Socks That Might Change My Life

Perhaps that's a bit of hyperbole, but not by much. I love these socks. They actually fit my feet. My bricks with toes attached feet. And they are SO soft, and warm, and colorful, and fun. They make me want to head up to the lake to give them a try (as the weather here is not exactly sock weather). I must make more.

Times They Are A Changing

Hayes has been aching for an electric guitar. This has been an constant drip of a request for the past year or so. I think he actually got the idea when Uncle Josh asked him if he liked to play air-guitar in the car last summer. We've been talking about Hayes having more responsibility around the house and so I finally bit the bullet. His daddy and I insisted that he start with an acoustic guitar. This did not put any sort of damper on Hayes's willingness to play. 

So, we have a new 3/4 Yamaha. Hopefully he will love it as much as he thinks. I just hope he won't be too discouraged if he doesn't pick it up as quickly as he thinks he will. He's promised to practice every day. We have lessons scheduled. We shall see what will come of it! 

To tell the truth, I'm over the moon that we have an acoustic in the house again. I hope to pick it up and play a little myself. Hopefully we can jam with Eleanor and her mandolin a little bit this summer.

The Last Knit

Thanks to my friend Liza for this one. Some of us are just a bit obsessed.

The Perfect Bike For Jody

My sister has been talking about wanting a Granny Trike for a long time. You know the kind that the old ladies in the trailer parks ride with the handy basket in the back? Like this one:

My grandma had one that we loved to ride down to the Banyan tree in their trailer park. Hers was green, but essentially the same thing. Did I mention how much we loved it? But I digress.

My sister and her family live in this great little town - very walkable, and yet hauling the groceries back from the market isn't all that convenient without a car. I found the perfect solution! Check out this amazing bike:

It isn't the most affordable bike I've ever seen, but it sure as hell beats the Granny Trike in sophistication. I bet all those eco-minded neighbors of hers would be green with envy over this little puppy. I know I would be.

Garden Update

You were wondering about the progress of our garden? Well, let me assure you things are progressing incredibly well. Wanna see?

The garden path is coming right along! It's not completed yet, but this section is and I LOVE it. The slate is reclaimed from a friend's re-roofing project and the paver base was left over from the patio project. This is one eco-friendly project! And our quest to rid our backyard of it's grass is moving along nicely. We now have ideas for the next beds to plant.

This year I have decided to beautify with some flowers as well. I am loving this. Hoping to get some cuttings to bring inside with some of these.

We already have a baby pepper! This is significant as we have never had our pepper do anything more than this. We shall see if the summer heat loves them.

And our rosemary is in bloom. Not something we've really seen before, but this March it started to blossom and hasn't stopped since. I hope we see this beautiful blues all summer.

My primroses and foxglove with my new garden statue (can you see her there on the left side of the photo?). I love it. Below, you can see my other new garden sculpture. I'm a hopeless Francophile. Seeing this every day makes me so happy.

And the English roses are as happy as ever; raising them up made such a difference. They are really blooming and they smell divine! I can't wait to see what they'll all do.

Summer Reading

It's the start of summer. Never mind that my child still has a week of school left. We went to the lake, the 500 Race was run, and the temps soared into the 80s. It's summer.

And the start of summer means summer book lists. Oh how I love to stack books on my bedside table and pack them in my "ditty bag" for trips. (Yeah, it's a term left over from my days of traveling as a child - you have one too, I'm sure. It's the bag you DON'T pack in the trunk, but keep next to you so you have all the goodies you'll need for the trip. Mine usually has my knitting and my books in it. But I digress.) And lately I've been on a travel and food kick with my summer reading. Here's what I have stocked up on so far:

(ok, so I know this is more of a cookbook, but it's time to think about these things. The harvest is coming sooner than you think. It always does.)

(I ordered this last winter and never got around to reading it. I'm hopeful that I can dig in this summer. I dare say, my child may be the last child in the woods.)

Ahhh.... the pace of life is so much better in the summer. Yeah, we usually schedule ourselves silly, but they are the things we love and that invigorate us. Not the doldrums of the rest of the year. And books are always a large part of it. I'm ready.

 

And The Winner Is...

We've been having the boy evaluated for ADD/ADHD and the results are finally in. He has some tendencies, may even be borderline ADD, but as of right now, behavior mod seems to be the best way to handle his needs. 

For me, and for RJH, this was mostly good news. No meds right now means not having to wrestle with the idea of medicating our 7 year old. And, as a former teacher, I understand behavior modification fairly well. The down side is, neither one of us is naturally that regimented. I suppose it's no surprise that we've produced a child who isn't either. So we are stepping into a new plan with some more immediate consequences and rewards. I was feeling pretty good about things. Until yesterday.

It always circles back to this -- the teacher called. Granted, I sent her a "spicy" e-mail. I laid out my feelings about her high expectations and rigidity. I asked for compromise, help for my kid. I knew it was going to be sticky. I also mentioned that no meds were in the future. I think this may have crushed her hopes for an easy year next year. (Hayes is scheduled to be in her class again next year as it is a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class.)

When she called it was evident that she was not going to compromise. Her late policy is her late policy; she can make no long term exceptions. Despite the fact that my child knows the material, he has Fs in 3 of her classes. Again, this wouldn't really bother me, except that she has brought it directly to my son's attention that he should feel ashamed of these grades and strive for more. Really. And of course, an adult told him to feel bad about it, so he obliged. 

I'll save the rest of my rant - believe me, I could go on and on and on - and suffice it to say that I am all done with her. It is taking my every ounce of energy not to yank my kid out of school and be done with this year 3 weeks early. I am certainly not going to subject my child, or myself for that matter, to her ideas of acceptable behavior and personality next year. Oh no. There will be a change. We are free people and not subject to the laws of the Second Grade Society. All Done.

Beatboxing flute inspector gadget remix

Found this through a friend on Facebook -- what a hoot! I love this.