Mystery plants identified

Dogwood.

Peony.

This yard is full of plants I didn't recognize when we moved in. I'm not from the south, and we arrived in midsummer when most things were done blooming. Also, a poison ivy attacked me the first week we were here when I was sweeping the deck, and we had to clear out wasps and a huge snake, and all I could identify were yew berries (don't eat) and pokeweed berries (also don't eat), so I was not feeling the great outdoors for a while there. Who knew what other vicious plant forms were out to get us?

Anyway, all fall and winter I had this mystery tree at the end of the drive, that produced burgundy leaves and these little pod cherry things. I asked around and searched and searched online to figure it out, with absolutely no success. The bark looked like maybe a fruit tree? But the pod things didn't look edible?

And then this spring it bloomed. Ta-da! Dogwood!


Then there were these bush things out front. They got pretty big and then died completely flat for the winter. What are they? Will they poison us? The girls and I went on a field trip today to the gardens at Ida Lee, and one of the master gardeners happened to be in. I saw another of these mystery plants and asked her, and she was able not only to identify it for me, but also describe its habits, which also lined up exactly with ours. Peony, people.

It's kind of nice, figuring things out.

February was too much with us, late and soon

February was one of those months that seriously just wouldn't die. It started with that groundhog seeing his shadow, which was inexcusable. We spent about half the month sick -- I was pretty much positive I would never get to church again -- and it kept snowing and being mostly in the single digits. I am extremely tired of my winter clothes. Kate outgrew all hers. Since we were sick, we hardly got any school done, which meant we were stuck in ancient Mesopotamia for January and the entire month of February. I don't mind Sumer, Akkad, and the rest, because people have awesome names like "Enheduanna" and "Sin-Leqqi-Uninni," but it was getting old. As late as Saturday, which, you may remember, was February 28th, I was still telling people it was going to be February FOREVER.

I'm pleased to report that it's March. And, we started Ancient Egypt today! Woohoo!

I hadn't quite meant to start Meg with stories about Thutmose III, but that's what Jonathan wanted to tell her this morning, so I ran with it.

I started things off by playing "Walk Like an Egyptian" really loudly and repeatedly. I'm not sure about most of the lyrics, but pretty much all you can hear is "oo-way-oo-way" and "Walk like an Egyptian," which won't scar any tender psyches. We colored maps of Egypt, discussed Thutmose's reign and strategy at the Battle of Megiddo, and looked at his cartouches, his statues, his wives' jewelry, and, by Meg's request, his mummy. I've also started a new Ancient History pinboard. I've got big plans for copying some of those Thutmosid bezel rings and maybe we'll make Meg a full costume to go with it, white dress, collar, headdress, the works.

I have high hopes it might be spring again, ever.

Halloween on the high seas

Meg's new great love is the Octonauts, so she wanted to be Captain Barnacles for Halloween. I was not quite prepared to make all of us Octonauts costumes, so we expanded it as The High Seas. Jonathan wanted to be a mathematical pirate, I wanted to be a mermaid because I realized I'd never been one (!!), and Kate got to go as the ship's mouse.

We used a pile of our leftover moving cardboard to create a pirate ship in a corner of the living room and created a treasure hunt - the map, of course, was found in a bottle. Meg was quite pleased to discover in a linen closet a whole treasure chest of CANDY!

I suggested to Meg that perhaps next year, she could go as a princess. She was unimpressed.

"No, next year I'm dressing up as Shellington."
"Why not a princess?"
"It's not really my style. I'd rather be Shellington."
I pursued the question. Finally she explained, "Princesses are BORING."

Well, that does cover it.

Feels like home

A friend invited us to go berry picking at the Mackintosh farm this morning. It was downright chilly - only about sixty-five, which is ridiculous for late July, and it was wonderful. Hurray for the polar vortex. (It DID come back in the summer when we would appreciate it!) Meg and I actually had more fun in the veggie patch than with the blackberries: the berries were fine, but on the other side we found zucchini and eggplant and peppers in their natural habitat. Meg especially got a kick out of picking peppers. 

The zucchini plants at the farm had both ripe fruit and blossoms on the same plant, which I thought was so strange. We have two zucchini plants out back, both of which are blooming, so
I figured I might as well check them. And we had a huge zucchini - six inches long and nearly as thick. It looked like a watermelon. Cool.

The zucchini that looks like a watermelon

I finally worked up the courage to take the girls out back to our deck. The poison ivy has been poisoned (well, once) and was lying low, and since I washed our little dumpster the wasps haven't been around, so out we went. Also, I couldn't waste that 70-degree weather. I knocked the spiderwebs down and we picnicked for dinner and kicked a ball around afterwards.

It's so nice to play outside. It makes it feel like home. Also, what makes this house feel like home: Sayers books by the bed, Wodehouse books in the bathroom, and library books on every flat surface in every room where Jonathan has been, like a trail of bread crumbs. I love it.

Fireworks by association

"Mommy, we should have fireworks." Meg
"I'm sure they will on the Fourth of July."
"The Fourth of July?? That's - that's - AMERICAN!"

Spring fever

We're having spring fever around here. It's actually nice today, so I opened a window and didn't freeze too quickly. Meg and I walked to the cute fabric store, bought some happy material, and then we kept walking. We came home along the trail and I let Meg stomp through the residual snow and poke at ice puddles with a stick. We looked at the stream (full) and couldn't find any fish yet, but I did find strawberry leaves sprouting by the trail. It's been so long since we could just... go outside.

I'm determined to go camping again this summer. We have a battery lantern this time (I forgot to take any lights at all on our previous excursion, and did you know it gets dark at night?) and I found a suitable thermos at Ikea. I have THREE cast-iron skillets and a sterno stove, plus a kettle and French press. I'm on the lookout for those little metal dishes and material to make a groundcloth/picnic blanket, if I can find suitable ones. Turquoise and red everything would be best to match the thermos. :-) So we're getting better prepared for adventures. One thing about not having a yard is that you really appreciate the outdoors.

Spring fever also motivated me to get out my gigantic heavy bin of skirts and dresses and try them all on. Ha! It's not spring, but I can layer like an Eskimo if properly motivated. The dresses... are all those ones that were maternity-friendly last year. They didn't magically become more flattering over the winter. But that's okay, because separates are more baby-friendly. I'll wear dresses again summer after next. Skirts, however, are fair game. I tried on all the old ones, such as they were, and sprinted straight to my sewing machine to add to the collection. First in the works is an orange circle skirt. I'm trying new techniques, so we'll see. Also, it's an orange circle skirt, which may not have been the most practical. Hmm...

New Year resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely celebration and a good opening to the year. We all went to bed at the usual time, except Kate, who wanted to party throughout the night. I didn't have my party hat on, though, and kept putting her back down.

Today I started the new year right by drinking enough coffee to chase off my non-party-induced headache, tidying the living room, sweeping or vacuuming all the floors in the public areas, and rearranging the furniture, because that's what you do when the floor is clean enough to see. We had friends over for games - an old friend, a new friend (her husband), and a very new friend (their baby). It was so nice to spend time with them.

Apparently the new year is a good time to consider the past and determine what you can do better in the future. I never do, but it seems to be a thing.

This is my favorite list of resolutions. I think I can honestly subscribe to every one.

The Nester recommends making little changes to make it easier to do things you really want... like wear warm socks, so you won't be cold and grumpy.

Catherine Larson exhorts us not to fall into the Try Harder resolutions deathtrap.

Patricia Wrede talks about year-end clean-up for one's writing life. She named her cat Karma, in case you're wondering.


Honestly, 2013 was a lousy year, and I'm mostly grateful it's over. You know what? I never have to live through that year again. Best of 2013: Baby Kate.

But my doctor did tell me to take calcium with vitamin D. I feel old.

A pink dinosaur cake with jelly beans

Meg had a birthday on the 30th (as she does every year), and this was definitely a year of prioritizing. In a perfect world, we'd have invited friends, the presents would have been wrapped ahead of time (with ribbons too and actual bows), we'd have fixed a special dinner of foods she likes best, and I'd have been able to find and hang streamers.

However. This year I had to choose whether to fix a cake or dinner, and the cake won. We had a makeshift dinner of fish sticks and acorn squash which is weird but nobody cared, because it was a pretty epic cake. Ever since she turned three, a whole year, she's been requesting a pink cake - a DINOSAUR cake - with jelly beans. How did that work, you may ask? We baked chocolate cake in regular round cake pans, spread cream cheese between the layers, and made a really excellent strawberry buttercream frosting. It was all cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and pureed fresh strawberries. Next time I'll chill the frosting to thicken it before I put it on, but it was so good. Then Meg washed her hands and decorated her pink cake with toy dinosaurs, run-through-the-dishwasher-first-thank-you-very-much, and filled in the gaps with jelly beans.

I also prioritized wrapping all her presents without bows over getting half the presents wrapped with bows. I only had her "naptime" to wrap in, and Meg didn't care about ribbon. She cared about ripping paper off, and did so with aplomb. It was an excellent birthday. Meg even got to skype with both sets of grandparents and an aunt and an uncle and her cousin, who JUST started walking (yay James)! So that was pretty fun.

We found out later that the washing of the dinosaurs kind of went badly, though. Meg helped arrange dinosaurs in the top rack and I didn't realize she had included the grows-in-water parasaurolophus. She thought he needed a bath.

Never, ever, ever, put a grows-in-water toy though your dishwasher. Never.

Jonathan recovered the body, looking very much like a drowned victim who'd been underwater too long, and we've been picking styrofoam dinosaur bits off all our dishes for two loads now. It's pretty disgusting. I actually resorted to hand-washing things until we get the dishwasher grate cleaned out, which tells you the situation is serious.

But for all that, we have a delightful four-year-old and you've never had such a wonderful pink dinosaur cake with jelly beans. I think that cake will go down in family history.

The Kate update

Kate is a little more than two months old now; call it two and a half. She's getting strong and will hold her head up, and can do push-ups to hold her torso up, and has a truly impressive grip with that little bitty hand. I can put her in the Bumbo seat for a few minutes; not for a long time, but long enough to get a quick task done.

Last night I balanced Kate on her stomach over a boppy pillow. She decided she didn't like it and started squirming. She actually propelled herself forward far enough to unbalance herself and landed face-first on the couch. I was curious whether it was just a fluke or if she'd do it again - and also it was hilarious to watch - so I re-balanced her, and yes, she managed to scootch forward again and go plop. It was pretty funny the second time too.

When full and clean and nobody's putting her in undignified positions, and Mommy hasn't eaten any veggies on the Not Cool list, Kate's such a happy baby. She smiles and chatters with you. This afternoon I was holding her and thought she was asleep, and she giggled for me out of the blue. So charming.

Since she was born we've been giving her a wubba-nub pacifier, which is a pacifier with a stuffed animal attached. She has two frogs, Rana and Rajah, and a lamb, currently known as Lambie. (Original.) We like them because they give the pacifiers ballast and heft so they stay in the baby's mouth better, and also they give her something to grab onto. Kate, in the course of discovering her hands, has started to figure out how to hold the frog and adjust her pacifier in or out.

This evening, though, the wubba-nubs all went into hiding and we had to give her a plain pacifier. Ordinary. Frog-free. NOT AS GOOD. When it fell out, she grabbed her bib and tugged and tugged, and the pacifier DIDN'T GO BACK IN. Also, something was pulling on her neck. It was extremely frustrating.

Meg helped me set up our Christmas tree this evening and decorate it. While I've been writing this post, Kate's been beside me, sucking on one of the frogs and looking at the Christmas lights. She's just drifting off. Sparkly lights and gentle dishwasher noises make for pretty good lullabies.

Why you should put all your clocks back promptly instead of piecemeal over the next week...

For whatever reason, the big clock in our living room was running ten minutes fast. It wasn't a big deal, and probably helped us get out the door when we were running late, and the rest of the time we just remembered it was actually ten minutes earlier than it said.

Then the time changed. The clock now proudly proclaimed a time an hour and ten minutes off. This was terribly confusing to Meg, who kept trying to say naptime should be over an hour early, and furthermore we're starting to talk serious math calculations when actually we just wanted to know what time it was.

So Jonathan corrected it. It's the simple things in life.

A month and a day and another day

Kate's a month and a two days old. We're finally, finally having fall here. We had dew a few nights back, and this morning I woke up to condensation on the inside of the windows. There was some lovely fall color as I drove down Sycolin Road, the end out towards Ashburn, and it was bright and blustery and plenty cold enough for my puffer vest. I do like fall.

Meg held Kate for the first time this morning. We were all sitting in the big chair and I put her mostly upright in Meg's lap. Meg did a good job. Sadly I didn't get a picture, first because we were all in weird pajamas and unkempt-looking, second because it's hard to get a good shot of a chair you're sitting in, and most of all because the camera was clear at the other end of the house. So I wanted to make sure I mentioned it on the blog.

Meg is still fascinated by her sister. I call her Katherine, or Kate, or Katiekins. Meg calls her Kaffrin or Katie-kinsie. (Is Kaffrin like caffeine? Meg discovered slant rhymes and has been playing with them all week. "Caffeine" would be somewhat appropriate, if you are what your mother eats.)

I'm still kind of fascinated by Katie, too. She's charming. I love her little fists. I love the way she holds the frog wubba-nub pacifier with a hand on either side, to keep it from getting away -- when she can find both hands, of course. I love her curly little baby feet, which are straightening out and not going to be curly much longer. I love it when she looks straight at someone (preferably me) with those big eyes; and she makes the funniest faces. The best is with her mouth in an O and her eyes wide. What is she thinking?

Speaking of not knowing what they're thinking, Meg went in to her room this evening, theoretically to put on pajamas, and I hear maniacal laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha! My destiny!" Just... what?

Job-hunting

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Jonathan is looking for a new job. On the one hand, this is kind of concerning, because, well, we like to eat. Also, job-hunting is stressful. On the other hand, it's a little exciting. It's like sniffing the air and knowing rain is about to fall - it has that smell. I can't conjure up a job for him, but the Lord can. I did the calculations, and one or the other of us has hunted for a job on average every eighteen months since we were married and God has always provided.

So most of the time, I manage not to worry about it. It's kind of like George whosit, trusting the Lord for his orphanage - He's brought us here, and to a significant degree, it's His business to keep us. I even comforted a sweet lady the other day who was pretty upset on our behalf. Then I have other days where everything is bad and we're doomed and Meg will wear diapers forever and I'll never, ever get to live in a real house or have a garden this side of heaven. So there. Or we might have to move to Kentucky. The horror.

So if you want to help, do please pray. If you know of anyone who wants a researcher/strategist lawyer type, by all means let us know. There's a fine line between getting lost and having an adventure, you know.

Spring clothes

Spring has finally, finally, arrived here. I opened a window yesterday and (surprise!) found a very nice sunbeam. Being part cat, I immediately stretched out it, and spent most of Meg's naptime reading a magazine. It was a really good sunbeam.

I spent the rest of her naptime (on through dinnertime and past her bedtime) doing the Great Seasonal Clothes Swap, which involved getting out pretty much every item of clothing I own and either putting it into or out of a storage bin, mostly trying them on along the way. It was more exciting this year since I got out the maternity clothes. Yes, it's true! We are expecting a new arrival at the end of September. And, between junior and the pleasant weather, it was high time to get spring things out.

A visit from a leprechaun

This year the St. Patrick's Day ...leprechaun? left us treasure to find when we got up in the morning. It was in a treasure chest and everything.

Meg has been praying regularly for God to send her more dinosaurs, and He must have told the leprechaun, because there was a parasaurolophus in there. There was also a pack of stickers; we figured those must be for Meg too.

We also found a red glass guacamole bowl, a Wallace and Gromit movie, and quite a bit of chocolate coinage in gold and green. The gold ones were American coins, but the green ones had big shamrocks on the back, so those must be what leprechauns use. We were glad they shared.

For breakfast I fixed us green milk, which Meg thought was about the awesomest ever, and Lucky Charms cereal, which she turned up her nose at. I finally explained she didn't have to eat the marshmallows if she didn't want to. Then we all found green outfits for church.  And afterwards, we watched the VeggieTales St. Patrick's Day segment (Fanciful Flannelgraphs with Lutfi!). I've always liked that one.

I think it made a big impression on Meg. After her nap, she asked, "Is it still St. Patrick's day?" And this morning, again, "Is it still St. Patrick's day?" Furthermore, she's changed her regular prayer. Now she's asking for "A whole treasure of dinosaurs." She would particularly like a coelophysis, pteranodon, and a pterodactyl.

An anniversary of sorts

Today is the one year anniversary of Jonathan working at his current job. It's hard to believe it's only been one year. We're so happy here and with the situation. It was really a miracle job, especially because we know so many law grads who still haven't found a position at all. So we're grateful.

Also, I want to take a minute and brag on my husband. He's handsome. He gives great hugs. He does dishes. He writes a mean will (but he'd rather write nice ones) in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He tracks down people across thirty years and five states armed only with their name and their parents' names, and imports angels from the far east. He also fixes toilets and internet when they start leaking. We've been married four and a half years, and I adore him so much.

Happy New Year!

I just looked down at the calendar in the corner of my screen. 1/1/2013. It seems so unlikely, somehow. Where did 2012 go? Where did... all those years go? And what are all those ones doing on my screen?

At the beginning of the year, my resolution was 212 blog posts for 2012.  I didn't quite make it, with only 196 posts, but that's my most prolific since 2007 (207), so that's something. What the resolution did accomplish was drag my blog back to being a regular part of my life, which I had hoped it would do, so I'm relatively satisfied. Hopefully you are too.

We celebrated the new year with special appetizers for dinner over a rowdy game of Don't Break the Ice. Meg got it for Christmas and is a big fan, but hasn't quite grasped the nuance of not wanting to knock the polar bear down among the icebergs, so some of the rounds were short. Jonathan and I meant to play Settlers of Catan after we put Meg down, but we were so tired we collapsed with our several computers and that was kind of that. I played Bejeweled, personally. It's like Tetris only girlier, and I love it so much. I almost made it to midnight, but then I fell asleep at 11:55. Jonathan watched the political reports as we fell off the fiscal cliff.

I don't have any New Years Resolutions, precisely, and I tend to find meditating on the previous year somewhat inconclusive. I'm not sure I accomplished anything last year. I didn't write a novel or learn to knit or, um, visit Madagascar. We're still potty training and haven't bought a house yet. Wait! I sewed a red dress and most of a hobbit cloak. And Meg has learned her letters and numbers. There, that's what I did last year. But in any case, the Lord has taken good care of us, and that's pretty reassuring. I mean, I am reassured that He will take care of us again this year. A very happy New Year to you all.

Why I haven't been blogging

Thanksgiving is over and we're ready for Christmas decorations! I started trying to decorate Sunday night, but there was too much chaos. So I started organizing.

I organized closets Sunday night. The pile of give-aways took up residence by the front door and started spilling all throughout the living room.

Monday I tidied all afternoon, to no apparent effect. My room is actually much cleaner, but you couldn't really tell, which was depressing.

Tuesday I cleaned all afternoon and evening, also to not much effect. I cleaned Meg's room, scrubbed the bathroom (and lit a candle!), did laundry, and around eleven p.m. got the kitchen mostly clean, except for some residual dishes for the next round in the washer. It was pretty good, except Jonathan was under the weather and no matter where I went, someone was sure to come behind me and make messes. Herds of plastic animals sprouted up on chairs, magically. But I was making headway. Barely.

So this was the score as of Tuesday night: I'd cleaned my room, Meg's room, the bathroom, and the kitchen. That left the hall and the living room. In a five-room apartment, you'd THINK with four of the rooms clean, it would seem clean overall. But no. The house was still winning, just on the strength of that one living room alone, and furthermore it was trying to intimidate me. Bad house. Meanwhile, every day Meg anxiously asked if we could decorate, and every day I had to tell her no, we had to clean more. So I felt like a boring mother, as well as a losing housekeeper. Grr.

But. Today was the day. We finally got rid of that pile-o-junk and vacuumed the living room. Woohoo!  Meg was quite helpful about putting toys back in her room, and even threw away all the acorns that were getting stomped into the rug, which you can now see again and walk on barefoot. Life is good. Mommy, can we decorate?

Oh happy day, we got out the Christmas tree! This is the smallish one, about six feet tall but slimmer than average, that we got the first year we were married, and it's started to shed branches a little bit. I'll be sad when it goes, because it's just right for our smallish house. But, er, in the heat of battle I'd been putting off the question of where to set up this smallish tree. I can't for the life of me remember what we did with it last year, and in any case it probably wouldn't fit there again because now we have a computer and filing cabinets. I discussed it with Emily, and came to the decision that with two computers in the living room, we don't really need the TV in there. So I reorganized the house again, dismantled the TV shelf and put its contents on other shelves, where they don't fit, put the TV in my room where I'd never intended to have a TV, squeezed the empty shelf awkwardly into Meg's room where she promptly started lining up plastic animals, and set up the tree in the living room, all green and cheerful and shedding slightly.

But we're decorating. And we had a friend over this evening, who stomped us soundly at Scrabble. So there.

To shop or not to shop?

I think - I think - that I may have arranged not to have forgotten anything this trip, so that we don't absolutely have to go to Target on Black Friday. This has not historically been the case. There was that one year when I was expecting, we left the suitcase in Richmond, our pet mouse died on the way up and we had to bury it in the yard, and someone backed into our car. We had to go out and buy clothes that Friday. I think we avoided that this time.

Just as well, since the stores are advertising hysterically. I like shopping, but I'm just ornery enough to want it to be my idea.

So, loyal readers: what are your plans? Are the sales worth it to you? Have you already got ideas for Christmas presents, or do you shop for inspiration?

I'm thankful

Jonathan and Meg and I came up to spend the holiday with his family. Thanksgiving came off really well here - everyone was thankful, the food was amazing, Meg put together puzzles all day long, and I made the pies. We actually had sweet potatoes three ways (!?). There was a pan of mashed sweet potatoes, half with marshmallow topping, half with Ree Drummond's crumble topping, and then we used this recipe from Guy Fieri for sweet potatoes and apples with a whiskey-pecan sauce. It gave it this great woody kick. Definitely a keeper.

It's always interesting to see how other families do Thanksgiving. I knew that his family put sausage in their stuffing and liked their green beans crisp, but come to find out I take them aback by putting that little letter "s" on the end of "pie," as in, "I'll bring the pies." I thought two or three pies was standard. They're pretty much happy as long as there's pumpkin. Who knew? I did make a pumpkin pie, which turned out very nice indeed, but my usual mad apple-pie skills kind of deserted me today. It came out slightly burned on top and really liquid underneath, with a soggy crust. Oh well. The cinnamon apples in the middle were good.

However. We did have some slight excitement with the nutmeg. Jonathan's mom had a brand-new jar of it, so it was still very bright and fragrant, and I successfully peeled the top off. I thought the danger was passed and was about to grab a measuring spoon when it made a break for it. WHOOSH! FREEDOM! The jar leaped out of my hand and sprayed nutmeg grounds all over everything, counter to ballet flats. (She only thought she'd bought a six-year supply.) Nutmeg was my signature scent for the day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It was funny. This year, about a week before Halloween, a little alarm went off in my mind, saying "YOU NEED TO GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS!" I'm not sure why, since it's not time for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But Christmas shopping is kind of like cleaning house in that you should do it whenever you get the urge because it won't last, so I went shopping today. Would you believe Kohl's has started playing Christmas music? Not every song, just the occasional one, but it's definitely too early for that.

I hope it snows here soon. They were predicting a storm the other day, but it dumped on poor New York and nobody was happy. While it does look all gray and cloudy right now, it's actually about 60 degrees out there, so it's not very promising.