a whine & a crown

it would seem that my body enjoyed being forced to do nothing but rest for over a week. feeling much better, i attempted a few errands this morning - then found myself back at home within the hour. just that little walking brought on uncomfortable contractions. my body has been happily resting in bed ever since.

unfortunately my mind has been miserable. i want to get things done, i want to clean my filthy house, i want to play! it dawned on me today that i may just have to give in, & accept that i may not have everything ready for thebebe's arrival, & my home may have to remain filthy. oh just writing about that last bit makes me want to cry!

i'll make a deal with you body: you let me get the house 100% cleaned before we leave for the hospital on tuesday, & i'll spend the rest of the time resting. i won't attempt errands, projects, or anything else - just let me get the place clean. you think about it, & get back to me. ok?

***

so as not to only whine & complain:

i did manage to make a birthday crown before the pestilence hit. it's a donation for this year's homeschool expo. the dragonfly artisans (hotlink still not working, please look under 'more kat' for the link) are giving a basket of fantasy play items to be raffled.

i really like the fake silver pearls, backed by the giant silver sequins - fancy, yet understated ;-)

& on that note, i'm off.
~peace.

oddly no,

i am not carrying twins. it does look it, but there's just the one in there. what's worse is that i look even larger in person. impossible you say? i would have thought as much; once upon a time; but 'tis true.

we had planned on decorating my gigantic belly this weekend, but that plan had to be set aside. it would seem that some person; who may, or may not have been me; did not put any sunscreen on her bikini-clad self yesterday, & is now sporting quite the sunburn. manlyman said my belly now looks like "bob the tomato" from "veggie tales". sexy, no?

that's all the time i have for today's chat. we have dear friends coming over to bbq later, & i've got to get my veggies prepped. i hope your weekend is a lovely one, & please!!!! if your belly hasn't seen the sun in a decade or more - wear sunscreen.

~peace.

look what i can do!

that's right dear one & only reader - i am my own table. let's ignore the fact that i'm eating the hummus from the container, & focus only on how very talented i am.

~peace.

today's tale of woe

today was set aside for getting all the belfry to-dos finally to-done. that was my plan, though my body most heartily disagreed. i managed to do a few minor things, but even those had me stopping every few minutes, to rest on the couch.

apparently it's time for me to slow down, & accept that i'm going to have to ask manlyman to do vastly more than i'd like. neither shall be easy for me. especially the latter, as manlyman already does so much when home.

this is the reason for my current tale of woe:

behold the most gigantic belly that ever there was. oh that's not so large you say. but oh! you forget that i am quite petite. on my frame, this belly is large. it shades small faery villages when i waddle out for some fresh air.

not content to be merely gigantic, my belly is also freakishly heavy. at times i wonder if my wee bebe is as competent a rock collector as is his big brother. it's just impossible that all i'm carrying in there is a teeny little creature - it's just much too heavy to be so.

& that my blog friends, brings today's tale of woe to a close.

~peace.

ps - all is not doom & gloom here. we had a lovely daddy-o day, & celebrated summer's beginning with food, togetherness, & laughter.

a snail

i don't believe that boys are made of snakes & snails & puppy dog tails; but my number 2 boy shall have a blankie partially made of a snail. i knew once i'd sewn the blankie that i'd need a patch to cover a wee hole i'd not seen when cutting the fabric bits.

enter, monsieur snail:


he was embroidered eons ago; well before getting knocked up; but i never knew what to do with him. this afternoon i trimmed the patch down, & sewed him over the hole. henceforth shall this blankie be known as the snail blankie. (so says thehobbit.)

i still need to sew my diaper bag, some changing mats, a few fabric cubes (with bells inside), as well as some other baby items - but at least i have monsieur snail.

off to get ready for craft night!

~peace.

kats in the nest

the nesting stage has begun. i haven't yet gotten to the point where i'm constantly cleaning, but i can see it coming.

already instead of thinking i really should xyz, i'm just doing it. that's a big tip-off for me, because; as queen of all procrastinators; i generally give something a lot of thought before getting to it.



to-do lists have been made, & things are getting to-done. theshop's list was the first seeing action. in the past week i've chosen the items i want to put in theshop, & to sell at winter faire, gone through fabric bins, & cut out a stack of birthday crown bodies.

most difficult for me is staying realistic in what i can get to before thebebe comes. with only 2.5 months left, i don't want to waste time sewing anything that isn't usually a good seller. that means no new products, & nothing iffy. blah.

another to-do list on which i've been focusing has to do with thebelfry. as i mentioned above, i'm not yet in the cleaning stage of things, but i have begun tackling the chaos that is our home.

inspired by an episode of oprah, thehobbit suggested we each get rid of half our belongings. he pointed out that after the challenge of living with less, all the people on the show were happier, & enjoyed each other more.

how could i say no to that? happier & enjoying my menfolk more? sign me up! so we'll be spending all of monday filling giant bags with things we don't need, & rarely (sometimes never) use.

a certain someone (who is not me, nor the person who suggested this challenge) is going to find this very difficult. manlyman loves his stuff. he has a hard time parting with his belongings, & has not yet met a freebie that he could say no to. my hope is that seeing his little guy going at it with such passion will infect & inspire him.

that's all the time for chatting i have today - i'm off to sketch designs to embroider on the birthday crowns. have a lovely weekend please!

~peace

** all photos in this post were taken by thehobbit. excuse the fuzziness, as they were shot through a screened window. **

BLOGGER! STOP STEALING THE SPACES BETWEEN MY PARAGRAPHS! PLEASE!

tiny bottoms, long post

having your children 11 years apart is, in some ways, like having your first. this can mean different things for different people. for us it means not having anything saved from the last bebe. sure we kept some items that were special, but we gave away all our bins of clothes & other essentials long ago.

i've been searching around for affordable newborn clothes that i didn't loathe, but wasn't finding much. everything i loved was freakyexpensive. finally it hit me that if i could find just one pair of bottoms, i could make more! surely i could find one pair. with that thought in mind, thehobbit & i headed to a local resale shop.

we searched & searched the shop, but couldn't find anything! then! on our way out i spotted a little shelf with baskets marked newborn. did i manage to find one pair i didn't loathe? no. i found four!! 4 tiny bottoms (plus 1 thehobbit chose) that i actually liked, & that cost less than $2 a pair! faint-worthy to be sure.


the light was wonky, so the colors didn't photograph well. from left to right we have: black, tan, blue (thehobbit's choice), gray, lt. gray/drk. gray stripes. (the beanie was a bonus find.) ahhh plain, non-cutesy clothes! & yes, the black bottoms are my favorite.

***

i know it's silly to be so thrilled by this, but i can't help it. it was humbling enough to have had to take whatever was donated to us for thehobbit, but loathing most of it made me miserable. this go around we're blessed to be able to buy things we need, & blessed to be able to be picky with hand-me-downs.

something i've noticed that strikes me as odd: i actually feel more grateful for the donations now, than i did when pg with thehobbit. i wonder if it's the lack of desperation. we were utterly broke back then, & had to accept everything that came our way. this time i feel like i have enough breathing space to truly appreciate the generosity of family & friends. i'm not sure if that makes much sense.

11 years ago we were given a brand new stroller that i found extremely ugly. please understand that i was grateful to have a stroller at all, but for all the years we used it, i hated the sight of it. this time a friend offered us her gently-used stroller, & i was able to check it out before saying yes or no. that felt so amazing! no desperation forcing me to accept the gift, regardless of liking it or not. in case you're wondering: i love the stroller immensely this time, so accepted it with a great amount of gratitude & giggling joy. thehobbit has named it already (of course he has): mac for its brand.

***

back then i hated being poor, we'd had to make do with so little, & with even less once thehobbit came. fast forward 11 years & i'm happy we'd been in that situation. having had to have made do with near to nothing helped me truly appreciate the life i now have. it also gives me courage to have a bebe so long after the first. having money, a nice home, a huge community of friends, & so much more - trumps all the negatives by far. besides - who needs all that sleep i'll be missing, when i can put my bebe in tiny, black bottoms?

~peace.

the view from up here

thehobbit spends a great deal of time with my belly these days. he rubs it, sings to it, pokes at it, talks to it, & lately (with how active the bebe has gotten) has been laughing hysterically at it. though i love every moment of this immensely, i have to say that by far my favorite is this:





a few times a day he'll lay his head on my belly, & quietly snuggle. usually i can hear him whispering, but not loud enough for me to hear what's being said. the words aren't meant for my ears, so i don't ask. occasionally he'll look up with his huge, brown eyes, & there will be the most peaceful smile on his face.

i know it isn't the most artistic photo, but i like it. it was taken from my view, & it's how i'll remember this time in our lives. if you ask me, i get the best view up here.

~peace.

just another serene saturday

neither thehobbit nor i felt like doing much of anything today. i did try to be the responsible adult, but it was half-hearted, resulting in only getting the watering done. ah well - at least the veggies shan't die of thirst.

instead, we played in the yard for a bit, then i came inside to just 'be'. thehobbit stayed out of course, as he must play in his tent every. waking. moment.

i really should take a photo of his set-up, because it's just too cute. he's got a little 2-man tent pitched, with a beach gazebo set up next door. creating a circle he's dragged over a small picnic table, & some chairs. one must be fancy even when in the wilderness, so there are potted plants on his table.

a blanket & pillow are the only things in the gazebo; but within the tent (which he calls the swamp) he's got: a chair, a small table, his radio (playing opera when i left him earlier), & a tote filled with books & drawing accoutrement.

***

other than watering the farm, craving a vegetarian taco salad, & playing with thehobbit, i've pretty much stuck with my decision to do nothing all day. i've been listening to music, puttering, & poking around the internet. it's been lovely.

one of today's putterings has been to figure out how to no longer have to see manlyman's chin-up bar. it hangs in the doorway that leads from the dining room, to the east wing of the belfry. hahahaha wing!!! the east wing is basically the rooms to one side of the big room. we haven't even any hallways here, so you can see why i'm cracking myself up at this absurdity.

sorry, i got off track for a moment there. here is the ugly chin-up bar:

& here is my solution:

it's a freakylong table cloth. yes i know it's wrinkly, but the iron & i don't get along; she belongs to manlyman, & she is a jealous thing. it's just tucked up there (as you can see from the previous photo), so manlyman can easily access the bar for his weekly pull-ups. maybe he'll even iron it for me, before rehanging it!? yeah, i doubt it too.

hanging the cloth there not only hides the ugliness beneath it, it keeps the warmth in the big room, & makes for an excellent back drop. voila!

oh my one & only reader, i'm sorry for yet another belly picture. you see, my best friend spryte lives far, far away, & has taken to threats if i don't show more of the bebe. usually a gentle soul, i think being so far from me what she has decided is her bebe has driven her mad. or perhaps it is her 4 hellion hobbits? either way - another belly photo.

this was also an excuse to show my newest thrift shop purchase. the blouse is not meant to be maternity, but it works perfectly. the fabric is amazingly soft, sort of like a very thin sweater. the best part; in addition to being so cute; is that it only cost $4. how i do love thrifting.

i hope you're having a lovely, serene saturday. i'm off to make some tea :-)

~peace.

creating despite the weather

one would think i've done naught but complain about the atrocious heat of late; but ah - one would be wrong! though i did complain constantly often, i also managed to pack quite a bit into our days.

something i'm very happy to say i managed to do, is create! it had been ages since i last sat at sewlie, & i was missing her dearly. i could have sewn the aprons i need to take to a local shop, or the blanket i began cutting out for the bebe; but in typical kat form i did neither of those things. first i whipped up a new needle book, then this:


the little purse is perfect for when i'm out on my own. it's big enough for just the essentials: no asthma kit, no snacks, no other peoples' anythings. i still have to stitch on the closure, but that's easy peasy.


my maman sent the fabric to me last year, & the lining is wool felt from soap. the colors are not those i typically wear, but it's fun to have a few items that are out of the norm.

this was yesterday's creation. i was craving a blendie, but hadn't any ice to make my own. just before i'd convinced myself it was necessary to the health of my pregnancy to go buy one; i realized i could make a blendie in my ice cream machine! it took a bit of watching; to make sure it didn't go past the 'blendie' stage; but oh my one & only reader! it was ever so good. all that was missing was an equal amount of whipped cream on top.

& that brings me to my on-going creation:

the ever-expanding kat! please excuse the wretched photo - i'm not coordinated enough to take a decent photo of myself. can you believe how huge that belly is?! a very sweet woman was chatting with me on monday, & asked how many weeks i had left. hahahahaha - months! i told her. everyone assures me my body will keep making room as the bebe grows, but i don't know that i believe them. mostly because it just doesn't seem physically possible, but also because i only keep company with liars. liars, pick-pockets, & loose women.

so what did you create this week? have any favorite blendie recipes you'd like to share?

~peace.

slowly she turns...

i seem to be finding my way back into the rhythm of life. i hadn't wanted to bore you to tears with the woes of my first trimester, but i can now tell you i got nothing done. the belfry, the farm, the everything - it all became overrun with weeds, & dustbunnies, & probably trolls.



the climb out of the queasyzombieness (real word) was rough at first - there was so much that needed my immediate attention. i'm happy to report that i am beginning to truly feel like myself again: hogwarts is back on track, the belfry is coming together, ideas for the shop are racing through my mind, & we (by we i mean manlyman; though i did supervise, & was in charge of the extension cord) mowed the farm out of the clutches of waist-high weeds & grass. huzzah!



we (again here we means manlyman; though i held the hose) even managed to move the blueberry bush into the farm's unused bed. it had been in the garden part of the backyard, & wasn't thriving.

there is yet so much to be done back there, but there really is no need to ruin a perfectly good huzzah by thinking about that. one thing at a time.

the next thing i have to do is start seeds. between odd weather, not doing much tending, & certain neighbor cats whom are not long for this world should i get my hands on them; there are many bare spots. we lost the chard, spinach, carrots, asian cabbage, some of the fennel, & one strawberry.

still, there is much that is thriving, especially the sugar snap peas! weather on our little hill is apparently suited for them. this year we are harvesting more than just our family can eat - thehobbit suggested we turn the whole far back into a sugar snap farm, & sell them. i must admit, that sounds like fun :-)

i'm off - babble at you soon!

~peace.