Fall is the season for making clothes...

When it starts to get cooler, I come out of a summer hibernation... OK, I'm not really hibernating, but summer always makes me feel as though I'm going to die of exhaustion very, very soon. I think this is a thing... otherwise, why would there be a song called, "There Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues," or something.  Aaaanyway, moving rooms around to make a study for my older students to keep their schoolwork and sewing toddler free, I have been evaluating my fabric stash... which grows even faster than my yarn stash, because I'm always knitting, but sewing often takes a back seat, hence, giant, humongous fabric stash.  Actually I inherited some fabric from my husband's grandmother, who owned a fabric store at one time, was a home economics teacher, and was also a force of nature.  She made my wedding dress of beautiful shantung and Venetian lace and, I totally could have worn it inside out and it was perfectly fitted to me.  So, I've been sewing today, and last week, and I've been taking pictures, so here we go!

I think it's rather fetching!  My favorite blue, and a plaid skirt... I didn't match up the plaid at the side seams all that well, but I forgot to buy extra fabric so that I could do that, and I was cutting it awfully close to make my minimum skirt length.  Do you have an ideal skirt length?  Mine is at the narrowest part of my leg under my knee...  Anyway, I spent some extra time making this skirt nice inside, too.  I bound every exposed seam in bias tape and used a hem tape to maximize the length, though the pattern called for a narrow hem, this works beautifully, I think.

Books! So exciting!

I've been getting lots and lots of boxes of books in the mail lately.  I love books, especially in the fall, when the crisp scent of decaying leaves and apples and smoke remind you that it's time to wear wool, and snuggle in, and learn some new stuff!  I'm especially excited about the Dauphin's new books this year.  He's starting the Veritas Press Omnibus I curriculum.  I'm excited for several reasons.  First, it's academically rigorous, interesting, and engaging.  Second, it comes with a cd containing lesson plans, reading lists, grading recommendations, and a full text with sample answers inserted.  Third, I'm excited to read and discuss all these great books and ideas with my son and my husband.  Fourth, it's got a solid Biblical worldview, but it doesn't hesitate to deal with real issues.  Fifth, all the books look really impressive on the shelf, like we're super educated, hyper-literate and sophisticated people... fun to pretend, isn't it!?

My husband also ordered a bunch of books for our own benefit, and the one I've been reading, and kind of blown away by is Already Gone, by Ken Ham.  It's largely an ad for his Answers in Genesis curriculum (which by all accounts is pretty awesome), however, it raises some compelling questions about the young people in our churches and why so many leave after high school.

Finally, I ordered some really cool books on Newton, Marco Polo, and Leonardo DaVinci that have really interesting text, and fun, engaging projects for kids as they're reading along.  Great for reading over a Term and letting kids pick projects as they're interested.

School planning is going on swimmingly this year.  I took every spare minute for like two weeks and got the year scheduled by week number for all the kids in school this year, and that is: wait for it..... 5 kids schooling actively this year.  The Dauphin is in 7, Prairie Princess is in 5, Mini Me is in 3, Little Engineer is in 1, and my little Baby Jane (I'm giving her that nickname because she looks so much like my Grandma Jane), is starting to learn to read and write... yay!  I love my planner.... I am not infrequently found holding and petting it and looking through it's tabbed and color coded pages with a vague smile on my face.  I've never pulled off planning an entire year before, I usually just plan the first six weeks and hold onto an insane hope that I'll plan as the year goes on... which I do not do well, and certainly not for all the children!!!  This feat of super home school mom organization didn't come without a cost... the kids were so neglected (benignly, of course!) that they began to turn feral... it was a little like Lord of the Flies around here!  And the house looked, literally, like it had gone through a tornado, and the baby, no, toddler, has taken to becoming a muralist, and decorated every possible surface with crayon, pencil, and occasionally a pen or marker...

It didn't take long for him to trash the new, perfect house.... did it?

Aaaaaand, I only did like 2 loads of laundry in the time I did the planning, so the children were fishing through their dirty laundry hampers for clothing to wear.  Under no circumstances are any of you to think that I have it all together.  I do not!!!  But I do have The Book: a beautiful, organized, color coded, and Microsoft Excelled book to pet and hold and try to live up to.

Opening Ceremonies

I have successfully tied up some loose ends here at Contentment... I finished my brown cardigan in time for my trip to Texas next week... I even got some pics today, which I, of course, will share... We've started our luge track here at the house.  OK, it's a sled track, but we're calling it the luge track.  We've worn ourselves out packing snow.  I mean, we all came in and collapsed and I still think my rear end is a bit frozen.  Still, it's fun, and the sun is out and the day is beautiful and our road is finally not closed!  Of course it's supposed to snow again Monday.  We better get it finished and start sliding!

Also, did you know that 11 women in Olympia, Greece who represent 11 vestal virgins light the torch with a parabolic mirror before the Olympics?  Cool, huh?  Can one make a parabolic mirror at home?

Well, instead of that, we lighted our own Olympic Torch with the sun... we tried and tried to light it directly, but had to resort to lighting a match with the sun and a magnifying glass!!!  Then we lit the candle.    It counts! ..... It Does!

Sneek Peak - Master Bedroom

OK, this is not the best pic, ever... I admit it. Still, you can see the big windows, the floors, the light, the double door entry, and my Hubs. Eat your heart out ladies!

He thinks he wants to install a fan... I asked him to wait till summer to see if I want a fan, because, I've always wanted a big curtained bed with a chandelier... These things are made impossible by a large ceiling fan.

I have also been looking at design blogs, and I found... the Mother Lode of inspiration for myself. It's called House of Turquoise... and wow, I mean, wow, this chic gets me... well, at least my obsession with color. Here are her posts on turquoise and orange, lots of which I would love to have in my own home. And here's a big, curtained bed that's really waaay more modern than I would go, but still, it's magnificent. Oh, wait, this is the one I want!

Sneak Peek - Family Room

Look, more distressed hickory, just yards and yards of it! Yay! And I love the ceiling fans, too. I love the extra tall windows, but I know I'll have to open those windows on the top not the bottom, or you know SOMEONE would fall right out and down 15 feet to the ground outside! I love the trim on the fireplace, too. Stephanie, any ideas on a floor plan? Any free advice?! I think it's this room that will be the main quiet activity place... movies, school, read alouds, the library will be mostly in here, and family worship will probably take place here, too, so it should seat eight at a minimum comfortably.

Little Scholars

Sneak Peek - Dining Room

Oh, be still my heart, I love this room soooo much... I do believe this is the first house we saw that I didn't automatically think... "we'll have to change the light fixtures!" I really like these... can you see the chandelier swathed in netting for summer? This room is big enough for our table, a good thing, and wide enough for the buffet and I love it.

Another Orange Post... Shocker!

Hi! Look, I'm making this pretty cushion cover out of my special Williamsburg yarn... I think it'll be perfect to bring the color in my curtains onto the couch without trying to get back the giant burnt orange velveteen couch that my husband's grandparents passed down to us and that I used to hate, but now wish I had again. I've been dreaming of recovering my couch, well, since I bought it for $75 at a garage sale, but I can't decide what color to cover it with. Charcoal? Navy denim? Brown? I can't decide. Whatever it is, it has to be washable, because my kids can be easily compared to hurricanes.

Anyway, the fabric is a little experiment by me... I checked out Barbara Walker's stitch encyclopedia and first tried the wool in a gorgeous, intricate ogee lace pattern... not good. The wool is just too slubby and variable in gauge to look pretty... then I thought of a beautiful fabric knitted in silk I saw once, and I turned to the section on twisted stitch patterns, found the twisted purl stitch, and came up with this:

I cast on 70 stitches, and just started up. The stitch is a good for a mindless knitting project. It would make a really nice pair of gloves in a very fine gauge, or a coat in a nice worsted... as the fabric is dense and firm... I think this stich is perfect for the varied tonality of this yarn, and see, it's gonna look great with my curtains!

Snow Play

Wow! Being in VA was a little like being in North Dakota there for a little while! Doesn't this look like fun snow? Daddy took these pictures outside while playing with the boys. The girls mostly used the snow day as an excuse to bake and make cocoa!

Blueberries

We are locavores, when at all possible. We like to eat stuff that is grown around here, which is really easy in our area because we're very rural, but near a city, so there are tons of small farms and farmer's markets, etc. very near. Monday morning we went to Hartland Orchard and picked blueberries. We have the luxury, being at home to go in the morning on a weekday, which is the best time because it's cool, there are fewer people, and the bushes are less picked over, which is common on a Saturday anytime after the first hour a u pick it farm is open. Anyway, the people there are just as friendly as can be, and helpful, and eager to answer questions, which is wonderful. Soooo, here are our five pints of blueberries:

What to do with all those berries? Jeremy had picked up a bargain cookbook featuring food from Maine and I used a recipe for a blueberry crumble pie... yum.

The Prairie Princess made the crust for me and put it in the fridge this afternoon.

I rolled it out and fluted the edges and popped it in the fridge.

Mmmmmmmm, blueberries, flour, baking powder, and a pinch of black pepper!?!



Next the Crumble! Flour, dark brown sugar, and lots of butter...



And very small people to help.



Baking the pie crust, using dried green peas as pie weights



More crumble-ing, and little baby helpfulness:

The finished crumble all, um, crumbly

I popped this all into the pie crust, put it in the oven, and made a little tart with the leftover filling and crust... to give to the neighbors. What do you do with the leftover crust and filling.

All served with a litle iced cream, warm and tangy sweet, with that nutty, molassas flavor in the crumble, wonderful! I'd have added some oats and maybe some nuts to the crumble, but it was really good.

It's absolutely amazing, a bit of summer on your tongue.

Of course, I forgot to plan supper, so we didn't eat till 9:30 pm, cause we're a little short on cash right now and hub says no eating out... and the kids went to bed late and were grumpy all morning, but the pie was worth it.

Starving

Did you ever get the feeling that something is wrong at the heart of your soul? That you've missed some essential, foundational point that is necessary for contentment? I've been feeling that way lately. It's sort of like an itch on my psyche... and I can't seem to scratch it.

I look at my life and see many areas that are being neglected, but the most important are always the most difficult to take care of. They take planning and self discipline and time and effort to tend. I was struggling for awhile with really taking the time to enjoy my kids, but I think that is starting to be much more of a habit of thought, I do enjoy my kids more... Lately I've had this body image/fitness conflict raging which I think is only a symptom of the deeper, subtler angst that I'm starting to face now. I usually find a lot of spiritual fulfillment from making things, from creating, from making things beautiful, or from making a really great pie, making a dress or blouse: make, make, make. I used to see it as an act of Worship to take what is mundane and make it sublime. Lately, I haven't even wanted to create. I've clung to my knitting like an addiction, a need to be filled, but found so much less joy in the accomplishment than I used to. My cooking lately: uninspired, bland, and plain boring. I hardly even walk in the garden. I am no longer worshipping, I am drudging, slogging, out of habit or duty or something.

Something is wrong. The truth is this: souls can starve. Mine needs some nourishment. Most of my readers are moms, so you'll probably recognize this habit. We make the kids lunch, and we make it good for them... we balance the menu, thinking about protein and calcium and fruit and veggies, we include a bit of whole grain in there somewhere and finish it off with some organic whole milk... We make really healthy kid food: simple, boring, and as whole and unmeddled with as possible. And for our own lunch? We eat whatever the kids left on their plates so that food is not wasted.

I think spiritually, I've been eating whatever is left after the family has had their fill.

Clear as mud?

So, the "what to do" for me, is obvious. I need to eat. The problem is: I've lost my appetite.

So, I've decided to institute a sort of invalid diet of psalms, proverbs, a Gene Livingston Hill novel, and tv restriction (because, as we all know, junk food ruins your appetite for what is wholesome), also an early morning prayer and meditation time, which I've neglected for a while because of babies and a lack of routine. So, in with routine and out with unfettered free time. In with wholesome, simple spiritual nourishment in the hopes it will increase my appetite again for more complex and sophisticated fare. And for mercy's sake, more writing!

Summertime and the Livin' is Crazy

Wow! I'm going crazy here... there is so much to do in our life right now and waaay too little time to blog about it. We have gone camping, to Williamsburg, and to the Hill Country and Odessa in Texas. My in laws have some wonderful river front vacation rental property and a bed and breakfast (Bend O' the River) where we always love to go. Plus the grandparents are always highly desirable to visit for the children... of course! And my honorary parents have a backyard pool! Plus I got to visit with my best friend Addy, who introduced me to the Twilight books and movie and... wait for it... Edward. Ohhhhh, Edward!

I've been neglecting the garden, in favor of house cleaning, much to the garden's detriment, it looks awful. It's about time to plant some fall greens and carrots and beets, and we're about to get a whole lot of tomatos for popping in the mouth, slicing, and turning into sauce. I wonder how the potatos will turn out? I've gotten three heads of broccoli, all with little green worms which were easy to pick off, but yucky. They were all good eating, and welcome to the table, since all of us are broccoli fans. The onions seem to have trouble staying put in the raised beds, they keep pushing their way up to the surface.




I've been contemplating a name change for the blog... I realized that the name I chose for our cottage is really the lesson I'm continually learning in my life. Contentment. I believe I'll change the name of the blog to reflect it. Also, we're planning another move, which is typical behavior for me. I'm pretty much assured we'll move as soon as I've got the house about half settled. It's our modus operandus.





On the needles: the blue sock... again. I finished it, tried it on and was surprised at it's snugness, then realized that it was made in the smaller size, so it had to be ripped out, in it's entirety and reknitted. I re cast-on, began again and I've turned the heel and finished the gussets, so it's in the home stretch now. Again. Also, a stranded colorwork vest, which probably it all wrong for my body type, but I don't care. It's a knit picks kit, on size 2 circular needles, in teal and gold. I've already knitted an inch of ribbing, but I had to rip it out as I forgot those very important words when joining in the round "being careful not to twist." So I decided to go ahead and do a gauge swatch... just to play with the colors... I'll cast on again when I cast off the sock.





Piper had her "procedure" yesterday, and is recovering by napping in the girls' bedroom right now. She's been an admirable mother, and we were able to get good homes for all the kittens, and kept our two favorite Black Susan and Hamelin, who are busy learning to hunt, ruining my sheer curtains in the guest room, and practicing their pounce and wrestle technique.





The children are making leaps and bounds, the baby is practicing his manners, trying to say please in the following variations: large cheesy smile, "meeeeeeeeeee", "peeeeeeeeeeee", or "teeeeeeeeee". Very sweet. Little J has graduated to a bike with training wheels and is triumphantly peddling around in circles in front of the house. She is a wonderful talker now, telling us stories in her preschool lisp: "Mommy, he tan wide his bite wifout the taining wheels!" JW has learned to ride without training wheels at the ripe old age of 5, he's been endeavoring to steer at that terrifying speed that comes with that new liberty and has been wearing his helmet voluntarily. He and M (who is mostly learning to do her hair this summer) are excited about taking swimming lessons starting on the 20th and the Prairie Princess and Dauphin have been taking theirs already and making marvelous progress. Also, they've been trying to read up the whole library and are frustrated by any censorship on our part. The possibility of evil doesn't really seem real to them in the library. My oldest (12 yrs) ascends from the pool after lessons with this incredibly large grin, which is so wonderful to see as he was the most terrified toddler in the world of water. He even was afraid of his bath. Now he thinks he might want to join a swim team! Who'd have thunk it! It almost, almost makes me want a swimming pool... perhaps it will be a positive instead of a negative in our house hunt that begins in January, along with the packing. Ugh.... packing!





Soon to start: some sewing lessons for the Prairie Princess and a neighbor (who recently moved onto the farm). Our first project will be a small skirt, just rectangles and a bit of elastic for the waistband, easy peasy, with a topstiched hem. I'll perhaps start to get some of my own summer sewing done, maybe, then some winter jumpers for the girls, then I'll pack away the stash in anticipation of the move.





Also soon to start: changing the workroom to a workroom/bedroom for the Dauphin... he made a very good argument for having his own room, and at 12, needs to have a little privacy, especially in a large family that occupies a small house. Also he digs the orange walls! Yay! So I need to move my yarn stash OUT of the dresser in that room and INTO something else... perhaps a plastic storage bin? Something I can access up until we load the truck in March, because, as we all know, I and my yarn cannot be parted for long, much like my hub or my kids or my Bible...





Can we all say OBSESSION?

Finally, a pic of the night sky and a crescent moon, and it's pretty.

Busy, Busy Bee

Whoo! How busy I've been! I don't want to recount all the rigmarole we've been through this past week, but I thought I'd post a to do list for today:

1. Wash sheets and dry them on the line. The weather is begging for this and the sheets need a good washing desperately.

2. Wash woodwork. I've been taking down the plastic film we covered the windows with and opening windows to let in the beautiful weather.

3. Get out and sort summer togs and put away winter gear. Of course this is a multiple day job with all the people in our house, but I could get started.

4. Reboot house for dinner guests.

5. Gather night crawlers for fishing tomorrow.

6. Pack sandwiches and goodies for fishing trip

7. Have some old friends over for a fajita dinner, a bonfire, s'mores, and some card playing, hopefully!


Numbers 2 and 3 may have to be put off if we do indeed have guests, but it should be a fun, productive day!

What a Day!

Wow! It's been a doozy today, and I've been really wanting to tell about it! It started with a lazy, daisy sleeping in kind of morning... lots of sunshine, kids quietly snoozing, except for the Prairie Princess who decided to take a morning bike ride and feed the chicks early. Daddy made breakfast while the Princess and I got ready for a tea party in Culpeper with Mimi Cheri and M. We dressed up for the occasion. I even wore my fancy, schmancy earrings! We had a great time at Tea, Lace, and Roses. They have a dress up room with hats, gloves, costume jewelry, etc. Even I, surprisingly, put on a cute black hat and enjoyed myself thoroughly! I bought some fun little goodies at the antique store, and then we went to this cute art, fabric, yarn shop called 145 Art and Design Studio Their yarn selection was minimal, but beautiful, and they had Bernina sewing machines, Moda and Amy Butler fabrics (plus lots more), and some cool art supplies. I bought little watercolor postcard tablets for the children to create on and then send to grandparents and aunts and these little miniature watercolor sets that one can hang on a key chain for creating on the go... big hit... Then I hit a very, very cute shop called lula blu. OH MY GOSH! Lots of handmade girl's and baby's stuff, which I LOVE, of course, but also a clothing line called Neesh, which I wanted to have all of. It was uber-feminine, without being fancy, only with these beautiful little details that make you want to squeal a bit... I bought two skirts at 75% off (that made me squeal a bit, and the Prairie Princess, too). I will definitely have to post some pictures of the loot I picked up later.

Then after only a couple more stops and Prairie Princess' first ICEE (Cherry), we came home. We'd picked up stuff for everyone except Dad, so we were going to wash his car for him. I pulled out the trusty aqua blue wash bucket, filled it with eco friendly detergent and water, threw in a couple of rags, and then.... Piper caught my attention.

She was mewing kind of pitifully, and looking at me for help, obviously. I know I hadn't mentioned it before, but Piper (remember, the one who got rid of all of Hamelin's rats?!) has been a bit of a hussy(or so my Mom would say)... she came home knocked up... which is the natural thing for a young, beautiful, healthy cat to do when she's a year old, especially when her deadbeat family didn't get her spayed(that's me)... Anyway, she's been sort of waddling around the house lately. Actually, she was enormous... her belly was so ponderous she had to turn out her legs to walk. And yes, folks, after all the fun of this day, the beautiful weather, wonderful company, and fun shopping with my daughter, my cat had, as of right now...

I'm pausing to check...

SEVEN kittens!

SEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She had four before dinner, and I thought she was done, so Dad went out to start a bonfire, and I joined them, checking on Piper occasionally. We had s'mores with dark chocolate... mmmmmmm! Then I go check on the cat, five kittens. I put the baby to bed, and kiss the girls goodnight. My husband informs me there are six kittens. I sit down to start to blog about today, and HOLY HAMSTERS, she has SEVEN! She definitely seems overwhelmed, though she did her duty to wash them all and eat all the flotsam and jetsam (BLECH!) she only did it sort of halfheartedly for the last two. She's just napping now, belly up, while seven squirming kittens try to grab a nipple. She's got eight, who'd have thunk there'd be a shortage! I'm a little nervous about her ability to take care of that many kittens, though she was the kitten of a very capable Queen Mother. Her early cat education must be the reason she's such a good cat. I mean, Piper got rid of a nest of baby mice under the radiator in our dining room when she was only seven weeks old. She's awesome to behold.

New Chicks!

These arrived just in time to make us all remember that Resurrection Day means New Life! Aren't they just adorable... it makes you forget that a previous incarnation of downy chick just tried to attack you in your own back yard... we have a beautiful, and I mean really, really handsome but also really, really mean rooster. That rooster will soon be hitting the chicken pot, I think. Which is OK, it'll make room for some lovely new laying hens in the coop! I just had five delivered this morning, how convenient! The hens are the yellow and black chicks, the all yellow ones are Cornish Roasters, which are supposed to be less mutant like than the Cornish x Rocks which are scary and horrible and ugly and I hate them. We'll see. We also got our one surprise rare chick, which I hope will be a nice, pleasant, wonderful, caring rooster, that takes after my husband instead of being like some other awful Cock I know. I won't mention his name but it starts with Professor. Whoops.

I hate to make the chickens mateless again, and fertilized eggs are waaaay healthier than unfertilized eggs, but I've got the bitty one year old wanting to play in the yard now and I can't leave his side because of that nasty rooster, not to mention the other darling children that are in peril from "His Handsome-ness". And you know, there are other wonderful, good looking children I want to keep away from him, too.

I remember a picture of my Aunt Georgeanne as a toddler, with multiple places all over her sweet little face with stitches on them from a rooster attacking her, and it's haunted me ever since we let this one roam free. I suppose after all this ranting and raving about Professor, I should show him to you. I did take a picture of him today, but it was very dreary out and he's got these gorgeous iridescent feathers around his neck and in his tail that really take the breath away and you won't be able to see those, but, just to illustrate:

A Budding Photographer?

My five year old son is a very fascinating creature (of course, I'm his mama). He's got the mind of an engineer and the soul of a poet. I'm not sure what that bodes for his future passions and pursuits, but I know that it makes him a wonderful child to hang out with. Last week he borrowed the camera and I thought I'd treat you to some of his photos.