goodbye, february
February 28, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary | 1 Comment
sunday, rest galore. chimichanga and the like for lunch, surprising myself with a nap, the long slow making of homemade mac & cheese for community group. i like to grate cheese with the grater, heaps of uneven shreds in piles on the counter. the baked mac & cheese in the joy of cooking is very good comfort food, indeed.
ernie’s parents are here helping us get our other house on the market. we’re slow like this, the kids, work, the real things getting in the way of painting and sprucing up places. it’s good to have help because it takes too long to do it ourselves these days. hopefully the house will sell fast. it’s a nice little house and i loved it immediately, green carpet and wallpapered hideousity regardless. i almost don’t want to see it with it’s new white walls and bathroom sink.
this post makes two months of posts!
brindled
February 27, 2010 | Filed Under lists | 3 Comments
some saturdays are like this
a very, very clean house
sun and pup frolicking together
grammy + granddad arrive. lola has her toenails painted
lasagna that does not run into a cheesy, saucy river
devil’s food cupcakes with chocolate ganache (thank you, mom. and thank you martha)
coffee in various forms
three fresh kids, clean, soap scented when i turn off the reading lights and do some tucking in
sweeping into the next
February 26, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | Leave a Comment
this little garland is now in the shop. six feet of chirruping goodness. i have several other things in the works, if i could just stay caught up on actual orders!
today, cold, the afternoon sun still cold. big dad took kahlil for a walk, so it wasn’t too cold, i suppose. ernie’s parents are coming for a few days and the clean condition of our house and the newly organized game cabinet (why yes, we do have all of the pieces to sorry. oh, bananagrams? yes, those are right here.) will tell you that.
tomorrow brings the weekend, blue and cold. i want to do things like make a fire in the barrel, take max for walks, eat pasta, play cards, loll about in my bed with a couple of kids and some books. wishes sometimes do come true.
eaten for breakfast
February 25, 2010 | Filed Under extraordinary, home learning | 6 Comments
henry won “best paint job” at the pinewood derby yesterday. we told him it was the best award, i mean, really! who cares about going fast, anyway? the fact is that he did not paint it. he sharpie markered it. sharpies dry immediately and allow for detail, which is important for little seven year old hands. i don’t think they’ll take the award away for sharpie usage.
ernie and henry worked on it together, but not too much. it’s good that the car looks made by a seven year old, isn’t it? and not made by the dad of a seven year old.
duet no. 4
February 24, 2010 | Filed Under project: duet | 1 Comment
sometimes browns are just right, like today for this duet. mine on the left, ernie’s on the right. also, i’d like to fill a window with yellow bottles.
fog
February 23, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary | Leave a Comment
morning a fog through the window and all over the place. fog for driving, and just for a bit. then, a day for cleaning, kids in the yard, bringing leaves in and dumping them on the floor, dirty feet on the white bathroom floor. after baths, late afternoon books to read, easy dinner, lola napless, jude asking me to not read with a british accent, fast dinner, bedtime, last minute and ernie goes out, annie comes over with chocolate eclairs. a day that would be fine done over again in almost exactly the same way.
wanter
February 23, 2010 | Filed Under lists | 1 Comment
things i want, am content without, but sort of want all the same
a great espresso machine
the ability to deep fry things without making a huge oil mess
a giant and amazing and wonderful woodcut by kent ambler (enough about these already, i know, i just can’t help it)
a red cardigan sweater, long, v-neck, you know, the boyfriend kind, but red
sandals + a pedicure
a long, slow trip to ikea for cheap little tables + orb lights + unlisted purchases
chocolate making skills, like, really good skills
a lush garden
about 100 more days of clear skies + 65 degree weather
earth and sky and sea
February 21, 2010 | Filed Under extraordinary | 2 Comments
sleeping late, endless toasting of bread, coffee, church in a rush out the door. singing, lola sitting the duration crunching cheerios, being quiet. after, the sun, glorious sun, the sun of spring and early summer. we sat with sun on our backs while the kids ran for swings and slides, hand over hand on monkey bars. lunch, rest, mobiles. doors and windows opened far and wide. boys in the yard, girl in the yard, pup in the yard. afternoon tidily folding itself up to wear tomorrow.
and now the kids sleep. a neighbor’s dog barks endlessly. a new week, days unknown before us, a field of days as far as the eye can see, minutes in grasses that meet a blue galaxy of sky.
star atlas
February 20, 2010 | Filed Under familial, ordinary | Leave a Comment
saturdays, easy and free. i hate the grocery store on saturdays, but somehow, today, it wasn’t too bad. later there was pizza and lots if olive oil, a pretty loaf of bread and the sounds of laughter from the kids in the gathering room.
saturday nights, sleepy and slow. henry in his bed reading books, drifts away into stars and dreaming. jude in his bed, sprawled out, mouth agape, his early morning a mere blink away. lola in her pajamas, curling hair on the pillow, covers kicked away, the world hers for the taking.
into a thousand lights of sun
February 19, 2010 | Filed Under familial | 2 Comments
working in the sunporch has a great sunny advantage. the studio with ernie had amazing morning sunshine, but this room is bright all day long, even on dreary days when the bright is gray.
we went to dinner with the kids, which is always fun and makes us feel like superstars. and then ernie gave me coffee and took us to the folk art show at art & light. i don’t know who else was there, but kent ambler was, along with his woodcuts. what’s a body got to do in order to have money around for giant woodcuts to hang upon the wall? i really must know.