Grass watch 2008 : Day 1 – the watering begins

The landscapers were in and out in one day, gone before three o’clock.  They watered the seeds before they left, but after I went out there, I found there was a lot of watering left to do.  What a pain!  Note to self: next time get a sprinkler system installed.

I spent a good chunk of the next morning circling and circling the house, moving sprinklers, pulling hoses, getting wet and splooching in the mud.

Sprinkler. One of four.

The whole while I was wondering if it was going to rain.  It was cloudy and humid.  What a waste of watering that would have been.  But I lucked out and the sun was soon high in the sky.

Hoses. Two of four. And a puddle.

I fixed that hose there this morning when I watered yet again (this is getting old already and I have at least 8 more days of this).  Is it that hard to tighten up the hose fittings so they don’t leak?

The crocs are no worse for the wear.

Muddy feet and all!

 

Here to save the day

It was a long weekend. Everyone is sick except for me. Tim has it worst, whatever “it” is. The kids are just lucky to have runny/stuffy noses.

Surely one of these dashing superheros can save Gotham.

This morning, we’ve done a little schooling, a little drawing and a little playing. I’m trying to find ways to fit “art” into everyday lessons. I thought I could just start with the picture we have on the wall and ask questions about it. I remember doing that in GT when I was in 2nd grade (it was an Andrew Wyeth painting, and every time I think of that time I think of that painting… and I think of how sad the painting is to me). Just simple questions for my kindergartener, like “what is going on?”, “what colors?”, maybe “do you think they used crayons to make this picture?”.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth.

[The picture on our wall is one by Marc Chagall, of which I can never find a picture of]{oh, here you go:birthday} I would like to eventually go visit the art museum, but I need to have some sort of a plan so they don’t go nuts and get bored or whatnot.

I’ve also been cleaning up after last night’s baking escapade (hello? janet jackson much?). I left out the buttermilk and it go all lumpy and I left out the yolks from the two egg whites. Then I proceeded to spill the egg yolks all over the counter while getting out the toaster, dousing the hand mixer in the process. I need a new mixer, I think.

The best news is that tomorrow they are coming to put in our grass seed! Yay! Finally we will have a yard for the kids to run around in and play.

The bobcat has been here all weekend and is ready to go!

 

Reason #378 that I don’t cook/bake

The child is 6! Where does the time go?

SE’s birthday was on the 9th and I thought I’d make some cupcakes so we wouldn’t have to do a cake and could therefor have celebrations on different days.  I found a great little recipe here that even our niece could have (she can’t have gluten).

Sadly, I didn’t get around to making them.  We are so busy now all the time (it’s the third kid, everything goes from clean to messy in 10 seconds flat, it’s hard to keep up)!  My MIL happened by the day before we were going to all celebrate together and I mentioned to her all the things I still had to do: wrap presents, pack stuff up, bake cupcakes.  “Bake cupcakes?” she asks me.  Yes, they’re gluten-free so LR can have some.  “Oh, I forgot.  Oh well, she doesn’t need cake anyway.”

WELL!  Shoot to the next day and we’re cutting the cake and she is eagerly awaiting her piece.  Sorry, you can’t have the cake… and she cried.  I felt really bad.  Am I the only one who thinks of these things?  Sometimes, I think I am.

AnyHOW, back to what the problem is.  I finally get around today to making these cupcakes.  I’m armed with all the ingredients and I have all the necessary utensils.  I even got a tiny-muffin muffin pan and cute little cupcake wrappers for it.  That part goes well, even though I think there is something a little off-smelling with the batter.  Maybe it was just those extra couple of drips of almond extract, that stuff is pretty strong.

I baked them precisely 20 minutes and they are perfectly done.

While they are cooling, I start in the frosting, like it says in that recipe.  For some reason, in the ingredients list it calls for one egg white, but down below in the directions, it calls for two.  I use two.  I felt like such an expert making the sugar syrup and slowing pouring it into the egg whites.   You know, egg whites will scramble if you at hot things too fast.  I was mixing using my hang mixer we picked out for our wedding and it was making an awful noise in the bowl, jumping all around.  I think the beaters got a little bent from the kids playing with them!

So, seven minutes goes by and I’m sweating and my arms are shaking along with the mixer.  And the stuff is not forming soft peaks!  I went a little long (4 minutes at least) and still nothing.  I think it was the two egg whites.  Well, now what?  I got a bowl full of liquid sugar and egg whites, nothing resembling frosting.

Sheesh.  The second pan of 24(!) mini-cupcakes is cooling right now.  I’m trying to decide what to frost them with because this stuff that I “made” clearly has got to go.  Any ideas?  I think it should be something light and fluffy and not too sweet.  I think I have a can of whipped frosting in the cupboard, but I’d rather make something.

 

“Don’t turn my hope into a weapon”

While driving three loud children down the highway yesterday, I came up with a precise phrase to let people know exactly how I feel, in case they should ask.  Being my usual self, I have once again tried to go off my meds with disappointing consequences, one of them being feeling utterly, terribly horrible.

So if you were to catch me yesterday (before the trip to 3[three!)] drugstores to get my refill) and ask me how I was feeling, this would have been your answer:

“I feel like someone shit in a bag, lit it on fire, stomped out the flames and then ran it over with a tank.  Then they pinned me up to a bulletin board with rusty needles and dissected my abdomen.  Thanks for asking.”

This is what happens to me.  This is what withdrawal feels like for me.  So bad that I made myself go from zero to nauseous and throwing up at work on Saturday.  So bad I was kicking things around the house in anger yesterday, unable to control myself.

I just can’t do it.  Cold turkey is too hard on myself and everyone else, so I had to get my refill yesterday.  Today I am better.  My plan is to go three days inbetween doses and taper from there.  I just would like to no longer be on this medication.

I’ll be back another day with happier, more interesting things to talk about.  Happy Wednesday to you.

 

A whale of a tail &/or tale

As I promised the last time I graced you all with my presence, I was to take some pictures. Alas, I did not because I did not get any time at all to myself and I was working all weekend. Then I took the entire last week and read lots of blogs but did no such updating of my own. I am lame, I’ve probably said it before, but there you go.

This past week, however, I did get 2 chances to finish my project. Those two chances were once with all three children in my sewing room and a time alone by desk lamp. And as always things are better with pictures, here you go:

A whale of a tale this is.

I found a purse that I had liked the look of at craftster, but the user did not have a tutorial, just another link to her inspiration: a martha stewart pillow case bag. So based on both of those and an earlier bag I had made (no pictures of that one, sorry) I cut this out. I thought a bag would be the perfect use for my Japanese fabric. There is another side that is almond linen.

My japanese matryoshka fabric, perfect for a handbag.

Lined linen side with pocket and strap.

I sewed the lining to each piece and turned them right sides out. The lining is a redish fabric with slightly off-white asterisks. There is a lined pocked on this side made out of a small bit of my other Japanese fabric. I can see you’re wondering where this is all going, right? How is this going to become a handbag?

Aligning the sides for sewing.

To make those tails into a bag, each tale is folded in half and placed inside the other. Lining goes on the outside, so it becomes the inside when we’re done. The outermost side is lying on the inside, of course. This all totally makes sense when you’re doing it and double checking before you start to sew. Believe me, I know all about that.

Here, the bottom is sewn shut.

Just a quick sew along the bottom and it’s done. On the other side of the bag lining is a small cell-phone pocket, which also requires double checking before putting that on. Hindsight is 20/20, you know. Saves you those tedious hand-sewing fixes.

A small flip and voila! Bag.

See those curved parts? A nice line of sewing along them does wonders… also holds the bag sides closed. Go up the linen side and down its other side, not sewing anything together. Then go up the black side, sewing the linen side too. Down the other side and it’s done.

Tie up the handles...

And then find a button for the loop closure. This will keep the sides from flopping out.

This always happens.

Oops, I made a mess. I did find a nice button though. It works nice with the loop closure made out of the black fabric. I sewed it in by hand because I didn’t want any more stitching on the outside of the bag.

Big button and all.

Here’s our finished bag. It could hang a bit nicer, but like I said before about hindsight. All in all it’s a nice bag. And cute to boot.

Hey look! It’s sunny!

Cute fabric deserves a second look.

Here’s another shot at the pocket, probably good for looks and small papers only. It’s still cute.

Oh, one last thing. Finishing touches are everything:

A cute label.

 

Thank you, thank you!

There’s been a lot on my mind (projects, work, family, etc) recently and whenever I’m on the computer, I don’t feel I can adequately put these thoughts down… because there are so many of them!  BUT!  A bit long overdue is a “thank you” to my friend Michelle for my gifties.

If you recall, Michelle and I had 30th birthdays near each other and decided to do a birthday gift/swap.  I sent her items to her and I just recently received my presents!  I didn’t have time yet to take pictures of everything so I will list the items:  A beautiful earth-toned necklace with 2 strands, complete with some of the ring beads that I sent her and some other pretty swirly brown beads and antique gold findings; a pair of shell disk earings with a light brown crystal; a intricate bracelet made with wine-colored beads and small burgundy beads that is so hard to explain (!) but so pretty; and two funky rings made from antiqued gold wire and a big bead each, very cool and I’m loving them so much.

I’m so impressed by her talent!  I’ve done beading before and none of my creations ever turned out the way I had hoped, but Michelle must be able to envision a piece and see it come to fruition in her hands.  Thank you so much, sweetie, and keep up the work on your shop!!

One of my rings, made by Michelle.

I managed to take this picture 2 days ago because I was upstairs ironing for one of my projects and I had been wearing the ring.  I say the rings are “funky” in a good way… big and chunky. I’m not used to wearing something big, I hardly wear rings besides my wedding set, yet I loved wearing it.  I’m planning outfits around the other ring, too, just so I can show it off!

~~This weekend, I might have time to myself, so I will take pictures of the project I’m working on AND the rest of Michelle’s jewelry.

 

Other people’s giveaways

I was alerted to this wonderful giveaway over at Thornberry.  You (or hopefully ME) can win a fabulously gorgeous wonderful quilt over at The Old Red Barn.  Not only that, The Old Red Barn has a shop (which you could win a gift certificate for) and lots of visual goodness on the blog and very lovely music playing while you browse!  I’m not much one for other people’s music, but the stuff she has playing sure is lovely.

So go look and see and enter and have a happy weekend!

~EE

 

Buttony endeavors

I’ve been thinking for a little while now about opening an Etsy shop. There are little things I like to make and I thought I could sell them there. I love to shop at etsy, so why not sell. Also, Michelle is opening up a shop soon, and that has really got me thinking.

So I’ve been reading up, thinking, doing a little research and brainstorming. My market research today was fruitful: last night I had an idea whilst driving home from work and my research showed that my items and particularly unique. Which is what I was going for. Yet, they are similar to other things out there. I didn’t want to just make something that everyone else is making. I need something original, neat, fun and unique. I think I came up with it. There are 2 things actually. I do plan on having some of those more “run-of-the-mill”-type things, but in my style. But having those couple of things that no one else has? Gold.

A sneak peak at my latest project

Here’s a sneak peak at the idea I had last night, all made up, complete with a couple of buttons. (Wow that macro feature on my camera is awesome!)

Which leads me to the name of my shop: Bethy Buttons. I wanted something a smidge descriptive (pretty much all of my items will involve buttons somehow), a bit catchy and definitely unlike any other. I also wanted it “google-able”, which I read about on Etsy. It should suffice. I also checked for other shops with some other names that I had thought of and there were too many that were close, so this one was the winner.

I’ll keep you posted. It’s still going to be a little while, but possibly by September. There are still some details I need to figure out and get all the descriptions and pictures ready, of course. But I don’t think it will be a long way off.

And so as not to leave you dangling with nothing to hold on to, here is one of my favorite etsy shops so you can go browse and search to your heart’s content: MiaBeads (I bought the necklace in the link… I love it!)

 

The nine different names of Elizabeth

I got this fun little meme via email from my college friend Amanda. What are your nine names? Here are mine:

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Elizabeth

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)

Elizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (I like to call it my informant name, it makes more sense):
(favorite color and favorite animal)
Purple dachshund

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (I always thought this was you p0rn name):
( your middle name and street you live on/or neighborhood if it’s a number)
Ann Welsh

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(the first 3 letters of your last name first 2 letters of your first name)
Putel

6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME:
(Your 2nd favorite color and favorite drink)
Blue Zero (sounds better than blue Cherry Coke Zero, teehee)

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME:
(2nd letter of your first name 3rd letter of your last name 1st letter of your last name 2nd letter of your moms maiden name 3rd letter of your dads name 1st letter of a siblings first name and last letter of your moms first name)
Ltpeejn (OK then)

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (now those gangsters will off me):
(parents middle names)
Ruth John

9. YOUR GOTH NAME:
(black and the name of one of your pets)
Black Baxter

 

Outdoor blogging

I mentioned to Michelle yesterday that we had gotten doused and that a lot of our topsoil had washed out into the road and down the storm sewer.  Well, last night, foreboding clouds rolled in once again and made a mess of our yard.  Today, I came out to take some pictures of the mess and brought the whole laptop out.  It’s cloudy and humid, but a bit less hot than yesterday.  The boys needed some bike-riding, too.  So here we are: outdoor blogging, after the storm.

I was trying to capture the lightning with little luck.  This was taken as I was driving home from the Y at 8:00pm.  Normally, it is bright and sunny still at this hour.  And yes, I am an accomplished driver-seat photographer.

Here’s a picture out the side window of our house.  This is facing north.  It wasn’t raining yet in either of these pictures.

This morning, the topsoil has washed over the sidewalk.  The rain from Monday morning washed a lot of this into the road and down the storm drains, leaving the sidewalk clear.   I guess there wasn’t enough dirt left to make it all the way to the street, so it stopped on the sidewalk.  The north side of the house also has mud on the sidewalk, it’s to the left of my little tree there.

Here is the mudslide from the morning.  There isn’t a storm drain on this side of the driveway, so the mud just settled in the road.  The evening storm brought a little more down.

My plants survived.  Well, in this little corner, anyway.  On the north side of the house, there is mulch washing down the slope and my edges I made in the dirt for my flower beds have filled in.  It is disheartening, I tell you.

It’s time to go inside now, my children are muddy.

 

Birthday goodies for Michelle

I sent Michelle her birthday/swap package the other day and she has received it!  Now I can show what I sent her.

First there was a nice little package of 6 coasters.  Made based on some questions I asked about her kitchen, namely some colors.  So they have a sage green and cream, like her kitchen, and I threw a little blue in there because it had a nice green vine on it.

They are backed with the sage green with polka dots seen on the bottom of the coaster on the left. 

Then we had an “M” monogram for her last name.  It’s magnetic, so it will work nice on the refrigerator or on any other metal surface, like maybe a filing cabinet at work.  The letter I bought at Michael’s and then I added rub-ons, adhesive ribbon, a metal M and button, and some regular buttons.

Next were some beads that I picked out a Michael’s: some white rings, colorful milifiore cubes (they’re hard to see the deatil of in the picture), shell hearts and a metal brach with birds and a nest.  I love them myself… I can’t wait to see what she creates!

Everything was wrapped up with pretty ribbons and a button and I also added some bracelet and necklace (not shown) boxes for gifting some of her creations. 

It was all enclosed in a piece of fabric and topped with a handmade card.  All ready to be mailed… baby not included.

 

 

 

Airing some grievances

Sometimes, people are very much entitled to be in a bad mood. Not that I’m in a bad mood, but I just got to thinking yesterday about some things that bother me.

1. Impatience: we all stopped by the border for lunch yesterday because I had some errands to run and Tim was getting maintenance done on the car. This taco establishment has a very steep driveway, so I was going slow when we were leaving so as not to bottom out the new car or scrape the front of the bumper on the road. Well, apparently, I was going a little too slow and did not accelerate fast enough after clearing the lowest point, so the dude behind me honked. Jerk! I mean, really where are you gonna go, dude? There is a red light right there.
2. Asinine city planners: our house is on a street and there is a court with the same name a block over. The stupid part about this is that the houses on the court have the same house numbers as the houses on the street do. So my house has the same house number as this other guy. I get their mail, they get mine. Some companies somehow get the wrong address for me and then the mail carrier circles it on the envelope like I was the dummy who told the people the wrong address (Hi! I know where I live, seriously). So today, my neighbor knocks on the door at 7:30 to tell me his landscapers dropped of his load of trees and shrubs in my yard. Not only is the addressing system around here screwed up, people can’t read.
3. “Happy Pills”: doctors that give everyone and their mother (literally) antidepressants just because they happen to be a little sad at their appointment. Your marriage is on the rocks, of course you’re going to feel a bit depressed! That’s no reason to take some pills. It just makes me feel angry, because I really need the things. And I don’t advertise that fact to these people, though. I don’t need to discuss my medical issues with everyone (and their mother).
4. Sales: emails sending me links to this. I’m not supposed to spend anymore money people!! I got away with buying an $80 lamp at target yesterday just because it was marked down to $19.98. Anything over $20, I’m supposed to “discuss” and get approval. (I’m so glad it was that cheap, I’ve been eying it up for ages now).

So, tell me about YOUR grievances. Come on, I know you have some.

 

A new journey

I signed up at extra pounds to track my weight loss.  I think I need something that will show me progress.  I hope I have an OK time at it.  Go check out my blog over there.  You can also click on the button in my sidebar (over to the right, there).  I’ll continue to be here sharing the usual fun things about sewing and such and my family. 

I start tomorrow, wish me luck!

 

Ah, the good old days…

55 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

 Some of my favorite snippets:

Keeps self dainty, perfumed, and feminine.

Puts her cold feet on husband at night to warm them.

Writes to husband’s parents regularly.

Reacts with pleasure and delight to marital congress.

Found via Sweet Inspiration

 

Drilling

My little SE had to have two cavaties filled today.  And while he is no longer all that little, nearing six years old, it was still hard to let him go.

Our hygenist previously told us that SE does better when we’re not in the room because he knows he has to cooperate and they won’t hurt him and they’re doing their job.  So today, I chatted with the dentist and chose to stay in the waiting room.  She said I could stay, but she would definitely ask me to leave if she felt he wasn’t cooperating because I was there, sort of as a bargaining chip.  I told SE that I was going out to the waiting room because there wasn’t enough room for all of us and said I’d see him when he was done.

Oh, the screams!  Very heart wrenching for me, yet this other woman in the waiting room wondered what the heck that noise was.  Hardly recognizable as screaming to anyone but his own mother.  I thought any second someone would come out to tell me that they could not proceed for his cack of ooperativeness, but that never happened.  I read a bit of my book in fits and starts and tried to ignore the shrieks.  Soon, he was done. 

It didn’t take all that long.  The poor child’s back was drenched with sweat, though.  He seemed stoic and exhausted, but went along with the hygenist to pick out a prize while I chatted with the dentist.  He needs the other side done in two weeks and while he was wiggley and crying for this session, she would do the other side too.  Though she left it up to us whether or not to have her do it or go to a pediatric dentist.  Any ideas, guys?  Tim says we should go back since he has been there already; he’s familiar with this place.  I just can’t decide.

It’s hard to have them grow up!  I just hope that since SE has my teeth situations that none of them have my bad eyesight!  Genetics… go figure!