a gypsy caravan

what mae was doing while I wrote that last blog post (or "why I haven't written a post since february")

I often feel badly that I don't write more often here in this space. I really wanted it to be an almost daily journal of our goings on. I hadn't written since February and decided I'd quickly write the April Ruffle post to join in Ginny's fun. I was careful to assign Mae, age 2 1/2, to her sister for a few minutes of watercolor artistry and playing giraffes. Apparently things didn't go as I thought they were going upstairs and her sister (who shall remain nameless) got distracted. Mae was found, seven minutes after I began writing the blog post, on the floor painting her toenails. The child needs Constant. Parental. Supervision.

To her credit, she did not get a single drop on the floor.

Apparently seven minutes is long enough for a pedicure in Mae's Salon. Anyone want to be her second customer? :)

 

april ruffle wrap-yarn along

Warm weather is coming our way here in Northeast Ohio so I am trying to finish my November Ruffle Wrap before the chill is out of the air. Right now the temperatures are in the mid fifties with an occasional jump into the sixties. When the summer months come, I tend to work on smaller projects that aren't quite so warm on my lap. I like the way the charcoal grey is speckled with the lighter weight alpaca. I think I will wear it alot on cold winter nights.

I've been reading The Family Kitchen Garden and really love the way the projects are broken down on a month by month basis. We are in hardiness zone 6 which means I can follow the book as written without adjusting our growing calendar. Ben planted shell peas two weeks ago and they are beginning to sprout out back.  The strawberries also have new leaves. We should have a bumper crop for jam and for eating. 

I plan to put in an herb garden on the west side of the house this spring and am looking for design ideas. I like circular gardens with small paths between plantings so I'm considering that idea.  The Kid's Herb Book has a nice list of medicinal herbs and kitchen herbs that are child friendly plus some easy activities/recipes for children and parents to do together. 

I lost a hive of bees this winter. I heard a lot of people lost bees this year. I'm trying not to feel too badly about it and have ordered replacements to pick up the first week of May. My strong hive last year that subsequently survived this winter were Carnolians and the ones that died were Italians. So I ordered another colony of Carniolans. Here's hoping! In the meantime, I'm going to try to be more diligent to read the beekeeping books that are lying around my home and become a bit more educated in that regard. For those of you who keep bees, do you have a favorite go-to resource to answer your bee questions?

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

You can find more Yarn Alongs at Ginny's.