The great outdoors

We've had an amazing week weather-wise here, and have been outside every spare moment since Memorial Day, leaving me little time to be inside and update the blog. Not to leave you empty handed, here are a few photos.

This weed has been nagging me for weeks to pick it but, being the procrastinator I am, I kept putting it off.

Two days ago I head outside to discover it's actually a gorgeous Oriental Poppy:

I think that right there is proof that laziness is a virtue. The massive rhododendron trees are also in bloom:

and the boys are pretending to get along!

And now, of course, they are yelling at me to go and play.

A beautiful tote giveaway

Check out this giveaway from Hip Mountain Mama, and while you're there check out the store for some beautiful natural products. I'm seriously eyeing one of those necklaces, I love them!

It's been a busy week

As I mentioned last week, I've been trying to finish my nanowrimo novel, and you know what that means - lots of procrastination.

I finished Julia's scarf - hopefully she doesn't see this before I get it to her, but considering she hasn't updated her blog in over a month, I doubt it. Here are photos of it washing and blocking, hopefully I will get some photos of her modelling it soon!

Gabriel wasn't too happy about modelling it for me.

This was done with Cascade Quattro wool and is softer than I thought it would be.

This weekend I did up a quick Everlasting Bagstopper for my friend Joanne, I was shocked at what a quick knit it turned out to be. Right now it's drying and I still need to attach a handle, but I wanted it to untwist a bit first.

This was done with Lily Sugar'n Cream Solid in Sage Green.

I just finished my first "official" refasion project. It was a small one, but considering I haven't sewn in years and halfway through I was reminded why, when Kid1 yelled at me to come wipe his bum, I am proud of myself. All I did was hand sew a lace bit into a pretty little thrift store top, but yes I am proud of it. I can now wear it without breasts falling out everywhere, and the people rejoiced!

While looking through old clothes in storage I came across a very small (read: high-school size) floor length linen skirt I think I can salvage, I cut off the top and am planning to put an elastic in the waist where it actually fits me now for a cute knee-length white skirt that I will probably then dye, I'm not certain a white skirt looks very good on me.

I have a pair of "well worn" jeans I am planning to dye for a darker, more vintage, and hopefully better look.

Once I am done these projects I am going to start figuring out what to do with this load of fabrics that have been sittin gin storage for years. I think the shiny pink in the upper left will make a gorgeous circle skirt. The shiny purple fabric in teh front is actually a floor length skirt I sewed many years ago that I hope to salvage into something. The rest I'm not quite sure what they will become, but it's time to get to work on them!

I don't know how moms do this all and blog about it. My first thought was a meth habit but seeing photos of them with all their teeth makes me think that's not it.

The final stretch

I'm finally getting around to finishing my novel, I completed all but the last chapter for nanowrimo last November, but I'm working on the hardest (for me) part right now. I'm so close I can see the finish line,in fact I've written the epilogue, I just need to get there now.

On top of that I've been trying to finish the handmade gifts I promised in my facebook note - one down, four to go.

Thank goodness for Pandora, it keeps me going!

Confidence

I have to confess that since I first became pregnant over 5 years ago, my confidence in myself has been at an all-time low. Sure I'm confident (or at least can fake it) in certain areas of my life, but for the most part I've been a fairly insecure shrinking violet, particularly in social situations. My weight has been a big factor, as I'm the biggest I've ever been, and although it is something I am working on, it isn't changing as quickly as I'd like.

Since deciding to "refashion" my wardrobe and thrift store finds, I have spent a lot more time looking through rack and racks of potential clothes. I haven't really willingly shopped for clothes for myself in a long time, as I find it discouraging to see lumps and bumps where there used to be none. Now that I'm back into it, as I used to be a thrifting queen, I'm discovering I'm not nearly as bad off as I feared I was. In particular, I have found fasionable sweaters from stores I never thought made clothes in my size, items I had planned to tear apart and reknit into something that fits me, only to get home and discover they fit me just fine. This is really actually helping me to accept who I am as I try to better myself, and isn't that really the goal?

And the good news is ...

Proposed budget came through from the school district and they saved the preschool program. They cut things out like sending out a school calendar to every single parent in the school district. Guess what, I can buy my own calendar and write my very own things on it! I'm so relieved my relief squeezed out of my eyes.

To wrap up Autism Awareness week

Sam included me as a guest author for today. Now I have to go sob in a corner after re-reading that.