Skirt By Moi

Skirt I Sewed Zipper

With tons of help from my mother, the real sewist in the family, I finally finished the skirt I started last July. This is the first garment I’ve sewn for myself since I was about 11 years old and mom tried to teach me to sew during one summer vacation. Back then, I made a pair of cotton shorts and a simple, matching shirt (kind of like a short-sleeved, scrubs-type shirt) and doing it was rather like jackhammering out my own teeth with a sewing machine. I’ve grown since then, I think.

The pattern is Butterick B4461, “Fast and Easy,” a simple A-line skirt. It has facing and a zipper in back and a couple of small darts in the front. Nothing fancy. Ultimately wearable. It fits into my mommy uniform of tees, sandals, and comfy skirts quite well.

Walking to Preschool

Asher and I walked to school two mornings last week. (With the shift to our summer schedule, we hadn’t been doing that as much since we had to drive Lucas to summer camp, too.) It was fun to have those cool morning walks together.

We discussed again where the curb water drains to. “What does this sign say, Mama?”
“Protect our creeks. No dumping. Drains to Arcade Creek.”
“Under the road?”

We visited those bumpy sedum plants again—he remembered just where they were. And guess what! They are flowering, with tiny star-shaped white flowers.

We also visited the “super-secret spy tree.” I had no idea it was any such thing.

Asher likes to know where the roads go. “This one goes to the zoo? This other road goes to Lucas’s school?” Yesterday he told me, “That road goes to the Fairy Zoo.”
“Oh? The Fairy Zoo? What kind of animals do they have at the Fairy Zoo?” I asked.
“Horses and marmosets.”

There is nothing quite like a crisp summer morning. It always seems that the whole world is savoring the moist coolness all the more for the day’s coming heat.

Summer Days

We are having full, full days with summer camp and day care and work for Mom and Dad.

Today there was a play performance at summer camp. Lucas was a tax collector in the “Dragon with Thirteen Tails,” performed on the Oak Stage at Sacramento Waldorf School. We also got to see a gymnastics demonstration, as the children have been doing movement and assorted gymnastics in the awesome gym.

Lucas in the Summer Camp Play

Some days, to get out of the heat, we play with puzzles.

Summer Day Detritus 4

Summer Day Detritus 3

And with chalk in the cool morning.
The Chalk Artist at Work

Happy Artist

Excited!

Lucas goes to piano lessons on Wednesdays. This week he noodled around until he figured out the first part of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” When he told his piano teacher, Mrs. Tan, she helped him work on it and learn the next little bit. I love that she goes with his interests!

Lucas at Piano Lessons

We swim at Grandma’s and Papa’s house, and at swim team practice and swim lessons. Only four more of those are left!

We watch our garden grow—the things we planted …

Corn Tassle

… and the things we didn’t, like this volunteer sunflower!

Volunteer Sunflower! Gorgeous!

And we watch and care for the chickens. Oh, how they are enriching life around here! Our first week of chicken farming has been going well. We’re all fascinated by them.

Our Hens

At first the chickens slept on the ground in a cuddle puddle, all higgledy-piggledy, piled on top of one another in the corner of the chicken run. They hadn’t gotten the lay of the land yet, I think. Gradually they are claiming this new space as their own. Ian had to pick them up one night and put them on the roost inside the chicken coop, but after that, they seem to get it. Last night we found them roosting just where they’re supposed to be (where it’s safest), without any help from us.

We gathered sixteen eggs in the first four days, after that, I lost count. They are averaging almost four eggs per day. They eat pretty much ALL of our kitchen scraps, including milk leftover from the boys’ morning cereal (for the calcium). I didn’t know chickens drank milk, did you?

Midnight and Avalanche Drinking Milk

The eggs taste wonderful!

Sewing Clam Diggers

This summer I’ve worked on another bunch of clam diggers for Asher, more because I need the sewing practice than he needs the pants.  I’m now working on the fifth pair, every once in a blue moon. If I had a solid free hour, I’d finish them. Here are two pairs that are done. I made a golden pair with yellow stars, too. Too bad “lellow” isn’t his favorite color anymore.

Clamdiggers for Asher

We match colorful pants/clam diggers/shorts with tees like these to make the perfect play clothes for little boys. But aren’t all clothes play clothes when you’re little?

Outfitting Asher: Tees

Waldorf Summer Camp

These are not the best photos, as I took most of them with my phone, but maybe they give just a little sample of what my lucky, lucky boy gets to do during the day at the Sacramento Waldorf School’s summer camp.

Lucas's Watercolor Paper-Towel Flag at Summer Camp Watercolor Paper-Towel Banners at Summer Camp
Watercolor Paper-Towel Banners at Summer Camp Watercolor Paper-Towel Banners at Summer Camp

Aren’t these banners lovely? I have a deep love of flags, so these really hit the spot for me! They are paper towels painted with watercolors and stapled onto a string. Also, underneath the trees hang dozens of tissue-paper butterflies, swaying in the breeze.

Watercolor Paper-Towel Banners at Summer Camp

This is the tepee Lucas made at camp. The first session had a Native American theme, and the kids made bows and arrows, these small tepees, leather bracelets and charms, painted rocks, and sewed headbands decorated with beads.

Lucas's Teepee and Clothespin Man

They also hike, play in the water, eat nachos and other yummy snacks, craft with pony beads and puff balls, and do gymnastics. Lucas says he has even been on a trapeze! At the end of this week, they are putting on a play.

This is the middle of the fourth week and Lucas gets to do two more weeks of this great stuff and more. Some of his best buddies are in camp with him, so he is comfortable, happy, having a great time, and on his own turf. He is also 8 years old now, and generally more comfortable and calm about pretty much everything.

Unlike past summers, when Lucas was bounced around to (too many) different (and sometimes cheaper) camps and had to adjust frequently to new places, teachers, kids, schedules, and expectations, this summer is easy like … well, like summer should be. We live and learn. I am so very glad he is happy to go off on each day’s adventures!

Needle-Felted Wool Painting: “Summer Bliss”

"Summer Bliss" Needle-Felted Wool Painting

My second wool painting

"Summer Bliss" Wool Painting Detail

Detail

The Chickens Came Home to Roost

After a great deal of hot, exhausting, sweaty work—done mostly by my intrepid and valiant husband in 100-degree weather—we now have a working coop and chicken run and chickens to put in them! We spent today putting on some finishing touches, like installing the roost, filling in holes with dirt, etc. Ian built the person-size door to the chicken run today, even though we got the chickens last night and fenced them in. Putting all that chicken wire on was a big job and we worked right up until the deadline at 4 p.m., when had to go get the hens …

… which was a funny sort of adventure in that they had to be caught and put in a big cardboard box. They were hiding from the heat under a deck when we arrived and we had to coax them out. Fortunately their confident, courageous (former) owner caught them for us and then we put our box of hens into the back of the car. Chickens in a box. Weird. I’ve had chickens in grocery bags before, but never in a box!

Excited! Arriving at Home with Our Hens in a Box Five Hens in a Box Proud New Chicken Owner

The boys were and are pretty excited! Lucas wants to be very near them. He held one of them today for a few moments. The hens were a bit skittish yesterday evening, but they seem to be settling in.

Our New Hens

We have four chicken breeds: clockwise from lower left, we have a Black Sussex, a Rhode Island Red, two Leghorns, and an Araucana at the bottom right. Good gracious, it’s hard to get good chicken pictures! They’re always moving!

We have some disagreement over their names, however. It seems we Wilsons are an opinionated bunch. Let me show you how:

Sara’s  Names Ian’s  Names Lucas’s  Names Asher’s  Names
Henrietta Posh Sunrise Chicken 1
Victoria Ginger Fireball Chicken 2
Beatrice Scary Midnight Chicken 6
Minerva Sporty Avalanche Chicken 8
Virginia Baby Snowdrift Chicken 45

Probably, we’ll end up using Lucas’s names most of the time. Although, I’m pretty sure the girls don’t care, so maybe we can each maintain our own pet names for them.

Building Wounds

See how my Ian has suffered this week. He’s a prince among chicken-coup builders! Oh, and extremely tough, super macho, and manly.

Sunrise

Here’s Henrietta/Posh/Sunrise/Chicken 1.

First Two Eggs on the First Day of Ownership

Mid-morning today we got two eggs, laid in the same little hollow in the leaf litter. This afternoon, we got three more eggs, including a green-shelled one from Henrietta/Posh/Sunrise/Chicken 1, our Araucana.

Girlies

I think we’re going to have a bit of trouble at first telling the two white birds apart. We’ve noticed that one has a little scar on top of her comb and they have different combs (in their shape and in the direction the fall). But I’m pretty sure Lucas has switched their names on me a couple of times already. One of them, Sporty, of course, was the hardest to catch and get into the box for transport yesterday.

The chicken run we (Ian) built (I helped with the wire!) is an area far bigger than our five hens need, but we think we want to get more birds. Also, I’m not sure how hard they are going to be on our garden and landscaping when we let them out to range, and if they start doing major damage, I may want to keep them confined in their big-enough run most of the time. Some friends let their chickens out every evening for “happy hour.”

The hens are fascinating so far, and I LOVE the sounds they make. We’ve been feeding them kitchen scraps today and they’ve devoured everything we’ve given them. We’ve also sacrificed some of our worms from our worm farm to feed our hens. We want our girls to be well nourished and also to associate their new home with yummy food.

What an adventure we’ve embarked upon! Crazy-weird and exciting. We’re chicken farmers!

Chicken Farmers

This Moment: Helping Dad

This Moment: Helping Dad

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Chicken Coop Progress

You knew there was going to be at least one more chicken coop post, right? Good.

Ian has been working hard on this thing and we’re nearly there. He had to build two double laying boxes, one for each side of the coop. Without the top on, they look like this.

Laying Boxes

We are told that hens like to share laying boxes, so you don’t need one per hen. With four boxes, we will be able to expand our flock, should we find we LIKE having chickens.

Here’s the chicken coop with everything on it but the lock on the front doors and the decorations. We are thinking about putting in windows on the front doors for ventilation and light. Adding windows means adding decorative trim and that means I’ll have more surfaces I can paint. I’m thinking that no matter what, the chickens will be a feature of our backyard from now on, so their coop might as well be cute and creative, right? How many colors is too many colors to paint a chicken coop?

Chicken Coop!

The laying boxes on either side have hinged tops for easy egg gathering. The coop is behind our garage building and up against the west fence, where the neighbors have really tall privet shrubs that shade my yard. The chickens will have shade during the hottest part of every day. At the moment, Ian and Lucas are outside installing the ramp the hens will use to enter the coop.

The hens we are adopting have to be out of their current abode on Saturday, 7/17. The finishing touches on the coop might not be done until after that.

I still can’t believe we’re going to be chicken owners. Wacky.

More Scenes of Summer

“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.”   —Ada Louise Huxtable

Makeshift Leaf Bandage

Makeshift leaf bandage, fashioned by Lucas to heal his little brother’s hurt knee

Pumpkin Vines Carpet Roses in the Heat Our Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin vines and roses love hot, hot days

Morning Glory Leaves

Morning glory heart-shaped leaves are as precious as the flowers

Surprise Magnolia

A surprise magnolia blossom on my tulip tree

Asher Dancing Asher Dancing Asher Dancing
Asher Dancing

Asher’s interpretive dance with Mardi Gras beads and stick

Blueberries

Blueberries for pie!

  • About Sara

    Thanks for visiting! I’m Sara, editor and writer, wife to Ian, and mother of two precious boys. I am living each day to the fullest and with as much grace, creativity, and patience as I can muster. This is where I write about living, loving, and engaging fully in family life and the world around me. I let my hair down here. I learn new skills here. I strive to be a better human being here. And I tell the truth.

    Our children attend Waldorf school and we are enriching our home and family life with plenty of Waldorf-inspired festivals, crafts, and stories.

    © 2003–2018 Please do not use my photographs or text without my permission.

    “Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” —Ursula K. LeGuinn

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