Summer Bucket List

Summer is pretty much here and, unlike last year, I plan on making the most of it, even if that means not doing a bunch of things at all times. Last year we were finishing up the house and were constantly on the go go go. And yeah, we had lots of fun and did some things, but I don't think we really spent much time just being and relaxing and really letting ourselves sink into the summer vibes.  I have goals for us this year, to be more, well, less. To take it easy when we need to, relax a bit, and make enjoying ourselves a priority. We forget to do that sometimes. 

All week I have been thinking about some of the things I really want out of my summer and here they are. 

Summer bucket list 2018.

• Kayak the Winooksi River to Lake Champlain. This was our goal last year but things got crazy and we never got the chance. 
• Camping with the littles and Barb. We promised them all we would take them camping because get this, none of them have ever camped. (GASP!)
• Find coffee table for downstairs. I have been on the look out for a, kind of specific, coffee table for months. I NEED to find one this summer. It's driving me crazy.
• Hang more art around the house. We have a lot of artwork and I have hung up some stuff, but I really need to hang more. 
• Visit the Lavender fields. There is a farm in the tip top parts of Vermont that lets you walk through their fields of lavender.I hear it is like magic. 
• Stay on top of gardening. Don't get lazy 
• Make studio/creative time a priority. I am busting at the seems.with things I want to create. 
• Hike Camels Hump. One of my favorite hikes and we haven't done it in a few years so I really want to do it this year. And if we didn't do it until fall, that would be ok too.
• Take it easy. This is a big one. I want for us (me and the mr) to not get so crazy and to let ourselves be a little low-key and maybe spend a day or two doing no much of anything. Last year we didn't really take any time off. We need to do that this summer. 

Do you have a summer bucket list?  What's on yours? 

Sunday Happy

The ladies are home in their hive, living the life that bees live. We have a great view of them from the window on the porch and when you are just sitting there quite, you can hear them buzzing. It's a great spot if you want to just sit there and watch them. (without getting mosquito bites)  Bees, in and out, doing their little flight dance up into the sky. It's mesmerizing. 

The week was good, if not a little hectic. The last week of May always is. It is time for apartment turn overs so we had few people moving out and in, plus the mr has been doing side work all week and has been crazy all out all day, everyday. So things have been busy. But we still managed to get in dinner at Shannons, a evening on Mills river, and even a nice bike ride. Then there are my new garden woes. I have been spending more time then I really want to around the garden, keeping the slugs away because the cooper strip doesn't do shit, (I am now hand picking the fuckers and sticking them in a bowl of water. The birds love it) and getting an insane amounts of mosquito bites. I don't think I have ever been bitten on the face as much as I have been in he past week. And I have noticed that bubmble bees have made a home under one of the raised beds which also sucks because it 's right where I walk and I have almost collapsed there spot. I wish I could get them to move so I don't accidentally kill them so I am going to do a little research and see what I can do. Plus squirrels. I hate them right now and that is about as much as I can do or say on that subject. Anyway, On top of the garden and all the running around for people and life,  I mowed the lawn, cleaned the car, adjusted the kitchen cabinets, and got rid of a bunch of shit. We are so, what can I say,  productive? Or is it, In need of a vacation?  So soon, so soon. The van life is calling our names.....

Today is got a lot going for it. It is suppose to be beautiful, I have a stack of books, some wood to carve, some canvas to paint. My bike tires are still inflated and haven't popped yet (I really need new tires) so I am definitely going for a bike ride, and maybe the mr and I will adventure to do some picnicking while I read and he fishes. A well needed take it easy day. 

The world of the wide web.

-Um, yes. I have listened to this many many times. Weezer Covers Toto's 'Africa,'

-Read This Story and Get Happier. Oh, well ok. Doesn't hurt, right? 

-Going to do some wild foraging for stuff to make some stuff, like medicinal stuff. Guide to Making Tinctures

-YOU'VE NEVER SEEN WAVES LIKE THIS BEFORE. Erie and beautiful.

-I want it but have no need for it. Maybe get it and save for a later house? Fabulous vintage square bathtub

 -The Pits: An Endearing Short Film Follows a Lonely Avocado Searching NYC for its Other Half The music makes it great.

-If only I didn't already live here. VERMONT WILL PAY YOU $10,000 TO MOVE THERE AND WORK FROM HOME

-Naked-Eye Asteroid and More Can't-Miss Sky Events in June

-I follow a lot of plant people and I must say that those are my favorite pictures, but I am a crazy plant lady so.... Plant People Are Rarely Bullies”: The Leafy, Zen Corner of the Internet That Is Plant Instagram

-You, Too, Can Make a Fancy-Schmancy Pie Crust. I think I am gonna give it a go this week, or maybe next week. I'll wait for fresh peaches.

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

Freshly showered, clean pj's, popcorn, and chocolate bars. I am good at movie night  Notice the mr and his lack of candy... He hadn't taken his shower yet. HA.

The week, oh the week. It has been a full one. The lists have begun. Materials have been bought. Projects are scheduled and ready to go just as long as it doesn't snow again. Aggh. (Waking up the other morning to white stuff was, if not very beautiful, somewhat like a kick I the gut. But it's gone. And sure still is brisk out, but this is it guys, for real this time. Spring) We had Megan's birthday party over here the other night. I made pizza and salad and cake (that I am still finding al over the floor. I swear the people in my family do not know how to eat cake without getting it all over the f-ing place) and everyone was happy. I think. And that is the last birthday happening here for a while. (there are not more birthdays until late summer. HOORAY!) 

The littles have been here a lot this week. Having dinner, playing outside, and just pretty much beating on the mr. As a matter or fact, those little are currently asleep in the other room right now. Coco is at the hospital again so the big ones are with us. Never a dull moment here. We spent the day constructing houses out of cardboard, painting them and also getting paint all over the dinning room table. There was some scootering around the neighborhood, chalk art, and just doing stuff outside that we should be doing. We (or they) watched a movie (I cleaned) and then the beginning of my hellish night began. A stomach ache and a head ache for the girl and the boy has been coughing up a lung. Miley just needed to go to sleep but Judah just couldn't. The mr hooked u the humidifier and I have been pushing honey water down his throat every hour all night. I think he finally got himself to sleep at like 2. As for me, I have had no sleep, not a freaking wink. All I could do was listen to his coughing and if he stopped for a few minutes, I would worry and wait for the coughing to start.  And when I wasn't focused on his coughing, I was thinking how tired I was but then I started to think about the  taxes which then gave me an anxiety attack. And the mr started to snore very very loudly.  Plus I was getting up to check on the boy every hour. But both are asleep now and I am not. And it's pushing 5am. I am feeling pretty crazy and think the time for sleep has passed me by.

Not exactly sure what is going on today. All I know is that there are pancakes to be made, popcorn to clean up, and modern cardboard boxes to be finished.  Judah is hoping to install a pool off the side of his house and I think Miley was talking about a bounce castle. (how does one make a bounce castle out of an old yogurt container?) I just hope that they wake up feeling better and that Coco gets to come home today. Then they can go home I can pass the fuck out. 

Fun from the internet 

-What’s the Best Medicine for a Cough?.  Honey and humidity, it helped a whole heck of a lt. 

-The Intimacy of Socializing in Silence This makes me feel understood. 

-Good peanut butter is of upmost importance in life. Have to agree with the Trader Joes... It's one of the best, The Best Natural Peanut Butter Is Also the Easiest to Find

-Isle of Dogs. I really want to see this one, even though it pulls at all my sad heart strings. .

-I know I have posted things about this before, but forest bathing...got to do it. Suffering From Nature Deficit Disorder? Try Forest Bathing

-Plant life. 5 TIPS FOR CARING FOR FIDDLE LEAF FIGS and 5 Overlooked Plants That Can Survive In The (Almost) Dark

-20 Creative Ideas for Decorating a Kid's Bedroom We don't have any kids of our own, but we do have a kids room because we always have kids. These rooms are good inspiration and not just for the kid room but for our room too.

-Utah's 'Free-Range' Parenting Law Protects Parents So Kids Can Roam . I know some 7-8 year olds I would trust with my life. I also know some 13 year olds that I would never ever leave alone for fear of many many things. It all depends on the kid. But I love this. As long as it is done right and for the right reasons . 

-Healing with Poultices. Mash them up and smear them on and they never let me down. 

-Where the Streets Have MLK's Name. A man worth of having his name on all the street. 

Pictures from the week. 

Sunday Happy

What time is it really? Do you play that game when it's Daylight Savings? For the past week I have been walking around saying it's 4, but it really it's going to be 5 in a few days. So yeah, a little confusing because I can do that to things. But these year I have been proactive about the change and going to bed a little earlier ever night  (we spent an evening laying in bed, cause we couldn't fall asleep so early, looking up obscure meanings of words and things about birds. Did you know that a bunch of flamingos is called a flamboyance? Sometimes I hate the internet, but sometime, sometimes it is full of magic.) and waking up a little earlier (me, not the mr) And even better, we officially lost our hour yesterday, like I set the clocks forward when I woke up(the mr was confused all day but mostly went along with it). I wanted to get it out of the way so that today can be normal and I can stop thinking about the clock. Look at me, I am so smart, or maybe just really weird, but whateva, I am one (hour) up on everyone. 

The week had been pretty full and fun.. There was and has been lots of snow falling and melting and falling again. I have loved it all because warm snow days are like the best. On one of those nice days we took the littles and Barb and climbed a little mountain. (You know when you walk to the top of a mountain and see a snow penis? No,well its pretty freaking fantastic, especially when you have two littles with you. There was no shortage of wiener jokes for the rest of the day) The mr made Coco a sweet ass toddler bed and now he is sleeping in his own bed like a toddler boss. We found the last remaining light fixture needed for the bathroom and put that it, and now the house is completely done, except for wanting to start all over again. (we need to find a new shitty house to fix).  I got a bunch of chores done, cleaned a bunch more, and every day getting a little more pumped about spring and outside and all the things I need to do outside once the ground thaws. I can't wait to play in the dirt!.

Then a couple days ago the mr took me on a driving adventure that ended up at an outdoor church in the middle of nowhere to pick up some free church pews. And to see all the geese flying home. But church pews, yeah that was interesting. I didn't really want them, but the mr was all about them and has some ideas for them. (cutting in half and sanding)  SO we loaded up the truck and drove an hour with large cross incrusted pews sticking out of the. truck bed. (The things we end up doing.) As for the pews, they are cool, but I really don't think I need a church pew in the house, way to clunky and it just doesn't seem right. 

As I said before, we lost our hour yesterday so the day was a little wonky. Ate lunch at 1 but dinner at 5 but it was really 12 and really 6 but went to bed at 8 and his clock said 4 but mine said 5,  but who's 5 were we talking about. Yeah, it was confusing but we got through it, mostly because we didn't have anything time sensitive going on. During the day the mr and I each ended up with a little. The boys went and did some wood shop stuff and us loadies stayed here and went over her play lines and  baked cookies. Or I baked cookies and the girl watched baking shows and ate cookie dough. And then I washed my hair, ate dinner and went to bed. 

So today.. my brain is good but my body is still adjusting to time so I already know that I am going to need a nap today, hell, I might even just go back to bed for a little while (no, I probably won't) Then I am going to strip the sheets and blanket and I am going to make the bed with the spring sheets and blankets because time change means it is basically spring which means I should probably get out my shorts and mud boots and get on it. But that is all after the nap, and the million cups of coffee I will be drinking today. But spring guys!!!! 

Interesting internet that interested me. 

-Are you a fan or do you hate the time changing? One Hundred Years Later, the Madness of Daylight Saving Time Endures

-For a Brief, Brief Moment Ketchup Was Green. I just had a conversation with the littles about the colored ketchup.. they didn't believe me. 

-We are getting closer and starting to prepare... are you?  Companion Vegetable and Herb Planting in Raised Rows

-The Joyful Dancing Boys of Instagram. Amazing. These little dudes remind me of my nephew Jackson when he was a little... The kids could dance like no other..and then cry whe he messed up. SO cute. 

-I always wondered why the hell you can't recycle the cartons and try to avoid them as much as possible. I hate not being able to recycle, it makes me mad.  In The Recycling World, Why Are Some Cartons Such A Problem?

-LEGO Goes Green With Sustainable Bricks Made From Sugar. So can you eat them?

-I could see us needing this pretty soon because living in a van.... This Solar Energy System Is Perfect For #VanLife

-How cool would it be to see wild flamingos, they are so pretty. Florida's Long-Lost Wild Flamingos Were Hiding In Plain Sight

-More fantastic terms for groups or flock of birds. 

 -These shoes... I really want these shoes. 

And pictures from the week. 

Enjoy that day!

-C

Sunday Happy

Hey hello there. How's it going? Hopefully all is good and well. Maybe you got some crazy snow or some nasty wind (because March and that is what March does) but the bomb cyclone should be over now and we can get back to spring. We all need.a good spring. 

The week came and went. A family dinner, weird little odds and ends got done, a walk and a hanging out with the littles at the lake where we saw a kid run out onto the ice, fall in, run back out and laugh it off. (I was a bit shocked but all the littles could talk about was how the kid had a British accent. Didn't faze them that he just fell into freezing water). Besides that, nothing really out of the norm happened other then I did turn the heat off in the house for a few days (it has sense been turned back on). I also managed to clean the back porch and the car out and the mr and I were able to have an outdoor picnic lunch. Those warm days were really something special. When it got cold again, which it kinda did, (I got really cold because a little cold makes me colder then really really cold) I stayed inside and watched Ugly Delicious which is so so good and you all should watch it too. Oh, an I have pretty much stopped looking and using my phone because life is nice without it. 

Sunday Funday and today I want to have some fun. What the initials I have yet to figure out, but it will be done. (board games on the back porch? Maybe a really cold bike ride?) And then I will probably drink lots of coffee and watch a few more episode or  Ugly Delicious because once you start watching, you really can't stop. 

Internet on the internet from the week.

-How many different salts do you have? I have these 4.  Here’s How to Use Salts With Flair (& Confidence!)

-The mr and I have thrown the idea of green roofs around for years now. Maybe one day we will actually do it. Grow a Green Roof

-A Dreamy A-Frame Cabin in the Forests of the Pacific Northwest. This should be mine.

-I drink a lot of water and started to wonder if I was drinking too much water. Ask Well: Can You Drink Too Much Water?

-Lost Art Of Bending Over: How Other Cultures Spare Their Spines I now am very conscious of how I am bending my body. 

-I have actually seen this but never knew it had a name or that is was a Vermont thing. A Crash Course In Vermont's Head-Turning, Homegrown Sport

-High Mowing Seed Catalog... I want so many seeds! Got to get on it soon too because we are going to start seedling in the next 2 weeks!!!!!

-Spring and dandelions soon. How to Make Dandelion Jelly: Cooking With Weeds

-The Rise and Fall of the Once Beloved Sunken Living Room. Ill tell you one good reason sunken rooms are no-good....they are dirt and dust traps. 

-Handmade love. CERAMICS, A LOVE STORY.

Some pictures from the week. 

Have a great day.

-C