Dem Fumes, Dem Fumes

(now with smell-0-rama!!!)

~~~~~

Day 2 of the floor project

I put time into more sanding and stained about 1/3 of the room

I want it to look old and it does

 

tonight I will put on polyurethane if the stain has set.

*****

This morning we went out and played in some violets, 

 there were so many you could smell them everywhere you wandered.

Intoxicating.

 

 

 

We ran down to the garden

 

the garden

 

And did some swinging

 

and wished for a few things

 

mostly, we are pretty happy with what we have.

 

 

Additionally…

Why are so many folks afraid of fidddleheads?

They’a wicked tasty and really quite cunnin, ayuh.

(said in a Maine accent)

 

My camera comes tomorrow!

(note to self, remember to put on clothing BEFORE UPS dude arrives)

 

 

 

  

Fiddlehead Picking & Other Stuff!

*****

Late May is the time for “fiddleheads“ in Maine and we are blessed with an enormous patch of them

(we are also cursed with 25 gazillion blackflies but that is neither here nor there)

 

 

 

 

 

The season can be brief; sometimes they are ”done” within 2-3 weeks.  We picked about 5 pounds today and will pick a great deal more to freeze before the week passes.

for dinner tonight: fiddleheads with butter and salt

(and other stuff, though none of it as sexy).

ETA; they taste like asparagus and spinach in an earthy way. The croziers/tips (sp?) of the Ostrich fern are the only ones that people eat; there are many, many others but the majority of them are risky to eat.

Project #1

The Floor Before

 

this morning I sanded about 1/4 of the family room

all the while telling myself how very glamorous I must look in my dirty terrycloth capris with my bum hanging out all over tarnation.

The lies get me through.

 

this afternoon I will apply a coat of stain and the first coat of polyurethane will go on after the kids are asleep.  I will do the rest of the room in a similarly sluggish fashion; it’s slow but it will get done.

*****

Sniff, Sniff

I was going through old pictures and papers and found this,

A story Jesse wrote me when he was barely three (Daddy helped).

It is one of my favorite things in this world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 tissue, please.

 

 

 

We Have Returned

~~~~~

We had a wonderful time with Mimi and Papa!

We played in the garden,

 

 

 practiced our KUNG FU,

 

 

and listened to Papa play accordian and fiddle.

We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast

and met Rosie (my sister’s new baby Boxer).

Meet Rosie.

 

 

It was a perfect transition.

~~~ 

Jesse found this note from Daddy when we came home.

 

we will miss him but the month will pass 

 

and we are all so loved.

 

 

Bonus Floral Blog

~~~~~

 

 

        

 

 

Sweet Dreams. 

 

 

ETA: The plant in the three pictures above is a fuschia.  I have a few of them in hanging pots on the porch and they are dripping with these yummy flowers.

The red pod in picture #2 opens up to become #3 and then #4.

It is an amazing sequence!

here are a few more pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-Portrait Challenge

(May: introduce yourself)

 

 

it’s always been about the hair.

 

 

 

 

  

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Still Is

 

 

 

 

Jeepers Creepers!!!

It’s A Paint Update With Peepers!

(because cativ8ed said she was going on a blog strike until I posted an update.)

***** 

 We discussed it. 

 Trevor felt that the persimmon trim was affecting the way the light entered the room;

it was casting a fruity glow upon books and papers and this bothered him.

He was less bothered by the orange-y walls though, and we agreed that if the trim

were white, the walls could stay.

Done.

 White, thy name is compromise.

(I’m still re-doing the floors though)

 

 

  Peeper-ama

On May nights in Maine, one cannot miss the spring peepers.   We wander down to the pond and I take pictures in the dark and we listen to them calling.

They are tiny.

(this is Jesse’s hand)

 

  The fact that they are so very small and yet manage to make such an overwhelming cacophony of jubilance never ceases to amaze me.

None of us are too small,  we only need to join others for strength.

 

 

 

The Peace of Wild Things

“When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free”.

~Wendell Berry

 

 

 

 

A Good, Clean Love

~~~~~

You loved me already

  

we were a gift to each other

 

each, the others shadow.

 

 Now, I have my own shadow

  

and another

 

 to see you holding them is completeness,

 light

and all that is good

 

 

I want nothing more for them than what you have given me,

a good, clean love.

I love you Mom.

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

This Will Be Good,

I Guess.

*****

Kali_Mama gave me the letter “G” for this game in which I am supposed to think of five words that begin with the letter “G” and relate them to my life.

I will probably cheat.

green: not bad but overrated (it’s no red) I haven’t any green rooms in my home (well, yet)

garage sales: always, I will never miss one on the road. If it wasn’t raining right now, I’d be out looking for them instead of doing this.

grubbiness: all of us.  we are the “grub-man” family! Yes, we bathe but we do like our dirt; we play first and worry about the mess later.

gnome: I have never stolen one while drinking or done anything malicious to one while in college.  This includes putting panties on one, taping it to the hood of the car and hanging cigarettes out of it’s mouth. I have never done any of that. Ever.

ginormous gnoggin:Jesse was born with a big head (off the charts in circumference); I still have no idea how I managed to push it out. 

grand canyon: It’s big. We used to go occaisionally when we lived an hour away.  Both my dog and my son have peed on the edge. (Jesse was in Daddy’s arms, no risks were taken). 

See, I did cheat, I did six. Do you want a letter?

DO YOU?!

leave a comment requesting one and I will deliver.

Bonus Picture Post

Siblings?

 

(Jesse at 6 months) 

 

(Roo at 7 months)

 

Note the noggin differential.

 

 

I amuse myself by looking at goofy pictures of my offspring

 

*****

Yoda Baby Yawning

(Roo 2003)

 

 

Roo-ster, 2003

 

 

I am He-Man, Hear Me Roar

(Jesse, 2000)

 

 

 Don’t Bite The Auntie!

 

 

I adore my children

because they give me such rich material to work with.

 

 

 

 

 

Head For The Hills, Mama Has A Paintbrush!

*****

Trevor has gone to look for snakes once more.  He loves to go; when he is out in the fields and woods and deserts looking for creatures, he is in his element. 

However, when he leaves for more than a day or two I am often possessed to paint and do major house changes. 

(Last summer I had a chimney torn down while he was gone, among other things)

I don’t know why I do it,

but that never stops me.

the living room when he left:

 

Now:

(you can see where I have not yet finished on the left of the stove)

 

 

oh blessed mother of all things orange-y

and persimmon-filled-goodness

 

 

And the bathroom before:

 

And now:

 

 

(texture, I’m a sucker for it!)

~~~~~

And in the “very-small-but-still-making-me-happy” category,

I painted the kitchen chairs with a burgundy stain

(they were plain old oak before)

 

 

The only problem with improving one part of a room is that the other, more flawed parts begin to call attention to themselves.

Next time he leaves, I’m re-finishing the living floor!

(shhhh, don’t tell him though…)