Baby's Growing

Last week Gray brought the boys to Mountville for a couple of days and we got to enjoy their antics. Collier is growing and changing so fast that I feel that I just have to see him every two weeks or so to keep up. He's such a happy baby with a ready smile for anyone who'll pay him some attention. Hamilton continues to delight us with his perky personality and ever increasing vocabulary.

With a pillow or two Collier was high chair ready. 

Grandma gets in on the action.

The cool snap surprised us but Hamilton is still ready for a golf car ride equipped with Mimi's jacket.

Learning Something New

Most of my sewing projects have some measure of a learning curve to them--especially window treatments-- since rarely are two alike for any client, but just recently an etsy client of mine requested a flat roman shade with no strings to pull to make it work up and down. She pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was already
aware that the hardware existed for that very purpose, but I had never used it.
With help from the supplier of the hardware and my long-suffering husband, I created my first fabric shade that works like a roller shade. What a neat idea! Here are the results.

Fun at the Beach!

Our family convened at Edisto Island last week for some recreation, relaxation and lots of togetherness. We bicycled, kayaked, swam, sunned and ate tons of food. Too bad I'm not an astute photographer who always captures the exciting action. It seems that most of the time my camera is somewhere I am not. I did manage to make some cute pics, nonetheless.

We bartered for the house we used at Edisto, which was not rental property. It had a lovely marsh view with a 300 yard dock out to the inlet. The house, itself, was filled with beautiful antiques, which was a little scary with a two year old, a spitting 3 month old, and an active eleven year old, but we grew very comfortable as the week wore on.

Not our typical beach rental

Two Things Afowl

After eighteen weeks of diligent care, our chickens are beginning to reward us with eggs. We've gotten an egg a day for the last four days with the promise of many more to come. At first the eggs are small, so we've read and can now attest to, but will gradually increase to a more standard size. These are about half the size of a store bought egg. I haven't cooked them yet. I guess I'm waiting until we have enough to scramble.

We seem to be attracting other fowl besides chickens. I glanced out our front door this morning to see a gaggle of turkeys crossing our driveway while making their way to the woods via my flower bed. There must have been twenty of them. I could see their heads bobbing among the flowers and on into the piney woods. Perhaps they were returning from a visit to our chickens.

Den Update

I've been trying for the last several months to give our den a little update without really doing anything major. Why the wheels of progress move so slowly, I don't know, but, finally, I've accomplished a couple of the ideas I had in mind. With great pictures from our session with photographer, Paige Stumbo, I made a grid of photos to hang over our desk.

BEFORE

The other project begging to be completed was a slipcover for our red chair. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with the cover on the red chair except that I didn't want it to be red any more and I had purchased fabric in February for remedying this problem. Just today I finished the cover and set the 'new' chair in place. I have some experience in making slipcovers (I covered the sofa in our sunroom) but I'm hardly an expert. I was pretty determined to further hone this craft with this particular chair and it took many hours to complete it to my satisfaction. I'd love to shadow an expert and learn a few tricks of the trade.

 

Adventures in Morgan-ville

The last two weeks plus have been a whirlwind of travel to and from Hanahan to help Gray and Seth with the children. Gray had an apendectomy which subsequently developed an abscess and put her under the weather for days after the surgery. The upside was that I got to spend lots of time with my grandboys! It's always fun at the Morgans even when one of them is not feeling up to par. Collier changes with every visit and he's such a delight with all his cooing and smiling.  Hamilton talks a blue streak and loves to go for a neighborhood walk with Mimi or Pops. He's sweet to Collier,for the most part, but has to be watched constantly or you might discover him pulling the baby around by his feet.

Gray's much better now and I'm home again dealing with garden produce, sewing, and trying to keep flowers alive in this 100 degree heat.
We're looking forward to seeing the Morgans again soon for our vacation at Edisto.

Corn Day

There's not much leeway in harvesting corn if you want to get it at its peak of freshness. Dale told me Friday that Saturday was the day, so harvesting corn was what we did. We picked early, set aside what we thought we could 'put up', and shared the rest with some friends and neighbors. It's work--but satisfying work--to fill up the freezer with our own garden goodies.