Things That Make Me Old

A List:

• I like to quilt
• I love Murder She Wrote (love love)
• I can quote most episodes of Golden Girls
• My prefered bedtime is somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00
• I read Agatha Christie novels
• I can crochet and knit
• I've started calling people sweetie
• I have a  light-up Christmas village in my living room
• I usually eat dinner between 4:00 and 5:00
• Shaving my legs is no longer important (except for special occasions)
• I prefer to go into the bank
• I considered taking hot chocolate to the construction men outside my house today
• Certain bones in my body hurt when it's cold outside
• I think I have Arthritis in my hands

Workin' Mama

I got a job at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts!  I have an income now!  But it's only seasonal and it's only 2 to 3 days a week (maybe 12 hours a week)   But it's something and I get a discount.  Look out world!

I've Been Crocheting!

I was asked to make a few props for my friend Debbie's photography business.  She needed some things for newborn shots.  So here's what I made:

I like this hat.  I might make one for myself.

Below is a cocoon and matching hat.  If you look up baby cocoon on etsy or on google images you'll see what it's supposed to look like.  This doll wasn't exactly the right size and it didn't smush up like babies usually do.  I'm sure Debbie will take much cuter pictures with it.

Another baby cocoon and matching hat, again with the uncooperative baby doll.

So now I totally want to make some hats for myself and my family.  The problem is that we already have hats and Allyson said she didn't want a new one. 

  ...anybody want a purple or orange hat?  If you tell me you love me I might make you one!

I Love Fall

 My idea was to post some old pics from previous Autumns but I didn't really have any good ones except the following:

This is from 2008.  We haven't been back to Pumpkinland, but I sure would love to go again.

This was from last year.  Raking/playing in the leaves.

So... not so many pictures, but I still love Fall!

Funny Queer

Lot's of non-bigoted people have started using the word 'gay' to describe things in a negative way.  That's not cool.  I've been known to do it and it makes me feel kinda bad.  My apologies to all you gays out there who read my blog.


What I've decided to do is to replace the word 'gay' with the word 'queer.'  You may be saying to yourself, "well, Cayce, that's the same thing,"  but I disagree.  The word queer has been used and is still used to mean strange or unusual, so I'm going to use that definition.  I'm going to single-handedly bring that word back to it's original meaning. 


Besides, queer is more fun to say than gay... it does have a Q in it after all. 




... Maybe I'm just being gay queer.

Antici-paint-ion

I cannot wait to put the girls in the same room.  If I could fit a crib and a bed in Molly's room I would do it. I can't.  I've really thought about it, but there are three doors, two windows, and what I think is a chimney inside the wall that juts out of the corner.  No room for anything along the walls. 
When Molly is capable of sleeping in a big bed we have one ready in the attic.  It matches Allyson's and they form bunk beds.  They will go in Molly's room where the crib is.

Allyson's room is PINK. Below is ths best picture I could find of it (mainly because of Nola's snazzy hairdo).

It's going to be the girls' play room.  I'm kinda sick of the Super Pink-ness of it, but I don't want to get rid of it all.  I was thinking maybe cream stripes but then I was thinking maybe some big pattern all over or random circles or squares... suggestions welcome. 

The green bookshelf and a matching desk will probably be in the room too along with the kitchen furniture.

I think I have at lest 6 months before I get to do all this, but I'm totally looking forward to it!

Four-Year-Old Leftovers

I think it was about four years ago that I started cutting out 2 1/4" squares out of all the leftover fabrics I had.

Here are a few of them

  My plan was to make a quilt for me for my bed and it would be filled with memories of past projects and clothes, etc. 

So, there were distractions of other projects, kids, whatever.

Fast forward a few years and you have me trying to get rid of some clutter.   I decided to just make a blanket out of what I had and not worry about it fitting my bed (I will probably never make a quilt for my own bedroom). 

But this quilt is finished! ...and it only took four years (so it's not quite finished but it will be by tomorrow) meh.

It's a little smaller than I had originally wanted but I really like it. Who know's what I'll actually do with it, but there it is.

some detils:

 Now I just need to finish the three other quilts I'm in the process of making!

Oh, and I finished this one the other day too.

It's made from the crib bumper that I used for both the girls.  I just cut it into squares and sewed them back together and made a little rag quilt for Molly (it's smaller than a crib quilt, but CUTE)

Blasted Keyboard

I haven't bloged in awhl becase my keyboard is mesed up.   I hve decided not to correct the mistaes it makes ecause t's oo annoying  I'm ure i' annoying  t readas well.  Our keyd s cordles an dwoks n magic, so  feel that its no tsomethig I ca n fix wthout uing the dark arts.   If onlythe Haliwell ssisers actualy existed!  i thinkthe est solution is to by a keyoard that plugs nto the commputer; but I don't think Scot likes hngs with cords... alas, what am I to do???

(sorry for all the speling mistkes in this blog)

Es Tiempo!

I don't speak Spanish.  At bedtime, though, when I tell Molly and Allyson, "Es tiempo!"  they get all upset because they know it's bedtime.
Allyson also knows that when I say "donde esta _____," she needs to help me find something.
I'm pretty sure I'm teaching my children poor grammar in a different language.  Oh well; es bueno!!

Instead of Cleaning...

... I made clothes!  Not only did I make a dress and a skirt, I did it without a pattern and they actually turned out cute!  See for yourselves:

Totally cute school-girly clothes!

The skirt is for Allyson

... and the dress is for Molly.

They are made out of some sort of (synthetic, I think) wool.  I don't really know because the fabric was hand-me-down, but I think it is synthetic because I'm pretty sure it melted a little when I ironed it.  Either way, it's pretty scratchy, so turtle necks and leggings will have to be worn.

I see really cute photo sessions in our future!

...maybe I'll clean the house tomorrow.

Black & White and Cute All Over

So, my sister likes things that are black and white, therefore she likes blackandwhitedelight.com.  On that website she saw this apron and liked it a lot.   When she asked me to duplicate it I said I TOTALLY CAN!

Then I did...

...and here it is!

My stripes are verticle, not horizontal, but, I used what I had... which, by the way, was a curtain panel and a valance.  I also bought some cheapo wash clothes and made a hot pad and a kitchen towel that can be tied to the apron with a cute ribbon.

I had time and fabric so I made a matching apron for Nola... with pink trim!  It's so cute!  Here it is.

And here they all are together.

SO CUTE!!!

(now I just need to clean my sewing room...)

Tomato Photo

For those of you that cared:

They aren't that pretty, but it is what happened.  (that last photo wasn't the final result; it's just when I stopped taking pictures)

Spaghetti Sauce

So, I made spaghetti sauce from scratch from the tomatos and basil from my garden.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I used it for dinner tonight and it tasted good but it was a bit chunky so I added about 1/4 cup of sauce from a jar.  Regardless...
I took pictures of the process but not of dinner tonight and right now I'm too lazy to put them on my computer.  Fret not loyal readers!  Janae has done the same thing and she's a better photographer than I am (and her camera is WAY better than mine).  So if you want to see pictures of the process of homemade spaghetti sauce go here  in a few days or so... I'm sure they will be beautiful pictures when she posts them (just imagine they are mine).

For the sake of posting a picture here's one of Molly asleep on the recliner:

SLAM

We went to the St. Louis Art Museum on Saturday.  I haven't bee since we had kids because I thought they would destroy thousands of dollars worth of art.  They didn't!  I gave Allyson my camera and let her take pictures of whatever she wanted.  She took over 100 photos so I thought I would post a few here:

Here is a portrait of the photographer before we went into the museum

a Monet

Me, standing next to some Greek stuff, I think

Contemplating the art (Molly didn't sit still, ever)

"I thought this was REALLY shiny!"

An Art Deco mirror.  Look closely and you can see us all

"The rainbow one was my favorite"

"This one looks like Paper Mario"

Walking back to the van... tired.

Bee Balm

Bee Balm attracts bees... giant bees!

Scott took these pictures, therefore we have angles...he thinks he's being creative:

The flowers were  a lot prettier a week or so ago.  Still, I think they're awesome; thanks mom, for letting me steal them from your garden. 

Always Be Prepared

The last time I went to the doctor (for Molly) we ended up staying in the hospital for seven days.  From this experience I learned that I should always be prepared.  I was not prepared today when I went to the doctor for my own fever.  I thought I was, but I was sadly mistaken.
I went to the doctor today because I had a headache and fever for a few days.  I put some pajamas in my purse in case I was sent to the ER and subsequently to the hospital... you never know.  That was me being prepared.
My doctor sent me the the ER for a CT Scan (and possible spinal tap). Side note:  He expected me to walk to the ER which was on the other side of the hospital campus.  That's a long Freaking walk.  I came in with a fever.  It's hot outside.  My doctor is kindof an a-hole.
So anyway, I drove to the ER with my jammies in my purse.
What I didn't have, but should've had:
1. MY BOOK!!!!! (that would have solved all my problems)
2. My iPod (I could have at least played solitaire on it)
3. A pen
4. A laptop ???
5. Snacks

What I actually did in the ER:
(They took my blood and gave me an IV and medicine and I almost immediatley started feeling better)
I was STARVING because all I had eaten was one cup of coffee, so that was a bummer.
1. I read the info then gave me about my privacy rights
2. I organized the trash in my purse
3. I got a CT scan
4. I did my makeup and hair.
5. I put a 30 min timer on my cell phone
6. I edited my contacts in my cell phone
7. I got a chest Xray
8. I touched up my makeup

(I didn't even get to wear my PJs)

My advice to you, every time you go to the doctor, bring a book or some kind of entertainment device... and maybe your jammies if you're kinda worried about spending the night at the hospital (which you should be worried about because it happens when you least expect it!)

Flowers...

Here are pictures of my African Lilies (at least I think that's what they are; they could be Asiatic, or Tiger lilies, or any other variety, but I think I'm right)I'm not a big fan of this color...

I like these two colors better:

Here are my Day Lilies... they are about as tall as I am.

And finally my miracle Hydrangia.  It's a mircale because I bought it and planted it about 6 or 7 years ago; it didn't really get any bigger and it NEVER bloomed.

Until this year! Here are the tiny flower buds from about 3 weeks ago:

And here they are from a few days ago... they're pink!  Who knew?

The Yard, Current Progress

So, I've taken a few recent pictures of my yard and here they are:

I've started putting in a flower bed around the front part of the fence, which is slow going because Scott has to dig before I can do anything. Also, I have no yard budget, so all my plants and flowers are pilfered from my mom's yard and Janae's neighbors (all donated, not stolen).

It's part vegetable garden and part flower bed.  Here are the veggies:

...and here are some of the flowers:

I know the pictures aren't that great, and really, neither are the flowerbeds.  But the garden is a work in progress.  Next year it will be georgous.

I've also decided to move some of the random plants that have started growing where I don't need them to places that are hard to mow. Since we are on the corner we have lots of stuff in our yard that we don't want like two telephone poles, a stop sign, a no parking sign, and some wire things coming off the telephone poles. I don't know how to use a weed whacker so I'm going to surround those things with pretty plants instead of tall grass.

Example:

I'm putting hostas in the few places in the yard that are mostly shaded.  Next to the back porch and at the end of the driveway.  Next to the porch they are looking kinda silly, but I will work on that.

(Sorry about the ugly picture of the dirty driveway)

Despite the crappy pictures, the yard is coming along nicely and it's not a bad place to hang out these days.