Big ol’ picture post.
Lots going on, although the pace seems slower. It’s as it should be. It’s that strange first month with a new baby, where you’re tired but you’ve just been sitting and nursing all day (which I know, it IS doing something and using energy, but it’s just a different activity and I don’t process it the same way). Or I’m overstimulated and bored at the same time… it’s just weird. Today has been lovely though- snuggling with both my babies (actually, all three if you count Maya!), out to breakfast with just Asa and a dear friend, jamming to The Who at loud volumes on the drive (very therapeutic), home for a bit then out to a garage sale, then I actually got a bunch of stuff done around the house and did a big harvest in the garden. Tonight my only goals are to do something with all the vegetables and make dinner with Jeff, take a long bath, and watch a chick-flicky movie after babies are sleeping. I might have to pop in PS, I Love You for the second time in a couple of days, it just makes my hormonal girly side swoon. Oh yes.
I’ve realized that the trick to keeping myself from becoming too stir-crazy in these early days is to make lists. My brain gets jumbled with kid noise, lack of energy, whatever, but if I make a quick list at the beginning of the day I’ll be that much more focused. Today it’s worked really well. When both kids were asleep, I just went for the list and knew exactly what I wanted to do. It was extremely satisfying, especially because those moments are brief and soon enough I’m nursing and flipping around on the internet again…
We took Vera to the zoo this week. It was her first time there, and I thought it would be fun. It was fun, but it was also 90 degrees and impossibly humid, and I had Asa plastered to my chest in the sling. I also was surprisingly not inclined to take any pictures. I’m not happy about the existence of zoos… while it was fun to see Vera experience it all and love the animals, it was just really sad to me that all of them are in captivity, so many endangered, all because of our destructive ways… not to mention that it just perpetuates the myth that we’re the most important creatures on the earth. I think in the future it’ll be a good opportunity to talk to the kids about that stuff and admire beautiful animals, but I wasn’t feeling any photo-ops. BUT, Jeff did get this one on his phone, which I thought was nice.
Yesterday we went to a local fair. Vera was timid about getting into this balloon castle, but once she did… Jeff had to crawl in after her when her time was up. Now I know why parents are standing there with cameras cheering on their toddlers on over the littlest things. It’s because they know those little people, and they know how much fun they are having, and it just makes your heart soar as a parent… 
The petting zoo.
"Don’t squeeze the bunny’s ear!!!"
My garage sale finds…
This little piece of art is from Greece, and will be going in my bathroom. 🙂
I got these two great big bags of fabric. It’s great. I really hit the jackpot here.
Vera’s picks.
This friend of ours is lending us his nice record player indefinitely. We don’t have a lot to play on it, though, so we try to find records when we can. This one stood out- it’s a collection of kids music. Everything from Davey Crockett to Do-Re-Mi, the Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Peter and the Wolf, even the Nutcracker Suite. It’s perfect, and I’m so excited to listen to it all with Vera.
All of the above for a whopping $1. Score. Jeff also found this belt sander, which he was really excited about. 🙂
Then… the "Hen-itat". Jeff’s been out working to expand the chicken run each day. He had to partially finish one wall of the greenhouse in order to do it. This was it before:
Expansion in progress:
Start to the little roofed area for more shade.
From inside- you can see how we’re going to build the greenhouse out of old storm windows.
Finished. I’m not tall enough to get a great picture of it, but you can see the little roof there, and we put a big branch in there for them to hop around on. We’re happy about being able to give them a little more space, and I think they’re happy about it too. 
Of course some sweet sleepy baby. He’s awake more and more lately, so I’ll have to get some pictures of him soon with his big beautiful eyes open soon. I just love him. He’s plumping up, too. We got him weighed last Wednesday and he was already 9# 1oz.! He was 7# 15oz when he was born, so that’s over a pound of weight gain in just a week and a half! Healthy boy. 🙂
The harvest today. This is a huge basket. See that zucchini? Massive. That’s what happens when you don’t see one for a few days. BLAM! I’m thinking I’ll scoop out the seeds and stuff it- maybe have some people over for dinner that night to help us eat it. Also, on the subject of baskets- Jeff used to roll his eyes every time I’d come home with a new basket. He complained about them, telling me that I couldn’t possibly use so many. HA! Just the other day Jeff said, "You know, I’m really glad we have all of these- they’ve come in really handy!" Love it. 
Oh yeah, and this was yesterday. Tonight we’ll be chopping up peppers. One of the things I love about gardening is all the color. So much rich color, mixed with the fresh smell of sunned vegetables and leaves… it’s just intoxicating.
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I totally agree with your thoughts on zoos. Especially sad to see some of the bigger animals trapped in small, hot cement enclosures…
Great score, all that stuff for a dollar?!? wow. and that record looks awesome:)
Asa is growing so fast! Healthy little guy:)
I know! You know, one of the things I noticed the most was how much smaller the enclosures were to me now that I’m grown up. Everything seemed a lot bigger when I was young- now it seems like not nearly enough space for them…
So much to comment on!
Totally with you on the zoo thing. I remember being very sad but also excited about the zoo as a kid, which is the last time I went. On one hand, I know that Henry would love to see animals, but I just can’t handle the zoo…so maybe it’s a thing to do with grandparents and we can talk about why I feel the way I do, and encourage him (and future littles) to talk about how they feel about the zoo? I dunno. There’s no zoo here, so I suppose it won’t come up unless we visit a city with a zoo.
You aren’t kidding that Asa plumped out! Look at those beautiful little wrist rolls and chubby cheeks…so lovely. 🙂
Your chickens are gonna be sooo happy in their new deluxe quarters, and your harvest looks wonderful. Brava! Oh, and the basket thing? Same here. Paul is always fussing about my baskets. I’ll have to tell him about Jeff’s admission of their usefulness.
Yeah, zoos are tough! On the one hand it’s a great educational opportunity and those animals are just really cool… but on the other it’s just really sad and gross. What to do!
Yes, hopefully Paul will see the light soon. Baskets are the best!
My boy didn’t say word one about my baskets. He has, however, seen and commented upon their usefulness. I have one that holds my car blankets, which makes it very convenient to remove for my weekly grocery trip for work. And one that is just a rotating whatever we use it for basket, used for beach walking, picnics, farmer’s market purchases, and most recently for the laundry soap & accoutrement when headed to the laundromat. Actually I’m looking for more baskets so that the laundry one can be just for that stuff.
I really appreciate how your “buy as little as possible (especially new)” attitude has rubbed off on me. Sometimes it gets inconvenient to wait, but I’m trying to learn patience. Such as not buying more baskets, even at value village, but waiting to see them in trash and eviction piles. Today I got an entertainment center for free–Don had seen it a couple hours earlier for $20, but when I stopped by the same yard sale, it was free. They even kindly loaded it into their van and delivered it since they didn’t think it would fit in the back of my car and we were right up the street. I’m going to use it for storing “my stuff” when we move into the bigger bedroom next month, clothes and books and such that are currently stashed in the tiniest cubby holes and so hard to get to. I was just going to pick up a bookshelf if I hadn’t found anything by then, and as soon as I decided that, POOF! Free shelving unit with variable sized shelves!
I’ve asked the universe for a cooler. That hasn’t happened yet though.
I love it! The universe will provide! I love how that kind of thinking can open your eyes to things, too. Like how you were able to see an entertainment center as a place to store your odds and ends, not a big TV. It’s great! I think if you have this kind of mentality then you usually have to change your style to one that is more eclectic, but that’s always been what I’ve liked anyway, and it can be a fun challenge. 🙂
Eh, most of my furniture has been yard sale, eviction pile, and re-use center finds anyway. I don’t mind my eclectic style, really. And I usually go furniture shopping with a “use” in mind, and then find something that will work–even if that’s not its intended purpose. Like the old kitchen cabinetry with 4 drawers that was supposed to be installed in a wall, we just covered up the back to keep little fingers out of it and used it free-standing. I have since used that as a dresser, and let me tell you–the drawers that were shallow but went further back than your usual dresser were kind of awesome. Actually I don’t think we even went looking for that one, it was just in good condition and $1 so we got it since we had too much stuff in our kitchen with no place it put it all.
It’s hard to use much of anything else for a decent cooler though. At the ren fest I used to pack my picnic basket with a towel, put the food and some ice packs in, and then put a towel on top. Worked pretty well for a day trip, but didn’t hold much and was HEAVY. And also not a viable option for longer-term cooler usage. My mom is trying to figure out a way to pack and secure my cooler to use it as checked luggage when she comes out on Wednesday, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen. I hope it does, because it means it will also be coming out packed full of meat my uncle shot and gave me. Mmmm venison…
I have really really mixed feelings about zoos, i typically just leave feeling sad. My friend Cricket was telling me that some animals at zoos have been rescued from other less good (or even substantially worse) environments, not sure how true that is, but, it did make me feel better at the time. haha.
Love ’em beebs, chickens and garden goodies! I can almost smell that happy sunshine vegetable smell through those pictures. Love it!
Yeah I read something like that when we saw the eagles- that they were rescued and rehabilitated and yet only some could be returned to the wild… so I suppose that’s better. I guess I’m thinking that zoos may be a part of our lives each summer, but I hope we all leave a little sad having seen these beautiful animals in a place they never should have been. A good opportunity to teach them, I think.
Btw, currently listening to lovely music from you! There is SO MUCH, it’s very exciting to make my way through it all. Such a great gift. You and I have the same taste- I’ll be making you some music goodies soon. 🙂
http://faithhope3.livejournal.com/
I am changing my blog
Asa and Vera are so beautiful!
Nice finds for a dollar. Those colourful veggies look great too.
I’m getting caught up and there is so much to comment in just this one entry! The morning list is a really good idea. It does help a lot with getting centered and focused and being on purpose to direct our energy most efficiently. I hope it continues to work out for you.
As for the rest of the entry, I love it all! As usual I’m always excited for the chicken posts because I want a chicken coop of my own, and at first when I saw your harvest in the basket I had to look again because the veggies are so gorgeous and perfect they didn’t even look real!
More catching up to do, so more comments to come. I hope all is well. Lots of love.
Nice to have you back! I have catching up to do in your journal, too. I think I may have missed an entry! So excited about your adventures though. I hope you get chickens soon to top it all off! 🙂