Bitter-sweetness

Today was the very last day of Rowan's nursery school and there's a pit in my stomach. The school has been a wonderful part of our lives for the last two years and it's hard to believe it's come to a close.
After the regular school hours were over, the children, parents and the fabulous Mrs. Baldwin reconvened at a nearby park for some more playing and to say goodbye for now. We brought along a picnic and a little gift for the teacher. My ever thoughtful Rowan said as we were leaving "I'm going to miss that school so much. My eyes are filling with tears, but I'm not necessarily going to cry." That little sentiment had my eyes filling with tears. We are all going to miss our beloved Pine Tree Nursery School.

Rain!

Yesterday, it finally rained, poured, thundered and the temperature even dropped a few degrees. Yippee! All of us inside were very happy about that and the plants outside perked up.
Snappy peas:
Happy lettuce (ignore the weeds):
More walking onions and the flimsy, not really deer proof fence in the background. The swirly things that form on the top of the plant are little baby onion plants. The mama plant tips over to the ground and deposits the baby plant in the soil. I think they look crazy (but I must like them because I keep taking their picture):
The clothes left outside on the line were not entirely pleased: I got half of them in before the rain hit. Oh well, the sun has come out again. Since I'm new to this whole strategic opening and closing of windows, what do I do now? I opened them up thinking it was cooler and now it's become steamy inside. Arg! And Rowan, as usual, has his two cents about the matter of the sun coming out. He said, "someone must be singing You are My Sunshine. That's why it stopped raining so quick."

And the whole duck mystery thing? Case solved at bath time. Lilla knows about ducks not because of the real thing but because she has a few rubber ducks swimming in her tub. How could I forget about these "duckas?"

Duck, duck, duck....

Lilla has a keen eye for birds and when she spots one she eagerly cries, "Ducka!" In her world, all birds are ducks...whether they are robins or chickens or crows. What's funny about this is we rarely see ducks around here, so it's a mystery where she learned it. Lilla gets a kick out of the the ducks...or rather the chickens at Rowan's school: These chickens just wander happily round the school yard and a few turkeys and sheep are out back too.More of Lilla's words are slowly coming out. She says Dada, dog, and Ava. She says Maaaa-maaaa, but only when she's crying for me. She often points at objects so we will name them for her. I had a dream the other night that she was speaking in full sentences...but that of course is a long way off. I've got to remember to record some of these early attempts at language, so sweet and fleeting.

Lilla also recently took her first few steps on her own. She definitely looked pleased with herself ...probably didn't hurt that we were all clapping, smiling and cheering. Generally though she's pretty cautious and prefers to cruise along holding onto somebody or thing. She has attempted to head up the stairs a few times, and in this house that's a scary thing. Yes..there's still more baby-proofing to be done here.

And if you care to hear about the weather (I'm obsessed at the moment), it's still hot as heck. Days like this make me contemplate air-conditioning, but I really don't want to go there. After growing up on Cape Cod with its marvelous seaside breezes, I'm ingrained with the belief that A/C is a big no-no. I have however learned a new to me idea about managing these heat waves. Now I open the windows wide at night to let in the cool air and close them in the morning before the day heats up.

Please excuse me while I go eat some watermelon in front of the fan.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Well summer suddenly is in full swing. Today and yesterday were oppressively hot. Now, don't get me wrong I truly like the warmth. Summer is quite possibly my favorite time of year, but I do prefer easing my way into it a bit...same way I do when I go swimming in icy water. I get my feet wet and accustomed to the cool and then I can dive right in.

So, as much as I could sit here and complain about my stuffy house or the sweat dripping down my back, I'd rather dwell on the things that make me happy about this time of year. Like the sound of fans whirring away. The buzzing, calling of the tree frogs at night. The fun things sprouting up around the garden. A midday lounge atop the soft, cool chenille bedspread with a good magazine in hand and not feeling the least bit guilty because it's too darn hot to do anything else. A big frosty glass of iced green tea- I like to have a quart of that tea made up and waiting in the fridge. Splashing around in the creek. First sightings of fireflies this year. Expansive fields of green. And of course there's more, lots more to be happy about. I'm sure I'll be telling you all about it. In the meantime, stay cool.

Old dress, new dress

My soon to be one year old(!) miss was in need of a new dress and I have been hankering to sew. This is what I came up with:
The dress shape is very simple jumper style. The pattern was made by tracing an old favorite dress from Ava's toddling days. The ruffle and reversible side are made from the same fabric that I used to make her bonnet and bloomers pictured here.
Now here are a couple of picture of Ava when she was nearly one year old. She's wearing the old handmade (not by me) dress that I used to trace Lilla's new one. I remember this day in the beautiful seaside village of Mendocino, California. This was one of my favorite stops from our cross country trip so many years ago.
See any resemblance between these sisters?

Little house in the lawn

Three or four years ago when Ava was head over heels for The Little House on the Prairie, I thought a doll's log cabin kit would be a perfect Christmas gift. I had warm, fuzzy images of Ava putting together the kit alongside her parents over the holiday vacation week. HA! Once that "gift" was opened and looked at, we soon realized that it was not going to be a simple project to bang out in a week. This 500+ piece kit was going to be a saga....a several month long project

Ultimately the project was worth all the time spent. Once the assembling, gluing, drying, painting and more drying was done (whew!), Ava's pioneer dolls (a few like this) happily moved into their new digs. The dolls had been previously shacked up in the attic of the wooden barn with the Breyer horses underneath. I remember Ava, in very much the Ingalls fashion, packing the dolls things up in the "wagon"- an old clementine box- to move into the new house.

And that pioneer family thought they had seen it all: from seven months worth of blizzards to grasshoppers raining from the sky and eating their entire crop not to mention the tumble weed balls of fire rolling straight toward their home. But they probably never imagined seeing this giant knocking at their door: Here's to many more years of happy play with the little house!

Going prairie style

I couldn't resist making one of these old fashioned bonnets for Lilla.

Lately, we've been on a Little House and the Prairie bender. Rowan and I have read the first six books of the series over the last month or so. Every night we read before bed...sometimes not able to stop ourselves from reading "just one (or two, or three) more chapter(s)!" We're just in love with the adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.

Actually, I fell in love with these books when I read them to Ava a few years ago. Ava got all into it, insisting I make a slew of prairie style dress-ups. And we still have a few calico dresses, aprons, and bonnets floating around.

Oh, it's been fun falling in love all over again with these books, especially as Rowan's fresh ears listen on. And as he says of the stories: "I feel like they are a part of my heart."