thursday things - pestilence

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mama's medicine

pestilence has hit the belfry. nothing serious, just the common cold, in various stages of coldosity (real word). still, it's enough to keep us home. elfling & i are thrilled to for the respite from adventuring, but a certain hobbit would rather be running wild with friends at the park. i decided he was in need of a bit of pampering. this brings us to this month's week's thursday things: pestilence pampering of the pouting preteen.

* iced tea pops. sucking on popsicles is good for easing throat & belly pains, as well as for bringing down a fever. we've even used them for keeping hydrated when unable to keep anything down (the small amount of liquid ingested with each suck doesn't usually trigger vomiting). i've found that juice pops don't soothe as well as pops made from tea. or it could be that thehobbit & i just aren't juice drinkers.

it's simple really, all you need do is freeze tea in popsicle molds. chamomile is a good choice for all pestilence, & especially so when there is nausea. no need to sweeten these pops, by the way. we've used all sors of herbal & fruity teas, even green tea. i've got hibiscus tea pops freezing as i type.

we have this mold. look at these, & scroll down for the description of this set!

* a good book. kids this age can get lost for hours in a book, which is good when feeling crummy. if your pestilenced preteen is not feeling well enough to read, he/she can listen to the book on tape. here is a hobbit-approved list:
- harry potter (series). we highly recommend listening to these. jim dale is the reader, & will blow your mind.
- percy jackson (series). do not judge these books by the mediocre film. the books are clever & fun.
- the red pyramid. the same author as the percy jackson series, same idea, but with ancient egyptian gods, instead of greek.
- theodosia (series). set in 1902 england, with a girl as the main character!
- nathaniel fludd (series). the same author as the theodosia books. we've yet to read these, so can't say if they are good. they are on thehobbit's wish list though.

* entertaining "tv". we haven't cable or satellite, so rely on netflix ("instant watch" on my laptop) when diversion is needed. if your preteen is faint if heart, do not go with either of our recommendations. thehobbit is an odd duck.
- man vs food. he travels the country, taking on the most insane food challenges. insane as in a 12lb burger, or a 72oz steak. yes, we are still vegetarians, we just aren't offended by others eating meat.
- man vs wild. bear grylls in a looney, but my menfolk love him. it's a how to survive show.

* coloring in real books. many years ago thehobbit pointed out that shel silverstein's books looked like coloring books for bigger guys. when he was recovering from surgery a few years later, he received his own copy of a light in the attic. i handed him a box of colored pencils, & he spent a few days healing & coloring. he was also given castle, but said it was no fun coloring so much gray. 3 years later & he still loves coloring in real books. at this very moment he is in bed, working on one of my old calvin & hobbes.

that's all i have for now. i hope you don't have any pestilence ruining your adventures.
~peace.

a give-away of gigantic proportions!

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head nope, you procrastinated again, & missed the deadline. how do you expect to ever win a prize? on over to soulemama for a chance to win one of three gift bundles, by the talented artisans of natural kids! don't tell the others, but i hope you win

as i mentioned yesterday, the pouch i created for this give-away was the victim of scatterbrainitis (real word), so did not get taken to the post office in time. that's it in the above photo. if you want it for your very own, it's in theshop. although, those dinky pencils are so swoony that i may keep it for myself!

the specials are still going on in my kid shop, with free shipping on orders over $40 being the most fabulous one! ok, so go enter the drawing, then pop over to my shop to see all my new pencil pouches & stuff. by the way, i have decided that i'll refund $2 to those who want pouches sent without the pencils. i recognize that some people don't want colored pencils, only pouches. weirdos.

oh, & one more thing: good luck! nope, no one more thing. shame really. i was hoping you'd win.
~peace.

in which pouches lead me astray

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unrelated photo of our pomegranate bush

i meant to finish the cabinet today; so i could share the photos with you; but i cannot. instead i'll be spending the day focusing on pencil pouches. well, in between all the focusing on sweet bébé toes, of course.

there are a few pouches that need to get photographed, & put in theshop, & still others in various states of puttogetherness (real word). there is even one square pouch, filled with 24 mini colored pencils (& embroidered with my sweet snail) that was meant to go to tomorrow's give-away on soulemama. you see, i've been so scatterbrained of late, that i forgot to take it to the post office. by the time i realized, it was too late to get it there in time. ah well, i shall pop it in theshop instead.

i found some fun vintage-looking images at a discount store last week. they will be perfect on pencil pouches for the older kids: old school phone, iron, typewriter, fan, etc. some i'll offer with colored pencils, others without. i do realize that not everyone wants colored pencils. by the way, if you ever want one of my pouches, but don't need the pencils, let me know, & i'll knock a few dollars off the pouch!

we are going to visit manlyman's mom for a few days, so i do need to get all these pouches completed & listed asap. it's hard to believe it is not-back-to-school back-to-school for all you in-schoolers time already. where did the summer go?

i also need to finish a pouch for a sweet girlie's birthday. oh & i am getting to make her birthday cake's bunting! yay! if you are local, & want me to make a cake topper (with proper height skewers) for you, let me know. i am not going to put them in myshop though, because the idea was not mine. oh! but the number mushroom in that photo shall be! more on that later.

that's all for today. i'm off to snuggle my napping boy a bit longer, then it's pouches, pouches, pouches.
~peace.

crowns & drawing kits

my hope is to get a bunch of birthday crowns, & drawing kits completed (& in theshop) by the next weeks' end. they've been high on my to-do list for quite some time. of course that would be the same list my house-cleaning chores are on, so, yeah.



the crowns are half-done at least. with the exception of the blue, this bunch is made from darker hues of wool felt. they aren't colors i'm drawn to, but they were included with the stack of lighter felt i was given. seems a shame to not use them.

doesn't the blue one look a tad where-the-wild-things-are? these little starry buttons are adorable - they came from a jacket thehobbit wore when he was teeny. i get such a kick out of reusing things.



as for the drawing kits, i have enough fabric to make a dozen, but i don't know that i have enough time to complete that many. wee elflings do greatly reduce a mama's free time. still, a few is better than none :)

i've long wanted to stock theshop with these kits. the thing is, every time i've made a batch,
they have sold before i could list them. there's no show on the books, so no danger they'll be snatched up.

you can see what they'll look like here. with different buttons though, as i use ones i've saved from thrifted clothing. that was the only kit that ever made it into theshop.

the colored pencils come from my beloved japanese dollar store. they don't always carry them, so i buy them out when they do. i'd love to find this brand in bulk, so i can decrease the packaging waste. until then i'll continue cutting-up the thin boxes for thehobbit's atc (artist trading cards).

keep your fingers crossed that i find the time to get all the to-dos, to-done.

~peace.