DIY Swingset

The kids (especially my oldest) LOVE  LOVE swings. In all our previous homes they have had swings to play on but when we came here they didn’t. So, that quickly was put on the to do list of future projects. This last couple days the swings went up….

Blackberry Jam

Last year we had a wonderful opportunity to get blackberries. We went picking every other day while they were in season and it is easy to say the kids got really sick of blackberries. They would complain and I would say “Aren’t you excited!? We are only going to come a hundred more times 🙂 Just think of the yummy jam these will make!” They also make fantastic cobbler.

I froze most of the berries because we were also in the middle of other harvesting projects. I finally got to making some jam today…

Getting ready for Summer Break: Journaling

Summer break for us is going to be starting a bit late due to getting behind in our schooling but I am getting ready.

One of our school challenges is writing. My oldest hates it. When he sees that he has a writing assignment it is immediate dread and whining. At some point in the assignment there is usually tears. This is a great irony because the boy can talk and talk and talk.

So, I wanted to integrate some writing into our summer in a fun way.

Stepping up to the Deep End

Anyone who knows me well knows I DON’T like to swim or like being in water that is much deeper than to my knees. I tolerate it for my children and they aren’t even fully aware of how much I don’t care for it. l don’t want my fear interfering with their experiences. I swim well enough to survive and teach the kids the basics but if I never swam again that would really be okay with me. Luckily my husband is like a fish. He loves the water and helps instill that love (with the necessary respect for it) into our children.

When I started this blog it had a couple goals connected to it.

1) I love to write and teach. It gives me a forum for that.

2) The Screwy Carpenter would love to step into a new employment of woodworking. We would like to have internet sales be part of that transition.

So, step one was to start blogging and see if it was something I enjoyed and could see keeping up with on a regular basis. There have been some glitches but overall it has been successful.

Step Number Two:  Today I changed our domain name. We are still with WordPress but no longer have that name in the domain.  That was one piece of advice that was pretty consistent in the readings I have gone through so far. If you want to be taken seriously, have your own domain name. So, if you want to visit you can simply type in ladyandthcarpenter.com and WAALAA! here we are! WooHoo!

Back to swimming…(This all relates, I promise)

When I was about 13 I visited my father for the summer and there was a pool available for the apartments. I would go and enter the pool, mostly staying in the more shallow end, but when the water was past my chest I would constantly hold onto the wall. I met  another girl there and we became friends. She knew of my fear and said “Go ahead and jump in. When you do you will touch the bottom and you just push yourself back up. It’s not a big deal. You won’t drown. Plus I am here.”

I stood at the edge of that pool for what seemed like forever. I still remember the fear and tightness in my chest. Before I could think myself out of it I just jumped. Like she said I touched the bottom, pushed myself up and popped back up to the surface. That was a life changing moment for me. I knew I could jump in and survive. I still don’t regularly jump into the deep end but I know I would be fine if I did.

The next step for our blog is kind of like walking to the deep end of the pool for me. I stand here saying in my head “AGHHHH!  The body screams “Don’t do it you may drown!” I am looking out onto this sea of information and thinking… I could sit here all safe and just go through the regular motions or I could take a chance.

I now have a lot of education in front of me and a sea of information to explore. I am sure sometimes the waves will come but here we go. I know I can swim through it (I won’t be looking like an olympian by any means). I can tread water when needed and my wonderful Carpenter, who is a wonderful swimmer, is right here with me. The nice thing about this adventure is that it isn’t a life risking adventure, but still calls for a measure of brave. Everyone needs to have times in life where they step out of comfortable and take a swim.

Jumping in,

The Frabjus Lady

Mother’s Day and Ready to Plant. YA!

My hubby told me that on Saturday we were going to do Mother’s Day celebrations early. He asked me what fun thing I wanted to do and my response was that what I REALLY wanted to do was get the garden set up for planting. Okay, Maybe not on most peoples fun list but that is what I most wanted. I have been itching to get my bean seeds in the ground so I can start watching them grow but I felt stuck behind a list of things I needed to do.

Wood Flower Pot Makeover

I wanted to transplant this azalea plant that I brought home from my grandmothers memorial. It was root bound but was getting a new set of leaves and seemed to be enjoying its new Northwest home. It was practically screaming for some space and freedom.  In searching thorough my random collection of empty pots I found this cedar wood planter.

Rhubarb Abundance: Rhubarb Sweet Rolls

 

This scrumptious looking sweet roll was the tasty result of my latest rhubarb recipe exploration…

Rhubarb Abundance: Rhubarb Cake Recipe

As I have shared before I have a HUGE abundance of rhubarb. Time to experiment…