Last Week Doings

This post is totally unrelated, a collage I'm calling it from our days last week.



Our new hen. We collected some feathers from a friends chickens and made our new refrigerator friend.

You can't beat piles of books and snacks of cheese, crackers and fresh blueberries on the living room floor...I love those days!

Our new chore chart. This is a new thing for us. Oscar wanted to start buying things himself, no problem, I say, let's find ways for you to make some money, right!?
It's a list of things around the house he can do along with a list of things he wants to buy with his money. Simple things, you know: a horse with a trailer, a car, guitar, farm and the book, A Pocket for Corduroy.
He has a very light weight load of chores to do:
setting the table for dinner, feeding the cat and dogs in the mornings, keep his room picked up by the end of the day, water his rock garden and keep a good attitude.
They all seem to get done by Sunday, which is when we started the chart, and he gets one dollar either way. Because he does put in the effort, just sometimes he loses attention....don't we all!

And we couldn't do without some thrifting last week! A new quilt and some great new glasses that I (we) really love!!

Have a lovely (as always) hump day!
a

(Edited to add O's chores)

Color!

Being afraid of color for so long, I have embraced it!

My new knitting project bag from Hannah you can p/u the very simple! pattern here.

Old furniture painted new

sugar plum.....love it!

makes me want to go Thrifting for some oldies!

have a colorful weekend
a

Preparation

Preparing for the farmers market tomorrow morning...

and preparing a dinner for two!

I love you

To Chad and Oscar

I love you

Swimming

Swimming class finally ended. It was a tough class, for me, being right at dinner time it threw me off schedule for 2 weeks.

Oscar on the other hand, is a fish! The first day, he was a bit bossy to the teachers. But after realizing that he didn't know as much as he thought, he soaked the lessons in.

He had great teachers and wrote them thank you letters on the last day.



To Matt and Gracie

Of course they were not complete without horse stamps!

I love watching my cute little boy learn new things....it's like when he was a baby doing the firsts; walking, crawling, eating, pooping, talking. Accomplishing levels of maturity. Makes my heart swell and feel very proud to be his mama!

New Pottery

I aquired some new pottery dishes from Maria Dondero at the Farmers Market a couple Saturdays ago. I absolutely love her style, it's so beautiful and yet functional too!
I have used both of my bowls every day for blueberries, chips, making hummus, and my new favorite snack, baked kale!

What a simple snack this is....I found this recipe from Erin.

Simply wash kale, tear off leafy parts, compost the rest. (we fed stems to our worms)
Throw kale in a bowl with a top, add olive oil and salt.
Secure top and shake!
Lay the leafs flat on a baking sheet and bake on 350 for about 15 minutes. Done.
So crispy and delicious!

Tolerance

I love this because it's so true, not just about others beliefs but also understanding and accepting people for all that they are.

"Tolerance For Other Faiths Imparts To Us A True Understanding Of Our Own"

(click on picture for reference)

Having a lovely hump day, hope you are too!
a

Beauty Around

Taking notice of the beauty that surrounds us here at home.

I love when the clouds show us shines of light

and I'm so enjoying my new flower garden with my green zinnias!

Hope you are taking notice of the beauty in your life
a

Hangin' round

This is what my eyes have seen

as I swing in my hammock cuddled up with my little love

sometimes we like to have our own

enjoy the day!

Felted

A couple months ago on a field trip with school we visited an Alpaca farm. Ricky and Nancy gave us a tour of the farm and were able to get close to the alpacas to pet them. The kids had a ball and I think most of the adults did as well.
Nancy had generously prepared a felting project for all the kids to do. The kids rolled, added more roving, more colors, sprayed and laughed. Each was sent home with a new skill and their own design of bookmarks, little creatures and place mats.

We had so much fun doing it there, we picked it up at home making bookmarks, felted soap and other fun works.

I love the feeling of closing my book with a special piece of felted art that Oscar has put his heart into.

A Book For Sally

Sally is our little dog and is obviously very special to Oscar. She's his little buddy, a brave little thing! Being abused and tortured, thrown over his shoulder, hung in a sling, on the hammock all day long, she still musters up bravery to follow him around and when he's not, she whines for him.
So, on a rainy day I asked Oscar what he would like to do. He replied, "make a book about Sally".

I think he is her little buddy too.

Sweet

I have been on a baking kick as of recently. I think it has much to do with the season, with so many berries!

I made these pavlovas from the Apples cookbook (of course). Since I first made these, I have made them several other times and have used another recipe that I also like. It gives detailed step-by-step instructions with photos.
I love to eat them plain or with a dollop of whipped cream and some seasonal fruit; cherries, blueberries and oranges.

Picking 3 gallons at the blueberry farm last week a blueberry pie was in order!

This blueberries pie was improvised. I threw some arrowroot, brown rice syrup and some lemon juice with a bunch of blueberries. Made the crust from Amy's cheat sheet. I love this crust, so simple and much more delicious than store bought!

Have a sweet weekend
~see you here next week!
a

Life is Fast, So Are Bikes!

He went from this... a balance bike

to this...a skateboard

to riding a bike with pedals.....

....in no time!
I can't believe my little baby who I nursed and rocked from a newborn is now 4 years old and so independent! Life is moving and I'm holding on the reins for dear life.
a

A Sweet Surprise

We have been a home to some birds in our garage. When we went to Arizona, mama bird was unable to make it back to her eggs.

So, when we felt the coast was clear we pulled down her nest. There were 4 eggs; 2 whole, one cracked with a little unborn one inside and one cracked open with no bird in sight.

I feel horrible for the little ones until I found another nest just outside our front porch in a hanging basket. We're keeping our distance until the babies are born.

See you Mañana
a

Little Additions

Oscar received for his birthday some new additions for his doll house.
One is not complete without tea or horse art, if you're into that.
He's satisfied and loves his new tea cup and saucer complete with spoon.
His house looks more homey along with all his bottle cap art.

I love the two new additions for our home as well. Oscar put together a few pictures from our Arizona trip of him and his dad for papa's day. I adore the two of my guys!

Hope this is a start to make a family photo wall...we'll see
a