Garden Progress: White Deck

As part of our guest preparations, I repainted the deck again. It's been about 3 years since we painted it white the first time. This time I did 2 things differently that I think will help it last longer:

1. I waited until it was a dry week. No rain for 2 days before and no rain expected for 2 days after my painting day.

2. I used some serious cleaner (TSP and bleach -- according to package directions for decks) and a sturdy scrub brush to make sure that all the loose paint and the greenish mildew were off.  Last time I tried to use organic cleaner and I don't think the wood was clean enough for good adhesion. I cleaned the deck about 2 weeks before my "dry week" occurred.

I used my new favorite Stix Primer and the Behr Paint Porch and Floor Paint in the stock white color.

Deck Painted White

Daisies are finally in bloom along the deck

French Sorrel and Lemon Grass have taken off and are making a nice ground cover in front of the blackberry vines

Two types of Oregano - making nice ground cover around my perennial wild flowers

Removed the tomatillos and ground cherries 

My French host mom suggested that I get a long garden hoe/weed pick combo. It worked great for removing the weeds that had grown up among the tomatillos and ground cherries -- see the un-hoed part farther along?  I also used newspapers covered with mulch again (instead of buying weed paper)

Trellised up the new raspberry canes -- I planted them there to hide the radon fan (already almost covered)

Raspberry bush #2 - covering up an old utility box - I think it was for phone lines?

Sew Special: Basement Update

Almost anyone who reads this blog knows that I have been on a "stay-cation" of sorts for the last 2 weeks with some of my favorite people. My host parents from when I lived in Brittany, France, were staying with us, giving us many opportunities for discovering new tourist destinations and sharing old favorites. Photos of our adventures will have to come later as almost none were taken with my camera.

Here are some much requested pictures of my basement update that we did in preparation for their arrivial.

Before:

Progress: (you will notice that these are all easy updates -- no major remodeling yet); Also note that all of this, apart from the rugs, was purchased on Craigslist (second hand).  All of the decor items are things that I already had on hand. [Mom - notice the curtains, made from the fabric you picked up for me in Nashville]. I plan to update the decor later for more of a school room feel, but this is fine for now. Also, that arm chair off to the side is soon to have a nice black denim slipcover.

Two 6x9 rugs from ikea (adhesive squares under the corners)

Pillows from Vietnam and wall art from Cote d'Ivoire

Expedit Shelves and folding room divider (eventually to be made into a black chalk board for school stuff) divide the laundry and family room areas

4 Bookshelves divide off the storage area from the family room area. They are attached to the pillars and each other for safety.  Not much on these yet, but we will have many more school books as time goes on.

Ikea Manstad (trundle bed) couch -- our guests reported it to be very comfortable. And a new ceiling light, which you can't really see

And there you have it folks, we are ready for company! Come and visit.  

Homeschooling Summary for Last Week: The End of Summer Vacation

The plan is to start school this week. We are doing a mini co-op with some joy school friends. She will teach science on Tuesdays and I will teach History/Geography on Thursdays.  Regular days will be phonics and math focused. All three of my kiddos are signed up for 10 lessons of the "Music Together" curriculum. Plus big sister A has gymnastics and an art class. Whew! We are going to be busy.

Last week we went to our local orchard and purchased 4 boxes of "seconds" - 2 bushels of apples, 1 of peaches, and one of orange peppers. The peaches were delicious and perfectly ripe. I set aside about a dozen of the most firm and the rest went into bellies, one peach pie, and 4 quart size freezer bags. The kiddos loved peeling the blanched skins off the peaches.
We made one bushel of apples into sauce. The cousins all took turns turning the apple peeler.

Peeling apples

Our local outdoor pool closed a week earlier than we had anticipated and so we had some very disappointed kiddos. Luckily, the neighbors had given us a wading pool that their grandkids outgrew.

Coloring and reading with the cousins is always fun too. This week they received a special package of coloring supplies from their great grandma Goomie.  Some of the kiddos found making magic wands and towers out of the markers to be more fun than coloring with them. 

Recommended Reading: Astrid Lindgren

 

I love reading Astrid Lindgren's books out loud to my kiddos. She is most famous in the US for Pippi Longstocking, but so far The Children of Noisy Village and Happy Times in Noisy Village are my favorites. The illustrations are sweet and though they are chapter books, the chapters are short and have enough illustrations to keep my 4 year old's attention. They are also hilarious, which helps me "remember" to read another chapter each night. I do sometimes have to tone down the translation a little though. They say "stupid", which bothers me.  I just replace it with "silly".

PS. I have decided to abandon Crime and Punishment. I have too little time available for reading to be spending it listening to something that is so heavy and sad.

Reuse Recipe: Frosting or Ganache

15 Frosting Recipes from Martha Stewart

Perhaps this is too revealing of our family eating habits, but I have had TWO types of frosting (chocolate ganache and buttercream) leftovers sitting in my fridge for about a week. Finger marks in the surface of each were evidence of many stolen tastes.  Finally, last night I decided that something must be done with them. I could have tried to make sugar cookies or something to put it on, but then I probably would have ended up making still MORE frosting.
We decided to experiment using our favorite oatmeal cookie recipe. I put all the leftover frosting into the mixing bowl and guessed that it was about 2 cups worth. And then I followed our usual recipe (using the frosting leftovers as the butter and sugar).  Big sister A voted for no raisins or nuts, and we were out of chocolate chips (tragic!). So they turned out very plain and not all that sweet - a nice granola bar type flavor almost. Perfect for breakfast.

Garden Progress: Out with the old and in with the new

This week I steamed and froze 6 qt bags of collards and kale and removed those plants. The white flies were really getting to them anyway. In their places I planted the basil, cilantro and swiss chard starts that I mentioned last week. I also picked about 12 tomatoes and some hot peppers - enough to spur me toward a batch of "Zesty Salsa" from the Ball canning book. Very yummy.  Over the last 2 weeks I had also gathered about 5 lbs of tomatillos.  So in tandem with the zesty salsa, I also canned "Tomatillo Salsa" from the Ball canning book. I must have done something wrong though, maybe too many jalepenos? It came out very spicy. It probably will end up being used in small amounts for large pots of chili!
I do recommend the "tandem canning" idea though. I spent most of the day Friday chopping. By evening when the kiddos were in bed I was ready to boil and put in jars. While the first batch of salsa was in the boiling water bath the second pot of salsa was boiling. It saved me from having to prep the jars, water, etc 2 days in a row.

Sew Special: Another Iron-On Pillow and Utility Sink Skirt

I have probably said this before, but I try to keep this blog "true". By that I mean, just writing about the things that I am really doing, not doing things so that I can write about them.  That being said, it is a little nerve wracking to get to Sunday and then think, "Did I sew anything this week?!?"
We have been trying to spruce up the basement as I mentioned last week. The laundry room can use all the help it can get. One simple addition was the window curtain that I did before this blog existed. This week I managed to cover up the ugly lower half of the utility sink with a cheerful skirt. It is open at the back so that it could slide over the sink. To keep it from sliding down I used some adhesive velcro that I had leftover from another project. Baby steps toward improvement!

Sink Skirt

I also sewed another iron-on pillow, like I did for the kids' farm theme room.  This one is to solidify the Western Vibe in the living room. Sorry about the dark tint to these pics - you get the idea anyway.

Buffalo Pillow