gourd glitter

Ingrid and I had fun the other night, glamming up some gourds. It's a Martha craft, (here are some other glittery Martha crafts) so of course we used the lovely Martha glitters, which really are far better than the cheap ones) and even her specific "glittering glue". This was the easiest craft in the world to do, and even though glittery gourds are useless, they're so pretty.
Isn't this necklace adorable? I bought it from this Etsy shop, and I think it's so cute for fall. There's also a pearly version. Phillip loves it. "I like your acorn, Mama!"

swimming lessons

Today was Phillip's first swimming lesson. He has been excited for weeks, and wasn't disappointed. In fact, he nearly lost his mind, he was so excited while in the pool with Adam. He wanted to wear his backpack with his things in it, and as you can see, he's taking one of his harmonicas with him.

Okay. Toddlers in swim caps? Definitely up there with the cutest things, ever. Even though his lips were blue when he came out of the pool, he's already excited for next week. And he (and we) made new friends, too!

ambitious garden, odds and ends

Good morning! I picked up this shower curtain at Frenchy's last week, and I really like it. It's the waffle weave you see on one side, terry on the other. A bit of bleach, a long hot wash and a day in the sun, and it's like new.
And did you know that lettuce grows really tall and flowers if you leave it long enough? (Ahem, on purpose, of course.) I am curious to see what the flowers look like when they open.
These are our tomatoes. There are probably at least 40 pounds of tomatoes on the plants, mostly still green. The funny thing is that most people around here had a terrible year with their tomatoes, and they all ended up dying. Not so with these ambitious ones. They were (and are) caged, but with the incredible size they grew to (they would be at least six or seven feet tall if upright) and the hurricanes that graced us over the summer, they're now of the horizontal variety. And delicious! Some of them are cherry tomatoes, which P and I go hunting for and devour in a matter of seconds. Yum.
This adorable tiny jar was in a box of adorable tiny jars I picked up at a yard sale on the weekend. It says "Hinds Honey and Almond Cream" on one side, "A.S. Hinds Co. Portland Maine USA" on the back, and "Improves the Complexion" on one side. On the other side, it says "Alcohol 7%". I love it. Oh, and see the cute gourds in the background? I'm going to be glittering them, a la Martha. I'm excited. And I'm excited that I'm excited, and not nearly as exhausted and uninspired as I have been as of late. I'm still sleepy in the evenings, but I was wide awake at 4:24 this morning and finally got up at 5:15. Now it's 5:46. Almost time to start the day.
And these are Adam's pride of the garden - cayenne peppers. I like a bit of flavourful heat in dishes, but I think it would probably take the rest of our lives to eat all of the ones that are growing. We know some people who do enjoy them more often, though, so we may be packing them up (carefully) for gifts. Speaking of Adam, he shot a wedding on the weekend. The pictures are beautiful, and you can see a few here. I particularly love the bride's veil. You can see it well in the exchanging rings picture - it's lovely.

In complete miscellany, I think I would die of the cuteness if I had these. Wouldn't they be great for mini pies to have in the freezer? So cute. I wouldn't complain if I got the apple one for Christmas. Just in case you were wondering.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

TOAST time

Ahh, a new TOAST catalogue has been released! I love their gorgeous photography and the beautiful rich textures in every image. I've never actually purchased anything from them, but should I happen to win the lottery, I will snag up some of the goodies here, and be a little better dressed. Aren't these images autumn, on your screen?





My dream coat , if anyone feels inclined to buy it for me. In ochre, of course. Ahh, I'm feeling faint. It's so perfectly perfect, in every single way. Maybe with this bag?
And this scarf?
If I wasn't so short, I'd wear it with these boots.

All images from TOAST.

progress

I think I'm finally crawling out of my reclusive hole a bit. Well, not so much a reclusive hole as a busy and tired one. We've had so much going on, all of which is exciting. I finally took my camera out after our picnic supper tonight.

1) The house is painted! Well, there's still one little section Adam's working on, but really, it's almost done. Remember the terrible colours before? I like the new look much better.
2) Baby 2 has been growing, and I can't suck my belly in any more. I'm 12 weeks now, which is comforting. The nausea is pretty much gone, I'm eating lots, and still very, very sleepy in the evenings. I started Jane Eyre (again) last night after P went to sleep, when I couldn't scrape myself up off of the bed. Then I came downstairs so I wouldn't fall asleep, and P called out "Mama! Get up off the bed and get me my pacifier!" (I had a little chat with him about how we speak to each other. It was hilarious.)

3) Adam's been accepted into a program whereby he gets paid to do his photography for a year.

!

I know! We're super excited. To say the very, very least. This means that he'll be working at that a lot more, which is wonderful. It also means that he'll be paid!

It poured rain for most of the day, and it was sunny and beautiful for our picnic. I hope that your day is ending well, too. Goodnight!

recipe-a-week #28: cucumber salad & I'm still alive

I finally was able to stomach cleaning out the fridge today. This is a minor miracle, for which I am thankful. But it turns out that we had FIVE cucumbers lurking in there. Two were far, far beyond hope, but the remaining three were in fine form. How does one use an entire cucumber? (Aside from cutting off the ends and diving in, which I have been known to do.) Cucumber salad, of course.

I liked this recipe a lot, as did Phillip, although I think Adam found it a bit too vinegar-y. (Note: he finds anything remotely reminiscent of vinegar too vinegar-y.) I did use cider vinegar - next time I think I might try 1 tsp (rather than tbsp) of regular white vinegar instead. And easy - you can't get much speedier than this. That was my domestic accomplishment of the day. (Ahem, summer.)

So no, I'm not dead, just tuckered out from growing this baby. I am feeling much better, though, and my grossness seems to be reduced to evenings, now. I'm back at work, which is really fun and very tiring, and takes up much of my time. My caseload has changed up quite a bit from last year, which I'm very excited about, and I have a new student in grade Primary. I LOVE Primary classrooms. If I was a classroom teacher, it would be Primary for sure. I have been woefully lethargic in the domestic goddess realm, but I am re-inspired to try making marshmallows after hearing someone explaining the process this morning on Martha's Sirius channel (another reason why I like being back at work, I'll freely admit.) There is definitely one campfire night ahead before the summer is really over, and if I'm on the ball, I might even make homemade graham crackers. Please don't have any expectations, though, okay? I'm off to bed. At 8:49.

Good night!