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Sunday Happy

October 29, 2017 Colleen Stem

I woke up this morning from a dream that I was in process of making those gummy toy things, Creepy Crawlers, but instead of them being made of rubber, I was making then out of cake. And in the dream the theme song for the commercial was playing while I was making these little insect cakes and now I have this weird dream feeling and have the stupid, but catchy theme song stuck in my head. What does this mean? Am I suppose to make a bunch of tiny little insect cakes? Or is it a cry from my child self craving bugs? I don't know, but what I do know is that they should start selling those machines again. Bring back the creepy crawlers!

Feels like the past week was one long day. The mr and I spent a good amount of time outside doing all the outside work that needed to be done. More tree cutting, raking, picking up trash, getting rid of everything. Over the course of doing all this, I cut the shit out of my hands. All my fingers and my palms have cuts and scrapes and gashes and fuck do my hands hurt. Even worse is that after doing and getting all that, we started tiling that bathroom (!!!!) and tiling with cuts all over your hands sucks ass. The mortar just eats away at your skin. Plus I sliced my finger open on a razor while tiling so my hands are garbage and swollen and I will stop bitching now. But back to tile, the bathroom is so close to done. This time next week I will be able to pee downstairs again. It's going to be fantastic. 

Other then work all week, we have had the littles a lot again. Speaking of having songs stuck in my head, I have been letting the kids listen to whatever they want when they are here which is all the newest coolest music(and it's driving me crazy). All week I have been haunted by the new Taylor Swift song. If I hear it for even a second, I get it stuck in my brain and there is will repeat over and over, especially while I am trying to sleep or relax. It has made me slightly crazy. I have now banned the listening of that song in my presence because it is just to much for me to a handle. But other then driving me crazy with crappy music, we have had some pretty good times. We saw a rainbow, talked about what to hand out to trick or treaters (there was talk of ketchup packets, back hair, and painted rocks) and the mr built  death swing in the tree. When we are not busy, they sure do keep us busy. After having them over so much over the past few weeks, I found myself fantasizing about having a Rumba vacuum, which is crazy because I really do not want one. But maybe I do? I don't know.(don't tell the mr because he thinks he wants one)  What I do know is that those kids are messy as shit and that every weekend my cleaning time has gotten a little longer because of the trail of Emerson drool and dirty feet has gotten worse. Maybe I should just wrap the baby in mop heads and have him crawl/clean. But wait, that won't work either because just this past week we got that little gorilla to walk! 10 steps all on his very own, going after an Oreo cookie like a champ.

And then the farm.  This past farm share was the last summer farm share pick up of the year. We got so much good goodies (sweet potatoes that are as big as my head and so much spinach) and I also realized that wearing my overalls down to the farm that people will mistake me as one of the framers (not the first time people mistake me as a farmer... these are life goals) But now the summer share is done and I am a little sad, but not really cause winter share starts in two weeks and I will be munching away on squash, roots, and greens for the months to come. 

Then on Friday we had our pumpkin carving party.. The mr, Megan, Barb, Miley, Sophia, and Judah all carving away. I pre gutted by pumpkin make a cinnamon sugar seed snack and had it all nice and ready to carve. I got a single cut into it when I had to  abandoned it to help all the littles carve theirs. Now the mr has his all nicely carved pumpkin on the porch and mine is just  siting there, waiting to be carved. But carve I did. Then we made pizza, did cartwheels around the block at night, and watched Hocus Pocus while eating/ getting popcorn ALL OVER the house. (Rumba would have been great here) 

I am excited for today. There is no way that I can bare tiling any more today (my hands hurt so much right now) so we are going to wait and finish tomorrow. No, today I am going to plant the trees we bought this week in the front yard. Two little eastern redbuds and then I am going to sit back and watch them grow.  That and maybe repot some house plants. I think I just want to play in dirt all day. And finally carve my pumpkin. Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Internet I looked at this week.

-Currently reading Nomadland and in it one of the woman talks about building her own Earthship. I started looking them up after that because I feel like I should be building one too. 

-To Complain Is to Truly Be Alive. I know so very alive people!

-I don't think it's gonna happen in this house, but someday I want to have cool ass wall paper wall.  DUTCH MASTERS WALLPAPERS

-Is This the Best Way to Wash an Apple? 

-We are shopping for toilets again (How many times in my life am I going to have to say that). What do you think of a black toilet? Definitely not happening in my house, but just thought it was interesting that there are so many choices.

- I bet they listen to more rock and roll too.Frequent Pot Smokers Also Have More Sex, Says Extremely Chill Study

-Wake Up, Sleepy Ikea Shoppers! But I thought that Ikea WANTED people to take naps on the beds. Huh. 

-I initially was ll, this is awesome and I want it, but after thinking about it fora little while, I don't think I would feel comfortable sleeping on it. But it's still cool. This Floating Tent Turns Bodies of Water Into a Campground

-Rooffee,’ the First Coffee for Dogs, Raises Plenty of Questions. My question  is WHY THE FUCK?

-Burn, Mummify, Compost—Different Ways to Treat the Dead. The mr and I just head an interview with the author on NPR and found it very interesting. Now I am trying to figure out what I want to happen to my dead body..... 

Pictures from the week.

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Have a great week.

 

In sunday happy, photography, internet links Tags everyday life, photography, internet links, family, pumpkins, halloween, vermont, vt, Vermonting, rainbow, creepy crawlers, fall, the good life
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Sunday Happy

September 24, 2017 Colleen Stem
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So much to catch up on. Skipped last Sunday because the mr and I were in RI visiting my family. After a fantastic visit with the fam (more to come in a separate post, I need to go through the pictures) we came home all happy and full of love and amped for the week which was a good thing becausethe past week was packed.

The school system was still on strike so we spent a bunch of time with the littles, playing with chalk and trashing my house. Then there was the afternoon fun run out to the islands for ice cream with Barb. A strike day cone with all the sprinkles because why not.  The teacher strike ended and they all went back to school.(finally)  I spent a lot of time over at the loft going through all the shit in the basement and getting rid of things that are not and do not and should not. Which lead to me home cleaning out my closet and getting rid of a bunch of clothes as well. I am on a purge right now and if it (whatever it is) hasn't seen any action recently it's gone. And the garden. still so many tomatoes. I have never had or seen so many tomatoes come from one persons back yard before and beside a bed of beets and kale, are the only thing left standing in garden now because I pulled up the rest of the garden. The purge continued on the outside of the house too. I basically just want to get rid of everything. Fresh and clean and minimal and covered in tomatoes.

Up until just this past week, the mr and I have been doing our laundry over at the loft. It is annoying to shlep dirty clothes but we just figured that we are getting a new washer and dryer so no need to kill ourselves moving them from one basement to another. We shelp, we deal, it's fine. But what is not fine is that we no longer have a washer!!! One of our tenants washers one of the other buildings broke. so what was the solutions? Give them our washer. AAHHH! And me being me will not buy a new washer/dryer until they are sale which will be black Friday sales that happen in November. 6 weeks, at the very least, but it's cool. I will just go back to doing what we did before we got a washer and dryer, I'll just got do it at Shannon's house, which a win win because I get my laundry done and Shannon gets to hang out with me! HA

On top of the washer situation , the mr computer crashed. Of course right? He is dealing like a champ and functioning very well with just using his phone for all of his email and communication needs. I am impressed because when my computer crashed a few years ago I flipped my shit. And now I am really worried that my computer is going to die too because we have the same computers. Eek!

Jackson, my oldest nephew turn 16!!!. I can't even believe how old he is. The mr and I were just reminiscing about when we first starting dating (15 years ago) that we would go on "dates" that actually were us babysitting Jack. Little Jack and his hockey stick that he used as a weapon. Those were some crazy days. And now he is old and tall(er) and one of my favorite 16 year old kids. And how cute, he actually wanted a family birthday party. So I made a giant oreo cookie cake, the entire family packed into Shannon's house and no one fought or got injured! Best part, Shannon wrapped up a set of car keys and gave it to Jack. AFter he opened them he got so excited and ran outside to check out his new car. As he opened the door he stepped on something and looked down. He stepped on his new toy car.. HAHAHAHAHA. The look on that kids face. He was crushed and it was amazing. We are asshole people but it's ok because it is with love.

Yesterday the mr and I went to the annual harvest market in Underhill and did a little road side apple picking. It was a sunny and hot day which kind of killed the fall vibe. I was sweating and we passed on hot apple cider because it 80ish and just to hot. But I did score a pretty cool jar with ducks on it so it was not a complete wash.

And topper. Got home from a day out, kind of tired and just want to clean and relax and the mr gets all excited and crazy. There is a shasta camper for sale and he wants it gone now. "Oh yeah, well go and get it" is what I said and so we did. Drove out to up there Vermont and paid a young man a very very tiny fee to tow a pretty beat up, but still tow-able 1970's shasta camper home. Huh, that just happened didn't it? Oh jeeze, we have a freaking (non functional because it needs to be renovated)  camper in the driveway.

And that was just some of the past 6 day.

Today is going to be a lax day? I need to be able to have no set plan and just kind of do what comes to me (except I need to go to grocery store and return library books pick out tile because we are finally finishing off the downstairs bathroom this week) But other then that.

Internet fun from the past weeks

-This sucks. USDA Warns That Millions of Pounds of Fake ‘Organic’ Imports Are Pouring Into U.S And this is why it is important to know your farmer and buy local.

-How Has The Geology Of Vermont Affected Its Character?

-I love Melissa McCarthy (who doesn't) Trailer for ‘Cook-Off!’

-Shasta campers. Our is a 14 ft? Maybe, It was dark and weird and I haven't really even gotten a good look.

-Restoring VW Beetles, Buses ... And Dreams. Is it crazy that we still want a bus? Maybe the camper will quench our dreams.

-Nugget ice is pretty fantastic and this ice machine makes it for you at home. No more stealing ice from the hospital (the mr got hooked on the nugget ice from all the hospital trips over the years)

-Vegan hard boiled eggs..... Don't really understand it.

-Does Happiness Really Make You Healthier? It Depends on Where You Live.

-The view from the top is fantastic. The birds get it all.  Aerial Images of Vibrant Landscapes

Ans some pictures from the week.

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Have a great day!

-C

In sunday happy Tags Sunday Happy, Family, Photography, Vt, Vermonting, garden, Shasta, Winooski, Internet links, nature, the great outdoors, everyday life
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Sunday Happy

July 16, 2017 Colleen Stem

Holy FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!. That is what I have been saying every time I step foot outside my door. The mosquitoes are INSANE! I think I have gotten at least 100 bites in the past few days. No joke, they swarm around as soon as the door opens. They have chased me inside more then a few times and have taken more of my blood that I am willing to give. It is terrible and disgusting and I really really hate mosquitoes. (my white walls also hate the mosquitoes, there are blood splatters everywhere)

Other then the nasty ass mosquitoes, the week has been pretty good and super productive. Windows are re glazed and painted, half the siding is up, yard is clean and porch is painted. Give us a bit off good weather and we can get stuff done. We also managed to have dinner with Shannon one night then had Miley and Judah for dinner and crazy messy chalking another night (they discovered water and chalk makes a paste and covered themselves in thick war paint like chalk) I got a few new house plants and I am officially turning our house into a jungle. (makes me very happy)  The mr has been working on some sweet stencils so there is little pieces of paper and spray paint everywhere and I am thinking about where to set up my pottery wheel. ( I think the loft is going to be my new pottery studio) So yeah, a full week of fullness and summer and all the people. Oh, and the mr would like me to mention that he has invented a new way to cook an egg. He calls it a broached egg. It's when you are trying to hard boil and egg and accidentally break the egg when putting it into the water and the egg kinda seeps out and cooks that way. Half hard boiled, half poached... Broached. So smart that one.

Today brings with it some more fine weather. I don't know what we have planned for the day, but I am hoping it is not too much. Maybe take the kayaks out, maybe burn some more siding? Hopefully not much work related stuff, but you never know. Whatever we do end up doing, I want to be outside. I just really hope that the mosquitoes are all dead.

How I interneted this week.

-Cherry Season! ALL THE CRAZY THINGS FARMERS DO TO BRING YOU THEIR CHERRY CROP.  Where do I get a cherry cheat sheet?

-When I was a kid, every time I saw a banana peel I was sure someone was going to slip on it. The History of the Banana Peel Slipping Gag

-Does drinking a few cups of coffee a day help you live longer? Yes, yes it does.

-If your in need of some advice. This Is How You Get Stuff Done.

-Airline Passenger Checks Single Can of Beer As His Only Piece of Luggage hahaha

-Birds are smart so do forget that... Ravens Surprise Scientists By Showing They Can Plan

-The Uninhabitable Earth. Scary and very real shit people.

-I get it, sometimes you don't want to get out the salad spinner but when you don't wash your greens you are probablyeating dirt (and maybe some bugs) Here's Photo Proof That You Really Should Wash Your Leafy Greens

-Desperate Ways to Stay Cool on the Hottest Days of the Summer

-Just Smelling Food Could Make You Gain Weight. But who wants to eat without tasting... that would suck.

Pictures from the week.

Happy weekend!

-C

In Winooski, sunday happy, summer, remodeling, photography, internet links Tags Sunday Happy, Weekend, whale tales, vermont, Vermonting, Sunday, internet links, photpgraphy, shou sugi ban, summer
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Sunday Happy

June 25, 2017 Colleen Stem

Happy Sunday to you there people. It's suppose to be a gem of a day today. I hope you all are planning some good times to take advantage of it. It is officially summer so we should all be summering.

The past week had been decent but a little wonky. It seemed like it rained all the time which it didn't but kind of did. We had my mom and bros come over for a little family time dinner. (one twin loved the food, the other hated it) Got to take the kayaks out for a good paddle and have managed to get a lot of stupid little things that have needed to be done done.  Farm share pick upwhich is starting to get a whole lot bigger (bring on all the greens) and the backyard garden is bursting with stuff (radishes up to my ears) With all the food we have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen at the new island making food, eating food, or reading. It is the most amazing kitchen island and I am obsessed with it.

The painting of the house is taking much more time then I thought it would. First off, rain, and you can't paint in the rain. Then there is way more prep then I realized; scraping, holes to fill, scraping dead ivy from the sides (the mr has been doing most of the crap work) Then painting, then repainting because colors and me. Now we are at a point where we have the main porch painted with a great color but any windows or house siding colors is still undecided. All the windows are painted all different shades of black and grey. It is keeping me up at night. (picking out colors is very hard for a brick house that seems to change colors all the time) But I have goals. This coming up week I will have all the house painting completely done.  YEAH!

We are not suppose to do much work today, just try to take it easy. With that being said I am pretty sure the mr is planning on climbing into the trees in the driveway and trimming the tree branches that are growing onto our roof. Relaxing? Not so much.(He is very much afraid of heights) So if he does that, I will probably be out there the whole time holding the latter and being ready to catch him if he falls. But after that I might go strawberry picking. Farm share pyo has begun and I have strawberries and snap peas waiting for me. Got to get Summering.

Stuff from the internet.

-Solar field with bee hives... This is one of our life goals. Beekeepers Sweeten Solar Sites With the 'Tesla of Honey'

-A Street Fight Among Grocers to Deliver Your Milk, Eggs, Bananas. I wonder if people that deliver food go home and have their food delivered.

-It's not all in the name, but some of it it. Would Carrots by Any Other Name Taste as Sweet?

-This studio where the little tree houses are made.

-Man Bun Ken. What the ..... Mattel Introduces New Diverse Ken Dolls; Hopes To Reverse Sales Slump

-Stumptown’s Founder Is Starting a New Coffee Company. More good coffee.

-I don't have a kid but this bed is super cool. Maybe a daybed?

-Your Brain Treats a Blink Like a Tiny Nap which totally make sense

-At least there is an upside to the struggle. Some Good News for People Who Have a Hard Time Making Decisions

-Watch Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana Talk Shit About Each Other While Making Smoothies. I miss them so much and can't wait for the new season!

Pictures from the week.

have a great day.

-C

In Winooski, vermont, the great outdoors, sunday happy, summer, photography, life, internet links Tags Sunday Happy, Internet links, Vermonting, Vermont, Photography, Everyday life, The great outdoors
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Sunday Happy

June 18, 2017 Colleen Stem

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there. May your day be full of sunshine and laughter and all the good things about being a dad.

The mr and I have had a pretty summery week. House stuff is coming along. We picked a paint color for the porch. Painted a bit of the porch, then, I decided I don't like it. Tried a new color and I am not to sure about that one either. So now the porch is covered in splotchy colors and not painted and I am just ugh. Paint choice can be such a bitch. But we found a kitchen island!!!! The mr has such a good eye for, well, most things, and found this old drafting table for free on craigslist. I was skeptical at first but the thing works perfect in the space and I am just really excited about it. That and the new light fixture that we found at the dump. Things are coming together here and out here of other peoples garbage. I love garbage finds, they are the best.

We also managed to get the kayaks out twice (even if for only a 1/2 hour). After comparing notes last night we realized we should stop going into the choppy lake after dinner. Full stomach and big waves equals a slight vomitty feeling. And the tandem bike, our summer time tradition. Barb, Miley and Judah came over for an end of school year sleep over pizza party and it basically turned into the mr riding around the neighborhood all night with one of them in tow. It was fantastic and quit fun to watch.

Today the mr and I are planning on keeping it low key. It is suppose to be hot and humid today and I am not really looking forward to that. We might try to take the kayaks out again or hit up a river, or just find a nice cool spot to hang out and read. I might even make some iced coffee (but probably not because I still want hot coffee even in a heat wave)

Internet stuff to take a look at.

-Why Can’t America Have Nice Rest Stops? I would love to be able to buy fresh, not nasty produce when I stop to pee.

-Next pie I make I am going for snazzy. 9 Ways to Snazzy Up Your Pie Edges

-Why so many porch ceilings are blue. But I still want to paint my porch ceiling gold.

- Internet owns the grocery store....weird. After The Amazon Deal: What Will Shopping At Whole Foods Feel Like?

-Our Love Of 'All Natural' Is Causing A Vanilla Shortage. Hoard your vanilla.

-This is one badass canoe

-Here’s Why You Should Let Go of Your Old, Half-Baked Ideas. This is good advice for me because I can get a billion ideas stuck in my head.

-Huh.. People Are Now Using Coke As a Self-tanner Instead of Drinking It. Wouldn't you just be really sticky?

-Because Sharks. Step Aside, Humans — Michael Phelps Is Set to Race Against a Great White Shark During Shark Week

Pictures from the week

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Have a great day.

-C

In Winooski, vermont, the great outdoors, sunday happy, summer, photography, internet links Tags Sunday Happy, Internet links, Photography, family, Vermonting, Vt
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