A Couple of Shots from Yesterday

Porter's ears used to do that, one up one down. Anyone remember that? Kitty has the intense look in her eyes Porter used to get, but she's not as quick to learn. I think she's less interested in pleasing me than Porter was and more interested in pleasing herself.

Look what I grew! It's time to plant some more radish seeds and more lettuce too. I guess I should have done it a couple weeks ago, actually. Oh well, I'm learning.

Look at my little "angel". He is so sweet and not destructive when he's asleep.

Two Weeks Without Daddy

While you were gone:

Some radishes were picked; and eaten! Coleman has eaten a bunch of radishes. They are mild at first, but they pack a punch after a few bites.

We made pasta. Well, I made pasta. Hung it to dry on hangers in the kitchen. It doesn't look like much, but it cooked up HUGE. We could have fed another family on it. We used organic flour, organic free range eggs and it was very health. Except for the fact that Coleman wouldn't eat it. He had a sweet potato for dinner. And then cried at bedtime that he was hungry. He got toast with peanut butter on it at bedtime. I have to stop doing this, or he will never eat his dinner.

Max, however, loved his. He ate most of it. Along with the home made peasant bread. I wasn't fond of that bread recipe. I probably won't make it again. But it was a one riser and free form loaf which I like the idea of.


One day while Coleman was in school Max and I took Kitty for a walk on a trail Chris showed us. The one with the swing at the top of a very steep hill. Max wasn't into it, but Kitty enjoyed herself.

We found this pretty grass. You can't tell how pretty it is in this picture. It's very delicate and graceful. If I were grass, I'd want to be this sort of grass.

Max was very happy to finish this walk up and get to school. It's the first smile he gave me for this very brief jaunt.

Coleman slept on the sofa one night. Notice Kitty using him as a cushion. She has finally stopped using our heads as beds.

We've got some new fish. Sitting on a tidy little table, if you'll be kind enough to notice.

Here's a clean (enough) kitchen. How often do you see that around here? A lot more often these days, it turns out. I've got some help and I'm not doing my art work or dreaming about doing my art work or planning my art work. I'm just doing the house, the kids and this blog. And drinking way too much coffee.

Domesticity

It just wouldn't be a holiday without some sort of Nana-baked goods. In the absence of Nana, I employed a Nana Recipe. Don't Mess With My Apple Pie apple pie. Which also means we get little cinnamon sugar roll-ups. It's just the boys and I, but the pie is 1/2 gone and the roll-ups are a distant memory. I've finally mastered the pie crust, I don't know why it took me so darn long. I guess I had a fear of pie making. I'm over it now.


Every day I find myself facing a mess. I talk a lot about this, I know. But, really this is a big struggle for me. For everyone, really. Not that they know they're struggling. I found myself obsessing about this while driving from one place to another yesterday. Then I realized that I spend a lot of time thinking about it. Anyhow, above is a before and after shot of the living room. I took a before shot of the dining room too, but never got to make it look like an after shot. Maybe today.

We're looking forward to getting this little shack under construction. It will make it look prettier, but more importantly I'm hoping it will get us more organized. We'll have new places to put things, well thought-out places. I'll have a studio at some point in the not too distant future. This will clear out a great deal of debris from the house. I've got little projects everywhere. And I'm looking forward to getting the big TV out of the main living space. It will go into the music studio for our Friday night movies. It will make it seem that much more exciting. Don't you think?

Remember the front yard design? Well, we just got a quote for the installation of this lovely little yard. Anyone want to take a wild guess at how much we were quoted? Remember, it's just the little front yard we're talking about. Well, it was a quote without the carpentry for the fence and gate. And it was about three times what I had budgeted in my mind. I'm thinking about finding a way to do it myself. This may seem crazy to Chris and others out there. But 30k for less than 1k sf of front yard is just a bit much. I think I can.

Catching Up a Bit

Look at the size of that kid! Max is really growing up. He'll be five this August. It hardly seems possible. Well, he is big. We went to a 5th birthday party birthday today for one of his school friends. It was at a HUGE house, the boys grandparents place. Marble floors, double staircase, pool, fountains. It was quite something, and just up the hill from us. While Max and I were at this party, Coleman was at a playdate over a friend's house, also up the hill. 5 acres, a few horses, another large house, only more my style. Quite lovley. Boy am I looking forward to our construction project.

Here are the flowers the boys picked for me for mother's day. It was a wonderful day. I enjoyed their company and we went to a new beach north of the city.


One of our guns (toy of course) resting on a tree waiting for someone to climb back up there and shoot something.


Ah, the salad is growing!


And the radishes, arugula, carrots, and daikon radishes! Growing!

Things That Grow

Right off the bat, I have to say how much I yearn to be with my own mother this weekend. I imagine planting annuals in big pots, maybe going for a walk in the Arnold Arboretum to look at the lilacs. I'd love to sit right down in Rose's kitchen and have a sup of tea and some home baked somethin'-somethin'. Like a martian cake or a date ball cookie or Don't Mess With My Apple Pie Apple Pie, or a vegetarian chocolate cake...Above any other day of the year, this one makes me feel like being in Massachusetts. I have flowers to plant, tea to drink, a mother to appreciate and hug. I miss you Mum! Happy Mother's Day. And to GT, GM and my dear sister, sisters in law and all my good mummy friends. Happy Mum's Day.


The swamp in our backyard, can't you just hear the mosquitos? So can we. Chris is in the backyard draining these puddles with a bucket. Trenches didn't work, our soil is clay rich. Not sure how we'll deal with this in the future. On a positive note, the water has become to icky for the boys to play in. So I don't have muddy clothes to get clean.



This pot was an auction purchase. Coleman and his classmates made 4 or 5 of these together. This is the one that Coleman worked on those are his two flowers, left and middle.


I planted seeds on May 1st, here they are already! Sprouting proudly out of the organic soil. This gardening thing is just too much fun.


Here's a potted lime tree with a ring of mesclun around it's trunk.


G. Kitty likes this organic soil mix. I'm hoping the tomatoes do too.


The pears continue to grow.


Come and join us for a chat.


Coleman invented this character and is hoping that LEGO will make a kit of it. Anyone know someone at LEGO? I think he's talented.

The Bell Man

Chris started drum lessons around the same time Coleman did, just before Christmas. His instructor, Ken Dalluge couldn't believe he'd never played the drums before. He really is a great drummer. Well, Ken invited Chris to be a part of his Samba group, Batucada Nana
. They are an Afro-Brazilian Samba group. Today was Chris' first day. He starts as the bell man. Listen to some pieces from the website and listen for the bell. That's Chris' part (though not actually him). He's been practicing hard to be a part of this group and I'm really proud of him. He's embarking on a new creative venture, and sharing it with Coleman and the rest of the family. Go Chris!

"Everyone Who's a Worker has a Hiccup Truck"

It's true you know. Max quote of the day
........................................................

Breath in, 1,2,3,4
Breath out, be happy, be happy, be happy
breath in, 1,2,3,4
breath out, be happy, be happy, be happy

I sit on my meditation block and listen to my children war with one another.

Breath in, 1,2,3,4
Breath out, be happy, be happy, be happy
Breath in, 1,2,3,4
Breath out, hiccup, hiccup, hiccup

Got Mud?

It's been raining. For four days now. The BMX track is a mud-fest. Mud bombs, mud slides, mud runs. Muddy laundry. It was too much fun to put a halt to, so while Chris made some redwood planter boxes for the garden, the boys slid down the jumps on the track. The moment they stopped though, the cold took over and Max felt his tragic condition to the bone. The hot shower they both took was a curative measure for the cold and the mud. That's a white shirt Coleman has on.


This is a crane fly on a fig leaf. Fig leaves are big, crane flies are big. You can't really tell from the picture what the scale is. But trust me.


A flower survived Max's wrath. He's taken to cutting down just about anything that looks like it might bloom. Or maybe he just likes to cut things down, regardless of bloom or bud.


Pear petals have fallen and baby pears have formed on the ends of stems that seem too delicate to hold their final weight. What an amazing process this is to watch in progress.


Apple blossoms petals are just beginning to rain down. It looks like we'll have a big crop of apples this year.


Here's the new BMX track in progress. It's rained quite a bit since this picture was taken. Right now we've got some major puddles going. This is where the boys went swimming in the mud (pictured above).


Ginger Kitty has found it more difficult to socialize with the neighborhood pooches these last few days. Our next door neighbor put up a fence between our driveways (a short length of it) and a gate for our yard. This gate is what keeps G. Kitty from wandering the neighborhood; most days. Just this afternoon, however, our neighbor, Casey brought her home after she went seeking a play-date with his doberman. This fence and gate makes our immediate back yard seem much larger. And delightfully more private. I guess I'm not as social as I'd like to think. Many days I'd like to just trot into the back yard and sit by my imaginary vegetable garden with a cup of hot black coffee and listen to the birds and feel the sea breeze. Alas, I often find myself shoveling out from under a variety of piles of one sort or another.