Mom's (Got a) Life...I Think

2008-11-08T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hello to anyone who may actually be reading this!

I have been posting pics and updates on my facebook page rather than here. I actually get comments (!), and facebook is so much more cooperative than blogger. What takes 30 minutes here takes 2 there--and it always works! Pete keeps his facebook page updated as well, and has a link to his flickr site, so his page lists when he updates flickr.

Clear as mud? Come see us there! I am easier to find due to a somewhat less common name.

Tony's Owl

2008-10-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tony's 2nd grade handwork class owl project--and the results of the 2008 LA County fair!

The Can Crusher

2008-08-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

1 cull green scrap 2x6x44 board from the Home Depot reject bin: 55 cents

1 door hinge left behind by contractors: free

2 jar lids saved from trash: free

6 wire nails found in garage: free

helping 1 thrilled 8 year old make a can crusher: priceless

9th Gup!

2008-07-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

After two months of tae kwon do, both boys tested for their 9th gup belts (white with yellow stripe). They both broke their boards on their first tries, good job guys!

They (T-bone in particular, since he has 5 friends in the next class) are eager to test for their yellow belts and move to the intermediate class in another 2 months.

Leading the class:

Board breaks:

Proud boys!

July's Almost Over?

2008-07-19T08:30:00.003-07:00

How did that happen? Here's a recap!

We saw Wall•E in June, which we all loved. (We won't discuss Kung Fu Panda—save your time and money!) E-man made a Lego cousin for Wall•E--complete with moveable arms and a turning head.

There's been a whole lot of outside play with trucks and scooters. No scooter pics since I don't usually take the camera out on playdates and follow-the-garbage-truck Mondays, but this is just one truck setup.
T-bone marched in the 4th of July parade for the third year—next year E-man will join him!

After the parade, there was the 1st-ever town picnic with yummy food and bounce houses. Truxtons, Tower Pizza, lemonade. And bouncing. What more could anyone want?

What's a trip to the aquarium without listening to a full set (or 2 or 3) by Pacific Percussion?
E-man was super excited for the 45-minute Long Beach Harbor cruise we took. His first time on a real boat (the Newport Ferry is fun and all, but not quite so exciting). The highlight had to be the sea lions.

I can't believe school starts in just over a month!
I have even managed to get some projects done!

I Frogged It!

2008-07-05T11:56:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I am so happy to announce that. After months of having this thing hanging over my head, I frogged my bamboo sweater (see how they used her hair to hide the pattern...thanks a bunch). I had almost finished the back when I discovered the geometric pattern was not symmetrical on the garment. I though I'd messed up, but no, the designer says it wasn't designed to be. Ugh.

This is the last picture I took, it was over twice this size when I frogged:

So, now I have 5 skeins of Moda Dea Bamboo Wool and no pattern. I love the yarn though, it doesn't make me itch!

On a happier note, I did finish this super-cute baby girl's dress from the last issue of Crochet Today:

The flower is from another pattern, but this was quick, easy, and is super cute. Too bad I don't know any baby girls. It will be going to the fair and then charity. But if I know you and you have a baby girl in the next couple years, you may be seeing something similar!

Here We Go Again...

2008-06-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my neighbor Melissa for pointing this lady out to me. She is living under the eave of the garage, in the back--so, right above my swiss chard. I've never looked up and found one of these before. Pete smooshed the egg sac, but she ran away. Which is OK, I just don't want 500 of these running around in the garden, composter, and earthquake bin (yes, I have one!). Last year they got into the garage, which was no fun at all. This was only the second I've seen this year. By far the biggest, but I do know where we have 4 different webs. So there are at least 4 more in the yard. *sigh*. She is really quite lovely, though probably angry at us now. Do spiders get angry?

Student of the Day

2008-05-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

Six tae kwon do classes (2x/week), and both boys have been student of the day. And they didn't even have one the first day. Woo-hoo! T-bone got his sticker on May 12, E-man today. E-man had his second great class--there was not a bit of rolling on the carpet. Here's the proud boy:

And T-bone, who was very hesitant about tae kwon do, loves it. E-man, who was so excited to do it, is not so sure. Today, though, he is very sure.

"The Best Peaches EVER!"

2008-05-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Says E-man. And I have to agree. We are getting peaches from our peach tree, and they are so good. Sweet and tart at the same time.

I spent a bunch of time 2 years ago researching peach trees in the Armstrong catalog. Trying to find one that would make good eaters (as opposed to bakers), not be too sweet, and that would actually make peaches most years here! It looks like we have a winner. I wish I could remember what variety I had settled on. White Queen? Santa Barbara? Snow Peach? It ruled my life for so long I thought I'd never forget. Haha. But wait, there's more:
Unfortunately, some critter has found them too, and is hiding them, behind the rosemary, half eaten. Squirrel? Raccoon? Boy? I know not. And for some comic relief, here is the actual tree.
Yeah, it's maybe 4 feet tall. Little tree with yummy peaches. But a year and a half ago it was a bare root stick about 3 feet tall.

And for something completely different, after all the database stuff and computer work for the silent auction, and all the crocheting on the doll I donated and making baby stuff for Kari, I rewarded myself with a little quilting. I started a Halloween quilt that I bought fabric for probably 2 years ago. Some new techniques for me, but it's been fun in spite of the frustrations of corners not matching and sewing the wrong edges together and so forth. I should finish the quilt top this week. It's small :)

2008-05-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, another Lowe's Build n Grow for us. I took the boys yesterday for the "See it Grow Planter". And, other than needing some help fudging one side on because the predrilled holes did not line up (which he noticed himself), T-bone did the whole thing without a bit of help. E-man did just about all of his hammering (the last bit it always hard). Two proud and happy boys who didn't even want to go!

T-bone and I spent the morning at Los Angeles National Cemetery with a bunch of other boy and girl scouts so the kids could put a flag at each grave for their Memorial Day events tomorrow. A fabulous lesson in how people working together can accomplish a huge task in very little time (30 minutes!). The rain did help everyone move faster, but I had actually taken an umbrella. For once!

E-man took a snooze in the afternoon, and T-bone and I went to the Playa Vista library and then on a walk around the parks and along Bluff Creek, and managed to do some of the discussion requirements he has left for his Wolf badge. Getting T-bone to discuss is like pulling teeth, but it worked! Birds for me: lots and lots of red-winged blackbirds, common grackle, raven, lesser goldfinch, singing common yellowthroats, a flyby egret, mourning doves, house finches, coots, mallards, Anna's hummingbird. Exciting for T-bone: the utility boxes, the construction, the dog park, the missing and replaced fence rails, the dumpster. The usual!

It's That Time of Year Again...

2008-05-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Silent Auction time!

I have been lax updating. Just wanted anyone who might be reading this to know why. Now I must go work on the auction computer.

The big day is this Saturday, May 17. Want to see the catalog? Go here. And yes, I typed all that in. That's a database export, made nice by Liz. I'm still entering STUFF, hopefully Lisa has a computer and has started entering bidders. We will combine our files later....hopefully before the event!

Just another day (or 2) at the beach....

2008-04-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I seem to be a week behind these day. April 11 was the 2nd Annual OCS Beach Clean-A-Thon. As a Kindergartener, E-man got to go on his first field trip and first school bus ride, as well as his first clean-a-thon. I got to ride on the bus with the second graders (E-man was way less scared of his first school bus ride than T-bone for his second!), and Pete met us at the beach with his camera.

Getting instruction and splitting into groups (needless to say, T-bone's group filled their pail first, and filled it twice--with just 2 kids!)

Sharing beach rocks with his teachers:
E-man takes a leap!
T-bone enjoys his well-deserved snack:
Our efforts at getting sponsorship, though, showed us how horrible the economy truly is. It's been so much harder getting sponsorships this year. Though we aren't particularly pushy (I think). Between how much harder fundraising is getting, how much the Governator keeps cutting school funding, and the obsession with memorizing standardized test information, I don't see how public schools are going to teach kids any form of problem-solving skills whatsoever. That will make for a great country in 25 years.

Anyway.

It was such a beautiful day on Friday that we went back to the beach Saturday just to play (and it was so clean!). It was 90 degrees and we were there for 5 hours. Yes, five. For the first time ever both boys had tons of fun running in and away from the waves. With some digging and snacking thrown in, of course. Good thing I packed some food!

Spring Break week 2

2008-04-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, I'm behind again! Blogger gives me fits on occasion when trying to add photos. And then I give up.

On to week 2! A great playdate, me trying to recover from the cough with a cold that is going around, some walks, and lots of cub scouts.

First was the Pinewood Derby.

Go Waste Management! (That would be T-bone's, of course, before it needed emergency repair to put a wheel back on.)

Go, Volvo! That would be E-man's, racing a small white version of our car in the open division, for parents and siblings.

T-bone and E-man were both very excited that E-man's Volvo beat (over 6 heats!) the Ferrari made by the dad that is waaaayyyyyy too into the Pinewood Derby (every pack has one, right?). E-man got second overall, but his victory was beating that Ferrari.

And then followed another week of walks and scooter rides, errands, a big playdate, and checkups at the dentist (they argued about who got to go first!).

And then, the last weekend of Spring Break. Cub Scout Rocket Camp! A weekend camping at the scout reservation in Brea. Making rockets, launching rockets, bikes, BBs, archery, and a skit for T-bone. Making and launching a rocket for E-man. Hunting for frogs, climbing up and down bluffs, sliding down bluffs, soccer at camp, and eating bad food and drinking--well, really, what was that "punch"? Drinking corn syrup and red dye 40, I guess.

Boys and rockets: E-man's is the Tom and Jerry Shooter, T-bone's was nameless, but said "Keep Space Clean"--of course!
T-bone clips in his rocket.
We have lift-off!
T-bone retrieves his rocket after its 700 foot trip up--and down!
Uh-oh. After many tears, Tom and Jerry was retrieved by dad the next day, after borrowing a very very long polished tree branch from someone in area B. And no one got poison oak!
The sea of tents (the other direction looked the same!).
Lessons learned: someone has a very long pole for the purpose of retrieving rockets from trees, and bring your own food!

Spring Break, week 1

2008-03-30T09:47:00.001-07:00

The boys have a 2-week spring break, so here is the summary of week 1! Pete, unfortunately, has the week after their 2 weeks. Figures.

So, spring break started off with a visit from the Easter bunny! We skipped the crazy ruckus and shoving parents at the Westchester egg hunt, and let the bunny bring the goods to the house.

We made a dinner of ham, carrots, glazed radishes (from the garden), and foccacia. Yummy!

T-bone in particular was thrilled to see the garbage trucks on Monday--though one was so late we finally just had to go run some errands. When T-bone misplaced his green Bruder can, he decided to make a new one (disaster averted!), and trimmed down his first try to create a working can. Of course, as soon as he sat down to use it, he found the missing can under the couch....

On Tuesday we went to the Scout Shop to pick up a pinewood derby kit for E-man, and a larger shirt for T-bone. Then we went to the Cabrillo Aquarium since we were right there. E-man, of course, loved the sharks. T-bone liked the huge lobsters best. And the yellow recycling cans.

At home, E-man made a special seaweed collecting boat. The scoop (on the left) collects seaweed (kelp, really) from the ocean, dumping it onto the small shelf. That then dumps it onto the main part of the boat (the dumptruck piece). As you may have guessed, they have some kelp at the aquarium!

Wednesday we went to play at Acacia Park in El Segundo, which has a super tall spiral slide, a wave slide, swings, and a tire swing. I didn't take the camera, so no pics of super dizzy T-bone or E-man bouncing down the wave slide.

Thurdsay we had a playdate with a friend of E-man's at Lindbergh Park in Culver City. Again, no camera, but the boys all loved a quick trip to Target for pizza after the playdate. What is it about kids that makes eating at target soooooo exciting?

Friday Pete and the boys finished up their pinewood derby cars. More on that tomorrow--hopefully blogger will be more cooperative in letting me upload pics! I spent the day at the Family History Center in West LA doing research on my Martins in Cambridgeshire (they actually have, there, a bunch of the films I need!). Three hours, and I only got through one film. But I think I am now back two more generations! We'll see if the other films confirm or refute what I think I know!

Saturday we had to turn in the cars for weighing and impounding, and we had a brief but nice visit with Scott and Elizabeth. Pete had some extra hops corms (?), and has now talked Scott into growing hops too. Lucky Elizabeth :)

Yellow Tiger & Orange Shark

2008-03-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome Home little guys!

Well, we have fish again. Guppies, again. I like guppies. They are cheap, cute, and don't hate me when the water gets a little thick. And I do have to say I love it when they see me or a boy pick up the jar of fish food and wiggle waggle their whole selves (I mean the fish wiggle waggle themselves, though I suppose the rest of us could to get into the spirit of things). And they don't mind the boys staring at them. I am guessing most people reading this know which boy has the tiger and which the shark.

Do you have any idea how hard it is do take an autofocus picture of guppies? I do.

Yummy Desserts and a Small Project

2008-03-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Well, there were no drink tickets last night, but instead lots of yummy desserts! Mmmmm fruit tarts.

Today was a day of laundry, laundry, vacuuming, and laundry. Pete took T-bone swimming at the Y, and later played some football and soccer with E-man. Don took us to Truxton's for dinner, which was delicious as always--though both boys were not nearly as well behaved as they were the last time we had dinner there (uh, 3 weeks ago).

Meanwhile, I managed to find enough time to do a small crochet project. I got some D rings and plastic rhinestones at Joanns yesterday, and today made this dog collar.

This is for our neighbor Sonja's new doggie. Heidi is a cute little 6 pounder (Maltese? I don't know dog breeds) and won't get a whole lot bigger. I just hope this collar fits. It fits Tioga, who is one chubby 13 pound cat, so I have hope!

Same Time, Same Place

2008-03-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

So, after all these years of genealogical research, I have finally put a branch of my family and, apparently, a branch of Pete's in the same county at the same time. I was so sure that if this happened, it would be in North Carolina, sometime before 1840. But no, it's Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1700s.

So, for probably 10 years I have been trying to determine the parents of Pete's 3g grandfather Hampton, whose name I haven't even nailed down. He usually appears as RT, but in the 1860 census he is "Rukehill". In 1850 he and a brother, WG (William), both born in VA, are living in Warren Co., MO, with another family from Virginia. I've been trying to figure out if the Jane Hampton nearby in Montgomery Co. was their mother. She is listed as head of household in both 1840 (when other household members were not named, just counted) and 1850.

Well, a wee bit of poking on ancestry.com led me to Jane's cemetery record, where she is listed as "wife of SH". More poking led to a marriage record for Samuel H. Hampton and Jane M. Godley in Pittsylvania Co, VA. Could this be them? Hmmmm.... In 1830, guess what the name of the 1 Pittsylvania Co. Godley head of household is in 1830? Rockhill Godley. Rukehill=Rockhill. He was named for his maternal grandfather.

But for the real whack with a wet noodle, guess who is 2 doors down from Jane Hampton in 1840, Loutre T., Montgomery Co, MO. Yes, Rockhill Godley. All these years, and he has been right there, and is buried in Bedford Cemetery, with several other Godley family members (including his wife Sarah). Jane is with the Hamptons in White-Hensley. S.H. is nowhere to be found, but I suspect his stone is lost from White-Hensley.

So, I haven't confirmed any of this (other than a 1700s will of Edward Rockhill, who names his daughter and son-in-law, who was a Godley), but the Godleys and Rockhills were in Hunterdon Co, NJ. As was my Kise family, also in the 1700s. The Whitenacks were in Somerset (immediately to the east) but also Hunterdon.

So, maybe we will connect yet. Though or anyone who knows our families, the funny part of all this is that this is my Collett family--the really German part of it (descended from Michael Andreas Weidknecht from Adelshofen in Germany). And Pete's Hoereth line--the really English part of it (looks like the Rockhills were Quakers)!

Other than this big breakthrough from yesterday, we have had a busy day. T-bone and I went to Tree Musketeers' Trees to the Sea, and we weeded, picked up trash, planted trees, and had some pizza. E-man and Pete played games and had a visit from pete's high school friend Chris. I ran some errands, and now I should be getting ready to go to the Mar Vista silent auction. Not for fun, to work! Though it is fun :) We help close theirs, then they help close ours. And they give us drink tickets.

Gnome is Home!

2008-03-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

T-bone finished his gnome today in handwork class! He is sooooo proud of himself, with reason. It looks fantastic! I love his color choices. He has been anticipating this day for weeks. And so have I, since he has been expecting to finish for each of the last 4 handwork classes.

The gnome is the big second grade handwork project--they started back in September with the body. They picked colors, knit and purled, changed colors, stuffed, and sewed.

He knits better than I do! He really is going to have to teach me.

Rat-a-Cake-y & Building Bird Feeders

2008-03-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to T-bone's cub scout pack Blue & Gold Banquet. Which meant that Friday night dad and T-bone baked a cake and then Saturday day they decorated it (which involved waaaay too much red food coloring). This year's theme was Chinese New Year, so T-bone drew a great rat for the year of the rat--the cake design was all him, as was much of the decorating. E-man found much of the evening exhausting (other than when the magician turned 4 birds into 1 rabbit, and the noodles and pot stickers got a thumbs up too!), and still hasn't recovered from not getting the giant Hot Wheels basket in the silent auction. Especially since T-bone won a Climb Mt Everest game as a door prize. No, we haven't tried playing yet!

E-man had a better Saturday last weekend. Both boys went with dad to the Lowe's Build N Grow to make bird/squirrel feeders. T-bone did his all by himself--all reading, finding pieces, hammering, everything. E-man happily hammered away with daddy. We gave these feeders over to the squirrels, who will be chubbier than ever now. This guy approves.

Where was I? Manning Miss Julie's 2nd grade class during another OCS open house. Which means I spent two hours talking (which my sore throat did NOT appreciate!) while simultaneously keeping toddlers brought to the no kids event from feeding the class's forced bulbs to the bunny. And I crocheted 4 afghan units!

Sledding!

2008-02-21T18:51:00.001-08:00

So, for the long weekend we went to visit Pappy at his place near Shaver Lake. We made the right choice picking the boys up at lunchtime on Friday--we got stuck in no traffic! The lovely view above greeted us, though the boys were mostly interested in the icky road snow that was left.

So, of course, on Saturday we had to go up the road a bit to play in the snow. After a bit of a bust in town (icy snow, too many people, and always the possibility of sledding into the lake), we found a nice lonely spot on Dinkey Creek Road. Hills perfectly sized for both boys, no people, and lots (maybe too much--E-man kept sinking!) of nice soft snow. E-man was not thrilled with getting a bit of air, though, as he also got a faceful of snow.

We went back there Sunday. And we all got in some good sledding. With a little help from mom, he also braved the saucer alone again, and made a snow shark. It's eating a fish!

The boys also had some fun exploring the rocks at Pappy's place. There were some pretty and chilly trickles coming from the granite. T-bone liked the small (very small!) waterfall, E-man liked the squishy moss and slippery algae. All in all, a fun weekend with Pappy!

Sidewalk Paint!

2008-02-11T18:36:00.001-08:00

This is probably no surprise to anyone that knows him, but T-bone went nuts when I showed him the homemade sidewalk paint in the last issue of Family Fun magazine. (Who would have thought a Disney mag would be my favorite???) So, while E-man took a snooze on the couch this afternoon, T-bone and I made sidewalk paint. White, green, and yellow. And he proceeded to paint an entire road system on the patio and driveway. What you see above isn't even half.

Note to self: start buying cornstarch at Costco.

E-man's Sweater is DONE!

2008-02-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yup, That's a happy boy. Happy because his sweater is done, and washed, and with the cuffs rolled up, fits! And it will fit next year, too. In spite of my gauge issues caused by substituting a cheaper and machine dryable yarn (still a DK wool superwash though), it all worked out in the end. Does that mean I know what I'm doing?

Now I need to start T-bone's. First I need to figure out what size to do. He wants it yesterday...

Cooper the Hawk

2008-02-08T18:09:00.001-08:00

Here he is, Cooper, our resident neighborhood hawk. He's a Cooper's Hawk, to be precise, but we are just so clever around here he is named Cooper.

Pete got this photo and several others the other morning--yesterday?--after we left for school. Cooper was looking and looking, this way and that, and there were no birds or squirrels in sight, and the outdoor cats (several frequent our yard since our kitty stays in!) were slinking for cover.

E-man and I recently saw Cooper sitting on our power pole, calling. We both thought it was pretty cool, though it made me glad I'm not a rat!

Illusion crochet square

2008-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

So I joined a book club group on Ravelry. I sometimes miss being in a book club--but I don't miss the one annoying person every book club has, I don't miss conflicts with other meetings. And within the meetings. And being as it seems I'm already out of the house 2 nights a week, I don't need another meeting. So an online discussion group is kind of cool. No meetings to attend or miss. Reading messages whenever I want. Nice.

The fun part of this particular book group is a mini-contest at the end for the best original 8x8 knit/crochet square based on the book. Fun! And 8x8 is just one evening's work.

So I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Great book. And I spent the whole book thinking about a square. Which I completed last night and posted there today. Without too much in the way of spoilers, since so much of the book is about hiding things (Liesel's learning to read, thefts, Max), I opted for Illusion Crochet (my first attempt--it involved lots of ripping). It's in black and white, which is meant to be the accordion keys, but can also stand for black letters on white paper. Here it is:

And here's the illusion:

Ta-da! A bit lopsided due to a wee miscount, but I was done with ripping.

The next book is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Which I am not enjoying yet. The writing style is way to contrived for me. We'll see.

A crafty rainy day...and a great book

2008-02-03T20:13:00.001-08:00

Yet another rainy day.

T-bone and I went to Michaels today to get spray paint for his Pinewood Derby car (er...truck), being that it's that time of year again. I also needed (really!) some yarn (black and white in sport weight) and thread (for a project already going, and I'm running out!). More on those in the future.

When he heard we were going, E-man demanded "One of those wood things!" I had no clue what he meant til we were there. Of course! The $1 wood craft kits. So, we chose a semitruck for E-man. Which meant T-bone had to have...a semitruck. That is them in progress above. I am painting E-mans, of course (to exactly match the box, no less), but he painted on the glue to put it together. T-bone needs no help. He is painting some logo--looks familiar, but I can't place it. And just what we need, more completed wood craft kits roaming the floors...

I also started my Ravelry book club afghan block (that's what I needed the b&w for) for the best book I have read in a loooong time. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. What a great book. I had never heard of it, it is marketed as a Young Adult novel. A wee bit more intense than Harry Potter. I'll post my square when I'm done, I've already frogged it twice. Hopefully the third time's a charm.

On a chilly day

2008-02-01T22:06:00.001-08:00

There is nothing quite so nice as snuggling on the couch with a warm cat! T-bone is now in charge of Tioga's food bowl. He is a bit overly generous with both the crunchies and the snacks Santa left her. She appreciates it!

I am still plodding along on E-man's sweater. I was hoping to have it done and posted by now. The ribbing is slooooow going. Hopefully I will get it done this weekend. Hopefully.

What's up in the yard?

2008-01-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

gWell, it has finally stopped raining and there is no more standing water in the yard. Finally. We have radishes and carrots up and still alive. They were underwater for about 2 days, but seem to be fine, even if they haven't grown in a week.

The peach tree and lavender are both blooming. I need to cut the lavender back again, it takes just forever and I put it off, making it all worse. Of course. We haven't seen a hummer today, but they love the lavender too. If I can just get it cut back it will bloom even more.

And of course, the lesser goldfinches are everywhere. They eat the niger, they eat the sunflower chips, they eat dandelion seeds, they are hungry, beautiful, singing little guys. I'm hoping to get some good pics of our other birds, but they are so much more skittish.

We need to do some more planting, but the ground is so saturated that we can't plant anything right now. And the ground is so saturated that with the last storm one of our downspouts sent water into the garage instead of the lawn. We'll see how long it takes to dry out!

Another day, another road...

2008-01-28T17:44:00.001-08:00

...and track system. Am I the only person over the age of 10 who was thrilled to find the Plan Toys road piece that links into Thomas tracks? Our guys had just about outgrown Thomas (OK, T-bone had), but being able to integrate actual 2-way roads in (Mr. Infrastructure never could handle the 1-way only Thomas roads) has extended the use of Thomas tracks for months and months. Yay!

I hope I don't step on this later.

It's not camping season yet, but...

2008-01-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

...we're getting ready!

The boys and I finally made fire starters today. I've been meaning to do this all month. A great project for yet another rainy day. This is something I first did in girl scouts more years ago than I'd care to admit. Pete laughed at me when I first made them; now he is a convert. They are great, and use nothing you don't already have. If you need wax, don't go buy paraffin or wax for making candles (it's crazy expensive). Go to goodwill or garage sales looking for candles or candle ends. Ugly is fine and probably cheaper! One 6-in pillar candle is enough for about 48 fire starters.

Ingredients: dryer lint (cotton with limited pet hair is best), paperboard egg cartons, old candles and candle ends, 1 empty tin can, saucepan, range, popsicle stick to stir with (or anything else you don't care about), cookie sheets to put cartons on, oven mitts.

First, put your dryer lint into the egg-places of your egg cartons.

Be sure to put your cartons onto your cookie sheets. This will protect the surface underneath.

Next, melt your candle blobs. Put an empty tin can (I like a 28 oz crushed tomato can myself) into a saucepan with about 2-3 inches of water. Put your candle blobs into the can. Don't overfill! You don't want wax dripping into your water, too much will just make it messy now and harder to pour later. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down to medium so it's still simmering. Use a popsicle stick to stir a bit if you want. Don't leave the room--just keep watching. It takes awhile to melt.

When the wax is all melted, it is time to pour it. Put your oven mitts on. Carefully lift the can out of the water and pour onto the lint in the egg cartons. You want a fair bit of wax in the lint--it should soak through the carton a bit. Try to cover all the lint in each egg spot, but don't pour too fast. When you are done, it should look about like this:

Now leave the cartons to dry. It takes longer than you'd expect, put doesn't need supervision. When they are done, they even have their own handy storage/carrying cases!

To use them, just tear off 1 or 2 egg spots. Put them under your firewood, then light the carton corners. You will still need some kindling, but these burn for awhile (like candles!). We use 1-2 for a fire in our backyard table firepit, 2 for a fire camping in a standard campground firepit.

Enjoy your s'mores!

Rain, Scouts, & Stitching!

2008-01-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

We're supposed to get another big storm tonight, so T-bone decided today would be a good day to check the water level in his rain gauge.

Almost 2.5 inches! He made this and we taped it up 5 days ago. It's actually pretty cool. I saw it in a magazine somewhere (can't find it again...). You cut the top of a standard water bottle off, turn it upside down and put it into the bottle, making a funnel that you then tape down. Anyway, he watered the houseplants (nothing outside needs water!) with the collected water and we taped it back up.

Pete took the boys to the Lowe's Build and Grow this morning, and then it was off to the Petersen Automotive Museum for a cub scout event. Needless to say, they had a good time and stopped at Pann's on the way home for lunch.

Lucky me attended El Segundo Blue's Superbowl of Stitches, with a new project by Margaret Bendig. I nice day of stitching and lunch. I would like to finish this project, but we'll see :)

Crochet crochet

2008-01-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

This is E-man's Turtle Sweater. The back is done, the front is done, 1 sleeve is done, the other sleeve is started. I might actually get this done while it's still chilly! Of course, then I get to start one for T-bone. Both are out of Knitpicks' Swish Superwash DK. E-man chose a dark and light blue (there is contrast trim), T-bone picked green and red.

This sweater is actually pretty neat, because it is done side-to-side, which gives it a fair amount of horizontal stretch. It has some variety, with a pattern of sc, flo sc, dc (which I changed to hdc to get gauge), and flo dc (hdc if you're me).

I have also made a lot of progress on the doily I'm doing to see if I can (using size 30 with a 10 hook). I have no idea what I will do with it, not being much of a doily person and all. They are pretty fun to make, though. I nice change of pace from yarn. I also finally started a long-overdue baby afghan, but I can't discuss that here. Though since I haven't announced this blog, no one is reading anyway!

Hoping to get help on the progress bars from some Ravelry genius.

Argh...progress bars (or not)

2008-01-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

So I have spent way too much time today trying to add Ravelry progress bars to my sidebar here. Even Pete tried tonight. And we have gotten nowhere, unless you count error messages as being somewhere.

Progress bars are these cute little...bars...that show how far you are on crochet (or knit, but that's not me) projects entered in Ravelry. I've got my API. I copied the code, I pasted the code in the head, I got an error message. I searched the forums for more info. I found a patch. I found the offending code. I removed it. I pasted the patch at the end as per instructed. I got an error message.

I don't have time for this. I remember back, before kids, when I actually knew my computer inside and out. When I deleted/changed code to save corrupted files. I now realize this was a good twelve years ago. How embarrassing. Now I can't even get a section of "copy this" code to work. *sigh*

And now it's jammie time, story time, bedtime, and crochet time. I can handle these.

It's raining...

2008-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

it's pouring. And there is no better time to SCOOTER. E-man and T-bone could not resist the lure of the rain. Meanwhile, I can't get warm after spending 2.5 hours in a cold room sewing crayon holders at school this morning. I think we will be having minestrone for dinner. Nothing like hot soup on a cold damp day.

T-bone made a rain gauge (for a cub scout belt loop) on Monday, and he is very very excited about all the rain he is collecting. Yes, he was steered to this week for a reason...

Lettuce

2008-01-22T18:25:00.001-08:00

Yum. Fresh, organic lettuce right from the garden. T-bone will actually eat lettuce on a sandwich as long as it's from our yard. So at 6:45 this morning I was in the rain picking lettuce, in my jammies. Unfortunately, lettuce is one of many things E-man has decided he no longer likes.

Even better is the fact that we didn't even plant this. It reseeded from the lettuce we planted last year. I used a lettuce mix from Renee's Garden. Their seeds do really well here. All in all, a happy success--the boys and I love to suddenly discover lettuce growing amidst the weeds. The weeds have now been pulled, several times!

Eagle Rock

2008-01-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and we managed to get out. After a bit of a detour to Solstice Canyon (closed til May), we ended up at Topanga State Park. Where we should have gone first, since it is so much closer and really nice. We took sandwiches, saw some deer hopping fences, visited the nature center, and then took off on the nature hike. And then to Eagle Rock. Yes, both boys walked all the way to and from Eagle Rock. With a bit of whining, but they thought the shale outcroppings were way cool.

It was such a nice day we weren't the only ones to have this idea, but we did get a spot in the lot. And of course, this is one of the parks good old Arnold wants to close. It already doesn't accept the state parks pass (what exactly is the purpose of a pass when it's not accepted by the same dept selling it?). What is this guy angling for? Other than slashing public school funding, again, I mean.

On a completely different note: the radishes T-bone and I planted last weekend are up!

Finches and more finches

2008-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Oooh...my first entry. And how exciting it is.

Anyway, T-bone and I chose this bird feeder when we were up in San Jose for the holidays. It took me a month to get it up, but they like it. It is usually covered in Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches, except when the Coopers Hawk is around. The Mourning Doves and White-Crowned Sparrows enjoy everything that falls.

Our chubby squirrel (wonder why?) likes it too, but he is so funny to watch it's OK.

The boys counted seven birds on it at once. Or one chubby squirrel.