Step Into My Thimble

This week’s farmshare included a dozen very tiny ears of corn. Some with worms about half the size of each cob. I ate the lonely little one in the bowl below, and it was pretty tasty.

I have not had time for crafts this week. My sister and I did get a bunch of baking accomplished (with more scheduled for Friday), and we repaired the wall a bit where our new thermostat was put in. Other than that, it’s been Child Management All The Time around here. Maeve has learned a few new tricks, including spitting drool with her lips to make a funny sound, squealing like a little piglet, and sucking on her own arm to give herself a hickey! She also got her first bug bite when we went for a walk in the land preserve near our house.

This weekend we are off to a family reunion in northern Indiana. I hope the weather is not too hot and rainy, otherwise we’ll be trapped in the lodge watching our relatives play endless rounds of euchre and pig-it-and-hog-it. I looked for info on that pig/hog game online and found nothing. I guess it’s sort of like euchre. All of it gets SO boring after the first few games, but my family can play it like there is no tomorrow.

Yesterday I called up a raspberry farm only to discover there was only one day left of U-pick, so my mom and I scrambled out there. It was a nice day for picking, with baby in tow…overcast, breezy, not too hot, not too buggy.

So 10 jars of jam (conventional; non-pectin but with tons of sugar) have been put up–eight half pints, and two fourth-pints. If you already know I love you a lot, you’ll probably get one of these in the mail. If you’re not sure, offer me something in trade!

This morning I tested out the jam that didn’t fit in a jar, on my breakfast.

This is blue cornmeal mush with butter and a big blob of jam. So delicious!

And finally, my county fair knitting has been done for a while. Now I just have to make a bib for the sewing category I entered (or decide which one to use from my shop).

Now that our scary old furnace has been replaced with a new little efficient one, I have a craft space in the basement! All mine! Yay! I’ll show it to you later once it’s all organized.

If I had a job, my crappy American Family and Medical Leave Act time off for childbirth would now be over. Instead of being unpaid (and paying my insurance premiums myself), I’d be back at work today. Yesterday Maeve turned three months old. Do I miss my career? Sort of. Taking care of the wee one is so all-consuming that I never get very much time to think about it. I suppose if I was more dedicated I’d probably be itching to get back to work right now, because Maeve is rather demanding.

Maeve has a crib, but she usually sleeps with us. Several people I know by way of La Leche League etc. also do the co-sleeping thing, and they refer to their cribs as “the big laundry basket.” Ours is no exception, although it’s also becoming a little zoo for all the stuffed animals people have been sending.

Everyone in the US is probably griping about how hot it’s been lately. I hate temperature extremes, especially when it’s hot and humid. We are finally having our 40+ year old furnace replaced with a new one and central air (!) and it can’t happen soon enough. The crew is expected any minute this morning. The only downside is…do I need to stay home while they work on it? Does that mean I’ll be relegated with baby to my extra-hot second floor of the house? Does it mean the power will be off, and I can’t use the window A/C in the bedroom?

I could roast.

Although it’s not quite Eat Local, Rodney and I decided for July to obtain our foods from only a few sources. They are: our weekly farmshare box of veggies (already paid for through November); the farmer’s market (open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday); the People’s Food Co-op (food for people, not for profit); U-pick farms; what we already have on the shelf (mostly Trader Joe’s and home-canned); and maybe once in a while the fancy liquor store that has European imports. So far it has been working out really well–and it looks like our food budget might have dropped as a result! It’s our own version of this, which sadly doesn’t seem to be going on anymore. I liked reading it when I lived in Chicago.

Anyway this is yesterday’s dinner. You can check it out on Flickr for the specifics.

In other news, our kid has really gotten into her evening fussy groove (as Rodney calls it, the Airing of the Grievances). She has gone wild about sucking her thumb, and has been seen to actually sort of gnaw on it, so it makes me wonder if she is getting started on teething already. We have to pace around with her a lot. The stroller is no good, the swing, the bouncy seat, the sling, none of it. Only standing and pacing. She uses Rodney’s fingers like little stick shifts.

The wool soakers are a gift from our friend MP from OP. We love them!

Rodney’s mom has lung cancer. Yesterday she started chemotherapy. If there’s ever a reason to cut off one’s hair, that was it. Have a look on Flickr for the before and after if you dare. Rodney cut his off too. Mine will be going to Locks of Love. And later this week I am going to a real salon to have it fixed up a bit. For now it’s nice to feel the breeze on the back of one’s neck.

A really beautiful bonnet came in the mail from Larissa yesterday. I have been crossing my fingers that we’d get one, and if another week or two went by I would have had to buy one from her Etsy shop. I feel very very lucky…thanks Larissa! I’m hoping to get a picture of Maeve wearing the bonnet today on our way to the farmer’s market. In the package were also these little adorable treasures: