M1 for Mexico--March Project

Cuff

Knitting the thumb

Tigger lending his paw for fitting  ;^)

It occurred to me after reading some of my favorite blogs this morning that I never posted pictures of the mittens and hat that I knitted for the M1 for Mexico project.  I even forgot to take photos of the hat!  Too late now, they have both been mailed off to Mexico.  Oh well.  But I thought that I would go ahead and share the photo of the mittens.  I haven't started my April project yet, but I am excited to keep this going. 
Here is the update on M1 for Mexico. 

What's Cookin'?

Smell-o-vision would be great right now.

The simmering minestrone is seducing me to try a bite, but I am restraining myself the best that I can.  I have committed the crock pot cardinal sin twice, that is removing the lid, telling myself that it needed stirred.  The cooler, REAL Spring weather called for soup and the grill has gone back to its winter slumber.

C & K have their first performance of The Lion King and the rest of the family is excited to see it.  I've intentionally stayed away from the practices so that it can be a surprise, although I did stick around yesterday and I heard some of the songs.  It sounded great--especially the parts with Young Simba and Zazu, but I am biased.

H started his orthodontia yesterday when he had a spacer placed to make room for the bands for the lower lingual retainer that will be fitted next week.  I remember having my picture taken before anything was placed in my mouth and then again after I was finished and I'd like to do the same with H so that he can see the difference this work will make.

I received a notice that my cotillion dress is on its way.  I will post pictures soon.  I keep thinking that I'll have someone take pictures of me wearing the petticoat, hoop and pantaloons, but it has been too busy to have any two of us in a room with "nothing" to do but to take pictures.  Ah, well.  It is the end of the school year when it seems everything needs to be squeezed in.

That's what's cookin' 'round here.  (Reading The Grapes of Wrath and enjoying the dialect so much that I just HAD to use it.) 

Fullness of Spring

Once again, I feel like the creators of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show because I want to have an alternate title: The Proverbial Headless Chicken.  Yes.  I've been that busy, but I decided that my current title sounded more polite and proper.  Emily Post would be proud.  My apologies to my followers for being so late and sporadic with my entries.

Heat source is a candle

Mystery combinations

H and K have had some fun chemistry labs.  Last week we worked with the properties of a few common household powders and put them under many tests to see how they were unique and how they reacted to iodine, vinegar, baking soda, and heat.  Fun stuff.  H even saw that our textbook mentioned making plastic from milk and vinegar.  Mom found a recipe online, but it turned out too clumpy and H didn't like the smell.  It was just a big, dried out piece of cottage cheese if you ask me, but he had fun. 

My oldest, C, is old enough to participate in our homeschool Cotillion this year too.  It is our group's formal dance and the alternative to prom.  We are encouraged to wear period clothing.  B is wearing the tuxedo from our wedding.  (NO, we were not married in civil war garb, but the time constraints on finding period clothing for everyone proved to be too difficult.)  I took C to be fitted for a tuxedo in Kokomo last week.  I can't wait to see him in that.  I needed a dress and seamstresses were booked up to their eyeballs, so my brilliant husband turned to the internet and found a seamstress online to make a dress for me.  I took on the task of sewing my undergarments.  My machine was inherited and with it all of its problems, so again, my loving husband bought a new machine for me to sew with.

Brother SE-400

 I've finished my pantaloons (although I must say I look more like MC Hammer than Scarlett O'Hara) and my petticoat.  I'd never sewn blind tucks before and trying it for the first time on something with such an extensive hemline proved to be a challenge.  Many of the directions were given for seasoned seamstresses, making assumptions that we novice sewers (just realized why they are called seamstresses instead of sew-ers.  ewww!) could've used more guidance with so I found myself improvising quite a bit.  Anyway, I am glad that they are the undergarments and NOT seen by anyone--unless I fall. 

The new machine does embroidery, which tickles me to bits.  I made a hankie yesterday.  Here it is:

I made a video, but it is too large to send from my phone camera, so if you want to see the machine in action, you can see it on YouTube probably.  Fun machine.  I think that I may end up sewing more often.  

We've also had spring physicals to prepare for summer camps.  Blek!  I'd much rather go to the dentist or go through orthodontia again than have my annual physical.  Speaking of, H goes to his first ortho appointment this week.  C and K are involved in another play that is this week, The Lion King.  C is young Simba and K is Zazu.  Perfect roles for them.  We have 3 performances this week.  We've been hosting small group at our house and helping with dinners for it.  (Love having guests!)  Practices for the cotillion (have to learn the Virginia Reel).  Spring recital is around the corner.  Monday classes with our homeschool group.  Easter.  OK.  Whirlwind is making me dizzy.  

You can see why I entitled this entry the way I did and why I might feel like I am running around in circles not knowing where I am headed next.  Did I mention that B has been gone on a couple of business trips through all of this too?  Yep!  (sigh)  Thankfully he'll be home Wednesday afternoon.  Good!  I need a break!

Community Porches

I have a love affair with porches; front porches.  Front porches welcome guests and give the first impression of the heart of the home and family.  It is a place to rest, visit, find protection from sun and rain alike.  It is a place to gather with family, friends and neighbors.  I remember as a girl enjoying all sorts of activities on our porch.  We lived on one of the main streets in a college town on campus so there was always plenty of people to watch.  We could sit on the porch and watch the college students jog by in the afternoons.  We knew the postman and often were hand-delivered the mail.  Our newspaper boy was the same.  We could sit in our favorite nooks and read while listening to the birds or be tickled by the snowball bush's flower petals as the wind blew them in our direction.  We had a picnic table and a grill on our porch and we spent many a summer evening eating in the cool of the east side of the house.  The picnic table made for the perfect place to play board games.  The porch could be transformed into a fort for our pretend battles with the armies of kids from the neighborhood.  But it also served as a place to see and be seen by those passing by to offer friendly hellos or advertising your availability to play with the other kids in the neighborhood. 

Some nights we would stay home, sit on the porch and wave and shout greetings from our porch.  Sometimes grumble under our breath at so-and-so as they let their dog do its business on our lawn--while we sat there!  Other nights we would walk the block and discover where our neighbors lived, enjoy their yards and tell them that we liked their new flowers, or pet their dogs (even the ones we were previously miffed at for using our yard as a waste yard), or stand and talk a bit.  I loved that block.  I had an aunt and uncle next door, another set down the street, both complete with cousins.  My kindergarten teacher lived behind us, with our backyards touching, but sometimes we could catch her outside too.  She was always so nice.  I had a "grandmother" on the block.  (She was actually my cousin's grandmother, but we called her grandma too.)  She had a pekinese and used to decorate cakes and invite us in to play often.  There was a man and wife who lived on the corner.  They had a life-sized doll house that resembled their house and sometimes they would let us come and play in it.  There was an older couple a couple of houses down and we would play Parcheesi on their porch with their grand-daughter when she would come to visit.  I think it was there that I discovered my favorite flowers where peonies, because their driveway was lined with them and they were always so huge and smelled wonderful.

Modern houses, especially those in the cookie cutter subdivisions, no longer possess front porches.  Most have back decks with rails and fences for privacy.  What a shame.  To think of all of the opportunities to reach out to others that they miss.  No "howdy neighbor" as they sit on the porch swing.  No discussing the neighborhood yard sales.  No checking in with elderly neighbors.  No comments about the mouth-watering aromas of barbecue ribs cooking on the grill.  No swapping plants.  Do people even know their neighbors? 

I've been threatening to write a coffee table book on some of my favorite porches that I pass by when walking in my mother-in-law's neighborhood.  (Houses in my neighborhood fit the "modern" variety, including mine.)  She lives in the historic district where houses and porches are unique and interesting.  While on a walk just this week I took the photo below.  I guess it goes to show that not all houses with a porch have friendly people or at least people who use their porch.  But I will continue to romanticize about these comforting places and long for the day that I will once more have one of my very own.

Who could swing this way?  House number has been omitted to protect the innocent.  :)

Donny Osmond Socks

Showing my latest pair to Tigger

Love the variegated colors.

 

OK  So Donny Osmond did NOT wear these socks, but being a child of the 70's I remember watching the Donny and Marie Show and remember that he wore purple socks.  Now every time that I see purple socks, I associate them with Donny Osmond.  Then my mind goes to having the Marie doll.  Ah....I had fun when I was little.  I still have fun, but now it comes in the form of knitting...and crocheting and reading and gardening and traveling and and and...

My next project is a pair of mittens.  Since I am still a fairly new knitter, I haven't tried to make mittens before.  I am going to give them to the M1 for Mexico project.  Click here for more information.  I'll check back in to let you know how I am doing.  I am taking on some sewing projects too.  I am sewing parts of our costumes for our homeschool cotillion.  (Sewing is NOT my specialty, but I am going to do my best.  Keep me in your prayers.  I'll need it!)  All this to let you know that I may take a little longer to finish the mittens. 

I feel like breaking into "I'm a little bit country and he's a little bit rock 'n' roll."

M1 for Mexico

My Stash

Today's entry is very short and sweet.  It is much too nice outside to be blogging, but I want to take this opportunity to place a link to another blog that I follow.  M1 for Mexico is a project my sister and niece have begun as they follow the Lord's leading to be His hands and feet to the people of Matachi, Mexico, where they have been living for the last six months, to knit and or crochet hats, scarves, and mittens.  Yes, it does get cold in SOME parts of Mexico!  Many do not have these essentials to thwart the colder temperatures.  I am anxious to begin my projects!  Let's all warm their hearts as well as the rest of their bodies through this project.  Please click on the link above for more information and don't forget to share your projects!

Not Intended

We had fun watching this squirrel raid the bird feeders the kids crafted from water bottles a couple of weeks ago.  (Note that the large feeder is empty.)  I took video too, but I can't seem to get it to upload onto the computer to then get it to the blog.  (grr)  Our furry friend grabbed the bottle with both hands and would shake the dickens out of it, turn it sideways and bite at the plastic.  Part of me wished the little burger would choke on one of the foam stickers used for decoration, but then I realized I was still providing food for nature even if the feeder was meant for birds and not squirrels.  I settled in for an afternoon of cookie baking since I can see this window from the kitchen but it is still far enough away to not frighten him off from providing the afternoon entertainment.  I later discovered that he wouldn't have minded me being closer.  The feed was enough of a distraction for him to keep from turning around to give me a photo of his face when I opened the back door to try to startle him enough for a "deer in the headlight" photo. 

A little later I thought it would be funny to ask the arts and crafts teacher, Mrs. Wik, for a refund, since, after all her BIRDfeeder had become a SQIRRELfeeder.  I was geared up to give her a good razzing today, but she was sick.  Hope you are feeling better soon, Mrs. Wik!

Anyway the squirrel at the birdfeeder made me think about different areas in my life or even other silly things around the house that are not used for what they were originally intended. 

This week I used a cake tester and then a long round file from hubby's toolbox to retrieve a paper towel from the bottom of a 10mL cylinder during science lab.

A chip clip works well as an emergency pony-tail holder in the kitchen!

Junkmail as a bookmark.

Pencil as a stitch holder.  

Tuna cans instead of test tubes (also for science lab--we had an excellent tuna casserole afterward)

What else can you think of?  What is your funniest?  Most dangerous?  Most MacGyver-ish?