Molly Makes {A Deal}

This is a teaser...



I can't wait to share more about this project with you in upcoming weeks!

It's still Tuesday, it's still good

Today was busy!  Errands run, a car cleaned out (you know the one that needed to be cleaned out before the baby arrived... yeah that car), weeding... lots of weeding, super to make laundry to do... oh the never-ending list, but I love it all so - most days.  It feels good to get things done and be productive after a rather disappointing weekend, but onwards and upwards.

Anyways here's a garden update.  Other than fighting the white powdery mildew battle with my cucumbers (and finally realizing they needed a trellis to climb) things have been going quite well.

The Ghost of Pesto Yet to Come is calling my name...

Can't wait for the tomato harvest.

Strawberries!  The runners are taking over, I spent today digging spots out of the mulch for them.

On our way to peppers!

Pumpkin or squash... can't remember... but as of today it's  little withered yellowing ball ... any suggestions ( should these have vertical supports too?)

Running out of vertical space.

Yesterday's itty bitty tomato is somewhere in this plant.  This is the tomato plant I didn't think would make it.  The first picture I have of it is below looking puny and off colored, the stick is still in the pot... somewhere.

P.S.  The strawberry and pepper advice I got a few weeks ago was fantastic!

P.P.S  Any words of wisdom on cucumbers, zucchini and squash?

P.P.P.S Anyone know someone wanting to pass on some canning supplies in the Iowa City area?  I really want to start canning some jams and maybe some apple butter and would love to find someone with some hand-me-downs before I head to the store (the thrift stores have been a bust in the canning department)?

To get you through till tomorrow

It's been a busy weekend, and today the baby wanted nothing more to be "up" all day - he learned to signal up this weekend.  A bigger post tomorrow, but for now - finally a possible tomato on my largest tomato plant!

Because

Because it's Friday.  Because it barely rained yesterday.  Because I really just couldn't wait until Monday to show this off.

CORN!!!

I think I have about 10 little shoots coming up, and my carrots finally sprouted and so much more, but you'll have to wait for Monday for the rest!

{Weekend Wonders}

{Weekend Wonders}  – A little something to read while drinking your coffee Saturday morning in the hopes that it will give you something to think about, talk about or the inspiration to do something!

 

Last year I worked on a musical called "She Loves Me" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  In it a character sings a song about the insignificance of himself and his problems when compared to the vastness of the universe.  After watching the video below, I have to agree.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U&w=425&h=349]

 

The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

Molly Makes {Things with Thread}

This is not a test, you are actually seeing double... well kind of.  This cross-stitched saying is my copy of one I made for my dearest friends wedding two years ago.  I loved it so much and had plenty of leftover thread and stash of hand-me-down x-stitch fabric that I made myself one.



I'm actually considering this to be one of my submissions for the State Fair this year... if I can get around to it.  I might just have to stock pile things for next year when I can actually plan ahead.



The thread is variegated and though it might not show up well on my (last minute) photos it gives the stitching a nice depth without shouting "Look At My I'm Thread That Changes Color!"

What have you been making?

Plans

I'm working on a series of posts for the blog o touching on the subjects of simple living/voluntary simplicity and (urban) homesteading while trying to figure out how I want this new blog to function.  So for now I'd like to share a video that I find rather inspiring from Jenna @ Cold Antler Farm.  Enjoy!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz3QX6H4Jmg&w=425&h=349]

BTW How was your weekend?

{Weekend Wonders}

{Weekend Wonders}  – A little something to read while drinking your coffee Saturday morning in the hopes that it will give you something to think about, talk about or the inspiration to do something!

 



 

Vintage Travel Poster by Steve Thomas - Click HERE to peruse his collection of LOTR and Star Wars Themed Travel Posters

If you could go one place from Literature where would you go?

Mine would be the Shire -  I used to dig hobbit holes into the little hill in back of our old house and have always wanted a round front door!

Corn is in!

It's not pretty, it's so not pretty and just like my 8 p.m. decision two days ago to turnover the plot it's a result of guerilla gardening - which often stems from a look at the weather forecast and deciding now or never!  (my ten-day forecast is this - rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, sun, sun, rain, rain)



In the coming years I plan to actually have a plan for my in-the-ground garden, but for now there are seeds in the ground and that works for me!  This years more about experimentation, eventually I'd love to have enough plots to provide a good amount of vegetables and fruit for my family - but that's the goal, now I'll be a few pumpkins for Halloween, a few ears of sweet corn, and a handful of everything else.

Hopefully I can get my fencing up this weekend.  But all in all not bad for an hours work this morning!

Quick Takes #6 Movie Edition

My list of movies that need to be remade... c'mon Hollywood, you remake everything that doesn't need to be remade, how about knocking out some fabulous movies with awesome digital effects and stellar writing.

1.  The Rocketeer



 

2.  The Last Unicorn



 

3.  Flight of Dragons



 

4.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir



5. Neverwhere



6.  The Neverending Story



7.  Anne of Green Gables



 

I do love the classic versions of all of these, but I'd love to see what we could do with their drama or their imagination today!

In the Ground

Almost, I almost have everything in the ground.

Around 8 p.m. last night I decided that though my garden might be spawning Swamp Thing I was going to go attack the remain footage with the hoe and make it plant-able.  I was successful and even managed to make a couple of hills for jack-0-lantern pumpkins and replant the carrots.   Hopefully when it dries out just a bit more I can get a couple of rows of sweet corn in and be done with the thing!  It won't be knee-high by the 4th of July, but it might actually get done!



The garden still looks like this mostly, but that big muddy section is now broken up and turned over.



The container plants are growing well though!



Zucchini and Cucumbers are on their way!



Tomatoes are coming our way!



And it looks like I'll have plenty of oregano to dry this fall!

p.s. anyone have any tips on Pepper plants?  mine don't seem to be doing much of anything.

p.p.s anyone have any tips on Strawberries, I have plenty of runners coming out of the potted plants.  Should I leave the alone and see if they'll dig through the mulch and establish on their own?

p.p.s  It's not "my" view yet, but goodness one can forget that on the other side is the suburbs.

Looking Forward

Looking Forward

Right now I'm looking forward to

... having our living space cleaned and rearranged after yesterday impromptu move out of our old room which seems to flood with the torrential rain we've had.

... my easy week of work starting (I work a two-week rotation, 3 days on, 1 day off, 4 days on, 2 days off, 2 days on, 2 days off).  I'm finishing my four days today.

... getting the storage area cleaned up this week.  Getting things put away and unpacked.  Giving ourselves a feeling of more permanence in our situation.

... getting out to the garden and finishing up the planting, even though it's supposed to rain everyday I have off this week.

... getting my matching sheets in the mail and making an aesthetically beautiful bed (read matching) soon!

... the day when all of this will be worth it, when we will (read I will, as my husband proclaims to have no pride to bruise) look back and realize it was all worth it and feel wise.

... to spending as much time as I can with my beautiful boy; more sadness out of the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) that I work in makes me realize that if I ever had a choice between my child's health and having to live this way for ever I'd share this house and live out of this basement level for the rest of my years happy.  Continuing to pray for little Baby N* as he prepares to celebrate his first birthday in Heaven free of pain and with a perfect working heart, and for his parents to eventually see the blessings in it all.

 

{Weekend Wonders}

{Weekend Wonders}  – A little something to read while drinking your coffee Saturday morning in the hopes that it will give you something to think about, talk about or the inspiration to do something!

 

Amazing video photography.  Reminds one just how vast and amazing our world is.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFpeM3fxJoQ&w=560&h=349]

Quick Takes #5 - Henry Edition

1.  Henry turned 4 months old on Wednesday.

2.  He's huge - 17lbs and over 25 inches.

3.  He loves lamps and fans.  I'm pretty sure he thinks the lamp on my side of the bed is his best friend.

4.  He doesn't so much suck his thumb as just chew on his fingers.

5.  He gets coughing and laughing confused.

6.  He's loosing his newborn hair and has weird bald patches were the new stuff hasn't caught up yet.

7.  He has the most amazing smile and does what I call "Mommy Face", a trait where he scrunches up his nose when he smiles, I do it too and it has ruined many, many photos throughout my life, but on him I think it is the most adorable thing ever.

Life is good.  How's yours?

 

p.s.  He can also reach his foot to his mouth, it's rather impressive.

Molly Makes - Baby Edition {Toys}

Not everything I've made for Henry has been to wear.  Last fall I sat down and stole borrowed some wool from my mothers collection and came up with my own design for a sensory toy for him.  Most sensory blankets I saw were, well, ugly and I wanted his to be a bit more.  So going along with my hopes that every little boy loves robots I drew up Roger the Robot.



Roger is primarily hand sewn using a blanket stitch and french knots, the body and arms are machine sewn together and he's stuffed with padding to make him cushy.  I'm quite proud of Roger and am contemplating drawing up his instructions for sale.  What do you think?  Do you know anyone who'd like to make their own Roger the Robot?

p.s.  My little boy is officially 4 months old today!

Promised Pictures

 

Signs of Tomatoes

 

Tendrils

 

Black Raspberry

 

We might get a strawberry yet!

 

Runners

 

Done!  Well, for now.

How does your garden grow?

Well the plot/moat now has the pumpkin seedlings, a row of green onions, radishes and carrots.  The pumpkin seedling are doing well, and I was even treated to my first squash bloom the other day, and we're still a week or so away from finding out if the birds ate the onion, radishes and carrots.  There's still a lot of work to be done on that patch.

But the containers are growing wonderfully!  I owe you a few more pictures tomorrow as I was finishing up as the sun went down.

This weekend we mulched over the grass on this back little terrace to make room for the sprawling container plants (and because we were tired of mowing the small, awkward space.

I didn't get any before pictures, but luckily for the internet I can give you some idea of what it looked like...



But after a few hours and a lot of mulch it looks like this.



Here's a middle of the project shot in better light (tomorrow, better pictures I promise).



The rest of the plants are doing well and the tomatoes are showing signs that we might have something to show for our efforts soon!



We also fought the good fight against the poison ivy along the other side of the house and my compost pile seems to be actually composting, though with table scraps from 4 - 6 adults I'm running out of room and either need to invest in a compost tumbler or  a proper box soon!

And to make up for the wait for the real pictures of the new space, here's an artistic-y type pictures to tide you over.



And here's a picture of my baby looking like Yoda, a very concerned and surprised Yoda.

{Weekend Wonders} - Perception

{Weekend Wonders}  - A little something to read while drinking your coffee Saturday morning in the hopes that it will give you something to think about, talk about or the inspiration to do something!

--------------

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly..

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing?

Originally found on Pinterest from HERE

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw&w=425&h=349]