What Ana Does

Guys! I just finished the THIRD audiobook in the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater (called Blue Lily, Lily Blue ) and I can't be more please and bereft that it's over.  I wanted to continue listening to this story on my commute to work every day until I retire. Why did it have to end?  The second book was so DARK and filled with nightmares (thanks, Ronan) that I was delighted to find this book featured Blue -- who I adore. How can you not love a teenager living in a house of psychics but with no "real" psychic talent. Who subsists on a diet of yogurt alone and shreds/makes her own clothing. She also the only girl in a pack of private school boys on a mission to find a long-dead Welsh king. So she's just plain awesome.  And Gansey calls her Jane. And that's even more adorable.  It's the third book in this series so these characters are so well known to me -- which is the about the only thing that keeps me reading this series. I...

Glass Jars and Plastic Cups I've always had this strange issue about throwing things away, especially anything reusable. Even recycling doesn't cut it for me. So here's a mini-list of what I don't always throw out. Glass Jars -- especially salsa and tomato sauce. Once cleaned and labels removed, these jars are incredibly useful. They hold kids craft supplies like paint brushes, markers, googly eyes and scissors. ( See here for step by step. ) I have one labeled "Homework Pencils" because Leah will find ANY excuse not to do her homework and "not finding a pencil" was an easy one to fix. You'll find jars of all sizes around the house -- some on the kids' desks (holding rocks and shells) and in windows propagating rosemary. Why buy them!? But, guys, they really shouldn't be used to store food again, okay? Maybe as drinking glasses, but not for canning. Got it? Plastic Cups -- these I wash and save for my little artists to dip bru...

This weekend I was hard at work quilting a fox patchwork quilt and viking panel quilt.  Here's the layout for the fox quilt. The foxes with the navy blue background is the backing fabric. I consulted my Mom on these groupings and I think we came up with a good pattern -- though, do you think the yellow squares a little too BRIGHT! OVERPOWERING!? I'm going to really need to consider that in future projects.  The binding will come from the backing fabric, I think.  I fell in love with the fabric on the Viking Quilt -- so I didn't want to chop it up into small pieces. The dragons, especially, would be hard to see. So I crated three panels across, so you get the full view of the adorable Vikings and winged dragons. Pretty cool.  Vikings and Dragons Oh My!

Leah in the Blacksmith House Today I did something I've never done before ... I was a real field trip chaperone. It's something I've always wanted to do. And I never could get the time off of work or get my act together quick enough to plan it out. There have been a lot of field trip opportunities over the years of daycare and school. And they beg me to come along or be that mom at the classroom holiday party, but it's not usually possible, mainly because I hear about it at the very last-minute. Or I just can't get the time off. But this time Leah's third grade teacher sent the request for chaperones in October! With three months notice, and a January date when I have all my vacation/personal days to spend, I jumped on it. Leah was thrilled! This Cabin is Older Than ME!  This field trip was to a park nearby that recreates the experience of the early settlers in the prairies. There was a log cabin, a blacksmith shop, an estate house with a workin...

After the holidays we decided we just couldn't take the dishwasher only doing half of its job. We don't blame it, it's likely the same age of the kitchen -- so maybe 12 years old. That's pretty old for a dishwasher. She just needed to be put out to pasture. The New Dishwasher - Hardest Working Appliance in Our Kitchen We did some research and found good reviews on the Bosch brand. By chance, my sister has a Bosch so I got to use it over Christmas. It didn't take long to settle on the right model and set the installation date. Yippee! It does clean mighty fine. Even peanut butter is no challenge for her (though, we are pre-rinsers, so not a lot of PB makes it in there, I promise). And it's soooo quiet. We usually run it in the evenings, and with the old one, we'd need to turn up the TV volume to compete with the running water/motor sound. This one, there's a light whoosh sound occasionally, but you'd need to be standing next to it to hear...

Just an update: I haven't painted any of my walls this weekend. So far. First weekend all year (!) that I haven't had a paintbrush in my hand. That is all. Go about your day.

Took the guys most of the afternoon, but crappy windows are OUT, new energy-efficient windows are IN. Is it just me, or is there less frame and more window? The Window is Just THAT Big Finished Look -- And the Snowy Backyard This concludes our window replacement projects for the foreseeable future. We hit all the nasties, junked up windows. Let the heating bill savings begin!