picture picture (27/30)

I found my Polaroid camera this afternoon--oh happy day! I was just thinking about it the other day, and wondering where in this house it could be. (In an unpacked box upstairs...yes, there are still some boxes that have yet to be unpacked!)

Anyway, I found the camera, which still had some film in it, plus an extra pack of film. Off we went outside to get some pictures. I didn't think any of them would turn out because the camera/film had been left in the unairconditioned upstairs all summer:

They did turn out! Now, I only took 3 pictures--I don't have the "snap away" attitude with the Polaroid that I do with the digital camera--until recently the film was out of production. (I guess a different company bought the film making operation from Polaroid and will soon start making it again. I'm not sure, I need to do more research.) I think I have 15 pictures left...

I love Polaroids--so much fun!

(I had to document our barns today because tomorrow they are going to be a bright new red!)

baby's quilt (26/30)

I have a couple pictures of the baby's quilt (just the top so far) to show:


So pretty and girly (and a little pink)! Now I need to get some fabric for the backing, and get it ready to quilt together. I use a big embroidery type hoop to put it in while I do the hand sewing. Such a fun cozy project for fall.

I feel like I have all kinds of energy now to do these little projects--probably because I have a deadline for them! (Also because I know in a few short months there won't be much time for projects--we'll be busy with the baby!)

all caught up now (25/30)

Now I'm officially all caught up on my little picture of the day project. This grouping is from July--and in a couple days I'll post one from August. Wow! The summer is going so fast! I can't believe that August is almost gone!

I've been busy working on a new quilt for the baby. I've got the top all put together, so now it's ready for quilting. I think I put this one together in record time! I'll share photos soon.

apple (24/30)

Here's a little beginning to a painting:

I want to make a whole set of little alphabet paintings, starting with the obvious A is for apple...

I think they would look neat all framed together for Max's room. We'll see how far I get!

a little bit of june (23/30)

Hello again June.



Just some fun little daily pictures for you today. (How about the one of Max reading the paper on the toilet?? He will definately hate me for that later!)

I started what will (hopefully) be a new little series of paintings last night. I'll share here soon!

you'll never take my freedom! (22/30)

You'll never take our freedom!! (You know, from Braveheart? William Wallace is getting the troops all riled up to defend Scotland and half of his face is painted blue. Classic.)

Max isn't defending Scotland, just trying to get the chance to roam free outside a little longer. It's hard being two when all you want to do is run around outside and your mom tries to get you to some back inside because there is dinner to be fixed, clothes to be washed, naps to take, etc.

Oh, and that's not war paint...just sidewalk chalk.

andrew's so funny (21/30)

A conversation from last night:

Abby: Did you read my post about wanting to ride a horse?

Andrew: Yes...I think it would be good for you to learn to ride again--I bet Max will want to ride and it will be a fun thing we can all do together. We'll have to look into it.

Later that night...

Andrew: (Reading the paper...) Abby! Here's where we can get you a good horse! In September they're having a wild mustang horse auction in New Castle. I bought a wild one at auction like that once, I got a really good deal on him. Then I sold him and made some money!

Abby: Wild mustang, yeah right! They've never been saddled up before! I need a horse that is dead broke.

Andrew: You're probably right. (Laughs)


Wild mustang. He's lost his mind. I need a horse that is old and who has lost his will to trot. (Or kick, or gallop, or any other crazy wild horse antics.)

technical difficulties (20/30)

We are experiencing a little technical difficulties here with the internet. I called the Verizon people today and the guy on the phone said "You have a big problem there, but we don't know what it is yet." That sounds bad. Anyway, the only way the internet works is if you are on the phone at the same time. Handy. So, this will be it for today--hopefully our "big problem" is fixed tomorrow!

a new favorite (19/30)

I have a new favorite blog: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

It is worth a look for the photography alone, but I think the author has a wonderful since of humor to boot. Speaking of boots, the blog is all about a family's life "out on the range". Beautiful. Makes me want to get some cattle and try to ride a horse again.

(Andrew will read this and think he needs to find me a suitable horse right away. Not yet honey...let's wait until I'm not pregnant. Safer that way!)

auction find (18/30)

We had an auction today...and I found some things I have been hunting! For a while I have been looking for refrigerator dishes. They are like old school Tupperware only glass. Super cute. I already had some clear ones, but I have really been wanting the Pyrex variety: pretty colors and patterns on the bottom with clear glass lids. I have seen some at other sales, but I tend to be a little cheap and hesitant with my bidding and the dealers tend to scoop them up. I love the refrigerator dishes because they are cute and functional at the same time. I like to put leftovers in these rather than the plastic variety because I think the plastic ones get a little icky and weird after a while.

I was in luck today! I spotted a flat of glassware with these little beauties in them so I left a bid with my mother-in-law. (Thanks for doing my bidding Kay!) Anyway, I got them for only 5 dollars! Two little mini ones, a bigger one, plus some other random glass stuff.

Auctions are so fun!!

state fair (17/30)

Since it finally rained on Wednesday, (and Andrew was rained out of work for a while) we decided to take a spontaneous family outing to the state fair yesterday. I was excited because it has been about 8 years or so since I'd been to the state fair. (I know!)

Max loved the baby pigs. I did too. I think piglets are the cutest, plus they make all those little grunting noises.

Max and Andy fed some goats. I think it is standard protocol that when you go to a fair that has livestock that you must feed at least one animal.


One of the main draws of the day was the Belgian draft show. (We have Belgians too, but they are not quite as fancy. I'm used to seeing the pulling horses which are like the muscle men of the draft horse group. These guys yesterday were a little different.) The show was not like any horse show I'd ever seen: they pulled the carts around to live organ music. It was so funny! I wasn't expecting that. Andrew told me that these horses always have live music. (Like I said before, they are fancy!)



Of course we had to have a little bit of the fair food while we were there. I usually get a corn dog, but since there was so much to pick from I thought I should try something a little more "exotic". I got deep fried tomato balls. Pretty tasty!

make it work (16/30)

So excited that Project Runway is back on!! It is taping as I type. (Too bad Andrew doesn't share the same enthusiasm for the show--doesn't look like I'll get to watch it in "real time". I'll have to find a little bit of time tomorrow...)

Love it.

playing pretend (15/30)

Max has been playing pretend a lot lately. Here's a little list of all the main characters:

cowboy
gorilla
mail man (my personal favorite)
dog
snake
dinosaur
monster
cow
cat

Sometimes these characters are combined. For example: Right at this minute he is a cowboy mailman (complete with a broom stick horse). So funny.

rub-a-dub doggy (14/30)

Max has recently decided that he hates taking a bath. Hates as in screaming bloody murder through the whole thing. It's been so bad that it takes both Andrew and I to get his hair washed. (Have you ever tried putting a cat in water? Imagine that.)

So, needless to say we've been trying everything to make bath time a little less traumatic. Elmo foam soap has been working pretty good, as well as some slight trickery.

Tonight I tried a new weapon: Rub-a-Dub Doggy. My mom had it out at her house today, and let us bring him home. I guess one Christmas all I wanted was a Rub-a-Dub Doggy (around the time I was 3 or 4 I think). Mom said that it was very hard to find because apparently all little children wanted one that year too, and my aunt Kathie finally found one in Dayton. Anyway, he's a cute little guy: all plastic with terry cloth ears.

I got Max in the tub no problem tonight. He wanted to give the doggy a bath. We still had a little bout of screaming during the hair washing, but other than that it was low on overall trauma.

Whew. Hope it works again tomorrow!

blanket for baby (13/30)

Today my mom and I went on a little hunt for some fabric to make a quilt for the new baby. It was so fun looking at little girl stuff! I picked out stuff that was cute and flowery, but not too girly. I can't wait to start cutting it out and seeing what it will look like all put together. I love having a little sewing/quilting project going like this.

Max keeps telling people that we are getting a new "baby grill" at our house. He has trouble saying girl, it always comes out grill.

Very cute.

happy birthday grandpa (12/30)

Today we celebrated my Grandpa Donnie's 78th birthday. We all love you so much Grandpa! Max helped him open all his presents so he was pretty excited about that.

**Note**
I didn't miss yesterday's post--it was later, but not missed. I was starting to fall asleep on the couch about 10:30 and I remembered that I needed to post to keep up with my challenge. So, I got in right under the radar. Honest. I think my time is messed up on blogger so it only thought that it was today. I'll have to look into getting the time changed...

a letter to the garden (11/30)

Dear Garden,

I know you are probably mad at me. I've not been giving you the attention that you deserve. I can only say that I am sorry, and that I hope to do better next year. I know that you don't like excuses, but August heat and a pregnant belly don't do anything to improve our situation.

I promise that next year I will work harder on keeping the weeds under control. I won't take a vacation for a week in July and let them take over--its just not fair to you. I promise that I will stake all the tomatoes early so they don't all end up in the dirt. I also promise to water you more. I know how much that makes you happy, and there's no reason why I can't do it more for you.

I hope that you believe all these promises I'm making. I know that soon we will part ways for a while, and I want you to know that I will try harder next year--I really will.

For now, please keep sending the wonderful tomatoes and melons--they are more than I deserve. Thank you.

Yours truly,
Abby

flickr favorites for friday (10/30)

1. Moss Sprouts, 2. Ginkgo Carpet, 3. Nature Collection, 4. they changed color, 5. hi. i'm not telling, 6. 02.14, 7. Mary Kendal Lee, 8. Photo Gathering, 9. their first harvest, 10. Rules for a successful holiday: 1. Get together with the family 2. Relive old times 3. Get out before it blows, 11. “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”, 12. in the middle, 13. hello yellow, 14. Chrysti's Studio, 15. Untitled, 16. The Quilt, 17. top o' the card catalog, 18. Untitled, 19. Inspiration Board, 20. i am currently loving..., 21. Polaroid Wall, 22. 2 lambs, 23. Front Page!!, 24. photo type case [ detail ], 25. Baby, 26. Little Piggies, 27. Favorite Block, 28. Mural : Tree and Birds, 29. Blue Table, 30. Royal Quiet De Luxe, 31. La nostalgia, 32. bird on a wire, 33. 7/20, 34. White desk, 35. Birds on a wire, 36. studio

I love flickr...I could spend hours looking through all the pictures, finding favorite ones. It is the digital equivalent of cutting up magazines and collecting favorite pictures--which is one of my fun little things I like to do. It is funny to look through a collection of things all at once to see what you are usually drawn to. For me it is things grouped in grids, flowers, the color turquoise, etc.

Enjoy the pictures & happy Friday!

pretty good (9/30)

Take a look at this little painting that Max did yesterday: all by himself! He is really into buttons lately. Usually I draw the vehicle (cars, trucks, tractors, trailers, ect) then he puts the wheels on with the buttons.

I was reading the paper or something at the table when he was painting, and I heard him talking about a car, and painting a window, about needing his buttons.

Then I look down and was amazed at his car! Not bad at all Max!

well hello there (8/30)

In case you haven't heard, or haven't seen me in a while...we're expecting another baby! Our new little one is due mid December, and Andrew and I couldn't be more excited. This morning we had our ultrasound, which was amazing and wonderful. The baby looks great--they estimated that it weighs about a pound. (How they can figure all that out I'll never know!)

So, right now, I'm on top of the world thanking God and dreaming of our new baby...

which by the way is a girl!

my kitchen is a perpetual mess (7/30)

I've been cooking a lot lately. I find cooking to be a fun little distraction: a way of pittering around when I really should be doing something else. (Plus, the garden continues to crank out the veggies, so I have to keep up!) So, for the past few days I feel like I just make messes in the kitchen, clean it up a little, then make another mess again later.
Today I made some tomato sauce, and it was a HUGE mess. First of all, the recipe called for 10 pounds of tomatoes. I had 5, so I halved everything. Good thing! Peeling/coring/seeding 5 pounds of tomatoes makes a very big mess. A juicy sticky mess. The sauce turned out pretty good, but I think some things are left to the experts. Prego does a pretty good job.
I think I may take tomorrow off from messing up the kitchen--that is unless I find myself with lots of tomatoes that need to be made into something!

better late than never, right? (6/30)

I know that the month of May is pretty much old news now, but I wanted to post the little photo-a-day mosaic that i just made TODAY. I'm slightly behind on this little project! I have been keeping up with my pictures everyday (with the exception of about four days in there) so I consider that pretty good!

salsa (5/30)

I made some salsa yesterday with my Roma tomatoes. This recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but I think that Roma and plum are basically the same thing. The recipe came from Everyday Food:

1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes (cored, halved and seeded)
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile pepper, minced
1 small garlic glove, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 1 lime
coarse salt

Chop up your tomatoes into little pieces, then stir in with everything else. Pretty simple. This can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

I didn't have the fresh cilantro, so I used the dried. I probably put in about a tablespoon of dried. I think this is a pretty good recipe--it makes nice chunky salsa like pico de gallo, which I love. Now, if you are like Andrew and like your salsa to look like ketchup this might not be the one for you. (I think Andrew has a general fear of vegetables, so if he is going to eat them he wants them blended/crushed/liquified so that they no longer resemble their original form.) I like the salsa, but I feel like it is missing something...but I can't quite put my finger on it just yet. I'll have to go and eat some more and try to figure it out!

we have a winner (4/30)

The cheeseburger competition last night was a big success: Andrew and Will came home as the new cheeseburger champs! (No, they were not the only entry! They beat out 6 other cheeseburgers for the title.) Here was the breakdown of the judging: 50% taste, 25% presentation (note the chefs' hats), and 25% for the story behind the burger.



I mentioned yesterday that they guys made their own buns--the credit for that one has to go to Will. Awesome. The buns had bacon and jalapeno baked in. Andrew was in charge of the meat: I won't give away any of his secrets...you'll have to ask him for those! Check out that garnish! The contest took place at a winery, so the little grape on the top was an ode to that.


Will and Andrew won $50 for their prize. I think they were most happy with taking home the bragging rights!

more garden stuff (3/30)

This morning Max and I headed out to the garden to harvest more of our veggies. In the picture below you can see that I picked LOTS of tomatoes, peppers, and jalapeno peppers. The little pan is Max's: he picked mostly green cherry tomatoes.

At first I freaked out about him picking the green ones. I tried to explain that we only pick the red ones. (He understood this concept with the strawberries because he actually ate those. He tasted one tomato and hated it. He only likes picking them.) I got over the fact that he picks mostly green tomatoes because, as you can see, I will not have a tomato shortage.

Plus, look how happy it makes him!

I have big plans for my tomato bounty: fresh salsa, BLTs, fresh tomato sauce, tomato sandwiches...yummy town here we come.

On another food note: Tonight Andrew and his friend Will are taking part in a cheeseburger competition. Oh yes. I must say, Andrew makes the best cheeseburgers. The boys have even made their own buns for the event. I kid you not. So, check back by tomorrow for the cheeseburger results!

green beans galore (2/30)

On Tuesday I enlisted my mom to help me can the green beans out of the garden. Since I have never had a garden before, I had absolutely no idea where to begin to can anything. Luckily, my Mom knew what she was doing. We put up 24 quarts of beans--it is hard to picture, but trust me: that's a lot of beans. Right now they are all lined up on the kitchen counter. I don't know where to put them all! Also, it is very fun to look at the pretty jars all lined up.

Next I believe we are going to try and can some tomatoes. According to the Ball Blue Book (which I guess is the THE how-to book for this kind of thing) you don't have to pressure cook tomatoes. This is good because I am a little bit afraid of the pressure cooker. It makes all kinds of crazy noises, and I was sure it was going to explode at any moment.

I remember the scary pressure cooker from my childhood. I remember the smell of vinegar and that annoying whistle sound when Mom canned beans. Max was out of the house for the "bean canning extravaganza" (thanks Kay!) so he will have to wait to experience these things in summers to come.

a recent conversation = a challenge (1/30)

A recent conversation between Andrew and myself:

ANDREW: I saw where you posted pictures from our vacation on your blog. You need to blog more often.

ABBY: I know, its hard because we don't have the internet at home.

ANDREW: Tell you what, once our internet is all hooked up, I challenge you to post 30 days in a row.

ABBY: 30 days! I don't think I would have 30 days of interesting things to say!

ANDREW: They wouldn't all have to be blogtastic (yes, he did use that word), some days you could just say "Hey, I'm still here, its day 14!"

ABBY: I might have to take you up on that...

So, we will call this post day 1 of the 30 day challenge. We are now hooked up to the interenet (one of the last things on our list after we moved), so I cannot think of any other excuse to keep me from blogging more regularly. I should have checked with Andrew about what I would win if I conquer his little challenge!