Monday, September 28, 2009

Another give-away

This one isn't mine. Check out Lisa's BEA-ut-ti-ful necklace here. I have a bit of a jewelry problem when it's hand-made. I feel I should support folks who are trying to earn a little something extra and darn it they're pretty and shiny!

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And just to brag, I made the most perfect apple pie this weekend. It was a perfect flaky crust and not too-sweet filling. Gotta love The Best Recipe.

It still wasn't as good as Grandma Gross'.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Adding some 'Local Color'

The 'local color' here being concrete.

We extended the patio and I'm quite happy with it. It's not fancy (fancy is expensive!) but it does the job and I'm pleased. Now we need to get the arbor in.


The rest of the household seems to enjoy it as well.


Friday, September 25, 2009

Drum roll please....

Thanks to everyone who was interested in taking part in my little give-way. It was fun having some action on the blog and something to get a little excited about.

So, without further ado, our winner - chosen at random from the self-same hat being given away - is:

LISA CURCIO!

Congrats, Lisa. This should be something practical, yet fun for a busy mama. Shoot me an email with your address at ihiker AT aol DOT com and I'll send your prize out ASAP. I hope you enjoy it.

We'll have to do another of these soon!

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And hopefully coming in the next post...something exciting here for once. It involves concrete.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

40 Days for Life

Today marks the beginning of the fall 40 Days for Life campaign.

Please take a few moments to look at the ways you can get involved to help end abortion in our country.

We can all make the effort over the next forty days to pray for the mothers and fathers who are considering abortion and for their children. Please pray for a resolution to the circumstances that draw them to that terrible choice.

Please pray for all those who have already been affected by abortion.

Please pray for those who promote or provide abortion.

Pray for those who are working to end this cruelest form of prejudice.

Monday, September 21, 2009

A contest

Our life here is not especially exciting and therefore, neither is this blog. So to shake things up a bit, I'm holding a little contest. (I'm also aware of more than a few lurkers out there who never post comments. Perhaps this will flush some of you out.)

Below, I give you a hand-knit scarf and cap.

This is a very special hat and scarf and not just because I made them with my own two hands. The multi-colored yarn is a discontinued line from here. It's so special because it was the very last hank on the whole universe. It's also one of my very favorite colorways - a color called 'Tamarak and Spruce' that is hand dyed. Those two facts together are enough to make me wonder why I am giving it away...I prefer to share the fibery goodness, I suppose.

The scarf is on the narrow side so that it's not over-warm when wrapped around your neck. It's yet another moebius - they're so simple, yet so complex. The nice thing about the moebius is that it won't slide off your neck when it's hanging loose. The hat is super snuggly with the welts alternating between brown and the Tamarak and Spruce - it has a perfect blend of green, browns, rust, a hint of gold and all sorts of gradations in between. It fit both Craig and myself equally well. Big I not so much.


The hand-dyed yarn is made from corriedale which is one of my favorite breeds with which to spin (though I did not spin this particular yarn). The brown in the hat is an unknown wool with about 25% alpaca mixed in. Corriedale is about in the middle on the itchiness scale. Craig and I both find it very comfortable on our necks, but if you're super sensitive to the woolies, you may not care for it. It's all about the micron count.

So, how do you go about winning this lovely little bit of custom-made warmness? Check out some of the info on sheep here. Then post something you learned in the comments. That's it. It can be anything: something about a sheep breed (some of my favorites are Border Leicester, Jacob, and Australian Merinos, just to name a few), or perhaps tell us what the most common sheep breed in the U.S. is, or what was used in the old days to mark every 100 sheep in the herd thereby making them easier to count.

I'll randomly pick a name and post the winner this Friday, September 25. You'll have your prize sent to you just in time for the cold weather or to perhaps pass on as a Christmas present.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Autumnfest '09

Our church down in Carrollton, St. Catherine of Siena, had its annual Autumnfest. Along with the booths and food and music, they have a 5k/1mile run-walk. Since I haven't been doing much running, we just showed up for the mile.

Big I was ready to go first thing.


I'm happy to report that I jogged most of it and felt fine and Craig also jogged it all while pushing the stroller. I was very proud of him for jogging the whole thing.

Big I, for his part, ran circles around the competition.



He had obviously worked up a big appetite by later in the day. And by the way, if you ever feed him cheese tortellini, keep your hands and feet clear, he loves the stuff. After he finished the pasta, he picked up the bowl and started scooping the sauce out. Then he dipped his tofu and avocado in it. Yum, yum.


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And wouldn't you know it, after days of rain here, my rain lilies bloomed. I thought they were about dead.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Cooking up Trouble

Big I gave me some help in the kitchen the other day.

Apparently the towels were taking up too much space for his rump to fit in the drawer. Not sure what the egg carton was for.



But he was very helpful with spreading the cheese on the lasagna and didn't even hint at falling off the chair.



Had fun with the flour-painting the other day again too.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Night night

Is there anything nicer than sitting quietly in the dark listening to your husband sing the baby to sleep in the next room?

I thought not.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

September Garden Update

I haven't planted a fall garden. I just haven't turned my attention to the outdoors much lately. We've been getting some tomatoes and a couple of cantaloupes, but nothing overly impressive.

I did finally discover that there was a rouge butternut in the mystery gourds.


The perennials have been looking good.

Black and Blue salvia
Artemesia and salvia
Anise hyssop (which smells oh so good) and mealy blue sage
Horseherb, which is taking over the shade bed
And of course Turk's Cap, which we've had a hummingbird coming to visit but I haven't been able to get a picture of her.
And this little spinner friend. Sorry for the poor exposure.

And this thing is growing best of all though I can't figure out how he got planted in that tub.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A return to normalcy

Having a kiddo of course means that life as you knew it is in the past. However, it's nice to have some sort of normal, adult interactions despite being the primary caregiver to a one-year-old. I had occasionally gone to Spinning Guild meetings for a couple of hours, but there was always mental acrobatics trying to figure out how to Get Big I down for a nap right before I left and make sure he nursed at the right time, etc. Just a bit of a hassle.

But last night I left the little man with his dad right after dinner and went to my first Commissioner's meeting. (Craig's dad sucked us into service, I'm actually fairly excited.) I wasn't even that worried about it either. I got to go do adult things with people who could use more than one-syllable words, you don't have to worry about them if they wonder off and don't wear diapers. Or if they do wear diapers, I don't have to change them.

I did call after the meeting to see how things went and Craig reported that after a bit of crying and wondering around the house looking for me, Big I settled down to the business of playing for the evening and by the time I called at 8:30, he was asleep and all was well.

Yahtzee!

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And since I've been slacking on the photos lately, here's Big I at the playground a few days ago. Wearing his 'tchoos' (shoes).

Sunday, September 6, 2009

What a Beautiful Boy

The Dallas Morning News has been reporting the most beautiful, sad, and important story of a local family. Choosing Thomas is such an unusually wonderful pro-life story for the secular media.

What a fantastic, touching, meaningful story for this family to share. I hope they find some comfort in having known their baby and thank them for sharing the value of his life with others.

It also made me think of my uncle Thomas who died as an infant and all those innocent children who are in paradise praying for us. Thank God for all their sweet souls whether we knew them or not.