Monthly Archives: April 2012

Today in Pictures

We took the babies out onto the lawn today for some sunshine.

Have you ever seen anything cuter? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- there is nothing cuter than a baby goat.

They look so goofy and serious.

The tiny ducks, swimming in their tiny pond.

The geese continue to sit on their co-nest. There are 13 eggs under them. What on earth will we do with 13 geese?

Our t1 line is officially in and working! Woohooo! I got to call Hughes Net and cancel my service today. When they asked why I was canceling, I told them that it was because they offered the worst technical and customer service in the world. This afternoon the satellite comes down and we will try to forget that frustrating, expensive chapter of our lives, shall we?

Lambcam 1 is working but the other two have to be reconfigured by Paul this weekend. Standby for live, streaming, hot-and-cold-running lambs.

Speaking of standing by, we are all anxiously awaiting more babies. Our friend Diana flew in from California to help with lambing and has worked her butt off around the farm in the meantime. She is welcome at the farm any time after all the manual labor she has put in. Bertie has us all running in circles, pretending to be in labor every 6 hours or so, complete with loud noises, eye rolling and weird discharge. Then she goes back to eating grass and ignoring us. It’s actually pretty normal but it’s super annoying.

More news as it develops…

Weekend Reading

The Best Nanny Money Can Buy from the New York Times. “As one of New York City’s elite nannies, Muneton commanded around $180,000 a year — plus a Christmas bonus and a $3,000-a-month apartment on Central Park West.”

Young Writers Dazzle Publisher (Mom and Dad) from The New York Times. “The mothers and fathers who foot the bill say they are simply trying to encourage their children, in the same way that other parents buy gear for a promising lacrosse player or ship a Broadway aspirant off to theater camp.”

Sea Of Shoes Blogger’s Parents Gave Her ‘Several Hundred Thousand Dollars’ To Spend On Footwear from Jezebel. The original Texas Monthly article is here. Um…yuck.

A Death in Yellowstone: On the trail of a killer grizzly from Slate

African agriculture: Dirt poor from Nature. “The key to tackling hunger in Africa is enriching its soil. The big debate is about how to do it.”

How to Write the Great American Novel from The Awl

Dentists with our Borders: Socialized medicine in the heart of Old Europe from the New Yorker. By David Sedaris so you know it’s funny.

Have you read anything this week that made you laugh? Made you angry? Made you cry? Share it with us!

 

Vineyard Churches …

The Vineyard has about 20 houses of worship ranging from Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Unitarian, Christian Science, and the MV Hebrew Center to name a few.

100_8695 The Tabernacle in the Campground (1870) in Oak Bluffs… one of my favorites.

100_6965 Trinity Methodist (1878) in the Campground

101_3509 Old Whaling Church – Edgartown (1843)

100_6967 The Federated Church – Edgartown ((1828)

100_6969 St Andrew’s Episcopal – Edgartown

100_6305 Union Chapel – Oak Bluffs (1871)

100_6974 Our Lady Star of the Sea – Oak Bluffs (1919)

100_6972 Trinity Episcopal – Oak Bluffs. All houses of worship are beautiful but some have a more perfect setting than others. Trinity Episcopal sits on the edge of Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs… from the altar you can look directly at the ocean… it is breathtaking. As a little girl I would accompany my god-mother and her sister-in-law here on Saturday’s when they’d spruce up the church for Sunday service. My job was to dust the pews. I was told this was a very important job and I took it very seriously. It was boring though so I decided to make it fun by sliding on my stomach across each row. I guess I did a good job as they always rewarded me with a ride on the Flying Horses or an ice cream cone.

101_1070  This counted cross stitch that I did shows twelve of the beautiful Vineyard steeples. Can you name them ? (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all.


So Comfy …

DSC_0003


Migration

090 091 092 093 096 099

There are a few pelicans and gulls in this swirling cloud of birds but I think most of them are cormorants. This is the bridge on Cape Hatteras that goes over the Alligator River. I’m told that often you can see a lot of osprey there.

Oh, Lizzy!

Lately I have been on quite the sewing streak.  Ever since I went to the Lizzy House workshop at Susan’s, and Paul bought me a new machine for our anniversary, I’ve been remembering that sewing is fun – not frustrating (an older, not quite “right” machine can really make you dislike sewing).

I also was inspired by the fabrics that Lizzy has created and have been snatching them up as budgeting allows.

But what do you make with such treasured fabrics?  It’s kind of hard to decide, as it turns out – the more you like a fabric, the more you don’t want to mess up badly whatever you are making with it..  But, I’ve made two things so far that I am very pleased with (though I really want to buy more of the same fabric and make MORE things with it!!).

This is my new “Schoolhouse Tunic” by Sew Liberated (dress length) in Lizzy’s “Outfoxed”.  I love how it fits and it’s very comfortable and flattering.  But I just love this fabric so much I want to make MORE dresses, tunics and skirts with it.  I mean, just look at the little hedgehogs!

I think this calls for a skirt as well, don’t you?

These are my new Wide – Legged Lounge Pants from Amy Butler’s In Stitches. This fabric is also from Lizzy’s “Outfoxed” collection.

I have been wearing these nearly non -stop around the house since finishing them.

Right now I am working with another Lizzy Fabric from her new “Hello Pilgrim” collection – no sneak peeks today, but I am nearly finished with it so I’ll be showing it off soon enough.


Tagged: Sewing

Recommendation

btt button
A while ago, I interviewed my readers for a change, and my final question was, “What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask?” I got some great responses and will be picking out some of the questions from time to time to ask the rest of you. Like now.

Bookish Sarah asks:

If someone asked you for a book recommendation, what is the FIRST book you’d think to recommend (without extra thought)?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!


of beaches and sunsets

066 070 078

Probably something you would like…

World’s cutes butter dish. $68

Isn’t this the sweetest? 104.99

Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch: A Visual Examination. Brilliant!

What should I read next? Type in a book you like and this website will recommend something else you will like.

Rinse Berries in a Vinegar Solution to Keep Them Fresh Longer and Mold-Free

These photos of a Holi Celebration are so amazing!

Cat scientists of the 1960s

Reading lamp that is easy on the eyes

How to make a reading light for camping. I think this person is a genius!

Worker at lion park gets hugs from lion cubs on his last day. Could you die?

What’s making you smile this week?

A Doozy of a Project

 Not one to buck my own personal trends (in this case, of starting impossible projects while in the third trimester of a pregnancy), I have started the process of finishing our attic.

To begin, I got to knock through a wall, which has been a pet dream of mine for a million years.

This is an intentionally sloppy Photoshop job, but I had forgotten to take a picture of the closet with the attic access before I started knocking through afore mentioned wall. The framed area on the ceiling was a roughly 2x2' hole you hoisted yourself up through:

1

Woo! Demolishing stuff is fun. It turned out to be only very old drywall with no studs, so I basically punched around the edges with a claw hammer and removed the wall pieces in big chunks. Less fun that way, but also less dust.

2

After opening that up, I had three rafters to cut through and remove. I used the wood I cut away (and a few other scraps) to make a ladder of sorts for now. When everything is done upstairs, I'll be building steps in of course.

3

So these next two shots are what it looked like up there when I started -- huge piles of loose insulation and a bunch of 2x8' sheets of plywood just tossed all over (did I mention there was no floor up there?). That flex hose is from the bathroom vent. It will soon be vented outside.

4

Looking toward the other side, before:

5

After a few good hours of work on Saturday, I had gathered and organized the insulation by size, distributed the plywood across the floor for ease of walking, and started tacking up some of the insulation.

6

After a few hours up there on Sunday, I made amazing progress on the ceiling!

7

Floor boards were again laid out in a way that enabled me to actually walk across a solid surface.

8

And I only had three more sections to fill on each side:

9

One of two small remaining piles of insulation:

10

The other small pile of insulation. Soon to be all used up!

11

Monday, I was lucky enough to get to run up there again as soon as John got home from work, and you know what?

12

All the insulation is UP! I have more coming from my dad for the side wall, but every single piece that was covering the "floor" is now up and out of the way.

I have a ton of work to do before we can use the space, but I'm hoping to get as much done as possible before the baby gets here. I'm sure there will be updates, but I'll try to post about prettier things in between. ;)