Wordless Wednesday

Baa

A couple Saturdays ago, Twirly Girl and I attended the second felting workshop (in a series of three). They made notebook covers at the first workshop, and since it was the week before my birthday this is what she made:

Front

Back

At the second workshop they learned how to felt 3-D objects by making sheep. I should say “we”–attendance was lower than at the first session, so there was room at the table for the mothers to felt too.

The fat blue sheep is mine; Twirly Girl made the pink sheep at the workshop and the blue one after we got home. She’s thinking about making a pasture scene for her fair project. I decided to try my hand at a penguin, but after I finished felting a base shape of undyed roving I realized we are out of black for his coat. I’ve worked a little more on my house in the meanwhile, but have spent most of my free time knitting or sewing.

Family tradition

Drama Boy is following in the footsteps of his father and his uncle. . .he has spent his last two weekends working at the local pizza place. Since he’s only fifteen, he is starting at the bottom: busing tables and washing dishes. No uniform, just black jeans and a dark t-shirt–not that he’d likely appreciate my posting a picture anyhow.

He seems eager enough to go to work, although when he gets home he is a typical teenage boy with little to say (other than “what can I eat?”). Many of you have probably had the same attempted conversation: “How was work?” “Fine.” “What did you do tonight?” “Wash dishes.” Well, okay, then. . .oh! He did say that he likes the hours much better than he liked helping Larry deliver papers in the wee hours.

Supper’s ready

This isn’t really a recipe; it’s one of my general methods for throwing together a one dish meal using whatever I have on hand.

1. If the meat isn’t already cooked, start there. This time, as I often do, I started with a pound of ground beef; once it’s browned, I remove it from the skillet and set aside.
2. Add fat to the skillet as needed–olive oil, butter, bacon grease. . .and begin cooking vegetables. This step varies based on what I’m using and how long it needs to cook. This week I had a chopped onion and a pair of summer squash* that I had shredded in the food processor, so I sauteed the onion first. Once it started to get soft, I stirred in some minced garlic and then added the squash.
3. When the vegetables are nearly cooked, stir in the meat and any liquid ingredients such as wine, broth, or tomato sauce. I used tomato sauce this time because I wanted a “spaghetti” type dish. This is also where I add cheese, if I’m using it. It can be stirred in but I generally sprinkle it on top, cover with a lid, and let it melt. Simmer, covered or uncovered, until heated through.
4. Voila!

* A helpful tip for summer squash or zucchini: slice, dice, or shred them before proceeding with your recipe. Sprinkle with salt to help draw out excess moisture and place in a strainer to drain until you are ready to cook the squash. If needed, turn out on a clean dish towel and press out more moisture.

Volume

I’ve been thinking recently about how loud my family is. It occurred to me that anyone who meets me first and then meets my family. . .might be in for a surprise. Which is probably why I’m s0metimes embarrassed to go places with my family. Please don’t misunderstand: I love my husband and children very much. But I wouldn’t complain if they collectively turned down the volume!

As far as personality goes I would guess that we’re fairly evenly split between introverts and extroverts, with one adult on each extreme. But I suppose that says more about a person’s need for quiet versus chatter, rather than how loud they will be when they do talk. After all, frequently I have to be louder than I want to be. . .or no one will be able to hear me. And some of my introverted children have long stretches of quiet punctuated with extremely loud outbursts. I’m not even going to pretend to understand that.

I sometimes wonder if the heavy load of testosterone affects the volume. I know there are quiet boys in the world, but boys with brothers (emphasis on the plural) seem to be a different breed. Even when they’re not particularly loud, their collective energy level is overwhelming. . .like a geyser simmering beneath the surface before it erupts.

As much as I like to fix things, this is one of those situations where all I can say is “it is what it is.” Even if I could, I wouldn’t really want to alter the personalities of the children entrusted to me. Train them to be their best, help them mature? Yes. But make them be something they’re not? No. Now. . .if you could just remind me of that the next time you see me covering my ears or wearing a paper bag over my head.

Ash Wednesday

Savior, when in dust to Thee low we bow the adoring knee;
When, repentant, to the skies scarce we lift our weeping eyes;
O, by all Thy pains and woe suffered once for us below,
Bending from Thy throne on high, hear our penitential cry!

-Lutheran Service Book #419

I love to draft

The more time I spend drafting my own patterns, the more I love the process and (usually) the results. There’s something so satisfying about beginning with a set of measurements and a sketch and ending with a wearable garment!

I already posted briefly about the denim skirt I made in January, or at least about the drafting process.

I’ve worn it several times and like it very much! That said, I honestly had no clue how to draft the back yoke. . .let’s just say my wild guess didn’t quite work. I’m going to be looking for help in fixing that, though, because I have a piece of khaki twill and I’d like to use the same pattern. I also should make the zipper an inch longer, but otherwise the fit is just right and I love the bit of flare below the knees.

Inspired by one new skirt, I decided to make another new skirt before our Nebraska trip. I’ve been trying to reduce my stash lately and I had a skirt sized remnant of burgundy french terry.

This time I went for a basic a-line with a tiny bit of flare at the hem. I decided to use the side seam pockets from Kwik Sew’s Easy Sewing book. Although my terry is fairly lightweight, I used a scrap of quilting cotton to reduce bulk.

For me, drafting patterns is all about trying new things and finding out what works–0r what to change for next time. In this case, the only change I would make is to use slightly wider elastic in the waistband. I wore this skirt for both of our Very Long Driving Days and it was perfect. Warm, comfortable, and wrinkle-free.

Spiffy

My little boys love to ask “Am I spiffy?” I know I’ve written quite a bit about modesty and feminine dress; I also think it matters what boys and men wear.

They’re hard on clothes, so sometimes their play clothes are a little rattier than they should be. But when we go somewhere, especially to church, we make sure they are dressed appropriately for the occasion.

No, I don’t think coats and ties are mandatory. . .although they look especially spiffy in their Papaw’s old bow ties! However, I do think the way we dress influences our behavior.

Playground clothes tend to lead to playground behavior. Dress clothes remind us (and those who see us) that what we are doing or where we are going is worthy of both our best clothes and our best behavior.

Bouncy Boy, Baby Boy, and Silly Boy

Macbeth

Yes, I’m fully aware that Macbeth is not the standard first exposure to Shakespeare for children–although my older children have already run into the Bard once or thrice. Nonetheless we are currently studying Scotland and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to read aloud Macbeth. What can I say? I’ve been a Shakespeare fan from the very first line; the play’s the thing.

I started by downloading the Lambs’ Tales from Shakespeare to my Kindle (it’s free, by the way). Hmmm. I’ll probably point Twirly Girl toward the book at some point, but I have a sneaking suspicion it would not hold the attention of my rowdy boys. So I turned to the local library. I expected to be disappointed but was pleasantly surprised. The children’s section actually yielded two different editions of Macbeth. Wow! The first one looked to be very dry prose so I put it back.

But! I decided to check out the second book, which was from the Young Reader’s Shakespeare series by Adam McKeown. I’m very glad I did, as in “I’ll be looking for more of these” glad. Even (or perhaps especially) the little boys have been following the story and asking questions or talking about what we’ve read. I am especially impressed at Mr. McKeown’s ability to retell the play in modern kid-friendly prose while retaining the style of the original. In fact, in many places–especially in the dialogue–he makes use of the original words. After all, what fun would there be in reading Macbeth aloud if I didn’t get to say Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble? Or how about Out, damned spot! out, I say! And Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? They’re all there.

Does it get any better than this? Books like this make my day.

Clean hair

I’ve been meaning to write this post for over two years now. . .that’s how long it’s been since I first read Curly Girl and started experimenting with alternate hair care routines. The trouble is that every time I thought I was almost ready to write a definitive post, I found it was actually time to make a major (or minor) change in my own routine. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that perhaps, even for my own hair, there is no definitive routine–that occasional changes as the days and months go by are normal. Which changes the type of blog post I can write, but that’s okay too.

As you probably know, I don’t actually have curly hair. My hair is wavy, though for most of my life I thought it was just very disobedient straight hair. Wavy is more fun. It’s also more work. . .

The official Curly Girl recommendation for curly involves no shampoo, only “cleaning” with conditioner. For wavy hair, the book adds a once-a-week careful cleaning with shampoo. I did this for awhile but then had to add a second weekly shampoo. Eventually that wasn’t keeping my hair clean either. Hmm. I remembered reading about using baking soda, so I googled that, asked friends about their experiences, and decided to give it a try. Aha!

At this point I use baking soda about twice a week. Some websites recommend following this with a vinegar rinse but I haven’t been inclined to try that yet. The day after I use baking soda I usually don’t even get my hair wet in the shower, but simply spritz it with lavender water. The rest of the week I wet my hair and apply conditioner to the ends. I should note here that I don’t use very many styling products–I only scrunch in a bit of gel or mousse to help set the waves.

So far, this is keeping both my head and my hair happy and clean. I did develop a greasy patch during our recent trip; I’m not sure if that was due to different water or the fact that it had been awhile since I last cleaned the comb in my travel kit. I used a tiny bit of shampoo to spot clean the area and that solved the problem. . .I also cleaned my comb, so we’ll see how my next trip goes.