Laowai

Time is just chugging along here. Nothing too exciting happening. Lots of staying home.

Brian and I bought a couple pumpkins last weekend and this guy greeted us at the nursery.

I planted a baby Oak tree. It's a Red Oak. Unfortunately we've had to take down some big old unhealthy trees (mainly elms) in our yard. And we think our big Locust may not last too many more years. So I'm planning for the future. Hopefully this little guy will give lots of shade someday.

We bought Bea an aquarium. There are no clubs or sports going on at school and it's hard for kids to socialize. I felt like she needed a hobby. She's really knowledgable about fish. After these fish (Zebra Danios) and plants get settled in she's excited to get some more interesting species.

The pressure is on to make Halloween costumes. First I had to clear out my sewing room which was full of random things from our move. I inherited some turquoise drawer units from my Grandma Dice. Now I have so much drawer space and I added a cheap countertop that is nice and long. These drawers are the ones that grandma's cat famously got stuck in. The drawers were from grandma's sewing room. It warms my heart that they are now in my sewing room. Anyway, they open and close really nice and smoothly. A few years back grandma lost her cat Mitzy. Mitzy was an indoor cat but she was always interested in getting outside. When she disappeared grandma thought she must have snuck out the door. I think it was 11 days later (Dice descendants please correct me if I'm wrong) when grandma found Mitzy in one of the lower drawers. She had gotten in an open drawer and that easy close drawer must have closed on her. Mitzy ended up surviving (thank goodness) and after grandma died she went to live with a friend.

So there's my setup. The red has got to go soon, but for now it's very functional. I made a cushion cover for a bench in our basement yesterday. It was the first sewing I've done in months so that felt nice.

Bea wants to be a vampire squid (below). Claire is undecided. So now I have to get creative.

I made an apple pie. Burned it a little. The dripping burning sugar set off the smoke alarm while Brian was doing an important meeting. Ah the joys of working from home. 

I guess you could say I'm coping alright.

Ha ha, that's a carpentry joke.

I installed the new shoe molding last Friday and over the weekend we put the couch back in the basement. We are just waiting on our movie screen and the electrician who will install some lights. And there are some details that I'm still working on like curtains and hanging some pictures. Everyone is really pleased. It feels comfortable and cozy. And already we've been spending lots of time down there. Here's a preview – I'll take more photos once everything is done.

And lastly I made a new recipe – S'mores bars from the Baked cookbook. Couldn't find the recipe online but they were a hit.

Thanks for reading my blog and thanks for your sweet comments ❤.