Whew! We made it safe and sound. Just in time for Father's day too.
It is hot and sunny here and we could not be happier.
We've hit the beach as often as we can, which is every day. The smell of the ocean is incredible!
The new house is better than it looked in pictures. I love it. We have gorgeous mix of mature and young trees. We are surrounded on 2 sides by a lake. We have grass carp. Huge fish who leap out of the water to eat...grass. Crazy right! I know... We also have a giant snapping turtle who swims about. At least I think it's a snapping turtle. We'll be steering clear of that guy.
Our neighborhood has tons, and tons of kids. Many of them are around B's age. She is soooooo excited.
We've explored a bit but ran into car trouble this past week...most unexpectedly. It appears that my mechanics in PA were putting the wrong coolant in my car and were slowly killing it. Nice. Cussers! Thanx!
So this week it's on! We are ready to go. I've joined a local mommy group and we meet tomorrow at a splash park for play time.
I'll keep this weeks post pretty short. I have not really planned this one out. I'll post some pictures because as the saying goes...a picture is worth a thousand words.
Thank you for reading,
J
Bubba preparing for Fathers' Day Feast!
B and her Great Nana
Bebe, the funniest lil' dog
Our new down town!!!!
Lots of Spanish architecture...
Oldest school house in the US
Only entrance beyond the fort. Huge!!!
The look out.
Anchor at the school house
How we'll discipline from now on...
A lady said to us that she had a pirate friend... B's face when this guy appeared was one of utter amazement. She says, "Mom, he's a real pirate! Not a pretender one, but a real one"
Bang, bang, shoot, shoot... B and her Loot!
Wusthof made it too!
the back yard
Just thinking about what we'll be doing next week...
If you saw the title of this weeks post and then heard Europe's anthem you are so on my wavelength this week. If you have no idea who Europe is, well then, Click the video below. Even if you know it, click it anyway. It's sooooooo worth it. Cassio keyboards, permed hair and operatic rock...
This is our last week in Philly. We've finished the packing and have moved to cleaning. Cleaning can be therapeutic, right? I've used it to burn energy or boredom, and I usually like cleaning. I have to say I'm over it this week. OVER IT! I clean, B messes. I clean again Wusthof barfs. Cuss!
Another great happening occurred when I ran over a nail yesterday. Love to fiddle with that this week before a 900mi drive. I changed a tire though. Who knew I could do that? The car rolled off the jack just as I was tightening the bolt/nut (?) things. Nick of time on that one. I'm also pretty sure that was not suppose to happen. Just glad I had the tire and bolt/nut(?) things on. Cars! Mah.
We are officially out of food. I have some brown sugar and golden raisins left, as well as some hot sauces. Not even a gourmet like the husband could fanangle edible vittles from those ingredients. It's Duncan donuts for us for the next few days. Hello coffee! I've been on the coffee wagon for quite a while now. Most of the year I'd say. Oh, how the mighty do fall. Look out caffeinated mornings, I have returned.
Things I love
B-isms~
B and I were sharing a root beer soda this week. She gasps and says, "Mom! Is this a beer? Have I been drinking beer?" Ahhhh, the power of reading.
Crossing things off a list~
Yeah, I'm that girl. Want something done, write it on a list. I think that is why I do most things, just to be able to cross it off the list.
Storms~
More specifically I love the way the sky looks just before it rains. Grey, with a silver light behind it. It makes the colors of everything else pop. Brings beauty to my attention that would normally go unnoticed. It makes me relax, and pay attention, at the same time it helps me get lost in thought. My idea of meditation.
On that note (watch the Final Count Down video again...),
Happy Belated Memorial Day!
I took the day off and decided not to post last week.
I am happy to report many good things this week.
First and foremost I finished the body of B's Afghan!!!! Wheeeehoooo! I actually finished last week. It took 2 months. Pretty good for a freshmen, I'd say. But wait it's not over...this blanket needs a border. I'm not into fringe so that is definitely not an option. I do not know how to crochet (yet...), so crocheting a pretty edge is out. My Nana does crochet and could be just the resource I need to learn. That would mean that the project would remain unfinished for a bit...not liking that idea. Hmmmmmm.....
It was in another small project that I found my solution. When I first started knitting way back in February, I made a bunch of small swatches. I decided to see if I could make a small quick project with them and here's what I did...
He loves it.
Now if I can sew this project I could finish the blanket this way too. Back to the books. I knit one side using the leftover angora yarn on smaller needles. I decided to make the first and last 5sts Purls and the middle 15 stockinette( looks like a sweater and the ends roll up a little) to create the finish I want.
I spent last week knitting this border which is 4"x54"(like a long scarf). Last night I stitched it on.
Taaaadaaaaa!
I like it but will have to do something extra for the seam. It did not come out as invisible as I had hoped. I will try a different technique for the next one.
Only 3 more to go.
The food front this week has been interesting. This week is our last full week in Philly. I did one shop last week for fresh fruits and veggies and almond milk to get us through till the end. It's funny to look at my pantry and try to put something edible on the table as the supplies dwindle. Next week will be even better.
We did a good deal of roasted veggies. Roasting brings out a sweetness that both B and I just love. She'll eat just about anything cooked this way.
I discovered a bag of seasoned bread crumbs in the freezer. Not wanting to waste them I decided to used them with some Yukon Gold potatoes cut into fries and roasted with butter...
We stuck to starchy breakfasts a couple of days this week. That means waffles and crepes. I know we seem to eat crepes a lot. We do i guess. They are soo good and sooo easy to make. Savory or sweet they fit everywhere. I know B will eat them, so it limits my waste and uses up ingredients! Awesome.
Sunday afternoon the pickens are gettin slim for lunch ideas. I have two left over crepes, English peas and soup. B wants soup and a crepe for dipping. Done. I do not want to make something else so I decided to experiment. I took a 1/4 cup of the soup, 2 Tbls butter. Brought them to boil. To that I added 2 Tbls of AP flour and browned for about 1 minute. To this I added the English peas and couple of pieces of semi soft farmers cheese I found in the fridge. I placed this mixture in my heated crepe. Voila....and yummmmmmm...
I hope I can keep up this kind of creativity next week.
Caramels
M & M Cookies for Friday night fun night
This week has also meant packing. That's what a majority of my time was spent doing. Sorting through the winters and no longer necessary, and redistributing them. We are packed in and getting down to living out of our suit cases. Anticipation is compounding and seems to make some days stand still. B and I are trying to stay as busy as possible. We've taken a lot of walks and bike rides to fill some of the time. She has begun to manuver hills at the park on her bike. She pushes the bike to the top of a hill and charges down the grassy side at her top speed shouting gleefully all the way. It's pretty funny.
One nice thing that happened this week that I thought I would mention occurred at our local library. B was reading to me while I sat knitting the first border. She has improved so much this week with her flow. There are fewer and fewer breaks in her reading. Not to mention her confidence has been boosted a bunch from finishing Frog and Toad the week prior. She has been a reading machine this week. She finished her book and ran off to return it for another. While she was gone a fellow mother with 4 of her own kiddos running about, inquired about what I was doing. I told her about it all briefly. She said it was comforting to see. It reminded her of her own childhood and it was inspiring. How nice is that! I never thought my knitting could do such a thing. I showed her the video and books I used from the library and about the other resources I used to teach myself. She is now going to try to teach herself how to knit, and perhaps inspire another.
I just noticed how long this post is... Rambling on and on. Hey I'm idle what can I say.
Lets get to Things I Love...
Things I Love
Grease~
John Travolta, Olivia Newton John Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn! Singing, dancing! Are you kidding me. Greatest movie ever.
Trashy Cable TV~
Oh, True Blood-Sons of Anarchy, how I secretly love you for your bad characters and twisted and juicy story lines.
Friday Night Fun Night with B~
Grilled Cheese on homemade bread, M&M Cookies and fruit and Lemon
