the continuing adventures of us
Since I have a billion other things I shoudl be doing, I decided to switch themes on my blog. This is close (sorta) to what I have in my head – albeit in a different style.
We’ll see how long it lasts. I have to tweak a dozen different items.
(If you have a wordpress blog, the theme is available here. And yes I will be putting it on HSJ. 
)
I still remember the small weight of carrying him on my hip, the jingle of the bell on his little baby shoes. I remember his first Halloween costume, the one I made for him. He was a clown. 
I still remember, loudly, how he would run everywhere – would he ever just *walk*? – and the time he ran right into the wall. I remember when he could sit on my knee and I had to bend over to hug him.
Now, I have to look up – waaaay up – and he’s fully grown. I’m kind of astounded.
Happy Birth-o-ween Addison.
I took Sarah to work today. Usually Ron takes her, but this morning when I got up, he looked so peaceful and young, laying there, cuddled up – and then sprawled. I hadn’t the heart. Sarah works either 10 to 4 or 4 to 10, unless it’s the weekend, and Ron is the one who usually takes her.
It’s wet out there. Sprinkling, wet, muddy, cold. Leaves stuck to the pavement, junipers all yellow-orange when we drove over the back road through the woods. I spoiled myself and got a large tea (1 milk, 2 sugar please) at the Tim Horton’s drive through and saw Sarah walking up to the grocery store. The guy who owns it also own the place where she works. I waited around a bit and didn’t see her again, but after I got home and settled again, she called to tell me the person who was supposed to open misunderstood what time they had to actually get there to open. So she was letting me know she was okay and not stranded.
We went to a meeting for the community club last night. The breakfast we had on last Saturday made almost seven hundred dollars – enough for a tank of oil to heat the place, maybe till Christmas. The other lady who was going to do the craft bazaar can’t so I’m in charge now because I really think we should have it. I hope it works out better than the craft class I held last week. Not one person showed up. Ah well, this time I know I have help (someone’s gonna call some people) and I have a clear plan, and yeah – I have kinda done this before. So I’ll be working my tail off more to prove the point I can do it.
I suggested at this sale (after it was mentioned that last time someone had a table of baked goods and sold mountains of it) that the club should have a baked goods table with items donated by club members. “Ooo, good idea!” a couple of the hard-nosed people said. I’m thinking, “Well yeah, isn’t that pretty standard?” Anyway.
Christmas Craft sale. My neighborhood. November 22nd. I’ll be making signs and putting them up everywhere this week.
Actually, I just thought of something, took a quick break while I ran around the house like a madwoman searching for a phone number that is on the bulletin board at my desk. But! I caught them just in time to get the craft sale put on the local community calendar that comes in the mail and blankets half the county, so *phew*!
(ohcrapthatmeansit’sofficial!)
And we’re making work slow down. No new clients until the end of the year. I officially started turning away new inquiries yesterday. We’ve got a bunch of our own things that have been neglected too long, so we have to work on that, and we have to do some things over the holidays, like visit family. I hope they still recognize me, it’s been a while.
The only up side is that most of my relatives don’t have blogs, so they can’t dis me in public. I should be thankful, yes?
Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…
Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.
People that like Impressionist paintings may not always be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aesthetically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impressionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.
Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy
Now I really want to go visit an art gallery.
I couldn’t sleep, what with overheating myself, the dry air kicking in my sneezing nose, and an aching crick in my neck that slowly lead to a headache. So I got up and quietly surfed channels *I* like for a change. Even if I could barely hear them.
When the sun rose a little more and two younger girls came downstairs, Meaghan mentioned how nice it looked outside with the sunrise and the heavy frost. I pulled my long grey sweater over my jammies, my pants were on (thankfully) and I grabbed Ron’s work coat. My hair? Oh man.
But even if a couple people did see me (I’m sure the neighbors thought “Here she goes again..”) the shots were worth it.
I’m gonna need a nap later though.
Aren’t these cute? Don’t you want to make some too? They are so easy you can make a lot in a short time, and you can even use it to teach kids how to sew.
Go find, beg, borrow, scrounge, recycle or if you really must… buy… the following materials:
- orange fabric, solid or prints, whatever you like, any size.
- thread & needle, scissors, rotary cutter & mat if you have it
- green wire & wire cutters so you don’t wreck your fabric scissors again
- green felt (one piece makes a lot of leaves)
- circular objects you can trace around, all sizes
- rice, beans or plastic beanbag pellets. even old beads or buttons would work
- stuffing, batting or wadding (small bits)
Lay the fabric out on a flat surface, place a plate on top and trace around it. If the fabric is folder, well you’ll cut out more than one, but you knew that, right? If you use a rotary cutter & mat, you can just zip right around the plate in no time. The finished pumpkin will be about 60% smaller than your cut circles.
Cut out lots and lots of circles.
The next step I forgot to take a picture of, but just sew a running / gathering stitch all around the outside of the circle, maybe 1/4″ from the cut edge. You can use the sewing machine for this if you really like, with the stitch length set to the longest and the tension slightly loosened. These stitches don’t have to be perfect or evenly spaced, we’ll never see them in the end.
Pull up the stitches partway, just enough to pull in the edges a bit. Pour in a bit of rice or whatever, just enough to cover the bottom and add weight. Add a handful of stuffing as well. I like more rather than less, but go with your preference. Just don’t put in so much stuffing you can’t gather up the top fully. So pull those gathering stitches so the top closes almost all the way.
Let’s put on the stem and leaf. Break a stick from the yard or a cinnamon stick into a piece about an inch longer than you need. Poke this into the top opening of the pumpkin. Wiggle it around a bit and it should get stuck in the batting. You can glue this in if you like.
Cut a leaf shape from the green felt. I winged it. If you need one, make a template from a real actual leaf. This would involve going outside. 
I cut a piece of wire about 2 feet long, maybe three for the bigger pumpkins. I wound up most of it on a pencil to make it like a tendril. The other end I poked in and out of the middle of the felt leaf, just for an inch or two. Then I wound the wire once around the pumpkin stem.
And then I made another one, and another one…
If you used red fabric, you could call them apples. Green fabric, they could be squash. You could make a whole harvest!
And I even created a Flickr Group, so be sure to take a picture and share.
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