Marsbarn Designs...

Seven things (you probably never wanted to know)

A meme from Jade and PPG... Seven Interesting (translates into Random) things about moi....

1. I took violin in 4th grade. I was bad.. very, very bad. The highlight of my violin career was a performance where a dozen squeaky violins played Flight of the Bumblebees. Our teacher tried to stop half way through, but we just. kept. going.

2. I play the kazoo. I was once in a kazoo band (at camp, but it still counts damn it!). This is the extent of my musical abilities.

3. When I was in college, I once had a new hair cut that was so radically different in style and color that a girl on Big E's soccer team accused him of cheating (on me) when she saw us kissing on the sideline. I had to talk to her to convince her that I was still the same person. (To put this in perspective I went from looking like the blonde guy from Flock of Seagulls to Bridget Fonda in Single White Female.)

4. I can touch my nose with my tongue.

5. I am severely allergic to pepper spray. Roasting chili peppers can send me into a severe asthma attack. Once after eating lunch in a restaurant that was roasting chilies in their kitchen, we had to call 911. I was wheezing so badly that I scared the fire fighters that responded, and then I got to ride in an ambulance to the hospital.... good times. Yeah.

6. My claim to fame in camp (besides the kazoo)... Glow in the Dark Legs.

7. I once sneezed a jujube out of my nose. (This is in no way related to fact #4.)

food, books, and exploding needles; just another day in the Barn.

I have the makings for Chicken Pot Pie bubbling away on the stove, and I think I'll make some beef stew tonight. I am trying to stock the fridge with food for Big E's lunches and dinners before I loose myself in Book Fair Land for the week. Today is the light day, tomorrow and Wednesday are my busy days... oh and of course there is Friday when we host a Special Friends event and then pack up the Book Fair. By next Monday, it will all be a thing of the past. I have to admit that Scholastic does try to make it easy on us volunteer types. Have I mentioned my LOVE of the their electric swipe machine for credit cards? So much nicer than the old manual behemoth.

On the sewing front, I'm working away at a stack of children's crowns. I had a needle explode in the machine today (I hate that!). Two pieces flew past my head, but of course I couldn't find them on the floor... so I know two bits of the shaft are lying in wait in the debris that is my sewing room. (Yes, it is that cluttered in here right now.)

A pretty darn good day

Today the girls went out with Grand M and Papa to a friend's farm leaving Big E and I to fend for ourselves in the Big Red Barn. Yep. It was rough. We trekked to the Farmer's Market where we foraged for the mighty mini donut and meat-on-stick. (Apparently, without our children nutrition isn't really important.) This orgy of all foods tasty was followed by an Art Show (Cult-cha! Art balances out sugar and fat, right?) To prove our general goodness we bought a pumpkin at a softball fundraiser, and then Big E spent about ten minutes lying prone in the parking lot of the park.
(He was taking these wonderful photos of a fuzzywuzzy, but I kept waiting for some well meaning ball player to call us an ambulance, or to call me heartless for laughing at my collapsed husband instead of offering aid.) To fortify ourselves further we ate breakfast for lunch at a new yummy spot called Hash. With house cured bacon to make himself brave, Big E came into the yarn shop with me. (The food pyramid does not exist without our children.. really.) I bought yarn for a new project ('cause I need more! Right?!) Then we returned home, and I actually worked on my sewing projects instead of sitting in front of the brain sucking box my computer. The girls returned with lovely pumpkins, and both dinner and bedtime were achieved without injury. It has been a pretty darn good day.

the past waves hello at the bus stop

I had someone recognize me today from a Women's Studies class I taught 13 or 14 years ago at the University of Oregon... it was like being reminded of a past life.

start of the season

Ahhhh... It is fall. We've had rain and cool temperatures. The quilts are back on the bed, and I have a sweet kitty (you might know him as The Tank... but he is a total LOVE when he's cold.) who sleeps and purrs on my feet. I adore that feeling of being warm and snug in my bed and peeking my nose out as temperature gauge. I think I might even wear a sweater today. I can bake all I want and not worry about making the house hot! I can make stews, roasts, soups, and braises! Oh, and this is a three day weekend, so I slept in!! I've finished a big batch of brocade bags, and have moved on to crowns (Oh Yay! A project that doesn't make me swear!). I have about 3 hours before we go to school to set up the book fair, and I plan to dress (flannel pajamas have a mighty hold on me), brush teeth, and work on crowns. Now, if Big E wasn't so tired...

Thousand words

I love this photo.
This is a photo from our 2007 road trip. Big E pulled it out of storage to use as wallpaper on the computer, and I find myself closing down all the windows just so I can just look at it. I remember the coolness of the wind, the weight of Little e's limp body as she bonelessly conformed to whomever was carrying her, and the sound of Sweetheart G's excited cries as she found piece after piece of white quartz on the beach. I am drawn in by how strong Big E's shoulders look, and how well Little e fits into his arms. That poor girl was worn out by carsickness and wiped out by medicine meant to make her feel better, yet she was such a lovely armful. Sweet G was thrilled by the sense of adventure that swirled around our wandering ways. She is running ahead of Big E, just out of the frame. We stopped on this beach by chance. Big E just pulled the car to the side of the road, and we got out. The detour was a throwback to the days before children, when he and I would start to drive just to see where the road would take us. This was such a good day.

The world must really be in trouble.... I wrote a political post.

If I ask one of my children a question.. like "Are you ready?" and they answer with "My sister peed on the floor... once." They get in trouble. If you are asked a question, answer it. If I don't allow my children to answer questions about themselves with tattling about someone else, why would I want to listen to grown men who want to run the country do the same thing?
Why did I try to listen to the debates? Really, I should have known better.

nanny-nanny-boo-boo

Little e: Sis-sta! Wait up!
Sweetheart G: No!
(She runs ahead, her only purpose in running is to frustrate her sister.)

Little e: Nanny-nanny-boo-boo Sis-sta!
(I still don't know what this old standby taunt means.)

We catch up to Sweet G at the street corner. As we cross, Little e jostles into Sweet G.

Sweetheart G: Nothing you can do can hurt me!
Little e: Umph.

I think to myself. I've seen Little e's fists of fury in action. She has a berserker fighting style lurking in that 39 pound body. Sweetheart G is courting trouble with the confidence of one who thinks the law will shelter even those who ask for trouble. She seems to have forgotten who her parents are.

h.: You do realize you are asking for trouble? (to Sweet G.)
Sweetheart G: hmph. (Sweetheart G runs ahead, again.)
Little e: Aaaaaargh!

I watch them run. The tall girl easily outdistancing her much smaller sister, but it is clear that Little e is faster than she was three months ago. She is gaining on her sister... and that big sister had better watch out.

TO Do list: 1. Make List

I had three different people ask me today how I was doing on my holiday sales sewing. I did not run screaming away from them. I did not even cry. I did, however, finish up my bulletin board for the Book Fair next week. I have spent a lot of time lately working my way through my theoretical To Do list for the Fair. (Meaning that although I've done most of the work on the To Do list, I never actually finished writing it up.. the list is only one step above being written on a napkin right now. I am still planning on writing up the list so I'll have it to refer to in the spring.) Back to the sewing... I did finish up 5 brocade bags this weekend, but I am still feeling massively behind in my sewing.

Darcy, the girls, and I

The horse chestnut and true chestnut season is starting. It makes me think of that line in Pride and Prejudice where Darcy talks of running to Lambton in the horse chestnut season to gather nuts. It is one of the reader's first glimpses of the man he really is.

When I was little I used to collect the shiny nuts in Harvard Yard and carry them home. I remember trying to preserve their luster by boiling them or painting them with clear nail polish. Some years I would make Christmas ornaments from them, some years they would just collect in my room in odd corners.

The girls have just begun this year's collections of true chestnuts and horse chestnuts. Their pockets are starting to bulge and piles are gathering on the front porch.

The girls, Mr. Darcy, and I make a lovely party, I think.