The Stitchin' Sheep

So Hard to Say Good-bye

2007-06-27T00:02:00.003+02:00

I've been here at this blog for quite a while now. Given the fact that I'm in Europe and not in the same time zone as most Blogger users, I've never really experienced any of the huge problems others run into. Blogger has mostly been good to me. Having said that, it kind of bugs me to advertise for blogger in my site address. So, I decided I'd attach my blog to my husband's wine site instead. I'd much rather advertise for him. It took me a while to get the site the way I like it (and, it'll surely need some adjustments here and there). It's now up and running, though, and I'll stop posting here. This site will remain up for access to old posts and things, but I will post everything new over there. So, update your subscriptions or your bookmarks or whatever. I'd love to see you over at the new site.

I'm moving to...

http://stitchinsheep.comberousse.com/blog

Come on over and say hello.

http://www.knitpicks.com/cfCart/viewWishlist.cfm?wishlistid=8EFF798A-EBC0-DD1A-1B4667E9BAE4E56D&media=WLBL

Nostalgia

2007-06-25T16:50:00.000+02:00

I tend to look pretty much everything up on the internet. I can't even tell you how many things I look up per week just out of curiosity. Last night, I was researching something or other and stumbled across an interesting idea for any parent to keep in mind. The article I was reading mentioned that people tend to recall events that are unique and/or infrequent occurrences in their lives (I believe the context was that because of this fact, it's not the expense that matters but the uniqueness when planning special outings).

I frequently wonder what memories my children will look back upon with special fondness. After reading that article last night, I think I might have a better clue. Thinking back on my own life, I do realize that nostalgia is a very funny thing. I may not have tons of vivid memories from early childhood, but those that I do have are in fact quite unique. One of my favorites involves my mom ironing while watching Hawaii 5-0 (which, I feel like she did often, but maybe it was actually a one time thing). While she ironed away, I sat in an inflatable yellow plastic raft (that we had apparently just bought and had blown up to test) eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkled over the top. Given the fact that this all took place in our livingroom, it doesn't get much more unusual that that.

As a parent, I want memories like that one for my own kids. Of course, I can't select what they will recall later on in life, but as a stay-at-home mom, I can do my best to fill their young lives with potentially great memories. This is actually the number one reason I chose not to work especially while they're little. And, armed with this new information, maybe I can do a little better at choosing fun/unique activities that they will remember for years to come.

Activities like the pizza making from a few nights ago. Daddy was out of town, and if I know how to do anything, it's bread baking. I don't often make pizza, though they do love it. The other night, I had the appropriate ingredients and offered to let them make their own. They jumped at the chance to dig into the dough. They made the entire pizza dough from scratch themselves. The only thing I did was measure the ingredients and show them the proper way to knead. They had a ball (of dough! hee hee!) and were so proud to learn how delicious their very own homemade pizzas could turn out (and, they were perfect). Just take a look at how yummy they were...

Oh, and in case anyone would like to know...

The recipe for their mini-pizzas was pretty simple. I gave them each a cup of flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp yeast. They mixed that with a fork and then we started adding warm water. Once the mixture was a little moist, we added about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Then, we continued adding water till the dough was workable but not too wet. When it was a tiny bit sticky we just added a bit more flour to help get the kneading going. They kneaded for quite a while (adding more flour when necessary). This kept them both busy while I breastfed/got the baby down for a nap. When they were done, we let it rise for a while and then rolled it out and added the toppings.

You might notice there is no tomato sauce on this pizza. It was really good that way. It does have tomatoes, but I didn't just chop them up and toss them on there. I used to do that but found that the dough gets soggy in places when the tomato juices are released in cooking. This time, I chopped the tomatoes into chucks (slices would work too) and sprinkled salt over them. I let them sit for about 1/2 an hour in a collander placed over the sink (or a bowl to collect the juice if you want to use it for something else). This got just the right consistency for the pizza. So tasty, and they weren't sautéed in oil, so they'd definitely be lower fat (and, did I mention this was really easy?).

Still in keeping with the feel of nostalgia we've got going here... I made an apron. It took me forever to get it done. I used a man's button-down I got at the thrift shop for a euro in January. It was this shirt originally. I chopped it up to make it into this halter top apron. I can't get away with halter dresses, which are kind of sexy (but picture your grandma without a bra and that's what it'd be like on me), but I can do a halter apron. I love the look of this apron. It feels so very retro and kitcheny to me. I'm going to love it.

And, one last thought on nostalgia before I go. You might have noticed that I tend to take lots of pictures of my kids. You actually only see a small portion of those that I take. I try to select the best so that my family overseas can share the happy bits of our lives here. I took one photography course at the age of 19 (we won't get into how very long ago that was), and I didn't learn as much as I should have. I've got some of the basics down, but I recently stumbled across the text book I had for that class (which I'm almost certain I never actually read). I pulled it out and have begun to study it. I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth (I'm fully aware this is relative) surrounded by four of the most beautiful people on earth (Nope, this is not relative - it's just a fact). They are the ideal inspiration and subject matter for picture taking and have inspired me to improve my photography skills.

What I would really love is to be able to actually take pictures for a living. To get paid for doing something I find that fun would be amazing. For now, I just have a tourist digital camera. It is at least capable of being set on "manual" so that I can control all of its different functions, but I can't change it's lenses or anything fancy like that. I can't afford to go out and buy my dream camera, though, so I've decided to work on my framing and composition until the time that I will be able to afford a new one. Today, Lambchop #3 and I played around with some soft back lighting by putting a sheet over our heads. She found this to be great fun, but it might have been a little hard to snap the shot before she pulled the sheet off (I may or may not have erased more shots than I kept, which is the real beauty of digital cameras). I don't think our efforts were in vain, though (Mom and Aunt Dis and Uncle B, let me know if you'd like these sent via email so they're more printable)...

She's a keeper. That much is for sure.

Punk Rock Preschooler

2007-06-24T10:24:00.001+02:00

Apparently, we're back to the stage of needing to make sure we're noticed. We've started decorating things we shouldn't with permanent markers again. **SIGH** Thank goodness he's cute...

This is his Marilyn Manson imitation.
As long as he doesn't start putting on fake boobs and red contact lenses (clicking here is not for the faint of heart), I'm okay with this.

This is what I see when I look up from my bed. It's the ceiling over the loft area we sleep in, which stretches over above the kitchen as well. I find it pretty. It's especially cool lit up only by moonlight or the blue light that my computer speakers emit when they're on.

It also makes a pretty cool background for portrait taking, I think...

And, one last little thing that isn't at all related to children or my house...

I died (yep, killed it dead - woops, I meant dyed) some wool the other day. I wanted to try out dyeing fabric with natural dyes. This was done with hibiscus flowers, which, according to the book I used, should have given the yarn a light mauve or pink color. Hmmm. Okay. Perhaps we should try again some other time. I'm sure that part of the problem is the fact that I needed 100g of petals for every 100g of yarn. I only had 75g of flowers, but decided to try it out and see what happened. This is also just some very cheap Knit Picks dye-your-own laceweight merino, which doesn't absorb colors as well as better quality yarns (as far as I've heard).

It started out looking like the yarn I'm using for this long lost baby shawl - just natural. Then, I threw it in the dye pot, which looked like this...

which led me to believe it would turn out a lot more pink than this...

I even let the mix sit for several days, hoping it would absorb a lot more color. I don't know why it didn't. Obviously, I'm no expert on the matter, but there was a lot of color left in the liquid when I strained it a couple of days later. I'm not sure how much is supposed to be left. I imagine the liquid wouldn't be clear in the end, but I was hoping for a bit of pink on the yarn. It's current color reminds me of Knit Picks' fawn colorway, even if it's possibly a bit lighter. It definitely took some color - just not the one I was expecting. Either way, I do kind of like the color it has. It's very antique looking, and it would make a lovely shawl, I would think. That or a lacey sweater, maybe. I'll have to think about that for a while.

Before I start in on that, I guess that baby shawl does deserve a little attention. But, before I do that, I'd like to sneak downstairs and attempt to finally finish the apron I've been working on in bits and pieces for the last week. It's taken entirely too long, because of other obligations and little set-backs like children needing my attention or lengthy hours of kitchen duty after making pizzas (from scratch) with the kids - more on that tomorrow, perhaps (because, like a good daughter to a grandmother far from her grandkids, I took pictures).

I Wish I Had One

2007-06-22T22:20:00.000+02:00

They say you always give people gifts you wish you owned. I kind of pride myself on trying to give thoughtful gifts that are something the recipient would love to have. This time, though, I'd kind of like to keep it for myself...

Yesterday my husband mentioned that tomorrow is my mother-in-law's birthday. Normally, they don't make a big fuss about that kind of thing in his family. This time, though, since both my husband and his mother are leaving early tomorrow morning for a short business trip (he happened to be able to hitch a ride with her), she's staying the night at our place. I feel a bit funny about seeing someone on their birthday and practically ignoring it. So, I threw an easy apricot pie in the oven while our bread was baking. Then, it occurred to me that I could pretty easily make something I know she has been wanting out of some fabric I'm certain she would like.

I know all this, because the fabric is some beautiful batik (cotton or maybe linen) that she bought back in the 70's when my husband's family was living in Africa (he has fond memories of jumping from one dried elephant patty to the next). The last time I saw her, she gave it to me, happy to know it would finally be put to good use. She had seen how much I have been sewing lately and decided that I should have it. It was a spur-of-the-moment kindness, and I really wanted to make her something out of it, since she had said she had originally wanted to make something with it but never ended up doing so (she doesn't really sew much).

She may not be a seamstress, but she's an excellent knitter who always has something on her needles. She tends to stick to kids' sweaters for all her many grandchildren, but she still has amassed an amazing collection of various needles (big and small). She tends to jam them all into a glass jar (which we've probably all heard isn't great for their tips). What she really needed was a handy cloth needle case. So, I sat down and made one for her today. It got in the way of me finishing an apron I'm making for myself, but it's a sacrifice I was willing to make. Oh, woe is me, I was forced to use that nice, old sewing machine of mine (whose brand is Luxor, by the way - it's French made and dates from at least the early 50's, I'd say by the date on the needles that were in the box). Not to mention this batik fabric. So pretty, and I happened to have a pink corduroy that matched it perfectly (My husband seems to think that given the size of my fabric stash, this really isn't much of a coincidence, but he knows nothing when it comes to real fabric stashes - mine is meager, I assure you.).

The lining is the batik (from Kenya, since I forgot to mention it earlier) and the outside is the corduroy I had leftover from some pants for Lambchop #1 that didn't turn out all that well. I also had the idea that it would be pretty to add a patch of the batik (because I love it so much) to the outside as well as making the ties with it. The only problem with that is that in order for it to show nicely, it had to be placed where I needed to also sew lines for the needles to have little pockets. So, that part is not quite as nice as I had hoped, but she really liked it and was happy to receive such a practical gift (now I see where her son gets it). She isn't one for keeping many objects around, which explains why buying birthday gifts isn't a big thing in this family. But if the object in question has a really good purpose, she's happy to receive it, so I chose well.

Now that I take another look at the pictures of that patch of batik on the outside of it, I don't think it's that bad. You would never have it laying open like that, and it looks very nice rolled up with its patch. You don't see the lines I had to sew all that much.

And, now, just because my mom is having yet another of those days at the office, I'll give you a couple of baby pictures. This little one is a live wire, let me tell you. The other two walked at a pretty early age, so it doesn't surprise me to see her wanting to get around now. She's 9-and-a-half months, and for the past few weeks she's been able to make her way around the rooms of our house a little too well. She loves to pull herself up into a standing position now. Even though she can't walk yet, that doesn't seem to phase her. She's perfectly comfortable climbing things anyway. Yeah, you read right. Climbing things. Like stairs or my sewing box. You know, just whatever might help her get higher. Have to keep an eye on this girl.

Like a caged animal. "Somebody please let me out of here!"

"Better yet, my feet are little. Maybe I could learn to climb this thing."

It is hard work, though. She's just beside herself with... fatigue?

A Thing of Beauty

2007-06-21T14:11:00.000+02:00

I think it was about five years ago that I got a sewing machine for my birthday. At the time, I really wanted to make curtains for the temporary house we were living in. The machine is a white plastic no-name brand with a variety of stitches available. I have enjoyed using it for years, even if, aside from the one that covered the open area under the kitchen sink, the curtains never got made.

Five years have passed, and here we are in our new house, finally (that temporary home turned into the most permanent home I've ever known), and I find myself sewing curtains again. I've still got that same sewing machine. It runs well, but it could probably use a little TLC that I don't fully know how to give. Not long after I bought it, the instruction manual disappeared somewhere in the house. I figure I'll find it in a box some day. Until then, I'm always a little nervous my machine needs some oiling in places I'm not familiar with.

Luckily for me, I have a back-up machine. It's a complete fluke that I even have it. The year I got a machine for my birthday, my sister-in-law also bought me one for Christmas (a lack of communication, I suppose). There are many people in my husband's family, so we tend to draw names for the adults. One person to shop for usually means one very nice gift. That year, my sister-in-law really outdid herself. She bought one of the most lovely sewing machines I have ever laid eyes on. Thing is, though, I have never actually used it. It's only able to straight sew, and I kind of like my bells and whistles. Plus, the weight of all that metal made it a chore to lug it out of its hiding place.

I'm not sure what prompted it, but I decided to give the old girl (or is it a guy?) a go today. I spent some time fiddling with it and its manual in order to familiarize myself with it. Imagine my surprise when I found a funny little extra foot in the box. I had no clue of its use, so I whipped out my trusty sewing handbook. As it turns out, I am the proud owner of a narrow hemming foot or rolled hemmer, which is a handy-dandy thing to own. It folds and sews narrow hems all in one step without too much effort from me (If you look at the picture below, you'll notice it even works on some pretty badly frayed edges - I had done some zigzagging close to the edge a while back, but didn't even trim, and it made a much nicer edge after the hemming. I'm not being too particular with this hem, because it's just curtains for under the bathroom sink.). No more burning my hands on the iron trying to press out those narrow seams. This is a happy day, indeed.

The machine itself is so beautiful, I decided to take several pictures to show it off. Somehow in all the visits my mom has made to my house, I never managed to pull this beauty out to show it to her. Now, she'll finally see it over the net. I can't even tell you what brand it is. There's no brand on the manual and the only brand on the entire machine is on the motor, which isn't necessarily the same brand as the machine itself. Doesn't matter. I've fallen in love. It hums pleasantly while it sews. And, it sews quickly and smoothly. Despite its age, I suspect that it will outlast my other, more modern machine by far.

Look at that green! Isn't that a wonderful color? They just don't make things like they used to. I feel like I'm traveling back in time (though I still get to use my computer to tell you about it) every time I sit down in front of this machine. It's just a thing of beauty.

Here's To Brighter Days

2007-06-20T17:34:00.001+02:00

In France, kids don't go to school on Wednesdays. They are often forced to go on Saturday morning to make up for it, but they get a free day in the middle of the week. It's a remnant of the days when schools became secular and the Catholic church apparently negotiated Wednesdays for learning about God and the church (do they capitalize "The Church"?). Anyway, France isn't really much of a religious country these days, and I guess anyone so inclined could just send their kids to parochial school. So, most kids do sports or other extra curricular activities on Wednesdays. Lambchop #1 will probably start dance next year or something. Until then, though, I have to figure out what to do with the kids every Wednesday so they don't destroy the house.

Since the weather got nice, I've been driving them over to the beach every Wednesday (okay, since last week, but I plan to keep doing it) and Saturday. I've decided it's a really good way to kill several hours, since it's only a 20-25 minute drive from here (nothing is less than 10 minutes, so that's pretty close). I'm considering spending most of our summer mornings there, too. That way they won't be too bored. They seem to wreck the house when they get too imaginative. I don't want to stifle their creativity, but when they build "a house" - watch out. Today the water was particularly wonderful. We just waded in a little, since I've got all three of them to watch, but it sure felt great, and the kids love playing in the sand and water.

Knowing I'm not at a size I plan to stay at, I haven't bought myself a bathing suit in years. I'm kind of figuring I could just make myself one when I get to the size I want to be at. Until then, I have an ugly suit I bought in between Lambchop #1 and Lambchop #2. It was the only thing in the entire store that fit my chest size (always a problem here in France). I have another one, too, but it was a maternity horror show (again, the only thing in the store that fit my chest - though it was in the US). It's blue and white gingham, which I could live with, but the top was like a skirt/dress thing. Not a pretty sight unless your under 4 years old, and in a place where women frequently go topless, it looks a bit absurd. Seemed like a waste to just throw it away, though, because even if I took it to the charity shop, no one would want it. So, I modified it to fit me now. It worked pretty well, and is very comfy since it has a bit of a boob shelf (unlike the one I bought here), which I really do need. I'll try to get a picture of it sometime to show you what I did.

Until then, I'll have to just show off our sleeping beauty. I decided to take a few shots in Sepia mode today. I guess I was feeling a little whimsical or something. The real reason I took this picture, though, is that my mom sounded like she was having a rough time at work these days, so I figured she could use a little pick-me-up (you know, since coming into work drunk off margaritas is probably frowned upon). Hope this brightens your day, Mom.

Another Sewing Frenzy

2007-06-19T11:53:00.000+02:00

I seem to do things in spurts. One day, I'll wake up in the mood to have a clean house, so I'll clean like mad for a while. Another day, I'll really want to sew, so I'll do that for several days. It's been a while since I've really knit. Maybe it's the warm weather. Or, maybe it's the fact that my favorite recipient (me) is at an awkward size and doesn't intend to stay there. It's also at least partially due to the fact that all of my current knitting projects are at stages where any progress on them would involve actual thinking on my part. Apparently, I'm just not in the mood for that. So, I've been sewing instead. I've got a nice pile of projects that need my attention, so the sewing machine will keep me busy for a little while. None of these projects really entails much thinking, either, so I'm free to let my mind wander a bit while I work on them... wander toward possible knitting projects, perhaps... a knitting project involving some naturally dyed lace weight merino, perhaps (more on that soon).

For now, let's concentrate on the sewing. I did a little mending on the split crotch of some pants. Is my husband really that well-endowed? Impressive. Either that, or he needs to stop lifting his leg on stuff (oh, wait, that would be the dog I left behind with my parents when I moved to France - he now wears a diaper around the house... anyway, back to the sewing).

I also converted a homemade tank top into a dress (before shot is at the right, after is modeled by our sweetie). The fabric was a very small amount of those leftover cuts they often sell at the fabric store. So, it was really cheap, though I don't recall how much I paid for it. I really liked the stripes, so I made a little Burda pattern tank out of it (can't remember the pattern number) for Lambchop #1 a while back. It never did get much use, though, because if it's not pink or purple... I wasn't sure what I should do with it, but I've apparently gotten my husband into the habit of thinking about refashioning clothes, because he suggested a dress for Lambchop #3. Perfect idea. The color suits her well, and she's not going to complain that it's not pink.

I just did a little shirring around the collar to make it more her size and then did some around the chest, as well. After that, I added some rickrack around the bottom hem (something I'm still not so great at). It took me about 30 minutes in all, and I think it turned out well, though I'm considering adding a little more shirring on the back. It's a bit puffy back there, and I haven't decided if I like that yet. It's 100% cotton, and not particularly thick fabric, so it'll be a great summer dress for her.

The other sewing project I finished since my bag yesterday was the coin purse to match it. I whipped that one out pretty quickly before dinner. I decided I definitely didn't feel like waiting around till I had the time to go buy a zipper. I made a drawstring bag, instead. I really like it, and the construction of it was extremely simple.

I used the same fabrics for the lining and the outside as I had used for the purse itself, so everything matches. That's a first for me. It's kind of fun. The little coin purse fits nicely into the purse, and it's large enough for a few bills as well as some coins.

I Have Needs

2007-06-18T14:27:00.000+02:00

Sometimes a girl just needs a new purse (or handbag, if you prefer). You know what I mean. I'm really picky about purses, though, so I don't even remember the last time I bought one. I hate thinking I got really suckered, and that's what I always think when I see the price of purses. They're never exactly what I want them to be, and they're too expensive. And, since I'm trying to make all the clothes and other goodies for the family, I figured I'd give designing my own purse a shot.

There are several reasons I decided to do this now. First, there's just no better time than the present, right? Then, there's the fact that I've misplaced the checkbook and my credit card holder several times lately. That's generally a bad thing. This fact makes the present a really, really good time to have a new purse. I actually haven't bought one in years. The last couple I had were hand-me-downs from my mom. She likes her purses. We don't have identical tastes, though. She prefers them larger than I do. I'd be perfectly happy with something that would fit in my front pocket, if that were possible. I think my favorite purse ever was a coin purse shaped like a backpack that had a key chain on it (Scooby Doo on the front, too). The backpack was the perfect size for my credit card, driver's license, some change and a few bills. There was even a little hook/clasp thing on it that allowed me to attach it to belt buckle if I wanted. It was ideal for the student lifestyle I had at the time.

Then children came. I haven't had a purse I loved since. I've got plenty of bags. They're all great for knitting projects, but my other necessities tend to get lost in the yarn and needles. What I really needed was a smallish purse with compartments and pockets to keep things organized. So, that's what I made. It's like a mini-messenger bag. I can just sling it over my shoulder or I can hold it like a messenger bag is usually held. It holds everything I need on an everyday basis, and it's just my size. Why didn't it occur to me before to make my own purse?

It's made of mauve corduroy that was leftover from a bag I made for a friend. The inner lining is some fabric that my mother and great aunt gave me recently. I'm pretty sure my great aunt must of gotten it from a garage sale. That, or it's some leftover fabric from a quilt my mother made. Either way, it was free to me, and the ideal match for the corduroy.

Every other bag I've ever made had very few embellishments and maybe one pocket. This one has two on the outside (front and back), two inner compartments and four little interior pockets (two of which have elastic on the top to hold their contents in a bit). I also had some fun trying out some new techniques. I've never really done any stripes on a bag before, though I do like the look. So, I cut some strips of the lining fabric and made a little design on the back pocket. I also sewed some pin tucks on the front pocket before sewing it to its lining. They aren't perfect, but I think it's a fun look, and it's definitely something I'd like to try again on a garment some time.

I've worked on it bit by bit over the past week, since I've had very little time to myself. I hadn't gotten much done till today. When we got the kids off to school, I put the baby to sleep and got to work. It took me many more hours than I suspected it would (what with all the pockets and embellishments), so maybe it makes a little more sense that purses can be pricey. I probably spent about 5-6 hours on the sewing and ironing of all the little pieces. The planning and cutting stage was significantly shorter.

So far, I'd have to say I like it. It fits a packet of Kleenex, my credit card holder, a checkbook, a diaper and some cotton wipies with extra room for other possibilities. There's even leftover fabric to make a coin purse. I thought I'd need a zipper to make it, but I'm now toying with the idea of using elastic or a drawstring so I can avoid a trip to the fabric store. We'll see how that turns out.

Shopping, Anyone?

2007-06-16T16:55:00.000+02:00

Look what I found at the local farmer's market. Looks to be quite ripe, too. I'm thinking it'll need a good rinsing (may have to throw in a little soap for good measure), but I'm quite certain once cleaned up, it'll be very sweet.

This will be a post formulated of lots of odds and ends from our week. I haven't had much time to blog, because my husband has been sick with some throat virus that has had him in bed since Tuesday. He's just starting to bounce back, but he's pretty tired. Taking care of the kids, as well as him has kept me on my toes.

There is one positive aspect to it, though. I think I've learned the key to marital bliss (or at least satisfaction). No, I don't recommend poisoning your spouse so that they're constantly sick in bed (How cruel do you think I am?). His being in bed all week and unable to help out is what has helped me to learn this. So, are you ready? Get out your pens and paper to jot this down...

The key to marital bliss is to act like your not actually married. Don't actually depend on your partner for things. Please don't take that the wrong way. I don't mean it to sound cynical. What I mean is that in the last week, I've done every chore around the house without complaint, because I knew he wasn't up for any of it. In most families, there is some kind of division of labor (she does the laundry, he takes out the trash - or whatever). It's the same in our family. There are certain chores I kind of expect him to do. The problem is he's really busy running his own business. I'm pretty busy taking care of the kids, too, but I don't have special expectations for the things I want me to do for me. If some chore of his doesn't get accomplished for a while, I have to start nagging, and then I get irritated. If it goes on long enough, you know I'll get resentful. If you remove the expectations, though, there's not much chance you'll get resentful. And, my guess is if you're married to a decent person, and you're not asking much of them around the house, at some point, they're bound to help you on their own. If you're not married to a decent person, well, that's a whole other problem you may want a therapist for.

Then, there's another way to understand this idea (pretending you're not married, I mean). This could be taken to mean you should pretend you're dating. Most people would agree it's an exciting time they'd like to get back from time to time. I'd have to agreed I like to think back on those days. They were nice. He always seems pretty hot to me, but he seems quite a bit hotter when I've sat for a while thinking about the good ole days.

Another little side effect of this pretending I'm not married (actually acting like a single mommy much of the time) is that I run a tighter ship but without the exasperation that often comes with a day when I've been longing for him to take over my job in the evening. The kids get fed earlier, which means there's actually time for a puzzle and a story before bed. And, they're even clean, because I found time to slip in a bath. I'll admit I get a little less time for myself, but I somehow get that worked into my day most of the time, too. I'm going to try to continue and see if this pretending I'm sort of single has more benefits to it (don't worry, I have no intentions of cruising the local bars for some action). I've already noticed that it seems to make him much more likely to help me when I ask. I got some help with housecleaning a bit yesterday, and this afternoon, he happily hung some clothes on the line when I gave him the choice of either doing that or taking over the iChat with my parents and the kids for a few minutes (Hmmm, you don't think there's some other reason he'd prefer to hang clothes instead of talking to his in-laws, do you???).

Okay, enough of the self-help chatter. What else is there going on around here? Well, I'm making a purse. It's a bit slow, because it'll have lots of pockets and features that I've never made in a bag. I'm hoping it'll turn into the ideal purse for me. So, there's a lot of planning going into it. I'll post pictures once there is something interesting to look at.

We've also spent lots of time at the beach this week. There's a nice one only 20 minutes from our house (considering it takes us 10 minutes to get to school, that's pretty close). I've taken the big kids there twice this week in the mornings when they didn't have school. They can be pretty loud, and that's not really what you're after when you've got a splitting virus-induced headache and can think of nothing better than a nap. So, I shoved them out the door and onto the sand so Daddy could take a nap with the baby. I suspect we'll be doing much more of this once school lets out for the summer. It's a great way to keep them busy for part of the day, not to mention an apparently wonderful way to meet the parents of their friends. Both times we went this week, we bumped into kids from Lambchop #2's class. They were each with their daddies, and it was really nice to get to meet the fathers of my boy's friends. Today was actually a real treat, because one of Lambchop #2's favorite people was there, and the kids had a blast while I got to learn a bit about the girl's family. Maybe, if we're lucky we'll be seeing some of Lambchop #1's friends too someday.

This is getting a bit lengthy, which should come as no real surprise to you if you've read this blog for any amount of time, but I'll try to stop for now. I'll leave you with this image...

The baby bed mysteriously never made it over from the old house. I've not had any complaints about it, because I don't really mind sleeping with babies and neither does my husband. I'm thinking it's nearing time to make it happen, though, because this awaited me the other night. Don't you think it looks suspiciously like she's actually trying to take up the entire bed? Not sure about that? Take a closer look...

... at the clearly triumphant fist raising action. She obviously thinks she's won some kind of battle here. Is it time to teach her a lesson by sticking her in her own bed... with bars and all?

A Horrible End

2007-06-12T11:34:00.000+02:00

(FIGHTING OVER CAMERA TIME)

I've recently been finding large ants in our bed. I only come across one at a time, so I never know where they're coming from. I usually just squash them when I feel them crawling on my skin at night. Not fun, but what else can I do? There's at least some amount of justice in this world, though.

One of them met a very gruesome end this morning. It apparently crawled into the baby's nose, got tangled in snot and could not escape. It must have been ugly, so where's my sympathy? Ask me that again the next time you're awakened by a car-sized black ant nibbling on your knee. Besides, it most likely bit my sweet, angelic sleeping baby, so it surely deserved what it got, right?

On a lighter note... or maybe not. I'm not sure. On a different note at least...

I've figured out why kids' songs really aren't for Mommy and Daddy. You might think it's just because they're irritating and repetitive, but it's the content we should avoid thinking to hard on. Take this one as an example:

This old man, he played one
He played knick-knack on my thumb [some versions use "drum"]
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played two
He played knick-knack on my shoe
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played three
He played knick-knack on my knee
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played four
He played knick-knack on my door
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played five
He played knick-knack on my hive
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played six
He played knick-knack on my sticks
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played seven
He played knick-knack up in heaven
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played eight
He played knick-knack on my gate
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played nine
He played knick-knack on my spine [some versions use "line" here]
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played ten
He played knick-knack once ag'n [some versions use "on my hen" here]
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

We all know it well, but have we ever really analyzed its lyrics? I sing it to my kids all the time, but yesterday, I saw it for what it really is for the very time ever. And, I was disturbed. Yeah, take a look at it a second time....

Who is this perverted old man, anyway? I'm not sure what knick-knack paddywhacking is, but it sounds suspicious to me. The old perv starts out innocently enough with doing his paddywhacking on my thumb and my shoe, but he soon works his way up to my knee. The old dog - we all know what a bone is. And, then you just can't get rid of the geezer. He starts stalking me. He's at the door. The gate. He's even worked his way up to my spine. Apparently, though, by the count of seven somebody's getting a bit fed up and tries to knock him off (though, I'd doubt with his behavior that he's heading off to heaven). It didn't really seem to work all that well, though, because by the count of ten, he's back at it again.

And, we're singing this too our kids. Between that and Hansel and Gretel, it's amazing they're not all in therapy by the age of 6.

Catchy tune, though, don't you think?

Anyone just completely unsettled by my mind's random wanderings? What can I say? I spend hours upon hours with kids' music and tv in the background. A mom's got to have a little fun. Anyway, I blame my parents. This kind of humor runs in the family - a family where the game of pool (where technical words like "stroke," "balls" and "stick" are said with a straight face) is really popular.

Oh, and for those who are concerned about the state of my house... I made some real progress on the baker's rack. It got mostly emptied (though much more organized piles of things still awaiting a home can be found on two shelves), and two of the shelves now have nice arrangements of pots and pans on them. Maybe we should make a little challenge for ourselves to post pictures of our worst clutter spots and vow to clean them up and then post the after shots. A little support group for those who tend to bury their heads in their knitting so as not to see the mess around them? Anybody with me on that one? I know it might take away from your knitting time for a while, but it'll be worth it if you can find those extra yarn balls hiding under a pile of old newspapers.

Banging Your Head Against A Wall

2007-06-09T20:42:00.000+02:00

This evening, I found two bumble bees smacking their little heads and their probiscus (is probisci the plural there?) against a metal pole. There was apparently an odor that attracted them to it, but I don't know if they were able to get any of that lovely iron nectar they were after. It was pretty funny to me, so I took a little picture of one. Plus, they're unlike any bumble bees I've ever seen in the US, so I figured I'd show them off for my American readers (some day, I'll get a nice shot of the huge all black bees they have here - fascinating). After taking pictures of them, I realized how appropriate it was for my current mood. I feel a little like I'm banging my head against a metal pole, too. Here's why...

Having the duty of taking care of laundry and dishes and other miscellaneous messes for five is a daunting task. They work so much faster than I do. First, they outnumber me by far. And, then, they are so efficient at what they do. It can take me days to thoroughly clean a room, yet during the time it takes me to take an afternoon nap, they can not only undo all my hard work, but they can also rearrange the furniture and other things they hadn't thought to do before I cleaned. It's quite impressive, really, and if I weren't so busy trying to pick up after them, I'd been in awe of their talent. They're just that good.

The kitchen is the room I would most like to get under control (or at least some semblance of control). Like in many households, our kitchen somehow ends up being the command center of the house. There is so much more than eating and cooking going on in this room. They color at the table, even though they have a desk in their playroom. They play on the floor there sometimes. And, we can't forget that the kitchen is often turned into my sewing room while a cake or a loaf of bread bakes in the oven. Naturally, every time someone does a non-food related task in the kitchen, bits and pieces of their project (my sewing included) seem to find a semi-permanent home there. It's frustrating, and I never even come close to fully controlling this room. I think the thing I have the most difficulty with is the fact that (through no fault of the kids), every horizontal surface in the room becomes a junk space. We don't have a junk drawer, and since my husband still hasn't gotten around to making the majority of the closets and shelves that should be in our new house, I'm left with few storage options.

Tonight before dinner, I had a very strong desire to clean the kitchen from top to bottom. After dinner, I scanned the room to take stock. That's when I became paralyzed by a sense of being overwhelmed by the mess and all motivation drained from my body in a matter of seconds. Well, that's not really true. I still have a strong desire - a need really - to clean that room. I just don't know where to start. I always have trouble putting my blinders on and zeroing in on one section of the room at a time. Then, there's the very real issue that most of the things I see lying around don't have a real home of their own. So, I stand there aimlessly shifting objects from one pile to the next. Needless to say, none of this helps either my mood or the general appearance of the house.

I'm a little down now after wanting to dive in and get something done but spending too long standing around lost in my own home. And, when faced with this sort of problem what do all bloggers do to tackle it? Why, we blog, of course. I don't tend to talk much about this part of my life. It's a little too depressing, and I'd rather show off the kids and my sewing or knitting projects. Call it denial. I don't care. You'd most likely be right. After all, staring into this 14 or so inch box as I type these words certainly prevents me from looking around the room at the chaos around me.

Now, I generally choose not to be 100% honest about this part of my life. Well, I don't really lie. I just conveniently omit it when I blog. Some of you recently were amazed at all the sewing I seem to get done. It's largely due to the fact that I can ignore messes much like the one pictured here when my nose is buried in a bunch of fabric. This is a satisfactory solution as long as I continue to sew (hence the amazing productivity). Again some may refer to this behavior as denial, but I prefer to call it attention displacement. Sounds fancier that way.

It may seem a bit perverse or silly for me to snap a picture of this mess and post it on the internet (my mom is surely hanging her head in shame at the sight of it). My reasons are valid, though. First, I figure I'm not the only one out there with some section of their home that looks this way. It can only be comforting to those people to know they are not alone. Second, if I post a picture and claim I'm going to clean this mess up, I just might stick to it and show you the finished picture, where my lovely pots and pans might find a neat and tidy home here on the rack they used to love back before I had kids and a husband. And, third, I think taking a picture could help me to better focus on just this small area long enough to clean it without feeling overwhelmed. Just looking at it here as I write this post, I see a few items whose homes would be easy enough to find. I could clear them pretty easily. Standing in the kitchen looking at this rack, I was too shocked by the mess in its entirety to see the individual parts that could easily be dealt with. I just might have found a new decluttering method here. My camera's lens isn't wide enough to take everything in, and I just might be able to deal with the small sections of the chaos it presents me with.

Okay, I've talked myself into. The kids are in bed, and the men (husband and father-in-law) are engrossed in a rugby match on tv (I might even get them each a beer to nurse while I work, so I can feel all 1950's this evening), so I think I'll get to work. Before I go, I'll give you some happy thoughts to tide you over. Look at these clowns. This is why I still love them despite the messes they leave me to deal with.

Yeah, Shir

2007-06-08T10:02:00.000+02:00

I haven't had much time to write any blog posts in the past few days, but I can happily say that the little bag I made for the birthday party on Wednesday went over well. Lambchop #2 embarrassed his mommy a tiny bit, though. My intention was not to make it known that the gift was homemade. I'm proud of making things for my family, but sometimes, people don't appreciate handmade gifts the way they should. He was proud, though, and the second the little girl opened it, he blurted out, "And, and, and, my mommy made it, too!" Nobody heard him the first time, so he was forced to say it louder for everyone to really know how happy he was about it. Very sweet, and I do hope they all continue to be proud when mommy makes them things (though, I have a sneaking suspicion the pride will turn to shame some day at least while they're going through their teen years - we'll see). And, the ladies in the room actually seemed pleased and impressed by a handmade gift, so the world is not lost after all.

Oh, and I learned something about my son while at the party. He appears to have some success with the little ladies. There were mostly girls at the party (Lili-Rose, Lola, Lili and Lila - if you can believe that) with a couple of boys. When we arrived, the boys were in one room playing with boy stuff and the girls were in another playing a game we have here at home that Lambchop #2 loves. He went right in and sat down to play with the girls. They seemed quite happy with his presence. I had already noticed that he gets the Beatles treatment when he arrives at school, with the girls smiling and screaming his name (no fainting, though). The birthday party pretty much confirmed it for me. He's a lady's man. I guess it pays to have two sisters at home.

Though the blog has been silent the past few days, I have been keeping myself busy. I did a little remake of a piece of clothing I've had for over 10 years. It was one of those crinkle skirts that were so popular in the 90's. I've always loved the fabric, but the elastic on the skirt was never very forgiving, and though it fit without me sucking my stomach in, it always gave me a stomach ache some how. Needless to say, it never got much wear. This week, I decided to give it a new life.

I have been fascinated by the idea of shirring for quite some time, but I hadn't found the appropriate project to try it out for myself. Then, a post over at Wardrobe Refashion got me thinking it'd be the perfect way to change this skirt into a shirt to wear this summer. I like the end result, but the best thing about shirring is that as my body shrinks a little here and there (I tend to lose weight gradually while breastfeeding till it mostly all melts away), the shirt will continue to fit. It even fits Lambchop #1's tiny chest size because of the elastic used in shirring.

The skirt looked like this in the beginning:

Nothing very special, but I always loved the roses on the fabric. I have never been a very frilly girl. I always tended toward t-shirts and jeans or simple skirts. As it turns out, though, I really do love flowers. I'm realizing this now, because the things I seem to have trouble parting with all have flowers (I've got another flowered skirt like this to mess with later).

I spent about a half and hour detaching the waistband with my seam ripper and got to shirring on the top section. Later, I added the black band around the top and the straps. I needed thick ones, because I'm not one who can go braless even with the elasticity provided by the shirring.

The shirt has gotten mixed reviews around here. Lambchop #1 loves it, mostly likely because it's the kind of thing that is in style these days. The hubbie isn't quite so fond of it, most likely for the same reasons Lambchop #1 loves it. I'm not 100% certain for several reasons. First, it's not my usual style, so it'll take some getting used to. Second, I'm a little afraid the high waist makes me look a little preggers. That's not the look I'm going for after having given birth 9 months ago, but if I suck my gut in to the point that I can no longer breathe, I admit, I look pretty hot. It's just a shame it's not convenient for that whole will to survive thing I've got going these days. I'll shrink into it, and for now, it's very comfy. The last reason I'm not too sure about this shirt is the slip factor. It might have a tendency to slip down a bit in the front, possibly exposing my girlimajigs (Or, should I say "girlimajugs"?). I think it'll be alright. I just need to watch when I bend forward. It's light and airy, though, so it'll be good for summer. and with all the shirring, it doesn't seem nearly as see-through as it did as a skirt.

Here's one last shot of it, taken by Lambchop #1. She's home sick from school and did a little photography for Mommy. Not bad, actually. A little blurry, but at least she didn't make me look fat like Daddy usually does.

Birthday Bag

2007-06-04T09:24:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was Mother's Day here in France, and I had a wonderful one. I was awakened at 7:30 am by a very excited Lambchop #1 bearing gifts. She had been hiding them all week long and couldn't hold her secret in any longer. Lambchop #2 followed soon after with an offering of his own. Very sweet. I loved the gifts, too. When do kids stop making things for Mommy and Daddy at school? That will be a sad day, I think. Anybody who enjoys crafting as much as I do can certainly appreciate a hand-made gift from their own kids.

Speaking of hand-made gifts, Lambchop #2 was invited to the birthday party of a little girl in his class. I'm not a big fan of buying junky plastic toys for kids that age. They get broken with amazing speed and efficiency, and since the kid in question is female, I figure a little hand-made bag would be better. I let Lambchop #2 raid my fabric stash, and he picked out some blue fabric with stars. My great-aunt gave me this fabric, which she most likely picked up at someone's yard sale. It's cute, and just masculine enough that my boy could get on board with it. That became the inner lining, the straps (which, as my husband pointed out, at their length, only one would have been necessary) and the front pocket. The outside of the bag is a portion of a jean leg. It already had the side seams, which I was happy about. Less work for both me and my machine, who likes to jam up on me when the fabric is very thick like that. All I had to do to the jean part was add an oval bottom to give the bag some roominess and a fun shape.

Since all the fabric was either given to me or taken from something old I no longer use, this was an amazingly cheap project. I'd say it cost me mere cents to make (because of the cost of the thread used to sew it). It's not perfect, since I didn't feel like measuring anything to make it. Lambchop #2 is very proud of it, though, and wanted to take it to school with him this morning to give it to the birthday girl right way (though her party is on Wednesday afternoon). I think we can fill it with candy before then just in case she doesn't find a bag very exciting.

And, this morning I couldn't help but snap a few shots of Lambchop #3 sleeping. I took way more than necessary, but that's the beauty of digital cameras - one is bound to turn out right. Here's the one I liked best (oh, and for you thrift shoppers, this is a thrift shop shirt she's wearing - it was in perfect condition).

Now I'm off to do some actual chores. Our dryer's heating element seems to have given out, so I'm forced to be both more frugal and more environmentally friendly. With a baby, it can be hard to make it out to hang clothes. I need to take advantage of Lambchop #3's nap really fast before she wakes up. Maybe I should consider installing some kind of baby swing in a nearby tree, because I really do enjoy hanging clothes (except when we've got high winds and I have to fight the line to hang them).

Happy Birthday!

2007-06-01T00:01:00.000+02:00

It is now 12:01 am, so that means my husband has just turned... well, a little older. I never did figure out what to make with that elephant, and he told me he doesn't really do the apron thing at wine shows. Why? Would that make him a sissy? Nope, they're just for klutzes, according to him. Oh well. He says I could sew it to the bag he already has. I'm not overly excited about that, though, so I might just wait till inspiration strikes some day.

Soooo, instead of making something for him for his birthday, I finished my blue dress (installed the zipper and did the hem). It took me a while to get the zipper area just right. I should really take a course in zipper installation and blind hem sewing. Those two tasks always take me too long. Anyway, at least it's done, and when the weather decides to allow it, I'll wear it and feel pretty and really attention-getting (because of the color, mostly).

The other picture I'm going to show you is a little modification I did today on an old-lady skirt I got at the thrift shop yesterday (went shopping with Lambchop #1 for a mother-daughter outing - hit the thrift shop and the used bookstore). I paid 1 euro for this skirt. When I showed it to my mother-in-law in its original form, she looked at me like I was nuts. She's a lot closer to being an actual "old lady" than I am, and even she wouldn't consider wearing it. It was just a simple straight skirt several sizes too large for me. I suppose even I should have wondered why on earth I bought it. Perhaps the seersucker got me again. Or, perhaps, I saw the potential to do this to it. It was actually a pretty quick presto-changeo job. I chopped it off just above the knees. Then, I took a decent amount off the sides to make it fit me. Then, I sewed the little pleats in the bottom section and reattached it. After that, I removed the waist band and sized it down before reattaching it. A little ironing job, and it was done. I love it. I also got the shirt I have on with it on another thrift shop expedition. It cost me 1 euro, and I was really excited to see it's a Banana Republic shirt. I've kind of always liked that brand but never could convince myself it was worth the price.

Some other goodies were bought yesterday at the thrift shop, including a Hawaiian shirt to play with and a polka dot shirt I fell in love with, which is odd considering my past hate of polka dots. I'm working on changing my personal style (if you can call t-shirts and jeans that), because I'm tired of feeling frumpy. Before having three kids pop out of me after blowing me up like a balloon, I had a decent enough figure that I still felt feminine wearing t-shirts and jeans. Now, thanks to the jelly roll they left around my mid-section, I need a little help. Skirts and dresses will be a good start.

All Work and No Play...

2007-05-30T11:46:00.000+02:00

I don't know if many people would call making bags and altering kids clothes or making dresses for myself "work". I know I have fun doing it, but since it helps me keep our costs of raising three kids down, I call it work (just don't tell anyone I'm having fun doing it, okay?).

Last night, though, I played. That's to say, I didn't do any of my usual "work". I looked up stenciling with freezer paper yesterday, and found this very nice tutorial. I decided I'd try it with wax paper, since I'm not even sure where to get freezer paper here, or if it's even something that you can find in this country. I had some wax paper on hand, though, so I gave it a shot. It worked out okay, but it was far from ideal. The wax paper didn't stick to the fabric I had chosen very well when I ironed it (with a second piece of fabric between the iron and the paper, so I wouldn't get wax all over my iron). That made my painting job less than perfect, but it wasn't too bad. Luckily, since the fabric I chose was black, I could color over the mess-ups with a Sharpie pen (shhh, don't tell).

I kind of like it. It's the elephant that appears on my husband's wine labels. It's really tiny on the labels, so I drew it larger on the wax paper. I'm not sure what to do with it now that I have it, though. I don't know where you'd put such an elephant. I know it could be incorporated nicely into a bag, but he's already got a nice bag a friend of ours made. I'd love for it to become part of a birthday present for him, but his birthday is June 1st, so we may be a bit late on that one - especially if inspiration doesn't strike. I know they often wear aprons to serve wine at wine shows, and I could make one for him with the elephant front and center, but I don't know if he actually wears an apron himself. I'd like it to be a practical gift, because the one word I'd use to describe him is "practical". Romance certainly isn't his thing, but he's got practicality down to an art form.

Anyway, any ideas for inspiration?? Here's another shot for you to see that it's just a small piece of fabric that I cut out for it, so I can sew it to anything as a pocket or a panel of some kind. I've even toyed with the idea of cutting it up (like in strips) and putting other fabrics in between the strips, but I'm afraid to go ahead with that idea when I still don't know what I'd do with the whole piece when finished.

Always Listen To Your Mother...

2007-05-29T10:52:00.000+02:00

Or not. Whichever.

I got in the mood to change my hair yesterday. This used to happen to me quite a bit. I was a hormonally imbalanced teenager. Cutting my hair was what I did at least once a month. I always did it myself. So, I've gotten pretty good at messing with my own hair when the mood strikes me.

Yesterday, I was kind of in the mood for something drastic. Not purple hair kind of drastic, but chopping off my bangs kind of drastic. I just couldn't convince myself to do it. So, I asked my husband. He gave the usual husband opinion of, "Don't do it if it's going to bug you the whole time it takes to grow back out, because I'll have to hear about it." Yeah, helpful, huh? So, I did the only other thing I could think to do at midnight. I called my mommy in another time zone. She's the ultimate non-advice giver. It's actually a personal motto of hers not to give out advice. I told her I needed advice, and she immediately told me she might not have any to give. So, I presented her with the dilemma. Her response was typical Mom. Wait till morning, wash and style your hair, and then see what you want to do. I went to bed thinking Mom was pretty darn smart: #1, she didn't actually give any real advice, so she can't get in trouble for giving the wrong advice, and #2, she told me to sleep on it. Not bad advice to give at midnight, really.

Here's the real problem, though. I woke up to a house without water this morning. The pump wasn't turned on, and the cistern went dry. You didn't think of that, did you Mom? So, now what? Well, we ignore Mom, naturally. So, I took a deep breath, held it in and chopped my bangs. It took all of 2 minutes to drastically change my hair. And, I think I like it, though it needs to be washed and styled to be sure (and I've been told I've got a couple more hours till there will be water). So, what do you think? Please excuse the paleness (I've not been brave enough to go outside much these days with the 50 mph winds whipping through our property these days). The silly poses there's just no excuse for. Like I said, it needs a good washing and styling to not look quite so stringy, but I'm thinking it's a change for the better (I know, you didn't see the before shot).

Okay, now for the important stuff. I did quite a few little sewing projects yesterday and this morning (and one semi-big one). I fixed a nursing bra that I like to wear but whose clasp had snapped. You don't really need to see that, so we'll move on to the baby stuff instead.

First, let me apologize for the orientation of this picture. I've rotated it in iPhoto, but it doesn't seem to want to show up that way when I upload it. Sorry. You'll have to live with it this time (apparently, I couldn't live with it - came back and fixed it later by quitting and reopening iPhoto, in case you ever need to know). This is a little outfit I was given when Lambchop #1 was still in the belly. It was a garage sale special, and I know Lambchop #1 got some use out of it. She even gave the little bib a couple of nice stains. That's why I took the bib off (well, that and the fact that I'm not a huge bib fan). I didn't really want to throw the whole outfit away. Maybe I'm a sucker for seersucker. So, I detached the bib part and added a little rickrack to spice it up a bit. I think I like it better this way. Maybe it's not quite so fancy but it's more my style. And, since the outfit was free and that's most likely less than 20 cent's worth of rickrack, it's a pretty frugal restyling job.

Next is a little shirt I bought on sale a long time ago for 2 euros. I liked the cut, and I was planning to add some embroidery and give it to my sister-in-law's daughter. Only, I don't embroider and am unlikely to learn anytime soon, and the kid's now too big for it. Luckily, I had a girl. And, even luckier I have another sister-in-law who sent me a really cute collection of ribbons she bought a while back. I was able to dress the shirt up nicely with this one.

I was going to show you a before picture, but I didn't remember to take one till I already had the bottom section pinned down. I think you can picture it without the ribbon around the collar and bottom to get the idea of how plain it was before. I think it's really cute this way. Thanks, Aunt Dis. You gave me the perfect tool to fix this shirt up.

Here's a close-up so you can see the ribbon a little better. Perhaps it doesn't look like a professional installation job, but it'll do. I'm still not a pro at attaching ribbons, rickrack or bias tape, but I'm learning.

Now on to the big project of yesterday. I spent most of yesterday's sewing time on this one. I really love the way it turned out. I also love the fact that didn't buy anything new to make it. A while back, most of the grocery stores agreed to stop handing out plastic bags with groceries. Instead, they make you purchase slightly sturdier plastic bags and these funky material (plastic tarp stuff) heavy-duty bags. They're reusable and exchangeable, but they still irritate me. First, you have to buy them. Second, I used to reuse the other plastic bags for trash - now I have to buy trash bags so where am I doing any good for the environment?? And, third, they're really not all that sturdy, and it's a hassle to exchange them. I'd much rather have a pretty cloth one made from leftover fabric from my stash. So, I measured one of the store-bought ones and made my own.

Here it is:

Any Ikea shoppers may recognize the gray and black fabric to be a shower curtain. We bought one with a gift certificate we were given. Our shower stall is narrow, and the curtain was too wide, so I cut it and saved the excess material. The purple lining is some canvas that I used to make curtains for the bathroom (so this bag really matches the bathroom well). I had leftovers since it was double-wide upholstery fabric. The strap is made from a strip of fake leather I had bought for use as slipper bottoms (I changed my mind about the slippers, so I never used the fabric). I am very happy with it and can't wait to go shopping in style.

It's huge, too. Take a look at the inside. Imagine all the stuff you can fit in there. I just hope it'll be sturdy enough. I can't picture it falling apart as easily as the bags they sell you at the store, so I figure this will be fine.

Now, I have one last thing to show off before your eyes glaze over (don't tell me if they already have - I'd prefer to remain delusional). It's a little shot of my knitted cardigan tank. It's coming along nicely, and I thought I might be nearing the point where I should start the arm holes. I wasn't sure, so I steam blocked it a little with the iron to check. Here it is blocking.

You get a much better idea of what the lace will look like here than you got the last time I showed it to you. I love this lace. I think it's so pretty. I can't wait till I finish this cardigan. I guess that means I should really work on it more often, right? No big deal. I'll still have time before it gets too hot. With all the wind we've got these days, it's not yet the right weather for it. Anyway, see that band of lace that continues all the way up the edge? That'll be the button band. I'm kind of anxious to see how it'll look with the buttons going up it.

Well, I'm lucky today, because I get to hitch a ride with my husband to the fabric store to finally get a zipper for that blue dress. I'm also hoping to make a little stop at the thrift store. I have the excuse that I'd like to dump some old clothes, but we really know that I just want to feed my new thrifted sheet addiction.

Come On Baby Light My Fire

2007-05-28T10:15:00.000+02:00

aka Kids, Don't Try This At Home...

aka Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire...

aka Always Wear Natural Fibers...

aka That Bamboo Is Sturdy Stuff...

Can you imagine where I'm going with this? Yep, lit myself on fire last night while cooking dinner. Nope, nobody was hurt (not even the hand-knit shirt I was wearing). I was pretty darn shaky after the fact, though. Thoroughly freaked out, as you can imagine.

I'll bet you're wondering how on earth I managed to light myself up, right? Well, the crappy matches they sell here in France make it a remarkably easy task, actually. That combined with the fact that the electric clicker component thingie (its technical name, I'm sure) of our stove no longer functions makes a dangerous combination, I guess. I have always had a lot of trouble lighting these particular matches. I realized that lighting away from me (striking in an outward direction) worked less often than lighting towards me. So, I'd recently developed the habit of striking inward. This worked just fine until last night when I decided to rewarm dinner. I struck a match, and a portion of the tip (the part that is meant to light the match) detached from the rest of the match. That's what I mean when I say these are crappy matches. This stuff comes off in mid-strike all the time. It just doesn't usually come off lit up. That's where last night differed from the usual. So, this little ball of fire flew at me and ignited my hand-knit Southwest Trading Company Bamboo shirt. A whole portion of the belly area was flaming like the alcohol on a Cherries Jubilee. I patted frantically for as long as it took me to realize that was about as effective as fanning the flames. When I saw them travel upward toward my chest and shoulder, the shirt came off faster than a bra in a 1960's political rally. The whole thing ended up in a charred-smelling pile on the floor.

It took me a little while of standing half-naked in the kitchen before I actually picked the thing back up. I was pretty impressed with what I saw. Take a look...

This is the section that caught on fire. You can't see any damage at all. I'm not even sure what it was that was burning. Leftover chemical dye residue?? I'm really baffled by this one. Aside from a slight odor of burnt hair, you'd never even know anything happened.

So, the moral of this story - actually, there are several.

Light away from you, even if it takes ten matches to get a light.
Always wear non-synthetic aprons.
Don't inadvertently fan the flames when they are on your body.
Surely, I should have gotten some other lesson from this experience, but I can be a slow learner. Perhaps #4 should be that I should not cook in hand-knit garments that I might be disappointed to lose.

Back In the Saddle

2007-05-27T10:22:00.000+02:00

After a couple of weeks of not doing any crafting at all, last night I got in the mood. So, I pushed myself away from the computer and pulled a chair up in front of the sewing machine instead. A while back, I bought a vintage sewing pattern on ebay. It just happened to be in my size (well, my bust size, anyway), and I kind of like the style of the dress. I wasn't really sure what fabric I should use, but I had this fun sheet I had paid 33 cents for at the local thrift shop. I figured at that price, I couldn't really got wrong, so I tested the pattern out on it. I'm really pleased with the results. I have to say that this fabric isn't exactly the style I would usually be seen wearing, but I like the whimsical nature of the flowers and the bright color (and who says I ever had any sense of style in the first place?). It'll be great for summer, I think, and it fits perfectly, as well (after some alterations to the pattern, because it would appear that I don't have the average proportions of women of the 1940's).

I still need to hem it and install the zipper, but it's finished otherwise. I just don't have a zipper, so I can't get it done till the stores open tomorrow (it's moments like these that I'd give almost anything to be in the US on a Sunday afternoon).

And, just for good measure, I'll throw in a couple of kid pictures. Daddy put the baby on the floor near the pots and pans yesterday, which she found to be the perfect playground. Lambchop #2 liked her idea and started to play kitchen with her.

This is what I get for not installing a cabinet yet. There are open shelves for now, and some day, I'll get around to sewing the curtains I have planned, but for now, this certainly allows easy access to the kitchen "toys".

It doesn't look like she'll complain about the current set-up anytime soon.

Just To Show I Care

2007-05-25T09:39:00.000+02:00

The way I've been neglecting the blogging lately (much like the housework), you might start to think I no longer care. That would certainly be the case with the housework, but it's just not so with the blogging. I've wanted to blog. I really have, but since I tend to work by obsessive motivation (it's a family trait, I think), and all motivation has centered around web publishing lately, I don't have a lot of crafty stuff to show off.

This lack of things to say here on my craft blog makes it a bit hard to formulate a post. That's why I've decided to show off two projects I've had in the works for a little while but haven't really blogged about yet. I might have had some silly notions about making patterns to submit somewhere, but let's get real. I'll be lucky if the garments ever get fully knitted at this rate, so I may as well show them off here instead of keeping them a secret.

First off, we have a mango-colored yarn from Anny Blatt. I actually think the yarn is called mango, too, but I can't remember right now (and I'm not obsessively motivated to actually get up and check for you). It's a nice cotton/modal blend that is great to work with. I have a feeling I'm going to like the finished garment, too (if the fit is right when I'm done). When all is said and done, it'll be a lacy cardigan tank for the summer. The top (boob) section won't be lacy, though, so I can wear it without a shirt under it if I want, I think. You can't really see the definition of the lace pattern here, but it's really pretty. It makes a wavy front edge on both sides, so the button section in the front will be wavy. I'm hoping I like that effect when it's finished. Only time will tell, though, because it'll need some serious blocking to get it to behave.

This next one is something that I have no excuse not to have already finished. It's just a simple baby t-shirt for Lambchop #3, and if I don't hurry, it'll become a gift for a friend who's due around September. All that's left is to finish knitting a few rows on that first sleeve and to pick up the stitches and knit the second one. How hard would that be? Unfortunately, my obsessive motivation seems to be directing me toward computer projects these days, so we'll see when I get around to this.

I really have spent all my time on the computer these days. Having a decent looking blog (for me) and webpage (for my husband) is apparently more important to me than having a decent looking house. Actually, that's not it. I just know that web publishing success is actually within my reach, while I'll never have a clean house. So, why try? Right? What's sad, though, is that I've even been shirking other little duties and things I am good at like baking. We have actually had to buy bread this week. I would like to pretend I made some though, and show off this loaf.

I wanted to show you what a loaf of that oh-so-easy-to-make no-knead bread looks like when you use half whole wheat flour and half white flour. You'll have to adjust the water a bit, I'm sure, but once you know what the texture should be like after baking the original recipe, you'll be able to figure out how much water you need to modify the flour content. I also just about doubled the loaf size. I've got a pot that makes a nice size loaf, and we devour that itty bitty loaf in the original recipe way too fast. This is good stuff. I can't recommend that recipe enough (do a little google search - I don't have the time right now - for "no-knead bread recipe" and you should find it).

And, lastly, before I head off to clean the kitchen (my husband invited a friend over for lunch - smarty pants thinks I won't realize he's doing it to force me away from the computer long enough to make the kitchen presentable and cook a decent meal for once), I've got a picture of the baby for her grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She's recently started eating more solids, and I mean real solids. Much like her daddy, she can consume large quantities of bread now, though, I'm happy to say he doesn't suck on chunks of it till it's soft enough to swallow like she does. She also really likes bananas, though that gets pretty messy too. Somewhere, I have a great picture of her older sister around 9-10 months old eating a banana in much the same way as she is doing here. I couldn't resist taking this one for comparison some day.

So, there you have it, an actual real blog post - with pictures and all. Now, I've got to get on that nasty housework. I promised myself I'd stop working/playing on the computer at ten, and it's ten minutes past right now. Better get to work. The baby's sleeping, and I'm thinking maybe I could actually do the work at hyperspeed and still have time to play with my new blog site a bit. Think I can do it?

Stick With What You Know

2007-05-24T15:42:00.000+02:00

a.k.a. DON'T (under any cirumstances) do what you like (as the song might tell you to do. Doing, or shall I say, attempting to do what you like can mean you spend days upon days in front of the computer attempting to learn new technologies that many people pay perfectly good money to learn at an established institute of higher learning. Really, stick with the knitting and the sewing, or perhaps the baking. Just don't try to fiddle with the technology. It won't be pretty, and the decline in household management will be even uglier.

Anyway, long story short (which is not easy for me, you know)...

I'm fiddling with stuff, trying to attach my blog to my husband's wine business site. He's got more than enough room, and I was thinking it'd be fun to play with some other blogging software - not to mention the fact that I'd be able to have my blog's name appear without the whole .blogspot thing attached. I'd much rather advertise for my husband's wine than for Blogger.

So, as usual, I miraculously made a very simple task extremely complicated and spent days trying to figure something out, when, if I had only known what my hosting service's special terms meant, I'd have have saved tons of time. Luckily, I happened to click on something that led me to a little info about blogging on my hosting services' website. So, I'm happy to announce that after some more fiddling (this time with blogskins and stuff), I should be moving.

Having said all that, I'm not even sure I need to ask you to please be patient with me while I work on this, since I won't be doing a lot of blogging till then.

Working Hard

2007-05-16T07:54:00.000+02:00

But, somehow, also hardly working. I've been working a lot lately on fixing the website I started a very long time ago for my husband's wine business. It's been a mess forever, and I finally learned about the wonderfulness that is NVu, a graphic interface html editor. It's really great. I've made a really nice looking site so far. It definitely beats the one I had before. It's very time-consuming to make a website, though. Hey, at least, my husband isn't bothered by the dishes piling up, though. He hardly has anything to complain about.

You can get a little idea of what it'll look like by clicking here. I wanted to do some kind of screen capture to let you see the thing, because if too many people click on that link in a day, it'll lock people out (it's a free geocities site - what do you want?). Apparently, though, I have enough know-how to build a website, but I am too dumb to do a proper screen capture. I'm not going to try too hard, though. My eyes are already glazing over half the time because of all the time I spend in front of the computer.

Well, I must go eat breakfast and do some chores before a friend of Lambchop #1's gets here. I wouldn't want her daddy to be too afraid to leave her with us.

What Do You Say When You Don't Know Where To Start?

2007-05-12T21:04:00.000+02:00

And, how long could I actually make this post title? I have been so busy, I don't even know where to start to tell you about my week. It's been hectic in both good ways and in bad. Hey, let's do a list. I haven't done one using that little easy-list tool Blogger's got. I'm obviously a nerd and find that idea exciting, so let's go for it.

Lambchop #2 has strep throat. We had a really fun couple of nights before the antibiotic kicked in - incidentally, I'm all for "soft" medicine as they call homeopathy and the like here, but as a mommy who had her tonsils removed at the age of 20, I'm also all for bringing out the big guns when strep is involved.
I made some of that famous "n0-knead" bread that's making the rounds of the net. You must try this stuff. Very tasty and way too easy for how well it turns out. It isn't a very big loaf, though, so I modified the recipe to make a bigger one. I've also tried it with 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white. It worked out well, but I'm sure I had a slightly different flour-to-water ratio to get the right texture. Some day, when we don't devour it in one sitting before it even has the time to cool, I'll post a picture.
Made a pound cake with the kids the other day. Learned something new there: had no idea that there was no rising ingredient in pound cake.
Hating to throw out perfectly good egg whites after making the pound cake, I started making meringue and then decided to add some flour and whip up some mini angel cakes (using a silicon muffin mold). We each had our own mini cake for dessert with kiwis (just tossed them in a bit of sugar to release their juices) over the top. Yum. And frugal.
Ate the worst meal I can recall last night after my husband left for a business trip and I realized we had no more butane gas to run the stove/oven (they won't bring the gas pipes out this far). Dinner was half-cooked, and I was really irritated. Couldn't very well serve bloody chicken to the kids, so I boiled some water in the electric kettle to make couscous. We ate it really bland (I must have skimped on the salt) with cheese on top. The only good thing about dinner was the strawberries and whipped cream we had for dessert.
My knitting project is coming along nicely, though I have no idea yet if it'll actually be pretty.
I spent a couple of days fiddling with iWeb to build the website for my husband's business. It turned out okay, but that software is seriously limited in very annoying ways. I called my brother to have him take a look and got tons of great information - like that I could download a nice, free webpage-making, graphic interface kind of html editor. I'm really excited about learning to use this software (without all the limitations). I'll let you know how I like it.
Took the kids into the city via the new tram line that reaches one of the towns on the outskirts of the city. I still had to drive to get there, but it was a fun and less stressful way to get all the way into the city. We picnicked in Montpellier's lovely botanical gardens and then bought goodies (Yay! A list within a list):

a kit to make a wild and crazy (and also hugely humongous) ring for Lambchop #1.
buttons for the cardigany-tank I'm knitting (I'm so boring that I bought plain wooden ones).
a cutting board for the bread (you can't imagine how excited I am about this after my husband repeatedly telling me he'd make me one but never finding the time to do it).
some funky beads and string to make a couple of necklaces for Lambchop #2 (he's into that kind of thing, I wanted to avoid any jealousy over the ring kit, and shut up! they're masculine beads!).
several used kids' DVDs that I'm also oddly excited about.
very bland milkshakes at a place that had delicious gelato. It was a sad waste. I actually saw a lady bring hers back and tell them it wasn't any good. She was right, but I didn't have the heart. It was a bit like drinking bland chocolate milk with a bit of a spicy kick to it (I had them use dark chocolate/hot pepper ice cream, which was amazing when they let me sample it). Basically, they just added a dollop of ice cream to milk and then whirred it till it was foamy on top. So, I paid ten bucks for the three of us to drink about 3 cups of milk with about 5 or 6 tablespoons of ice cream. I'll know better next time. McDonald's can do better.
black-eyed peas. Yum, and hard to get here.

Hey would you look at that! Even my lists are wordy. You'd better be glad I never followed through with a kooky idea I had the other day about doing an entire post in poetry. You know, like:

Went to the store today,
To load up on food stuff.

I don't know what else to say,
This poem-writin's kinda tough.

Obviously, I'm considering this as a career option when I finally grow up. I'm that talented. Hey, come to think of it, maybe doing all my blog posts as poems would cut down on the excess verbage a bit. Until that time, I'll try to load up on the kid pictures to try to balance the post and make it look like there really aren't a million and two paragraphs of my blabbing.

Mom, quit being silly with the camera.

I'm feeling camera shy.

Then, again, maybe I'm not.

Up to no good?

Yeah, well, it's hard work ~~annoying my sister~~ being a little brother, but somebody has to do it (pulling apart a bit of spool knitting done by Lambchop #1).

Lucky you. I'm about to fall asleep sitting up after my long day weaving in and out of human traffic in small alleyways with 3 lively children, so we'll have to cut this "short".

Too Funny

2007-05-08T00:13:00.000+02:00

We just stayed up entirely too late on a week night watching a program showcasing several different movie shorts. Being a mother, this one really struck a chord for me.

Go watch it. It's short and very funny.

A Mother's Dreams

2007-05-07T16:13:00.000+02:00

I haven't posted in a little while because I haven't had much to say. I haven't felt all that funny, and I hate to drone on endlessly about my life with three kids. There haven't even really been any projects to talk much about. I've done no sewing, but I've been knitting a little everyday. I hadn't had any inspiration to knit in quite some time, but thanks to this lace I saw at Jenla, I have gotten out of that funk. I'm now neck-deep in the drama involved in not knowing if there will be enough yarn to finish the tank I've started. It's so close, and I'm pretty sure that if I have I wish for it hard enough, there will either be enough yarn already, or it'll miraculously start to reproduce itself while I knit.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if yarn would reproduce itself the way dirty dishes and used diapers do? In this dream world of mine, the yarn would, of course, be asexual like worms. We could just by one skein of some coveted expensive stuff and leave it alone for a few days (surely, it'd want its privacy). Of course I can see how this could quickly get out of hand, but I wouldn't complain. I can picture sleeping on the softer hanks if they started to take over the place like the laundry always does (especially now that I'm trying to be good by getting the cloth diapers back out - we always have to work up the courage to do this).

Along with the knitting, I've done a little thrift shopping. I was reasonable this time, because I've started to realize that the amount of laundry I do is directly proportional to the amount of thrift shopping I do (funny how that works out), but I did buy a really great little object that would have to work really hard to find itself in the dirty clothes hamper. It's the Magnus Electric Chord Piano pictured with Lambchop #3. I got it for 1 euro, which according to ebay is a pretty darn good deal. Aside from a little dust, it's in great condition and works perfectly. The kids love it (including the baby), and I even taught myself to play parts of La Vie En Rose today.

The baby is great with it. She's got some real talent. I'm thinking she may be a child prodigy or something, because she instantly started to pick out the notes to some classical piece I can't quite place (she's obviously much more musically inclined than her mommy). Okay, well, maybe she just sits there and slams her hands down on the keys, but she really seems to enjoy herself, and as the parent of any kid who sucks at a sport will tell you, what matters is how much fun you're having. If you take a good look at her right hand in this second picture, you can see the blur of her hand as she bangs on the keys. Mozart in the making.

Perhaps she will take time off from her travels as a concert pianist to be a professional photographer (Do I sense a mother projecting her own dreams onto her children a bit here??) She loves the camera. She's always trying to reach for it.

Give me that!

Almost got it.

Just a little closer.

Ha! Now I just have to pull really hard.

She's not really into blogging, though, and I'm getting tired of fighting her while I type, so we're going to have to call it quits for today.

Through It

2007-05-02T16:55:00.000+02:00

Throughout all of yesterday and parts of today, we have had quite a bit of rainfall. At one point, there was even some hail. This always starts my vintner husband to worrying and staring quietly out the windows with a small look of panic. The scariest thing to a person who lives off the land is the weather. It is so unpredictable and uncontrollable, yet it can wreak havoc on what is essentially your life's work.

Luckily, the hail was pretty mild and didn't last long, but a walk in the vineyard proved his worries not to be totally unfounded. There was indeed some damage to the vine's new leaves. What he doesn't know is how much that will actually affect the plant, if any. We'll hope for the best and assume since it's still early in the season that the vines will have plenty of time to make more leaves to make up for any loss.

I really enjoyed the rain, though. The sound it made as it pelted the skylight was impressive. You had to almost shout to make yourself heard over its din. I felt like I was suddenly transported to a new and amazing place called the Tropics of the Mediterranean. Strange oxymoron of a place, let me tell you.

A river runs through it:

This is the dirt road that leads up to our home. It turned into our very own river yesterday. It's still raining a lot today, so I'm pretty sure my husband and his father will have some fun with the tractor when all is said and done. They always have to put the road back together after a rain like this.

My husband said the natural spring we have near the winery was overflowing, too, which is unusual in the arid Mediterranean climate we live in.

A baby sleeps through it:

This kind of weather makes me want to sit with a cup of cappuccino (I rarely drink coffee) and read or do some other lazy activity. Instead, I've forced myself to do housework and take care of the kids, because, well, they just don't seem to take care of themselves no matter how much I wish for it sometimes. Unfortunately, for me, we have no decaf coffee in the house, anyway, and I can't handle caffeine anymore.

From the looks of it, I'd say that Lambchop #3 is a bit like her mommy. She seems to enjoy the sound of rain on the skylight. She slept soundlessly for hours yesterday while buckets of rain were being dumped all around her.

What I don't like:

What's not so cool about the rain is the leaks we found in the skylight over the wood floor on the stairs. I also really don't like having to have all the phones, computer and internet disconnected during thunderstorms. We've lost many an electric doodad that way, though, so I just have to live with it and hope the satellite doesn't get taken out since it's out on top of the house.

And, a last couple of pictures before I go change a diaper (mercifully, I won't take any pictures of that for you)...
Oh, and I haven't done any new sewing projects unless you count the lovely skirt I made my husband the other day. Okay, well, it was more like a skort - you know, those blousey shorts that were so popular about 15 years ago. The thing about blogs is that you can filter the information you give others about your life. I'm thinking you don't need to see my husband's skort until becomes a proper pair of men's shorts. It was good for a hysterical laugh around midnight the other night, though.

Partay!

2007-04-30T15:58:00.000+02:00

We had a fun-filled weekend. We were invited to a party at the home of another vintner who has been a friend of my husband's since he was a kid. It ended up being a potluck, so we tried all sorts of interesting dishes. I made what turned out to be the fastest dessert I've ever made. It was based on a recipe labeled "fast" in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It should have been made with corn syrup, peanut butter, brown sugar and puffed rice cereal. I didn't have half of those ingredients, so I substituted wheat syrup (because I've never seen corn syrup here), chocolate and corn flakes. It turned out quite well and took a whole ten minutes to prepare. I'd show you what it looked like, but it was all eaten up at the party.

The two older Lambchops and I got to wear some new clothes to the party, too. I wore my new wrap skirt and kimono shirt and felt very pretty the whole evening (which is quite a feat when you're sporting a post-pregnancy body like mine). Lambchop #1 wore a dress that used to be mine. It was always very much a mini-dress on me. I altered the torso section of the dress, and she looks great in it as a long dress. I think she felt very pretty, too. She certainly looked pretty to me.

Lambchop #2 wore a pair of jean shorts I made him. I actually cut out the fabric for these last year but never got around to sewing them, so imagine my surprise when I found they still fit him. I was thinking I'd have to make them girly and give them to his littler cousin. My husband tells me they are so plain, they look homemade. I think he might be right. I could add some contrasting stitching here and there to spice them up a little. I may actually do that, because the side pockets could use some reinforcing.

On a totally unrelated side note, I love this picture of him. His little girlfriend from school is hiding behind him in the background. We were at school on Saturday morning to watch a show put on by Lambchop #1's class. Later, he went out to the playground to play with some of the kids from his class whose parents opt to send their kids to school Saturday mornings (School is optional on Saturday mornings at their age, but it becomes mandatory in elementary school - they get Wednesdays off, though.) Anyway, he and this little girl adore each other, and it just cracks me up to see them together.

And, one last, great tidbit from the party that I don't have a picture of...

I saw my husband dance for the first time. This is something I've never witnessed before, because every time we go to a wedding or some other party, we've got small children who conveniently impede such activities. This party was what they call a Balfort (not sure about the spelling there), which comes from the local endangered language of Occitan. It's basically a party featuring Occitan folk music and dances. The music sounds very Celtic to me, and it involves a lot of dancing where everyone dances together in a circle or in two lines facing each other. At one point, there weren't enough men for the dance, so they asked him to do it. He appeared to have fun, and I took this as a sign that I should be the one to drive home.

He did a couple of different dances with everyone. One of them was a circle dance, where you switch partners each time you make a turn around the room. It was fun to watch. He looked quite a bit like a he was playing rugby and ready to catch a ball at any moment. I didn't take pictures, though, because I figured if I made fun of him, he might never dance with me if and when we're ever at a party or wedding without babies in tow. The funniest part of it all was the fact that Lambchop #2 seemed to have really gotten the gist of all the dancing. Daddy came over breathless and sweating after that circle dance. Our son looked up at his father and said, "So, you've danced with all the ladies now, Daddy?" Perceptive little guy, isn't he?

And lastly:

As I type this, Lambchop #3 is experimenting with maneuvering her way around the room by sliding around on her tummy backwards. She pushes backwards with her arms and moves around in reverse. She just hit the laundry basket, though, so she'll be stuck unless she figures out a way out of there. That's a funny age.

It Fits (And She likes It)!

2007-04-27T23:44:00.000+02:00

I think maybe she's practicing her circus routine or something for this picture. I don't know. All I know is that chocolate Easter egg in her mouth makes her look like a chipmunk. Anyway, the good news is my efforts weren't in vain. She seems to like it. She looks cute in it, at least.

And, next up is a pair of shorts I made for the baby. I did this last weekend but she dirtied them before I could get the evidence. You can tell from these two projects that I've been playing with the decorative stitches on my machine.

This pair of shorts started out as my t-shirt. It first became a badly-designed skirt for the big girl. Through all this, I left the original hem intact. I just used a particular stitch along the edge of the fabric to get the scallops. Then, I put some elastic thread in the bobbin and sewed a couple of straight lines to make it gather a bit around the leg. Tada! Quickie bloomers. I like this style and will probably try it again soon.

Here's the full view (but you don't see the shorts much):

Tonight, I put together some jean shorts I had cut out for my boy last summer. He couldn't sleep, so he sat next to me and watched a while. I had him test a leg partway through to see if they might fit, and I think I may get lucky there. They're all ready for him to wear tomorrow morning.

And, one last little picture to please the fambly. I find it funny how we all look like we're sprouting up out of the bed sheets. Too bad my arms aren't longer. I could have gotten all of my munchkins in the picture with me.

Circus, Circus

2007-04-27T11:44:00.000+02:00

Lambchop #1 went to circus school this year with her class. They spent a week learning all kinds of acrobatics. Then, they came back and spent lots more time practicing to put on a circus for the parents. That's happening tomorrow. I got the invitation a few days ago, but with all the sick kids and other messes, I seem to have misplaced it without ever getting the chance to read it. I had the hubbie check with the teacher to find out what time it will be tomorrow. Good thing, too, because he also learned she needed to wear either something blue or something red. This is a five-year-old girl we're talking about. If it's not pink or purple, it doesn't get worn. So, why would we have any blue outfits lying around here?

Wait a minute! This gives Mommy the perfect excuse to make something on the sewing machine. Good thinking. In fact, I've got plenty of blue shirts from my drab phase. I'm trying to get rid of them all, anyway, so I pulled out a particularly blah one and got to work on it. Here's the end result. One long-sleeved t-shirt gave me this entire outfit.

The pants are made of the sleeves. I just laid a pair of capris pants down on the sleeve and was happy to see they were just the right length and width. Then, I cut the crotch seam area and left the side seams and hem intact. That meant I only needed to make a waistband.

The shirt comes from the body of the original t-shirt. I kept one side seam and the hem again. I realized later that the original shirt dipped lower in the center of the bottom hem than on the side (curved hem), and this meant that one side of Lambchop's shirt hem is higher than the other. I'm going with the words "design detail" to explain this. Those asymmetrical hem-lines are all the rage at the moment, anyway.

Then, all that was left was to add the scallopy stuff on the hems, collar and armholes to make it more feminine and something she'll be more likely to wear after this circus show, too. I figure, if nothing else, she'll have a new pair of pjs for the summer.

I'm all excited about how well it turned out and can't wait to see her in it. It was very cheap, considering the original shirt is a man's shirt that I had picked up for next to nothing after Lambchop #1 was born. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't much, because I remember it was on clearance and I refused to pay much back then for clothes that wouldn't fit me for very long since I was sure I'd lose that pregnancy weight some time. Considering how much use I got out of that shirt myself, the whole outfit basically only cost me whatever amount of thread I used, plus the bit of elastic for the waistband, both of which I had on hand. I think it took me a maximum of 2 1/2 hours to make it all from start to finish. It could have been much faster, but the scallops take a while to sew. In my opinion, they are well worth the time and effort for the effect they give, though.

My New Home

2007-04-26T23:33:00.000+02:00

First off, please excuse the picture. I realize it's not so great. The bathroom is not exactly tidy (you see where I still need to install a little curtain under the sink to hide our diaper changing supplies), and I don't have a full-length mirror, so you're looking at what I see when I look out the bathroom window at night. It's not a bad substitute for a mirror, really, but it's not ideal. Anyway, on to my new home.
I know what you're thinking. "Didn't she just move a few months ago?" Well, we didn't move, but I've got a new home. It's this outfit. Seriously, I could live in it. I love it that much. I spent my day designing the skirt and making both pieces yesterday. I even wore it out last night. I feel so comfortable and feminine in it. It was good to wear it out, too, because I got to see some of its flaws, which I fixed tonight. The shirt needed to be taken in a bit at the waist to show that I do actually have some curves, even if I am a little overweight after the last pregnancy. And, somehow I had reversed one of the skirt's panels and sewn it in backwards. Oops. The grain wasn't going the right way, so I fixed that tonight.

I love everything about this outfit. It's light and summery. The skirt is made of some linen fabric I've had around for quite some time. I meant to make some pants and a shirt with it. I even bought the pattern to do it, but that was back when I first learned how to sew, and I accidentally bought a pattern that was too small for me. I'm sure I could tweak it to get it to come out my size, but I've wanted a skirt like this for a long time. It's just such a flattering style and so feminine, and the wrap idea was something I added when I saw how easy it would be to make a wrap skirt. I'm pleased with how perfectly it fits. It's a very comfortable style.

The shirt is made of a thrifted sheet. I bought six different sheets for 2 euros one day, and I've been playing with the cheap fabric ever since. This particular one was the sheet I liked the most when I first saw them. Some of the others have grown on me more and more, so now it's a toss-up. This one is actually the one that gave me the idea for a wrap shirt in the first place. The colors and design (which you can't really see here) reminded me of something a kimono would be made of. So, I got out that nice book I mentioned so many times before and set to work to make myself one.

All in all, this project was a great experience. I learned many things along the way. Of course, I learned to make patterns, which is no small feat. I also learned to do a blind hem, and I improved at least slightly with sewing a straight line, which is way harder than one would suspect. I also learned to adjust the fit of a garment, which will be handy if I ever find any shirts or skirts I'd like to modify. Good fun - all of it.

Oh, and just for a little more fun... look who Lambchop #1 and I caught peeking in our kitchen door this afternoon. Yes, the window needs to be cleaned (it's got hard-to-remove-gunk left on it after the house was built), but look at him. Cute, huh? This one was actually kind of small compared to others I've seen around here. I'm not sure what he was interested in up there, but he sat up nice and pretty to pose for the picture.

A Good Sick Day

2007-04-24T11:45:00.000+02:00

Normally, Lambchop #1 can be very whiny when she's sick. Being sick seems to really knock her out, so she's generally miserable. She woke up this morning feeling a lot better than last night, but I tested her ear by tugging lightly on it. Her "ouch" told me she'd better go to the doctor today. So, I kept her home and made an appointment. Daddy's got an earache, too, so I sent him along with her. While waiting for him to get ready, Lambchop #1 and I made a little shirt I had promised to paint with her long ago. At the time, she wanted to paint a princess on the front, but today, she was in the mood for a house with a little person next to it.

What took me so long was trying to decide how to go about painting on fabric. The paints are supposed to be used for that purpose, but I tried them out on a pair of plain white panties with less than satisfactory results. I then decided some kind of template would be best. I don't have any butcher paper, and I don't even know where you could get any here in France, so that wasn't an option. That's when I decided on this cardboard cut-out method. The t-shirt itself is pinned to a piece of cardboard to hold it in place and to hold it taut.

After pinning the shirt down, I had her draw the house and sun and person another piece of cardboard. Then, I cut the larger pieces out and we colored on them with the paints. Then, we held the painted pieces onto the fabric and pressed down and pulled them off when the paint looked good on the shirt. She then drew in the sun's rays. I saw how hard it was for her to control the paint tube while trying to squeeze hard enough to make the paint come out, so I did the flowers and the person, trying my hardest to be faithful to her own representation of them on the cardboard.

It was definitely a fun little project to do with her on a day when Lambchop #2 wasn't home and while Lambchop #3 was napping. It's rare for me to get any time alone with Lambchop #1. As is often the case with the oldest child, I feel like she feels a little swept aside at times when she wants us to "take care of her" just like we take care of the baby and her less independent younger brother. It can't be easy being the first kid, even though, I admit I wouldn't know, since I was the second and last child in our family.

Let's just hope she will want to wear this shirt with pride when it's all dried.

Nursing the Masses

2007-04-24T07:49:00.000+02:00

I feel like I am living in a nursing home... administering meds at specific hours of the day... people crying out in the night, needing drugs to sedate them and relieve their pain. When will this stop?

We saw the neurologist yesterday, and Lambchop #2's fine. I watched him sleep for about 10 minutes with electrodes all over his head. He was kind of cute and kind of sad to look at. He's just fine, though, and the doc says that based on my description, he most likely fainted out of fear and pain more than the actually bump on the head. That's a huge relief. Fear and pain don't tend to cause brain damage, know what I mean?

I came home relieved, thinking everybody was on the mend. Then, Lambchop #1 came home from school. At first, she was in a good mood. Later, that turned into complaints of an earache. The earache worsened, and even with a mild painkiller (like Tylenol) she was screaming around 10:30 pm. I couldn't calm her, so I called the local doctor-on-call (these people are going to start wondering if we're running a test lab for infectious diseases or something). The lady recommended an antihistamine that we happened to have in the house from when Lambchop #1 had an allergic reaction to Advil (*sigh*). She said that should do the trick of getting any swelling under control to at least relieve the pain for her to be able to sleep. About a half-hour later, the house was blissful silent and I could head off to bed.

Today, we're going to try to continue the fun habit we've gotten into of having at least two doctor's visits per week. Based on the past two weeks, we seem to have a preference for Monday and Tuesday visits. We've even seen two pretty expensive specialists in the past two weeks. When will this end?!?

Hamming It Up

2007-04-23T18:01:00.000+02:00

I grabbed Lambchop #1 for a little photo shoot when she got home from school this evening, because she had worn her new outfit today. I worked late into to the night on that shirt (a.k.a. the monkey on my back). What I'm most excited about, though, is that the crotch seam of the pants seemed to hold up finally.

Here are the photos from our shoot. She was in the mood to play around, so I thought I'd show you what a little clown my girl can be.

Sew What!

2007-04-23T00:05:00.000+02:00

I've done some extra sewing today. I usually limit myself to a certain amount of fun time on any given day (I have to pretend I'm a housewife and do some actual housewifing, after all). Since it was Sunday, though, I felt like playing more than usual. So, I did a lot of sewing. All in all, I got one pair of cute jersey shorts made for Lambchop #3, hemmed a pair of cut-offs for Lambchop #2 and finally got a huge monkey off my back.

Long ago, I started a little outfit with some cute jeans and a flouncy shirt for Lambchop #1. The pants got finished pretty fast, but they keep getting holes in the seat/crotch area. I was pretty exasperated with them after a while and put them aside for months. The flounces on the shirt gave me some trouble, too, so I put that aside, as well. I finally sewed up the jeans in a way that I think should stay (though, it's getting warm, so she may not use them much). And, since a few months in the life of a 5-year-old can mean growth spurts galore, I figured I'd better finish the shirt, too. She can always wear it with a skirt in slightly warm Spring weather. I didn't get those darn flounces perfect, but I was able to fudge them enough. I just hope the shoulders will be okay, because I always have some trouble with attaching the sleeves. I can't wait to see her in it. The suspense as to whether she's outgrown it already is killing me. Well, at least she has a little sister who'll likely get some use out of it someday, right?

Unfortunately, I can't show you how cute all these things turned out, because the camera is out of batteries. Have to put that on the list of chores for tomorrow.

Table For Twelve, Please.

2007-04-22T11:26:00.000+02:00

I mentioned the new kitchen table yesterday. I didn't show you a picture of it, though. There's not a lot to see, really. It's very plain. The best thing about it is the octagonal shape of the table top. The wood is some mystery wood that is in decent shape but not at all ornate. And, once you slip a leaf in to lengthen the table, you're going to want to hide the sucker with a great big table cloth. That's because, apparently, some tables with leaves are done in a nicer wood for the table and a lower quality wood with no finish for the leaves. So, they aren't much to look at, but they're functional. I like them for that, because I feel that way myself sometimes.

Here, I'll show you what I mean:

The part on the left is the normal table top. The part on the right is the leaf. Completely unfinished, but totally functional - like me! The best things about the table are its shape (We like the unconventional around here.), its size (I've estimated it should seat 10-12 people with all three leaves put in), and the price (I paid 80 euros for it). I was very happy with the deal I got at the local consignment shop. It felt like quite the bargain, and I love a good bargain. And, we can actually have people over and all sit at the same table - at the same time! A definite plus. Oh, and I finally got rid of that glass table top. Did I mention how I hated that thing?

Well, while we're showing the thing off, I figure I should give you a look at its legs. We all like a good set of legs, don't we? This is also a somewhat unusual feature it has. Not your usual table legs (ignore the slightly more ornate legs on the right and hiding in the background - those are the used chairs we were given at Christmastime). Pretty, I think. And, even prettier when I think about that price again.

Well, I'm off to make a pair of shorts for Lambchop #3 out of a skirt I made for Lambchop #1 out of a t-shirt of mine I didn't like the fit of. Lambchop #1 never liked the skirt, and she's got plenty, anyway, so she won't miss it. How's that for thrifting? I paid a euro for the shirt, and it's now getting a third life.

Oh, and lastly, thanks for all your sweet and understanding comments about all our recent scares and health struggles. We really are very lucky with our health. I hate to see them sick with the flu and pink eye and things like that. It's exhausting when it happens to all of them back-to-back, but it's nothing compared to what some parents go through when their children have real diseases that cause their lives to constantly hang in the balance. I'm thankful for just your average cold when I think of that. Everyone is currently on the mend. Lambchop #2 seems even healthier than he was before he smacked his head (it's like someone pressed a reset button somewhere, and he was instantly healed of his flu, though he still takes his meds for the hearing issues), and Lambchop #3's pink eye finally seems to be reacting to this last eye drop prescription. Even Daddy seems to be on the mend after a couple of days of bed rest with his flu. I won't mention out loud the fact that I've yet to get it. I just went to bed early last night to try to avoid it the best I can.

My Sweet Little Lambchop

2007-04-21T21:00:00.001+02:00

In light of the events I described in yesterday's post, I thought I'd show my baby's grandparents and aunt and uncle, that he is, indeed, okay. I made him some little cotton shorts by chopping up some t-shirts. He's wearing one in this picture. I wanted to show off the shorts a little, but he wouldn't play my game. He did look so cute lying there, though, that I snapped a shot anyway. I'll show him off instead of the shorts.

When you experience something like what we had happen the other night, it makes you stop and really take a look at your kids. Each one of them is so beautiful and, despite the little annoying things they might do, each one brings such happiness into our lives. I felt like my life had stopped the other night for just the few moments when he wasn't conscious. I keep getting flashbacks, and each time brings tears to my eyes. I feel so lucky to be able to take this picture of him and to see those adorable eyes staring back at me.

And, take a look at that gorgeous baby back there behind him. Isn't she beautiful now that her eye is starting to heal? It appears that this new round of eye drops is the one that'll do it for her. We started them last night, and there was vast improvement in just 24 hours. Now, her eye, though still slightly swollen, is no longer swollen shut and oozing pus. Very good sign.

Poor Daddy is not doing quite as well, though. He spent most of the day in bed with a fever and headache. He's decided that, based on his symptoms, it's the flu they're passing around. Can't that man stop eating after the kids when they're sick? He hates to waste food, so he tends to finish their plates when they don't. When they're sick, I avoid this at all costs. He doesn't, and look what it gets him. Then, of course, he passes it to me, because I can avoid eating off others' plates, but who can stay away from that beautiful man?

While he was down for the count all day, I did some shopping with the big kids. While out, we found a new-to-us kitchen table that we weren't in the market for. I have always hated our table. My husband bought it before I ever had any say in the matter, and I didn't have one when we got hitched, so we kept his. It's a plain pine table from Ikea with a huge glass rectangle in it. I have a passionate hatred for all tables with glass on them. They bring back childhood memories of cleaning the glass tabletop of a coffee table we had. Glass just shouldn't be on tables. It's for windows, and that's that. I've put up with the crumbs that lodge themselves between the glass and the wood for over half a decade, so when I saw a table I liked for cheap, I bought it.

We're really not sure what kind of wood it is. We have very simple tastes in furniture. Not too much adornment. Shaker furniture is lovely. This one is very plain, but it's got an interesting octagonal shape. The best thing, though, is the size. I think with all three leaves in, it could seat 10-12 people. So, with our biggish family and my husband brothers and sisters with all their kids, the bigger the better. I didn't want something that's big all the time, though, so I was very happy to see something that could become a table for four without its leaves. We've currently got one leaf in, and it's the ideal size for our family and our kitchen. The new table cloth I bought last week even fits it just right. It's like it was made for us (only a really long time ago).

Well, in an effort to avoid the flu, I'm off to bed.

A Swift Kick

2007-04-20T22:42:00.000+02:00

Life has been kind of kicking me in the pants lately in the form of back-to-back children's illnesses. I just barely have the time to start to catch my breath (and catch up on household chores) when a new bug creeps into the house. It looked like the kids were working toward a new record in doctor's visits this week, but we've put some off till next week to even things out. Long story slightly shorter...

We went to the doc for Lambchop #2's hearing thing, then the next day we went to his pediatrician for some weird bug he'd come down with over the weekend. While there, I pointed out that Lambchop #3's pink eye that we'd been to another doctor for the previous week just didn't want to go away. He gave her some different eye drops and sent us on our way. Several days of that treatment has her eye looking worse than before. It's really sad, and I want to cry each time I look at her sweet face. So, I called yet a different doctor that we like in our village (the pediatrician is almost an hour away!) who hadn't been in the office the past week. She gave us yet a different medication, and if it doesn't work by Monday, she'll send us off to the ophthalmologist. And, just to round out the week, Lambchop #2 gave me the scare of my life last night....

Both my husband and I were wrestling with the baby to get her eye drops administered when Lambchop #1 came running in to tell me that Lambchop #2 had fallen and bumped his head on our concrete kitchen floor (until now I've loved that floor for its ease of mopping). I ran to see him lying still on the floor on his back. I snatched him up in my arms, and he went limp. Then, his whole body tensed and I looked at his face in horror as he had a seizure in my arms. I screamed what can only be described as a scream from a horror film, which brought my husband bolting in from the bathroom (without the baby - oops!). He took my unconscious and convulsing son from my arms while I dialed the French equivalent of 911 (15, in case you ever need to know - I know the number well now).

While I described the incident to the lady at the call center, my son finally came to (after what seemed like several lifetimes to me but my husband assures me was somewhere just under 30 seconds). I was all ready to do CPR and everything, but luckily it wasn't necessary. He woke up and seemed just fine, although a bit shaken. The rest of us were scared out of our wits, though. Lambchop #1 told me afterward that she thought he was dead. I didn't have the guts to tell her the same thought had temporarily crossed my mind along with a host of other possible outcomes.

The emergency call center's doctor told me to watch him throughout the evening and take him to the emergency room if he vomited. He didn't, and he was even healthier seeming than before his fall. The appetite he had lost earlier this week was suddenly back and begging for cereal... and more cereal. Then, he was off to bed after a trip to the toilet (all without my telling him to). Today he has been perfectly normal, but I called his pediatrician anyway. He was a little concerned at the advice given to me by the emergency call center doc. I guess he would have sent me off to the hospital. So, as a just-in-case measure, we've set up an appointment with a neurologist on Monday to make sure the seizure was just a temporary reaction to his fall. I'm sure he's fine (at least, given his demeanor throughout the day today), but we want to make absolutely certain.

And, of course, to top THAT off, Lambchop #3 has added a cold to her worsening pink eye that made her miserable throughout the night last night and all day today. Needless to say, morale is a wee bit low around here at the moment. I'm just barely holding my head above the dish water as the dishes pile up, and my emotions have me constantly at the edge of a teary drop-off most of the time. There is really nothing like watching your kids suffer. And, the feeling that comes with witnessing one of them lose consciousness and convulse in your arms in indescribable. I wish the experience on no one. It reminds me of a quote I read once: "Having children is like having your heart walking around outside your body." I can't remember who said it, but it couldn't be truer.

And, just so that we don't end this post on a negative note, I'll tell you about my most recent sewing projects (I haven't been doing much knitting lately). Despite the fact that I have had a little bit of trouble concentrating on much of anything since last night's drama, I forced myself to sew a bit before bed, hoping it would relax me. I'm not sure it really worked (not sure anything would have, actually), but I did get some things finished up.

The white tank with blue flowers you see up there was once this dress:

It's obviously not anymore. I hacked it up in an effort to make something that both fit me and didn't make me look like an old lady dressing up as a teenager. I think it worked out alright, and it's really comfy because it's stretchy fabric and lets my shoulders cool off when it's hot.

Oh, Lambchop #3 is calling me (she's just not sleeping well at all this week), quick, quick. A last picture before I go. It's the kimono, criss-crossy shirt on me. Here you go...

I like the way it turned out. It, too, is very cozy. The soft, thin sheet I used to make it was a great choice for a light, airy summer tank. See, so there is a bright side to life around here. Now, at least I have two lovely, very original new tanks to show off at various doctor's offices around town. What more could a housewife ask for?

Some clothes for the kiddos, perhaps? Why, yes, we've got that too. Along with these tanks, I also made two pairs of shorts for Lambchop #2, who didn't have any summer pants given to him among the loads of hand-me-downs we've recently gotten from his aunts. For the fabric, I just chopped up a few t-shirts that were old and ratty or had never fit well but only cost me a buck in the first place. I've still got one pair left to sew, and I'm going to hem a pair of shorts I made from chopping the legs off some hand-me-down pants with holey knees. I also modified one of my old dresses to make a long dress for Lambchop #1 to wear. I think it'll look really sweet on her. You'll see it when she tries it on, I'm sure.

Until then, I'm going to attempt a decent night's sleep. My sweet, over-worked husband just came over from his nap with Lambchop #2 to go to bed. He tells me he's sick and most likely has a fever. I always seem to be the last to get these things. Maybe I should head off to bed to try to head it off for once.

Transformations

2007-04-19T08:13:00.000+02:00

It's been so long since I've had any time to even think about blogging that I hardly even know what to say. Blogging just seems like a distant memory in my current life of frequent doctor's visits and administration of children's medicines. I'm so tired of the kids getting sick. Lambchop #2, especially, has been particularly prone to illness these past few months. He's been growing a lot, and I can only assume that has left his body too exhausted to fight off the average bug or bacteria. Not only does he have his hearing issue that we needed to visit a doctor for, but he has also been sick with some other mysterious illness this week. So, we've actually seen two doctors this week. The ear-nose-and-throat specialist says he has about a 30% hearing loss in both ears. So, he's on medications to eliminate the fluids that are causing it. Then, he's been feverish and just generally sick-feeling for several days now. He seems to be getting better, but it just makes me sad to see how sweetly pathetic he looks when he's sick.

And, since we can't go too long with only one person sick around here, Lambchop #3 decided to join in and see if she couldn't out-do him. She's already got a persistent case of pink-eye we're doing a second round of eye drops on, but she has thrown in some fever and congestion to go along with it. This makes for really fun nights of sheet changes at 2 am when she throws up all over the bed because she gags on her own phlegm. So, I'm pretty much exhausted - both physically and emotionally. Honestly, I don't know how people can live through a child's illness. I mean a real one. These little bugs really take it out of me. I can't imagine having a child of mine truly ill. Just one more blessing to count.

And, speaking of blessings, I should count the fact that I can still find some time for myself when the house is quiet after the kids have gone to bed. Normally, that would be when I knit, but I've preferred the relative instant gratification of sewing lately. I've been sewing shirts and curtains every night. So far, I've finished one curtain, one shirt and have two other curtains and another shirt almost finished.

Pictured above is the finished one (Well, I certainly hope Blogger posts the picture. At the moment, it's not showing up in the preview of my post.). I was hoping to find some green bias tape to match the green leaves and stems on the flowers, but I wasn't satisfied with any of the shades of green I found. This orange matched perfectly, though, so I changed colors. I think in all, this shirt cost me about 2 euros. The sheet I used to make it cost me 33 cents, but I've got fabric left over. Then, I spent 2.10 euros on the bias tape and a little money on the thread. So, it probably cost no more than 2.50 euros. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I really wanted some little sleeves, but the pattern I made wasn't working out with sleeves. I finally gave up and decided it was really cute without them.

I'm also in the process of transforming some old clothes. I went through my drawers yesterday and pulled out things that don't fit anymore. I found some dresses that will look very cute on Lambchop #1 with very little modification, as well as a dress I wanted to redo for myself. It's almost completely refashioned into a tank top. I'll show you that one when I finish it. Lambchop #1 also learned to hand sew Barbie clothes yesterday. I was really happy to see how hard she worked on it, and now Barbie has a lovely new dress that perfectly matches my shirt.

The Shirt of My Dreams?

2007-04-14T17:57:00.000+02:00

True, most people have a house of their dreams or some car they just can't seem to get out of their minds. I don't really. I love our new home. It's not perfect and isn't even fully finished, but I love it. I don't know if it's really the house of my dreams, though. I don't think I've ever really had one, and if I did, it would have a "breezeway" like my grandparents' house had when I was a kid. I certainly haven't ever really had my heart set on one particular car. A perfectly-fitting shirt, though. That's something worth dreaming about.

I'm what you might call well-endowed (though, the word "cursed" more frequently comes to mind) even when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding. Each time I have a kid, though, certain parts of my upper body expand. I guess I should consider myself lucky my waistline hasn't really been one of those parts (at least not permanently), but the Pamela Anderson effect caused by some parts growing while others stay the same isn't actually the look I'd like to go for. "Urban Prostitute" just isn't a style that does it for me, you know? All this makes buying clothing a bit of a challenge, especially in a country that is apparently populated with stick-figures.

One of my favorite shirt styles, and one that is said to be figure flattering for us big girls, is the wrap-around shirt. Draws the attention upward toward the face. I think you see what I mean, here. I love these shirts. The problem is that I'm not really a big person all over. There's just that pesky chest region. So, when I get a wrap-around blouse that fits my shoulders and the rest of my torso, it's too tight on the girls, which is hardly flattering. I'd probably have to get into the Women's sizes to fit right around the chest, but then I'm swimming in the rest of the shirt. Needless to say, shopping isn't as fun as it used to be.

So, I've been working on developing my own pattern that should be perfectly suited to my body. I mentioned this book the other day. It's been a huge help. No guess work. Just lots of information on how to do it right. And, once I got the basic bodice pattern down, I am now able to move on to other designs - like that wrap-around shirt I've been wanting. I'm so excited about how it's turning out, I have to mention it now even before finishing it.

Here it is:

This is my practice fabric. It's just an old sheet I got for about 33 cents at the thrift shop the last time I was there. I actually kind of like it, and my worst critic (husband) says it doesn't look like I made a shirt out of a sheet.

So far, I've only had the time to make the fronts. I'll try to get to the back tonight. I am planning to buy some bias tape to do the tie and the edging with. I thought I would use green to bring out the green leaves and stems on the flowers, but we'll see how I like that color when I get ahold of some green. I just wish I had some now. You know how hard it is to handle the suspense while you wait to get to the store. I've at least been able to put it up to myself for a make-shift fitting, and it fits just like I wanted it to. That's the great thing about designing it myself. No cleavage show, or anything, because I chose where to put the neck line.

Oh, and as for the other pictures in this post. I do realize they are totally unrelated to the topic, but I wanted to show the pictures from our Easter egg hunt. It's been almost a week, though, so it's a bit late to talk much about it now.

Okay, that's enough blogging for now. The kids are "washing" the windows, and I'm a little afraid to go see how it's going, but I feel I really must intervene.

Kids Are Fun

2007-04-12T08:15:00.000+02:00

All illnesses and hearing issues aside, kids can be really fun. Last night I sat at the kitchen table diligently working away on a bodice pattern I'm trying to make. It was close to midnight and the house was quiet. All of a sudden, Lambchop #1 launched into a hummed rendition of the theme song from Hannah Montana, her favorite show. Funny thing about it was that she was sleeping. She didn't just hum a bar or two, either. She did the whole song. Did a pretty good-sounding job, too. Very cute.

Now, about that pattern I'm making... I finally got the time to sit down with a book I bought towards the end of my last pregnancy. It's called How To Make Sewing Patterns by Donald H. McCunn. I have to say, I really like this book. It helps you learn how to custom make your own sewing patterns from scratch. Lots of books of this kind tell you how to modify commercial sewing patterns, but when you're cheap like I am, that's not what you're looking for. When looking for a book on this topic, I saw other, much more expensive books, so I was afraid this reasonably inexpensive one would not be enough to really do the trick. I was wrong. It isn't exactly easy to make your own sewing pattern (So far, I'm still working on the basic bodice pattern), but his instructions and diagrams are very clear. There is a decent amount of math involved, but it's very simple math and clearly explained.

My main difficulty is the measuring. There are many measurements to take, and I'll admit I don't have much experience in measuring anything beyond the more commonly measured body parts. I am really excited about nearing the end of this basic bodice pattern, though, because once I get it done, I could conquer the world. Well, I could at least make almost any shirt pattern I wanted, and that's really something, right? Then, I can move onto skirts and pants. Really, maybe I could conquer the world... oooh, and wearing really nicely fitting clothes while doing it. I know it would help me when designing a sweater for myself. It would certainly be a lot easier to measure the pattern pieces or lay the sweater-in-progress down against the pattern to see if I'm moving in the right direction. As an added bonus, the book even has a section explaining how to make a little cardboard model of your own body based on the basic patterns you've developed with all the measuring and fitting. So, then I wouldn't have to shell out tons of money for one of those dress forms. This definitely pleases the cheapskate in me, and it would certainly be a time-saver not to have to try clothes on for a fitting and wrestle them into submission to repin and adjust things.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, my current main goal with all this pattern making business is to make myself a cute little short-sleeved kimono shirt somewhat like this one. I have a bedsheet just waiting to be chopped up for this purpose.

Well, I was able to squeeze in a few minutes of blogging time while everyone was still sleeping and the house was still quiet, but now Lambchop #2 (our early riser) is up-and-at-'em, so I'd better get breakfast prepared (no time to edit, even, because he's bugging the baby). *SIGH* A woman's work is never done. Why can't I just work on my pattern instead of cleaning the house and doing the grocery shopping today?

And, in case you're wondering what that picture has to do with this post. The answer is nothing. I just didn't want to do a long pictureless post, and baby pictures are always welcomed by Grandma, so I decided to throw that one in.

Hide And Seek

2007-04-05T19:40:00.000+02:00

Is this boy playing hide and seek? Hardly. He has turned around in his chair after dinner to fall asleep sitting up. Bad mother that I am, I had to stop to take a picture before allowing Daddy to carry him up to bed.

Disclaimer: No children fell off any chairs during the taking of this picture.

And, as promised the other day, I have a picture of the new desk. It's not an antique or anything. It's just really functional. Only problem is that, apparently, when not under the watchful eye of parents, these little munchkins can do some damage to the upstairs walls and wood floor with crayons and markers. What is it with kids? My kids by themselves no longer do that, and the older boy cousin you see in this picture is out of that stage, too, but you put them together, and they'll make a mess out of nice white walls. *SIGH*

I've been wanting to finish this post for days. This much of it was done a few days ago, but I can't seem to find the time to finish it. I've got several other pictures I want to show, but the kids are on vacation, and the girls have come down with something. Pink eye with a sore throat for Lambchop #1 and just pink eye for Lambchop #3. Then, we realized yesterday that some time in the last month or so Lambchop #2 has loss a portion of his hearing. At this stage in his language development, that's not something to mess around with. We've already realized that several of his recently acquired words were misunderstood and his usually impeccable (for his age anyway) pronunciation isn't great on those words. It can make for some funny misunderstandings, but it's really not a funny thing. Trying to get a doctor around Easter isn't so easy, though. *EVEN BIGGER SIGH*

Okay, just really fast, because my husband is begging me to take the baby so he can have a nap (what's with people wanting their sleep an all??), I'll show you my most recent acquisitions that I find really cute. First, is a set of little Jadite dishes. They're made by Fire King and are collector's items. I didn't know this when I saw them. I just thought they were really fun. Got them for 1 euro (there are a total of five plates).

Then, I got a set of six little plates with six large dinner bowls with these cows on them. They were 5 euros for the set. The kids really like them, and it will help me start to steer clear of the plastic kids plates we tend to get. I'd much rather get stoneware, even if they do break it, if I can get it at such good prices.

Well, I have a date with the doctor to get the girls ready for. And, I guess I'll let that man get a few winks before he has to get back to work. There's still one more week of vacation, so if you don't hear from me for a little bit, you'll know I'm just burying under a pile of toys or tied to a chair in the house somewhere.

And, I have to sneak a little photo of Lambchop #3 in here for the fambly. She's wearing her new thrift shop top. I love that orange. So much fun when you can get the bright colors.

A Teeny Bit of News

2007-04-04T13:56:00.000+02:00

We've been busy working on moving things, throwing junk away, etc. lately, so I've found little time to knit or blog. We decided to move our bed over to the loft over the livingroom to allow the kids to use our old bedroom as a playroom. I was really tired of tripping over their toys in the livingroom. They outnumber me, and I just can't keep up. I figure if the toys are contained to the room upstairs, it'll be less dangerous for those walking around downstairs, as well as less embarrassing when people stop by. What they don't see won't hurt them (or make me ashamed). So, we've been working on that a lot. Plus, a friend of mine who is quite the flea market shopper had a school desk she had found for 5 euros. It's too big for her apartment, and her daughter never uses it like she had hoped. We, however, have had the kids begging for their own desk for at least a month, so I jumped on the chance to take it home with us.

It's huge. I'll give it that much, but it's also in great condition. It has two seats attached to a large table. So, both the two bigger Lambchops can draw pictures till the sheep come home. It's big enough that even my husband, at a bit over 6'1" can sit comfortably in it, so it'll be useful for homework for years to come. Then, there's the added bonus of them being able to play school with it.

I brought it home last night, and I spent the morning preparing the room for it and putting it back together (it was too large to fit in the car in one piece). I love it. It's just the kind of thing kids dream of having when they're little and want to play school. Or, at least it's the kind of thing I dreamed of having. Very cool. I'll get a nice shot of it once the playroom is fully set up.

In other fun news...

I joined Wardrobe Refashion. I'm sure you've noticed me playing around with old clothes lately. That's what they do over at Wardrobe Refashion. It's actually where I got much of my inspiration in the first place. The idea would probably not really have occurred to me without this wonderfully diverse place we call the internet. There may be lots of places you can spend way too much money, but there are also many where you can learn to save a buck or two. Wardrobe Refashion is one of them. They make wearing second-hand clothes fashionable. And, I want to be like the cool crowd, you know? So, I've signed up to post whatever projects I get done over there. I find it nice to have a forum like that to express those kinds of projects and ideas to other like-minded people. So, if you're into that, pop on over there. It's a really cool blog with lots of great ideas for making everything from underwear out of t-shirts to modifications of an old pair of pants. That way, you can "repurpose" that old shirt/skirt/dress/whatever that you always loved and just can't part with. Or, you can modify that great thrift shop find with the fabulous fabric but hideous cut. Check it out. It can really open your fashion horizons up a bit.

The Wave of the Future

2007-04-01T22:03:00.000+02:00

This afternoon, my husband watched a conference-style press release done by Steve Jobs. In it, he introduced the new iPhone. Watching bits and pieces of his speech while I breastfed Lambchop #3 to sleep, I had a vision of the future. It's a marvelous place...

A man will head off to the office each morning in his iCar or perhaps on the iBus, which is naturally equipped with an iPod for every passenger. He'll stop off for a double-grande-latte-with-non-fat-milk, served up at the local iBrew. He'll spend his day at work and ride back and pull into the garage of his iHome. There he will be greeted by his ever-cheerful iPup and be snubbed by the family's iCat. Dinner will be served on time and piping hot by the handy-dandy iCook. Naturally, the dishes and laundry will be taken care of by the iMaid. After a movie on his state-of-the-art iFilm projector, he'll settle into bed with his lovely iGirl. Her instructions: For a good time, look deeply into her "i" and insert iWand here.

My Favorite Furniture

2007-03-31T17:48:00.001+02:00

Here is my favorite piece of furniture. Can you guess why? Yeah, it's not so much the furniture itself as what is inside it. This is the home of my entire yarn stash and most of my sewing goodies. I actually have some more fabric floating around here and in the old house still, but it'll be coming over shortly.

I was finally lucky enough to have this cabinet moved over here yesterday from the old house. It's huge, cumbersome and very heavy, so I think it took a lot of mental preparation to work up the nerve to move it. The left side has always been somewhat well-organized, but the right side was a mess. I spent all evening yesterday and most of today organizing it all and winding up all the odd balls of yarn that had gotten tangled up together (well, I'll admit there are a couple I still haven't worked up the courage to attack).

A little tour:

On the left side of the armoire in the sock hanger thing there are tons of balls of yarn. I highly recommend this kind of storage. I love keeping them this way. Most of the yarn in here is Anny Blatt/Bouton d'Or stuff I got last time I went to one of their sales (a couple of years ago). There's also some Knit Picks and that skein of lovely sock yarn I received the other day from Jo. Below that is some fiber to spin someday. Behind it is my sewing pattern tracing paper and my swift. To the left of it, in the plastic drawer tower is the bulk of my yarn. In the bottom drawer is almost all my cotton and linen. The rest of the drawers contain all the animal fibers. Sitting on top of that is a plastic bin tower that holds an assortment of works in progress that have either been abandoned or put on hold for various reasons. There are also some odd balls of yarn that don't fit in the drawers.

On the right side of the armoire, you'll find all of my pattern books (second shelf), sewing books and reference books for all the crafty endeavors I might feel like partaking in at any given time. Above that, on the top shelf, is a combination of things. Mostly, there are odd balls of yarns I was either given or have accumulated that don't fit in the drawers on the left. There is also a ton of cotton hiding in there. My mother-in-law tends to toss yarn in drawers, where all the assorted balls and skeins mingle and hang out until they have become one. At that point, she's not all that interested in dealing with them. I was told once that anything I could untangle was mine. There must be more than a pound of cotton washcloth yarn in there. I imagine I'll give some of it back to her now that I've wound it all into nice, little center-pull balls (love that ball-winder!). There is also a bag that holds the yarn intended for the Deep-V Argyle Vest (I'm itching to start that, but I haven't gotten the time yet. There are some things I'd like to get off the needles first, too.). On that same shelf, there are also lots of various yarn samples. Oh, and a bunch of sewing patterns are crammed into a folder in there, too.

On the third shelf down, I have a rather large tackle box thing that I'm considering giving to my son to play with. It seems to take up way to much room in my cabinet, and it's so impractical to pull it out and put it back in that I rarely keep anything I use much in there. I think the space would be much better used for fabric and my sewing notions (which aren't currently in the cabinet. You also see my handy-dandy ball winder (Did I mention that I love that thing?), a couple of boxes of moth repellent (definite must around here), a brown bag full of Kool-Aid (yep, only a knitter would keep drink mix in a cabinet in the livingroom), and two cases of interchangeable needles.

The bottom shelf on the right has what portion of my fabric stash I have rounded up so far and a box with some organic cotton to spin up. On the right on that same shelf is a sweater currently being unwound to be reknit, various shirts to chop up for the rug I'm making, the rug itself and a couple of balls of the shirt "yarn" all wound up and ready to be knit.

Below that bottom shelf is a little drawer. Inside it is a mixture of gauge swatches, some felted, some not. There is also an assortment of tiny leftover balls and all the ball bands I've ever remembered to keep.

So, there you have it. It's probably not the most modest yarn stash out there, but by no means is it the largest. I'm happy to say that I could most likely knit all of that yarn in my lifetime, so that's a plus. My goal is to keep it at that manageable size and allow the cabinet to be the limit. As long as it fits, I figure it's okay to have it. The best thing about keeping all of these things in this one cabinet is that it has a lock and a key that work. No little fingers can go roaming through my stash, and my husband just isn't interested. This means that when I organize it, it stays organized. The only reason the right side of the cabinet was a mess is because it had never been organized in the first place. It also makes a wonderful place to hide Christmas and birthday presents (like the two puzzle hiding out in the back on the top shelf). Love being a sneaky momma, and you just never know when you'll need a puzzle for a kids' party. Now, if only I could fit a little bed in there and cozy up to all the fuzzy fibers and make that my new ultra-organized home, because the rest of the house is still a mess.

From A Distance

2007-03-30T08:48:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, it can be good to take a close look at the things in your life that make it worthwhile. Other times, it is best to stand back and see things from a distance. We should do a little of each everyday.

Kids are a great example. There are moments, like when they are playing some fascinating game whose rules are only clear to them. There are few things in life a parent can truly enjoy more than sitting out of sight to watch the imagination of their child at work. Then, there are the other moments - the moments where it's better to get right up there with them to be sure you don't miss a single detail. This first shot is a prime example of that. I found this hat while organizing baby clothes. It's been very windy lately, so I pulled it out. It's great for covering sensitive baby ears. Unfortunately, it's too small, but she doesn't seem to mind. As long as she can reach those strings, she's alright with it.

Then, of course, there are the landscapes of life. No chance of looking at those close up. That's the whole point about a landscape. You take the beauty of its entirety in all at once. I am lucky enough that the piece of property my father-in-law purchased in the 1970s (and that we now live on) for his vineyards is full of stunning landscapes. I am even luckier that my sister-in-law's boyfriend is an architect who likes to bring the outdoors in with large windows (and lots of them). So, the house he designed for us has some of the most breathtaking views imaginable.

This one is the view I get every night as I walk up the stairs and cross the upstairs hallway on my way to bed. Windows cover the upper half of two walls along that side of the house, so I get the whole panoramic view as I head to bed. It's just a shame that my camera is incapable of capturing the picture exactly as I see it, because it if far better.

Here is the same view in the morning. If I am coaxed out of bed at sunrise, this is what I often see. Almost makes it worth getting up early. This is actually a horrible picture of it. My camera isn't able to get the beautiful reds and pinks at all without me underexposing it (this morning, the sun was a red, firey ball). Of course, when I do that, you don't see the trees and bushes as I see them. These are the moments I really wish I had a better camera (any suggestions as to which brand would do our sunrise justice?).

And, then, there are the animals. If you're not quick enough, you could miss them entirely...

How sheep got the reputation for being dumb, I'll never know. Almost every single day, the girls sneak out of their park. They're aided by the wild boar, who sneak in at night and leave a gaping whole under the fence. I'm pretty sure they're just trying to be helpful by showing my husband the flaws in his security system. Or, perhaps, they want to get a closer look at these two-legged beings who shut them back in each night. The other day, they came right up in front of the house, so I decided to get a closer look at them, too.

Taking a closer look at things can be tricky business, though. Either, as with people seen across a crowded bar, you find out the object wasn't all that pretty up close, or as with other people seen across a crowded bar, it just flees even when approached with caution.

Ahhhhh, and then, there's yarn. Yarn, of course, should always be looked at close-up (unless you're lucky enough to be standing in front of one of those Walls of Koigu you sometimes see in yarn shops - you can treat that like a landscape). Take this yarn, for example. I won a little contest (just by commenting) over at Wild Peculiar Joy. And, Jo sent me some yarn. It's a beautiful Colinette sock yarn. I'm so tempted to cast on for some new socks, but I know better, since I've still got 2 others socks still waiting for their mates.

The sock yarn is called Jitter Bug, which is kind of cute, and oddly appropriate, since I get in a jittery mood to knit with it each time I look at it. The colorway (or colourway, as Colinette calls is) is Jay. Beautiful blues with flecks of green here and there. Thanks Jo. I love it!

And, I took a little trip over to the thrift shop again. It sure is nice to do some guilt-free spontaneous shopping. It's great to know that I can't really do much damage, even if I let the shopaholic deep inside roam free for a few minutes.

Actually, this was a planned visit, because the girls need some warm-weather clothes, since the summer heat is stealthily sneaking up on us. It's not time yet, but I'd hate to be caught with my pants down (or with them wearing corduroy overalls, at least). So, I had a little look. Funny thing is, I came out with several nice shirts for myself. Hmmm. Interesting how that can happen when I have the best of intentions. Pink seems to have been the color of the day. Good thing, too, because I could use a bit of color in my life. Years ago, I seem to have happened into a drab color phase and stayed there way too long. As of yesterday, I'm officially out of it. I did actually get some things for the girls, too. Problem is, I am apparently raising weeds, not children. Of the 7 or 8 pieces of clothing I bought her, only a couple fit properly, and probably only one will still fit by the time warm weather comes around. I figured I was safe buying size 6 clothing for a 5-and-half-year-old, but apparently not. Next week, she's on spring break, so I'll be smart about it next time and take her along with me. It's best to let Her Pickiness choose her own clothes, anyway. I'm just lucky there are other girls in the family who will be able to wear the things I bought yesterday.
And, don't forget to take the time to smell (well, at least look at closely) all the flowers that are in bloom.

An Ode to Daylight Savings Time

2007-03-27T09:38:00.000+02:00

I lost an hour today.
It went right out the door.

I lost an hour today.
It won't come back no more.

I lost an hour today.
I don't know what to do.

I lost an hour today.
My mind went with it, too.

I lost an hour today.
I think I'm going to weep.

I lost an hour today.
I think I need some sleep.

I lost an hour today.
It's got me in a rut.

I lost an hour today.
This time change's kickin' my butt.

Yes, with a master's degree in theoretical linguistics and a serious lack of sleep, you, too, can learn to rhyme such complicated words as "do" and "too". Unlike in the US, we switched hours only this weekend. The whole family has been out of whack since. I was up till who-knows-what-hour last night staring at the bedroom ceiling. Then, when my husband called me from downstairs to help dress the kids, I was deep in dreamland. I remember the dream, which was very odd.

I was shopping in a thrift shop I had come across, when I wandered into a room full of enormous washers and dryers. They were very 1950's futuristic, made of metal and very dome-like. They included not only the machine itself, but also a very large metal walk-in closet on each side. The idea may strike you as odd, but I'd welcome a closet just next to the folding table in our laundry room. It would certainly save me some trips up and down the stairs.

Standing there looking at their hugeness, I joined a conversation with a lady thinking of purchasing one of these monsters and the lady potentially selling it to her. The saleswoman was talking on and on about lint screens and fabric softeners. This is when I set them both straight on the ill-effects of those little dryer sheets. "Not only are they bad for the environment, because they do not biodegrade and contain all sorts of chemicals," I stated. "But they also cause problems with the machine itself," I added. I went on explain how constant use of fabric softeners (especially the sheets) causes chemical build-up on the lint screen. This, in turn, causes the dryer to heat less efficiently and can eventually lead to a malfunction of the heating element (not to mention increases in your electric bill). They were skeptical, but since the machines were used, I was able to illustrate my point. I ran water over the lint screen, showing them how the water had trouble penetrating the chemical-coated screen. Then, I washed it with dish soap and a toothbrush (yeah, don't ask me where I got them - it was a dream, okay.) to show them how easily the water should be able run through the screen. Then, we talked about other options like vinegar in the rinse cycle or dryer balls (which I was given by my mother and actually work pretty well for when we don't line dry).

In the end, though, I prefer hanging the clothes on the line outside when I can. I feel a little like I'm sneaking outside when I should be doing chores, only I am doing the chores. Plus, I've got a beautiful view while I'm doing it and besides, there are few things cuter than baby clothes flapping in the wind.

You think I'm making all of this up? Nope. I swear I didn't just come up with all of this as a way to tell you about more ecological dryer use. Maybe my mind just wants me to start thinking about the next post for my ecoblog.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

2007-03-26T08:49:00.000+02:00

It has been pointed out to me that I appeared a little down in that last post. I guess I was, actually, but it has since passed. It's a hazard of the job. Being a stay-at-home mommy can get me down sometimes. I'm pretty much a people-person, at heart, and I need conversation (particularly with adults) from time to time to be my happiest. Last week was a bit difficult in that regard, because Lambchop #2 was sick, and we stayed in most of the week. I was going a little stir-crazy by Friday, when that post was written. I've since gotten out to see the world and the people who inhabit it, and all is good now.

Plus, last night I baked, and how could things not improve with fresh brownies and scones in the house? The recipes both come from a couple of those culinary mystery novels (never heard of that? - it does exist). For me, they actually came from a newspaper clipping my aunt gave me several years ago. It's the first time I've tried either recipe, and they're both good. Why I never made them before is beyond me. The scones have lavender in them. Yum. Very exotic and very Southern. Well, the South of France, anyway. They made a tasty breakfast with my morning green tea. And, the brownies are chewy and moist, and just looking at that picture makes me want to dive in and devour the entire 9"X13" dish of them - with a glass of milk.

I also made fresh yogurt last night. Before this week, I had made my own yogurt only twice in the past. It never set as well as I had wanted, so it didn't become a habit. This week, I made yogurt twice. It was that good. In fact, it was so good that I made two batches the second time around. Lambchop #1 could eat her weight in this stuff and begs for more and more and more. Oh, and did I mention that is without adding any sugar or flavoring to it? A five-year-old begging for more plain yogurt. Now, that's good yogurt. My mother called while I was preparing it, and she sounded very intrigued, or perhaps confused. It made me realize that many people don't know what it would mean to make your own yogurt. It's actually quite simple and not extremely time-consuming. You can mix up a batch before bed and slip it in the fridge upon waking. Aside from washing the yogurt containers, it's pretty hassle free.

Here are some instructions for you to follow, in case you might want to try it on your own:

Ingredients:
-1 store-bought plain yogurt (make it something good with active cultures: an all-organic Stonyfield Farms or Brown Cow or something - the better the store-bought yogurt, the better the homemade one)
-1 liter milk - about 4 cups (I have tried non-fat, whole and lowfat - whole sets up the best, tastes the best and is creamier, and organic sure is nice)
-enough jelly jars (or other glass recipient with lid) to hold yogurt, sterilized
-a couple of larger jars to hold hot water
-2 towels
-1 camping cooler

Start by boiling the milk in a pot large enough to allow it to boil without foaming all over the kitchen (if you're using non-fat milk, you'll want to add some powdered milk so the yogurt will thick, not runny - this is why I prefer whole milk). Bring it to a boil and allow it to foam and boil a couple of minutes. While it's boiling, wash the little jars and pour boiling water over them and their lids. You can let them cool in the sink while you boil the milk (I don't boil my jars and lids to sterilize them, because they just end up white with our hard water - this method appears to do the trick well enough).

After the jars are washed and milk is boiled, go type a blog post or something while they cool. Allow the milk to cool down till it's at about 80F. Our cheese thermometer is still in the old house, so I just tested the temperature on my skin. You can do like you would with a baby bottle and drip some on the sensitive skin of the inside of your wrist (keeping in mind that body temperature is 98.6F). [edited to add: I just took a look at Liz's tutorial and saw that she likes it at 116F when she adds the starter - surely she has a good reason for this. I wasn't using any sort of recipe when I did this, which is probably where she got her temp from, but it did work at some temp slightly cooler than 98.6F.] When it's cooled enough, add the store-bought yogurt (Liz also put in 2 tbsps - I'm sort of an inexact cook, in general, so...). I just used the whole cup of it (not a measuring cup - but the cup it comes in, which was 125 g or 4.4 ounces), but with some American sizes for yogurt cups, you could probably go with half or less. Stir the yogurt into your milk with a wire whisk. Then, pour the milk into each little jar you have prepared. Seal them with their lids, and place them in a cooler you have put a towel in (just folded in the bottom of the cooler is fine).

Then, pour some boiling water into the larger jars and seal them. Place them in the cooler with the yogurt jars, lay a second towel over the top and close the lid. Slide your cooler out of the way, so no one trips on it. Go to bed, get your 7-8 hours of beauty sleep, and wake up bright and early to slip them in the fridge. It takes them about 7 hours to set up nicely, so sleeping is a wonderful activity for the waiting period. It keeps you from getting curious and opening the lid to check them. This causes the cooler to lose heat, which isn't so great, since it's needed to make them set up.

Next time you make your own yogurt, you can use some of your last batch as the starter. When you notice your yogurts getting a funky taste (maybe a little more sour than usual), you'll want to buy a store-bought one to start your next batch.

Note: I have to thank Liz for her idea of putting the towels in with the jars full of boiling water. The other method I had previously used (and read online somewhere) was to submerge them in hot water that you've poured into the cooler. This did not maintain heat nearly as well and was messier (I had to open the cooler from time to time to add more warm water). Liz's method was very hassle free, and with my electric kettle, it's all very quick.

Now that you've seen how it's done, you're probably wondering why on earth one would go through the trouble. Well, for starters, this yogurt is delicious. Plus, you know exactly what you put in it. Can you say that about every store-bought brand? You can also vary the flavors to your liking. Put a little of your favorite sugar-free jelly in the bottom, if you want. That way, you can get the sugar-free yogurt you want without the bizarre chemical sugar substitutes you don't want. I'm planning on cooking some banana to mix in on the next batch (I've only ever tasted banana yogurt with YoBaby, and it's delicious but a little too sugary for my taste). For that, I'll start by trying it with one cooked and puréed banana per liter of milk and mix it in with the store-bought yogurt. We'll see how that goes and adjust the amount from there, but we usually just drop a teaspoon of jelly or honey on top and stir.

Now, let's talk money. I've thought this through, and it's quite a money saver to make your own yogurt if you eat it frequently. We do. The kids love it, and we're always running out. We've always got milk on hand, though, because they sell it in that long-life packaging that doesn't need refrigerating here. So, in a way, it's even more convenient. But, what about price? Is it really worth the time it takes to make it?

Here, it costs about 2.00 euros (or even higher) to buy four cups of organic yogurt. Eight of them equals a liter (it's hard to get it in large containers - they mostly sell the single serving cups). To buy a liter of organic milk, it costs about 1 euro or so (but can be as high as 1.20 euros). After that first batch, when you're using your own yogurt to make new batches, you're only counting the price of the milk (it'll be a little more for your first batch). So, purchasing a liter's worth of organic yogurt is about 4.00 euros, whereas a liter of organic milk is about a quarter of the price. Per liter, you're saving about 3 euros. It takes maybe 20 minutes in terms of working time to make a batch of homemade yogurt. So, if you made three batches on three different days, you'd have worked an hour, but you would have saved 9 euros.

If you eat a lot of yogurt, like we do, it's in your best interest to make 2 batches at a time. It probably adds 5-10 extra minutes onto your total prep time to do so. So, making it twice, you've spent a maximum of 1 hour to make 4 liters (about a gallon) of yogurt. So, you spent about 4 euros for the milk instead of the 16 euros you would have shelled out to buy those four liters of yogurt. So, there you're saving 12 euros an hour or more. I've worked many a job where I made less money per hour doing something less interesting with my time. So, for me, it's well-worth the effort for such a tasty end result.

I can't find any pricing information on non-organic yogurts, but experience tells me that you could easily make the organic yogurt yourself for the price of plain, non-organic yogurt at the store - probably even a little cheaper. So, you're upping the quality and lowering the price or at least keeping it the same. Seems like a good deal to me.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

2007-03-23T16:03:00.000+01:00

When I was little and my parents sent me off to a friend's house, they used to always say, "Now, don't have too much fun." That's just the kind of parents they were... always worrying about my welfare. Wouldn't want an accidental overdose, you know.

At the time, it made me ponder the idea of getting too much of a good thing. "Not possible," I thought. Now that I'm older and hopefully wiser, I know better. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Too much chocolate cake shows on the hips. Too much wine causes headaches and other possible side effects like unexpected pregnancies and humiliating yourself in front of coworkers. Take all things in moderation, they say. So, how does that work when these good things are a mandatory part of your everyday life? You live with them, you know, so is moderation possible? Take kids for instance. Love 'em. Really, I do, but can you get a little too much of that kind of good thing? As a stay-at-home mom, I can tell you that you certainly can.

As I told my husband earlier today, it seems like kids are definitely the sponges they are often described as. It's just that people usually mean that they soak up knowledge or language skills so easily. What nobody ever mentions is how they also soak up things like love, affection and pretty much any other thing a parent has to give. Unlike sponges, though, it would be frowned upon to wring them out to see if you could get all that you put in to come back out for you. You just can't do that kind of thing, and I'd have to say, it just wouldn't work. Instead, you continue to feed the sponge more and more affection, quality-time, etc. Some of these things do come back to you but in much smaller quantities than you originally put in. The sponge is just so busy growing and learning that it needs more and more of all this love and general giving and doesn't have the time to stop and think of what the giver might need. It can be quite exhausting work, and while the rewards are there, at times, they're difficult to see. You just feel lonely. You need something more than the constant giving.

Then, there is the beauty and tranquility of the place we live (the picture up top is the view of my husband's vineyard and the property we live on, as seen from our upstairs window). Hearing the birds chirping and the rustle of leaves in the wind is far better than hearing the sounds of the city. I certainly don't miss the sirens and motorcycles passing by. At times, the vastness can feel a bit too vast, though, and I crave the sound of other people's voices. I've been stuck inside all week with a sick child, though, and even the give and take of adult conversation has been hard to come by.

They're worth it, though. Just look at them. Maybe it's the hormones talking again, but I get teary just looking at them. So, I know they're worth all of it. I just might not feel all that motivated about doing the housework taking care of them requires.

Somebody Please Stop Me

2007-03-22T18:44:00.000+01:00

I can't help myself. I just keep going back to pick up the camera again. I think I've taken a good twenty pictures of Lambchop #3 this evening. She may be getting a little fed up with me. Good thing she can't talk yet. I played with the fun underexposure thing again. I love the look of these kinds of shots.

I also love the shape of her little head. I've been wanting to get a shot that fully captured the cuteness of it for quite some time now. A silhouette is definitely the way to go. Look at that little question mark that the back of her head makes. To tweet.

Oh, and in case anybody was wondering, all of the silhouette photos were taken from our upstairs window. It overlooks the mount on our property. The sun slowly sneaks behind that mount as it sets in the evening. Perfect photo op.

Getting To Know You...

2007-03-22T09:45:00.000+01:00

Getting to know all about you. Remember that song? Along with "You Are My Sunshine," I think my mother used to sing it to me when I was little - that and a bedtime version of Simon & Garfunkel's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover". Don't worry. It was all very G-rated the way she sang it... "Get in bed Fred," etc.

All of that is totally off subject, though. It's just the first song reference that has anything to do with what I want to talk about. As I mentioned in my last post, I am getting to know my camera better. And, you know, it's got quite a few capabilities I wasn't aware of. If you've got a digital camera with all sorts of little pictograms and menus everywhere, but you don't know what they mean, I suggest you read the manual. I know, sounds like drastic measures, but, you know, they say that the Japanese have a much higher success rate with condoms because they read the instructions. I'll bet the same could be said for cameras. Don't tell me you don't have time to read it, either. Read it instead of the morning paper one day. Or instead of a few blogs. It'll be worth it. In fact, it's sure to make your blog look better. You may just find a new interest in photography. Watch out, though, because it can also give you a deep ~~need~~ desire for a much fancier camera that just might hamper your ability to purchase other necessities like... yarn and needles and, I don't know... food, maybe.

Seriously, it could become an obsession. I mean, I was so eager to try out my new-found knowledge in daylight that I took these pictures at breakfast. Couldn't wait. Just to vary the poses, I've got them growling like animals here. They seemed to be having fun. Incidentally, Lambchop #2 would make an excellent model No, that's not a proud mommy tooting her own horn. I just mean that when you tell him to do something or pose some special way, he'll do exactly that and actually stay there. Lambchop #1 is a little more antsy, and Lambchop #3 just likes to grab for the camera.

I've even taken quite a few shots of my current knitting just to see how best to shoot it to get a nice image with good color and all. I may or may not have taken more pictures of this ball of yarn and Co. than I took of the kids this morning. In my defense, though, they move a lot more, and I had to get them dressed for school, too. The knitting is patient and waits till after they're gone and the house is quiet.

This will eventually become a little summer t-shirt I'm designing for Lambchop #3. She looks pretty cute in purple, and I've had this yarn for years (Patons Grace, which is 100% mercerized cotton). I originally bought it to make a little something for Lambchop #1. Inspiration never came, though, and now it wouldn't be enough yarn to make anything for her. It should work out fine for the baby, though. The t-shirt I'm making will hopefully be entirely or almost entirely seamless, depending out whether I knit the sleeves in the round like the body. We'll see when I get there. And, if it turns out like I'm hoping, I may just share the pattern with you.

I think we can safely say that with better knowledge of my camera's functions and my new computer, with its faster picture uploads, you will see more and more photos on the blog - something my family will surely enjoy, since my children are often the subjects. And, with any luck, they'll be nicer to look at, too.

Know Your Equipment

2007-03-21T23:36:00.000+01:00

I've had the same camera for years now, and it just occurred to me to read the manual today. What a difference a little knowledge makes!
My mother keeps asking me if Lambchop #3's hair is red. No, no. It's just that her mother never realized that she could change the camera settings for different lighting. This is the tungsten setting, so you get a much better idea of her true coloring (even without a flash, she is really well-lit). Mom, you can thank me later...

Superman!

2007-03-20T14:34:00.000+01:00

A commenter recently asked for the pattern for the Superman cap I made a while back. I always neglect to mention where I get patterns when I show off the finished object. I probably forgot with that one, too. It was something I came up with on my own, because in searching the internet, I didn't find a chart I liked for a good Superman logo. Lambchop #2 has a Superman coloring book around here somewhere that had a great example of the more modern logo they came out with for the new Superman. So, I sketched it onto some knitter's graph paper and forced it to fit into the squares until I was satisfied it actually resembled an S.

Having done it by hand meant that I would later have to convert it into an Excel graph or something in order to share it. I think you're starting to see why it hasn't happened until now. I spent my entire morning on it today, though. It probably shouldn't have taken that long, but I started out using the Test Drive Excel that came with my new computer (too lazy to install the real deal). As it turned out, they've disabled the print options necessary to save the file as a pdf. So, I had to take the time to install the new software, which needed to be done anyway. I later learned that all of my work in Excel had led me to discover that the copyright information I wanted to put in the footer was too large for the Excel footer options. Anyway, long story shortened, I got it all put together after retyping way more things than necessary. I guess knitting and sewing aren't the only activities around here that involve lots of trial and error (come to think of it, are there any that don't?).

So, click on over to my pattern page if you're interested in the Superman logo chart. I did not include an actual hat pattern, because I forgot to write mine down as I was doing it, and there are plenty of hat patterns out there to work with that are surely better than mine was.

Nifty Thrifty

2007-03-19T09:44:00.000+01:00

A few sewing projects to show off... I've been in a little bit of a sewing mood since I started the thrift shopping and found lots of things to convert. In order to do so, I had to take a little trip to the fabric store for notions and a bit of fabric. While browsing, I came across the bias tape. I always look at it, but I've never used it. It's always been a little bit mysterious, so I never buy any. This time, I was attracted to a couple of them in particular. They seemed too cute to pass up, so I racked my brain for something to do with them. This isn't easy (don't be rude, I don't mean because I have trouble forcing my brain to think), because, since I've never used it, I don't really know what to use it for (I do, sort of, but I couldn't think of anything I needed it for). Then, the idea of a couple of baby bibs came to mind. I have lots of towels that are getting a little shabby on the edges, but the centers are great, so I decided to convert them. Pink is perfect for my girl, and this particular towel was quite frayed on its outside edges. I got two bibs out of one hand towel, and I'll still be able to use a few extra leftover bits as rags.

This is an extremely simple project to do. The bias tape, being already pressed for you, makes it even easier. All I did was trace a store-bought bib onto my pattern paper and set to work. I did all the cutting and pinning while watching a movie the other night, and sewed them up last night in a jiffy (haven't used that word in a while). And, look at those little pink animals on the bias tape. Or, how about the one with butterflies? Too cute to pass up, right? I'm thinking something like this would make a great baby shower gift. Stripes or some other patterned towels could be fun. You can easily find old towels in great condition at garage sales for nothing (or in your own linen closet). The two of them together cost me a total of 3 euros just for the bias tape (about 1.5 meters of it for each bib). I could have used a little more tape for a slightly longer tie string, but it'll work.

I remember mentioning the other day that I had plans to make a dress for Lambchop #1 out of a ladies tank I got for free at the local thrift shop (no, not the "five finger discount" - they gave it to me). I finally got around to it yesterday morning. And, you know, I love the feel of yarn sliding through my fingers as I knit, but there's something to be said for the instant gratification of sewing. It wasn't instantaneous enough for our Lambchop, though. She hung out looking over my shoulder all morning asking if it was done yet. She put it on the moment it was finished and loved it so much she got a chocolate stain on it.

An explanation:
The striped part is the tank top. I just shortened the shoulder straps a bit and took it in a little in the chest (girls may be going through puberty earlier and earlier these days, but she is only 5). The bottom section is exactly how I envisioned it. She, apparently, had other ideas, but since she didn't express them, this is what she got. She told me, "It's not what I wanted, but I like it," so I can't complain. I appear to have better luck sewing for her than knitting. I may have to stick with that, since it is far less time-consuming, so even if she rejects a sewn garment, I'm not devastated.

For the ruffles, I basically just cut a length of fabric double the circumference of the bottom of the shirt and gathered them (after basting) and sewed them to the shirt. Pretty simple. I'm happy with the end result, but I'll have to fix the chest a little more. I need to take it in up top, where it hangs open a bit when she leans over. I actually had a lot of fun sewing this, because, for the first time, I read my sewing Bible about how best to sew stretchy fabrics. It's amazing what a little know-how can do for you. It's not perfect, but it's a huge improvement over previous projects done with stretchy fabric, and I didn't feel like corrupting my children with wild cursing throughout the entire project.

I also finished my kimono shirt, but with me as my own photographer, you don't get a great shot of it. I'll have to catch my husband later today for a photo session. Should comb my hair and doll myself up a bit for you or just have him chop my head off? Here's a teaser for you in the meantime...

A Slumber Party... And A Massacre

2007-03-17T10:40:00.000+01:00

You know, as opposed to a Slumber Party Massacre, like in the old horror film.

The Slumber Party:

Last night, for the first time ever, Lambchop #1 had a friend stay the night. Her best little friend, whom she met at the age of three, came home with us from school yesterday. She's been here all night and all this morning. And, I have to say, this is not what I expected. Even my husband noticed it. The calm, I mean. This little girl is an only child, and she appears to have a calming effect on our wild ones. She lives in a little house in town with not much of a yard. I'm thinking having no siblings in a home like that makes a child less likely to be rambunctious. That's what I will keep telling myself, too, no matter what you say. Either way, all I know is we've got to have her over more often.

The only trouble is the expected side effect this kind of visit has on Lambchop #2. He just doesn't understand why they don't want him around. I feel bad for him. I was lucky that way. Even though I was the second sibling, I never got the sense my brother didn't want me hanging around with his friends. For many years, we lived in a small neighborhood that only had boys in it. So, I tagged along with my brother and his buddies. Either I've blocked it all out, or he didn't care if hung out with them. Is it just a girl thing to shove the younger kids out of the way? You know, to share secrets and all? I don't know, but I sent him off to play with his grandfather, who never complains about presence.

The Massacre:

In doing research for my ecoblog, I have been looking into composting. We compost... sort of. We have a compost bin, and we throw kitchen scraps in it, but I could hardly tell you the proper way to manage a compost bin. So, I've been reading up on it. And, not that it's complicated, but I realized our bin was just not "healthy". For quite some time, I'd seen earwigs (pincher bugs) swarming around the lid, which I was pretty sure wasn't supposed to happen, but what do I know? So, I looked it up online. And, sure enough, it's a sign that my compost bin is on the slow track to decomposition, which isn't exactly what I was after. As it turns out, there are two kinds of composting: aerobic (in which lots of oxygen is involved) and anaerobic (which is the opposite). Without all that oxygen, the stuff will still decompose naturally, but it will take a few years, while the aerobic composting will only take maybe six months.

In checking on the compost, I peeked in the little trap door at the bottom of the bin where we can eventually pull out fully composted goodies while still leaving the recently added scraps up top. In doing so, I saw *gasp* a plastic bag. Now, I know I don't put them in there. I may not be a great composter, but I know enough to know plastic doesn't cut it. So, I made the decision to move the compost bin off the pile that was in it, sort the compost and put the good stuff back in. I know that sounds gross, but with the aid of a long-handled shovel and a rake, it wasn't that bad. Not as fun as baking a cake and later eating it, but not that bad.

I asked my big, strong, manly husband to do the heavy lifting, and once the bin was moved, here's what I found: a huge compacted square of dried leaves. No wonder the bin seemed to have miraculously filled up very quickly in the past month or so. Where did all these leaves come from? Well, my mother-in-law has a very large tree in her courtyard in the city. When she ended up with bags and bags of leaves, we thought it silly to leave them to rot slowly in bags in a trash dump. So, we brought them home to compost. It just never occurred to me that my husband would put them in all at once.

I set to work pulling apart my cube, which looked remarkably like those square watermelons and things that are all the rage in Japan. These leaves were so well-compacted that I actually had some trouble breaking up the larger clumps. When I did, I was shocked by what I discovered.

First, there were tons of worms, which is a good sign - except when they're all dead, which was the case here. Devastated by the loss, I wiped my eyes and stumbled into my husband's office to ask just how many bags of leaves he'd put in there. "Three, maybe four," he said and added, "I had to step on them to get them all to fit." At this point, my mouth may have dropped open. The compost bin is not a trash can. By shoving too many leaves in, he limited the oxygen inside the bin. Basically, he suffocated all those innocent worms who were working so hard for us. A literal massacre - lubricide, if you will. I married a murderer, and I have to sleep with him each night. It's just something I'll have to live with.

Through teary eyes and with a heavy heart, I dug deeper, determined to sort things out and allow other worms a chance to flourish. Besides, what else would I find? In fact, over the course of the next hour, I would discover that my husband was not the only one to misunderstand the function of a compost bin. In the words of our wise ancestors, the apple falleth not far from the tree, you know (or something like that). His father, too, had contributed to the mess. After all was said and done, I found four plastic bags, two mesh veggie bags (the kind cherry tomatoes can come in), and a yogurt cup (and, of course, way more leaves than necessary). In telling my father-in-law he could use the bin, I never dreamed he would put his kitchen scraps in plastic before adding it all to the bin. So, now there's a new rule around here, I guess. Composting is women's work. After sorting through a full container and coming up with only enough good stuff to fill it about a quarter full, that was the only conclusion I could come to. So, I've loving stirred it the past couple of days, hoping for the best.

Ooh, and in all my wanderings online, I found a little experiment to try: vermicomposting. I'm so excited. I've already bought some worms. I'm thinking if this goes well, it could eventually become a small business for me. I could have my very own worm farm. They're more expensive by the pound than that lamb my husband's raising. I tried to take a little picture of my new pets, but the battery died in mid-shot. I know you're disappointed not to see the squirmy little fellas, so I promise I'll do it soon.

Don't Worry, I Won't Neglect You

2007-03-15T08:59:00.000+01:00

Now that I've got my new site, you're probably thinking I will start to neglect you. Not to worry, I'd much rather just neglect the housework, instead. Actually, no, that's the funny thing about the content on my new blog. Since it includes product reviews for ecologically friendly cleaning products and the like, it just might help me keep on top of the household chores. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I actually had fun scouring the bathroom sink, cleaning the oven and getting some burnt-on crud off of a pot. Who knew taking pictures of the process and mentally formulating a blog entry was the key to effective housekeeping? Interesting to note.

So, go check out my first product review. I was actually very surprised by the results, and there's a great frugal tip involved.

Enough about that. I promise I'll try not to talk (too much) about my other blog here. That wouldn't really be fun for people who come for the craft and family talk, would it? Given I've spent way too much time in the past few days playing with the other blog (oops, I'm talking about it again) to get it set up, I haven't done much crafting. I still have to get to the fabric store for the notions needed to finish my current projects, but Muttonchop has been using our sole car for wine deliveries, so I haven't been able to go. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to do it tomorrow while the kids are at school.

I do have some great ideas for bags to sew, though. When we moved, I saved the blue and clear striped plastic shower curtain from the old house. I washed it up nicely and want to make a fun beach bag out of it. I also have the idea in mind that I could put that Provençal button-down shirt to good use. I was pretty sad when I learned that it had a little hole in it right near the pocket. It shows my bra quite nicely, which is, perhaps, not the point in wearing a shirt. Now we see why it was at the thrift shop. At first, I was a bit disappointed, because I had thought it would be a nice change from my usual wardrobe choices. I'm feeling better about it now, though, because it occurred to me that I could make it into a lovely lining for a linen bag. Maybe there would even be enough for a grocery bag. That could be pretty cool - shopping for carrots in style.

And for those of you who sit patiently through all of my craft blabber to see baby pictures, these shots of Lambchop #3 are for you. There are few things in this world cuter than the look of utter concentration on a baby's face when they play with an object. They are so intent on discovery that you can literally see it in their eyes. I love that look, and I wanted to capture it to remember in years to come. Unfortunately, once the camera's red-eye elimination light comes on, we're screwed. She's like a deer in the headlights all of a sudden. All things not related to that little red light cease to exist... until you say her name and smile at her. Then, the spell is momentarily broken as a smile crosses her face. Ahhhh, that's better. I still never got the shot of her concentrating on that stuffed catepillar, though.

Edited to Add: And, for those of you following our sheep sagas around here, I, apparently, am not the only one to be adept at losing the furry, little creatures. They've apparently found a breach in our security system (read: a hole or jumpable area in the fence). I was driving home the other morning and happened upon them running down our dirt road. They seemed to be in a hurry to get to whatever grassy knoll they were intent on reaching. Even the Land Rover didn't scare them. I stopped in front of them, and they seemed content to sneak around the sides. Apparently, if the object does not seem animal, no matter what its size, they're not worried. Though I may not have gotten rid of my baby fat yet, I am no match for a 4x4, but they found me more intimidating. Surely, it wasn't merely because of the tone of voice I used when asking, "Where do you think you're going?" I shewed them back uphill and called in reinforcements (in the form of my retired-shepherd of a father-in-law). That was several days ago, and since then, they have developed a habit of perusing the fence for weak spots they might sneak through. Muttonchop is out there fixing the fence as I type. See how the belief that sheep a stupid is way off base?

I've Been Playing Again

2007-03-13T14:53:00.000+01:00

My husband comes home from his business trip this afternoon, and I really wanted to get the house clean before he got home. This, of course, means that I have an unquenchable thirst for internet surfing. He suffers, but you'll benefit. See over in the sidebar over there where I've added a new site? It's my little green-living blog: Ecowho? Ecoyou. I'll probably still post green living-type posts here, too, or at least mention them when I post over there, because a whole two of you showed interest in my sharing my thoughts on that topic.

I'll certainly post any craft-related recycling I do here, but I thought it might be nice to have a little resource page of sorts. I know there are plenty of places out on the net where you can find information on living a more environmentally friendly existence, but I thought it would be fun to have a place to record the products I've tried or we've tried (hey, if you would like to join me and make it a community blog, let me know - that could be more fun) or would like to try and links to where to find them. It's not always easy to find recycled/recyclable/biodegradable/compostable/earth-friendly whatchamadookickies, so I thought I'd make myself an online source list and general place to chat about such things and share it all with you.

So, take a look-see. I've already got one whole post up there and quite a few links to fun products to try (in the US and France!).

Spurning the Knitting Gods

2007-03-13T09:20:00.000+01:00

Last night I stayed up pretty late, indulging myself in the silence left after the kids are asleep. I sewed into the wee hours and finished all I could on my dress-turned-kimono shirt. I tried it on around midnight, and there were a few minor touch-ups needing to be made. I sat back down at my sewing machine and heard a tiny voice from nowhere say, "I'm thirsty." I nearly jumped out of my skin. Probably freaked little Lambchop #2 out quite a bit, too, with my reaction. I just wasn't expecting it, and the fact that he was hidden by the wall in front of the stairs didn't help. I recovered a normal heartbeat and took him a cup of water. Not too long afterwards, I followed him and went to bed myself. There wasn't any more I could do to my shirt without the notions I need from the fabric store, anyway.

I tried to go buy those notions yesterday morning, but fate was very much against the idea. Before heading off to take the kids to school, I searched high and low for the debit/credit card I use for shopping. It was nowhere to be found. I scrounged up 40 euros, hoping that would be enough for the necessities and headed out. After taking the kids to school, I drove the 40-45 minutes necessary to get to the fabric store only to find it was closed until 2pm. Apparently, they open late on Mondays. No problem. I'd just head to the other one nearby. No, actually, I wouldn't. It's closed all day on Mondays. So, I didn't get my ribbons and other little doohickies needed to finish my current sewing projects. Oh well. It'll have to wait. In fact, it'll have to wait until at least tomorrow, because I later found out exactly where my credit card was - Paris. "Paris?," you ask. Yes, Paris, in the coat pocket of a certain husband who left town on Saturday for a wine show. Arg. So, I stole half of the 40 bucks I scrounged from his office. That'll show him. Okay, he wouldn't have cared, but still. It makes me feel better. It would appear that the knitting gods are angry with me for cheating on them by doing so much sewing, so they put up a few obstacles. Despite the fact that I know they don't like to be spurned, I sewed anyway just to spite them. Don't they know a girl needs some instant gratification from time to time?

And, for those of you wondering what the dress looked like to begin with, I'll show you. It's not a full shot of the thing (it was about calf-length), but I think you get the gist. I used to love this dress. The little neck details made me feel girly (as you can see, I kept them in the remade version), and back when I had nice curves, instead of my current post-baby ones, I thought I looked pretty good in this dress (don't spoil it for me if you've seen me in this dress and disagree).

The main trouble with this dress is that it's a knit acrylic fabric, that although soft and cozy is very sticky. First, there's the fact that it gets a horrible case of static cling. Then, there's the fact that it's knit. We knitters know what happens to the butt of a knit dress or skirt. Not pretty. I do love the feel of the fabric, though. So, I figured it was the ideal dress for a remodel. And, luckily for me, since, as I said, I loved this dress, I have a second one in gray to play with later. I don't know if I'll go for the same style. I like the way this one turned out, but I may attempt something new.

Spittin' Image

2007-03-12T12:37:00.000+01:00

First of all, let me just say that I love that expression: Spittin' Image. Did you know that it's very similar in French? That's the kind of expression you'd imagine wouldn't make it across languages well, but lo-and-behold, there it is. I wonder if other languages use a similar expression to say that someone looks a lot like someone else. Anyway, in French, it's "portrait craché", craché being "spit" in the past tense (in case you were wondering).

Now that we got the language lesson out of the way, let's talk genetics a bit. In the comments of a post the other day, a friend of mine, who has actually seen and held two of my children (the two oldest) mentioned that Lambchop #3 looks a lot like Lambchop #2. Looking at the same image my friend had seen, my mother asked the all important question: "What does the postman look like, because this last kid doesn't look a thing like the others?" Yes, the sense of humor appears to run in the family. Apparently, though, my friend and my mother would disagree about the family resemblance, or whether there is any at all.

I also recently had a lady I know (whom I wouldn't exactly refer to as a friend, but we see each other frequently at playgroup) tell me that Lambchop #3 looks a lot more like me than the other two do. I've seen pictures of my husband as a baby, though, and she looks like a very feminine version of him. So, who's right in all this? Certainly not my mom, because if the mail carrier, male or female, can't find it in their heart to make their way down our 2km-long dirt road to deliver packages... well, I ain't puttin' out. And, I can't show you any baby pictures of me or my husband, because I don't have any here to scan (Mom, you could help us out a little on this one), but I can put up a few of the three kids all around the same age to see how much they resemble each other (or don't, as the case may be). So, that is what I decided to do.

They are all between the ages of about 6 and 9 months in these pictures, I believe. I can't be certain, though. The only thing I know for sure is that I took the picture of Lambchop #3 (in the green sweater) just the other day, and she is now six months old. I can also tell you that the picture of Lambchop #1 (on my back) is scanned from a photo taken by the same friend who left the comment I mentioned above. Problem is, I can't remember exactly when she visited us and took that shot. May of 2002, perhaps. That would have made Lambchop #1 about 9 or 10 months old at the time. I can't really be too sure, though, because that sweater she has on is a 6 month size (and she was never a tiny baby). I can be pretty sure that the first picture, which is of Lambchop #2, was taken when he was about 8 months old. Or, at least, that's what the date stamp on the computer file would lead me to believe. Given the number of teeth I see, I'd say that can't be too far off. And, the last one is of Lambchops #1 and #2 in the bath. I think he's a bit closer to Lambchop #3's current age there, but it's so fuzzy, I didn't think it'd help much.

So, what do you think? There's definitely a family resemblance, right? I think so. They all have their own look, because they are all their own little person, but there's a similarity there, I think. I believe they all have my husband's charming smile (yes, even the kid belonging to the postman). One thing I can be sure of is that there are some similar personality traits. I was just told today by Lambchop #2's teacher that he's a great little kid. He just has this one little thing he does... he's a perfectionist. He gets so upset when he can't get something right. He has to do it himself, too. Who does that remind me of? His older sister. And, what's weird is that we try really hard not to reinforce that. I'm always telling Lambchop #1 that it's okay not to have things turn out just right as long as you enjoy the process or you really tried hard. She doesn't seem to believe me yet, though. So, is perfectionism hereditary just as much as that smile is?

The Silver Lining

2007-03-11T10:46:00.000+01:00

It would appear that I have a lot to say these days. I seem to be blogging much more than usual. Maybe not having my computer in the house for so long made me grow fonder of the whole blog world. Or maybe it's just because I have so many projects going at the moment. Sure, the house is a tiny bit messy, but haven't we come to expect that from me? I have to enjoy my life, too, right? So, I craft. Given the last several posts' content, though, you'd think I have given up knitting altogether. Not true. In fact, I have a couple of projects actively on the needles these days. I'll admit they're mindless ones, but a project's a project's a project.

I still pull out my little alpaca vest I've been working on when the mood strikes me. I may get it ready before it gets too hot to wear it. Then again, I may not. Then, there's the knitted rug. Remember that one? Every knitter and their cat are resurrecting old projects to either finish or rip out and get rid of. I haven't joined along, officially, but maybe I've been inspired. Or, perhaps inspiration came in the form of tiny slits in all my shirts (caused by the kitchen cabinet, remember?). There's nothing like new "yarn" to get a knitter going. I've got plenty of new colors now, so I've set to work chopping the shirts up, knitting the resulting "yarn".

The long strip of dark gray as well as the long blue one just before it are the new additions. The rest of it has been there for months, waiting to be added to. The previous parts came from button-down shirts, which are a real pain to cut up. That was all I had to work with, though, so I went with it. The last two sections I recently added come from two long-sleeved t-shirts I had. I'm planning to massacre a red one pretty soon, so that should add some life to the thing. I have no idea if I'm actually going to like this rug when it's done, but I'm going with the flow of it for now. No plan of action for the arrangement of colors, either. Just letting the next available shirt decide. I'm pretty excited that I have a green one coming up. That should really spice things up (see what passes for excitement around here?).

On the sewing front, I still haven't found the time to put my kimono shirt together. I've already got a quick new project planned, though. As I was leaving the thrift shop the last time I went, I fondled a black and white striped tank top. Doing so caused it to fall off its hanger. This, in turn, made the shopkeepers think I wanted it, but I had already paid. They, literally, receive tons of clothes. They don't know what to do with them all. So, they gave the fallen shirt to me. It's not even my size, and I'm even sure that after significant weight loss its intentionally tight design would ever look good on me. The upside is that with a slight modification to the straps (which will be easy, given the way they are attached), it'll fit Lambchop #1 nicely (like a slightly loose-fitting long shirt for now). I've ransacked my smallish fabric stash to find something to make ruffles to attach to the bottom of the tank to get a nice summer dress. There wasn't really anything that would work, though. I'm planning a trip to the fabric store this week to find some (among other things). My preference would be some bright pink and some lime green. I think that using those two colors for skirt ruffles would make an adorable, very modern-looking dress for her.

Well, Lambchop #3 would like to do some typing for you. I'll let her say a few words, then we've got lunch to prepare...
b b0- b i ok,nbbbbbbbbbbb

I think we all know what she means. But in case, you weren't sure, let's let her reiterate:
uyv kvb7 vb c m 4 8k0k0

Yep, that's what I understood the first time.

Happy Disasters

2007-03-10T09:43:00.000+01:00

As was expected, Carnaval day was somewhat disastrous, but in a good way, apparently. Or, at least, they seem to have had fun marching down the streets of the town in their costumes. Lambchop #2, it being his first time, came home exhausted but really excited about his day. Lambchop #1 came home in her street clothes, with her princess dress in a shopping bag. Don't worry, it wasn't out of shame. The teachers averted emotional disaster in the morning by changing her out of her dress. Then, she put on her princess get-up later with all the other kids. Whew! She shouldn't be emotionally scarred after all. The dress came home in a bag, because a little boy in her class pushed her down in the mud. It was literally covered in mud and straw and other nastiness. It looked like she had decided she was a pig instead of a princess and rolled in a mud puddle for several minutes (easy mistake to make, what with the pink fabric and all). I actually should have taken a picture of that mess. It was way more impressive than the dress itself. I got it soaked while the mud was still wet, and it all came out, though, so everyone is happy.

Batman didn't survive even that well. Actually, I'm not sure this happened at school, but I just thought to take a picture of the cape and saw a hole in it. Synthetic felt is great for the fact that there's no need to sew the hems, but it's also great for holes. Just not a sturdy fabric. It's a great prototype, though, and I'll look for some other black fabric for a better costume soon. At least now I have a quick and simple pattern made out. It should be a quick job the next time. No point in making the hat with the felt, though. Surely, it wouldn't last long. I will still try to take a picture of the cape, but when I got to him with the camera, he had already taken it off.

Instead, I'll show you a little shot I took of the happiest baby in the world. People are always surprised by how smiley she is. She loves to smile at people she doesn't know well, so they always get the impression she never cries. I guess I'll let them continue to live in their little fantasy world, but we all know the truth. She is a smiley kid, though. Here's the proof. And, take a look at that fancy sweater with the cute froggie buttons. She's adorable in it. It's almost like her Aunt Disentangled knew she was going to be a blond that'd look great in these colors. And, the cotton yarn was a perfect pick for that size sweater. Just in time for the Spring season. Thanks, Aunt Dis.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some much neglected household chores to get to. Ooh, and that little kimono-style sweatshirt I'm making for myself out of an old acrylic dress. Pictures of that project coming soon (and maybe a little tutorial for how to do it yourself, too). It's all cut out and pinned. I just have to find some sewing time soon.

Pouting Princess

2007-03-09T08:42:00.000+01:00

Our little princess has some trouble with life's uncertainties. They make her very anxious. I think she might get that from her mommy. She woke up at the crack of dawn this morning asking if Carnaval was today. That's how excited she was. According to her daddy, breakfast was like any other - maybe it even went a little more smoothly than most. Then it came time for her to dress. Big emotional scenes ensued.

I never did fully figure out the reason, but through her sobbing, I somehow got the gist. I think. I'm pretty sure she was uncertain of whether she was supposed to wear her costume to school or bring it to put on this afternoon. I, figuring that no teacher in her right mind would want to dress a sea of five-year-olds, put her dress on her this morning. She, however, was unconvinced. As a compromise, I put a change of clothes in her backpack. She still wasn't particularly happy about the entire thing, but after staying up till 1 am to sew her little spandex faux-gloves (by hand, no less - because the machine was getting quirky, and I have trouble correctly sewing spandex on a machine), I wasn't taking no for an answer.

The chaos caused us to run late for school, but I still snapped a few shots. The teachers can wait. I've got a blog to maintain here. All the emotions don't exactly make for the best of pictures, though. That didn't stop me, either. I was a woman on a mission. I will show you this dress, on its princess, no matter what the cost. So, please, appreciate them. Oh, and do you see that teeny-tiny smile she's got in the first picture? That was caused by me uttering one simple word: poo-poo. Works every time.

The second picture shows you just how modern a princess she is. If only we had some combat boots or Doc Martens. Oh well, these will have to do (she got those boots just after Christmas, and you almost have to pry them off her feet with a shoe horn - that's how much she loves them. She almost panicked the other day when Daddy mentioned it would soon be too warm for them.).

The third picture is a little too dim, but I wanted to show off the bustle section in the back. I really love the look of it. She wanted that straight skirt, which is what she sees in the back, but I wanted the poof, which is what I see when she turns away from me to pout. Perfect for all concerned! Anyway, it reminds me of some Victorian Era dress. Plus, as I mentioned yesterday, it'll give her room to play without tripping herself.

Batman was much easier, not only in terms of sewing, but he was also much easier to please. I started his costume pretty late last night, so I didn't have time to make the head piece, but the cape was pretty simple and turned out well. Because he was so easy to deal with this morning, he flew in under the radar at picture time (as Batman is known to do), so I can't show you. I'll get some pictures later, if the costume survives a day at preschool. I basically just made a simple cape with ties at the neck and wrists out of synthetic black felt I had around. I sewed the tie straps on by hand while watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith last night.

Oh, but what I can show you is the fun I had yesterday afternoon. Lambchop #3 and her daddy were both asleep, so I needed a quiet activity. My husband, practical man that he is, pointed out that I could have folded some laundry. Uh, yeah. He must have mistaken me for someone's else good housewife. I made bracelets, instead. Lots more fun. Trust me.

This first one is made with silver wire and little colored beads. I really don't know if they are glass or plastic beads. I no longer have their packaging to check. I started by randomly threading beads onto three coils worth of memory wire that I had curled one end with (so the beads wouldn't fall off). When it looked about right, I used the bendy pliers (pretty sure that's the official name for them) to make zigzags. I love asymmetry, so it didn't exactly matter if they didn't match up right from one coil to the next. I actually really like the way it turned out. I don't wear jewelry much, but I think this one is fun, and it's very light-weight and doesn't get in my way. I can almost forget that I'm wearing it (well, I could if it weren't for the fact that I have to stop to stare and think, "ooh shiny," from time to time). The beads are a free-floating, even through the zigzags. I think this gives it a bit of an abacus look.

This second one is actually the first of the two that I made. I made little zigzags that go out from the arm (instead of parallel to it) on this one. The zigzags keep the beads from moving around, which, in the end, I think makes a more comfortable bracelet. It makes a more cumbersome bracelet, but I think it's a fun look, too. A bit like some far off solar system we still haven't discovered. It seems a little less wearable than the other, but I still like it. This is probably mostly because I love wooden beads. I love the idea of wearing a piece of nature. Don't get on me about chopping down exotic trees to make me pretty. It surely can't be worse than giving tons of Chinese jewelry shop workers all sorts of lung diseases in pursuit of a cutesy piece of costume jewelry

Oh, and a little warning to all the knitters out there. Be very careful where you pose your buns. I accidentally sat on my knitting this morning while dressing Lambchop #1. The needle was a small gauge and actually punctured my behind (through a pair of jeans, no less). Stopping laughing. This is serious. If it had been rusty, I'd need a tetanus shot. It was a little like getting a tetanus shot, come to think of it, but with a 2.5 mm needle. Surely, the needles they use at the doctor's office are smaller than that. Needless to say, it was a wee bit painful. I highly unrecommend it. Definitely one of those "don't try this at home" things.

Oh, and my husband just came back from dropping the kids off a little bit ago. He said no other kids in her class were in their costumes. Hmmm. That could be humiliating. I'm glad that wasn't me. No, really, all kidding aside, I feel bad. Glad I packed that change of clothes. Hopefully, she'll think to tell the teachers. It's even making me doubt the Carnaval date, though I know it was today (yes, I just double-checked). Nowhere on the note they sent home did it mention when to put the costume on. I think I'm going to have to fire the kids' driver. He seems to be shirking his duties. Included in the task of dropping off and picking up kids is actually holding an occasional conversation with the teachers. After all the crying that went on here this morning, I know I'll never hear the end of having sent her, overdressed, into a room full of her peers. Motherhood is not easy, no matter what people might tell you.

The Devil's In the Details

2007-03-08T11:54:00.000+01:00

This morning, a female vintner friend of my husband's came over to taste some wine (she was once his summer intern - don't laugh! (he doesn't smoke cigars) - and has since become a family friend). She and I get along well, so when she popped her head in the door to find my dear Muttonchop, she sat and had a little chat with me first. I was looking disheveled, with my head buried in layers of shiny pink fabric. She didn't seem to mind, but I explained what I was up to. I was pleased to see that she seemed impressed by my ambition. She even mentioned how "detailed" my little dress was. It is, but I have to say, that mean ole devil sure is in the details.

Because of those details, I have spent the majority of my waking hours for the last day-and-a-half forgoing dishes, laundry and even personal hygiene. All in the pursuit of a sweet princess dress for my first-born child to proudly show off at school tomorrow (and promptly dip in the mud or rip under her shoe). Honestly, though, it's been fun. It sure beats the alternative, and hey, when I can seriously look my husband in the face and tell him I just can't do the dishes right now, because I absolutely must get this sewing done... well, that's a happy day.

This morning, once the kids headed off to school, I immediately got back to sewing (well, if you call "I did it after eating some breakfast while browsing knitblogland for a half hour" immediate). And, I am happy to say that after 4-6 just-one-more-half-hour-to-gos the dress is done. And, I'm so happy, I'm going to force some pictures on you even before the model comes home.

So, please feast your eyes on my handywork. Just don't look too closely, or you'll see how poor of a seamstress I really am. I really need to take a course, I think. Learning on my own is all well and good, but I have some obvious tension issues (not at all helped by the fact that Lambchop #2 once fiddled with my bobbin tension dial).

You may have noticed that it looks very little like the cute picture I drew of the design I had in mind (the one in my last post). That's because Lambchop #1 is extremely picky and has definite ideas about which fashions she likes and which she doesn't (oh, yes, did I mention she's five??). She saw that poofy skirt and immediately vetoed its use. She insisted on a straight skirt. So, a straight skirt she got, but I pulled a little fast one on her (or pulled the wool over her eyes, if you knitters prefer). I did a little bunching thingy in the back. She'll never see the poof and it'll serve to keep her from falling flat on her face when she tries to run. I think she'd thank me if she truly understood that motivation. Anyway, I'm happy to say that she tried it on (without the zipper and sleeves) last night and exclaimed the skirt was exactly what she wanted.

It's certainly not perfect, but I did learn a little more (as I do each time I sew anything), so the time spent was well worth it. I even thought of a fun way to avoid doing a traditional hem, which I'm not so great at. See that first picture up there? It's the hem. I just used a wide zigzag stitch in a contrasting color thread, and Voilà! Decoration. I love contrasting colors in the stitching anyway, so the zigzag makes me giddy when I look at it. Notice the contrasting color on the zipper, as well. The original request was put in a week ago for a blue dress, but I didn't want to go to the store for any fabric or notions. She was more than happy once I pulled out the pink fabric, but some scrounging had to be done for other parts of the dress. The zipper is hot pink. I had it on hand for another project. It's not an invisible zipper, as it probably should have been, but since it matches the contrasting thread, I think it looks great. Actually, I think it looks really fun. It keeps the dress from being too serious. It is a kid's costume, after all. And, the lining inside the bodice as well as the petticoat skirt thingy that holds the black tulle are t-shirts. The bodice lining comes from a lavender cottony t-shirt I got for 1 euro a year or so ago at a local store. I had two, so I sacrificed one. The petticoat thing comes from one of the shirts I bought at the local thrift shop last week. It sort of fit me in the body, but the arms literally cut off my circulation. For the euro I paid for it, I figure I put it to good use.

I have one or two final touches to put on her costume, and she'll be ready to go. She originally asked for sleeves, which given the cool weather of Springtime, is pretty reasonable, but I didn't have enough fabric for that. She suggested gloves. Also a reasonable request, but is she insane? I'm not making gloves, and I have no idea where I'd locate matching gloves at this point. So, I'm going to use some pink spandex fabric I've got lying around to make some of those faux-gloves that have an elastic that wraps around the middle finger. I also have an idea for a bracelet purse, but I don't know if I'll actually go through the trouble. I did promise somebody a Batman cape, and even if it doesn't have to be done for tomorrow like the dress does, I still want to get to it before I lose my motivation.

Oh, and ladies, please calm yourselves. Nobody's middle-aged around here. Go take a post-menopause hormone pill and have some chamomile tea or something. I was only joking about my early-graying head at the end of that last post. Boy, you girls sure are sensitive. Am I going to have to start to watch my mouth around here? You'd think I said something political the way you people jumped to correct me on that.

All Dressed Up With Someplace to Go

2007-03-06T22:23:00.000+01:00

It's Carnaval time in France again. It's a little like Halloween for them, except for the fact that they don't knock on anyone's doors begging for candy. Instead, there is a parade and people throw it at them. Here in France, Halloween is taken as a time strictly for dressing up as ghosts, goblins, witches and other ghoulish characters. So, it's a happy day when we get to work on making other, more colorful costumes. I'm a little stuck in Princessland, though. When asked what she wanted to be this year, Lambchop #1 naturally said, "Princess." I'd love for her to select some other costume someday, but what can we do? She's a girl. And, she's five. 'Nuff said, I believe.

Today, she came home from school and reminded me that Carnaval celebrations at her school are Friday. This Friday. I really don't want to go to the store for more fabric, so I dove into my small but respectable fabric stash. It would appear that I have enough leftover pink fabric from the last princess dress I made (two-and-a-half years ago), if I'm careful about how I use it. That, combined with some fun black tulle to make a tutu like thing for underneath should make a cool, original princess dress. She seemed pretty pleased with the design, which you can see in the above photo. The bottom layer of the skirt is the black tulle. The second and largest layer is light pink satin. The top layer that looks a bit like upside-down petals is this pinkish-gray, shimmery see-through stuff (sorry I can't recall the correct name for this type of fabric). It was used for sleeve flounces on her last princess dress. Then, hopefully I'll have just enough for a bodice in that same light pink satin with little see-through sleeves.

I've never really designed something so complicated before, so I'm a little nervous about it. I was thinking I could use the pattern for the last princess dress as a guideline, but no can do. It turned out to no longer be her size. It only goes up to size 5, and despite being her age, that is far from being her size. That would be why I started in with the jewelry first. I figured that was easy enough. To be honest, I actually hadn't thought to make jewelry, but while digging through my sewing notions box, I came across my jewelry making supplies. It's far from exhaustive, and I don't even know for sure what much of it is used for. I decided I'd give it a shot anyway. First, I took out some of the memory wire bracelet coils. I just went to work slipping tiny purple beads on it (Actually, Lambchop #1 went to work on that, but that didn't last long - again, she's five. What are you gonna do?). I used up all the beads that didn't end up hidden somewhere on the kitchen floor and decided to call it quits. That's when I was left wondering if I could actually cut the memory wire with the wire cutters I already have instead of the "memory wire cutters" suggested on the packaging. I threw caution to the wind and figured it was all a ploy to get people to buy their brand of wire cutters. I was right. Lesson learned. Never (or at least, rarely) believe what they try to tell you on those things. All in all, it made a very simple bracelet, and Lambchop #1 is very pleased with it.

Now onto the headgear (no not those creepy braces things people strap themselves into for a good night's sleep - a crown). Of course, any self-respecting princess wouldn't be caught dead without a crown. I mean, people, please. A princess needs her jewelry. Or, at least that's what Lambchop #1 led me to believe. She quickly suggested the cheapo paper crowns that come with King's cakes here. I got all ambitious after she went to bed though, and came up with this beauty. I'll be the first to admit it's not perfect. Not even close, actually. I don't work all that well with wire yet, but I am quite happy with the end result, and I know she's going to love it. It'll certainly last longer than the paper version, so I'd say it was well worth the hour or so it took to make it.

Ummmm, and let's all try to pretend it's perched atop the head of a five-year-old instead of the graying hair of a thirty-ummm-something-year-old. You can do that, can't you? We're in Princessland, after all, right? A little pretending won't hurt anyone. Yeah, now that I look at this picture again, I'm reconsidering the original thought I had of photographing the crown on a black background. I'll do that if and when I get around to it some time. For now, you get to watch the middle-aged mother of three play dress-up.

Reminiscences

2007-03-06T09:24:00.000+01:00

The other day, I had to pull out the big guns. The high drama had begun and something had to be done. Lambchop #1 was having a fit, and anyone with a five-year-old knows that nothing gets rid of a good fit better than a great poop story. And, I just happen to have one in my repertoire of childhood mishaps, blunders and general embarrassments (incidentally, the cookie picture above has absolutely nothing to do with the poop story).

So, should I start with the poop story or the cookie? It's a hard decision to make. On the one hand, I'll gross you out after having talked about a delicious food item. On the other hand, I'll make you never want to eat one, because all you'll be thinking of the whole time you read about the cookie is the poop I disgust (hee hee - I mean discussed) earlier. Tough one. Maybe I shouldn't be talking about these two items in the same post. But, hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles some times. I guess I'll go with option number one and start with the nasty and end with the tasty.

The following is the story that instantly came to mind when my eldest child was having a crying fit (the reason for the crying fit was completely unrelated to the subject matter you are about to read):

I must have been about 9 years old at the time of "the incident." Not a care in the world, unless of course you consider crippling discomfort caused by my starting puberty a little earlier than the other girls to be a care. On second thought, let's say "not a responsibility in the world" instead. That works pretty well. We had been sent out to recess. I was actually allowed to go out, despite the fact that I frequently spent recess indoors writing fun phrases like "I will not talk in class." over and over again (I know, in reading my verbose prose, you have trouble believing I could ever have been punished for talking too much.).

Many of the kids were playing chase. I joined in and ran until I was flush in the face and needed a break. Then, I stepped backward out of the game area until I felt the cold, red brick of the school building against my back. Slowly, I slid down the wall until I was seated. Several moments later, I noticed the distinct odor of dog poo. I looked around, not yet in a panic. No sign of the offending odor-causer. Surely, it was my imagination. It wasn't until the bell rang, signaling the end of recess, that I realized what I had done. I don't think there's any suspense here. You know why I could smell but not see the poop.

Naturally, I was horrified. Not only was my backside covered in a not-so-appetizing-substance, but I also had to make my way back to the classroom with said not-so-appetizing-substance slathered across the seat of my pants - for all to see (or smell, as the case may be). Come to think of it, horrified doesn't quite describe what I felt at the moment. The time it took me to make it over to my teacher to sob out my story is a blur. I cannot even really tell you how I was able to get to her. Was I discrete? Did I run screaming? I don't recall. What is very clear in my mind, however, is the time I spent in the chair-desk in the hallway across from my classroom, awaiting the arrival of my mother with a new pair of pants. As opposed to allowing me to marinate in the dog poop, I was given a jean jacket from the lost-and-found bin to use like a wrap skirt until my mother arrived. So, there I sat, eyes wet with tears, wearing someone's cast-off outerwear. Once again, I spent my time separated from the other children. Not to write out 100 sentences meant to teach me better control of my mouth, but to spare me the humiliation of being seen in my make-shift skirt with the lingering odor of doggie doo floating in the air around me.

Dry your tears. I know you're crying for that sad girl of yesteryear. Go ahead, get a Kleenex and wipe your eyes. Blow your nose a little. Make that loud horn noise if you need to. Oh, and stop the laughing and rolling around on the floor while you're at it. Yes, I can take you laughing at my expense. Why not? My very own flesh and blood - the fruit of my loins - does it. Why shouldn't you?

There you have it. One of Lambchop #1's favorite stories, which is why, in a pinch, when I really needed to stop the crying fit, this story came to mind. It just popped right up. I'm not even sure why. I've got a better poop story to tell. And, that's the one she usually gets (surely, I'll share it with you another day), but the other day, this is the one I thought of first. Just threw it right out there, prefaced by, "Have I ever told you about the time...?"

I hope you can now see why I chose to post a cookie picture. I know people generally like to see pictures with a post, but somehow going out next to the dog's house outside to snap a little shot of her "business" didn't seem appropriate. And, now, not to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth (sorry, bad choice of expressions there), I'll tell you about the cookies I made last night.

I like to make homemade snacks for the kids. All of their little friends show up to class with quite an assortment of prepackaged, chemical snacks (surely loaded with the cotton seed flour we talked about in yesterday's post). In contrast, I often ship them off in the morning with a piece of fruit. I was pleased to know they were eating well until I was told by one of the teacher's aids that some switching was going on. One day, Lambchop #1 loudly declared that she was fed up with apples (my quickie snack of choice at the time). The little boy next to her was all too happy to exchange his hydrogenated oil-laced cookies for her organic apple (yep, apples were apparently a rarity in his diet). I figure it's not going to kill her to have an occasional nasty-snack in a foil wrapper. I would like to limit it, though. So, I try to make them goodies that can proudly take on the store-bought cookies in a snacktime brawl. Problem is, I often end up eating them while the kids are at school. But, whatever. My heart is in the right place.

Yesterday's cookie recipe was the "Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Dried Cherries" from the May/June 2005 issue of Cook's Illustrated. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand and threw together a batch last night. One word. Tasty. And, since I can never just stick to one word (Hello. I'm the little girl stuck inside at recess writing sentences, remember?), I'll tell you a little more about them. The one in the picture is from the black-painted cookie sheet, so it's a little over-done (don't use dark cookie sheets unless you want your cookies burnt). And, it's still good. I would have to say there are a few too many cherries in the recipe. I think it could have done with a little less sugar, as well, but that's just me. Not a particularly complicated recipe, and the taste is certainly worth whatever trouble is involved in making them. They appear to hold up nicely, too. So, they shouldn't crumble even when only wrapped in cellophane (yeah, I know, that's not very eco-friendly - nobody's perfect. Any suggestions for eco-friendly packaging of school snacks?).

Oh, and there's a moral to this story:

If you think your children are faithfully eating the exotic, vegan meal you send them off to school with, well... you can go on believing that, I guess.

What's In It?

2007-03-05T08:44:00.000+01:00

In my last post I talked a bit about the reasons I have decided to buy thrift store clothes. I mentioned the fact that I couldn't afford organic cotton. I'd love to be able to. Really. I have actually purchased some very inexpensive organic cotton shirts here in France before. I was able to get them on clearance, because, to be honest, they were lacking a bit in the fashion department. Apparently, people who buy organic clothing aren't interested in having anything on their shirts aside from a little organics logo/slogan and a tree or two. Yeah, I'd like to have a little chat with the designers at some of these companies. I mean, I'm no fashion diva. You should see what passes for dressing up around here, but I do have my standards. As my five-year-old daughter would point out, shouldn't there at least be some glitter or something? So, why go through the trouble of hunting down decent-looking organic clothing (yes, it does exist). Incidentally, The Ideal Bite has a nice little list of organic clothing sources.

Before I start into a full discussion about why it's good to buy organic clothing (not just cotton, but hemp, wool and maybe some other fun stuff, too), maybe I should actually tell you what it is. One day, while in the local grocery store, stocking up on organic produce and flour, the cashier asked me what "organic" really meant. I'll admit to being a bit flabbergasted at the question. I've been buying organics for years, so I just take for granted that everyone knows what organic means these days. That's really an assumption I shouldn't make. And, if someone could have doubts as to the meaning of "organic" when applied to foods, certainly they could wonder what on earth it means to call clothing organic.

Basically, organic goods, whether clothing or food are products made from (usually a very high percentage of - but most of the time not 100%) agricultural products that are made without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. That does not mean they are made without any pesticides or fertilizers. There are non-synthetic agents that can kill bugs (certain bacteria that are harmless to humans and most animals but toxic to insects, for instance) or at least repel them (cayenne pepper, for one), and all sorts of things can fertilize your plants (good old-fashioned poop, for example). So, organic cotton, hemp or wool clothing would be made with fabric produced in accordance with organic agricultural standards (which vary from place to place). So, no cancer causing chemicals or animal hormones (where applicable) are used in their production. The dyeing of the fabrics could be another story, so that's something to watch out for, but in most cases, they are not dyed with all the toxic chemicals you find in traditionally manufactured clothes, which is why organic clothing often has those muted colors.

Now that we've got our definition, let's get down to business. Like I've said, I guess I'm not all that picky when it comes to fashion, (perhaps a somewhat sad realization to have come to, but hey, at least I comb my hair most of the time before leaving the house), but the lack of pizzazz of those organic t-shirts isn't the only thing stopping me from buying them. Because, just so you know, I have found that they are often thicker, nicer feeling shirts than their traditionally produced counterparts. I think I might be willing to pay a little extra for that. The biggest problem I have encountered in looking for organic clothes, aside from their limited availability, is, in fact, the price. I sat for an embarrassing amount of time online one day and found all kinds of places to buy organic clothing and fabrics. I found everything from jeans to shirts to unsewn fabrics to yarn and unspun cotton (if you're interested in some of the sites I saw, click here for a nice little directory). And, there were some very nice products to be had. Unfortunately, no matter how cute and tempting the patterns, cotton knit fabric at $15-$20 a yard just isn't in my budgetary limits (By all means, do browse around their site, though, because there's some cute stuff there). The only site I saw with products within my price range was this one. And, who knows? Maybe I'll buy something there some day.

I'm sure you're starting to wonder, though, why it would be so important to me not to buy just regular old cotton t-shirts and jeans, for example. I mean, it's one thing to want to put organic foods into your body. That's understandable to more and more people these days. Who really wants to feed their children pesticides, right? People get that. But, what difference does it make if you're putting organic clothing on their sweet little bodies? Once the clothes are washed, it shouldn't matter, right? Well, maybe not. A simple google search can show you tons of statistics about cotton production. The ones about how cotton subsidies are putting many people in the US and in developing countries in the poor house can be disturbing. But, for many people, that kind of statistic is just too far from home. Always lookin' out for number one, right? So, if financially supporting people you don't even know isn't at the top of your list of priorities, why would it be in your interest to buy organic clothing then? Well, do you or your kids drink milk? Water? Eat fish? Beef? Junk food? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to continue reading.

Reading the long list on this site will show you alarming information like:

"...cotton is the most toxic crop in the world. Cotton uses more than twenty-five percent of all the insecticides in the world and 12% of all the pesticides. Cotton growers use 25% of all the pesticides used in the US. Yet cotton is farmed on only 3% of the world's farmland."

Or:

"On the average, seven times as many pounds of toxic fertilizer are regularly used on cotton as are pesticides. Cotton fertilizers have fouled the air and polluted rivers, groundwater basins and aquifers wherever cotton is grown."

Yeah, oops, there goes your drinking water.

(By the way, if you want to know what an aquifer is, take a look here. If you don't care to look, just trust me that it's not something you want polluted with chemicals if you like your drinking water clean.)

What about:

"75% of the cotton and cottonseed in the US is genetically modified."

Not phased by all these statistics? How about the fact that cotton seed is highly used in food products? Don't want to believe a fact sheet provided by a pro-organics website? Just read the ingredients on the foods you're buying. Or how about checking an informational site about US Patents. They've got no particular political interest in telling you about how those little snack cakes you feed your children are laced with cotton seed. Were the cotton seed organic, you could actually claim it's pretty healthy for your body. I mean, take a look at what the Nutrition Data website has to say about it. Not bad stuff. Unfortunately, they don't put the many pesticides used in its production on the nutrition labels. How many calories are in cyanide, anyway? Gosh, I hope it's not too fattening.

Are you sufficiently freaked out now? I guess you can at least see why I try to make homemade, organic chocolate cakes as much as I can (though, I'll admit to being weak enough to grab some junk food from time to time). What can you do, aside from making your own homemade junk food, though? Well, as I mentioned in my last post, people tend to hear really well when you speak with your pocketbook. They'll start to wonder why people are suddenly buying more organic clothing. Look what has happened with the organic food business. Maybe 15 years ago, it was pretty hard to find an organic eggplant. Nowadays, even Walmart wants in on the action. If we start buying up organic cottons like we have the organic veggies, the large companies are sure to take notice. And, one way to be able to afford more organic cottons is to purchase most of your clothes at a garage sale or thrift shop. The amount you aren't spending on traditionally produced clothes at the local department store could either go straight into your savings account or be used to pick up a nice pair of organic jeans online.

See my logic now? I'm really not too crazy, after all. There are a lot of fun organic fabrics and fibers out there on the internet (or maybe near you, if you're lucky), and I intend to try them out (just as soon as I can save up enough money from my thrift store purchases to afford them). In fact, I've already started. See that little ball of fluff up there. Cute, isn't it? I've got three more just like it. A total of 16 whole ounces. What is it, though? I'm sure you're wondering (especially if you like to spin your own yarn). It's 100% organic cotton and sinfully soft. It's even that naturally colored cotton that grows in colors. So, no dyes. This one is called "green" Don't ask me why, because I would hardly call it that, but they say it changes over time, so maybe at one phase it'll turn green. I'm willing to pay to watch that particular experiment unfold. You can get it here. And, check out the recycled jean/organic cotton fiber for spinning (in the cotton blend section). That's got me intrigued, as well. So, now I just need to get to spinning. If I'm lucky, maybe I can make a whole sweater out of this stuff and pair it with some nice organic jeans some day. See how fun it can be to save the world?

What Is the Meaning of Life?

2007-03-02T08:29:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time, back in the olden days (when I was in high school) a math teacher revealed to us the meaning of life. According to him, the answer was "Twelve." And, sure, why not? It's about as valid as any other answer. At the time, I only saw it for the joke that it most likely was meant to be. Now that I am older and presumably wiser, I find a deeper meaning in it. Twelve is just any old number. For all I know, he chose a different number each time he told that joke. What's important in that is that I can choose any old number, too. Or, more interestingly, I can choose any old purpose that suits me. I can even claim one purpose for a while and later switch to a new one when it pleases me more. That's the beauty of life. There isn't any set rule about which direction to go. All you have to do is choose. Of course, for many, that's the hard part.

My post about randomness yesterday may have given you the wrong impression. It at least appears to have led my mother astray. She seemed to think yesterday's thoughts came from a sense of despair. Don't worry. They didn't. I wasn't the least bit depressed or confused about my life. I was merely expressing what many people probably feel at some point in their lives: a sense of the need to find a purpose for themselves. My mother reminded me that raising happy, loving people (like that sweet little girl up there) is just about the greatest purpose I can find for myself. And, I won't deny it's true. On the other hand, I also know that mothers who always live through their children's successes will inevitably end up lacking something. Because those successes are not their own. You can work hard to raise your children "right" and be proud of them when they succeed or turn out to be decent people. But, as a parent, my definition of success will most likely not completely correspond to my children's own wishes for their lives. And, when they do succeed (in whatever manner suits them best), it will be their success, not my own. I'll have to find my own. So, yesterday's thoughts were merely my search for the words to describe that feeling (that I think a lot of stay-at-home moms feel) of needing to find my own purpose amidst the chaos that parenthood can sometimes be.

I figure for now, I can make my purpose simple. Like I said yesterday, I have thoughts about the world around me (No, really, it's true). Some of them are deeper than others, and while I have your attention here, I may as well share them with you. Who knows? Maybe they will influence at least one person, or at least make some people reconsider their own choices in life and examine why they make them.

So, we'll start today... A while back, I decided to start shopping for clothes at thrift stores (if I were in the US, I'd try garage sales, but those don't really exist around here). Part of this decision comes from the desire to spend less. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't exactly raised with frugality in mind. And, I'll also admit that spending money can be fun. But, I have made the choice to stay at home at least while my children are small, and that leaves us with only my husband's income from his wine business. And, no matter what romantic notions you might have about wine-making, it is not a lucrative business for most vintners. So, a change in my spending habits was actually quite necessary. It isn't always easy for me, but it is something I am willing to work at.

Spending less is not the only reason I have found for thrift store shopping, though. In the past several years, I have become more and more concerned about the effect that I, personally, can have on the environment. Sure, I can recycle, or I can try to generate less waste by consuming less prepackaged foods, for example, but that only amounts to so much waste reduction. There is a greater impact to be made, I think. And, it lies in my fashion choices. Articles like this one can be found all over the internet. Or, how about this one? You read things like this, and you see immediately the impact that buying new clothes can have on the world around you. And, yet, I'll admit to being female. I like clothes. I like the way a new shirt can make me feel somehow prettier. I'm not immune to that. So, what are my options?

There are some fabulous organic clothes out there, but they are not in my price range. Does that really mean that I should have to contribute to the pollution of the earth (to make "traditional" cotton) with hazardous chemicals or ask the world's poor to slave away for my benefit? I've decided that the answer is no. Instead, I can "speak out" in the way that is most felt by large companies - with my pocketbook. I can refuse to see a $3 t-shirt as reasonably priced. Because, yes, I'll admit that I've come to expect clothes at such low prices, too (I'm certain the clothing companies have intentionally convinced us clothes should be cheap - the less we feel we're being gouged the more we're likely to buy, after all). But, what is the real price of that garment? What is the environmental price? What does is cost the workers in some sweat shop in a developing nation somewhere? I'm pretty sure the answers to these questions are something I'd rather not face. So, rather than face the reality of the consequences of buying cheap crap (because, let's face it, it's crappy clothing anyway), I have decided to stop that shopping cycle. I'll allow someone else to buy the cheap crap (because that's their own choice to make) and I'll feed off of their cast-offs. I'll go to the thrift shop and pick up one of their 1 euro rejects. In the end, I'll get that same feeling of being brand-new that I get with a new piece of clothing. And, I won't have contributed to the ever-growing landfills or the oppression of our world's poorest people to get it.

So, when I show you pictures of my most recent purchase here on my blog, I am not just showing how proud I am to have been so frugal, but I am also showing you that there are good things to be found. You only need to take a few moments to look. It's really no more difficult than sifting through a clearance rack. And, if you find it creepy to wear pre-owned clothes, then get out your laundry detergent before wearing them. It can't be any worse than the chemical residue that is bound to reside on your brand-spanking-new clothes straight from the department store.

So, without further ado, I'll show you my latest purchase (yes, another bathroom fashion show). On the way home from the grocery store yesterday, I stopped off at one of the nearby Secours Populaire shops (The French Goodwill, remember?). I had realized that my last shopping experience there had left me with a few good shirts and several things needing a little work. I also realized all of the shirts I had bought were button-downs. I like them, but I have to admit I do love t-shirts. So, I hunted down some t-shirts. Ten euros later, I had a bag full of different shirts for myself, as well as a few cute things for Lambchop #3. This is the one button-down in yesterday's bunch that I just couldn't pass up. It was exactly my size (so no modification necessary) and very cute. In case you have trouble distinguishing the colors, it's pastel stripes of lime green, white, light blue and tan. I get the same feeling of being a brand-new me as I always do with a new shirt, but at a fraction of the price and a fraction of the environmental cost. Who could argue with that? Even my husband couldn't find any objections with it. It's just money well-spent.

So, until the day comes when I can afford to support companies who do their darnedest to provide their workers with a proper living wage and limit their use of harmful chemicals to a bare minimum, this is my alternative. I will try to curb my spend-thrift tendencies with thrift shop purchases and making my own clothes - like this sweater vest I've just finished the front of (like that transition into knitting content?).

And, of course, I can bake almost entirely organic chocolate cakes (the only non-organic ingredient is the sugar, which comes from stocks previously purchased by someone else - even the chocolate is fair trade, organic chocolate). I'll do what I can to save the world one delicious bite at a time. Because, conservation is not about deprivation, and I've got the chocolate mustache to prove it.

Randomosity

2007-03-01T22:12:00.000+01:00

Do you ever feel like your life has taken a tragic turn for the random? Not the worse, which I guess is good, though, certainly not the better, either. Just random. I know that word is often over-used these days. We throw it into casual conversation like we use the words "like" and "you know". You know what I mean, "Like I felt totally random, you know?" And, everyone nods their head in random agreement. Because it is random agreement. I mean, they don't know what you REALLY mean. Do they? Nah, I don't think so. Just like you have no clue what the heck this entire paragraph means. I'm making no sense. And, that is exactly what I'm talking about. I'm just random. You know? Like totally.

Though you don't understand a word I am telling you, that first paragraph completely sums up my feelings these days. A bit like feeling like I'm running around like a chicken with my head chopped off (that's a random-seeming event, if I've ever seen one), though, admittedly less gory. I just seem to wander from task to never-ending household task without much sense of purpose. I wash the laundry. I cook the meals. I do the dishes after cooking said meals. But, none of these everyday chores seems to give me a sense of accomplishment. They just feel like random duties on a track to nowhere in particular. There is no purpose behind any of these tasks aside from taming the giant that is our household. He's an angry giant, too. If I do not perform a certain number of chores daily, he gets downright unruly and takes over the house.

I've figured the randomness out, though. I know where it comes from. It is inherent to the job of being a housewife. When you work in an office or store or anywhere outside the home, you are presumably gradually working toward a goal of some kind... finally closing out that file, finishing up that report, making that sale, etc. There is always someplace you are headed, even if it is by no means a lofty goal. There is at least a tangible SOMETHING you are working towards.

Housewifery (or the job of Household Task Engineer, if you will) does not include goals you can count in this way. Sure, you can make a list and check off the chores as you move along in your day, but in the end, you are only repeating a daily cycle. The dishes will never fully be done, nor will the laundry. All the tasks you appear to conquer are really only temporarily appeased until the household giant rears his ugly head again after the next meal. In short, your work is never done. Yet, you continue to do it, because somebody has too. I think it must be a little like the satisfaction (or clearly lack thereof) of working on an assembly line. You are constantly working (in fact, you work so hard, you may never find the time for a simple potty break), and yet you never see a single task fully accomplished.

Why am I telling you all of this? I don't really know. I know one thing, though: most of the time, the blog posts I give you are just random thoughts about my life. Nothing too profound. I never share my political beliefs. I never tell you my deepest thoughts about any issue (do I have any? - you might actually wonder). My blog posts reflect only the superficial surface of my life. I guess they don't tend to offend, yet they will rarely strike that special chord in anyone's heart. They are just a depiction of the effect child-bearing has had on my life. I am almost incapable of having a full conversation without slipping tidbits about my children in (or at least thinking about them a little). I am not atypical in this. Lots of women appear to cease to be anything but Mommy for many years. Their lives take on a random sheen. No one who knows them could really say what it was they did before they had children. It's just part of the job. It's an all-consuming job. And, I'm starting to suspect that I will need to work hard to not allow it to consume me. I don't want to be random. Not entirely, anyway.

So, I have been thinking I may soon decide to step a little further out on the blogging limb soon. I actually do have some thoughts about the world. They may not be profound, but they are not completely random, either. Maybe I will begin to share them with you. Who knows what could become of that? Instead of just telling you about the desire I have to be frugal or why I've recently started shopping in thrift shops. These are not random decisions I have made to change my lifestyle. There are reasons behind them, yet I'm not sure you know that. I just show pictures of the things I have bought. You see nothing of the motivations behind the purchases. Because telling you about them would take some thought. Thought that I, perhaps, do not have the time to spend here. We'll see. It could be interesting... being a little less random.

But, since this post is all about being random, I won't start here. I'll just randomly throw out some kid pictures instead. Because, that is what makes my mother happy, and since her birthday was yesterday, I think making her happy is one task I'm up for. So, here are the two big kids with their new friend "Volcan" (volcano in French). He's lambchop #2's classroom bear. He gets to spend the weekend with each of the kids in the class. I was a little afraid of the responsibility this involves, but in the end, it was a great idea. Even Lambchop #1 took him under her wing a little, and he was quite popular with Lambchop #3. All in all, he had a nice couple of days here. And, I think these pictures show that (and, in keeping with this post's theme of randomness, I figure I may as well just place the pictures randomly here and there in this post).

Oh, and for those wondering what "randomosity" might mean to me, here's a definition for you:

"animosity toward all (or at least some) things random (like the random use of the word "random").

I Totally Forgot About That

2007-02-28T10:18:00.000+01:00

Yo yo yo yo! (That's the only thing I can think of when I see this picture.)

I just got my new computer set up enough to get out the camera and hook it up. For the first time in months, I have actually uploaded some pictures I took long ago. And, surprise, surprise! What did I see there? Some projects I had been meaning to show off here but never got around to posting about.

Do you remember a while back when I had mentioned that I was knitting a bunch of hats? Yeah, you probably don't. That's my point. It's been a really long time. Well, here is a picture of one of them. This one is my favorite of all the hats I made. It just makes me laugh. There's a little story behind this one. I made a cute little Superman hat for Lambchop #2. I finished it up one night at dinner at my mother-in-law's. My brother-in-law happened to be there, and he was actually jealous. He instantly fell in love with the hat and said he'd love to have one, too. Did I mention he's in his mid-thirties? See, here in France, the height of fashion is to have a garment that is completely unique. Well, he definitely got that. So, anyway, I made him one, and I was really pleased with both how it turned out, as well as his reaction to it. He was very excited to see it, because I think he only half-expected me to make it for him. Then, he happened to receive it on the same day he lost his other hat. Couldn't get much better timing than that.

What I didn't forget about was the sheepies. You guys really like your animals - or is it just the furry ones that have the potential to produce knitting yarn? Unfortunately, these aren't really that kind. We won't hold that against them, though, because they are really cute. They are a local breed that is on the way out - I don't know if they would say extinction, but it's a rare breed. It's called the Caussenarde des Garrigues breed. There is a lot of tradition surrounding these sheep. They have these special bells they wear when in transit as well as these funny little red pompoms. My husband is interested in helping to preserve the breed. I'm interested in inviting them over for Sunday brunch, if you know what I mean. Okay, I'm teasing about that, but they are a meat breed. We'll just have to wait and see if I'll actually be able to eat them after having their cute little faces stare at me all wide-eyed like that.

So, how did I lose them? It's actually pretty easy to lose a small herd of sheep if you're really careful about it. All you have to do is put them between you and the gate. It's made even easier if, just on the outside of the gate, there is a huge pile of very appetising-looking hay. So, I had fed them, and was going over to get their water buckets to refill them when they saw that really tasty pile of hay. There wasn't much else I could do at that point. I then spent the next hour chasing them. First, I tried carefully maneuvering them back into their pin by putting myself in the places I didn't want them to go. Didn't work. They had too many options. I finally ended up accidentally startling them, and they bolted. They ran so fast, I decided to get the kids' help. Yes, I was going to count on a three-year-old and a five-year-old to help me round up 15 sheep. Forget the fact that they were both feverish with the flu and it was rainy outside. "Don't worry about changing clothes, kids, the sheep don't mind your pjs." Because I'm a caring mother.

So, we all piled into the Land Rover and hunted them down. They had actually gone pretty far. I found them in one of our lower vineyards munching on some bushes. So, I came at them with the car (slowly, of course), and made them want to go up hill to their pin. This was a slow process, but it was working. Then, I came to a fork in the road. I asked Lambchop #1 to get out and walk up one side of the fork while I walked up the other. She got a little overzealous and ran at them. This made them run, and boy do sheep run fast. I had no idea. They look all slow, but they're not at all. In fact, that's they're only line of defense. That and their herding instinct. They have no strength and no teeth or claws, so they can only run. And, run, they do.

So, we all got back in the car and headed up hill. They had ended up not too far from their pin. I tried placing a kid on either side of the winery in an attempt to get them back in their pin. I told Lambchop #2 to just wave his hands if he saw the sheep. Don't count on the help of a sick three-year-old for rounding up a herd of animals, though. It just didn't end well. The second I was out of sight, he started to cry and search for me. He was half-hysterical, saying he had waved his arms (forgetting the part about seeing sheep before you wave). He just didn't quite grasp the instructions. So, I gave up and called my husband. I whimpered to him about how sorry I was for losing his brand-new sheep. He and his father both reassured me that you just don't lose sheep like that, and they'd turn up. Sure enough, they did.

Took my husband all of 30 minutes to find them and get them back in their pin when he got home. In the meantime, they had a lovely couple days investigating the parts of our property they wouldn't normally get to see. And, I got to feel like I was on the Simple Life without my Gucci bag and Manolo Blahnik shoes. Talk about feeling underdressed for the party!

And, here is one last picture of them for you. See the one with her leg up? Those little legs really move, I'm telling you.

Glumville

2007-02-26T15:33:00.000+01:00

I have been mostly over the flu for the past couple of days now, but I just can't seem to shake the leftovers. I have felt completely void of any type of motivation and just pretty glum in general. I have even been considering baking up a huge old-fashioned chocolate cake, complete with icing and all 30 million calories. Will that really help things? Most likely not, but part of me is sure it will. I guess it doesn't help that I have a nasty cough that just won't quit. And, the piles of dishes, dust bunnies and laundry that are the result of having the kids home all day every day while I was sick don't add to any motivation I might have. I just feel like I need an escape from my life. A day spa, maybe. I have actually never done that, but I could totally picture myself relaxing in a nice jacussi and getting a facial and all other sorts of pampering right about now. Are 6-month-old babies invited to these sorts of events? Because I think she could really dig the mud bath (get it? dig - mud. Oh, I kill me. No, that's even really all that funny. See what happens after a week of the flu? I'm just no good anymore.).

There is, however, lots to be motivated about. I mean, I have this gorgeous new house. It is full of space and light. I love it, but I can't feel excited about cleaning it today. In fact, I would like to find any other thing to do to occupy myself. And, we have some fun new friends outside. I didn't mention it around here, I don't think (because it coincided with the move, and I just didn't get around to it), but we now have 15 sheep. They aren't fiber sheep, unfortunately, but they are really cute. I love to just sit and watch them through our front windows. Talking about them reminds me that I need to fill you in on the great story of the first day I was left alone with them. I lost them. Yes, I did. Don't think you misread that. The very first time they were entrusted to my care, and I lost 15 whole sheep. Had to go hunt them down. That's a story for another day, though.

For today, I think I'll tell you about my new computer instead. I should actually take a picture of my old laptop, but it's too sad, and you might cry. I know it's probably enough to make my Mac–loving older brother teary-eyed just thinking about its missing keys and other pathetic problems. I have had that laptop since October or so of 2001. It was even dropped on its poor little head two or three times by Lambchop #1. That episode caused us to have to change its hard drive. It was a real low point in our relationship. Obviously, the computer wasn't pleased, but I was pretty bummed to have lost a decent number of baby pictures as well as the very important application to get into grad school here that I was working on at the time. It has recently started being very bizarre and jamming up way more than it should. Given its age, most people would have said it was time to move on to someone new. We didn't really have the money for that, though.

Luckily for me, my mother and my brother plotted in my absence. I had told my mother that I couldn't think of a nice house-warming gift I needed for the new house. I really couldn't, though I have since thought of several things I'd like to have, even if they might be considered unnecessary. My brother knew of my computer troubles, and he suggested a new computer. Odd house-warming gift, to say the least, but worth every penny, looking back on it. I say that, because it sure is nice to type on this new-fangled keyboard. Who'd have thought they make them with all their keys still attached? And, I think the best thing about the new computer has to be that I can now properly use iChat to see my family with our fun little webcams. Before, it was too fuzzy a picture to warrant the effort needed to actually get a connection between my mom's computer and my own. Just when we got things going, it would all jam up. Last night, we learned that was no longer a problem. Money definitely well-spent, I would say.

Ooh, and with this new computer, when I type, the words can actually keep up with my fingers (and, no I don't type 100 words a minute). Very cool, indeed. Makes me just want to sit here and type and type and type. Surely, you will get bored with this post after too long, though, so I guess I should attempt to find some motivation for other tasks. Like... blog reading. I haven't done much of that in that past couple months that I haven't had an internet connection in the new house. I'll have to gradually work my way back into the groove of blog reading and see what all my favorite online friends are up to these days. Luckily, most of the blogs I read the most are written by people who can't find the time to post TOO often. So, I only have a little under a thousand blog posts to sift through. No big deal. Right?

I think I will go clean some windows now. That is completely unrelated to the dishes that are calling my name downstairs, but it still qualifies as household chores, right? Good thinking. If only knitting and blogging qualified. I'd have no trouble finding motivation. I really just want to sit down in front of the computer and read a bunch of blogs while I knit. I haven't knit more than a few rows in the past couple of months, and I really miss it (and those rows were on shoulders, which is like knitting less than one normal row). Yeah, on to those windows, so I can get a good picture of the sheep from here for you.

Linguistic Tidbits

2007-02-24T11:15:00.000+01:00

In my last post, I mentioned that I was having trouble keeping all the linguistic tids and bits in my head from getting tangled. Happens when I am sick or tired sometimes. A brain fog of sorts, I guess (by the way, I've been feverless for a full day now and only have a nasty cough and back ache left to deal with, so I am feeling relatively better now - thanks for everyone's concern).

I never thought mentioning that my foreign languages get mixed with each other could actually cause more than one person to comment. Jo's comment makes me want to get all teachy on you. See, if you look at my profile, you'll see that I studied theoretical linguistics. Actually, before throwing in the towel for the thankless, yet somehow (at least occasionally) fulfilling job of full-time parenting, I was actually working on a doctoral thesis on bilingual language acquisition (how babies - mine - pick up two languages at once). Sounds quite hoity-toity, but pleased don't be too impressed, I didn't get very far before abandoning my efforts. My studies in this realm did, however, provide me with lots of fun linguistic tidbits that qualify as entirely useless information to the task of raising children. Which is why, when you give me even the slightest opening to use this info, I'll jump on the chance.

So, listen up, the product of my who-knows-how-many years of higher education is about to be laid before your very eyes. Don't blink too much. It's short. You might miss it. So, Jo said that when living in Japan, if a Japanese word was eluding her, it would inevitably be the French one (the other foreign language she knew) that would come to mind. Some might find it odd that it wouldn't have been the English word to pop up, since she surely knows that language better.

(Remember: don't blink, here comes the good part)

Well, studies have been done (at great financial cost to somebody, I'm sure) that show that your first language processing takes place in one section of the brain while the processing of a second language takes place in another section. What happens when you throw in a third or fourth or - I bow down to you - fifth language? All those get lumped into the same section as that second language. The result is that the first language is relatively easy to keep separate from the foreign ones, but each foreign language can interfere with the others. Sometimes their little wires can get crossed.

So, when you are speaking Maori, and you can't for the life of you remember the word for 'supercalifragilistics', but then it suddenly comes to you in Swahili, it's only because your brain knows you are in foreign language mode, not native language mode, so when looking for the word that describes the concept you have in mind it is sifting through those entries in the card catalog of the foreign language section of the library. I guess when the brain is fogged over from fatigue or illness (or old age, as I am likely to learn some day), it gets a little less picky as to which foreign language it decides to select from when choosing vocabulary words. Hey, we all get sloppy from time to time. Who can blame the little librarian in your brain?

So, there you have it, folks. I have now unveiled the truth to one of life's least asked questions for you. Yeah, I do what I can for the betterment of mankind. Oh, and if you are wondering how they know this from their study, I'll quickly tell you that, too. It was a neurolinguistics study where they measured brain activity with electrodes and "stuff" (this part was obviously not the bulk of my studies). Then, they asked people to speak their native language and then the foreign ones. They were then able to see which parts of the brain were active when each language was being spoken.

That's pretty much it. And, may I just thank you for endulging me a bit on this. I spent a good portion of my adult life paying to amass this kind of information for what, in the end, turned out to be no apparent reason. I like to feel it served some little purpose from time to time.

Now that we all feel a least .0023% smarter I should resume my real job - the one no amount of education could prepare you for - and go get lunch on the table.

Flu Got Me Down

2007-02-22T10:26:00.000+01:00

Hopefully, I'll be able to come give you a longer post soon. Everybody in the family had the flu last week, and this week it's my turn. I'm into day 4 here and feeling a little better, but still not 100% yet. I had forgotten how unfun the flu can be. I have pretty much spent my days in bed attempting, yet often not being able to sleep. Needless to say, this affects my mental state, and I doubt I could give you a very coherent post at all. My French, when I try to use it is all messed up - Spanish words keep popping into my mind instead (that hasn't happened to me in years).

Thanks for the comments on my recent clothing acquisitions. I appreciate hearing that I am not totally crazy for buying used stuff like that (not used to doing that, but in my ongoing efforts to conserve money, and hopefully a bit of the planet as well, I thought I'd give it a shot).

Okay, back to resting (maybe I can throw in some knitting today, too - good for the soul you know. Helps cure what ails you, I'm sure. Well, unless it's allergies to cute furry creatures whose hair is spun into yarn, I guess).

My New Friend

2007-02-17T16:39:00.000+01:00

Gratuitous baby picture first:

I recently made the aquaintance of a new friend, and it is most definitely not the countertop in our new kitchen. Trying to do a quick and cheap kitchen, we opted for stainless steel sheets that my husband had professionally bent to form to the counters that he later applied himself. All in all, I think he did a fine job. There is one little detail that he missed, though. He should have had them bend the front edges inward as well. The metal is sharp and could be considered a bit of a hazard. I have nicked my knuckles on it numerous times getting things out of the drawers (those with smaller or larger hands may be immune to this one). I also sliced my finger on it this morning.

Then, I started to notice mysterious slash marks on my shirts. This one had me stumped when it first happened to my favorite hand-made sweater (two holes I have to fix on it now). Then, it was happening to my other shirts as well. I just didn't get it. When I noticed how many of my shirts had literally been shredded, it finally hit me. When I do the dishes at the kitchen sink, I rub my post-pregnancy belly up against the counter, and in doing so, I slice little gashes into my shirts. I should actually post a picture of the damage for you. It's pretty impressive on some shirts. Some of the shirts had stains on them anyway, so I wasn't too upset. Others were the ones I so lovingly altered a month or two ago. I wasn't even too annoyed about that since they didn't cost me much or anything at all, and messing them up only means I'll get another go at customising my own clothes.

So, armed with the name of the French version of Goodwill or The Salvation Army (Secours Populaire, for those who would like to know), I looked in the online Yellow Pages to find one nearby. I called up one that is about 15 minutes from where I live to find out how to get there and what their hours are. When I told the lady on the phone which village I lived in, she promptly mentioned the one hiding in our village. It is only open once every two weeks on Fridays for two hours only, but it just happened to be open yesterday. I only had about 20 minutes to spare, but in that time I found several fun things to play with. So, in the next few posts (as the clothes come out of the washer), I'll show them to you.

I'm letting you see the ugliest one first. It's an old lady shirt (even had that old lady smell). Pretty awful, but I liked the color (which is not very well-represented in this dark picture - I promise to do better once I finish the remodel of it). It's really a bright pink. And, the flouncy things up top crack (accidentally typed "crap" there - appropriate?) me up. I have already stripped them off with a seam stripper to leave a Mandarin color (isn't that what they're called). I will most likely throw in a few well-placed darts to trim the waste a bit, and I'm excited to say those little bits of turkey gobble I removed will be just the right size make into sleeve flounces. That should be pretty cute in the end, I think.

Next up, I have one of the best finds in the bunch, if you're thinking in terms of original price. Here in France, there is a brand that is very well-known and very expensive that makes high-quality Provençal fabrics into clothing. It's not necessarily my style, but when you happen across one in a thrift shop for 1 euro, you just don't argue. You snatch it up and think of its potential. It's actually a bit big, since it's a men's medium, but that just gives me more room to mess with it, right? Incidentally, this one, along with the flouncy old lady number are the kids' favorites. I guess there's no accounting for taste.
For this next one, I would like you to focus on the jacket. It's brand new looking (the spots are on my mirror because Lambchop #1 shakes her hands a little to vigorously when she washes them). It's a pretty well-known brand here in France. The best thing about it, though, is the fiber content. I wore it briefly yesterday evening and was surprised by its warmth. That's when I got around to reading the label. It's mostly wool with some nylon and a pinch of cashmere. I've forgotten the exact percentages, though. Very cozy. When I grabbed it off the rack, I didn't much time to study it well. I figured it would be a nice acrylicky thing to wear around the house till I can fix my sweater. What a pleasant surprise to see it's mostly made of wool and cashmere.

This next shirt is actually one of the real "best deals" of the bunch, because it fits me perfectly and is like new. No altering necessary at all, which pleases the instant gratification side of me. It is the same shirt as the one in that last picture, but I'm just showing it to you separately. Okay, I'm annoyed now. I am having to reload two of the photos I already uploaded. Why is Blogger like this? They just disappeared into thin air. Here we go. Anyway, the stripes on this shirt make it very hard to photograph without it becoming blurry, but you get the idea. It has pink, gray and white stripes. I am very happy with it. I got another one exactly like it in black (same brand and all). I will show you that one when I show you the pants I bought to match it. In keeping with my plan to spice up my pretty drab wardrobe tendencies, I selected some pants I wouldn't normally think of wearing. They're pretty fun, though, so I'm happy.

You'll see those as well as the two coats, the skirt and the other 5 or 6 shirts I bought later. And, what is the total price I paid (I'll bet you're wondering)? I think I must have gotten a total of 15 or 16 items for a whopping 12 euros. 11, actually, if you consider the fact that one coat had a 1 euro coin in it. How's that for a good deal? So, who's the new friend? Why the Secours Populaire, of course. Oops, no time to edit. I just received a call from the crying baby next door (in my defense, if he'd get around to installing the internet and my desk, I wouldn't have to do this in his office while he watches the kids).

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words: The Sequel

2007-02-06T20:14:00.000+01:00

This is the new and improved sequel of the last post where I mentioned pictures but didn't give you any. I don't know about you, but I do enjoy looking at the kiddos. And, with the move, it has been weeks since my poor family has seen them - no, Mom we didn't eat them for dinner tonight with BBQ sauce. See, these pictures were taken just after dinner while they were zoning out in front of the tv. Actually, I'm not sure what the baby was looking at but whatever - you get the point. And, it must have been a girly show, because the boy was happy to give me a nice smile.

Speaking of which, this picture just perfectly sums up his little personality. Do you see the mischief in his eyes (or hair)? He just cracks me up.

And lastly, not to sound all proud of myself, but I look at this girl and I am amazed that such beauty came from my womb. It has to be because I stumbled across the handsomest husband ever. Yep, I am a proud mommy, but it's my website and I'll gloat if I want to... gloat if I want to... gloat if I want to. You would gloat to if these kids happened to you.

Yeah, this is what being the mother of three kids can do to your brain. Some might claim I was like this before. I will neither confirm nor deny.

And, for those I owe a little email, please be patient. I still don't have internet in the new house. If you would like my husband's email address so you can badger him about this, please do let me know.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

2007-02-05T08:51:00.000+01:00

But, does that mean that without one I need to write that many words? Because I just don't have the time today. The move is going pretty well. It's begun to stall, though, which I'm unhappy about. Hubby seems to have gotten unmotivated, and life with three kids is getting in the way. It is moving along slowly, though.

I have a little recipe for you today. For anyone who actually keeps a sourdough starter around the house, here's a fun and very easy bread recipe I came up with last night:

Ingredients:

4-4 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
about 1 1/3 cups liquidy sourdough starter (often called barm)
1 packet of yeast
1 tablespoon of salt
water for additional moisture

How To:

Put 2 cups flour in large bowl with salt and yeast - mix.
Pour sourdough starter into dry mixture and stir with large spoon till combined.
Gradually add the rest of the flour and enough water (alternating the two ingredients) to obtain a very thick batter consistency - it will be sticky, but you don't care because you don't have to knead it.
Cover in same bowl you mixed it in and allow to rise till doubled in bulk.
Stir down (like punching down the dough but you deflate it by stirring with a spoon).
Pour into well-greased tube cake, bundt cake pan or whatever you might have that is tall enough to accomodate the dough once it has fully risen (since it is very soft dough, you don't want it to overflow).
Allow to double in size.
Bake in hot oven (I've got a gas oven that doesn't have any temps on it, so use your best judgement here - maybe 400° F or something) till it sounds hollow when tapped and the top is lightly browned.

I also think you could have some fun with adding nuts, herbs or sun-dried tomatoes to this recipe at the point where you stir it down. I just ate some sliced and toasted with butter and jelly for breakfast, and it was delicious. The low number of ingredients and the lack of time spent kneading made this a very easy bread to make. The sourdough starter gives it the flavor of a bread that has spent much more time rising than this one did. It also has a moist, airy texture that is almost spongey and it slices easily because of the bundt cake form it has. It will certainly become a busy day bread around our house.

I hope the all one of you who happen to have sourdough starter on hand enjoy the recipe. And, maybe it will convince the rest of you to attempt to make some starter as well. I will try to think to add a picture to this post later so you can see the fun shape of this bread. Until then... well... until then.

While You're Waiting...

2007-01-29T09:15:00.000+01:00

a photos for you while you wait for me to get internet connected in the new house (right now, I am freezing my hindside off in my husband's frigid office while I mistype every 5th letter on his French keyboard).

This is my husband's artsy shot of the aftermath of Lambchop #2's recent experiment with the medium of Halloween paint. Nice to see that he's still up to his old tricks, eh? I'll try to upload a few pictures of the baby and our oldest soon. There are still so many other things to do for now, though.

Real "Quick-Like"

2007-01-21T22:20:00.000+01:00

Going to be quick here. I'am too tired not to. Just wanted to share some pictures of what I've been up to...

My husband hates our futon couch. Says it hurts his back. He had to leave town before getting a chance to move all the furniture. The futon is one thing that didn't make it over. Now it likely never will. Two days without it made me see how much fun the kids have in a wide open living room. Why fill it with an uncomfortable piece of furniture? Thus, our new, unconventional livingroom is born. We must sit somewhere, so this is our "new" stackable/collapsible couch (more like a loveseat). I's two funky-shaped wicker chairs from Ikea that my husband bought years ago. They've been in storage. Now they're useful. The fabric was 9 bucks a meter. It made a quick and easy couch that's fully washable and even the kids can move it out of the way if need be. There will be lots of different sized (again, washable) pillows to match.

I've also been painting a lot. My dream would be to have the house look fabulous upon hubby's return, but I'll settle for pretty good. In his lifetime, he's never lived in a fully-furnished, nicely decorated home. I have so far made him believe I've been too swamped with the kids to get any work done (yes, I can be sneaky). What I've really been doing is taking crappy furniture like this and turning it into fun things for the kids' rooms. We've somehow accumulated a sorry amount of crappy (or at least cheap) furniture. Some is stuff my husband has had for years (most likely someone else's cast-offs). Some, like this little chest of drawers were bought for cheap at a local consignment shop (I put one drawer back in for this shot so you could get the idea). I'll admit I never thought this thing was pretty even when I bought it. But, at 15 euros, I couldn't pass it up at a time when we needed the drawers (cheapy plastic drawer towers will cost you more than that). When deciding what things to move to the new house, I considered taking this back to the same shop I found it in and reselling it. Then, I thought of doing this to it instead. I'd have to say this was a much better idea. Looking at those fun colors just make me happy, and Lamchop #1 loves it (though this one is for her sister, she's excited to know hers will look similar in the end). I always hated those swirly things carved into the wood. Too kitschy. Now they're a cool sort of kitsch. I just need to get some cute knobs to finish it up.

Sorry about the dark picture. With all the beautiful windows in the new house, you'd think I'd be capable of getting a decently-lit picture, but the truth is, I have been swamped with the kids. The sewing happened after 11 pm, and this picture was taken after they went to bed. The new house excites them so much that they're quite the handful. And with that "quick" post (I'm utterly incapable of that!), I'm off to bed.

Moving...

2007-01-18T22:03:00.000+01:00

No, I'm not changing blog locations. We're changing houses. Still no internet in the new one, so I'm sneaking a moment in the old house. Hubby's out of town, though, so I don't have much time for that. I will post all sorts of fun stuff when I get around to it, though. Promise. I've got paint and fabric for decorating fun, so you'll hear all about it when I get a chance. Till then, patience please... I'm alone with three kids (two of whom have the chicken pox - Lambchops #2 and #3 now, and all of whom have colds because of their weakened state from the chicken pox) trying to move into a new house with a baby strapped to my back almost every moment she's awake (kind of needing lots of attention these days). So, a wee bit hectic.

Cosmetic Surgery

2007-01-11T23:34:00.000+01:00

It's been a full week since I last posted, and I have been very busy. I could be packing the house to get ready to move (we're doing a gradual move, since it's just a short walk over there), but I haven't. I could even be making the curtains for the new house. I haven't been doing that yet, either (though I did wash and iron the fabric for them). Instead, I've been doing a little cosmetic surgery.

Those who know me know that I could probably do with a little redux on the girls, but somebody's got to produce the baby's milk around here, so they're staying (not to mention the scary possible side effects of such an operation). And, I've just started to get a few wrinkles, so it's not botox, either. Actually, it's not even me who is undergoing surgery. It's my wardrobe. After my last couple of pregnancies, I refused to buy clothes to fit my temporary post-pregnancy figure. Well, I bought clothes - just not pretty ones. Whenever I saw a largish shirt for under $3, I bought it. Didn't matter if it was a man's shirt or a woman's shirt. Now, I've got a hefty stock of them and some large ones that were gifted to me.

The other day over at Pocket Farm, Liz mentioned Wardrobe Refashion. I popped over for a second to take a look. That second turned into a couple of hours of searching online for inspiration and ways to change my frumpy clothes into something at least a little more flattering and feminine (keeping in mind that no amount of sewing is going to give me back the girlish figure of yesteryear). And inspiration I did find. Lots of it, actually. So, I set about deconstructing and revamping no fewer than 6 shirts. Some surgeries only ended up making a more figure forming fit. Others entailed completely transforming the garment into something a little more fun. They aren't all 100% perfect, but none is a complete flop. All in all, I'd say I've learned some fun things, and perhaps buying new clothes has now become a thing of the past for me. Why not pay much, much less for that large mumu at a thrift shop if I like the fabric (okay, well, not likely with a mumu, but you get my point) and concoct something original and all my own? Who says once you hit your thirties it's too late to develop a unique sense of style? Alright, my husband implied it, but whatever. What does he know? He's the same guy who will willingly go out in public in the holey t-shirts and stained pants he works in.

Unfornately, I was so inspired, I got right to it without taking many before pictures. I promise to take some afters. Besides, the one or two befores will be more than enough for you to get the idea of what my before wardrobe looked like. It's all basically a bunch of large button-downs that are way too long and make my torso look like a large roll of fat (as opposed to the large lumps up top and the smaller roll around the spot where actual inward curves can be found now that I've restructured the shirts a bit).

So, when I finish overheating the sewing machine with all this extra work, I'll take a few shots of my "new" clothes. In the meantime, just imagine me with an ear-to-ear smile as a I maniacally chop at my old clothes with a huge pair of metal scissors. That is actually a pretty good description of me while I'm working. I'm so happy about finally feeling less frumpy that I am giddy with the excitement of how the next shirt is going to turn out.

In knitting news, I also have a felted hat-turned-bag that I am working on. I think it's going to be really cute. I'll show it once the lining and zipper are in.