brookaloo

loch ness girl

remember growing up and being a horse girl? i went through that phase in 4th grade. i loved the appaloosa. deep in my heart though i've always been a loch ness monster girl. i can remember checking out the same loch ness book at the library week after week. so needless to say, i've never quite got over my obsession with the loch ness. when it comes to crafting ideas, i tend to gravitate towards what i love, so it's natural that i would have to crate a loch ness monster softie it took me a few tries to get the pattern size just right, and i had to experiment with the eyes, still don't know which ones i like the best. i made 5 total, and don't know what to do with them yet. i'd love to make more loch ness inspired items, t-shirts, patches, notebooks, it's a theme i can take a lot of places! come on who doesn't need a loch ness monster spoon rest with matching apron and oven mitts? i'm aslo inspired by big foot, goat boy, and ufos. i don't think i'll ever get those things out of my system. i've been a big fan of ufo's for quite awhile, and even though i haven't really continued on all the writing and "research" if you could call it that i used to do, i still have a blast talking about it. needless to say, i loved the new "indiana jones" movie. so right on! my reading tends not not reflect my love for all things unusual. i'm currently reading the new David Sedaris book, just finished "dog man" loved it. and 2nd and 3rd on my list are "pledged" by alexandra robbins, and "the shadow of the wind" by carlos ruiz zafon. i'm open to further suggestions.

summertime

schools out, well has been for a week now, and we are still working on a good routine.  this is the first summer that i have had to work, and so it's been sort of a challenge since i take the girls with me.  in order to assure they would not get themselves in all sorts of trouble, i went with the first option i could think of, bribing them. money is a great motivator with my girls and so far it has worked wonderfully.  but they don't come cheap, but it is cheaper than hiring a babysitter and i can get a lot done with minimal stress.  

The garden is doing great.  the beans are growing what seems like an inch a day, the tomatoes are filling out nicely.  my spinach and greens are well green, yahoo.  this is the first year that i have really stuck to making the garden grow.  i do have this $%#@ dog that has made her way in the fence some how a few times.  i'm pretty sure that they could here me down the block yelling threats of sending her off with some gypsies, a threat that i usually save for the girls.  i have since reinforced the fence with more fence, and she can't get in there anymore, if she does, then she is a ninja.

we had our neighborhood yard sale a couple weekends ago.  i wasn't as excited this year, only because i really want to get rid of stuff more than get more stuff.  i also get this overwhelming anxiety about the sale. the neighborhood gets kind of nuts, and i'm a freak about timing.  i can't stand to wait around for everyone (meaning other members of my family) to look. i have to basically be on my own so i can browse quickly and move on.  i'm pretty sure that shawn hates to go to garage sales with me.  but we did get some good stuff, hockey skates, roller blades, books, lots of books, some artwork, and these things too:

vintage table cloths and runners for 50 cents each.

cute kittens

the girls and i drove about 25 miles on thursday to go to this tiny little church rummage sale, the church was tiny, but the sale was huge.  we all scored some fun stuff, me lots of old patterns and books, the girls got knick nacks, and craft stuff, it was all so cheap, so it was worth the price in gas to get there.

I also got an old Husqvarna Viking 6000 sewing machine for $12!  it works great, maybe needs to be cleaned, but it is such a great machine.  so that was a great find.

it's tuesday, so we're off the the library.  summer reading has began, i'm reading "dog man" by Martha Sherrill.  it's making me feel very peaceful which i need since i have two dogs who are currently driving me crazy.

exciting times

so you might remember the photo i posted of my new fence i made a couple of weeks ago, well things are really beginning to take off. it what was once a compost pile full of those really awful prickly weeds that grow about 3 feet high. i never had the energy to do anything with it. it's the only corner of my yard that gets any shade, so i had to really research what to put out there. still not too sure, but that bleeding heart has grown so much in the past 5 years. i love it, and it's so easy.

these are my containers for gardening this year. i have never really used them before, so i'm looking forward to the possibility of actually growing some of our own food this year. nothing has been planted yet, and i have to come up with a way to keep the puppy out of there. she's a digger. i just joined the four square society as inspiration and to keep me going as i tend to lose steam mid summer.
the seeds are doing well

i'm going to wait to plant them outdoors until i'm sure there won't be another frost.
as i hang more and more laundry outside on my days off, i'm finding that there are many strategies for successful hanging. like really really pull your line tight when you first tie it on. you might think that it's too tight or too high, but as soon as you hang some heavy towel on it, it will sag a good inch or two. and hang heavy items towards the ends of the line so you don't cause the middle to sag.

here is a good example, i have 3 lines, the one in the middle is tied the best, it's also about 6ft high, but as soon as i hang the first item of clothing, it droops down to my level. the other two lines need to be tighter, but hanging towels at the end seems to make the droop a little less. wow, i just blogged about laundry....it's so sad that this is exciting to me, but i do love it so.

it's 5:30, what's going on?

dinner

drinks

why isn't shawn home??

cake

kids

oh and garden fence i made today

that's some serious in-need-of-love soil over there, i think it's getting some nutrition from our sadly missed two dead kitties buried there though. don't think i'll be plating any veggies or melons that way.

oh, tofu burning!

dang

i'm one of those people who cannot start a project until my house is clean. i'm not sure where i get it, but it's not possible for me to sit down and sew when i have a dirty house. all day yesterday i hung laundry on the line, i mean ALL DAY. you can accomplish so much more laundry when you hang it up outside, the dryer takes too long. besides, when i hang laundry outside, i also have the opportunity to fold the laundry outside as well, thus taking care of what is one of most hated chores. that still leaves me with putting it away, which i hate even more, but i found out yesterday, that when all clothes in our house are clean, we don't have enough drawer space to fit them all. needless to say, that has never happened to me before. Since my house is now clean, and might actually stay so for a few hours, then i should probably hop off the computer and do something. and since i have nothing creative yet to post, i'll throw up something from last year at this time. little painted electrical tubes.

my little olympic hopeful

chloe started hockey on saturday. it's never been something that i'd pick for her to do, it's pretty much a shawn thing. he never played hockey as a kid, and so it's been a "dream" of his to have a hockey player in the family, and chloe was up for the challenge. i got to say, she's pretty stink'n cute out there, and actually pretty good. lily on the other hand wants nothing to do with it. i swear she is my big sister if she was to ever have a kid, she loves to read, read, read and would rather have her eyes poked out than to play a sport. she did take some really great pictures though (something else my sister is good at), considering that chloe was moving most of the time, i'd say she did great getting some shots.

i can tell allready that we are in for the long haul, she totally loves it. i'm trying not to freak out too much, i mean they do have padding up the wazoo on, but it still makes me nervous to see her out there. and i have to just add this in, today i put in a prayer request for the detroit tigers to please win. i know isn't that sad, and i know it's early in the season, but 0-5, i'm dying. so bear with me.
we worked outside all day today. it was so wonderful to finally get outside. a quick trip to the dog park, and then rake, rake, rake. i then ordered some seeds from seed savers a great heirloom seed company. soon i wil have pattison panache jaune et vert squash, alma paprika peppers, sheepnose pimento peppers, cherokee purple tomato, hungarian heart tomato, martino's roma tomato, and blondkopfchen tomato seeds. yeah! so friends, i will share.
um it's spring break, so yea, i'll be trying to keep sane, hopefully the weather will keep up and i can get to the park, kick the dogs and kids out the door, and we can all enjoy the sunshine. i will be calling on you small children friends for playdates, etc...xoxo

couples

sweet!

I recently had a birthday of unimportant numberage, is that a word, um no, no matter, it's not a milestone or anything like that. Getting older does not bother me, but i do enjoy hearing my children tell people that i'm 21 when they are asked how old their mommy is. like that's believable. It's been awhile since i've been carded, so i feel that 21 is no longer an achievable look for me.
i did score some super sweet gifts this year. i'm not one to tell shawn or the girls what i want for any particular holiday or birthday, but this year i cut to the chase, my parents asked what i wanted and i gave them a choice between Reprodepot and Knitpicks gift certificates, they choice well. my sister took my well planned and oh so obvious hint and visited Mitsuwa Market and bought me several sets of Re-Ment sets.
here are some kind of crappy pictures, but what can you do

She also got me these magazines and book

Retro Crafts has some really fun projects, not so much the ones like the glitter covered soda bottles, but most are pretty cute. am i the only person who hates glitter?

Shawn got me a dollhouse. We needed a project that we could do together. most nights it's him doing his dorkhammer, me watching tv and knitting or reading, we sometimes play cards or watch a movie, but cards usually end in me with some kind of temper tantrum, and he likes wierd artsy movies and i want to watch dumb action movies. Now we can equally piss eachother off while working on the dollhouse!

it was an awesome birthday, and i love my family and friends for all their awesomeness as well.
Lastly, I love how i have been looking for this pair of pants for Lily for about a month now maybe longer. So this morning I go up in her bed, looking for yet another lost object to find this pile of clothes stuffed in various crevices of her bed.

the dog just happened to be laying there, but you can see, in comparison that is a large pile! @#$$^&!!! oh that other crap in the background, that's just the normal everyday crap that i have to walk through in their room. i like the random box that they use for stuff animal storage, i mean we have actual containers, but for some reason they think a torn up dirty cardboard box is better. so much for cute storage.

a lotta lotta saturdays

many of our saturdays are spent at the dollar movie. shawn is taking a class and is gone all day, which leaves me to find stuff for the girls and i to do. in the summer it means parks, walks, pool, pretty much all day outside. but it's more of a challenge in the winter. so today we decided to check out Dexter's Pioneer Days Craft Sale. I had read about it on arborweb which is a great site for finding out local stuff to do.
I've been seeing alot of people making pretzels lately. i had never tried before, but am a sucker for that pretzel bread at Trader Joes, so thought I would give it a try. This recipe is one I found on allrecipes

they were yummy, but lacked that really great buttery mall pretzel taste. so i think we'll have to try another recipe.
oh, and i totally wish i never would of seen the post on weewonderfuls for Re-ment ahh, i just want to go nuts.

so sweet, and tiny and too bad there is no where around here to buy them.

dress making

I had been without a sewing machine for a few weeks. My pedal went kerplunk all of a sudden, and shawn couldn't figure out what was up, so i had to take it in. I take my machine to Leabuse Sewing Center for repairs and tune ups. It also has fabric, but not really anything I'm too crazy about. Next door is Flying Sheep Yarn, which is ok, I'm not crazy about any of our local yarn shops. I LOVE Threadbear in Lansing even though I've only been there once. It is my dream of a yarn shop, with dogs, comfy couches, coffee, and so much yarn.
Back to my machine, well I ended up having a few more extra repairs done since it hadn't been serviced in 10 years, as well as a good cleaning. When I went to pick it up, the woman brought it out and I said that's not my machine. I didn't recognize it! It was so clean! Well now she sews like a dream. No more clickety clackety sounds or breaking thread.
The first thing I made was this dress for chloe from a retro kid's pattern.

It was supposed to be for chloe, but it turned out HUGE. The pattern said size 8, but I tried it on and it fit just fine, and then chloe tried it on, and it fit her too. So we decided we could share it. I'll wear it as a tunic, and she'll wear it as a dress. Actually, I don't know if I would wear this. I'm defining what my style is, i think i'm in sort of a fashion rut, or lack there of fashion rut, and i think it's time i give the tunic a rest even though I love the new dresses from Jovovich-Hawk and those are mostly hippish tunics. crap, what am i saying, i have no style...i just bought 4 of the same shirt at H&M, 4!! at least i don't wear mommy jeans.