May 23

May 22

Look what Beki just sent me! Thanks Beki! I love it!

May 17

Simon, the Bee Professional, came this morning and took away our compost dwellers. He chatted informedly to me as he worked. Did you know that queens can live for five years? And a worker bee, in summer, might only last a month. I was a bit sad to see them go, but glad they are being relocated to a bee farm. Also glad to get my compost bin back.

May 16

I made three more tops last week; two refashions, and one from scratch. Boosted by a couple of pairs of lightweight jeans from the op shop, my summer wardrobe is almost complete.On a completely different note ... some bees moved into the compost bin last Saturday. The landlord (who tries to never hire a professional to do anything, and who happened to be in our backyard working on the sprinkler system at the time) suggested we cover the bin with a large plastic bag and seal it up with tape, in the hopes that (a) the bees inside would die and (b) the others would go away.
It turns out that bees are more persistent than that. They're not going anywhere. It's time to call a professional.

May 11

My moo cards arrived! I'm tickled pink.

May 10

When packing her tomorrow's lunch tonight, Lauren decided that ranch dressing was an important component. A thorough search confirmed that we were out. So she asked, "Is it possible to make ranch dressing from scratch?"

Can I tell you how much I loved hearing that question?

A recipe was located, and, wow, we had all the ingredients. So she got down the blender and proceeded to make it.

Pretty cool. And delicious, according to all the ranch-eaters in the house (I am not one of them.)

I spent a few hours this afternoon making the girl a top from thrifted garments. This style suits her a good deal better than it does me! We are both mighty pleased with the result.

And this is just a gratuitous macro lens shot. Because orchids are so pretty.

May 9

Here's the output -- so far -- from my newly drafted shirt pattern. The first two are loosely based on Heather Ross's Summer Blouse, while the bottom two are refashioned men's shirts. I'm going to proceed with both styles; I have a bunch of thrift store shirts to cut down, and I've been trawling the fabric sites (and planning a trip to Michael Levine's) for suitable cloth. My mind is racing with possibilities for further modifications. Stay tuned!

May 3

We've never eaten a single fruit from our apricot tree. And here's why.

May 2

This morning, before chores, grocery shopping, or any of our usual Saturday stuff, we went to the beach for a few hours, just to get the blood pumping, smell the salt, and poke among the tidepools.




I highly recommend starting the weekend this way. Put aside your to do list, and go. Your day will be better for it. At least, mine was.