What We've Been Doing

It's been a busy month.

A Parade went past our house during Phillips Old Home Days. Click here for more photos. We took the opportunity to have a yard sale to make some money to build Stomper a swing set like my Mom has in our backyard.

We were all in my Sister-In-Law's wedding. Stomper did great. He managed to "walk" down the aisle with some assistance, but didn't let anyone take any photos of him. He slept before and after the ceremony, but wasn't available to take any photos! He didn't like the brides dress and when she went to hold him he cried! 

We went blackberry picking with some family friends, and due to time constraints did not pick as many as we would have liked.

We went to Maine Farm Days in Clinton, Maine and saw some livestock and played on tractors. Unfortunately due to the rain we missed the farm tours and many of the vendors had already left. We will be going next year and we plan on going on the first day instead of the last. Click here for more photos.

10 Months

Stomper now weighs 23lbs and 14oz and is 29inches long. He has a total of 12 teeth with a couple of more coming. I think he's been teething since he was 6 months old, his mouth isn't giving him a break! He already has his first year molars and as I am writing this is cutting his "canine" teeth. Click for more photos.

The store has new products. Check it out!

Polly

This is Polly. 

She will be for sale in about two weeks (I need to knit her some pj's).

She is wearing a Pumpkin Cardigan with three buttons

She has a pleated yellow skirt

And a Pumpkin Beanie.

In other Knitting News I have a new bag!

I love this bag. It has a lot of pockets for stashing things. I got this brilliant idea on further organization and stuffed my measuring tape in a old, used pill bottle.

Then I stuffed some darning needles, a stitch holder, some stitch markers, and some needle ends in another pill bottle.

Works like a charm!

Blueberry Festival

We went to the annual Blueberry Festival in Wilton this week-end. This was Stomper's first parade. Sadly there is a no siren policy during the parade and we missed the marching bands so he did not get to experience the "true" sounds of a parade. 

We walked around downtown to visit the vendors and meet some local artists. We did end up buying me a new knitting bag (a post to follow about that later) which I am in love with. We sampled some maple butter, bought some maple taffy, and got our customary cup of Blueberry Coffee (despite the extreme heat of the day). 

You are probably wondering why there are no pictures of blueberries. Despite it being a blueberry festival I have never participated in any of the blueberry activities, mostly pies and pancakes because they happen either too late or too early in the day. After our walk around town we walked back to my Mom's for some lunch and a nap before the fireworks.

 

Early in the afternoon Jason drove the truck down to where the fireworks are with the chairs loaded up into the truck bed. That way when we walked down in the early evening we could lug just our supper the half mile to the lake instead of everything we would need like we have done in past years.

We packed our supper in a crock-pot keeper and it stayed piping hot! The peas were out of our garden and looked a little dried out from sitting in the fridge uncovered. Jason thought I should toss them, but I believed they could be saved. I boiled them for four minutes, shut the water off, let them sit while the chicken and potatoes finished cooking on the grill, then packed them in a glass container to keep warm, when we got to the lake they were perfect!

Both Stomper and Jason agree that the peas were delicious!

While we were finishing up our supper I spied a family from our church. I called out to them and they joined us on the patch of grass we had carved out for ourselves. Before long our small group of three swelled to eighteen friends and family. It was great to have an impromptu get-together. The summer business had kept us from sitting and chatting and it was nice to catch up with them.

 I love fireworks. They are my favorite part of the festival. In past years we have sat so close to them that ashes fall down on us. I have in a keepsake box several chunks of cardboard that either fell on me or near me. A few years ago a part firework went sideways into the crowd (no one was seriously injured) and so the platform was moved onto a barge in the lake.

I was not disappointed in the fireworks display (I never have been). They last 20-30mins with no lulls, stops, or moments of "is this it?". However, after the finale, they did have a few "leftover" that they set off while people were heading back to their cars. This was the first year on the barge and I wonder if some got a little "lost" in the unfamiliar setting.

As usual I am looking forward to next year. Maybe next year you'll come too!

Working

A year ago I quit my job working in my mothers daycare to pursue being a Foster Mom. I was tired juggling  being a wife, mother, and worker. Even before I was a mom it wasn't easy for me to juggle working and being a "good wife" (my standards not his) and I constantly felt that I fell short of accomplishing either task well. I often felt that to be a good wife I failed at being a good employee and vice-versa. Home often suffered from neglect and it was more than just a messy house. I was often irritated and frustrated with my husband, which caused me to be harsh towards him. I knew something had to change. I told my Mom that when summer ended and all the kids went to school that I'd be done working. 

 This past year I have often said to my husband when the purse is empty and the bills still numerous, "I could always get a job." To which he always replies, "But you don't enjoy working. We'll make it work, we always do."  We kept deciding that I would stay home, despite the financial benefits of me rejoining the work force.

This summer I "rejoined" the work force twice. Once when I did respite for a family member and a couple of weeks ago when I worked for my Mother at the daycare while she went on vacation. I was reminded how glad I am that I don't work outside the home. I felt spread thin between the people I was being paid to care for and the people that needed me to care for them. I probably, given enough time, could balance out the two, but someone would suffer. I think that someone would be Stomper. He wouldn't get the care he deserved and that would make me feel like a bad mother.

Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom may not be financially beneficial, but this summer has proven to me that it is beneficial to my family for me to be home. It is reassuring to know that we continue to make the right choice for our family and keep me home.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. via SouleMama

Harvesting

My parents have several medium bush blueberries and they are ripe and ready. My parents have been picking half a gallon every two days and freezing them. 

  Since we are staying at their house for a week while they are on vacation we will be doing the picking and the freezing.

I am looking forward to blueberry pancakes and blueberries on my waffles this winter with some sweet maple syrup that my Dad and sister boiled this spring.

Also at my parents are some very old pear trees. I have no idea what type of pears they are. One tree becomes riper first so maybe there are two types? Either way they are so yummy! I can no longer eat a pear from the store anymore, none can compare to the pears off these trees. This fall we will be making pear-sauce and freezing peeled and quartered pears for winter. Last year there was a late spring frost just as the blossoms bloomed and so we had no pear sauce! This year we will make the best of what God gives us!

At home, in our own garden, we have harvested peas twice. Jason is headed home tomorrow to do some garden tending, mostly picking. There are summer squash and zucchinis growing and growing in the garden and will be ready very soon. There is a lot of green tomatoes too. I hope they aren't all red by the time I get home next week, I need to make some green tomato relish for my cousin.  

Yarn Along

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading. This is what I am knitting and reading this week. Pop on over to Small Things to find some other people who knit and read too!

I have been knitting two things while I work at the daycare. Something mindless and something that takes my full attention. I promised my sister gauntlets and I actually started them! I am about 20 rows in. I think I goofed once, but you can't tell so I didn't rip out any stitches to try and fix it (I only frog when it's absolutely necessary). These gauntlets command my full attention (note aforementioned ripping) and I find I cannot knit when Stomper is awake so I am also knitting a Winnie Doll. I am knitting the doll so that I can work on some prototype clothing for her. I was going to go ahead and just knit clothing for the doll, but I can't be sure of my sizing if I have nothing to measure properly. 

This is what I have been reading over the past few days. A huge pile of magazines from the mid 80's.

These are just a few of the "gems" I found. I did find some actual patterns that I liked and would knit, but these few made me laugh.

The tenacity it must have took taken The time spend on these two blows my mind. I have done some color work but the stripes! I just stared and gawked at the zebra one. I don't think I have the stick-to-it-tive-ness to complete those stripes correctly. The chart for it was intense. 

This is the other thing I don't understand about this era of knitting. A knitted cardigan over a knitted sweater, sweater vest, or knitted shirt. Really? Who needs to wear all that knittedness all at once? It must have been so hot and heavy! 

Lastly the colors, big, bold, beautiful primary colors.

Most of the things in the magazine were knitted sweaters (which is why I don't buy magazines). I did see some cables and lace that I liked and if I was organized enough I might take out the stitch patterns that I liked, but I'm not that organized.

Wedding Knits

More Pictures

While I have been "away" from the internet I have been knitting for the upcoming wedding of my sister-in-law. I promised her that I'd knit some cozy's for the sparkling cider bottles she is having at the head table. I am only doing two, but I had to design them myself.

One is a wedding dress and the other a tuxedo. While I was visiting a friend I finished the tux, I had previously finished the dress, I just need to sew up the back and show it to her. I thought the dress was completed, but the other day while I was proudly showing her that I had completed it she remarked, "You decided to not use any sparkly yarn?" To which I replied, "Um, I forgot I was going to do that."

While we were out shopping this week I picked up some embroidery yarn that is silver and sparkly. I am going to be a genius with it and add some sparkle, with any luck she will like it. I am not the genius I wanted to be with the sparkly yarn. However, my sister-in-law had some ribbon that I used and it came out quite nice.

The vest I knit (I apparently deleted the photos I took) while I was House Mothering I gave away recently. The Mom, when she saw the gift was from me said: "I am so excited to open this, I see all the wonderful things you knit on-line!" Then I worried a bit because it wasn't like anything I had knit before and I didn't know what she was expecting. I worried for nothing, which is what usually happens, she loved it. Then, unknown to me, the Grandmother had purchased some hats from me several months ago and gave them to the Mom. It was really neat to see my work appreciated. I also finished this crown for the bridal shower during the time I was a House Mother.

I have several doll clothes planned for August. I don't think I will have time to knit prototypes before my deadline of August 20th for the stores re-opening. Not unless my husband gives me another knitting day like he did this past week. I am swiftly finishing up the tux so that I can get it out of the way in order to work on my shop.

Also looming over my head is the gauntlets I have just begun to start. I'm hoping to get some done while we are at the family reunion this Saturday.

DEW Animal Kingdom

This past month Stomper had an "Auntie Day" while we had a "Weed the Garden Day". I think Stomper had more fun then we did although we got a lot done in the garden (not that you can tell now).

When we were done in the garden we all went to DEW Animal Kingdom.

At first Stomper wasn't too sure about the animals. He soon felt a little safer and began laughing at them. He had a good time overall, even though he was very sleepy towards the end of our visit.

The zoo is run by a local man and supported by ticket sales and generous donations from the community.The animals look really well cared for. I have been to a few zoo's over the past few years where the animals look sickly, bored, and underfed. That is not the case here at DEW. The animals look really well cared for. They all responded positively when the owner came out to give a tour. It is easy to tell by watching the owner that the animals trust and follow him. If you get a chance to go then I suggest you go towards the end of the day so that you can get a tour with the owner.

More Pictures

I hope to go again before they close for the winter. Maybe you should come with us next time!