I think that Sunday should be Pup Photo Day!
So, let me introduce you to the ones who run the show:
Nova, our 8 year old Husky/Lab mix:
Kato, our 12 year old Siberian Huskey:
And Luckie, our 2 year old Welsh Corgi:
They are chaos, fun, and often times the complete center of the household. And I like it that way.
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Accidental Gardening.....
Last summer I had a HUGE tomato garden. By mistake I planted Hulk brand tomato plants, eight of them, and watched them basically take over the garden. By the end of the summer they had caught an apparently common tomato disease and most turned bla
ck and died before ripening. I did managed to get a few gallons of sliced green tomatoes for frying, and 6 small portions of tomato sauce out of it.Ce la vie.
This year I was too tired and sick feeling to till anything up and Chris's work is notorious for being extremely time consuming so we passed on the garden.
What was that about life? It does what it wants?
About six weeks ago I went out to the yard and with my super-powered pregnancy nose discovered a familiar smell. I looked down and there at my feet were about 12 tiny tomato plants! I decided to leave them be and see what happens. Viola! A mere month later there were easily 20 plants, so I thinned them out a bit and replanted a few farther apart, and today....
Lovely! And fragrant! And fruiting!
I only hope they last this year, I'd love to have batches and batches of tomato sauce in my freezer by the end of the summer.
They are very weedy since I am doing this free range gardening thing, but grow none-the-less and I think in a few short weeks we'll have our first bright red, juicy, plump, delicious, ripe tomato!
The extent of my confined gardening this year consists of a tiny flower pot stuffed with Hens and Chickens and a little bit of happy randomness; a hedgehog from Prague courtesy of Katie, a walnut Luckie dropped at my feet, and a rubber lizard pilfered from Cora's car.
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On to Bebe Rooms.....
This summer was supposed to be my summer to "nest". I was going to spend months and months getting Baby J.'s room juuuuust perfect with murals and handmade curtains and the most convenient arrangement of repainted furniture. Boy, it was going to be awesome! The theme was...... nonexistant. Zip, zilch, nada. No ideas, too many ideas, something has kept me basically out of that room all together. I love that room and can't think of a better purpose for it honestly, so why the lack of creativity?
Here's where my normal path deviates and I result to list-making: What kind of attributes do I want this room to hold?
1. It should be basically cost free. Not that I'm cheap (no, really....) but I think that we can decorate a small baby's room without going into a hole. That's pretty much in line with the rest of the house too, nothing was procured at high cost, a lot of it was found on the side of the road!
2. It should be fun! And unique! And thought provoking! Okay, the last one doesn't fit per say, but I have this crazy idea that what we insert into this area will form the earliest impressions of our son's active mind. I want it to be natural and free flowing, allowing for his creativity to blossom from the earliest possible point.
3. It must be utilitarian as well. Not cluttery, not unnecessary, and certainly not frivolous. Anything I can do to make it easier to do the day-to-day routine I should certainly factor into the room. This does not mean wipe warmers and diaper genies, just that there needs to be a place for everything, nothing randomly stuck in there because I think it's cute (this is very different from the rest of the house!).
So with all that in mind, I set out one big trash day with Meagan before she left for the States. I found some old wire farm baskets that were pretty ratty, but I figured that was a good place to start, nevermind the "theme". Maybe they would make good storage if attached to the wall (where little baby hands can't get caught in them of course)...
Now they've been sitting in my garage for a few months and yesterday I finally sat down to refinish them:
A very stiff wire brush was used to knock off most of the rust, and then Zak, our Compound neighbor, was nice enough to primer them for me.
Once the rusty spots were nowhere in site nd the primer had dried I painted them with a dark green paint (in a very well ventilated area- the middle of our yard).
After a few coats and a couple hours drying time, I am very happy with the results! I think they will make great places for diapers and towels, ect.
P.s. I do have a theme in mind now, but it will be revealed in time as I prepare the room bit by tiny bit!
The wire baskets look great, what a neat find! It just sounds dreamy where you live, I think if I had to move somewhere I would want a place a little more rural, a little more wild. As for the nursery being thought provoking, I think that is a great idea, of course, he will be studying your (and daddy too!) face at first till he can really focus...that will be his whole world and what makes him happiest :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a baby my walls were pale yellow and instead of a wall paper banner my mother used old sheets music. I became very musically inclined later in life, I sing, play the cello, viola, bass, and clarinet. To this day I credit that to my mom's interesting take on nursery decor.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about the early impressions thing. For Wyatt's room, I cut some planets out of a space print material and used liquid starch to paste them on the wall, and got some pages out of an old space themed book and put those as a banner. Oh, and a solar system poster. He's 5 now and insists on being an astronaut when he grows up.
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