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Despite the overall laziness of my first full week of summer break, I did manage to accomplish a few things!

• Harvested kale, cabbage, sugar snap peas and broccoli. All have been featured as side dishes for dinner this week, resulting in a much lower grocery bill!
• Entertained the kiddos cheaply and locally……at a friend’s pool, at the dollar movie theater, and with lots of friends invited to tag along.
• Made a large batch of Banana Blueberry Muffins from ingredients we had on hand. Put overripe bananas to use, and fed everyone at dinner and for breakfast the next morning.
• Put in stakes in the garden for pole beans and tomato plants.
• Made a large dent in Laundry Mountain!
• Enjoyed some much-needed rest and relaxation. This was a big accomplishment, since we’ve all been running on fumes for months.

What did you accomplish this week? 

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Still making the crochet hats for the Bazaar……

Just a sampling of what I’ve been working on…..and even these aren’t completed! However, tonight I was burnt out and needed a little sewing time without thoughts of the Bazaar. So this is what I came up with…..

For the pillow – I had the small quilt squares from my grandfather’s stash. He was piecing a quilt when he died, actually, and these were some of the squares he made for it. There aren’t enough squares to make a full quilt, but I wanted to use them in something. I’ve framed a few, but thought of the pillow tonight. The back of the pillow is denim, from some remnants I bought by the pound.

The pajama shorts – I used one of my husband’s old shirts to make these. The little guy is quite happy with them (and please ignore the mess in the background!). I used the hem of the shirt to make the hem of the shorts, so one less step! And let me just gush about how much I love my serger…….wow. So glad to have it with those inside seams.

I should have been making hats and tote bags when I got in from work, but these were way more fun. Oh well.

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(I trust that my fellow knitters will know what I’m talking about……  )

I’m a fairly new knitter. I’ve been crocheting since learning from my grandmother at age 5, but I’ve only been knitting for the past few years. I can follow a basic pattern, but for anything beyond basic stitches I usually consult YouTube videos.

I’m knitting my first sweater, but it’s pretty slow going…..with all the YouTube consulting!

I’ve seen online comments that Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears is a great resource for new knitters. In fact, there’s a whole group on Ravelry.com called Zimmermaniacs! I know she has other books, but I’m interested in this one in particular. I’d love to hear from those of you who are familiar with her work, is this book worth buying? Would it be helpful for a novice knitter? Are there other books by Zimmermann or other authors that I should consider?

I’d love to hear your feedback!

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As I sat down this afternoon to get some work done on the computer, these two faces appeared from behind the couch.

I inquired of the “ducks,” might I help them? They seemed lost.

They replied that they were NOT ducks, they were turkeys. Turkey Lurkeys, no less. Yes, these were lurking turkeys. Thanksgiving escapees I’m quite certain.

Those are darn cute turkeys, don’t you think?

Now if you don’t mind, I’m off to watch an original production……”The Turkey Who Saved Christmas — And the Squirrel Who Helped Him.” (not sure yet who’s playing the squirrel)

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So when I started this blog, my goal was to be as real as possible. None of this “I am the Mother Earth News version of Martha Stewart, and my life is a magazine” crap. Yes, I garden. Yes, I knit and crochet. Yes, I cook mostly from scratch. Yes, I preserve nearly all the fruits and vegetables we eat all winter. And I work full-time. But I am not superwoman. I just cut out TV (amazing what a time suck that used to be).

But there are many days my house is wreck. I cannot bear to take pictures, but as I sit here now at 10:20 pm, I have accomplished nothing. Went to church this morning, went to lunch with the family, had a meeting at church at 4 pm, left at 5:00 to retrieve my children from their grandparents (who were already calling to determine my whereabouts), went by the grocery store (my third time this weekend, thanks to no list), got gas, and came home. Hubby stayed at church, so it’s been just Mama in charge. Despite driving all over the county all day, I accomplished nothing. I have also refereed (real word?) two fighting younger boys all afternoon and one surly, smart-alecky preteen boy who is running on 3 hours sleep thanks to a sleepover at a friends’ house. He was sent to bed at 6pm, because Mama could take no more. Really, neither could he.

As I survey the scene around me, there is an array of action figures, 4 unknown articles of clothing, a plastic shoebox, and a box of seed packets on the floor. I cannot see my kitchen counters because there has been no time to stop and load the dishwasher this weekend. You have be home for more than 15 minutes to do that. Children had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner (strawberry preserves counts as a fruit, right?). And milk. And a nice dose of Augmentin, thanks to the 102.5 degree fevers Friday night (this is the same Augmentin that led the 3 yr. old to run naked and wet from the tub tonight, shouting that his brother had poop on his finger…..oh Lord). And the oldest mumbled something about having no clean socks as he staggered to bed before daylight.

I am thankful tonight that I have at least managed to keep them alive. And they are clean. That’s as much as I can muster today.

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