Shopping in a Diseased Country

John was home today so I ran errands that I don't often do and would rather not do with the girls. I went to five stores in three hours. I didn't find everything I wanted but I did get chocolate milk! 

It's always an interesting experience to go shopping these days because it's a small window into the world, a face to face sampling of society(as opposed to the also very small window of social media). Or should I say, mask-to-mask. Thankfully I've not gone anywhere where masks were absolutely required, because I don't want to wear one. I really dislike how wearing masks de-humanizes people. I dislike going out and not seeing people's faces. It makes them more like robots because you can't see any facial expressions or emotions. It's difficult to even hear what people are saying. Masks cut human interaction down to almost nothing, and I don't like that.

People out and about today were very friendly, but I felt more of an underlying insistence, possibly even militancy, that people follow "the rules." And it's like people are walking on eggshells trying to keep them all(the rules). One lady standing in line behind me waiting to get into a store spoke with calm resignation of all of us living in fear. Another lady standing in line profusely thanked the woman next to her for being a hero and working as a nurse, even though she was a nurse in a psych ward, not an infectious disease ward. Such an odd flavor to our world right now. And so much social pressure. Social pressure never really bothers me. I can dress differently and live differently from culture and I'm fine being different. I think I get that from growing up homeschooled and also from mom. But won't all these people who do care about what society thinks start to crack at some point?

Also so many people living in fear of catching a disease. Coming out of the past four months has cemented in my mind that avoiding disease is not worth the cost of isolation; not for this long of a time. I can see the affect of isolation on people and while it may not be extreme yet, none of it is good. This situation also makes me think back on the three years we lived in Ft. Worth, and how I struggled with being alone. Being alone is bad! God said so!

Spring Tea

 We planned our spring tea to fall when we expected the peonies to bloom. We caught the tail end of the blooms and I think the table turned out very pretty! We added lemons, mint, and a sad bouquet from Aldi. We also used antique purple glass to hold the flowers, mismatching tea cups, and a pale blue tablecloth with a few vintage lace handkerchiefs.

No pictures of food this time- we had chicken bacon bites, savory cheese scones, truffles, and a strawberry jelly roll cake.

Now I'm looking forward to the Fall tea!

Our Patio and Garden

We have a little garden this spring. The dirt is very hard so we'll see what it yields. The peas and lettuce are doing well. The herbs and flowers remain to be seen. Some parsley is coming up and maybe a few leeks. I hope the basil grows because I use that the most.

We took this flag pole from our neighbor's yard on campus after they moved out. They were the unhappy family and we were glad they moved. John protested packing it when our time to move came, but they cost way too much and so I kept it. Now a year after moving it finally is getting a flag and a place in our garden.

I am always looking for something to decorate. John helped me spray paint two chairs and the pots on our patio. Now the flagpole and banner will match, and hopefully I'll make some new matching bunting as well. We all love having a patio, playset and yard, and now a garden. It's a blessing.

Pretty snazzy chairs!

A White Swiss Dot Blouse

This blouse is white cotton lawn with some leftover white rayon challis as lining. It's a good blouse. I think it could stand to have a little more flair in the bottom, and it could be maybe an inch longer. I have spent so much time thinking about how to accommodate pregnancy, post-partum, nursing, and recovery body(is that a thing) into one item of clothing, and I'm not sure it's really possible! I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about a piece of black velvet I've had for five years now. It's just cheap polyester stretch velvet, and I think I've finally decided to make a plain maxi skirt with it. Something nice to wear to church. But then the question is, how fitted should I make it? And then my mind just went on and on from there. I do love the creative process of making clothes. It's just the challenge of the possibility of many different body shapes having to fit inside the same piece of clothing that makes it all interesting!

A Blue Summer Blouse

Rayon challis drapes so nicely and is light without being too see-through. It's also very soft, but not too difficult to work with. It does wrinkle easily, but I still like it anyway. So this blouse is blue stripe rayon challis, lined with some leftover cream rayon challis. I believe they both came from fabric.com.

It's a simple pull-over blouse. I wanted to make it loose enough to wear for early pregnancy and for nursing, should that come about again. I can't afford to have a wardrobe for each specific stage of life!

The stripes meet in the center front. The back has the stripes going straight up and down with two small darts at the waist.

The waistline has a peplum skirt- I hemmed it by hand. Rayon can be pretty bouncy so hemming by hand gave a better look than a rolled him would by machine.

The sleeves have alternating stripes for the cuff.

And that's it! I was very careful making this so hopefully it wears for a long while. Next post, a white swiss dot blouse that I plan to wear to the Very Next Wedding.

A New Year

It's 2020! My goals turned out to be both a long to-do list for the year, as well as possibilities to prepare for. Here are a few small changes I'm working towards at present.

M's school. I figured I needed some specific direction for education this year, so we will at least be working on learning one hymn a month, one catechism question weekly, and reading Proverbs, and meandering our way through learning to recognize lower case letters besides upper case. She can count to fifteen so we'll keep moving onward with numbers, and hopefully read some educational books together. Still debating getting a library card.

New clothes. My wardrobe makes me a bit discouraged these days. Two babies and an austere budget for the past four years have taken a toll. But the budget is still austere, so I can't justify buying new clothes, though I would still like something nicer than used- and I don't have time to go thrifting anyway. So this past year I bought some fabric to make three tees, three blouses, and a sweater. I was also given a new skirt and sweater for Christmas. The girls also have sewing projects continually piled up, but those are all make-overs of my old clothes or fabric leftovers. M loves new dresses made just for her!

Blouse number one completed

Available books. I moved my book basket to the window where it is at least there to be seen and easy to reach(but not reachable by toddlers). My times of reading have suffered. My quiet times are rare. My discipline suffers. So now they're available- I just need to decide to read.

My mode of organization isn't any fancy notebook. Just a pad of paper, with daily to-do lists and grocery lists. I'd be sunk without it! New notebooks for the new year.

And that's all so far!

A Christmas Tea

The Whole Table

 Early in December I hosted a tea in our apartment for a few ladies from church. The food turned out so well and I always enjoy decorating. The ladies stayed to talk for four hours! I wanted to share my pictures here for reference later on.

Centerpieces

Our party favors were these Nativity ornaments; and each nametag had a icebreaker question on the inside

Red pears, oranges, apples, cinnamon sticks and walnuts

Cranberries, carnations and eucalyptus

The perfect Christmas tablecloth, a present from my brother last year

A Grape and Cheese Tree

The Dickens Corner

The coconut Nativity, from my childhood.

The decorative stick got a Nativity too

Nutcrackers

Scones and Wassail to go with our truffles. This came after the cheese, fruit and spinach puffs.

Tea Smith tea is the best!

It's Fall!

M has an intense fascination with shoes. She wears shoes, all the time. She changes shoes several times a day. Potty training and shoes do not go hand in hand. When you have to go potty four times an hour, it gets old real fast trying to get pants off and on around toddler shoes. Plus they smell terrible! And I get stepped on almost as many times in an hour as M has to go potty. This is life.

We continue to improve our new apartment.We purchased an area rug for the living area, and after upcoming repairs in the girls' room I have plans to repaint, hang pictures, put up M's swing, and hopefully get a lamp for better lighting. I have the desire for M to enjoy playing in her room (without being naughty) once it gets too cold to go outside. She's getting to that age where she needs to expend energy or we'll both go crazy.

Most of what sewing I am getting done is winter clothes for the girls: flannel nightgowns, fleece pajama pants, long sleeved T-shirts. I still enjoy creating even practical clothes for them, because it's a need that I can take care of myself. And they still look cute whether I make them fancy dresses or not!

So it's Fall now- for real! I bought our traditional cinnamon broom and spiced cider from Trader Joe's today. When we moved to Ft. Worth, I missed Fall. John and I had fun visiting all the health food stores in the area, and the spiced cider and cinnamon broom gave an appearance of Fall even when there was none- so it's an official family tradition now. I also bought some nice cheese, which said on the label it was soaked in sayah, but I didn't know what that was. Apparently it's a wine. Oh well!

More Improvements

The stick is up(no picture yet)

The patio progresses:

The backsplash is done:

Now to wait for cooler temperatures to finish the patio!

Paint and Decor

The shelves

We were plugging along getting our B Suite where we(I) wanted it, and then we got sick. But the stencil border is done, and the kitchen shelves are up, and I love them. A few more touches and I hope to host a tea.

One, this stick. It's a stick we got off the lawn at Southwestern right after we arrived, and used it to prop open our very old, very heavy, very broken bedroom window. A very ordinary thing, but somewhere along the way we got attached to the stick and it moved with us. Now it's going to be sanded and hung on the wall to look something like this:

The other very important thing is the backsplash. It just needs to go up for the sake of our kitchen wall, but I have to paint it first!

 This is just a start of the ferns and lilies of the valley I plan to put on the backsplash. It may take a while!

The Plans

We've been here less than two weeks and things are finally unpacked just enough to think about decorating projects. Here's the short list of the big things:

Up and down stencils

Stenciled wall borders. I've been reading a bit about stenciled walls in colonial New England, and it's really interesting: traveling artists would take their stencils from house to house and decorate the walls, since wallpaper was yet to be available. It really struck a chord with me, after living in a drab off-white apartment for three years- and I've always loved painting things around me. This site was particularly interesting. Anyway, while most of the reproduced stencils were too busy for my space, I found some that I felt went well and started going at it.

Across stencils

 Painted lampshades. Another something that appealed to me. I've been watching home decor shows ever since we started getting ready to move, and this clip mentions painted lampshades. The lady's house is waaaay to busy for me, but just the deep colors seemed so warm.

This is my first try. I think it's hideous.

Kitchen shelves and cabinet knobs-an obvious, immediate need.

The knobs need an adjustment but I like the handles

 A backsplash- another practical need. But I'm determined to make it pretty.

Wood for the backsplash waiting to be painted and sealed.

Also on the list, curtains, quilt display, a garden space, an attractive patio with hammocks for the girls, and a sewing space. New chair covers, organize the bookshelves, make a lace teepee for the girls' room. How long with all that take me?????