All Sorts

It must be spring!  I have had a few 'gentle reminders' that I haven't posted lately; I have been busy but it never seems to be anything truly spectacular.  However, if I only posted when I felt I had something spectacular to say, I think this would be one empty blog.  I've just been coasting along, doing my usual stuff since April 8.  The biggest time taker for me lately is reclaiming the upstairs of my house:  I can see my whole living room now!

This was previously filled with "stuff" from the basement during the renovation.  For two and a half months there was only a little pathway through here...

I have been catching up on a few projects that have been way too long in the works:

I started these for My Favorite Boy almost two years ago.

Yes, you are reading that correctly: it says 2006.  We have been to France twice more since then and those pictures are not in an album yet either!  The sad thing was it only took me a day to complete the album.  Actually I choose to look at that as a good thing, so I don't feel overwhelmed about those yet-to-be completed albums.

 

I started something new:

...and re-vamped some old things:

(before)

(after)

I have also been at the garden center, where I was supposed to be looking for a fern and some dirt.  I got bewitched by these flamenco pansies, which remind me of little girls in ruffly party dresses.  I'm going to pot them in a planter so I can be bewitched every day:)

 

A fair amount of spring cleaning has been going on too, but really it's not blog-worthy!

On the topic of gardening and spring cleaning, let me share a small story.  On Saturday Mr. Crafty World and I were sitting on the deck, lamenting on the huge expanse of dandelions in the backyard.  I always say we should just come to peace with the dandelions, because it seems we can never get rid of them (we don't spray due to the kids); they are at least green, and the kids think they are great.  Mr. Crafty World is always teasing the kids, telling them that their birthday parties will be weed-pulling parties, etc.  So on Saturday I suggested that we give the kids a penny for each dandelion head they pick off, and that way they won't spread so fast and we would only be out a couple of dollars.  Like three dollars maybe.  He thought it was a great idea so we recruited Our Favorite Girl who is always eager to earn a few loonies.  She worked and worked, and soon Our Favorite Boy came out to work his share of the two or three dollars.  They asked if buds counted for a penny too, and we eagerly said yes, thinking that if we could prevent the next crop from coming up it would be worth the now five dollars we figured we would have to pay.

The kids worked and worked, and when it was time to count the dandelion flowers and buds, Mr. Crafty World and I ended up forking out seventeen dollars to our little workers!  We have since implemented an hourly rate for weed pulling.

Have a great day everyone!