Little Mr

A little August break (and things I forgot to post)

August 5, 2018 Marie Leave a Comment

Is it just me, or did it feel like July flew by?! Summer was FULL for me, between work and motherhood and taking two college classes and the Mr’s new 2nd shift work schedule. So. Full. Today, however, is the first day that I feel like I can really breathe and relax. There’s no assignment deadlines staring me down or tests to study for, so it’s a peaceful few weeks in my future and I fully intend on soaking up all the crafting and baking and canning time… as soon as I can decide what, exactly, I want to do.

Things that happened recently that I’ve failed to post (in no particular order):

Shortly after my birthday, we bought a fire ring thing so we could have campfires and s’mores at home. It is, by far, my most favorite purchase of the summer. I even hosted a “crappy dinner party” with pizza and s’mores and a bunch of my friends and it was so perfect – kids running around everywhere having fun, adults enjoying good company and beverages… I really should do that more often!
We also bought a blueberry bush. I have long-term plans to redo the backyard and move the raised garden beds, so we planted it in a corner where we won’t have to worry about moving it when those plans begin. The Little Mr basically ate all of my raspberries, so I figured a small blueberry patch would be good, too, and maybe between the two I’d get enough berries to make SOME sort of jam!
The garden is in full swing – we have peppers that are bigger than my hand, and tomatoes are finally ripening. It is excellent timing that my classes are over for a few weeks so I have time available to make some salsa with the tomatoes!
Despite all of the class work, I have managed to make time to craft at least a little bit here and there. I spun some yarn for Tour de Fleece even though I didn’t officially participate in the event, and started making a Goldilocks and the Three Bears stuffies for a new grandbaby that is on the way in the family.

thirty-four

July 3, 2018 Marie Leave a Comment

Well, here we are. 34 years old. This getting older thing gets easier, I tell you. I’m sure that might somehow go away, but I much prefer my 30s to my 20s (though admittedly that first few years in my 30s were hard mostly because I was still adjusting to motherhood and everything about it that consumes my life). Last year I was more embracing of my age, and this year it feels that way even more so.

The day was pretty low-key. Breakfast at Bob Evans. BMV trip to get my car tags renewed. Trying to hide in the craft room a bit to knit and watch Outlander after not getting to knit for a few weeks. Then off to my college class for a few hours before coming home and enjoying some bourbon and fresh-picked raspberries from my little urban homestead on the porch.

Most years I make my own birthday cake as a tradition. This year, the Little Mr wanted to bake me a cake. We’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows, and he had this whole vision of what, exactly, he wanted to make for me. So we had chocolate cherry coconut cake for my birthday, which was quite delicious! (and even if it wasn’t, I’d still eat it because he was so proud of himself!).

He’s fitting in nicely

June 9, 2018 Marie Leave a Comment

This cat. So much love for this little guy! We’re all adjusting to having a cat in the house. The dog, when she was still with us, was always at our heels and never so mischievous as Buttercup. My potted plants are taking a beating already, which is a bit frustrating. I’m not sure what the point was in buying specific “cat” toys when he seems pretty content to play with all of the kid’s toys. But he’s such a snuggler, getting on my lap and purring away while I read.

He’s slowly becoming more of the kid’s buddy. And I’m encouraging him to be more involved in his care since he’s the one that Buttercup bonded with initially. So he came with me when I took him to the vet for a check-up to make sure he’s healthy, and then he picked him up yesterday with daddy after Buttercup had his surgery to neuter him (I am, after all, a responsible pet parent). He feeds him in the morning (if he gets up when I get up), and I make sure he feeds him at night. They like to sit and look out the windows together, and earlier this morning (pictured) he snoozed on the table while the Little Mr played games on my phone.

I’ve had one or two incidences where Buttercup found my yarn, but so far I’ve been able to knit and spin without much trouble from him. But, all in all, he’s been a really good addition to our house!

Summer beginnings

May 27, 2018 Marie Leave a Comment

Low-key weekend for us, so far. Between the Little Mr and I, we’re quite the pair of sickly things. He started a few weeks ago with an ear infection and we thought we were good until earlier this week when he started complaining about the other ear – so, back to the doctor we went. Turns out the ear he said was hurting was actually fine and might have had just a small infection but the other ear – the one that was originally a problem a few weeks ago – was a RAGING ear infection. Oy. Between that and the sinus infection I’m fighting off we’re both in quite the mood.

So with what, we’ve been relegated to taking things slow. We got an early start Saturday and actually got our garden planting done. Well, the Mr got it done. I mostly showed up to plant flowers, lol. I debated on driving up to Wooster to the Great Lakes Fiber Show and load up on pretty yarns, but I’m working on being realistic with myself right now on a. how much yarn one actually needs and b. how much yarn I can actually use given how little I get to knit anymore. So I spent a lot of the rest of the day wandering the house wondering what to do with myself, and ultimately watched movies and snuggled the munchkin.

Today, determined to do something other than sit in front of the TV being pathetic on this holiday weekend, I chopped up a pound of strawberries and poured some blackcurrant balsamic vinegar in a canning jar and we snacked away on the porch while watching the world go by (and knitting, but a worsted wool sweater on a 90 degree day was a poor choice). BTW, that blackcurrant vinegar and strawberry combo is amazing if you pair it with some bread and cheese like little appetizers!

I started reading The Bear and the Nightingale this weekend, too. It was on my “to read” list, and Amazon Kindle has it for only $2 so it seemed fated for perfect holiday weekend reading. So far I’m loving it – it’s a book that I don’t want to put down and stop reading, but at the same time I don’t want to plow through it and finish it in a single day, either. So I bounce between a chapter or two of that, and a few rows of complicated chart knitting, and then back again.

Winter solstice

December 21, 2017 Marie Leave a Comment

Oh, my heart! ♥ Tonight, for Solstice, we strung up apples, oranges, and cranberries to hang on the tree out front. It was absolutely everything I hoped for, as far as a project to do with the Little Mr. I’ve never given him a needle and thread to just play with, so I wasn’t entirely sure if he would have the concept down or even be able to get the chunky needle through the cranberries, but he went to town. Well, as much as a 3 year old has the patience for it, anyway. But he seemed to love the project, and we trudged out to the cold, dark yard to hang them on the tree.

I think this might end up being a yearly Solstice tradition for us.