Marsbarn Designs...

Hello Pie!

In the midst of cleaning out the back porch, I found a recipe for Key Lime Pie that I haven't used in eons.

 

And when I say eons, I mean "since before Little e was born, and maybe before Sweetheart G was born."  That sort of unimaginable time.  

 

How could this be?
So, in a fit of "it's cool enough to bake, ahhh the choices!!"
I whipped up a pie, and topped it with Chester berries.
Oh Yum!
Why oh why had it been so long?

Nuno: silk, roving, water, and a dash of violence

Hello, Lady's Art Friday!

It has been most of the summer since Ms T, The Excellent Baker, and I have gotten together for some cathartic Art Time.  There was never any question as to what craft we were going to attempt this meeting... Nuno has been calling my name, dontcha know.

Ages and ages ago, Auntie I and I dipped our toes into this particular world of felting and with that learning curve under my belt, I felt (whoops, pun-age) ready to go again.

This is what I have to say about Round Two of Nuno:
So. Much. Damn. Fun!
Let's go straight to the After Photos
(Yes, that would be because I took no During Photos. Bad me.)

The Excellent Baker made this lovely scarf. 

 

Isn't it gorgeous?!  

This was the first arty workshop we've done when I've been sorely tempted to run off with my friend's art afterward.  

 

The long view of Ms T's scarf.

And a close up.

It was so tempting to say, "What? Oh no. You don't get to keep what you make today.  These stay here.  You can visit them whenever you like." 

Sure I made my own scarf, and I'm thrilled with it.

But, honestly, how can I stop with just this one?
Obviously, I'm smitten.

Time to get out the crystal ball

It felt like fall today.
Which has me thinking about the year to come.

Yes, our insurance and some fiscally minded people might think the year starts on July 1st, and our calendar might give the year's start as January 1st, and others might follow the lunar calendar... but my life runs on a cycle that begins the first Wednesday after Labor Day.

So, what do I want this year to be like?
Last year at this time I longed for a monthly art day, which evolved into Lady's Art Friday.  It is true we may have skipped a month or two, but for a cluster of busy Mom's we did damn good.

But this year.  What is important to me this year?

(Oh, yes.  Even the lacewings are introspective at our house.) 

Lady's Art should continue, and I'd like for it to grow.
Maybe I'll try a few more art open houses, like I did for Valentine's Day.

I've really enjoyed the baking classes I've done so far,
and I'd like to try some art/baking days on some of our Teacher Training days.

I am feeling ambivalent about the Holiday Market scene.
Last year I cut way back from the previous two years, 
and honestly I've found myself considering not doing it this year.
Of course, those thoughts are normally bookended 
by excited thoughts of making Nuno scarves to sell, 
and making mental shopping lists for crowns ,
and sketching out new purse designs.  
So who knows.

Maybe this will be the year I try vending at a Gaming Con.
It has been a real temptation to take my dice bags on the road.

And then, the wicket gets sticky,
and I start thinking about holiday gifts...
and then I have to and lay down for awhile.

I can see September from here

The new school year begins two weeks from today.

 

The girls are ambivalent about the return to the work-a-day life of school.  The balance will tip to either glee or dread when we see their classlists next week and find out who is in whose classroom.  

My own feelings about school are less extreme.
I am, at the moment, without commitment.
Mild anticipation has replaced last year's dread.   
There are activities I want to help with and things I'd like to do, but, at the moment, I'm really enjoying the sense of freedom that comes before the promises.

alakazaam!

No matter how many times I do it.
There is a moment of magic when this:

 

becomes this:

with the flick of a wrist. 

It was all too scary for before or during photos, so let me use some less disturbing insect photos.

Five days.
That's a big blog gap for me when I'm at home.
Let me catch you up.

Yesterday we fetched the girls back home from the beach.
Big E and I were there long enough to eat two meals,
indulge in s'mores,  go down to the beach once,
and (!) I saw a pod of dolphins frolicking.

 

The beach was perfect, and the girls had a fabulous time,
but I'm still glad I stayed home to work on the house.

My week progressed much like it began.
I'd clean, move, sort, and divest until I felt like this:

Then, I'd eat some yogurt or cereal and watch The Closer

until I felt more like this:

and then I would begin again.

The end result is that:

• The back porch has 90 percent less stuff in it, and conceivably someone could spend the night back there if they were either quite desperate or we blindfolded them. 
• 9 more bags and one box of Stuff went to Good Will.
• I can see the floor in The Closet of Doom.
• 75 percent of the procrastination piles are gone.
• My kitchen counters are as uncluttered as they will ever be.
• My pins are sorted. (I think that bit of organization is the result of heat delusion. Seriously, I have 5 different kinds of pins, and they are all on their own pin cushions.  Oh, and the needles are now all in their own box.  Fleeting heat inspired mental illness? Most definitely.)
• The collage papers are organized.
• And, I am no longer claiming that shoving all of my interfacing, stabilizer, and fiberfill behind the bookcase is an "Organizational Technique".  They are now in their own box, with a space on the shelf (and not on the floor) thank you very much.

The sad bit (beyond the whole pin issue) is that I'm not done.
The back porch needs more work,
there are still two three sets of piles that need to be sorted in the sewing room,
and I only typed up one of my sets of lesson plans for the upcoming Baking Classes,
and my bedroom still looks like a teenager lives there.

Happily, I'm only halfway through season two of The Closer,  so there is hope.

many cobwebs died, and it was good.

Big E joined me in my assault on the basement yesterday.
The basement will never be a 'nice' place to spend time,
but now, at least, there is a little more order.

(Actually, we do have a friend who thought our cluttered, dark, low ceilinged basement was the best place on earth to be for an evening.  He was home on leave from service in Iraq while his daughter had surgery, and our basement, in its bunker-esque glory, felt safe.  He spent several hours down there playing games with Big E de-stressing after the surgery. So I guess it's all in your perspective.)

 

Anyway, my Plan is to move stuff from our back porch 
into the basement.  The idea is to rethink the space 
we have, since we can't afford to make more space.  
(Yes, I said this last year too, and that was successful!  
Fingers crossed for this year's lunacy.) 

I'm not sure how we're going to use the space: 
Guest room? Art Annex? Reading Area?  Time Machine? 
The back porch has heat (sort of, we've never used it) 
and is (sometimes) a room in our house.  
(When we bought the house, the powers that be claimed 
it was a "room", but when we refinanced several years ago, 
they said it wasn't. So I guess it's a wee bit unstuck in space/time.)

I've been promised, by the weathermen,
(Yes I know. They are heartbreakers those doppler reading fools.)
that today is the last day of heat.
My Plan, so far, entails that I do the heavy labor in the morning
(killing cobwebs, moving boxes that seem to have their own gravity, and relocating Important Things That We Might Need One Day.)
and when the day gets hot, I reorganize art supplies while watching season one of The Closer on DVD.
Not exactly a Plan befitting the A-Team,
but at least it isn't Market Garden.

Anywho, it is time for more cobwebs to meet their deaths on the field of war.

What we need here is a plan

The girls are going to be gone until Saturday, 
and I feel like I need a plan while they are gone.
I am so buried under half done chores, 
it's just killing me.

 
Plus, this is the time last year that I redid the upstairs nook, created an art space for the girls, and painted the stairs, so I feel like if I don't get at least some of my To Do's done I'm not living up to what I know I can do.

I know the house could be a better place to work and live, I just have to Do instead of Think.
If I'm really clever,  maybe I can make headway in my List and watch the rest of season one of the Closer.

I forgot about the marshmallows.

I think all those trips have rotted my brain.
I've forgotten to make the marshmallows.
That's like forgetting to serve the bacon,
or forgetting to drink the coffee.
Honestly, I might be a nut or two short of a bushel.

Sweetheart G and Little e are packing for their trip to the beach with Grand M, while Nay-nay packs for her return trip home.  
And Sweet G turned to me and said those fateful words,
"What about the marshmallows?"
My first thought was "What marshmallows?"
And then I thought, "Good god, I've lost my mind."

Technically, there is time to make them,
but as Big E is out for the day, I'd have to bring Little e with me to the store, which would be both of us walking to the store. 
In the heat.

It's 97 degrees out, and I am a wimp.
And then, I'd have to boil sugar to 239 degrees.
I quaver just to contemplate it. 

If my brain weren't made of mush, I would have made the 'mallows last night when it was only in the eighties. If, if, if.
Instead, I am the bad momma who is sending her girls off to the beach to eat (gulp) store bought s'mores.

I hang my head in shame.

Home.... again... for good

Little e and I returned from our Nay-nay fetching trip.  

It was a good adventure.  

Little e was so much fun. It was a great time to be with my littler girl and remember who she is under all the silliness.  Our return trip with Nay-nay was as effortless as it could be. The ferries and trains ran on time, and it was all good in the end.

But I am so glad to be home.

How glad am I to be home?

Next week, after Nay-nay flies home, the girls are going back to the beach with Grand M, and I am thrilled to remain behind.  

Honestly, I want to sink my roots in and not go anywhere for weeks.

I want to sew, and nest, and (gulp) clean, and do all of those things that make a home feel homey.  I want to finish all of these half done house projects that keep driving me nuts.  I started a craft room re-org in June and there are still piles everywhere!  And, I have another set of baking lessons on the horizon (Squee!). I can't wait! (Okay, maybe I can wait because I have lesson plans and recipes to write up.)  And, I have sewing I want to do.  There is fabric and projects, and I had this thought about revamping my back porch into quasi living space instead of icky storage.... so much to do.... if only it will would stay cool...  (Happily, I have a back up plan if it gets hot.. which it will.. because I asked for it to be cool.  Hello summer reading list!)