Blue Skies & Spider Webs

We have sunny blue skies and a lazy cool wind freshening the house this afternoon. The windows have been thrown open inviting fall within. I feel like one of the chipmunks outside who are busily raiding my garden for seeds. I feel a need to hoard firewood. To fill the cupboards. Lists are stacking up of recipes calling for sweet potatoes, beef roasts, soups, Parker House rolls and cinnamon buns.
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More hand written lists remind me of the cleaning and sorting tasks which need to be done in preparation for the fall and approaching winter. I sorted Hugo's clothing at the end of last week. Check! I made stacks of items for Goodwill, stacks of things he has outgrown which will be packed away into the attic, and stacks of saved summer clothes which with fingers crossed, will fit him next year. I made a new list of items he will need for the chilly months ahead. Snow boots, jeans, knitted vests and sweaters, mittens (heaps & heaps of mittens!), and a few church and Holiday outfits. I now need to empty out my closets (yes, there is an "s" at the end of the word closet) and begin fresh.

Also on my Winter preparation list: wash windows - all 30 of them!, empty out pantry, organize coat closet, finish craft room, paint the hall, plant bulbs, sort linen closet, quilt, knit, write cards, rake, prune trees and shrubs, clean flower beds, divide plants and pull weeds and weeds and weeds.

Anyone else feeling the need to prepare for winter's hibernation coma?


P.S. - Ms Jessica posted some of my Queen Anne's Lace photos on her beautiful design blog!
thank you!

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday...

We all slept in this morning because we all had rotten rest last night!

Strike 1 - I locked the cat in Hugo's room when I checked on him before I headed for my own sheets. Not so smart on my part.
Strike 2 - Cesar arrived home at 4 AM.
Strike 3 - Hugo, Evie the cat and I were all awake at 4 AM. And at 5 AM.

Hugo and Evie the cat are on the same mental wave length at the moment.
They also egg each other on. A lot.

Cesar and I ate out breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios at um... noon.
We dressed, rounded up the household trash and drove to the dump.

Hugo passed out in the truck. Cesar and I gobbled down some ice cream cones.

Me: Hugo has been asking for a cone all week.
Cesar: Should we wake him up?
Me: No way man.

We made a stop at Lowe's. Cesar hopped out. I stayed behind with our sleeping boy and worked on finishing up my cone. Smashing the ice cream to the bottom of the cone with my tongue and then slowly eating the cone and cream in rounds & rounds, down, down to the bottom grid of the cone is my very favorite part of an ice cream cone.

I suddenly had a funny feeling. I peeked over my shoulder to the backseat of the truck. There he was, our Hugo. His eyes were big as tea cups, blinking at me over his rosy cheeks. I tried to slowly turn around and hide behind my seat and headrest. Had he seen my cone?

A tortured voice from the backseat: I want some!

I handed it over. My perfected last bites of a delicious chocolate ice cream cone.

Friday Find

This is my very unorganized kitchen junk drawer. Note the Trident gum, it is Poppa Cesar's current favorite. It is also a source of great interest for our Hugo.

Hugo came to me upstairs to tell me he wanted some fish, translation = yummy in his tummy Goldfish. I bent down to wipe his nose, he said, "Tank you Mommy!" and I smelled something fishy. It was a good kind of fishy. A spearmint flavored freshness pooled out of his mouth with each uttered word.

Me: Uh oh Hugo, it smells like you've gotten into Poppa's gum.
Hugo: Poppa's? Poppa, Poppa, Poppa, Poppa, Poppa, Poppa, Poppa....
Me: Hugo, where is Poppa's gum?
Hugo: In here! -as he pointed to his tummy
Me: (Trying very hard to not giggle!) Take my hand Hugo and show me where the gum is, please.
Hugo: Okay Mommy. -he held my hand and led me down the stairs, through the living and dining rooms into the kitchen and right over to the junk drawer. Beneath the junk drawer was Hugo's little blue stool with a rooster painted on top. Now, this stool normally is in his room with a giant teddy bear seated on it. So, hmmmmm... he has been busy. How did he ever come up with the idea to haul the stool downstairs so he could peek into the junk drawer?

Looking into the drawer I could see packs of gum still neatly lined up inside the thin outer cardboard packaging from Sam's Club. I could also see one pack of gum was above and to the left of the cardboard box, it was open and almost full. I could also see two gum wrappers which were barely crumpled just inside the front edge of the drawer. But were these two gum (only two??!!) wrappers all that Hugo had consumed? Was he hiding another pack somewhere?

Me: Okay Hugo. Where is the gum?
Hugo: See above photo.

Thursday Loves

The mailbox held something special for me yesterday. A wonderful gift from a lovely friend on the west coast. The artwork may look familiar to some of you because I have hosted this image on my sidebar for quite some time now. I love it! I love the colors. I love their pink circle cheeks. I love that the redhead is upside down as she offers up her gift of comfort, support and love in the form of beautiful white wings. When I next feel blue and all boo hoo hooey over myself, I plan to wander into my craft room and look upon this redheaded angels gift and remember the gift of friendship I have been given. If you would like more info on my new west coast angelfriend, check out her work here. Love you Sam!

Hugo loves, hates, then quickly loves again, our friend Miss Amy. Happy 3rd Birthday Amy!

Hugo loves on and kisses on our Evie kitty kat all day long.

This is the man I love. The photo was taken many moons ago during a stolen weekend in Vermont. I loved that trip. I love this memory. I love this man still.

The End!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Love

We took a walk around town with our friends Ms Sheri and Layla tonight.

Hugo got to hold Layla's leash for a tiny moment.

We took a peek into a new scrumptious looking bake shop. We fell in love.

Hugo picked out a pink piggie sugar cookie!

We danced and spun circles around the kitchen waiting for our chicken and veggie dumplings to cook.

Hugo loves Evie and Evie loves Hugo.

Every Day Monday

We are very much in the midst of a very ordinary Monday. This morning the sheets were changed and washed. Floors and stairs were swept. Appointments for the furnace to be cleaned and an estimate visit for new doors were added to the calendar. The firewood man's answering machine automatically picks up when my number is detected. Voices from the animated movie The Incredibles serenades me in the background. Pirate tippy cups were filled with chocolate milk while grapes and leftover fried potatoes were gobbled down for snack time. I nearly crashed to the floor as I was walking and sneezing and stepped forward onto a matchbox car with my barefoot. Where are my slippers?

Freshness trembles beneath the surface of
everyday, a joy perpetual to all who catch
its opal lights beneath the dust of habit.

-Freya Stark (1942)

I am so very happy with my very ordinary Monday. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, maybe there is a wish or two I have in mind to add to our very ordinary Monday. But there is nothing that I would change or take away from my beautifully mundane Monday afternoon.

"Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want more than all the world for your return." -Mary Jean Irion

Friday Playdate

As I drove us to our playdate today I promised myself that I was going to be tough tonight. Tough on myself as I chose photos to upload for the blog. I've felt like the number of pics shared lately has been a little nutso. I gave myself the goal of one photo. Looky, looky at me... here are eight photos from today! Not quite my goal of one, but we're getting closer.

We played with our friends at the park all - day - long today. And I really, really mean all - day - long! Once in the car, Hugo passed out in a flash. I was able to carry him inside and tuck his little log of a body under the covers to finish up his nap. When he awoke we had a snack of animal crackers, grapes and milk. Popeye was playing on Boomerang. And then back into the car we buckled ourselves to travel over the hills and through the woods to the chapel. The Primary was hosting a pizza party for its families. Hugo inhaled his pepperoni slice and a good share of mine. Root beer floats were slurped down fast so we could join in a fun game of kick ball. The big boys were awesome as always and allowed Hugo to copy their every move as they protected the outfield. He also had a chance at kicking the ball. Naturally it was loudly discussed between team captains that his at bat didn't count. We tossed leaves. We drew colored chalk pictures. We ran. We were cold and exhausted and drove our beat bodies home.

Martha Stewart

A sister, a cousin, and a grandmother all drove many miles late Tuesday night for a visit here upstate. Not just any visit either. We had tickets to the Martha show in NYC! Our day began early, early Wednesday morning. We were excited. The topic of the show was blogging and we are blogging girls. We are authors of blogs, read blogs, share, promote, link, follow, twitter, and lurk about on all things blogger loverly. The show was, well, ahhhh, not what we had planned on. I was disappointed that my group, mommy/journaling/scrapbooking bloggers, weren't mentioned. What about all the blogs on tips, fashion, home decor, and the many upon many blogs highlighting wonderful artists? What about the blogging connection with Etsy?? Can't tell you how many wonderful blogs I've met and fallen in love with through Etsy. I love Etsy. I was left wanting more. So much more. The episode didn't seem Martha-y to me. No special touches. Nothing pretty. Nothing luxurious. Nothing inspiring. I am so sorry to write this last little bit Ms Martha. I think you could have shared with us bloggers, a bit more love.

I left the studio sad. I'm not sure why I had such a different show in mind. Well, I must have had my very own TV show all about blogging in mind! Curious?? Tune in to your local station for more to come from me, real soon....


We left the studio and began to walk and wander through the streets of the city. It was perfect. Perfect temperature, a light breeze, good friends, a flexible schedule and an angel of a baby + a helpful husband made for a perfect day. Thank you Shaka, The Dad, Thing 4 and Ms Lainakay for a great, great day!

The following images are what inspired me, and the camera, today. I have missed the city. I very much enjoyed my huge walk round about some of its parts. Thank you Ms Martha, for encouraging me to venture down to my old stomping grounds.

The End!