Quick Takes From Zoom: In Praise of Small Projects

 

1. I had a sudden realization that small, fun projects that can be finished in an evening are wonderful.

I'm not a seamstress by any stretch, but I can make pillowcases for my window seat decorative pillows out of any pretty fabric that catches my eye.

Because sewing 3 sides of a rectangle is something I can do!

2. Which led me to the realization that a bag is basically a pillowcase with handles.

I realized this specifically when I saw the Art Deco stained glass fabrics at JoAnn's (I don't get paid by them, just mentioning it in case you love the fabric).

So now I have a knitting bag for my complicated knitting project (for waiting rooms and audiobooks) and one for my simple knitting project (for knitting during movies).

3. In actual fact, I am helping Klenda on a really fabulous sewing project of hers... but I'll have to wait for it to be done to show you.  It's a bit nerve wracking to be the expert advice on something when you are seriously NOT an expert.  It helps to have Mumpy on board.  She has forgotten much more about sewing than I am ever likely to know.

4.Here's a picture of some fresh, clean, delightful smelling crocuses.

I think it's a much nicer picture than a picture of the sewer back up in our basement.

Or me cleaning it up.

But, I tell myself, is it really Lent if you don't have some sort of unpleasant minor disaster to offer up? 

 

 

5. On a happier note, have I mentioned how much I love having my parents living with me?

They are truly some of my favorite people in the world, and we have so much fun together! 

 

 

6. Which reminds me that one of the funniest things I've ever seen was when I showed my parents The Mandalorian, thinking that my dad would really like it, and my mom would be ok with it. 

Well.  My dad really did like it, but my mom totally fell in love with Baby Yoda/Grogu!

We got her a doll for Christmas, and had fun binge watching all the episodes.

Actually, my sister, now vaccinated, is coming for her home visit next month, and we'll probably watch them all again with her!

7. I should mention that my sister is a SOLT sister out in North Dakota, coming on a home visit, as opposed to getting out jail or something.

I haven't seen her in nearly 2 years because of the pandemic, so I'm super excited!

There's just something special about the bond between sisters!

More fun with Kelly!

Seven Quick Takes: The End of the Lockdown

 

1. Wednesday was a huge day for us!

Green for St. Patrick, and 3 gold stars for the Trinity

Yes, it was St. Patrick's Day, but it was also the first day of full immunity after getting our second dose of vaccine.  I credit St. Patrick with making it happen!

With 10 people in the house including my medically fragile parents, we qualified as a group living situation and we all (except our two youngest) got the Pfizer vaccine and had no problems.

We went to Mass in person at a parish for the first time in a literal year.  I can't even express what that was to us, but may I never take Mass for granted again!

2. We couldn't cook for the homeless for St. Patrick's Day, but we were able to bring some corned beef and cabbage to some folks we knew, and that was super fun, if we couldn't be together for the meal.

For one friend going through a rough time, I put together a bouquet of almost every kind of flower I have blooming.The big ones are double Lenten roses which I love!

I also have crocuses, but I've never figured out how to use them in a bouquet.

 

 

3. Speaking of the garden, I noticed that my metal blue herons were getting rusty, so I repainted them.

I first painted them white, but then I thought they looked like storks... twin storks.

And, as menopause continues it's weirdness, I just couldn't!

So I added some blue and they ended up looking rather sky colored.

So I decided I liked that and moved on!

I had actually started out repainting white wicker baskets for the parish Easter decorations, so this was a side project since I had the spray paint in hand.

4. And speaking of the parish Easter decorations, my library looks like a jungle.

A jungle where a plane carrying books and legos crashed.  But landed in a pile of laundry, so all the people escaped unscathed.

This is partly because the plant prices at my usual plant place have been crazy (seriously $14 for a single small Easter lily?!), so I've been buying plants hither and yon.

And partly because I was sure that I had room to start my dahlias in pots this year.

And partly because I started my seeds too early and had to put some of them in pots.

I actually did have room for any one of those. 

5. Which brings us to the lily debate.  

I am quite allergic to Easter lilies, but my mom is dangerously allergic to them - the reaction gives her heart problems, and she can't attend Mass where there are lilies.

This, combined with the ludicrous lily prices made me think about going with calla lilies this year.  

So I polled the Hyatts hive mind (an email group of over 100 women) about how essential the trumpet lilies were to their Easter experience.  The answers all came back that they didn't need the lilies, especially if there was an allergy issue. 

 I realized that, after that response, no one would want to come out and say the lilies were really important to them, so I invited people to email me privately.

I got exactly one private email, which I opened with great trepidation, but it said: "Actually, they smell like cat pee to me, I'd love to skip the trumpet lilies!"  

6. Another advantage to vaccination, the boys went off and got actual professional haircuts!

I've been cutting 10 heads of hair for a year. 

I used to cut all the kids' hair before they hit their mid teens, so I had some experience, and I definitely got better over the course of some 40-50 haircuts, but...

They weren't looking as stylish as this!

7. THANK YOU!  I know that a number of people who read this blog, even if only through the Quick Takes, have prayed for us.  Having my parents (and the rest of us) make it through the pandemic safely had been a huge strain and a humbling experience in a lot of ways.  Thank you for your prayers, and please know that I am praying for you and yours until we are all safe.  God bless you!

More with Kelly!

Seven Quick Takes: Suits, Prunes, Flowers, and Squid

 

1. My younger boys!  And my Sweetie! All dressed up for the Scout Suit and Tie Dinner!  They had a great time at East Pearl, a restaurant that does great sushi, Thai, and Chinese food.

We're usually pretty casual dressers around here (Choclo has kept wearing T shirts and jeans through this mild winter), so it's a bit of a surprise to see that they clean up so handsomely.

2. But it wasn't as big a surprise as discovering this quote from the back of a jar of prunes: "So go ahead, live a little, and enjoy [eating prunes]!"

I actually don't mind eating prunes.  I would go so far as to say I like prune filling in filled cookies.  But.  The only way I can think of eating prunes as a daring act of self indulgence, darned be the consequences, would be to eat the entire jar in one sitting.  Which I was not tempted towards.

3. I really liked our Lenten Video Retreat last year.  One of the difficulties as your kids get older is finding new things to help out your teens as they age out of the younger kids' Lent stuff.  Last year I posted a video a day from Fr. Mike Schmitz.  That was amazing!  But I only had enough videos because I mined his archive.

For this year I'm planning to do videos from Aquinas 101.  We actually started this a while ago, but couldn't keep up with their twice a week schedule.  I can do every day, I can do once a week, but not twice a week, go figure. Anyway, we'll be starting with #9 "The Science of Theology" on Ash Wednesday, if you want to catch up on the earlier ones.  They are usually less than 5 minutes and are a great springboard for further discussion.

Of course, you can also just sign up for it yourself, and they have lots of supplemental reading and so forth.

4. My dad turned 82!  After a really tough few months, he seems to be on the upswing again.  Thanks be to God!  And a heartfelt thank you to any readers out there who prayed (or will pray: hint, hint) for my parents' health.  I'll be saying my Rosary for you today.  I have loved having them living with us, but it was pretty scary for them get so sick so soon after moving in!



5. Spring seems to be happening.  I can't tell how much it's bizarrely early because the winter has been so mild, and how much it's bizarrely early because things have been so crazy that it feels like we just had Christmas.

Probably both.  Still, I'm loving he crocuses in the lawn and the Lenten Rose "Wedding Party."






6.This oil painting that Klenda just finished reminded me that it's Mardi Gras next week!

I need to get sausages for our annual sausage and pancake dinner.

Also, she's developing into a yet more amazing artist!

And, yes, that's her real life name, so you can follow her on Instagram.





7.We are kind of crazy about tea around here.

I was restocking my tea tins (one is caffeinated teas, one is the decaf selection).  I love having people over for tea!

Anyway, I got really anemic quite suddenly (thank you Peri Menopause) and I've been off my feet for the last couple of weeks.  My friend Bill brought me this get well tea llama!

Because as crazy as those tea tins are, they are all the teas in bags and we also have loose tea.  And as crazy as we are for tea, we are even crazier for puns!

8. BONUS TAKE!  Actual conversation yesterday.

Other Art Student: It's hard to imagine how incredibly large giant squids really are.

Klenda: Oh, I know how big they are.

Other Art Student : ...Really?

Klenda: Yes, we had a life sized one on our ceiling.  

Other Art Student: ....

Klenda: Twice.

Other Art Student: ...Were you home schooled?

More takes with Kelly!

Seven Quick Takes: Presents for Us and for You!

 1. The best early present came on Friday when my sister successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in Rome!!

It's been a long and arduous road, but she made it, thanks be to God! 

I'm so proud of her!  Her doctorate is in psychology, focusing on how to help people recover from abuse.


2. Another early gift was the surprise early bloom of these gorgeous double white amaryllis.

 I had started them thinking they would bloom around Christmas, so I was startled when the first bud opened on the Immaculate Conception!

I've never grown doubles before and now I think I'll never grow anything else!

3. Another unlooked for gift was a chilly walk yesterday in the waning sun of the shortest day of the year. 

The light on the trees was rich and golden, and I suddenly realized it was within minutes of the actual solstice!

 4. The Freer Gallery has an exhibit on Hokusai, our favorite Japanese painter!

Open through next November if you'll be in the DC area!

5.  While we were there, we had to stop by in Whistler's fabulous Peacock Room.

Choclo, as soon as he realized that the entire room had been taken apart in a house and reconstructed in the museum, told me that he wanted it for Christmas as his room.

Sorry, buddy, your presents are already wrapped!

6.  With my parents coming to live with us, we realized that a real tree would probably be hard on Mumpy's allergies, so we decided to get a (gulp) fake tree.

I grew up with a fake tree, but the Emperor did not.  Thanks be to God, we found a tree he fell in love with!

Interestingly, the kids not only loved it, they wanted to decorate it just with blue, white, and silver ornaments. 

I think it's the prettiest tree we've ever had!

7.  I didn't forget presents for you!  We will be doing our annual 12 Days of Christmas gifts on the blog starting Christmas day. 

If you haven't done this with us before, they are videos, songs, pictures and fun little things to enjoy each day.

So, enjoy!  And more fun with Kelly!

Seven Quick Takes: Great Hats, Kitchens, and Tea Sets

1. In a mad dash to catch up with my summer neglected blog, I must first present to you this lovely lady in the fabulous hat!  She is my...aunt?  She's my sister-in-law's mother-in-law, and my dear friend.  She has to be the most cheerful and extroverted person I've ever met in my life!  She also has Alzheimer's, a fact that does not lessen our enjoyment of our time together.  We hung out together most Saturdays over the summer, and she helped me decorate my kitchen.

2. We went with a beachy theme for the kitchen!

I love the beach and I love my kitchen, so it's a good
combination for me.

Will I get tired of it?  Given that I found a cephalopod to hang in it, probably not.


3. Continuing in the kitchen, it's hard to say which made me happier: getting new countertops or getting all my cabinets sorted out at the same time, but I'm happy I don't have to choose!

Having kids old enough to sort cabinets for me makes up for the years of lost sleep.

4. August is kind of blah in my garden.  It's just too hot and dry yet humid.  I wilt under those conditions too.

September brings a new surge of flowers though, and I'm really enjoying it!

5.  And speaking of flowers, I decided to try my hand at embroidery again.

I haven't had time to do this for a long time, and I'd forgotten how much I love it.

It's a really nice way to dress up a plain shirt,and fun to do while listening to audiobooks with Klenda while she does her tracing.  We were listening to North and South with this one.



6.  By "tracing," I mean Klenda's art school homework.  She has to trace an anatomy book.

The whole book!

She has a year or so to do it, and she is almost done.  She should finish before her school starts up again the first week in October.






7.  I am loving this tea set my friend Bill gave me.

First because it looks so much like my grandparents' Blue Willow
tea set.

Old countertops!

But more because it is NOT Blue Willow, it's Things Could Be Worse.

It's completely decorated with things that would be definitely worse than whatever is bugging you: giant frogs, plagues of pterasaurs, alien invasions, mysterious tentacles and many, many more.

Here's hoping you have a weekend free from Giant Frogs!  More fun with Kelly!

Seven Quick Takes: Spring, Birds, and The Last Billion Years

 1.  It's SPRING!  Honest to goodness spring right now, although ye olde blog reminds me that this time last year we had 7" of snow.

It's just a bit hard to enjoy because we are into our second week of
dealing with flu.

No one person gets it for more than a couple of days (thank you flu shots!), but with 8 people, it takes a looong time, especially when the people who looked totally immune start getting sick the day you finally decide you can go back to a normal schedule (and 20 minutes after you send the email telling people you will be having class again).

 2. In the meantime, Oob has been drawing birds.

Lots of cute birds!





One of my favorites (besides the Duck Billed Duck) is this Multi-Toed Happy-as-a-Lark Bird









 3. The class I had to cancel was Paleontology for Kids, and I'm just itching to do the next one!

I will do a proper blog post about the first class, but I just
have to share this timeline idea:  If one side of a sheet of copy paper is 100,000 years, then the top sheet looks like this.

That means two sides are 200,000 years, right? Using both sides, a ream of copy paper is 100 million years, and a case of copy paper is 1 billion years!

Multicellular life on Earth started 1 billion years ago!

 4. I would just like to say that our gerbils might be spoiled.

A friend who noticed the recent upgrade to their palatial  living quarters asked if we had gotten more gerbils.

No.  There are still just two of them in there.

Living their best life, evidently.


5. Speaking of spoiled pets...

Mike (full name: St. Michael the Archangel, Defend Us in Battle), continues to delight.

Not only does he sing and talk to us, but he also loves to drink tea.

I love how he looks like he's smacking his lips!




6. The seeds are sprouting indoors, and the weeds are sprouting outdoors!  I'm trying to get out to
plant some outdoor seeds and do a little gardening, but...see take 1.


7. Speaking of the great mythical outside, our front sidewalk is cracked, sinking in places, and prone to flooding.

I was thinking of breaking it up and replacing it with pavers that would be more porous and match the style of the garden better..

Which seemed like a great idea until I thought about shoveling snow.

Anyone have any words of experience, wisdom, or inspiration?

8. Bonus take!  This cartoon from Leena.

Have a great weekend!  More fun with Kelly!