Bat

our little bat pup

we found this guy in our house twice.  seriously, he loved us.  Finally we plugged the holes and sealed the chimneys and sent him on his way.

This is a very long story that involves a Bill Clinton mask and more duct tape than I care to think about.

The growing garden

The garden is growing and we are all excited.  The red tomatoes, the green tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, soy beans and, of course, AND FIRST squash!

Son is holding the heirloom yellow crook neck (the seeds came from rareseeds.com) and Daughter is holding the yellow crook neck that came from walmart. 

There's an area of the garden where I plant two zucchini seeds and two squash seeds every year.  And we always have way more of both than we can eat.  So this year was no different ... except one set of seeds never sprouted.  And because I didn't know which one (because I didn't write down which seeds went where), I just had to guess.  After a long exhaustive process of replanting seeds and buying seedlings of each ... I still ended up with 6 squash plants and 1 zucchini.  sigh.  I've already pulled the smaller squash bc there is only really enough space for 4 plants there.

note to all gardeners: write down what you plant where.

I have big plans to get a pressure canner and a huge stock pot so I can can vegetable soup in addition to tomatoes.

The Zoo 5k and kids' race

Before I get started on this post, I need to tell you the reason I'm almost a month behind in posting updates ... I dropped/lost my camera in the Tidal Basin in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC.  True story.  I had a couple of ugly cries about it and I'm (a little) over it.  I lost 6 months of photos (all that hadn't been posted on the blog) And it really killed my blogging and picture taking mojo.  Luckily, Husband took a few pictures at the zoo and a few in DC on his phone so we're not completely pictureless ... but I am completely cameraless. boo.

Anyway, the zoo race was fun.  I didn't have any kind of record setting time (not by a long shot) but I did finish two minutes faster than I had been practicing at home.  So that WAS a victory.  My iPod froze right after the first mile and that was frustrating but I just tried to keep my pace and walk as little as possible.  There was a woman power walking behind me that would catch up to me when I was walking and she'd encourage me to keep going and get back to running every time she caught up to me.  She was a really big help in keeping me going.  I tried to find her after the race for a sweaty hug of thanks but I had zero luck with that.

The biggest most exciting part of the day for the kids was getting to run in the Chicken Cha-Cha (the short race for 3 and 4 year olds).  It was their first race and we practiced for weeks.  There were about 30 kids and it was mass chaos.  The kids had to run through and around the petting zoo barn and back to the finish line.  Son was in third place until he spotted the llama (every one remember when the llama spit on us last year? HE sure does.)  Well, he saw the llama, shrieked and turned around to run away.  luckily, one of the volunteers turned him around and encouraged him to keep going.  Bless is heart, he was a blubbering mess of llama fear and race excitement when he finished almost last.  Daughter ended up finishing 6th and did a great job.  They were both so excited to get race medals and race t-shirts to celebrate the day.

All three racers celebrating their finishes.

Daughter pretending to be a lion.

Son enjoying his carousal ride.

It was a lot of fun and, I think, easier than last year.  But I think that was because I was more familiar with the route that was mostly the same.  

I've only signed up for one more race (the Color Run on Labor Day) but I might do one or two more between now and then.  Right now I'm just concentrating on increasing my pace so that the power walkers can't catch up to me when I need to slow down and walk! It's slow going and hard but unless I break an ankle or some other such horrible thing, I'm going to keep at it.  My ultimate goal is a 30 minute 5k.  It's a long way away but I want to do it.  badly. 

the 10 minute cardigan from pinterest

In January, I decided that I would actually make/do/cook two things a month that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards.  I've been really good at doing it.  But not so good at reporting it on the blog.

Here is my badly photographed attempt at turning one of Husband's old sweaters into one of my new cardigans. The 10 minute cardigan.

BEFORE

I told Husband to do his best mean face.  It took about 4 tries because we both kept laughing.  I like this sweater and I'm not sure why he doesn't like it or stopped wearing it.  But it wound up in my "clothes I can do whatever I want with bc Husband doesn't want them anymore" pile.

AFTER

I tried to duplicate the mean face.  I probably shouldn't waited until Husband was home to take the picture.  Daughter kept putting her fingers over the flash.

What I used:

an old sweater (v neck)

vanishing marking pen

scissors

Heat'nBond Ultra Hold Iron on Adhesive (5/8in -- the kind for hems)

Iron and ironing board

What I did:

first I marked the middle of the sweater front and carefully cut all the way down the middle.

Put the Heat'nBond on the inside of one side of the new sweater opening, following the directions on the box. Iron the Heat'nBond down.

Once cooled, pull the paper strip off and fold over to create the hem.

Do the same to the other side

Kelsey at Vanillajoy.com finished the hem by securing it with a sewing machine stitch.  I haven't done that yet because I can't find tread that's a close enough match to the sweater.

It was another fun an easy pineterest job well done.  And one more thing I pinned that I actually completed.

Wordless Wednesday: Talented Friend

A Pinterest Shoe Makeover

Not so recently ago I found a great pin for turning regular old plain white canvas shoes into something a little less plain and white.

All you need it the cheap $5 white canvas shoes from walmart, Rit dye in your preferred color and a little elastic that 1.5 inches in width plus needle and tread (if you want to make your shoes laceless).   Simple, simple, simple.

So why did my white canvas shoes, fuchsia Rit dye and elastic sit in a bag on the back of my bathroom door for two months?   fear.  Mainly about the dye.  I'd never dyed anything before but I had convinced myself it was going to be a mess.

Well, imagine my surprise when it wasn't.   I just rinsed my shoes in hot water and followed the dye instructions on the box.  Then rinsed and let dry.

The next day I  just added the elastic in and let the kids have the laces.  (Visit the pin and blog for more pictures.  She dyed her shoes yellow and they look fantastic.)

So here's my first one.

And the pair.

I really like them.  And for $5 shoes they are really comfortable.  I always put mine on to go outside to water the garden or take the dogs on walks, or just piddle around outside.

It was a fun, fast, cheap project and now I am no longer afraid of Rit dye.

Mother's Day in a Cave

Our original Mother's Day plan was to go swimming somewhere.  But as it got closer to Sunday and the weather got cooler and wetter, Husband came up with a new plan.  We headed north for a cave tour at Cathedral Caverns.

Our tour group was a small laid back group of 6 adults and 7 kids (counting our guide). And it was a pretty great way to spend a cold wet day outside -- in a cold and also wet cave!

family photo

the cave has one of the largest "commercial" cave openings

 Unlike Mammoth Cave, this cave doesn't have a "good roof" and stalactites and stalagmites are still forming.  It makes for more interesting pictures.  But I won't bore you with the 20 I took ... just a few.

underground family photo

It was a fun Mother's Day that also included those great cupcakes Husband made for my birthday and post cave Mexican food.  It was a great day with my favorite people.

Spirits Sunday: Leese-Fitch Pinot Noir

I haven't posted a Spirits Sunday in a long time.  Not because I stopped drinking wine (and other adult beverages) I just haven't had anything that I really liked. A lot.

We got this bottle at Whole Foods for $9.99  

Yes, good inexpensive wine exists.

We had it with pot roast and french onion soup.  It was pretty much fantastic.