Monday, May 31, 2010

Learning to Ride...

...Scout had his first lesson with one of the sextons on how to ride the lawnmower...

...much more complicated than I remember the ole Cub Cadet...

...There are buttons to push and levers to rasie/lower - he was so excited about it though...

...he zipped around the yard and was completely done in about 20 minutes - we used to divide the yard in sections and spend about 3 days mowing one section at a time - when you were done it was almost time to do it again...

...I'm always so surprised when I download the photos and there's a picture of me in there...I'm usually the one taking the pictures...I do look like one worried Mama though...

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Let's Go Fly a Kite...Up to the Highest Height...

...Now you'll be singing that song in your head all day...

...Oh how I love Mary Poppins...

...and kites...

...Scout got a new kite...

...we had seen a young couple flying a kite (exactly like this one) in the big field to the east of the Church...

...Scout and I walked out to ask them where they got it - and they looked so abashed and they starting reeling in their kite quickly - they must have thought we were going to fuss at them for being on the Church property without permission...of course not - we love to look out our window and see a kite flying...

...anywhoo - they said they got it at K-Mart (and we were thinking it came from some fancy kite shop)...and Scout had money from his Grandma - burning a hole in his pocket - so we went and bought a kite exactly like theirs...

...we had sort of a windy/stormy spring day - but lots of fun!

...Oh and we're at the park (not in the field by our house) hence the trees - as it had rained and the field was pretty soupy...

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Willow Tree

Scout had been wanting to plant a Weeping Willow tree in our yard for a long, long time...
...we finally thought it was warm enough to plant the tree...i.e., no more snow or frost is likely...

...so Scout got busy digging the hole...

...checking the depth...

...planting the tree...

...watering it in...

...and tying it up...we get some pretty significant wind here - so hopefully the little guy will make it...his name of course is 'Willy'...

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Organizing with Glass Jars


I mentioned earlier that I prefer glass for storing my bulk items - so once I transfer them from their plastic bag or bottle - how do I know what I've got - soy protein looks a lot like besan/soy flour/wheat gluten - well, of course I need a label of some sort...

...so I just cut or peel the original label off the original package - and using clear packing tape - just tape that to the outside of the jar...

...this is what's working best for me right now - I find that it makes things easier to find in the pantry if the label looks like the one on the original package - instead of uniform all white labels - on some of my larger bulk items the beans and rice - I just write that out on paper in a pretty script and tape it to the jar - these labels are easily changed - and keep everything nice and organized...

'Yep, you bloggers sure are nice to each other...'

That's what the Man said after this package arrived in the mail...and it's oh so true! - I'm constantly amazed at the friendships formed here and I so look forward to hearing from y'all...

...My sweet blogging penpal - Maureen - sent me this lovely little package...

...can you see my name - faintly printed on that pink paper - Oh how I love little prezzies...

...inside was a lovely tissue holder - and I really needed one - it's so pretty...

...but wait - there was another tiny little packet - what could it be...

...It's a packet of Sorrel - Maureen and I had had a little conversation (as we do almost daily) - back and forth over the Atlantic - via email - about Sorrell (in reference to the Green Mayonnaise - and I bet it would be good in that too)...

...I'm going to try and plant it today...

...here's the contact information for the little tissue holder...

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In case you ever wondered 'Why Duck's Bills are Flat"...



Scout has been clearing out his desk and locker at school and this is one of the little gems that came home...I love it...I'm mostly glad that everyone got used to duck and accepted him as he was...

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Castle Project

Scout's final project of the school year was to create a castle - they're studying the Middle Ages - who doesn't love that...and I have sand all over my house again...

...Just like with the pyramid project - Scout wanted to do papier mache - so we started by tearing up some newspaper...

...we made a huge pile of paper and then played in it for a little while - it was like playing in the leaves...

...then we got down to business and cut out the shapes...

...made some turrets...

...and taped everything together...

...lots of cutting and taping...

...and reading of notes...

...lots of gluing too...

...then the painting began - see how meticulous he is...

...then the fun of throwing some sand around...

...tracing the castle on the base...

...more paint for the inner courtyard's sand to stick to...

...more sand...

...then a mote...

...then some grass...

...then some glue on the mote...

...because Scout had the brilliant idea that plastic wrap glued to the blue paint would look like water - I love it...

...then the whole castle gets a coat of grey paint...

...now on to building the wooden gate house...

...using pliers as a cutting tool...

...a rickety roof...

...finally - all painted - labeled and ready to go...

...Scout's 'extra credit' items included several knights, an heraldric banner, a drawbridge windlass, and a pot of boiling oil...

...Scout is proud of his project - wish him luck!

Monday, May 24, 2010

GÂTEAU À L'ORANGE

Hop over to The Vegan Version for all the details on this delicious cake...

...so we made this lovely orange cake...

...delicious and very, very rich...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Pentecost Sunday = Confirmation Sunday

Today is Pentecost Sunday - and it's also Confirmation Sunday...

Here's the Man - going over some last minute details with the Confirmands...

The service was lovely...These are a couple of pictures of the Man's stole...

I wove it for his Ordination and then embroidered the symbols - I'll have to do a whole post just about the stole sometime...

...after Church we had a nice little 'lunch' to celebrate...