Peach Coglo

Weekending~May 20, 2012

Joining sweet Amanda for weekending . . . .

This weekend beautiful and fun and eye-opening.  That is a lot for one weekend.

My dancing girl danced in her fifth recital.  I cannot believe she has been dancing for five years.   She really loves it.  I hear parents say this a lot.  I have heard kids say they love something.  It's hard for me to remember being 7 and loving something so much.  It looks like I have two seven year-olds who have their passions. 

Our weekend was full of clay, wood and dance.

Elijah made his first clay figure that I think is pretty awesome (I am his mama so I know I am super biased).  He took it to school before I could snap a shot for this post.  Elijah has been obsessing over clay for months now.  He loves making stuff with his hands and has asked for a Leatherman for his birthday.  This weekend he chisled a canoe.  I need a shot of that too; Elijah tends to make off with his creations, so I'll grab him when he returns from school today.

Helena danced her ballet this weekend and declared she wants to be a professional dancer-"definitely ballet, but if not ballet then other kinds of dance.  I just want to dance all of the time."  She had a wonderful time at her recital and her brothers rallied around her (Eden was asleep which was probably for the best).

Somebody enjoys posing.  I call this her Lena Horne pose.

As per tradition we hit Dairy Queen afterwards.  That is always yummy and fun.  Then we came home and Helena danced some more, leaping everywhere, practicing her form.  I think she has discovered what incredible things her body can do.  It's a wonderful reminder for me.

Last night almost ended in a few tears as Helena was already missing her ballet teacher and not looking forward to a summer without dancing.  So here we go looking up ballet and art workshops and  stockpiling more clay . . . .

How was your weekend?  I hope your weekend was grand and that your Monday is treating you well.

 

 

 

 

Weekending~April 22, 2012

Joining Amanda for weekending . . . .

This weekend was an awesome ending to a wonderful week of Spring Break.

Boy did we ever need Spring Break-all the toing and froing simply wears me out; I embrace my introversion, but it is a hard row to hoe when you hafta be places.

Friday we watched some crazy German pirate movie; I must say though that the dubbing was excellent.

There was laundry and yard work on Saturday, lots of manure, compost and fish fertilizer.  You can guess what I smelled like by the end of the day.  The fish fertilizer was actually the worst.

So now we have grapes, new raspberries, baby bear pumpkins, garlic, spinach, kale, radishes, lettuce, carrots, and tomatillos and three kinds of tomatoes started. We finally learned our lesson and decided to succession sow our lettuce and green leafies.  The blueberries and strawberries have been fertilized so here's hoping we get a crop.

Finally, we received a good soaking rain.  There were dust and pollen clouds here for weeks.  The dirt was like fine sand.  Now the birds and worms and plants are happy.  The mallard couple came back to our temporary backyard pond.  I only hope my little seeds didn't get washed away in the deluge.

The best part of the weekend though was the brick and rock painting by the kiddos.  They really brighten things up and I just enjoy watching them execute their plans even if it does involve squabbling.

I spent a lot of time reading Adventures of Little Bear.  This set was organized a bit like a chapter book.  Everytime I tried to stop reading, Eden would tell me we had more to read.  Still, despite almost falling asleep on her, I enjoyed watching her enjoy a book I loved as a kid even if Maurice Sendak's drawings of Cat fascinated and kind of freaked me out.

We capped off our weekend with a trip to the bowling alley.  I think this activity will be a family favorite.

There was lots of slowing down time which I treasure.  Greg was home so that was even better.  I had time to just look at the kids-really look at them without having to go do this or that or drag someone here or there.  Toing and froing is vastly overrated, but now we are back to it (sigh).  Luckily I have been filled up and I think we can make it to summertime.

How was your weekend?

Weekending~March 25, 2012

Joining Amanda for weekending . . . .

 

It was a wonderful one.

My mother gave us the birthday treat of live theater!

While my parents watched the kiddos (thank you!), Greg and I went to see Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in Boston.  After wandering around the Prudential Center lost for a second, we made it out into the night air and down the street to the theater.

The performances were spectacular.  We saw an actress, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, that we saw last year in another one of August Wilson's plays, Gem of the Ocean.  Wilson's work is incredibly powerful and can be difficult watch at times because he relates pain in such a skillful and poignant manner.  He also portrays life's joys and silliness too.  It was amazing.

Oh and talk about range, Yvette Freeman was tremendous.  You may remember her from the show ER.  I never really realize how limiting these hit shows can be for actors, until I see them in live theater.  Wow.  Not to harsh on ER or anything, but I can see why, as an artist, she left to do other things.

We celebrated Greg's birthday (the first go-round as his birthday is tomorrow) with a wonderful  dinner made by my mom and a fruit tart.

I finished knitting my last felted ball.

I made a decision to push through the exhaustion and paint something everyday, no matter how small.  I am almost done with my color exploration charts as a result, and I am feeling calmer about getting my hands on my brushes.

And to top it off, I saw an inspiring documentary about a man and his topiaries-no joke.  If you get a chance, watch it.  It is unbelievable the art this man created.  He was 70 when the documentary was made.  I promise you will be inspired.

How was your weekend?

Happy Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!  Since we can't be in New Orleans for at least the family-friendly celebrations, I decided we would have our own up here in CT.  I have made my first ever red beans and rice, gumbo,  and King Cake for our Mardi Gras dinner.  I don't dare try the etouffee or beignets.  I think next year we'll have to invite some folks over.  This party needs more of a crowd.  I do wish I could find my 1979 era beads.  I loved those things-the newer beads don't do much for me.  At least I have my old dubloons, yay!  I did pull out my green Halloween lights.  Turns out, I can use those for Mardi Gras  and St. Patrick's Day.  Sweet.

The day has been fun and busy so far with the kids stealing King Cake filling and helping me prepare.  Eden has been running around with her Halloween basket wishing everyone "Happy 'Olidays!", and looking for candy.  Hmm.  Now it's on to my bread pudding and fried chicken.  I have to put at least one vegetable dish in there somewhere.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day my friends.  Now off to make some Valentine's magic . . . .

 

love rocks by Helena

Ch-Ch-Check it Out

No we don't have any snow-just wishful thinking.

Hi friends.  I  am just popping in to let you know that my cyber-buddy Ella at Lifeologia has an awesome list of things to do this winter.  It's quite the cozy list, and I am honored to be included in it.  Ella writes lovely posts about self-care and nurturing our families.  If you have a moment, check it out.

Have a wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back here tomorrow for Yarn Along with Ginny.

Weekending ~ December 4, 2011

I am joining sweet Amanda for her weekending series.

This weekend was a full one.   We started off a little early on Thursday with our town's Holiday Stroll. 

Then Friday we went to our local nursery's open house.  They have some really fun felted ornaments for sale as well as the old-fashioned cardboard house decorations.  I really want to make some, but I think I need another 20 hours in the day.

At the nursery, we met up with my friend Darlene and her daughter Lila.  There were all sorts of appetizers, cider, coffee and marshmallow roasting.  I bought some paperwhite bulbs because I needed them and to offset the huge dent my kids made in the food that was laid out around the nursery.  Doran chowed on celery stalks like you would not believe.

Here we all are in the greenhouse.  Thanks Darlene!

After that it was kinda-sorta shrimp po'boys and elf for our Friday movie.  This was an instant favorite with the kids and I was laughing right along with them.  The looks on James Caan's face were priceless.  I never noticed until now how Will Ferrel's elf costume was patterned after Boss Elf's costume in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (Rankin/Bass version).  I mean it is almost the same costume- just with some embroidery added around the edges; love how they did that.

Speaking of Rudolph, we watched that together as a family on Saturday night after dinner.  I was able to sit and knit.  As many times as I have seen that show, it was nice to sit and take it in as usually I am running around.   Did you ever notice Yukon Cornelius' obsession with pork products?

Sunday was a CCD morning.  The kiddos and I made an Advent paper chain.  That was a fun and good project.  Each chain had something kind you can do for another person such as "clean your bedroom without being asked."  I do love celebrating the season with Advent.  For me, and the kids too, it just slows things down a wee bit.

Then I tried cleaning up the basement.  Greg cleaned up the unfinished side and then came to the finished side to help me-sweet man.  It looks much better now.

I am thinking of making a wreath for our door since it is bare.  Hmm, wonder when I could slide that one onto the list.

I did manage to "plant" my paperwhites.  Hopefully they will bloom.  I received some wonderful advice from Grace about how to tend them.  I am crossing my fingers.

 How was your weekend?

 

 

Weekending ~ October 23, 2011

Joining Amanda at the habit of being for her weekending series. . . .

Man these weekends are flying by . . . .

We kicked off our weekend a little differently this week.  Greg and I went off on a Haunted Hayride at a local farm with some friends.  I swear if I owned a farm I would do this.  The best spook they had was someone dressed in a Headless Horseman costume riding a beautiful and well-trained horse.  That was just my favorite.   I wish you could have been there in the hay-filled wagon with us riding through the broad, dark pastures.  It was a trip to suddenly see this caped being riding alongside us.  Washington Irving had an awesome imagination-such theater and drama!   I think I need to go read that story and rent the movie. 

Oh and as a bonus, we found that we can purchase some compost and manure from the farm-double bonus!

Then I did a lot of painting and drawing this weekend.  Hopefully the work pans out.

On Saturday I spent a really long time combing and braiding a little girl's hair.  I swear it gets longer and thicker by the minute.  I don't think two year olds can get blowouts though.

Unplugged Sunday ended a little earlier than usual so I could take care of some school business.  I was also supposed to get my print orders in-oh well that is for tonight.

Greg and the kiddos got started on our first ever Haunted Gingerbread House.  Let's hope the candy lasts long enough to decorate the house.

There was some knitting and tree gazing.

Those Halloweened Barbies cracked me up-a good use for them I think. ;-)

All in all a full and fantastic weekend!

How was yours?

Wearable Jack O'Lanterns

I got this idea from a Family Fun craft "brochure" (it's not really a magazine) that a friend gave us.  I don't know where she got it, and I haven't seen them in any stores.  The "brochure" has some really cute craft ideas.  I am sure many of them have been used or done other times and other places, but it's the first time I've seen a few of them.  I think I must be paying more attention to things.

Anyway, I mentioned a few days ago that I tie-dyed some shirts for the kiddos.  Man did that ever take me back to high school.  There are healthier dyes  out there, but I just used plain old RIT dye this go 'round.

I dyed the shirts and the children drew on the jack o'lantern faces with fabric paint.  I helped darken the spots that they felt were too light.  Working with the paint pen on fabric wasn't very easy for little hands.  I haven't started Eden's shirt yet, but we will work on it together when the rest of the children are at school.

In order to be sure that the paint sets, we have to let one side of the shirt dry completely before we tackle the other side.  These ought to be completed in a few days.  In the meantime, here's a peek.

I am finding so many fun things to make that can be used year after year for decorating and cheering up the house.  What are you making for Fall and/or Halloween?

Photographic Friday ~ Twenty-four

It's Photographic Friday, the day when I share practice photographs from the past few days or so.  They aren't perfect.  What is really?  I'm enjoying the process of concentrating, creating and working up my 10,000 hours of practice.  If the spirit moves you, feel free to share your own creations, photographic and otherwise with a link!

I wish everyone a beautiful and restful weekend!