On the way to school

I was a music major in college and I try to justify my degree by injecting a little music appreciation into every day.
When we listen to music on the way to school, the kids tell me how a piece feels.
"this one is scary, ooooo" or "this one is happy"
Today we were listening to one of the Grande Valse Brilliantes by Chopin.
The Elder Hug-a-Bug asked me what kind of music it was.
I thought for a second and said, "It sounds like deer playing in a meadow to me. How does it sound to you?"
"Maybe it is the tweet tweet tweet singing of the birdies. Or, (pause) maybe it is someone playing the piano!"

Today

We were watching Princess Bride just now, and my son tells me:"This is the story 'bout Cinderella don't gets eaten by fish"


update: the Elder Hug-a-Bug:
"This has the Hamsters of Unpleasant Size"

That has nothing to do with anything. I just had to record it somewhere.

Thanks for the concern about My Hubby.
He is doing great.
The overnight stay at the hospital was just for observation and he passed all of his tests with flying colors.

I finished my big secret project yesterday and as a result, I was able to spend some time cleaning out my crafty area during my 45 minutes of solitude between dropping kids off at school and picking them up.
I managed to mend 4 pieces of clothing that have been hanging out on my table for weeks and weeks.

I was also able to locate my floor.
That sounds impossible, I know, but I actually can see the hardwood that had been beneath all of the fabric scraps and self-healing mats.

I have a birthday present to make for a party this sunday, I haven't decided whether to make an Olive or one of these.
I have another 45 minutes on Thursday to look forward to, so I guess I don't have to rush it right now.

We're off to the park!
Have a great Tuesday,
Jess

Apples, Apples, Apples

I love fall when the farmer's markets start to fill with apples.

I got a big bag of them on Friday and today we are making applesauce.

I haven't ever made applesauce before, but the recipe seems pretty easy.

Apples, water, cinnamon.

I discovered something fun while I was peeling the apples.

If you spin the apple a second time, you get apple spaghetti.

The Younger Hug-a-Bug was perfectly entertained eating his apple spaghetti, and I could focus on cutting up the apples.

My beloved peeler/corer/slicer needed adjusting, and I was too impatient to fix it, though I think that I did about 10 minutes more work by slicing the apples by hand.

It's really the peeling that I dislike, so that worked out ok.

The aroma in my house right now is heavenly.

We're in for a lunchtime treat that can't be beat!

Jess

Excitement!

Big excitement this week!

I received a special present from Hillary at wee wonderfuls: my Chloe doll!

She is, as you can see, very beautiful and I love her! Thanks Hillary!

I also began a new knitting project, perfect for bringing to the park, as it can get kinda grubby and no one will notice. It even survived a high-spirited young boy, not my own, swinging it around by the needle before I noticed what he was doing.

The yarn is 13 mile Sport-Weight Organic Wool, I am loving it!

The yarn is vegetable-dyed and the dye is really intense.

It does come off on your fingers, but the manufacturers promise that a hot water bath will take care of that issue.

The pattern is the Candle Flame Scarf with an extra flame on either side as the pattern is written for worsted and I am using a sport-weight. Also, I would like it to be a little wider than the original.

The last totally fun thing that I did this week was fern printing.

I found out about this on Painted Fish Studio's great blog.

The Mamas of the Craft came over last night and we went out to the back sidewalk and hammered the clorophyll out of these ferns.

It was kind of cathartic as we were discussing the impending financial crisis and the election and needed to express our frustrations.

I am pretty happy with the results, the only thing is that I didn't move the gusset out of the way before I started hammering this one, so there is a crease in the print.

The bag only took me about a half-hour to make, so I can make another one pretty easily.

That is, if the fall hasn't taken the ferns away...

I must go, my husband is home after a Week in Omaha and I am excited to see him.

Off to the fall festival!

Jess.

Tell me why

Why do we let home improvement projects wait so long?

Maybe you all don't do this, but I am a procrastinator by trade and I am very good at it.

I have lived with an unsightly crack on our stairway wall for 4 and a half years.

I patched it and then there was a big white blob on the brown/taupe/olive wall.

Today, I chipped a piece of the wall off, took it to a home stuff store, matched the paint and fixed the wall, paint included, in about 2 hours.

Surely, I had that two hours earlier in my tenure here at the house.

So now, the wall is still that ugly brown/taupe/olive color, but at least it all is the same.

I also have been climbing my stairs for that whole time and thinking, when will someone pull out these carpet staples that I see everywhere.

The previous homeowners pulled up the carpet on the stairs, for which I am grateful as they had 4 cats, but left in the staples everywhere.

Well, I spent the last 50 minutes pulling all of those out and in spite of a bruised thumb I am very happy.

So there it is, I could have spent 3 hours fixing this stuff 4 years ago, but instead I lived with the ugliness.

Now that is done, here is a picture from Germany, as I have mislaid the camera again.



This is a forest in Neuss, Germany.

Hello My Name is Jess

I realized the other day that I have been here for almost a year, and I have never really talked about myself.

I talk about my kids and my crafting, but that's pretty much it.
I also realize that most of you know me, but here are some things you might not know.




I love to bake and cook.
I worked in a couple of bakeries in my college and post-college pre-kids days.
I can make a pretty passable pizza, and a tasty chicken soup, but my secret shame is that I can't make fried eggs.
I always ruin them, not to an inedible stage (for me, though my husband has more refined tastes), but they always end up scrambled.



I am a slob.
I mean it.
Total Slob.
Clothes on the floor, dishes on the counter, unswept kitchen floor kind of slob.
However, I do like to organize some things.
My colorful dinner plates, when I put them away, are always in rainbow order.
I also have to alphabetize my movies and cds.
If I want to watch Love Actually, I like knowing that I can find it between A League of Their Own and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.



I feel like I do a pretty good job with my kids.
I read to them, we do crafts (sometimes), we take walks, we watch a lot of T.V.together, I know that last one isn't so great, but I like the Backyardigans, what can I say...
Mostly they are polite and nice to others, mostly.
My downfall is bedtime.
I suck at putting my kids to bed.
They know how to play me like a fiddle.
I know that no one became a bank robber because their mama didn't give them a 4th snuggle, but I always feel just guilty enough to go back in.
Then it stretches out to an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, and then I get really frustrated and I lose it.
I hope that no one became a bank robber because their mama had no patience for nighttime rituals...

Anyway, that is a little about me.
What kinds of contradictions do you all have in your lives?

p.s. thanks for the nice comments.
I think that blogger is broke or sumthin', 'cause the comments never get sent to my email address, even though I did check the box that says send me my comments via email.
In any event, thanks for the comments, I always read them and get excited to see them.
Jess

A it is

Thanks for the comments about the new Fifth Lamp Down photo series.

I look forward to watching the seasons changing over the next year from the East side of the bridge.