Maycember

Grace made a nifty multimedia sign for Juliet using the 'marquee' letters in the mudroom

Grace also painted her hand very vibrantly.

Kennedy's mom, bravely, hosted a sleepover party at a hotel for her 11th birthday!  I hung out a while, waiting for Emily to finish up her final track meet of the year, and it was easier to leave the party than to leave our house. lol.

A bunny outside of the pool.

Hot tub time!

About a year ago now, the blog printing service that I've used for all of my blogs announced that they were going out of business.  Naturally, I ordered As many blogs as I had published, which got us through the end of 2023, possibly halfway through 2024.  Either way, I needed to find a new publisher for 2024, and I am so happy with this new blog!  I import the whole year and it divvies it up into equal volumes, and makes it look super sleek and modern!  But, I just know it's going to look so dated in 15 years. lol.

The posts below were chosen because I was texting with Kristy, so both of them are because she is featured in them. = )

Old and New.

Cynthia sent me the most beautiful collection of classic German wood cuts!  I did have to ask Christin for assistance because I couldn't translate it and the internet failed me on at least one of them, but they are beautiful books, and I love them so much.

Billy has finally talked me into doing the nerdiest thing that I've ever done: make a DND character.  Honestly, I'm excited, but I know, deep down, it's so nerdy.  Oh, so nerdy.  I'm a dwarf with a two-handed axe, btw.  Steve is going to be our DM at our next meetup with the Cornishes, in July.  We decided to set up our characters at the conclusion of our last get together.

Emily made baklava for Avia! (Finally! The ingredients have been collecting dust since February!)

William was invited to spend a Sunday afternoon with his friend Jacob, so we stopped in at the Looking Glass Brewery, where I got some of the amazing Crab Rangoon Nachos, and took a picture of a flower that looks as though it has been spray painted!  His friend lives five minutes away, so we collected him and headed home afterward.

William made his teachers some goodbye cards for the last day of school!

Picking out and making dinner every night during summer is so hard.  So, I had Grace and Juliet each pick out a meal to make last week.  I liked it and 100% will do again. = )  Juliet made a beef and pepper dish that everyone enjoyed!

Grace made a crockpot meal that we also enjoyed!

While the twins cleared out their American Girl Doll toys, I emptied their "upcoming" closet, reclaiming space and hangers!  We now have room in both closets, and a huge box of get rid of clothes for their yard sale this weekend!

Latin practice has looked a lot like homeschool this summer.  On the first day, they wore swimsuits in anticipation of a playdate with Heleena, and on day four, they worked in a box full of 'garage sale' bound clothes. <3

William recreated a picture from last year at the orthopedic doctor.  He's a little taller this go round. ; )

His hat had a little bit of a face going on at the same appointment. = )

So, what this post told me is that we have been super busy with big things, and not much going on in the catchall post.  This year is the first year I've heard the phrase "Maycember" but just know, it may be here to stay, as it is so a propos!

later days

Repairing Old Clothes

I'm not sure if the days on which I've been going have just been busier than usual, or if more people are thrifting than before, but William's pants have been trickier to secure than they were once upon a time!  So, I've taken to repairing holes in his pants, to give them a slightly longer life.

I found some fabric in my stash that matched the existing embellishments on his pants, and so I added large patches over each knee.  I could only use my machine to sew the long sides, so had to sew the short sides by hand, but it was still faster than sewing it all by hand!

On another pair of his pants the body kind of looked like a snake, so I added little feet and a head and made it into a lizard!  When I showed it to William, he knew exactly what it was!

Ladies clothes are always in abundance in thrift stores, so I don't really have any excuse for repairing my clothes, other than that I don't want new clothes.  ::pouts::  I like the clothes that I have!  So I was so sad when I took off my jeans the other day and they had a hole, right where my purse rubs, incidentally.

I like the way these jeans fit, and so I repaired them, instead of buying new ones.  I'll eventually have to replace them, but maybe after many, many repairs?

The embroidery thread that I pulled out of the craft bin in the basement was such a perfect match to the existing thread that I had to use it, but sadly it had been cut into tiny 8inch strips, so it was constant knotting and re threading.  Even so, I like the way it came out, and am hopeful that this repair lasts a while!

One of my layering shirts had two small holes in the sleeves, a small seperation on a seam, and the bottom edge is wearing thin.  When my current night shirt dies, I'll replace it with this one, but in the meantime, I'd really like to keep it in my rotation.

I repaired the hole in the seam, and sewed around the bottom edge to curtail the current fabric unravelling that is claiming the bottom edge of the shirt.  I would not wear it as an outer layer in it's current state, but it's good enough as an under layer!

The small holes in the sleeve were a quick 'star' repair.  They don't look as cute post-washing, but at least they shouldn't be getting any larger!

I was missing half of the clasp for Grace's overalls.  I searched under the washer and dryer, and moved the laundry bins in search of the missing piece.  I pulled a few things out of the 'miscellaneous' container that I keep useful, homeless, odds and ends in.  None of them quite fit the bill.

Then, I had the best experience when I cleaned out the lint trap, there was the missing clasp!!!  I used rubber cement to fix it, but sadly after another wash, that did not keep it secured.

For round two, I used a super glue, so we'll see if that does what it needs to do.  We tried melting it with a soldering iron, but it didn't get hot enough to melt any of the metals that we had on hand.

If the super glue doesn't work, we'll break out the jb weld.  I didn't want to open an entire pack for just one repair, but now my purse needs some too (add it to the list of things to shop for... sigh) so if we open it at least it will be for two repairs!

I think there have been a few other repairs too, small holes and split seams, but they didn't get a picture session. lol.

It feels nice to repair the things we have, and takes the pressure off needing to find a replacement right.now. = )

A future purchase needs to be a fabric marker, so that I can make a grid and do a proper job of the Sashiko.  In the meantime, we'll just be a little 'boho!" = )

later days