In Which We Find A Work Day.....

In theory, it sounds like a great idea. Instead of jumping right into a new year, we have a staff retreat day on our first day all back together. We meet somewhere that is NOT our school building, and spend the day catching up and doing some housekeeping and what-have-you. A workshop day that is fun.. is the intention. Usually, this is what happens on the first day back after summer break. We go over big issue-items, do some team building. Enjoy each others company. But not this year.
Oh sure, we met at a new place (local farm, I have a funny story to tell you about that rooster in a minute).. and spent the first half-hourish socializing and chatting with friends. Every other year or so we do a "who traveled the furthest" type of activity that has all all lined up (In a circle) by distance traveled and then we tell where we went and highlights of our summer... so we did that.

I Told You So.. and other cliches

First things first. I took this photo this morning from my driveway. I was getting ready to leave to go do errands (alone) and this was the view across the street. Under those clouds live our mountains, but you can't see it. I thought it looked cool.

I should've just done errands and called it a day. That's a lot of time up on your feet. But school starts Monday (for staff) and I need to get used to being on my feet for hours at a time.

This is the End...

It is with some sadness that I come to this day. It is grey and dreary outside, a bit of rain on a summer day, and chilly. In my mind it is fitting that today should look like this. It is the last day of summer vacation. Well, technically Sunday is, but I never count the weekends, they are free days anyhow.

It doesn't seem possible to me that summer can be over yet. I feel like it just started, and I haven't gotten to do all the things on my to-do list yet! The boy told me it's not a vacation if you work and he's so right, but sometimes you do what you have to even if you don't like it. Having said that, next summer I will be staying home. And I will go to the lake, and play in my gardens, and work on my house, and go hiking and to the ocean and have fun. I'm looking forward to it already.

Lacy Goodness...

Ok, I know what you're thinking.. 3 posts in one day?!? I couldn't wait until tomorrow for this one. You'll remember a few weeks ago when I posted this swatch and mentioned secrets and shawls and crochet and left you hanging? (giggles)

I test crocheted a Garden Trellis Shawl for The Crochet Garden, and today it has become available for sale so now I can post it here for you to see! I used TLC Cotton Plus yarn in the color Salsa, and a size F hook. I used all but 3 yards of 5 skeins of yarn, and it wasn't enough. The shawl called for the end size to be 30" by about 80". During the 4th skein I realized I didn't have 6 skeins like I had thought (and someone else used this yarn in a different color and used about 6.3 skeins so buy 7 if you go with the TLC) and had to modify my shawl. It ended up 25" in length (before the edging) and about 62-63" wide. Still plenty big on my broad shoulders and the tip hits right past my arse.

Silver Lining...

To: The Boy 



Subject: Congratulations! I love you very much.
 

From: B

Some Random Whining

Isn't that a cute photo? Click on it to see the full effect.. but there are little birdies lined up all along the posts of my fence. So cute. I looked out there the other day and saw them just hanging out.. only to find out the boy had already seen them and snapped a few shots. He's coming along so well with his photography skills. With any sort of luck, that fence will be replaced this fall and I'll have you a brand spanking new fence shot, with the major difference being that stump will be gone and it will be white and not rickety. My garland and lights are going to rock on that new fence! I can't wait really. The only downside is it won't stick out in a snow.. which I always loved about it. That and it's old worn look.

No Whining.. Just Do It!

I know.. I know! But this was cool. I snagged it from Drew. What can I tell you.. I'm a bit tapped at the moment creatively. I blame it on all the Advil I've had to take to deal with these stupid injuries. I took this photo on our last camping trip. It was Saturday afternoon and Mr. Man and B were out in the canoe, while Ms. Thang slept on the beach, The Boy read a magazine and I worked on the afghan for nephew to be named at a later date. Isn't it gorgeous?? It was rather chilly for August that day, and the sky looked so menacing. Enjoy!

Life's to do list - Completed items are bolded

It's Like Riding a Bike

We only had half an hour to get set up, paint and clean up because Ms. Thang made a date to go off with a friend this afternoon. The hard part about painting with someone else is that they watch your every move and try to do what you do. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I don't want her to imitate me. I want her to do her own thing. Find her own style and her own way of doing it. I want her to think that abstract art is the best thing going if she wants, even if I could care less for it.
But for now I will let her watch. Explain to her how I got the effect I did, and why I choose to do things the way that I do them. Let her try to copy, because then she will learn and hopefully adapt and modify to suit her own needs. She's not as critical as I am, and didn't point out the green blob that leaked into the lake. Her brother did. But that's OK. She told him that "Mom's the best artist ever", and I had an adolescent urge to stick my tongue out at him.

Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

I was taken by surprise when my brother B showed up for Ms. Thang's birthday with an art easel. She was tickled to death and gave him a big hug and a thanks. So later I asked him what possessed him to buy her such a gift. And he shrugged and told me when we were camping he asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she told him an easel. My kids have an ask/receive relationship with most of our siblings so long as it's not too unreasonable, and even then sometimes too. Of course the next day she set it up and used some old crummy crayola paints and did a picture.

The next weekend, she asked if we could go shopping. She had quite a bit of birthday cash and wanted to spend it. So I asked her what she wanted, and she said art supplies and clothes. She actually ended up with art supplies and roller blades but that's a whole 'nother post for another day.

In Which We Find Saturday.....

I call this... puffy with a chance of clouds. It's not supposed to rain until tomorrow, but I love how the sky is "ready" for it today. I love the August sky. It's different than July's sky and September's sky. July is a bit more hazy, and September has a cool, crisp look about it. August is just kind of.. in between.

I'm off to do errands today. We'll see how the hobbling goes, but the kiddos need new sneakers and backpacks and we're running out of time to get them. Besides, I've been cooped up all week and I need to get out of the house! I'm bringing the boy with me so it won't be too bad. He'll do all the heavy work. I'm just tagging along for the ride.

Friday at Last

Isn't this beautiful? Only two of my sunflowers have bloomed so far, but I fully expect that by Next Friday I will have more to show you. The other one is a lighter, more pale version, although if I'm not wrong, I think my seed packet was for mulch-colored flowers. I love the short height of them and I will definitely be planting these again next summer. I love that they take all summer to bloom, and really are a late summer/ early fall flower. We all know that I am most at home in fall.. and the colors.. who doesn't love fiery reds? My only regret is that the boy killed off a bunch after I planted them and so we only have about half of what was intended. It's ok though. Some is better than none.

Just another silly Blogthing...

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The Quick and Dirty Career Test

Haven't Got Time For the Pain.....

Ya'll. I am throwing in the towel. I try and I try, and sometimes I just can't win. Do you remember last month when I had an unfortunate fall in my backyard? FFWD to yesterday. Just about exactly one month later. I was standing in my kitchen getting ready to make lunch, when I remembered that I was going to fill my bird feeders. (don't ask, my mind is a mystery in and of itself) I've been meaning to do it since Sunday when we got home and I kept forgetting. So I thought I would do it while I was thinking of it. I went outside, grabbed the yogurt cup I keep in the pain for filling the feeders and went and filled the one next to the bird house. I think the baby birds have left as I haven't seen the birds in a while.

How I Spent My Summer... (vacation?!)

Way back in June, we thought about what projects we'd like to work on over the summer. We decided we needed to build a new gate, replace the fence in the front yard (well, side yard, but that's being nit-picky), and we wanted to paint the porch and the front room. Pretty low-key kind of stuff. We bought the paint for the porch walls, and the front room, and the boy filled in the cracks and puttied up old screw and nail holes in the front room. That was going to be our first project. After some thought, I decided that the porch would be a quick and easy thing and we should start there. Someday I'll learn that nothing in this house is quick nor easy. Also, it's not a good idea to do major projects and try and work all summer at the same time.

Things I Love.....

1. Our new campsite. Thursday we left for our last camping trip of the year. School starts again in 2 weeks and the days after that are cooler and hectic with soccer and what have you. So the boy took his last 2 vacation days and we had a long weekend out in the woods. Someone reserved our last site, and the one next to it waaaaaaay back in January, so we had to pick a new one. I remembered some nice ones across the street that I had seen when we were there a few weeks ago, and we reserved those. (we had a site, and B had his own site) I actually liked these sites better. The one we had was roomy and had great tree coverage. The only bad part was the neighbors on the other side who moved in the second night. Little too close for comfort, but that's ok. It was camping.

Busy.. Busy

1. Thaw frozen items to take camping tomorrow. Check.

2. Pick up the stuff in the yard, put away in barn while we are gone. Check.

3. Mow the lawn. Check.

4. Hard boil eggs to take camping. Check.

5. Start the laundry. Check.

6. Go hang out on friends porch and drink beers and laugh all afternoon with friends while the kids swim. On my way now.

In Which We Find Monday.....

One. One glorious last day of summer school. Ah-ah-ahhh. Remember the guy from Seseme Street that used to count out loud?? Ya'll.. tomorrow is my last day of summer school. I am so relieved I could cry. This has been one crazy arse summer. I've been going mock ten for so long now, I don't think I remember how to relax.

(I should add here, that I am blogging during a thunder storm.. a doozy it would seem as I'm losing my satellite signal and that's never happened in all the time we've had satellite. I love wireless technology.I love more that it feels a LOT cooler coming in the window.)

Saturday Sky...

This is the moon, as seen tonight over the Fitzwilliam NH town common, where our Steel Drum group was playing. It was a brisk 74 degrees out at 6:15 when we left to get there, and a lovely night for a concert.

Google-Wacking

Fabulous Google Searches that lead people to my site: (ya'll.. this cracks me up!) The links lead to the entry that google references. I'll give you the top 5. And then I'll tell you my favorites.

1. Hebrew, House of God. Ya'll.. I'm on page one if you do a search for this. I'm not Hebrew, but I do have a house and I also go to church. Our church was supposed to close this year, but alas we've been given a 2nd chance. They say we'll stay open.. I give it 2 years.

They're Coming to Take me Away HAHA....

There is something about heat that short circuits things in your brain. You know, one minute you are a sane rational person, the next minute you are a raving lunatic. Snapping at things that on a normal, more cooler day, wouldn't ruffle you too much. Things like kids bickering, or spitting at each other.. or mothers who nag, nag, nag.. push, push, push.

It hasn't been a bad week with my mother. Much better than last year. Much shorter, and did I mention that I work until 1pm every day? The thing about mom... is that she doesn't know when to quit. She starts in on something, or an idea she has for your room, kids.. etc etc... and then that's all she talks about until she breaks you down. I hate that. She's also recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (sp?) and a battery of other things, and that's ALL she talks/complains about. Ya'll.. it's been up over a hundred degrees this week. I'm hot. Work has been hot and hard. I'm tired. And to top all that off.. my calendar says we'll be entering that "leave mom alone for a few days cuz she's gonna be rotten and pissy" time.

Got a cold one to share?

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot.....

Things not to do when it's 105 with the heat index and the dew point is at 75 deg.:

1. Go blueberry picking. Y'all.. this wasn't my idea. This was a pre-planned summer school field trip gone horribly wrong. Actually, it wasn't too bad when we got there, nor was it awful when we picked. It was after we were done and playing on the swings/sandbox/etc before we left. Hot. We did have a good time. I made freezer jam with my berries, and froze the rest. I still have a tub full of berries from this weekend that I need to bake with (too effing hot) and make jam but I'm out of freezer jars. I love blueberry picking. I find it very calm and relaxing.