Laowai

We had a great (but quick) trip to Amsterdam last week. I've got lots of photos but I thought I'd start with the photos that Claire took. 

Some happy cats live in Amsterdam. Maybe the happiest was the sweet one above that Brian and Claire got to know at a cafe.

And one happy dog enjoying the morning sunshine in the middle of the sidewalk.

I came home to a very sad ending for my cantaloupe.

I blame the chipmunks.

Things are humming along here at the Chapman house. The girls are working really hard at school and I'm enjoying the last blooms of the season in my garden.

I harvested a couple carrots.

I love Aster season!

I have been shocked at how big my nasturtiums have grown this summer. I have to keep hacking away at the nasturtiums or they would completely cover the birdbath.

Went to an antique fair and found myself a geometric blanket.

On a very windy night last week Claire and a friend and I went to a concert – Gracie Abrams.

All the girls had bows in their hair. Makes it daunting, looking for your daughter as you emerge from the restroom.

A fun night and a really cool venue.

Still making bouquets. 

Jennifer has been keeping us updated on Jenna's Freshman year of college. She's on the University of Wisconsin sailing team and she's been traveling around the country to regatta's. I'm so proud of her and excited for her too. Look at her go!

This week I've been painting or waiting for paint to dry. This is my sewing room. It's long overdue for a refresh.

I'll finish it next week when we return from our Fall vacation. We're doing a quick trip to Amesterdam (Hamsterdam if you're little Jenna). Stay tuned for some photos of canals and pretty buildings and I don't know what else.

Just got back from a weekend in Midland. Got to see Grandma C. and Aunt Sandy – a huge treat! And then spent some time helping mom clean out her attic and move some stuff to her new apartment.

After sorting through these very old things my sister and I agreed we have learned a lesson. Don't put stuff in your attic and forget it!

One of many of dad's college notebooks:

Reagan era campaign hat:

Box from my or my sister's crib mobile:

Sometimes Bea reminds me so so much of my dad. Last Friday she came home and asked me to go with her to get some aquatic creatures. She's very interested in the tiny living things that you find in water. It's just like my dad – he was always picking up a river rock and turning it over to see what was living there. He sometimes kept an aquarium full of river water  and now Bea has done the same. Dad would show me the nymphs and tell me about them enthusiastically and Bea does that same thing. She calls me over to her microscope like it's an emergency that I see the internal organs of a tiny aquatic animal. Mom has given Bea many of dad's old books about aquatic insects and she looks through them and learns about the things she sees in her microscope.

I love it.

I love it so much that I overlook that fact that my dining room is now her laboratory.

Here is a photo that she made by layering many microscope photos.

Sometimes I feel like making things and sometimes I just think about making things.

I finished the second version of a pattern called the Tolsta Tee. This is the third try at making this yarn into something I like. Well, I'm not sure I succeeded. Time will tell. I should brush my hair.

Coconut Cream Pie (recipe from Smitten Kitchen). A winner.

I made a bag for holding knitting projects. It's called the Town Bag from Grainline Studio. Love the drawstring. Might have to make three more – one for each knitting project I have going.

Playing with the very full skirt I made a couple months ago.

Finished a pair fo socks that had been languishing in the project pile for a long time.

Brian asked for a blueberry pie. Is it "B" for Brian or "B" for blueberry? You decide.

When I'm not making things or thinking about making things I can clear my head as I hanging clothes out.

This volunteer plant makes me so happy. But what is it? A melon? Maybe? It's perfectly round and it's fuzzy. It's growing fast and this morning it was about the size of a softball. I've never grown any vining vegetables like this before but I might have to change that because it's so fun to check on it's growth everyday. I feel like I should make a little hammock for it because it's getting so big and it's just holding on by it's little tendrils.

Stay tuned.

Today was the first day of school. Both my girls are now officially in high school. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of them by the door with their backpacks and smiles. At this point they are professional students and nobody wants to commemorate the moment with a photo. That's Okay. I did take Claire and her friends shopping the day before and then we drove by their new school. I got to hear them talking about their classes and planning outfits. A mix of dread and excitement. This morning the traffic was bad when I took Claire and her friend to school and it was a bit stressful thinking they might be late. But then we made it and they dashed off and I was left in the quiet car trying to picture my girls in their classrooms. 

So I have a bunch of typical August photos. 

My garden is looking full right now. In the back corner where I put some of my compost and planted carrots there is a volunteer squash or cucumber (can't tell what it is yet).

This view shows the crazy tomato plants.

I'm having a good tomato harvest so far and I can't resist admiring the colors and taking photos.

Other than red I ended up with lots of pink in the garden this summer. Pretty!

I've seen lots of swallowtail caterpillars but I think most of them get gobbled up. Maybe this one crawled away to make his chrysalis.

The purple flowers below are wild petunia – I just planted them last summer and I'm pleased that they are filling in. This area used to be filled with pachysandra but it was looking sad and I wanted something that was native.

I read that the wild petunia can be an aggressive spreader and it shoots it's little seeds out at high speed. I'm waiting to see that this fall. 

One last photo taken in the garden. Bea has resumed her habit of climbing the house. She likes to surprise me up there. Hmmmm.

We spent a long weekend in Pentwater, Michigan. We got to do all the summer things like swimming at the beach, picking blueberries, eating ice cream and watching the sunset. Bea did some paddleboarding, Brian rode his bike and we all ended the weekend with a walk on the dunes.

When we got home I made a pie.