Catching up: September

first day of pre-school!

Tomato-tasting at Seed Savers Exchange; unfortunately, it was so well-attended that we didn't want to stand in line, so . . .

M hung out in the sandbox, and I just hung out!





can't resist showing off my handiwork (the nightgown)

a visit from a friend and former co-worker

our neighborhood was briefly visited/occupied by a Cooper's Hawk, which didn't seem to be able to fly very well

he eventually flew away

Okay, maybe blogging is not going to be my thing! At this point, I'll just try to do monthly updates . . . . Here's August: an impromptu picnic, the quilt top I threw together (no more progress at this point).

















Later in August, we traveled to St. Louis, and met up with three of the families we were with three years ago in China:

At the St. Louis Zoo

M was supposed to start pre-school on Aug. 31, but we learned the previous day that she tested positive for strep, so she had to miss her first day!

random musings

I follow a blog that issued a "no-spend" challenge for the month of July. Actually, she challenges herself (along with her husband and small child) to spend no more than $250 on incidentals during the month. While I was intrigued, it just was not going to work for me in July--county fair and Nordic Fest! But, I've decided to set myself a daily spending limit for the month of August: $20/day. Credits and debits will carry over, and so far I'm ahead by $2 and change! But tomorrow's $20 is already committed (to pay the vet bill after the death of my cat, Scully, last week). Anyway, on to some pictures:

Here it is, my square-foot garden, just after putting it in on July 1. I put it a strawberry plant, cucumbers, lettuce, leeks, and four cauliflower plants. As of today, I've harvested some lettuce, and the cukes are taking over everything, but nothing much from the rest. I didn't get my hopes up, what with putting it in so late. Lesson learned: leave lots of room for cucumbers, or make sure they can climb something!

M and I went to a Children's museum, where she dressed up as a fairy and flitted around.

We participated in our town's Fourth of July bike parade! (Well, M did)

After having it emptied by sanitation workers twice (my mom put it out once, and they just grabbed it once when I wasn't home to put out the trash), and having someone deposit a plastic bag in it (containing I know not what), I decided it was time to label the darn thing . . . .

My friend Mary came to visit a couple weeks ago, and to attend the musical "Anne of Green Gables" with us (staged by the local community theater group). M wants to be on stage badly!

Mary arrived as we were making soft pretzels, and she quickly showed her expertise . . . .

M's artwork; I usually can't get her to do much more than scribbling, so I was pretty pleased with this one. I think it would fit right in with Story People, don't you?

What we've been up to

Boy, keeping up a blog is more complicated than I expected! Basically, this much time has gone by because a) I prefer to use my Macintosh laptop, but b) I have yet to figure out how to reduce photo size with the Mac, therefore c) I prefer to download my photos on my PC desktop.

Going back a while:

I made M a pair of bandana pants, and used the extra fabric for a headband. She didn't want to wear a shirt with them; hence, the "from the back" shot. I also made a bandana skirt (using pink bandanas), but she refuses to wear it! :(





I also made her a prairie dress, which she wore to "Musica Dulce," an event that involves travelling to three local venues to hear music. It's a fundraiser for the Sister Parish project of the local Methodist church.



This is what came in the mail from the state public TV station, our gift for becoming members (hey, PBS is the only channel we get with kids' programming, and it's watched A LOT here!). The book is Kid ConCoctions Cook Book. We've tried a couple of the recipes already. M loves to stir/mix. I "love" to clean up!

made it myself

I'm going to be lazy this morning, and just post some pictures of things I've made:

This is M's "ice cream cone" Halloween costume, which she wore for the last two years. I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine. It was cute, but the headpiece wouldn't stay on.

This is a top-down sweater I knit this last Winter/Spring. I LOVE the color! Unfortunately, I did have to wash it, and yup, one sleeve came out longer than the other! But since they both "scrunch," I'm going to wear it anyway! (in about 6 months . . .) [

Here's my Alaskan Sampler quilt, which covers my bed in the winter. Unfortunately, I decided that I do NOT like the extra row, allowing for a pillow cover (that's not the right term, but I'm blank right now.) So this quilt may be donated somewhere soon.

This was the top for my niece's graduation quilt. She chose the fabric two years before she graduated, and it was actually done in time! (Although forgotten at home when we went up for the party. Hey, I'd just returned from China with a baby!)

sweet and red

Ah, Saturdays! Okay, I'm more or less off work during the summer, but still, gotta love Saturdays. After battling M to eat her medicine-laced applesauce (that's another story), we finally set off for the hardware store, because a) it's only a couple blocks away, and b) they carry the laundry detergent I like. Fast forward: come back, start up washer, leave for the farmer's market. But because my dear daughter can't eat anything for an hour after taking her medicine, we decided to put in some time at a playground first. THEN farmer's market (tomato, pepper, jam, Guatemalan hand-woven scarf, and cookies), and then up to the food co-op, where we found good friends to sit and chat with for a while.
Later, we drove to LaCrosse to meet my mom and dad for lunch, did a little shopping, and on the way home, stopped at a strawberry farm to pick (oh why didn't I have my camera along?). I suggested they weigh the kids before and after picking! I'm not sure yet what I will do with the berries. I've never canned or frozen (in bulk) before, but those are on my "to learn" list ("to try" list?). We don't have a separate freezer, and my memories of my mom canning (steaming kitchen with no AC) don't exactly tempt me much, even though I do have AC.

So, after all this, when asked what she did today, the child says, "I played with my balloons."