's too hard. It's (again the pointing) empty! God needs to put more in." Can I just say I am proud he is acknowledging his need for God in all things.

George and Ward

2011-05-09T06:34:00.000-05:00

George and Ward are cute together right now. Ward likes to play Batman with George but he insists on being Batman and George is Robin. George is surprisingly amenable to this and likes to be Robin, but he instructs Ward on how to be Batman the whole time.

Pretend Beach Day

2011-05-09T06:23:00.001-05:00

I gave the kids each a pair of sunglasses at Easter and they have been looking for reasons to wear them as much as possible. It's very cute. So we had the sprinkler on and the baby pool set up the other day. They decided to pretend they were at the beach. George and Joffre were especially keen that everyone knew what equipment they needed. Renata got an umbrella for Easter and sunglasses. So when she came out with those things and laid on a towel George said, "Renata has everything for the beach...except a pail and shovel." He looked accusingly at me like I was supposed to have provided this at some point.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T06:15:00.001-05:00

Easter

2011-05-09T06:10:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am finally getting around to putting up the Easter pictures. We hid their baskets in our room and let the kids search for them after breakfast.

This is a few days before they got to go shopping with money Grandma sent.

Renata is wearing her dress that she picked out. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time at our church's lamb roast after service.

Resurrection Ball

2011-05-09T05:59:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the ball but I thought there were more. I thought Joffre took more pictures and maybe he thought I took more pictures. Sorry not a lot of picture is what I am saying here. And not one of me.

Resurrection Ball Centerpieces

2011-05-09T05:53:00.001-05:00

We had our annual Resurrection Ball and I did the center pieces for it. I didn't know I was doing them till a week before and I had very little to spend on them. The day before the ball I decided to do what I usually so which is float a few flowers in a bubble bowl but I came up with a more exciting twist to it. I added iris leaves wrapped around the bottom. They came out nicely and were so easy. For the flowers I was excited that it was at a later date this year because my peonies were blooming except the day of the ball there was only one in bloom! So while trimming a hedge I realized I liked the greenery and just stuck the one peony in with it. I used some of my peach colored iris with the other. Viola!

Garden Tour

2011-05-08T17:28:00.001-05:00

I've planted 2 rows of blueberries and I'm working on an arbor for the 2 raspberries I have.

As you round the corner I have 2 rows of trees I am planting. We already have 2 dogwoods that are great for climbing and then a nectarine and a peach tree. I am hoping to get two apple trees soon.

The kids corner with the playhouse and sandbox.

Then this year I have built 7 raised beds myself ( I'm not proud or anything.)

This is the beginning of a rock raised bed I am placing by our patioish area. It looks pretty rough right now but I am still working on it.

This is the patio area.

Some of the raised beds are terraced with a higher half of the bed. I really liked how these came out.

This is my tepee for the pea plants. I thought it would look neat and be fun for the kids. I am in the process of making trellises for all these beds.

I had to make a new trellis for this rose and used an old baby gate I got at a garage sale. And I forgot to add the crape myrtle and iris by the back door but otherwise that is the fenced part of yard in a nutshell. I also have blackberries, and a fig tree among other plants on the outside of the fence and we planted hedge plants ( holly and boxwood) outside the perimeter of the fence this year in preparation for taking it down in a few years.

Before and After

2011-04-30T06:52:00.001-05:00

Before

After

Before

After

I used Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric for the first chair and clear plastic on top. I used a vintage fabric I found at a garage sale for the second and clear plastic. I'm thinking about painting the second chair ( it's very scratched up) but definitely like the first one unpainted.

Thrift Store Find

2011-04-26T16:30:00.003-05:00

3 dollars for this fun chair. I am already in the process of reupholstering 3 other chairs. So I will add this one to the pile. I just need to decide whether to paint it or not. I am inclined to paint it...or....not... I can't decide. Give me your vote please!

This is a slightly blurry picture of the nest necklace I made for Renata for Easter because she liked mine. Hers is much smaller and I used the more traditional pearl beads for hers but in 3 slightly different colors. She loved it. So sweet.

Easter Planning Part 2

2011-04-22T21:02:00.002-05:00

I am trying to put my finishing touches on Easter. We found a dress for Renata and the Easter baskets are all ready to go except the chocolate bunnies I keep forgetting to get. I actually just keep trying to get them without the children seeing them but hasn't happened yet.We dyed our eggs and I am going to do the Resurrection Eggs thingy tomorrow (we usually do this all week because the kids love it but I just got sidetracked a bit this year so just two days.)

I made a necklace for myself that I can't decide if I like. Too big? Here in the South big in jewelry = good but I am not sure I am convinced. I finished a spring wreath and ...drum roll please...I finally finished my Easter banner!!!!!(Sorry the picture is so lousy. You can actually see all the letters and lilies well in person.)

At our church we have a big lamb or pig roast for Easter and we all just bring sides. It is nice not to have the pressure of preparing a whole meal. I just have to think up a great salad and I'm bringin' Sangria!It is supposed to be in the 80s. Fun Times.

And next week we have our Resurrection Ball. Which I can't think about yet because I need to finish Easter fun first. Now I have to go wash my hands because I smell like cow manure from working in the garden all day.

2011-04-21T18:43:00.001-05:00

I just want to recommend a great book about raising young children with a lot of practical advice from not only a christian prospective but a wise one (a very important addition). It is Loving the Little Years Mothering in the Trenches by Rachel Jancovic. I knew Rachel before she was married and she was a cool chick then but now she has had 5 kids including twins in 4-5 years(?). Which makes her a lot cooler. It is a fast and easy read and really helpful.

Eggs

2011-04-19T15:51:00.001-05:00

Envious

2011-04-19T15:50:00.001-05:00

The garden

2011-04-19T15:46:00.002-05:00

I decided to make raised beds this year. So I got Joffre to haul lots of wood for me and cut wood for me and sledge hammer some stakes in the ground. Then I got busy drilling and screwing boards together. I am very excited.

We are almost done with them and while I wait till we can finish them I planted some more blueberries (and hooked them up to my rain barrel irrigation system that hopefully will work) , had the kids dividing Irises, and am trying to propagate hydrangeas. Very busy. I don't want to be inside because it is so lovely outside ( which doesn't bode well for homeschooling).

I have been reading an Edible Landscaping book by Rosalind Creasy. I really want to lose my lawn and have plants everywhere. Slowly but surely...

Soon I will be singing the "I hate weeds and pests" song but for now I love spring!

George

2011-04-12T08:14:00.001-05:00

George has started Kindergarten and is very proud of the fact. He wanted me to take this picture of him with the pencil behind his ear.Part of the curriculum we use has the kids put things they find around the house that start with the letter they are learning in a pillow case/bag. We were learning the letter "b" and George decided to put his entire Bat Cave toy ( a favorite) in his bag. It barely fit but he persevered. Then he continued to find every Batman thing he had and try to put it in the bag too. I think "b" will be a favorite letter for awhile.

Caterpillar

2011-04-12T08:07:00.001-05:00

Ward is very big into making "caterpillars" with his blocks right now. He is very particular about any one of the blocks being out of place on his caterpillars. He is also very good at pronouncing "caterpillar" but does it slowly which makes it super cute. It's another one of those times I try to make him say it over and over because it charms me.

Camping

2011-04-12T07:38:00.001-05:00

Joffre took the kids camping in the yard yesterday. I love when he does this. Especially because I get the bed to myself. ( Though, that didn't happen this time. I got a horizontal sleeping 2 year old in bed with me.)

The kids get so excited and think every part of it is fascinating ("Mom, they make these clips on the camping lanterns so you can hook them into the tent and the tent has a hook for them!")

We got some cute candle lanterns at Ikea that he let them light and go star gazing with when it was dark. It is also just fun to see Joffre fit into a tent.

My New Wreath

2011-04-07T18:06:00.001-05:00

I saw these at Pottery Barn and a wreath like it and decided to make my own. I bought some wooden eggs and painted them. I bought a branch of faux leaves ( I had no idea how expensive fake flowers were!) I bought one branch and had some reindeer moss. I added some plum tree branches from my yard and hot glued this puppy together.