mini onion farm.

this morning i made it out of the house before 10 a.m. (with the littles). that almost never happens. we were on a mission.

onions.



last year we didn't know what we were doing in our garden (we still don't, but there's a little more confidence). we planted onions and picked them early and ate them all in a couple days. they were sooooo good. this year we expanded the garden just a bit and this year i planted lots of onions, but still not enough. it's pretty safe to say i eat onions almost daily. is that weird? so, the majority of the garden is now onions. but we did also get leeks, peas, and one more bell pepper plant.

speaking of peas, last year i think the peas made into the house only once. the rest were consumed standing right next to the plant. so, with luck we'll have about 6 to 7 times as many plants this year and maybe, just maybe some will make it to the dinner table. either that, or we'll just be eating outside more.



the garden is just about complete. we still need tomatoes and a few herbs but we'll pick those up this weekend at the farmers market. this is what we have so far:

spinach, radish, squash, cukes, peas, leeks, onions, carrots, eggplant, beets, kale, swiss chard, peppers, mint, basil, parsley, sunflowers. and i'm pretty sure henry chucked a pumpkin seed or two in there somewhere. some of these got in a little late, but it seems we planted late last year too and most everything did fine. hope the same goes for this year.


if you have a garden, what have you got growing?

making.

~making coffee ice cubes. repeat for the next 5 months.


~making my boy happy by acting out scenes from duma with him (he's duma, i'm xan). haven't seen this movie? i recommend it.

~making a batch of laundry detergent. and in turn, making clean laundry, which then makes a pile of clothes on the bed to put away at a later time.

recipe:
1 - 2 bars of castile soap
1 cup of washing soda
1 cup of borax
i don't measure any more though. just eyeball it.

~making lunch. making a mess.

~making myself crazy by sewing a doily on to my quilt top. never again will i sew a doily on anything. (but it is cute!).


~making some lists. i'm a list maker. though my handwriting is nearly illegible thanks to the computer.

~making my way out to the hammock while the littles finish napping.


what are you making these days?

o≈o

today we trekked to the museum again to take in this exhibit and make a sculpture of a car, today's planned activity for the kids. more and more i'm so glad we bought that family pass. henry does not have that much interest in browsing the museum but is very interested in the art projects. since they often relate the project to a specific piece of art or in this case an exhibit, it gives us a chance to check out the museum in small portions.



upon walking into the car exhibit henry said, "whoa!". he was impressed with the size (and probably the shininess), and i admit i was too. these cars were pretty stunning pieces of design. unfortunately, he wasn't interested enough to linger and really admire the details like i wanted too, but that just means i need to go back. i think there are 18 cars in the exhibit and i didn't get to read about any of them. i took as many pictures as i could, but was not confident enough in the boy's ability to refrain from touching anything, so i didn't want to take my eyes off him for more than a few seconds at a time. also, no flash or tripods are allowed, so i got a lot of blur and was often shooting blind.

after the exhibit we headed to the classrooms for some sculpting. they wanted them to sculpt cars. i had already told henry to make whatever he wanted. henry and bea were really into the clay.




eventually their sculptures became one and turned into a car of some sort. henry calls it a bunny car.


those blue crayons sticking out are the horns. there was a 1937 mercedes roadster (gorgeous!) that had two large silver horns on the front. i was happy to know that he was paying attention.

i hope to get back to this exhibit without the littles. i'd love to linger and appreciate all the details on these cars, and of course get some better photos. if i do, i'll be sure to share.

*highlight from today - henry seeing a banner for this upcoming exhibit and saying, "i want a mustache like that someday!' . awesome. and it wouldn't surprise if he followed through with it. i'll be sure to share that if it ever happens!

collected.

tried to take the littles out for a ride today. bea on her trike, henry on his new (thrifted) bat-scooter. we didn't make it past our neighbors house. he parked the scooter, traipsed into their yard and picked every weed he could hold. then he rode his scooter across the street and proceeded to do the same at our other neighbors house. at this point bea is saying "buckle" repeatedly, meaning for me to UN-buckle her and let her loose. she didn't pick any flowers, but she was another set of hands to hold the ones henry was picking.

it's all fine with me. i believe weeds hold up better than fresh cut flowers and they're just as pretty.

----------

i've been suffering from insomnia lately. not too bad, but definitely having later nights than i would like. i had it much worse in high school. i have a mind that won't shut off sometimes. last night i found myself wishing i could listen to music or podcasts AND read my book simultaneously just so i could keep busy enough. i suppose it could be done and who's to say i'd retain any less information? it's affecting my ability to deal with noise of which there is a lot of in my house. why are the smallest ones the loudest?

i tried taking so many pictures today and come away with only a few that were worthy of keeping/editing the hell out of. we were inside much of the day because my allergies are making me want to claw my eyeballs from their sockets and bea walks around rubbing her eyes saying "eye?". anyway, i took a few selfies and all that did is make me want to count all the grays in my hair. i was a little surprised at the amount (i didn't actually count though). i realized i look as tired as i feel and i feel like i am definitely closer to forty than i am to twenty. which is true, i am. but that doesn't mean i want feel it. or feel like i look it.

and to not sound entirely grumpy and whiny i'll let you know i've been feeling grateful at the same time. for so many things. one of them being this amazing community. i was going through one of my photo sets on flickr last night and getting really sappy and silly and i was just really touched by the comments. i'm just grateful for this opportunity to 'meet' so many people and share experiences with them (and you). some of you have been around since i started this blog (or close to it) and began posting on flickr (close to 2.5 yrs ago i think - i might be wrong). you are witnessing me and my family grow and sharing that experience and that is really pretty powerful. i get so much support and love from all of you and just want you to know it's appreciated beyond measure. and i can't even begin to describe what i have gained from all of you. so thank you. it means so much to me that you stop by here.


i found this cover over here today, and i am really enjoying it. if you aren't familiar with mr. ferry's site look around (especially at his photography site). i would pack up today and leave for london if i could because of his photos. of course if you've been visiting here long enough, you know i'd pack up today and go just about anywhere : )

let there be light.

today marks the last assignment from the c & c photography workshop. this assignment was about light and abstract. once again i felt like i was struggling. i was hitting some creative walls with this one and i also had little ones wanting to play and 'help' with the process. i was a little distracted, let's say. so, while i don't feel like i quite nailed this assignment, i'm pleased with a few of the shots and grateful for the push to look at a few plants in a new light.

1. get up close.


2. crop/abstract.


3. different angle.


4. reflection.


5. landscape.


6. your choice. a favorite taken during the workshop. and why.

this is one of my favorites because i like playing with negative space and using a blurred effect. i liked the contrast of the front part of the stone being in focus while the rest of the shot was out of focus. i really like all these colors together and the strong lines in the picture, too.

one last thing:
list 3 things learned/gained/observed during the workshop.


1. reflection shots are not my strong suit!

2. i am more comfortable shooting spontaneously. setting up shots and pre-thinking arrangements put me on edge. which is silly. once done i enjoyed the process. i tend to over think things and this was no exception. in the end, i liked being nudged out of that comfort zone.

3. while i am comfortable with my camera, i need to gain more technical knowledge. i'd like to shoot more purposefully.


thank you so much to carolyn and camilla for hosting this! this was my first workshop and i enjoyed it and the feedback so much.

the little things.

today was about the little things (and the little ones).

~ spotting the neighbors cat pichon birding under our trees.



~ dirt to fill the new raised beds.

~ picnicking in the backyard.

~ multiple loads of laundry making it out to the clothes line.



~ lying on clean sheets under the fan with a good book. or two.

~ hours of good music.

~ a girl who doesn't mind getting a little *ahem* dirty.



~ papa bringing home dinner so no one had to cook or clean up the kitchen.

~ a certain boy telling me he loves me out of the blue. (and it was after the haircut he didn't want).

~ cold beers.

~ a half clean house.

~ sleeping babes.


hoping you all have fun, sun-filled weekend!

while i sat.

i spent a good part of the day feeling out of it and entirely distracted. bea had her 18m check up today where i learned that i missed scheduling her 15m one, so maybe i've just been distracted for a few months now. i think having kids will do that to you. or at least amplify it.

here is the part where i leave out the details about how i just about drove through the garage door and instead tell you how i got my head out of the clouds.

i put those littles down for nap. i poured myself an iced coffee, grabbed some music, and headed out into the sun. i sat next to our new expanded garden (that is still waiting for dirt and chicken poop) and wished there were seeds growing in it, though i know they will be very soon. i'm just impatient.



i admired the pines that are far enough from our house that if they fell they wouldn't hit it. (it's happened before). and while admiring that view i grew a little envious of the neighbors behind us with the huge garden and lots of shade free ground to have it on. (we have a lot of shade - which kind of stinks for the food growing, but i'm grateful for it all the same. less sunburn worry for the little ones).



i rubbed my dog's head. and wished i was napping outside too. time to get working on that quilt that's planned just for that purpose.



i watched dancing shadows on the house.



i wondered why we have so many more beautiful weeds in the yard this year than any other year i can remember. i thought about henry telling matt he didn't want him to get rid of the weeds because he loved them. because they tickled him.

and now i don't feel quite so distracted. we'll see what tomorrow brings.