Sunday Happy

Did you get to enjoy any of that spring day where the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and all the snow melted? I busted out the sandals, broke a sweat on a walk, and picked up some garbage that was living doormat under the snow and ice. That was one excellent spring day, and was well needed, and now I am ready for another snow storm because we all know it's going to happen. And I want it too because spring winter, with clean fluffy snow and blue warm skys is the best. And then real spring will be even better. Ah the weather. Never a dull moment. 

As weeks go, nothing out of the norm this past one. There was some work, some play, lots of baking, and some feeling like a crazy person. It's that time of year when things are kind of slow but about to get crazy and we know it, but there is not a whole heck of a lot we can do to prepare so we just do what we can and wait. And plan. And plan an escape. We need to escape, at least for a little while. And the west coast seems to be calling our names. So we shall see of things to come.

 I did spend a good amount of time trying to finish up the star cave in the kids room before Friday because we had a planet pillow making sleep over party and I just wanted it to be done. (it pretty much is, I just need to do a little touch up)  The littles (Miley, Judah, an Sophia) slept over, Barb came too, and we spent all of our time cutting fabric, playing with filling, and eating and leaving popcorn all over the house.  They all used their newly made galactic pillows and got to experience the awesomeness of sleeping under the stars in a heated room(I think I really outdid myself with this paint job. And all for a kids room in our house when we don't even have our own kids. Can we say #1 aunt and uncle? I think so).  They got to wake up to pancakes, more pillow making, dropped clothing in the toilet and Sophia brushing her teeth 4 times because she said if she does that she would not have to brush her teeth again for a few days. He logic makes perfect sense but luckily Miley was there to straighten her out (I just told her that she was so smart and what a great idea. HAHA) And then they left and we spent the afternoon cleaning the filth off of every surface because kids are gross. 

Not sure exactly what the plan is for today but I would like it to involve some kind of seed and or plant shopping which is the only kind of shopping (besides food) that I like. Other then that, a coffee nap (maybe under the stars) , maybe clean the car out if its not raining and brush the cat out because he is looking a little mangy.

Some of the Internet I looked at  this week

-The World's Most Colorful Natural Phenomena. I must visit all these places.

- It happens to me all the time with the weirdest things.  Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.

-I love a perfectly made bed. Expert Advice: Proper Bed-Making 101, How to Make Square Corners, Step by Step. It really does make me happy. 

-Like Lemons? Quinoa? Thank This Food Explorer For Bringing Them To Your Plate

-I have a Le Creuset and Martha Stewart and a Lodge. II want a Staub.  And I love them all in different ways.The biggest difference to me is that the cheaper I tend to chip the enamel on the cheaper ones.   Are Lodge Dutch Ovens Really as Good as Le Creuset and Staub?

-The loveliest chapel ever. .  A National Park-Inspired Chapel Composed of Branching Fractals by Yu Momeoda

-MAKE A DURABLE DIY HALF APRON FROM A $4 PLACEMAT Thinking of this next time I see a sweet ass placement

 -About to get my seed starting on. Vermont Garden Journal: Seed-Starting Problem-Solving

-Can Being Cold Really Make You Sick? And when you are sick Tea, Honey And Lemon: Does This Classic Trifecta Actually Help A Sore Throat?

And pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

It is super chilly and dark out and the smell of jelly donuts is wafting in from open windows (it's coming from the donut factory down the street) and I am thinking about grabbing the wool blanket from the packed away winter stuff and crawling back into bed, just for a little while longer until the coffee is done brewing. (4am wake up this morning and I am feeling like a nap is in order soon, even if it is 6am) This is the stuff of the best fall morning. Now if this could be my all day.#lifegosls

The week was a week, but a good week at that. Started getting squash with the farm share which lead to a discussion between me and the mr about what our absolute #1 food we could live off of forever (him, pizza.Me, super roasted kombucha squash covered in nut butter)  I made a sheet birthday cake that also contained about an entire package of oreo cookies for a newly 15 year old Jackson that is making me feel old. There was a dinner here and a dinner there and just a lot of people and family. We haven't spent much time at home or by ourselves this week so I am definitely ready for a quite day all to my lonesome. My brain is on overload.

We ordered the downstairs flooring!!! Come this Wednesday, the mr and I will be unloading 40 or so bundles of some pretty white "utility grade" oak.  We also found some floor tile for the bathroom for dirt cheap at the resourse store( tiny white squares.. nothing fancy but looks sharp) Flooring is for real you guys. Once we lay this stuff it's over. We are good and yeah. (until 2 hours later when we realize we have a million other things to accomplish) But all is good. We have flooring.

So today is going to be a fun one. The mr, my brother and I are going to attempt to move the 10 million pound radiators from the back yard to the upstairs..... Going to be oh so much fun (no, not it is no) Once we move them, I am going to finish painting them and the mr will install them. Whoa hoo! Plumbers are coming soon to hook up the new boiler so we have to get all this shit ready. WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!

How about you? Got any fun activities planned for this here fantastic fall weekend? Find something enjoyable, preferably outside, and try to stay away from reading all about the politics. We all need a break from that.

Internet stuff that kept me interested.

- Do yourself a favor and go outside. This Is Your Brain on Nature

- Almost finished this book and about to start this one. 

- I like honey crisps all right, but I am a mac girl for always. (and they are usually one of the cheaper varieties) Why Are Honeycrisps So Much More Expensive Than Other Apples?

-Breadfruit came from testicles and other weird myths. THE WORLD'S BEST FOOD-BASED CREATION MYTHS

-How can trees not have secret lives. A Web Of Trees And Their 'Hidden' Lives

- And this. Today in Terrifying Bird News, Pigeons Know How to Read

-This would be my bliss (with an added coffee bar)  Secluded Library In The Woods

-I got my information from Meryl Strep in The Devil Wears Prada (love the movie) How Trends Trickle Down. The circuitous path of ideas in food and fashion.

-Breaking Taboo, Swedish Scientist Seeks To Edit DNA Of Healthy Human Embryos. I am officially scared.

-I think this might be my next knitting project. Purl Soho Pullover

Some pics from the past week.

Happy weekend!

-C

Sunday Happy

Hello to a long summer weekend full of all things sparkly and red white and blue.  Hard to believe that it's already July 4th weekend. We are already deep into summer and I need to get on and do some serious summering.

We put in our time this week for sure, 8-12 hour days, some days at the house until 8pm. We had a deadline and had to bust some crazy ass to get what we needed to get done done before the insulators came. Phew..  we did it, and now all I can say is that the mr and I are pretty bad ass. As for the house, it's just smooth sailing from here. (haha, yeah right)

Another big thing this week. Jeff Dad moved back, well not back to VT, but back east, close to where he grew up in PA. This is of much excitement for myself and the rest of my siblings. Now instead of being 14 (more like 20) hours away, he is only be 5 hours away. That is just enough away that we can see him whenever we want, but far enough that we don't have to see him when we don't. Plus he is only about an hour outside of NYC..so you know, party party in the city.

Today is a weird Sunday, cause it feels like a Saturday, which makes me feel like I need to put on my work pants and get to it. Lucky for me, the mr has plans for a fishing adventure and if he going on an adventure, then I am too! I am going to pack some food, my watercolors and a book try to just relax today. Maybe we will bring the new tent (we finally bought a new tent that is not our tiny backpacking tent with a hole in it) and just come home sometime tomorrow. You are not suppose to work on a holiday, right?  Hum, sounds like a good plan to me.

Fun and informative internet from the week.

-I feel like I might know a few people that need to read this. HOW TO SAFELY PLAY WITH FIREWORKS WITHOUT BLOWING AN ARM OFF

So much summer fruit means it's pie time. A Professional Baker's Tips for Baking Pies Smarter, Not Harder

-Any or all of your favorite blogs (mine or not, whatever.. but mine) NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE FOOD BLOGS FOR THE 2016 SAVEUR BLOG AWARDS

-My aunt was growing ancient wheats before all the the cool kids,because she is so cool. Nothing Says 'Hip' Like Ancient Wheat

-Pretty freaking crazy. A Miniature Landscape of Elephants Carved From the Tip of a Pencil

-I was curious so I looked it up, and now I know. How Cinnamon is Harvested in Indonesia

-Diggin this house, especially the kitchen counters (we are 99% sure we are pouring kitchen concrete counters!!?!)

-Totally in love with these landscape oil paintings.

-This album has been on repeat all week. It's is one of my favorites and also the first cassette (remember those?) that I ever bought.

-Finally, no more sneaky sneaky. G.M.O.s in Food? Vermonters Will Know.

And a few snaps from the week.

Happy Weekend

-C

Sunday Happy

Let's just hit the weather for a minute here. Snow one week and 90 freaking degrees the next. Oh Vt, you can be so cray cray, but do me a favor and stop being 90..I can't sleep, I am constantly sweating....I think I am pretty much melting, not to mention slightly bitchy.  Just be 80 with a nice cool breeze. I would like that a lot. Thanks.

The past week has been one full of the fullness that comes with owning apartment buildings. . A handful of the apartments are turning over so we have been running around dealing with repairs, cleaning, and over all property maintenance.  There has been lots of weeding, mowing, and tree cutting, you know, all sorts of fun stuff. The buildings are looking good but you should see our little fenced in yard right now. It kind of looks like a junk yard from all the shit we have been piling up for lack of time or space to deal with it all. That and we are also in the processes of getting a new work car. (the process being craigslist) , so until we do, moving stuff is on hold. Why is it so hard to find a working truck that doesn't cost a million dollars and will get us from point a to point b without falling apart and being fancy.? We pretty much just need something to haul trash and lawn mowers and the occasional toilet. Is that to much to ask? Apparently it is. (we will find something, I am just being a whine ass)

Anyway, we have managed to get to the new house this week and get the rest of the metal roofing on, a temporary gate up so now Washer can roam free, and lots and lots of nails removed from the floors.Things are still moving along. I even spent some time with the plants while the mr mowed the front lawn (We do it mullet style. Short in the front yard,long in the back) And hopefully today we will have a little time to get over there as well. I really want to harvest some rhubarb and get a few more plants into the ground before it's to late.

And hopefully you are having yourself a long and enjoyable weekend. It's pretty much summer now so it's time to do all the summer stuff that needs to be done.

Some internet stuff to keep you occupied if in need.

-I wonder what my rock collection would look like (I have a shit ton of rocks) A Kinetic Artwork that Sorts Thousands of Random River Stones by Age

-The Highly Anxious Herbivore’s Guide to Moral Vegetable Consumption.. hahaha.

-Fake banana flavor could actually be really banana flavor? The History of Banana Flavoring

-Let it roam..How to Make the Most of a Scattered Attention Span

-It's about time we know exactly whats in the food. An 'Added Sugar' Label Is On The Way For Packaged Food

-I always kind of thought smoothies were more a dessert then a meal. Ask Well: The Downside of Smoothies

-This California House Has a Vertical, Living Succulent Wall and I love it. I would be all about something like this except I live in Vt. All the plants would die.

-Scientists Are Trying to Solve the Mystery of Awe... I think it will forever be a mystery, that's why it's awe.

-These mountain are like whoa.

-I have moments where I want to whitewash the entire house. This place is inspiring (and the stairs.. love love love)

Pictures from the week.

Have a great day

-C

Sunday Happy

WHAT WHAT..It's. Sunday already? That happened. 

I guess starting off  last Monday pretty much a sleepless zombie didn't help, plus for some reason, the world became super hot again and that sent me over the edge. Once I get the taste for cool crisp weather, anything warm and hot makes me crazy. I felt almost ill all week from the heat. But I think (it really must be) the end of that weather. Next week is all about the low 70's with cold nights! Oh man, it's going to fantastic!

Yup, last week was a busy one, but we did manage to get in some fun. Wild apple picking (HARD CIDER), a little hike, and we did spend a fare amount of time at the garden. (which is on it's was out). We are trying to go every day cause we are still picking tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers and a few other things.  The flowers are still growing and the kale and chard are doing great, but you can just tell that this time next week, the tomatoes will be no more. The last zucchini is going to be picked, and as for the kale and chard. I am just goojg to harvest it all and eat it all to my face cause we are being kicked out of the garen plot by the end of the month. This makes me sad, but at least I have all of my house plants to surround my self with. And honestly, not going to the garden all the time, I'll have more time to sit on my butt and read and knit. (I am already falling behind on my knitting projects)

Anyway, today is definitely  going to be a me day. Tomorrow is the kick off for family birthday party season, which means I will be spending my weekends making lot s of cakes and going to a bunch of littles birthday parties. Fun times, but crazy. One a week for the next 6 months……I am already tired.

Coffee. That's all I need to get me through. Lots and lots of coffee. 

Interent stuff to check out.

-This is a fantastic movable kitchen

-I have a thing for old door knobs (there are all over my house)

-Lovely green things

-The Great Grain Debate. Is soaking really worth it?

-New Mythical Cut Paper Collages by Artist Morgana Wallace

-Uh no shit. It's Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say 

- Until I get the cookbook. IN THE KITCHEN WITH: MIYOKO SCHINNER’S VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE, BROWNIES AND BUTTER-LESS BUTTER.

-Go Ahead, Give Your Toddler A Kitchen Knife 

-A super bright and colorful home

-Lego furniture… count me in 

And some pictures from the week. 

Happy Sunday!  Happy Fall. 

HAPPY HAPPY!

-C