Randomness at my place

Back in the early part of November, the 2nd to be exact, I planted my garlic.

I planted them in containers this year as part of an experiment, but also so they would be easier for me to transport....just in case I needed to do that.

I was very surprised to look out there the other day and see that some of them were sprouting. Specifically the Chinese Pink variety. This variety is a soft neck garlic that is known for its early maturity. It is ready to be harvested 4-6 weeks ahead of most other varieties. I like this idea.


On a Monday, I did all my Thanksgiving grocery shopping. Just to find out the day after that, that they were having a HUGE sale on flour at a different store.

So, of course, I had to go out and get some. Note: I did not get the flour at Trader Joes. I am not lucky enough to have this fantastic store near me. The closest one is about 2.5 hours away. But I still love it and so I use the bags because, well, its a good thing to do. But also because they make my heart happy.

I got this many bags. Im wondering tho, if I should have gotten more.


I had to buy a new set of measuring cups. Why, you ask? (and even if you didnt ask)...2 of my glass measuring cups became useless to measure things with when I discovered that all the red writing had faded off. And then the 1 plastic one that I had in case of emergencies, well, it decided to spring a leak in the midst of some holiday baking. So, there it is.


Its a little known fact in this house that I dont like socks that have holes in them. If I see one of the kids wearing one like this I will rip it up....right off their foot. Thats what happened here. You see his one sockless foot? (Look at the height on that jump, too. *giggle*) Kids are so darn creative. Anything can be made into a game.


Im thinking I should just give him socks for Christmas.




And not to be left out, dad had to show them how its really done.


Noodles, freshly cut, waiting to be cooked for the Thanksgiving meal.

Wonderful artwork that was on display during our Thanksgiving evening.


The whole gang....I love it when we can all get together!!!

Changing colors

The little Darby.

Every once in a while she gets new things. Like, new bowls.


And new toys.

She loves playing with this toy. It came from her friend Roxy, after all.

She loves it just a little too much, one might say.

But she doesnt seem to mind at all.


In fact, its one of her favorite toys.


She likes to play in the water....and the mud.


And with her ball.


She takes "bath duty" for the little guy very seriously.


This is when you know shes really in a good mood.

And funny enough, she has always had this foot fetish. She loves to hang on to your feet when she plays with her toys....even when it is a big, slimy rawhide bone.

But heres the thing. When Darby begins to get sleepy...she goes into what we call, "The Pink Phase".

Her little ears, the rims of her eyes, and her little doggy lips, well, they go from a very pale pink, almost white....to a very bright pink.

Its the funniest thing.

She cant even keep her eyes open.


And the next thing you know....shes fast asleep.

The norm around here

You all know that I was away for a week or so visiting my pal, danni.

Well, the morning I left, I was surprised with this little package waiting for me on my suitcase.

Attached to it was a little note saying that I had to wait till I got to an airport before I opened it. It wasnt mentioned in that note just which airport that meant....so, of course, I opened it right when I got to MY airport. Literally, 7 minutes away from my house!

I was so happy when I saw what was inside. Can you tell what that little charm is?

Here. Look closer. My sweet, K made this for me. A little gift to take along with me. Shes such a good girl.

Upon my return (even if I was a day later than originally expected) I walked into the kitchen to see this.

Again....a smile upon my face. I heart M and M's.

I also had this waiting for me as well. Along with a tea kettle full of hot water. Sigh. My kids are so good to me.

I had a few yummy M and Ms and a cup of hot tea and then made my way to my bed.

The next morning, I jumped right back into things and got the big kids off to school. And began some unpacking.

Danni's husband let me have some starts off his lovely jade plants. His jade plants at his house have blooms on them. Thats the first time I have ever seen blooms on a jade plant. He and I talked about this in great detail. So, needless to say, I have big dreams for my little jade plants.


AND I got to have some of the spaghetti plant.

I have promised to take very special care of them. I am very, very, VERY, hopeful that I can keep them alive. The last time I brought plants home from the great state of Oregon, more specifically, the state tree of Oregon, the Douglas Fir,....I managed to kill them. This still makes me sad every time I talk about it. So, lets move on.

This picture represents one leaky dishwasher. It was leaking before I left and the repairman came by while I was gone to address the issue. He replaced the seal on the door. Im not convinced that this is the solution to the problem. So, this little dish will sit here for several cycles before I will be able to rest easily knowing that it wont blurp out water any more.

And heres G. Hes assessing a situation very seriously.


I had just finished replacing some light bulbs in this here fan.

After his initial assessment, it is clear to him that the one stool just isnt going to work for him. It just doesnt have enough height to it. But, if you add 2 more stools...and get a running start and jump from the smaller ones to the biggest one....well, as you can see..it makes a huge difference.

And, of course, you cant have a normal day around here without G and Darby sharing a moment. G thinks she needs to be covered whilst laying in front of the fireplace.


Darby, seeing that G has looked away for a quick moment, looks to me and says, please?.....I dont think I need this blanket while Im in front of this warm fire.


And then, when he left the room...she managed to remove the blanket all together.


So, there ya go...just another day around here. All is well.

Lots of firsts

As you may know, I have been visiting my friend, danni. Look what she had waiting for me when I arrived.

And always when I visit my friend, danni, I get to do fun and exciting things. And sometimes those things are for the first time. You know. Firsts.

Like eating sushi.

And drinking out of pretty, green stemmed glasses.

And visiting an extinct volcano.

And seeing a llama (Kai) do this. She must have had a pretty impressive itch.

And watching Chester, the very sweet donkey, carry a really big leaf in his mouth.

And to be able to sit in the stall with the llamas and watch them do this.

See? I was sitting. On a stool.

And heres my boot that I was wearing when I was sitting on that stool watching that llama(Kai) kush like that.

And to laugh at Toni when she was clearly using bad manners and trying to eat too much hay at once.

And to take the llama ladies to pasture.

This is normally what the llama ladies did when Chester came around.

So, every once in awhile, he would do this....just to make sure that they knew he could play that game, too.

But really? They kinda remind me of the synchronized swimmers in the Olympics.

Dont you think so?

But, sadly, before I knew it, my trip came to an end. So, I loaded up and headed to the airport.

Only to have another first, first. My plane was unable to take off. It had some type of mechanical issue. Long story, short...it was going to have the end result of me basically being stuck in a big city, all by myself, overnight....so....I somehow managed to convince the very nice airline personnel that I needed off the plane....like NOW.

And then I proceeded to buy a train ticket.


And find a seat.

To make my way to danni's house once again.


Ill be home soon.

11

This past weekend we had a party. I know, I know. Another party, you say? Didnt you know that Im a party animal?

My middle guy is now 11. Sigh. But he still totally knows how to have fun.


We had presents and football.

We got fancy birthday cards.

That required that my 11 year old son use fire to reveal a secret message. Good thing there was an adult present.

And just so you know, I do NOT condone this type of behavior just on a regular day. Only on a party day. I do have rules here, you know.

We had a little tutorial presented by none other than the little guy himself. This one happened to be on how to use a netbook computer. Im pretty sure that Elmo made an appearance.

Of course there was cake.

And a big smile to go along with it.


And then a wish was made. Dont ask me. Im not telling.

There were little snapshots of happy.


And *this* is just how good the food tastes at my house. It requires a full service bib.

And everyone leaves looking like this. Happy!!!

A little witchy and other stuff

The little guy had a parade at school for Halloween.


Art work courtesy of the little guy himself.

This treat was very exciting to him.

The parade lasted about oh...5 minutes...then it was time to get serious and go back to his classroom.

That meant that the little green nose had to come off. As always, he has something to say.

Before we knew it, the weekend was upon us. What does this mean? Well, the Friday before Halloween we have a party. A pumpkin carving party. Kids and food and pumpkins....

I made the chocolate peanut butter gooey cake.


As well as the pumpkin cream cheese roll. (Thank you for the recipe, Penny)

(Sorry, Ed. No boston cream pie bars this time.)

My ma came walking in with a TJ's bag(sigh).


It had all kinds of veggies in it.


That turned into this very pretty masterpiece.

Lots of decorating ensued.

Once the guests all arrived....the eating began. YUM.

Then the carving. Look at the pretty smiles I was getting.


Okay, so thats not really a smile.


J caught by surprise.


And G.


Hes so good at scooping pumpkin guts that he doesnt even have to watch what hes doing.

A meeting of the minds it appears. Carving is very serious business.


Look! This ones almost done.


A final display.


The end.

Catching up

Sigh. Its not even the end of October and already I am missing the sights of summer.

And the treasures that you dig up when its at the peak of the gardening season.


Sadly, the cooler weather is upon us. But, I am happy to report that in the firewood arena, we are WAY better off then we were last season.


The dumb, stinky ol Asian beetles are back with a vengeance.

Vacuuming them off the ceiling is just another Fall tradition around here.


And something else? Grammy and G have been having discussions on how to stay warm and cozy in your bed when its so cold outside.

G was very intrigued by the idea of having hot water AND a bottle in his bed.

So, Grammy(being the wonderful sharer that she is) said that he could borrow it and see how he liked it. Because, you know, water in your bed is a great idea to begin with, but when you add a 3 year old to the mix...well, heck, its a party waiting to happen!

And Oh Boy! Did he ever like it.

There is clearly a technique to this.

And now we bring the feet together, just so. But still in a fully upright position.

And then back. To a full on recline.


Thankfully, the water stayed in the bottle.