6 berries

I miss blogging

I don't take as many photos anymore. I have way more started but, unfinished sewing projects without that push to get it done and post it already. I don't really get into much personal stuff on my blog but, I miss the way it marks the passing of time for me, the way the subtle clues I leave myself remind me of a certain day, or event, or adventure.

My baby girl, who is so not at all a baby anymore, loves pandas right now. The game they're playing here really isn't much fun and I think most of it's parts have found their way out of the house, but the mask, the mask she kept. Because, who doesn't love pretending to be a cute, sweet and lovable little panda every now and then?

I've figured out the issue with the photos, I just have to change the way I upload them. I really do want to find a way to make a little money but, I have a hard time pulling myself away from all that I feel I need to do. Kid care, food, cleaning. But, I'm also learning that there has to be time for me too. I'm working on it. My kids, obviously, are not babies anymore and while in some ways that means less time (driving a million places for all the things they're into) it also means they need less help from me day to day and they're capable of pitching in and freeing up more time when we are home. Any way, I'm not giving up on my shop, or on moving to a fresh, new, pretty site, but for now I'll be back with my usual silly posts and attempts at pretty pictures.

A Crossroads

Well, It seems that Blogger will no longer allow me to post pictures without an upgrade so, I've come to a point in my blogging where I have to make a couple of decisions. Do I like it here at Blogger well enough to stay or, is it time to move on? I have been considering this for a while now and I'm feeling the pull to move but, I'm not sure how much work it will be and I really have no major complaints about Blogger so, I'm not sure yet.

The other thing is, if I must upgrade, or even go through the trouble of moving, that effort and money must be justified. In other words, it's time to attempt making some moolah with this here blog either directly or indirectly. And, just how do I plan on doing that?

In any event, it appears that it's time for things to change around here and, much like kids growing and seasons changing I am so very unprepared and unsure and desperately wishing I had a pause button for this whole life thingy because, I'd really like to hang back, right here, for just a little while longer.

So, it'll be quiet around here for a bit, while I sort all this out and fret over how terribly fast this planet of ours moves round and round. And I hope that when I return with my upgrade or news of moving, you'll still be here. Well, not here, here, necessary but, checking in periodically as you do. :-)

Double Digits!

And just like that, she's 10. TEN!

I hope all your wishes come true my little chicken hugger ;)

A New-ish Bath Mat

Scraps from the discontinued, designer fabric samples that my cousin pulled from the trash at the furniture store she worked at, and passed on to me.

An old towel for the back attached stitch in the ditch style and, store bought binding around the edge.

Pulled from the trash and now used to catch the drips from little toes.

Summer Reading

We started listening to the Penderwicks in the car early last week, on the way to gymnastics for one and a walk in the woods for the rest of us. It's a wonderful, funny, summery story about the adventures of four sisters vacationing at a cottage in the country and the boy they meet there. We're finding ourselves looking for more places to go and making up excuses to sit in the car so we can listen just a little bit longer. So good.

I'm re-reading a favorite homeschool/unschooling book, The Unschooling Handbook, one of the first I ever read and a source of great inspiration.

The boy can not wait until he can read it on his own so, I've started reading the Harry Potter Series to him. He just can't stand being out of the loop any longer, and honestly neither can I. Yes, I confess, I've never read them myself.

The middle girl started reading May Bird in bed at night but, learned it was just a little too creepy for her overly active imagination and has decided it is definitely a daytime read. I read it to everyone a few years ago and although I can't remember the details I do remember we all enjoyed it. She has also started Shakespeare's secret (since she needed a night time read) and is loving the 4th book of the Ranger's Apprentice. How she can have so many stories going at once I have no idea.

My oldest is reading Kira Kira She says, "It's good. It's about 2 sisters and they're moving." She's only read through the second chapter, but it sounds promising.

And, the baby girl, who is definitely not a baby, is still in love with her Skippyjon books, thankfully they all come with CD's so she can listen again and again, without me having to loose my voice.

And for the hubs and I our first Patrick Rothfuss on audiobook The name of the Wind.

What's next on the list? I'm thinking we'll join Bird and Little Bird's Read Aloud Book Along. And Jessica makes The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making look too good to pass up.

What's on your reading list? Anything old or new to suggest? I'm giving myself permission this summer to read and read and read for the fun of it and I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do so, don't just keep it to the kids books, although I do love those too.

While I do have an Amazon Affiliate account and, would greatly appreciate the little bump towards school supplies if you choose to purchase any of our suggested books, we found all our copies at the local library. The library is always the first place we look for good books and we'd encourage you to do the same.

Not in a Million Years

This morning I woke and did the, now routine, emptying of the dishwasher while brewing my tea. Right now, I like drinking it on the front porch with a view of the garden, the kid's sand pit and the chicken coop.

It's important, that first cup of tea. It deserves my full attention and I sometimes have to force myself to just relax and enjoy it. It's taken years for me to be okay with the fact that I am not an early or quick riser and, that it's okay to take that extra 10, 15 or 20 minutes every morning to let myself fully wake and prepare for the day. And, today was going to be a day I knew, I'd need that slow start.

So, I sat enjoying my tea, ignoring the nagging voices telling me to water the garden, wake the kids and just start our busy day already.

As I drank my last sip and contemplated taking a few extra minutes to just stay there and soak in the fresh morning air, the chicks decided to pay me a visit. You see, they have figured out that there is an unfenced, poorly tended, little garden growing along the walk leading up to the front porch and, that those tiny pea plants, small tufts of lettuce and ripening strawberries, are quite delicious.

Now, I'm really okay sharing a bit of the harvest with our sweet new pets but, after spending an afternoon with a grumbling 9 year old scrubbing the front porch, because it was covered in chicken poo yesterday afternoon, I was not about to let them anywhere near that sidewalk or my front stoop.

I tried shooing them away with my hands but, they seemed to think I had some yummy offering from the kitchen, I tried scootching them with my foot but, they thought my shoe looked quite interesting and tried inspecting it, I tried shouting at them, they looked at me with blank stares of confusion so, I did the only other thing I could think of. . .

I grabbed the broom left behind from the previous days cleaning and brushed those birdies away like some crazy lady from an old western film. And then, I started laughing (making me look all the more crazy) as I realized that never, not ever, not in a million bajillion years would I ever have thought I would be shooing chickens off my front porch with a broom!

If you had told me just a few short years ago that I would someday be scrubbing chicken poo from my front stoop, or desperately trying to keep a few strawberries, peas and lettuce leaves from those great grandchildren of T-rex, I would have laughed in your face.

To be honest, they kinda give me the heeby jeebies, with those beaks and emerging wattles and claw like feet and, I shriek like a school teacher who has suddenly found a toad in her pocket, when they start flapping those wings.

This chicken thing, it's not my thing.

And that, is the coolest part.

I never thought that by encouraging them to explore their interests now, these kids of mine, would strew my path and make my life so much richer. Because really, not in a million years would I have brought home a box full of chicks, or spent hours watching and learning the finer details and strategies of baseball, or learned to grind stone into shiny jewelry, or read Skippyjon Jones enough times to perfect my Spanish accent (okay, maybe perfect is too strong of a word)