Resealed Driveway

I realize that most people would never care enough to try this, but I have to write about our project of a couple weeks ago.
Our driveway/front sidewalk is 2 1/2 years old and is intended to be a brownish concrete with colored stone strips. It, however, did not turn out the way we envisioned. It is several lighter shades of tan, and basically looks like a sick grey concrete. I suppose we should've not had it colored in the first place, but I wanted it to match the house, blend well with the landscape, and look classy. It kinda doesn't.
I thought if I cleaned it really well and put a sealer on it to make it appear wet, that it would perhaps brighten it up a bit.
So I went out and bought some of this stuff.

Then I rented one of these.

Then I woke up this guy.

And made him work for a few hours.

And the murky driveway looks a little better. Not much, but a little more definition of color was a good thing.

Here is a shot of the front walkway from the entry towards the drive.

Only thing is .....  if he did the work, why did my feet turn out like this.

I had very swollen and red toes and feet. After the first day at least I wised up and added a little sunscreen all the way down to the toes. They have just finished peeling now, two weeks later, and I had a nice pedi today.

On a sidenote, we now have a very clean garage. A power washer on the premises makes you think of all sorts of things to clean. 

Look at that amazingly clean epoxied floor.  (It has rained a few times since this beautiful picture was taken, so the floor quickly became soiled - albeit  still looks quite nice, I may say)
The car in the background .....

... now center, is never very dirty.  The Hubby makes sure of that.

Fun Weekend With a One-Year-Old

Ellery stayed the weekend with GPa, GramVi, and Michael.  We all had a great time.

She just talked our ears off with her cute little jibber-jabber.
I have a video or two taken on our i-phones but I can't figure out how to put it in the blog.
Anybody care to help me????? Comments are encouraged in this regard.

This little doll of ours is SUCH a good sleeper. Goes about 10 or 11 hours at night and then takes a couple 1 - 2 hour naps each day.  I didn't feel tired at all after the weekend. We did great.

Of coarse it helps that she falls back asleep after having a drink of milk on some mornings.  Yes, I can be a lazy girl in the morning. (Thanks GPa for making sure this got documented)

Ellery also helped us in the yard, paying attention to everything we were doing. We were gardening, washing cars,

fertilizing roses,

and putting air in car tires, and her stroller tires as well. We went on long walks with my friends, shopping for plants at the nursery, shopping for food at the grocer, going to church, visiting her cousins, uncle and aunt, going to 2 wedding receptions in one night, and dancing to the music all the while.

This picture doesn't show how well Miss E truly eats. She tries nearly everything and chows down. This girl gets all her vitamins and will be a healthy specimen.
Thanks to her parents for allowing us to care for this cute little cherub for a few days. She missed them, but is well adjusted enough to handle them being away and not have a meltdown in the process.

Dinner Guests in the Buff

I made a messy dinner on Sunday of pasta, chicken. marinara, and (hidden) chard from my CSA. I didn't want Ellery to get her dress dirty, so I took it off of her. The other girls (or probably their Mom) decided that they didn't want their clothes to get dirty either, so off they came.

In the end, I think Lexy was completely spic and span. Not a drop of spaghetti sauce to be found on her face, hands, or toes.

Ellery, on the other hand ......

So Many Projects, So Little Time

Lexy Lou (age 4.5) was in my living room trying on a sweater made for Ells Bells (age 1.25) and it just wasn't working.
She entered the family room where the Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and cousins were watching silent NBA playoff games and chatting it up on a slow, Sunday afternoon. She then whispered to me (the Grammy) that she wanted to show me something.
Now, you have to understand that this child isn't normally a quiet, discrete soul, but she really wanted to know why that lime green sweater with crazy colorful pompoms on the sleeves and belt ties wouldn't fit her. It seemed long enough in the body and yet the sleeves and torso were just not up to the task for fitting her dainty cute little self.
So, I explained to her that it was kind of a coat sweater, long enough to cover up Ells down to her thighs and it would match a dress that I was going to sew up soon.

Great Yarns Pom Pom Coat

This is a straight stockinette stitch and shaped very simply with additions of stitches at the side edges for an A frame coat.

Love this updated 60's look fabric by Lila Tueller for Moda. I got it at Prarie Queens Quilt Shop in SJC

Then after I make a t-shirt quilt for Michael,

start a photo board for the memory room at the high school depicting Michael Michael's lifetime thus far,
whip up a blessing dress for the newest addition to our family coming in August, and apparently make some jalepeno/cheddar bread for Austin,

(just kidding Katz), 

I would then make her, Lexy, a pink and orange sweater just like the one I just finished for Ells.
"Pink and ORANGE?  I don't like orange," she stated, quite matter of factly.
"Oh, let me show you what I have in mind," I said, hoping to change her mind.

Down the hall we went  to the sewing room, where I stash materials for the above projects. "I bought this great pink, yellow, orange, & green flowered fabric to make a little outfit for you and I thought a pink and orange sweater would go with it so well."

"I think it should be just all pink," said the opinionated preschooler.
"I don't have enough pink yarn, so we will have to trim the sweater in another color," I replied.
"Oh, how about pink and yellow then," she said.
"Then I could make a little orange one for Lena to go with what you were wearing," I argued.
"I think Yellow would be good."
"Yellow, it is.  Yellow and pink."

Pick Up Day

I thought I'd write a little more about my C.S.A.
This is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture, and my family participated in this same program a couple years ago.
When my son Jonathan moved home for a few months in 2008, he talked about what he wants to ultimately do for a living. He would like to have a small farm that grows for people who live semi close by.  I guess that many places around the USA have been doing this for several years. The farmer grows the produce (of course it's Organic) and the city folk "invest" in his farm by agreeing to buy shares. This give us fresh seasonal vegetables, prevents the produce being shipped all over the world, therefore saving petro and the environment, and basically makes us cook and figure out how to prepare a wider variety of healthy food.
I have purchased one share and so I get a box each week delivered to a common site in my town.
If you look up Community Supported Agriculture, you are sure to find something that is relatively close to your home.
The farm(s) I use are Two Small Farms. This is a collaboration with a farm in Hollister,  CA, and one located in Watsonville, CA. They are in separate climates and so we increase our variety that way.

Each week they send us a newsletter explaining what we will receive, some great ways to cook it, and some other tidbits.
There are a couple of other farms in our area that participate in the same kind of program.

 

We just picked it up this am, (our pick up is at the JCC here in town) and the leeks, oranges, first crop of strawberries, kale, & dill look gorgeous. It does make me want to eat healthy food.

We are going to go to Hollister this weekend and build scarecrows. Sounds like back to nature for us all.

We missed it last year so decided to do it again this season.

Mothers

My sister sent me this youtube about mothers. It made me cry, because I'm racing to that next stage of empty nest pretty quickly.

Oh, what am I saying, I would have cried about it years ago as well, and I'm sure I'll always tear up as I relish the memories of those days with all of us under one roof.
It is a bit long(7 minutes), and just an oration, but I really enjoyed it anyway.
So go to this site., if you have a few minutes. How should I have embedded it in my copy???? Suggestions???

Beets and Carrots Oh My

I have started my CSA for the year. I'm excited because they have some really interesting vegies.

 

I know I'm kind of strange that I'd like to try something like these carrots or colorful beets, but hey I think they are quite beautiful. I'm sure they taste good too, especially if they are fresh. Yum.

So now every Wednesday I go pick up my new fresh vegies and I'm going to be very healthy this summer.