CSA

Some of you may already know, but we are members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Basically we buy a "share" of the farm and then we pick up a weekly box of produce. This is our third summer doing this and we just love it. Each summer we have gotten a little better at this change of lifestyle (which it really is). It means planning my weekly menu based on what is in our box, learning to use new and different veggies, and learning to be grateful and find uses for the couple that we don't really like (a-heh radishes). This week I got our box home and opened it up and it was just bursting with all that is green and good and fresh. I felt happy and healthy just looking at all the goodness. I couldn't resist the opportunity to snap a photo in the bright sunshine. Yum.

If anyone is interested in learning more about joining a CSA, let me know! I hope everyone else is enjoying the bounty of summer!

Light

Pretty proud of this photo I snapped a couple days ago. I didn't even have to edit it!

My Husband and My Craft

Have I mentioned lately that I married the best guy out there? Last week our washing machine broke. It is Fisher and Paykel which is made in New Zealand, and a bit different than regular washers. We love our washing machine, however, I've heard they can take a long time to repair if you have to order parts from NZ. I'm envisioning spending days back at the laundromat, calling a repair guy, big bill... Kevin decided to take a look at it (a bit grudgingly) and came up an hour later with complete success. He had to take half of the motor apart, and discovered that the water pump was clogged. It was then easy to unclog it, put it back together, and it works just as good as ever!! I am so proud of him, how handy he is, and how determined to figure things out he is (sometimes we call that stubborn, but look at what a good quality it can be). I mean really, how many people can do that!
I may have mentioned before that I like to be crafty. I tend to dabble around in the craft department: a little scrapbooking, a little beading, a little sewing, a little knitting,... This results in lots of different equipment and not a lot of talent in any area. So I decided that I want to pick one. I am going to be a knitter! It has become a mini-dream that in five or ten years I could be pretty good at this. I really enjoy it, and I've been learning lots of new techniques. I am excited about being somewhat of a proficient in something!

So I've been trying to finish up a baby gift before a certain baby is born, and I needed to crochet a couple small embellishments. I don't know how to crochet, and have had trouble finding someone to show me. I really wish I lived closer to my grandmas! Either of them could probably have had me going in about 20 minutes. So after looking at a million diagrams and ending up with a bunch of duds (see photo), I think I finally figured it out. The sad result is that I now feel like I hate crocheting! (Not enough to not do some simple cute embellishments for things, but enough to dread it!). Stay tuned for photos of projects as they are completed.

A Sneak Peak

Since I've finally decided which craft will be mine I think I'll start putting some pictures on here of my projects as I complete them. The only problem is that many of the people I will give things to read this blog. So...here is a sneak peak of three projects I have just completed. All baby/child gifts and all for different people. Once I give them away I'll post a complete photo, meanwhile I'll just keep you guessing! This will also help me to remember to take photos of the things I make before I give them away!

We have just returned from a week-long vacation to Williamsburg. We had such a wonderful time that we weren't sure we wanted to come home at the end of it. The weather was perfect, and Elinore was so well-behaved. The car ride made for a very long day, but Elinore did better than we expected, and actually had Kevin and I into hysterics a few times. My favorite was when we asked her where she wanted to stop for dinner and she shouted out, "Taco Bell!" God must have known this was the perfect child for us! This first picture is of the courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg (CW). CW is really unique because it is actually the downtown of Williamsburg that has been transformed into the 17th-18th century. No cars allowed and all kinds of very knowledgeable employess decked out in colonial costume. CW is approximately 1 mile in length and 1 mile in width. Pretty big. You really do feel like you've gone back in time. It was so amazing to be in a place with so much history. To walk in the places where George Washington and Thomas Jefferson walked.

This guy is blowing glass at Jamestown. It was so cool to see him dip that rod into a pool of molten glass so bright you could hardly tell what you were looking at, and watch it slowly take shape into a square bottle.
Elinore had a blast walking around town and waving to all the horses. She was totally infatuated. She couldn't get enough of the pool at the place we stayed. All in all, she ended up being a great, if slow, walker.

I loved having all of the "actors" everywhere. That totally makes it come alive for me, and I can't wait to go again when we have older kids who would appreciate the history!

More Williamsburg

This is Elinore climbing on the ruins at Jamestown Island where the three ships (the Godspeed, the Susan Constant, and the Discovery) landed in 1607. My history was rather rusty before we went on this trip, but after reading all of the signs everywhere, I feel I am overflowing with information. Perhaps it would be more recognizable if I said that John Smith was leader of this colony at one point (his life was saved by Pocahontas).
This is the Capitol building in Colonial Williamsburg. It is where all the government meetings were held. We didn't get a chance to tour this building, but it really looks impressive.
We caught a piece of one of the presentations in Colonial Williamsburg. This is Lord Dunmore (governor of Virginia in the 1770s) after giving an angry speech chastising those involve in the Boston Tea Party. He was, of course, a loyalist. It was very interesting to feel the tension as they reenacted several events that led up to the American Revolution.