Pillowcase Prodigies

If you were to ask my kids, "What is something your mom can't do?" Emily wouldn't hesitate to tell you, "She can't sew." And that would be inevitably followed by an eye roll and a snicker, because, much to her annoyance, when the princess dresses get ripped or start unraveling at the bottom they have to get sent to Grandmom's.  It's true; I haven't a clue when it comes to a needle and thread or a sewing machine.  This bothers me a little that Grandmom is one upping me in this area, not to mention there is a whole world of Pinterest projects out there that require making friends with a straight stitch.
So it was perfect timing that my friend found a beginner's sewing class for us in lovely Collingswood.  The Quilted Nest offers all kinds of classes and tuturiols that can be found on their website.

                                    
Just like every other little shop on Main Street, The Quilted Nest is tiny and quaint and welcoming; just big enough to hold small lessons in the back of the store. Our task today: making a pillowcase.  How hard could it really be?
Well, the answer to this is undecided. Because we did go home with two nice looking pillowcases, but....I'm pretty sure that if left to my own devices I might sit and stare at the sewing machine a long time not knowing exactly what to do.
Now, don't get me wrong.  I did get the feel of the machine, and I know some of it's basic operations now. But maybe, like one overeager student in our class, I should have been taking some notes.  There was some math involved, and I tried my hardest not to glaze over during that part, but, well...I tried my hardest. Let's leave it at that.
Not sure if I'm ready to go out and buy myself a machine just yet, but I think with more research on my own, and some practice threading and rethreading a machine, I may be able to get the hang of it.

A little disappointing was the selection of pillowcase fabrics.  We were pretty sure we got to choose from whatever she wasn't able to sell in her store over the last ten years.  Ugly is the nicest word I can come up with for some of them.  Addison is in a Strawberry Shortcake phase presently, so I finally decided on this pattern.

There's apparently a lot of ironing involved in this whole sewing thing.  Maybe my iron will finally get some action.

I don't want to name names, but someone forgot to put the presser foot down when she started her project.  Uh...what a mess. It's okay, though, everyone makes mistakes (when I say everyone, I don't mean me, but whatever...totally fine).

No one likes a bragger, but I have to say that we were the first ones done, and ours looked completely fab.

Well, there you have it. Sewing 101.  So excited to move on to my next project...or at least excited to think about a next project.

There's Something Wrong with Those Chickens

Yes, my spidey sense, or rather my poultry sense was telling me that there was something wrong with these chickens of ours. We've had an eventful introduction to life with chickens. To kick things off, one of the two chicks that somehow snuck there way home with my kids died on day three.  Mike said this wasn't out of the ordinary, but it really bothered me.  So, I decided to keep a closer eye on these things.  And my closer eye came with questions. Why aren't they eating that much? What's that weird sound they are making?  Where are the eggs????  (We had only gotten one so far, but we attributed the shortage to the fact that they were molting.) Not to mention, they were so, well, lazy....half of them were always in the coop lounging around.  Of course I voiced these concerns on a daily basis driving Michael to the point of insanity.
Now, the next part of the story I didn't learn until later.  But, these chickens were definitely defective.  This morning Mike went out to open the coop, and a short time later I saw him Googling chicken illness. I asked questions, but was used to my chicken inquiries being ignored by now, so I went about the morning, getting the kids ready for church.  As we were about to leave Mike popped his head in the door, said, "I'll catch up with you at church...I have to go down the road."
This is a pretty common happening around here.  I'm never sure exactly what's going on down the road, but it had to be about six or seven years ago that I stopped asking.  It's just better that I don't know everything.
Anyway, fast forward to the middle of church, my curiousity gets the better of me, and I ask.  I'll give you the short version.  Mike goes out to open coop.  Big chicken looks half dead.  Mike Googles weird gurgling sound they've been making...finds out it's probably chicken pneumonia. Goes out and half dead chicken is now a completely dead chicken. Returns seven defective chickens, demading money back.  Gets money back and goes to more reputable farm and gets eight new hens.  End of story.
Oh, but it's a happy ending. After a week and a half with one egg, we got FOUR eggs just this afternoon.  We were wondering if any of the kids would notice the switch, and after a couple of minutes Emily did the math and asked the appropriate questions.  Noah was also shocked when he got pecked by one, very lively lady, since he had become accustomed to comatose state of our previous flock.  The best picture below is the moment when Emily and Noah were trying to figure out where the eighth chicken came from....

                                                                                         

Street Art

In the ongoing effort to keep the kids off of the couch as much as possible this summer we tried Art in the Street this morning.  Every week on a street corner somewhere in Woodbury the arts council does a different project, and the theme for all of the projects this summer is nature.  They had a great turn out, and Emily and her friend had a good time making under the sea drawings, a treasure box, and water color sea animals on rice paper.

The best part (according to me) was at the end everyone got ice pops, and the local library spread out a hundred children's books for the kids to pick from and take home.  Free art, free pops, free books...we loved it!
Looking for something to do next Monday or Tuesday for a couple of hours...check it out!  The website says ages 7-12, but the woman in charge told me it would be fine to bring my almost six year old.

Seven Hens a Laying

Well, no one is laying just yet.  All seven of our Rhode Island Reds are getting used to their new coop and enclosure. After three days of working in the ninety degree heat, Mike (whom I can only guess has had severe, pent up chicken envy for years) finished an adorable, yet sturdy chicken coop for our new ladies. Noah placed the straw appropriately and was sure that eggs would start popping out as soon as the chickens saw how nicely he had arranged their home.

  

And of course, there was a little disappointment when they did not.  However, he did have something else to keep him distracted...two somethings to be exact.  Apparently Mike just couldn't say no when the chicken broker offered two free chicks to Noah and Emily on their way out...a poultry bonus.  I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of having these two guys (which they will undoubtedly turn out to be) in my house until they are big enough to be outside.  But, they did provide hours of entertainment today as the kids chased them around on the back porch. 

 Hopefully we will be seeing some eggs soon, but in the meantime everyone seems to be happily snatching up worms for now.  At first they didn't want to come out of the coop, but finally one or two took the plunge, and after that they were all out and about enjoying their new life.

And there you have it. There are chickens in my backyard.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle...and a Chicken Coop.

Recently I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  If you haven't read it, it's the true story of how Kingsolver's family vowed to eat only food from animals and plants raised by themselves or local farmers for an entire year. It's inspiring. Really.  Until about chapter three when I started to feel a combination of guilt, horror and disgust by all of the food choices I make on a daily basis.  Don't you just love a book that makes you feel bad about yourself?  

Anway, having said that, I decided keep reading for fun, ignore the knot in my stomach, and focus on the things we ARE doing right around here...like our little summer garden.  Every year we start a garden in spring with a few vegetables.  We also have raspberry patches and just recently added about seventy-five strawberry plants that are still flowering and producing...in July!  

I love to watch Emily and Addison go out with their buckets every morning, and then come in and enjoy their harvest. 

Speaking of harvest, the tomatoes are just about ready to turn!  My favorite are the large cherry tomatoes seen here.  We have several varieties but these are the best. 

And of course, with all of the zucchini and squash coming out, I come back to the same dilemma of waiting for the zucchini or plucking, stuffing, and frying the blossoms.  Currently looking for some good recipes for those. 

Oh, and one last thing.  The Kingsolver guilt did get to me a little, so I have finally decided that Mike can get the chickens that he's been wanting.  And, apparently he's been wanting them badly, because as soon as I said, " I guess chickens would be okay..." there was a fence up and construction began on a hen house.  Don't know what variety we will be getting, but these will be laying hens.  I'm not sure I'm ready to cross the threshold into poultry slaughter...just yet. 

More chicken updates to follow, but for now, happy summer!

Summer of Pinterest

So....it has been a while.  But, school is done, and instead of doing what I really should be doing (laundry), I'm spending my time doing something much more worthwhile....Pinterest.  The great thing about Pinterest is how crafty and domestic you feel when you're madly pinning recipes and projects to all of your boards.  But, seriously...who is really making cranberry orange scones, homemade butterfinger bars and chocolate - covered strawberries that look like little footballs...?  Well, ok, I'm sure there are people turning into Martha Stewart overnight...I just haven't been one of them.  I must have pinned at least a hundred projects and recipes, but haven't attempted any of them.  Until now. I love being a stay at home mom for three months of the year, but my biggest frustration is that I feel like I have nothing to show for my day except clean dishes and folded tshirts.  I think I have a good project for myself this summer. I'm declaring summer 2012 to be the Summer of Pinterest. One project every day. Ok, maybe that's too much.  Let's try three times a week. Three times a week I will make some recipe, do some project or get crafty with an idea I find on Pinterest.  I can do this. I'm pretty sure I can do this. I started today.

 First, we got down and dirty with some Modge Podge.  This stuff is great. We tried the Christmas card holder post seen on Pinterest.  I have in mind to have it be more of a photo holder for the girls' room.

 I also tried some fancy letters for my oldest daughter.  Saw lots of project on Pinterest with button letters and such.   Mike already had letters cut out, so this was super easy.

So...stay tuned.  We'll see how long this lasts.  It was fun for now, though!