Three stories.
1. Our balcony garden fell on rough times during a recent heat spell. We’re not just talking wilting, we’re talking brown deadness that no amount of water could cure. So earlier this week I went out and spent time clearing away all of the dead leaves and stalks, leaving only the green. That left some of the plants a little… sparse. Z came out in the midst of this, and stared in horror at the pile of culled plant parts, and demanded to know what I was doing. I explained that by clearing away the dead bits, I was allowing the rest of the plant to be healthier. A couple of days later, the plants are growing by leaps and bounds.
2. I’ve been growing out my hair for quite a while now. Recently it’s been going through an awkward phase, one that I’ve been struggling with a lot. But for the sake of eventually having long hair, I was fighting through it. A friend suggested that I get layers cut into it, to give it more shape during the growing out process. I got a hair style magazine to look for inspiration, and while the mid-length cuts were cute, there weren’t any that I really loved. And then I turned to the long hair section. While looking at the pictures, I had a realization: I don’t WANT long hair. I like the concept, but in reality I’d just end up putting it in a pony tail every day, just like I did when I had long hair years ago. My hair doesn’t hold a curl, so it would just end up being straight- all the time. What really called to me was the super short, super cute cut in the “pixie” section. An hour later, my hair was super short, super cute. And I feel much better.
3. In the never ending process of decluttering my house I attacked my craft closet. Everything is organized by type of craft, and as I went through everything with the intent to purge, I realized that the scrapbooking shelf; the paper, the embellishments, the brads, the eyelets, the journalling tags, hadn’t been touched in I don’t know how long- with the exception of pulling things out to use in multi-media sewing projects. The grand aspirations of intricate scrapbooks detailing every tidbit of my kids’ lives weren’t coming to fruition, and having all of the stuff there just waiting wasn’t inspiring me, it was just making me feel guilty. So out it went. I kept only those items that I love, and those that are eminently practical – like colored cardstock – and gave the rest away. And I can focus on the crafts I’m enjoying without feeling the guilt of supplies left unused.
Is there anything you’re holding on to just out of habit? Would it help if you got rid of it?
Catching the vision
So, as promised, the curry chicken salad recipe from last night. I LOVED it, but I give it with the simple warning to let the people you’re serving it to know what it is ahead of time. Things were kind of rushed at dinner time last night, and I just served it on croissants with no description, just like I serve regular chicken salad, and apparently the taste came as quite a surprise that wasn’t exactly pleasant. But I think it’s completely delish, so I offer it here. (I snagged it from AllRecipes.com but made some changes, which is what I’m putting here. If you want the original recipe, follow that link.) This made enough for about 4 croissants full.
2 cans of precooked chicken
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 small apple – peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup seedless green grapes, halved
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 cup mayonnaise
Mix everything together, and let sit in the fridge for about an hour before serving to let all the tastes mix together. Serve on croissants, bread, lettuce, whatever you like!
Hope you enjoy it!
Cooking
Fresh produce. We recently discovered a tiny farm with a produce stand close to our home, and I love stopping by for fresh, yummy goodness. Today we got squash, plums, tomatoes, strawberries… it doesn’t get better than that.
Fun blogs about doing art with kids. These two are my current favorites- SO inspiring! Filth Wizardry (best name EVER!) and The Artful Parent.
Books about butterflies. We’re obsessed with them around here recently. A World Of Butterflies
is stunningly gorgeous- an art book more than an identification guide. We found Butterflies & Moths (Smithsonian Handbooks)
to be much more helpful in that regard.
Pruning back our flowers. I don’t even know if pruning is the right word- basically just taking all the dead brown yucky bits off. (We had some casualties around here during the couple day heat wave.) There’s just something wonderful about pulling off all of the deadness to reveal the green beneath… I think there’s a potential post in that, so I’ll leave it for now. 
Finding a fun new recipe. I discovered what looks to be a delicious one for curry chicken salad. If it turns out as wonderful as it looks, I’ll share tomorrow!
What’s one of your favorite things today? Do share!
Books, Cooking, Crafts, Creativity, Nature
A couple of weeks ago I was wandering around the internet and stumbled across a blog where a woman was describing her family’s schedule. Among the activities she laid out she mentioned going grocery shopping and running errands “once every month or so“. How is that even possible? I’m comforting myself with the idea that she must live on a farm or something, because I’m at the grocery store at least two or three times a week, and I feel like I’m running errands more days than not.
So, I decided to assess my schedule and see if there isn’t a way I could condense my errands – plan ahead and not have so many last minute runs out to the store. I looked at my calendar for the upcoming month and figured out days that need planning for- preschool days that I’m teaching, parties I’m hosting, and came up with a list of things to be done in connection with them. (I still have to figure out when to do those things, but it’s a step in the right direction.) Then I planned out our meals for the next two weeks (I usually plan just one week in advance) and did that shopping today. Already I’ve realized I forgot a key item, and I’ll probably need to do a milk run in about a week, but I’m hopeful that skipping the almost daily trips to the store will cut down on the spending that goes with each trip. (We will be making stops at the local produce stand, but that counts more as an activity than an errand. )
So tell me, how many times do you grocery shop? How many days are you running errands? Do you have any tips on how to condense, plan ahead?
Organization, Shopping
Oh, it has been a while, hasn’t it. Can I claim I was just taking the summer off? Let’s just go with that.
Looking back over my “yay, it’s summer!” post, I have to be pleased with what we actually accomplished this summer. Lots of swimming, lots of playing with friends, lots of reading, (both by little miss and to the little miss and her sister), and a decent amount of organization.
And now it’s time for fall. I love autumn, I really do. I love the shift in the weather; the cool mornings are inspiring to me in a different way than the bright, sunny mornings of summer tend to be. I love the feeling of new beginning that a school year starting brings.
Around here we’re planning out our school year (ABC school for the 2 year old, a year of Book Adventures for the 4 year old) , as well as planning lots of art projects, field trips, and time with nothing much at all planned. I’m trying to get back on my cleaning schedule- it works so well when I’m actually on top of it!- and attempting to cull the clutter overtaking my house. All of which I will hopefully write about here.
Do you have any great fall plans? Do share!
Uncategorized
Is it summer where you are?
It’s not really summer here either, we’re still solidly in spring, but preschool has ended and it’s time to set up a new schedule.
Our new schedule will include lots of being outside, crafts, swimming lessons, and parks. It will also include cleaning, organizing, cooking, and learning how to read. The ever present question is how to balance everything so that it flows together and forward, keeping us moving and happy. I’m thinking a spreadsheet is in order.
How do you fit everything you want/need to do into your schedule? Is it written down? On the computer? How often do you reassess? Do share!
Organization
Posting a day late. Yesterday was filled with a new park, friends, too much sun, a little sunburn, lots of running, and lots of fun. No time to post when you’ve got that much going on! Are you getting outside this weekend? I hope so!
Nature
Today’s outdoor adventures ended up being all about birds. First we saw this:
As we walked we noticed the flock of little birds flying above, but when they were joined by the HUGE hawk, all 3 of us gasped. Truly gorgeous.
Later, when we stopped for lunch, we decided to eat outside. While we ate, some birds decided to wait around to see if we’d drop anything, and we noticed the varied calls the different birds used.
My lesson learned today? In both instances it would have been so easy to miss both of these experiences. If we’d been too distracted to look up, or too busy rushing through eating to stop and listen to the birds, we wouldn’t have noticed them at all.
Nature
Sometimes you just need to borrow someone else’s outside.
PS. The problem with comments is fixed. So please leave some, so I can be secure in my illusion that we weren’t getting comments solely because they were broken.
Nature
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life
Calm and Compassionate Children: A Handbook
