Laowai

Yes, I use Pinterest. I like it a lot and I find it useful when planning and thinking through house renovations. I pin things that the girls would like, recipes I want to make, ideas for decorating all the rooms in my house, garden inspirations and things I want to buy for myself.

I have lots of crafts pinned – this one turned out great. It’s like easy tie dye. We colored on cotton fabric with our sharpies and then dripped rubbing alcohol to make the colors run. 

Bea sewed hers into a pillow and Claire used hers as a magic blanket for ponies (of course).

And – here’s an update on our caterpillar. He’s now a chrysalis. Before he made himself into a chrysalis he was super fat and active. Then he just hunkered down and turned from bright green to brown in a matter of hours. He’s sort of boring at the moment and so we are hoping to see wings any day.

We went to the beach and did some nice swimming.

Bea would swim all day everyday if she could.

Grandma has a little cling-on named Claire.

Bea is helping Claire jump over waves.

We went for a walk at Fort Sheridan. It was cloudy and hot.

Cooling my toes.

We picked up stones – this beach has the best stones – smooth and pretty and great for painting.

The meadow at Fort Sheridan was buzzing!

We went to the botanic garden (or potanic garden if you pronounce it like Claire does).

The girls really like the sensory garden where you can touch and smell lots of unusual plants – like that soft one below.

Grandma’s hat matched the begonias.

Swiss Chard!

We enjoyed a picnic and concert at Ravinia – here we are making goofy faces.

Our dear Brian is 40. We got to celebrate with his mom. We got him a new grill and a cookbook. Happy Birthday love!

And now the important part – the cake – ha ha. I tried a new recipe. I was very skeptical since it only has eggs and chocolate and whip cream and sugar. Oh and a little Cognac. Happily, it turned out great. I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, it’s called Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Cake. It could have looked a little less messy, but it was light and delicious. Give it a try – but don’t forget to use a massive bowl to beat all 12 egg whites!

I almost for got to post these pictures.

Brian went out to Colorado again to join his brother in the Triple Bypass bike ride. The route is 120 miles, traversing Juniper Pass (11,140 ft.), Loveland Pass (11,990 ft.), Swan Mountain and Vail Pass (10,560 ft.).

I think they must be about ready to join the Tour de France next year. 

 

 

I’ve already picked two big bowls of beans – I love, love, love green beans. Also I thinned out a couple carrots. The rest of them are look promising.

I found this pony drawing right next to my garden:

A while back I trimmed back my dill – I brought the trimmings in and put them in a glass of water. A couple days later a tiny caterpillar appeared. We put him in our bug holder and he’s been growing fatter everyday. I think it’s going to be a tiger swallowtail.

I think I can finally declare my bathroom (pretty much) done. I finished some caulking this morning. I’m waiting for a light fixture that will go above the mirror and there is still paint to be removed inside the shower.

Here are a couple very green before pictures:

And here’s how all the renovations turned out:

The biggest change was the new floor – that old green carpet was truly gross. I never thought I would choose a black floor. I had white in mind but I think the white would have made the blue too babyish feeling. The room needed something more masculine. And the black floor blended well with the existing band of black along the wall. I spent hours upon hours removing the cream paint front the old tile – that was another big change. We have a new faucet, a new sink, a new shower door, a new toilet and new countertops. I painted over the green walls and the cabinets with bright white. With all the changes it feels clean and fresh and I like the retro charm of the old tile.

Claire is demonstrating how excited I am to have this (mostly) done.

I made strawberry jam. My beans are almost ready to pick. Tomatoes are forming. Coneflowers are blooming all over the back yard. And I think I heard the first cicadas of the summer buzzing.