Seven Quick Gardening Takes

My garden exists to make you feel better about your garden.

1) Don't these look pretty? I took this on Tuesday, um, when I brought them home from the greenhouse.

25% off, and 25% rootbound.

2) I think it's safe to say that I care more about the bee's opinion of my lawn than the homeowner's association.  

But seriously, it smells awesome.

3) I think my plants are trying to contact the mothership. Possibly in hopes of escaping from my garden.

Bean's just excited that the hen and chicks likes building towers, too.

4) Role reversal:

Clover is a good first food, right?

5) The most exciting thing I found in the vegetable garden after coming back from Fourth of July week was this weed:

My trusty Audubon Field Guide says it's known as a piemaker, because the pods have crimped edges like a pie crust.

6) I can say that the front garden looks better than before the daffodils were ready to be pulled up. No one actually needed to use that sidewalk, right?

"Crop circle" gardening is very in this year.

7) But hey, at least I can take solace in my mad nature photography skills, right?

ProTip: It may take several minutes of waiting, but letting the fly land is crucial for the shot.

See more quick takes at Jen's!

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!

Tiny clothes!

Since the last of these shipped out a couple of days ago, I thought I'd share what's been on my sewing machine and knitting needles for a while now:

Top to bottom: Burda 9505 (OOP), modified to be a onesie, with my take on the My Little Man Sweater Vest; McCall 4865 (sleeveless, with a 9"x45" rectangle for the skirt), with my version of Petit Artichaut; The same dress with a cropped version of Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater (with a little crochet trim on the cap sleeves); and a little raglan sweater I came up with myself.

Seven "Better Late Than Never" Takes

Linking up with other quick takes here.

Most of these are actually from last week, but last week was just more interesting. Unless you are really into potty training sagas, that is. (We're all just trying not to get high off the carpet cleaner fumes here...) So, without further ado...

Teeth!

What are these things in my mouth?!?

I don't want to attract the evil eye of the teething gods, so I'll just say that the first one was a total surprise, and the second one (showing up the next day) was only slightly less so.

Surprise Irises

I always thought that irises looked different from tulips going into the ground, but I suddenly have four iris plants in the same row as the tulips we planted last winter, so I have no other explanation than that someone at the cheap Aldi bulb-sorting facility got lazy. Hey, I'll take it.

Tulipomania*

I should probably be attending to my current, rather pathetic-looking garden, but we took a trip up to Holland, MI over Memorial Day weekend, and there were still enough tulips in bloom to get me thinking about next spring. I took home an order form from the tulip farm there, and got totally lost in pictures of all the different varieties. It's hard to believe they're all the same type of flower. I started a Pinterest board, so you can tell this is totally a serious enterprise and not an exercise in time-wasting.

The Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference

The conference is the family business (in a non-money-making sort of way), so I've been there to work since I was a kid, but, with a three-year-old in the house, this was the first time I was interested as an attendee as well. I went to a very relevant talk on discipline by Ginny Seuffert (and her fantastic Yonkers accent), caught part of Catholic Icing's talk on preschoolers, and brought home a good used copy of Noah's Ark by Peter Spier (it was on my mind after Kathryn mentioned it), and The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane (review coming, but the short version is: it's perfect, go buy it). We also tried to bring home a Holy Heroes CD, but it got left in Minnesota, so we'll have to wait for that until Grandma mails it.

Popsicles

One of Bean's aunts saw these and thought of us, so now we're on the hunt for good recipes. I have my eye on Peach Bellini pops, but I should probably start with something for the kiddo. If you have any favorite recipes, I'd love to hear about them!

Baby birds!

Some robins are nesting in a juniper topiary in our front yard, where there is juuuust enough space between the branches to catch a glimpse. Bean is quite enamored, and keeps asking if their eyes are open, and giving ideas of what they might like to eat.

*Yep, it's a real word.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Over at the Church Ladies'.

Seven Quick Summery Takes

Linking up with Jen.

These Shoes

Went online casually browsing for sandals, since my only pair without heels is a pair of Old Navy flip-flops (and I don't even like wearing flip-flops). Fell for these. Hard.

Now I just need to convince my husband that these are an investment piece. Or, you know, actually bill some clients.

Anthro has them, too. Look how cute they are on the model!

Sunglasses

I think it might be time to retire this pair. I bought them at Mervyn's, to give you an idea of how old they are. I still love them, but they're getting pretty scratched and bent (maybe I'll invest in a case this time around, too?). I'm seeing a ton of aviators and wayfarers out there, though, which don't really work on a small face. Any suggestions?

Pistachio Ice Cream

Even though I bought a half-gallon of whipping cream on my last Costco excursion, the near-infinity of good recipes has prevented me from actually making the summer's first batch of ice cream. But then I looked in the freezer and found a bag of Trader Joe's shelled pistachios. I think we have a winner.

Summary Bug

Okay, not summery (pun totally intended), but this will help you pass the time if you're still riding out spring showers. The Netflix app recently experienced a glitch that replaced the final line of their movie summaries with the line from a different movie. Set down your coffee before you click through to read some of the best.

My new favorite tonic water

It's officially gin season here, and I discovered Hansen's tonic water at TJ's just in time. Now I won't be drowning this excellent gin (a gift from my BIL) in HCFS-laden stuff that's flat by the end of the too-big bottle.

Pioneer Woman's Iced Coffee

Also black and creamy and good for you.

This is always in my fridge. I made the first batch yesterday. Except that she makes two gallons, and I just make a quart at a time. Two ounces of coffee is exactly the size most sample packets come in (if you're into sending away for free samples like I am). A splash of the aforementioned whipping cream (hey, I'm a nursing mom! I must need that milkfat for ... something...) makes this way better than Starbucks. Sun tea, on the other hand, I make by the gallon.

Our First Vacation of the Summer

Some friends were going to come to visit us this weekend, but then my travel-loving husband realized that he could use rewards points to get rooms for both families in Holland, MI, so we're going up there to catch the last of the tulips (apparently they didn't have any for the actual tulip festival this year!) Bean's excited to see the windmill and the lighthouse, of course.

Book Acquisition Mode

For a while, I thought I had it under control. I'd come out of a good used book store with maybe one or two things, if even. Lately, though, the book acquisition has been picking up steam, for better or worse. I blame "The Squirrel's Birthday." (The source of this blog's title, incidentally.) It's been a great favorite of ours, and I wanted to find some of the author's other volumes. And that's how it started:

Hop on over to Half Price Books. They don't have what you're looking for, but you do come out with like-new copies of Milne's poetry for $3 each, so one could hardly call that a waste of time.

Go online to Better World Books, manage to find two of the three books in question for a good price (still AWOL: A Great and Complicated Adventure). Realize that you're going to be near their warehouse that weekend, so you click "pick up in store."

Library covers are a mom's best friend.

Arrive at the outlet with Mom to find a sign that says "Saturdays: $10 box sale!" That's right; fill a box with books for $10. Manage to keep it to splitting one box rather than each getting your own. Get a big stack of paperback classics, plus "The Enchanted Castle," which you're quite looking forward to after reading this post about E. Nesbit's books. (found via Meg's Facebook page)

Visit family for the week. Mom has a few books for Bean, of course.

Books are our love language.

Drop in to church while the homeschool co-op is meeting. One of the moms has brought boxes of books that she is purging. Peruse.

Pretty sure I grabbed more than this, but I'd already shelved them. That's Hans Brinker on the right.

Back at home, go garage saling. Find a box of $1 cookbooks. Prepare to leave with only two, but then remember that the Frugal Gourmet introduced your family to the apple omelet and pick up three more. The fact that I'm Just Here for the Food turns out to be autographed does nothing to help curb your habit.

Tom and Becky, what were you thinking?

Check your email; someone on a listserv with Mom is getting rid of a full set of '96 World Books. Claim them. Be pleased when you find out they're like new, and are the leather bound ones, not the ones that make a picture when they're on the shelf.

Physical media forever!

Speaking of shelves...