Last night we woke up at 4am because the thunder outside of our windows was SO LOUD. The rain and lightning were equally impressive. I love a good thunder storm - as long as it doesn't get my basement sopping wet - and it reminds me of the summers I spent playing in Charlottesville.
The season has definitively turned and now we even have humidity to grouse about(!). The last few days have brought us up into the high 70s and 80s and so we've been out for bike rides, picnic lunches, park play, and even a Christopher-Mama date at the zoo. Highlights of our zoo outing included the giraffes, the rhinoceroses, and the seagulls who kept trying to get a nibble of our lunch.
The farmer's market opened up last Saturday with an abundance of plants and mostly root and winter vegetables. Not to worry, it will be spilling over with a huge array in just a few weeks. I bought some grilling cheese made in Wisconsin which looks similar to Halloumi, and a big bag of spinach. There's a new midweek market that will be happening up in our neighborhood this year. I'm looking forward to going to that one via bicycle.
I love seeing naked toddler legs running around the house - and Christopher is thrilled when he's only clad in a diaper. It's hard to argue with that outfit since he's so darn cute AND it provides easy access for kisses on the knees, the arms, the neck and all other edible parts of his cute self.
Upcoming projects for the garden include constructing a compost bin made of pallets from Mike's lab deliveries, building planter boxes for the patio, and finishing the vegetable beds (dirt/markers/seeds and starts!).
My latest thrill: a long, flat-head screwdriver makes the perfect dandelion weeding tool. Thank you, to the internet for that tip. Clearly, I thrill easily. If I had 2 acres, I'd let a whole patch of yard go crazy with dandelions and then hack them back to eat them... but alas, we live in suburbia and our front yard was looking rather... weedy.
And now... since the lawns are mowed and the dandelions are plucked... I'm going to down several glasses of ice water and see if there's a new Modern Family on hulu.com!
Happy day, y'all.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
What we're up to these days.
- Ripping back the plentiful number of perennials in our garden. We need that space for veggies!
- Taking a hacksaw to the trumpet vine. Don't worry... it will be back in another month or two.
- Listening to "Chickens!" and reading about "Chickens!"
- Writing proposals and papers. And more proposals and more papers. And even more proposals and papers.
- Making cabbage soup since we got a head of the stuff in our bin this week. Cabbage outside of St. Patty's Day?!? Turns out, it can be done. And it's pretty tasty.
- Taking a good voice lesson and reworking some cornerstones of the repertoire.
- Organizing social time in the form of playgroups.
- Steaming dainty asparagus and teeny new potatoes for dinner... salivating as we think of the fresh peas to be purchased at the Farmer's Market in 3 weeks' time.
- Walking around the neighborhood to greet passing dogs, "Hi Dog! Bye Dog!"
- Whispering words of encouragement to my brave young seedlings in the basement workroom.
- Fermenting homemade yogurt and baking up batches of granola twinged with ginger (best when served together and topped with fresh strawberries).
- Taking a hacksaw to the trumpet vine. Don't worry... it will be back in another month or two.
- Listening to "Chickens!" and reading about "Chickens!"
- Writing proposals and papers. And more proposals and more papers. And even more proposals and papers.
- Making cabbage soup since we got a head of the stuff in our bin this week. Cabbage outside of St. Patty's Day?!? Turns out, it can be done. And it's pretty tasty.
- Taking a good voice lesson and reworking some cornerstones of the repertoire.
- Organizing social time in the form of playgroups.
- Steaming dainty asparagus and teeny new potatoes for dinner... salivating as we think of the fresh peas to be purchased at the Farmer's Market in 3 weeks' time.
- Walking around the neighborhood to greet passing dogs, "Hi Dog! Bye Dog!"
- Whispering words of encouragement to my brave young seedlings in the basement workroom.
- Fermenting homemade yogurt and baking up batches of granola twinged with ginger (best when served together and topped with fresh strawberries).
Monday, April 4, 2011
Stay in and stay busy.
As a friend recently pointed out, "Hey! The daily highs are finally out of the 30s! Bring on Spring!" Yes... but we still have chilly wet days and so here's our survival list of how we've weathered (tee hee) the chill of winter and the shoulder seasons.
- Playgroups and playdates! What did moms do without the internet and cellphones to make play arrangements on the fly? It can be a lifesaver knowing that you're headed out to someone else's warm house for a different set of toys and some adult/toddler company.
- The library! This is a year-round destination (heat in the winter and AC in the summer!) and it's a great one. Our main library's first floor is entirely devoted to the children's section and there are several hands on play areas for those that aren't interested in sitting still with a book. The library also offers a variety of story hours and playgroups which are free free free.
- Wagner Farm. While this is cold in the winter, it's still a neat place to go and see the cows, horses, chickens and pigs (pigs only in the summer, though). They have a wonderful interactive museum geared towards toddlers and it's a perfect destination for an hour.
- The Exploratorium. This is in a neighboring city and has a small fee, but is a wonderland of hands on activities from slides, to a huge climbing structure (think a human-sized guinea pig maze), drawing with crayons, dress up and role play, a book corner, train table, water play, and interactive music displays.
- The Family Room. A drop-in style playgroup housed in a cozy building with coffee for the caregivers and rooms full of toys for the kids. It's geared towards toddlers with a room full of manipulatives, another with kitchen/house toys, a gross motor skills room with a slide and balls, a reading room, and an arts room. For the last 20 minutes of the drop-in, there's a "circle time" where we gather and sing a couple of songs, listen to a book, and wind down from the excitement of all the free play.
- Wiggleworms. This is the music class we've been attending for a while now. We both love it and Christopher talks ad nauseum about his wonderful teacher and her amazing guitar in anticipation of each class.
- Gymboree. We signed up for an awesome deal for this through Groupon over the months of January and February. It was a lifesaver. The classes were a bit lackluster, but most days of the week the "gym" was open in the afternoons for free play. It was the perfect well-lit, warm and cozy place to go climb, slide, and play.
There are a variety of other free playgroups in the area, as well as many more options that come with a fee. These are the ones we took advantage of most frequently. And, of course, I become a gym fanatic in the wintertime which means that Christopher can hang out in the kid care for an hour a few mornings each week. The staff know him well, and they have a ton of things to explore that we don't have at home, so he's happy to be there every so often. I'm grateful that he goes there so easily to give us each time to "play" on our own.
Spring related: I planted seeds this weekend! Not in the ground, but in makeshift seedling pots. They're all set up downstairs in the workroom beneath a florescent worklight. I am really hoping that I'll see some growth over the next few weeks. But, if not... we'll be out there before we know it. Yard waste pick up begins this week, so our spring clean up will now begin in earnest... when it's not raining, of course!
- Playgroups and playdates! What did moms do without the internet and cellphones to make play arrangements on the fly? It can be a lifesaver knowing that you're headed out to someone else's warm house for a different set of toys and some adult/toddler company.
- The library! This is a year-round destination (heat in the winter and AC in the summer!) and it's a great one. Our main library's first floor is entirely devoted to the children's section and there are several hands on play areas for those that aren't interested in sitting still with a book. The library also offers a variety of story hours and playgroups which are free free free.
- Wagner Farm. While this is cold in the winter, it's still a neat place to go and see the cows, horses, chickens and pigs (pigs only in the summer, though). They have a wonderful interactive museum geared towards toddlers and it's a perfect destination for an hour.
- The Exploratorium. This is in a neighboring city and has a small fee, but is a wonderland of hands on activities from slides, to a huge climbing structure (think a human-sized guinea pig maze), drawing with crayons, dress up and role play, a book corner, train table, water play, and interactive music displays.
- The Family Room. A drop-in style playgroup housed in a cozy building with coffee for the caregivers and rooms full of toys for the kids. It's geared towards toddlers with a room full of manipulatives, another with kitchen/house toys, a gross motor skills room with a slide and balls, a reading room, and an arts room. For the last 20 minutes of the drop-in, there's a "circle time" where we gather and sing a couple of songs, listen to a book, and wind down from the excitement of all the free play.
- Wiggleworms. This is the music class we've been attending for a while now. We both love it and Christopher talks ad nauseum about his wonderful teacher and her amazing guitar in anticipation of each class.
- Gymboree. We signed up for an awesome deal for this through Groupon over the months of January and February. It was a lifesaver. The classes were a bit lackluster, but most days of the week the "gym" was open in the afternoons for free play. It was the perfect well-lit, warm and cozy place to go climb, slide, and play.
There are a variety of other free playgroups in the area, as well as many more options that come with a fee. These are the ones we took advantage of most frequently. And, of course, I become a gym fanatic in the wintertime which means that Christopher can hang out in the kid care for an hour a few mornings each week. The staff know him well, and they have a ton of things to explore that we don't have at home, so he's happy to be there every so often. I'm grateful that he goes there so easily to give us each time to "play" on our own.
Spring related: I planted seeds this weekend! Not in the ground, but in makeshift seedling pots. They're all set up downstairs in the workroom beneath a florescent worklight. I am really hoping that I'll see some growth over the next few weeks. But, if not... we'll be out there before we know it. Yard waste pick up begins this week, so our spring clean up will now begin in earnest... when it's not raining, of course!
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