Seven Quick "Something Other Than" Takes

In honor of being back at Jen's for the linkup, I thought I'd go with a theme for this post. See if you can guess it (it'll be tough!):

1) Something Other Than Baby Clothes

After finishing off wave #1 of baby presents (before wave #2 of babies starts showing up, even!), I needed to shift sewing gears a bit. The Bean loooves the space jammies his grandma gave him for Christmas, to the point of asking for them even when it is definitely not fleece whether. So, when I saw this fabric on the JoAnn clearance rack, I had to pounce. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the white topstitching or not, but it all came together to look very mid-century retro, I think. Space Kiddo to the rescue!

Okay, I don't even know where he got that pose on the right. The rest? That's more like it.

Something Other Than Summer

What I'm wishing for this week. I kid, but DH found a house centipede (a creature from the ninth circle of hell if ever there was one) in the house, and I found ants inside a sealed container of graham crackers, all in one week. So... I'm glad to live somewhere that I can count on there being a hard freeze eventually.

Something Other Than Beer

While it is summer, though, we like to have plenty of refreshing adult beverages on hand. This seems to be the summer of beer for us, as we've had more around than we ever have just for the two of us (four cases, at once!). I was ready to change it up, though, and we had lots of egg whites on hand after making pistachio gelato, so it was time to break out the gin fizzes. Makes me want to reread "Love in the Ruins".

Something Other Than Bulbs

The summer perennials are finally taking the place of the remains of the daffodils, with the campanula going gangbusters. Bean loves the flowers that look like bells, but these lilies are my favorite. They always remind me of holy card pictures of St. Joseph.

Something Other Than Radishes

We actually got some peas this year. Only a couple plants germinated, but they went nuts and we've gotten some good eating out of them (sauteed with asparagus and garnished with mint, for one). There are also some cherry tomatoes coming in. Unfortunately, I didn't decipher Bean's exclamations of "The tomatoes are planting!" quickly enough, and he got several off the plant and "planted" before I stopped him. Oh well, there'll be more, right?

This isn't what I wanted for you, little tomatoes!

Something Other Than Boxes

...for my books! The other night I went on a stress-fuelled whine/rant to my husband (which he kindly listened to), including certain state-of-the-house issues. A few minutes afterwards, he hands me his phone and asks, "Was this what you were looking for?" Ethan Allen, $100. The only thing I've ever found on Craigslist are people who thing rusty (but not actually antique) tricycles are worth $40. Twenty-four hours later, we were filling it with games and all the books that were boxed up or double-layered on the other shelves. I'm sending him to do all the Craigslist searches from now on. The shelves were just exactly enough space, too (or so I thought until I found one last set of books from Christmas still in the box. C'est la vie.)

Bean's books are now next to the TV. I took a picture because they will never look this good again.

and, oh yeah, "Something Other Than God"

I wasn't planning to read this, because, well, conversion stories are okay and all but I read Surprised by Truth in high school and figured I'd pretty much heard it all at that point. After Mom handed me her copy and said she hadn't be able to put it down, though, I finally decided to give it a go, and subsequently neglected all housework for the next 36 hours while I couldn't put it down. It reads like a novel, and the fast pace makes it a great beach (or wherever summer takes you) read. So, yeah, tolle et lege, y'all.

See the rest of the quick takes at Jen's!