Last week, we had temps over several days in the 40s with sunshine and (major) wind. I almost thought spring was here, as the frozen brown yard emerged from its winter blanket. Then, all hope was dashed when we had more snow and colder temps. So, maybe NEXT month....
In the meantime, Mama's belly continues to grow and grow. Peanut seems to wiggle and move and do all the appropriate preborn things, and Squirt Boy MIGHT have a clue that there is a baby in there. He zerbers my belly and pats "the baby" and giggles when Peanut moves underneath his hands.
Squirt Boy continues to delight and amaze us. His vocabulary is growing; in addition to his signs, we're hearing dog, ball, NO!, Mama, Papa and "ma" for moth. (I hope those beasties aren't eating what little yarn they can get to.) We often hear "goo ga" for good girl (Fuzzy's sometimes misappropriate name). He says "nee" for his knee, and can point out most of his body parts (and ours, too). He tries joyfully jumping, and doesn't get off the ground....yet.
He LOVES being Papa's helper and has learned to use a screwdriver properly. Here you can see the boys repairing our new pantry. We picked up this slightly battered, but very serviceable, locker at our local transfer station. It is now repaired, with shelves and paint, and is handsomely holding groceries in our kitchen.
Squirt Boy adores being outside. We enjoy walks every evening when Papa gets home, and he runs everywhere, tromps through whatever "new" snow he can find, finds and throws sticks for Fuzzy, and hates to come inside. Two little words do help on occasion: "Hot Cocoa?"
Papa has faithfully painted several rooms so far. The kitchen is now "Tide Pools", a soft blue-green. The main living area and walls going upstairs glow with "Warm Welcome", a medium, sunny yellow. The wall behind the woodstove boasts "Tomato Bisque", a lovely red to off-set the large yellow wall behind it. The upstairs loft will sport "Avocado Essence", a nice sage green. We are all about color at our house. The only white walls you will see are those that aren't painted yet. We have plans for orange in the main floor bath, a dark turquoise in the upstairs bath, and a rusty coral color in the master bath.
In other house news: we'll soon have a banister and railing for the stairs. We'll have lovely pine tongue and groove paneling on the vaulted ceiling. The upstairs bath will be finished shortly. We'll have doors in more strategic locations, so we'll be able to disassemble a portion of the baby gate maze. We're looking at flooring and carpet choices for the upper two levels. We're figuring out what type of trim to put around the windows. So many choices, but we continue to have fun with it.....most of the time.
As we get closer to spring, I find myself dreaming of putting in a garden and making use of the compost heap we started in the yard last year. I've found a great book by Mel Bartholomew called
The Square Foot Gardener. I'm VERY excited about planting a low-maintenance, absolutely delicious garden this summer! Snap peas, miniature cantaloupes (the size of a softball), lettuce, spinach, basil, grape tomatoes, summer squash, sugar pumpkins, green beans, carrots...the possibilities are amazing! We
could plant broccoli and cabbages, but a local farmer grows beautiful ones, and sells them at his U-Pick for 50 cents a pound. That's a bargain to me!
We also want to put in strawberry and raspberry plants, along with a lilac bush or two. It will be fun to focus on the outside of the house for the summer.
Yes, I've still been knitting. Some stealth projects for babies and birthdays that are coming up. I finished my socks. They are pretty. A little slouchy. I knit VERY loosely, apparently, and need to go down a couple of needle sizes. The foot fits nicely, though.
I also knitted a pair of longies for Peanut in a pretty blue-green yarn I had lying around. (Longies are pants and a cloth diaper cover all in one, for the uninitiated.) I hope to embroider some bugs or frogs or flowers on the rear, once we all meet Peanut.
There is much to be done in the next five weeks before Peanut (and Auntie Chele's) arrival! Feel free to come lend a hand anytime. Make your reservations now for all of your summer visits, too! We'd loved to show you around.
