The last days of summer...

I've always thought of the Labour Day weekend as the end of summer. I know the end really isn't until the equinox but there is something final about Labour Day.

It's been a beautiful weekend (and quiet too... ) and we've hosted our fist house guest. My mother came up for a few days and despite the boxes still littering the hallways and other moving leftovers, it was a pretty nice time for all. Quiet and relaxing... ah, just as things should be.

With all the peace and quiet I've managed to squeeze in some proper baking and cooking.

Quiche with broccoli and panchetta...

Nectarine crumble cake...

And today... the MUCH anticipated gnocchi

I can't eat store bought gnocchi but these home made goodies are a different story. There is simply no comparison.

Setting off fire alarms and other good things.

I set off the fire alarm in the new house. It's sort of good because I was beginning to wonder if they actually worked. In the old house a steamy shower or toast for breakfast would set the buggers off. This time it was a smoky cauldron of incense. The previous owners had a security system installed so besides the piercing alarm sound a voice says "Fire, fire! There is smoke in the house!" It scared the hell out of me :)

Besides setting off alarms I've been stripping wall paper, unpacking, cleaning and doing dishes and laundry. It's still slow going but at least it's going...

I have been crafting too. I just can't show most of what I've been doing just yet. Here is something I can show though... just finished it this morning.



Totally inspired by Phizzy's Altered Jigsaw Puzzle.

It was a lot a lot harder than I expected. Those curves and funny spaces make for a difficult canvas. It was also a pain to trim the excess paper in those curves and bumps. So happy I chose a puzzle with larger pieces. I'm glad I did it though and might even do another one with a theme.

Interested in making your own? Here's the link to the craftster Altered Puzzle-along

WWE and crafting madness

We're heading back to the big city for a quick visit. D has one last soccer game and a pizza party tomorrow so we're making the drive and doing some visiting before school starts up (is summer over already?).

This morning the kiddo and I made an entry way for his wrestlers. He's mental for wrestling... it's non-stop wrestling all day every day so I figured I'd lure him to the crafty darkside with a little wwe. It was also a nice way to use up one of the many, many moving boxes that is littering my house. We're also going to try to make them a backstage gym area once this baby is complete.



That's my action figure entering the ring. My dear son bought me Triple H for my b-day this year. I asked for a book.

Pay it forward brother...

People are different out here. Don't get me wrong, one of the things I liked about the big city we moved from was the people. For the most part people in our old home town were pretty nice... out here it's a whole different ball game.

Last week it took the Mr. three evenings to mow our lawn. We quickly realized that we'd need to get ourselves a lawn tractor. Off to town we went and bought a shiny red chopper... that wouldn't fit in the trailer. Ug! After only a minute or two a fella in a pick-up truck kindly offered his assistance. His kiddo sat in the truck and didn't complain about the wait. He made small talk and was kind as can be. When we said our thanks he said "Pay it forward brother..." and drove off.



Today we got a huge box of fresh veggies from the Thai workers who work in the vineyard. Lettuce, eggplants, onions, corn, melon, cucumbers. Just look at the beautiful veggies they gave us...







They've also been kind enough to give us some fresh eggs from the chickens they keep. Every time the Mr. tries to give them a few bucks for the goodies they refuse it.

I've had iced tea at my neighbours house, been to a pig roast hosted by near strangers and met many lovely, genuinely friendly people all over the county. It's sort of sad that all this goodwill is kinda difficult to get used to.

Ah well.

In other news...

- we saw a woodpecker eating the termites in one of our apple trees
- a ground hog was snooping around our back lawn this evening
- I've actually done a fair bit of crafting today
- made a batch of peanut butter cookies
- I checked the pork, spinach and fennel terrine I made 2 days ago and it didn't cook! What a pisser!

I found my brushes!

I was getting a little worried. Two weeks and no sign of my paint brushes or glue. I hit the jackpot last night however, and found a box marked "Art Supplies" hiding in our guest room. I managed to get a tiny little start on two projects before bed.

The office is starting to come together but it's taking ages and I have no idea where everything should go. Hey, at least I can see the floor (or parts of it) now.



Went to check out Big D's new school today. They are terribly nice there and it seems like a nice place to learn. One fairly cool thing is that they have a courtyard in the centre of the school. How neat is that?

One last newsworthy tidbit... D has not one, but two loose teeth! The tooth fairy should be making her way to our house pretty soon. I'm planning on capturing her and keeping her in a jar until she tells me what she does with all those damned teeth.

More treasures

Over the past few days we've made a bit of head way in our office/library/crafty space. That's a pretty big deal considering the amount of books we've got to deal with. There's still a pile of stuff sitting in the middle of the room and a few boxes waiting to be sorted in the hallway but I think I'll be well on my way to crafting very soon. If I can only find my brushes and glue....



Here's my stash of crafting books and specialty papers. That old green file on the right holds the old photos I've collected over the past few years. Not quite organized just yet but it's getting there.



I mentioned that D and I found a bunch of old bottles buried in our back garden last week. Today we found some more broken glass as well as two more intact bottles. That wasn't the only treasure I found today though. Take a look at this...



For the life of me I don't remember buying this but it's a discard from our old public library so I must have grabbed it... or the Mr. did and forgot to mention it to me. The projects range from a snake made out of rolled up foil balls to a more elaborate doll tea service and palace with guards. Who knew foil could be so much fun?

Holy crap we've moved!

It certainly has been a crazy few months but we are finally in our new home and very slowly getting settled. There are boxes everywhere and the place is a disaster but it is quickly becoming home.

There are a few things that we did not expect: the leaky drain in the kitchen, the sweltering heat in the upper floor, the crazy loud airplanes that occasionally pass by. I think that we can deal with all of it because there are so many nice things about being here. Just get a load out of the view from my office window...



It's been nice to spend more time with the Big D also. Last week we went on a treasure hunt in our back garden to dig up some old bottles we saw. Most of them were smashed to bits but there were a few survivors.



Pretty neat eh?

It's been a hell of a move. Seriously, it's been all sorts of awful in so many ways. But I'm thanking the gods that it's pretty much over and I can get back to life.