Temari

Lately I've been so occupied with family/home life and have had so many occasions that have led me to making crafty gifts for loved ones that I haven't had the time to make anything new for the shoppe in ages. Much of the time I've been busy at work on some art project that I have to keep secret for gifty purposes, but these are a couple of new(ish) things I can share. I started this rose ball and finally finished it just before Christmas, but am only now finding the time to photograph and list it.

This is another ornament that I just finished as a 1st birthday present for a friend's daughter, The Bears and I, kids in tow, attended her party today. It was crazy and crowded, but the kids had fun.

Guerilla Embroidery

So, my shoppe may have no sales, but my lovely mother-in-law has bought 4 of my Christmas ornaments and commissioned 5 more from me.

One of the 5 is a special request custom ball with a University of Texas theme. This was interesting for me, as I would have never chosen to do this theme on my own, but it was a fun challenge. It also necessitated some guerrilla style embroidery. I graduated from UT Austin in 2001 with a BA in Theatre/Dance and a concentration in costume design, so I dusted off the old school spirit and gave it a go.

Everyone is mystified by these balls I make, but the actual stitching technique is quite basic. Admittedly, you will have a better finished product with some needlework experience under your belt, but I really do think this craft is something anyone could learn. I taught myself from a book, after all. (There are temari artists out there who put me to shame, mind you, but I'm fairly proud of what I've been able to master in the short time I've been doing them - I made my first one for my daughter just before she was born, 9 months ago).

Cloth provides normal hand embroidery with a very regular and predictable "grid" to place your stitches in. Think warp and weft; you can place your stitch on one side of the thread or the other, giving you precise control over where your stitch appears in your design. This enables you to embroider anything, pretty much anywhere on the fabric and make it exactly the shape you want.

Temari embroidery is different.

After you wrap the ball with your base color thread (I use styrofoam balls, not the traditional and eco-friendly cloth scrap wad, I know I'm terrible!) you have an irregular, randomized network of thread going in all directions to cover a spherical surface. You are officially off the "grid" (*dork!*).

Typical temari designs are not affected much by these irregularities. You tuck your needle basically where you want it, but can push, pull or cover any error you make in stitch placement. It's a bit more of a nebulous process, more forgiving in many ways. In temari, you can pull stitches much tighter than you can with cloth, because you have a solid base, not a flexible piece of fabric. Your stitches are also more unpredictable though. You may put a stitch in and think it's going to show it's end point or origin point in a specific place, but when you pull through your next stitch, the nexus of thread may have mislead you, or have a gap, leaving your stitch shorter or longer than you intended. With regular temari embroidery, this is no big deal, you can make up for it on your next round of stitching more often than not.

Also, temari designs are just that; designs. They are not letters or numbers or curliques. They are flat sided shapes. When you put a stitch in, lay the thread across the ball and secure it with another stitch, you are creating a flat side to a shape. There are no circles, or curves. When you attempt to put such things into the design, this is when you need to employ guerilla embroidery tactics. On cloth (a grid) it's easy to be precise and make little stitches all in a row to create a curve. In a random nexus base, you lose that control, so you have to be more persistent and determined in order to get your design to look the way you intend it to.

I try to not do too many of these designs, but they are an interesting challenge, nonetheless!

I'm also including a little experimental ball design where I free handed some temari style presents. This was fun to do, don't know if I'll make any more though.

Daily?!

So, I'm still being fairly good about focusing on my shoppe and gleaning what I can from the internet sources at least once a week or so. (When I'm not having to take my baby girl to the ER!) She's doing well now, so I'm looking back at my shoppe and thinking about what I can do to not neglect it as I prepare for (hopefully) a winter show.
I look at tips from other sellers and have a hard time picturing myself actually doing a lot of what they advise. Everyone loves twitter it seems but myself. I can't remember my password anyway, so, even if you want to follow my exceedingly rare "tweets", you're out of luck. I feel pretty accomplished just doing a semi-regular blog and keeping a presence on Etsy, Flickr and Facebook. Which brings me to the title of this post. Someone I was reading tips from advised doing a daily blog post. Daily?! I can hardly muster a weekly one. Maybe this will change when my daughter goes to school, but I've got other stuff to do too! Are other people doing daily posts? How does it work out for you? Do you think it makes a big difference? What do you write about? I'm just curious.
Another tip I've seen multiple times is to create a fanpage on Facebook. Has anyone else done this? Is it useful? I'm an extremely reluctant computer user/networker, but am not wanting to miss out on anything that is really great.

I'm a bit sidetracked right now with a bit of DIY fever. My across the street neighbor recently moved out after 15 yrs. of living there with his wife and daughters and we were able to score several items from his garage clear out. I got a tiny toy piano and painted in purple (teachable moment: Purple Piano). Am currently repainting a cabinet which I plan to use in her room for toys and puzzles. Had some pale blue paint left over and thought of a Cloud Cabinet design which I'm itching to finish. Thought it would just be a simple prime/paint job, but it got a wee bit more drawn out because, being a handmade cabinet, the doors, once painted, became too tight a fit to close properly. In comes arranging to borrow a sander from my father, then waiting for a time when watching baby girl will allow for sanding in the garage to commence. Also, an additional plank of wood had to be attached to the bottom of said cabinet so that, when opened, the doors had enough clearance for the carpet in her room. So, am currently waiting for the hopefully final coat of blue paint to dry and for night time, so I'll have the luxury of time to paint little fluffy clouds all over it.

Currently in garage, awaiting renovation/TLC are an easel and a child's table and chairs set. Inspirado has not taken ahold of me yet on these two because she won't be able to use them for awhile yet and they will be even better once I have a studio with a child's art area set up.
The studio has a framed out wall finally, but progress is slow. Steady, but slow.

Dicey's also been invited to a cowgirl themed birthday party. I recently acquired some hand-me-downs from Katinkapinka's nephew; one of which was a cute plaid shirt in pale colors. It was a decidedly boy-cut shirt, which would be fine, but I have a super skinny and tall baby girl and wanted to take it in a bit to suit her frame. Have also added a few touches of lace. Once finished and paired with her denim jumper, this will be the perfect outfit for such an event. I have it pinned very succesfully, so am eager to see how it actually turns out once I start sewing it. It will be my first foray into sewing for my daughter and I'm very excited about it. I see all these adorable dresses on Etsy, some created out of old men's shirts and am set aflame with a need to try it on my own. I especially love this upcycled tuxedo shirt dress by allthenumbers I also have a reversible pinafore pattern and some great left over fabric from curtains that are burning a hole in my ability to focus on more immediate tasks. Meanwhile, my machine is amidst a pile of disorganization on a table that was temporarily set up in my garage as a work space, even without a/c, but is now pushed aside and unusable. I'm going to have to lug the machine inside to my kitchen table and I'm just in denial about it right now.

I totally thought this would be a short post, but, as I write, I find more and more things I feel the need to discuss. Am trying in vain to distract Dicey while I write as she woke up earlier than I'd hoped from her nap. This is my one opportunity to go to the grocery store and I just found out that I burned the rice I was making for her because I plain forgot about it. Maybe more frequent posts ARE in order. Argh.

Intussusception

I don't know why I had never heard of this before my daughter was diagnosed with it. It is something that can apparently just "happen" and is fairly common in babies aged 5 mos. - 10 mos. and can be fatal if untreated.

The symptoms are confusing and hard to put your finger on and it is right in the prime age range for teething behavior which is a catch-all for fussiness and many other "off" behaviors. It is also supposed to be more common in boys than in girls.

I knew something was wrong, but I was still worried I was overreacting and our trip to the doctor was going to end up just as something to reassure me that nothing was really wrong. I am a stay at home mom and I spend all day every day with my daughter. For parents out there who don't have the luxury of that much time with their little one, I would think the symptoms could present for much longer without alarming anyone. The longer they go untreated, the more complicated correcting the problem becomes. Several of the typical symptoms never really happened with our daughter. She wasn't curling into a ball when she was in pain and didn't have a distended belly or seem to mind when her tummy was palpated. I think I caught it early enough to pre-empt the bile/waste symptoms. I know that not many people are going to read this, but I hope, in some small way to help expose this condition so that it is more well known.

Ok, so I'm really sorry for the length of this, it's something I wrote for myself so I could remember all the details in years to come.

Dorothy's first trip to the ER

We had gotten back from a visit to Houston the previous evening. D went down for her morning nap, waking around 11:45 am. I've been working on doing regular solid food meals with her, so instead of nursing her right away, I put her in her high chair for some finger food. She ate a little, then wanted out of her seat. Bryan and I were working on a grocery list and we let her play and crawl around. She got a little fussy, so I figured she was still hungry and wanted to nurse. She didn't really seem to take to it though and would pull away and cry, which was a bit unusual. Her fussiness was escalating somewhat and we were both focused on cheering her up. We took her into our bedroom, checked her diaper and tried to play with her, but she kept crying again even after distraction. I resolved to take her in the shower with me, which has always been very soothing for her. We went in and she settled for a moment, but soon started crying and struggling in my arms. When she wasn't doing that, she would lay her head on me and close her eyes. I said that I thought she was in pain, the way she was crying and struggling was the same as when she had gotten something in her eye, but her eyes didn't seem to be the problem. Bryan asked if I thought she was teething, but I had no idea because she has shown signs of teething off and on since she was 4 mos. and still had no teeth at 8 mos. She was acting very sleepy though too.

We thought it was unusual for her to be so sleepy right after a nap, but thought maybe she wasn't feeling herself yet since the road trip and put her down again. She seemed fine to go back to sleep. I went to go put my clothes back on and was listening to the monitor. She soon got upset again and was crying. I went in to look at her and found her writhing in her crib, just like she had before when her eye was hurting her and I knew she was in pain. I picked her up and saw a baseball sized wet spot with a little chunk of food in it and could smell that she had thrown up a little. Bryan was there too and she swiftly went from crying and struggling to going limp in my arms and looking asleep. She also was very pale and her head felt clammy. I was alarmed, especially by her listlessness, and said that we needed to go to the doctor and was even wondering if she was having an allergic reaction and whether we should call 911. It seemed like her condition had worsened so quickly that I was holding her close so I could make sure her breathing was okay. She only had a diaper on, so I wrapped her favorite puffy blanket around her to keep her warm and waited for Bryan to talk to the doctor. It was a little after noon and the office we normally went to only had an appt. for 3:30, I balked, and Bryan told the doctor that I felt that it was more of an emergency situation than that; they offered up the other office with an appt. time of 2:40, but that we could go right away and they would see if they could fit us in.

We packed Dorothy in the car seat, she was limp and sleepy and pale. I could really tell she was pale because the normally quite pink soles of her feet had lost their color. She has quite fair skin and it was a somewhat subtle difference. Every once in awhile during the trip she would wake up and look at me and seem just a little sleepy, but otherwise good, but she would also whimper and sometimes burst into crying again, then fall asleep just as quickly. I kept my fingers on her tummy to make sure her breathing seemed normal. We got to the office and I bundled her up and held her close. People kept getting called before us (because they already had appointments) and I was freaking out just a smidge, feeling like no one was paying attention to how dire my baby's state was. When she would struggle in my arms and cry because she was hurting it was all I could do just to hold on to her and keep her from falling. She did lay still (too still) a lot though. While we were waiting she threw up again; this time much more than before, there was breastmilk and fluid and chunks of food all over me from the top of my shirt to the bottom of my shorts and through to the chair. A little got on the blanket, but it was all we had to put her in, so we had to keep using it. We apologized to the other mom sitting in our area and moved our stuff to the "sick cowpoke" waiting area. She was so tired and very unhappy.

They finally brought us in and we were seen by a nurse and a trainee. I was a little miffed at getting a trainee for what I perceived to be such a serious case, but was calmed also by the fact that they weren't acting too alarmed. The nurse kept commenting on how pale she was and when we brought her out to be weighed, she asked the others if they had ever seen a baby that pale, none said they had. When I put her on the scale she just laid there flat out and didn't move. She weighed 14.5 lbs. A little bit less than she had the previous week. The nurse also put a monitor on her to measure how much oxygen was getting to her blood because of the way she looked. A good score was 90 and Dorothy measured at 98, the nurse was really surprised because she expected that to be an issue because of her color. We had to wait a little while longer for the doctor, but not too much. She agreed that Dorothy wasn't acting right (she never saw her in her pain mode) and didn't look right. She ordered a blood test. Dorothy never ran a fever and her blood test was inconclusive, it wasn't quite normal, and it could be just the beginning of whatever was happening in her system. Dr. Thorstad was still concerned and said that Dorothy was a bit of a puzzle and that she didn't feel okay just sending her home, even though she wasn't sure it was something serious. She did mention intussusception as a possibility, but wasn't positive. She said that she could do a urine test there, but that she felt like she might need more bloodwork and possibly a procedure if it did turn out to be an intussusception. She advised us to go ahead and take her to the ER because we could get everything we needed done there and it would be the best way to figure out what was wrong. She sent us to the ER at the Dell Children's Hospital.

We got to the ER and there were no close parking spots, we had to walk in the hot sun with Dorothy covered by her blanket the whole time. I walked quickly. The ER waiting room was gross and chock full of germy kids. Many people were wearing masks for protection because of the recent flu outbreak (H1N1). There was an older girl sitting in a wheel chair near the door waiting to be seen who was sobbing and crying that her stomach hurt. It was like a scene from a movie. The lady at the desk also did the monitor on her to check the levels of oxygen in her blood right then and there before we waited at all because she was concerned about her color. It was over 100 that time (even better!). I was relieved because everyone we saw told us to wait somewhere besides the waiting room. I stood outside in the foyer while Bryan waited inside for us to be called. Dorothy had another pain episode and then threw up again; it hit one of the glass panels of the doorway. I told someone about this, but no one came to clean it up that I saw. Fortunately, it wasn't that long a wait.

We were brought into triage and the nurse checked her over and took some blood for another test. She fumbled with putting the band-aid on Dicey's toe and was having a little difficulty getting it on quick enough so that the blood didn't get everywhere. She said "and here I was afraid that you wouldn't bleed" (another person convinced that her paleness was a major problem sign). She also weighed Dorothy and she just laid there again. She processed all Dorothy's symptoms and said that someone would be seeing us soon. We waited again, but not for long.

We were taken into a room. The nurse there had a 10 month old girl at home and agreed that Dicey didn't look well. She did keep saying how gorgeous she was and how she just couldn't stop looking at her though. They gave us a little hospital gown, but it was more for a child than a baby, so we just laid it on top of her. She just laid on the gurney, all splayed out and still. They put the little monitor sticky things on her chest, a tiny blood pressure cuff on her arm and a red light thing on her big toe. She had many cords running off of her that we kept having to maneuver around as we switched from me holding her to her laying down and her having things done to her etc. The nurse said they were very busy, but that she had been classified as acute, so we would be seen by a doctor soon.

Bryan made some calls, we waited, a doctor came and saw us and was able to see one of her pain episodes and seemed to think right away that it was likely to be an intussusception as well, especially when I explained how she was vacillating between all these different states. We waited. Two nurses came in and tried to do an IV in her hand, but ruptured the vein, rendering it useless as a port for medicine, they brought back our original nurse who did an IV on her other hand and taped it all up so that she couldn't move her hand. She threw up again while being examined and the doctor ordered her to be given medicine for the nausea and to be put on fluids. She hadn't eaten in awhile and they didn't want me to nurse her. She had to have some urine taken via catheter, which she didn't like at all. The nurse who took that was sure that the white blood cells that showed up in her urine meant that she had a urinary tract infection.

She had to have X-rays of her tummy. They did one of her lying on her back and one of her on her side. She didn't like them. I was able to stay with her and had to wear a lead apron. Bryan had to sit in the room outside.

We waited. The doctor came back and said that the X-ray did look suspicious for an intussusception and she was going to go ahead with ordering the air enema procedure to hopefully correct the blockage. We were going to have to stay overnight afterwards for observation to make sure that it didn't recur. We got the Bears on board to bring us some food and essentials.

Around 5 or 6 she got the procedure. I was able to hold her and sit on the gurney while they wheeled us really far to the procedure room. People were all looking at her and saying how cute she was.

They had to strap her down to a little board with three big velcro straps all down her body and put a big tube in her bottom, taped her butt cheeks together real good and then put air into her. They had an X-ray going during the procedure so they could see what was happening. There was a risk of rupturing the colon, in which case she would have to be rushed to the O.R. She would also have to go to surgery if it relapsed after the procedure. I had to wear another lead apron and I had to step a little farther away from her so I could only hold her hand and reach to touch her. Bryan was with us in the room, also wearing an apron and holding my hand. It went well. I was concerned because she looked like she was gagging or seizing or going to throw up or something, but they told me that was just the air coming out of her. They unstrapped her and took the tube out and she farted really big a few times. She already seemed to feel a little better, especially considering what had just happened. I held her and got back on the gurney. We were wheeled back and she started crying a lot when she had a bowel movement, not really calming down afterwards. I was a little worried that it was happening again, but they gave us a pacifier to help her pain management. The nurse wanted to put sugar on it, but I told her to try it first without. Dicey had been fine with giving up her pacifier at 5.5 months, but still liked to suck on her stuffed animals. She took the pacifier right away and seemed more soothed with it. I would've like to let her comfort nurse, but they didn't want anything in her system.

She pretty quickly went to sleep on me. The Bears came with chinese food and Max. The nurses brought some toys for us while we waited for our room. They were really backed up and didn't have many rooms to spare. We ate, Dicey woke up and seemed happier. She played with the toys and Max a little, but kept just wanting to be held, which was fine with me. She was really enjoying her pacifier too. They brought me a breastpump in case I wasn't able to feed her and needed to express some.

We went to our room and the nurse took her vitals and measured her at just over 28 inches. Dicey had some angry red marks on her arm from the last cuff and didn't like her club hand with the IV port still in it. We were able to take the band-aids off though, and she didn't have any more hookups to machines. She rested pretty well when we first got there, still pretty out of it and exhausted. Celena and Jack stuck around for awhile as these new doctors (another trainee!) came in and asked us a bunch of questions, saying they didn't know anything but her name. It was taking awhile, so we sent the Bears on their way, Jack was going to come back later with a few more items for us. It was past her bedtime already and she was getting more and more fussy, even though she didn't seem to be in pain any more. I asked and the doctors said it was alright to nurse her, I was so happy to be able to feed and calm her. They also said that they would follow up with us to get us all the results from her tests and answer questions and check up on her. We thought the fold out couch would be only big enough for one person, but it was fine for the both of us, so we told Jack he didn't have to come back with a cot and could just stay home. We put her down and she went to sleep fine, she kept getting woken up, however, by people coming in to check her vitals every few hours. We had to write down all her feedings and weigh all her diapers. She had a hard time settling back down once she got woken up because we were right there next to her. I nursed her a lot and held her a lot. None of us got very much sleep.

She woke up right on time and I was able to order breakfast because, even though I wasn't a patient, I was her food source, so they had to keep me fed. The food was perfectly respectable. We kept trying to get her to sleep because she hadn't gotten a full nights rest, but it was difficult. I was able to rinse off from the previous day of having been vomited all over and put on some clean clothes, courtesy of Celena. Bryan went out to try and find some more diapers of a certain brand because she was having issues with diaper rash that we were concerned may have been a diaper allergy. I laid down with her and nursed her to sleep in my arms, trying to get some sleep too. We got about 30 min. when Celena called the room and woke us up. Bryan came back with magazines, but hadn't found the brand of diapers we were looking for. We used the hospital ones. We tooled around, just focusing on Dicey. We went to the gift shop and bought a mama and baby lamb figurine set and a pig stuffed animal that fit her preferences. We found a board book from the Half Price book cart and they brought us some little toys too. We also visited the playroom where the staff was just wonderful and we played with a keyboard and blocks and cars and soft bowling pins. Even with her clubbed hand, Dicey was having fun. There was a lot to look at, it was raining, so we stayed inside. She liked finger walking down the long hallways. The ladies in the gift shop all oooed and aaahed over her too. We met a little girl there named Grace that was having a much more difficult time than Dicey, whose parents were very nice and friendly, saying how good Dicey looked, how she looked ready to go home. (There but for the grace of God go I).

A doctor came and saw us in Dr. Thorstad's stead and said that we could go home, that he didn't think we needed to wait the full 24 hours in the hospital, that he knew we would do better with the comforts of home and some good rest. I had already ordered lunch, so we stayed for that, which was timed well for all the discharge stuff and them finally taking out her IV port. She didn't like it being taken out, but was so happy to have her hand back. She looked at it and moved it around for a little while afterwards.

We got all packed up and walked out to our car in the sprinkly rain, so happy that our little girl was on the mend and not hurting anymore. She took a nice long nap right away when we got home. We rested and had Popeye's chicken that night while the Bears and Zoe, Marc and Alden came for a visit. Dicey went to bed early and woke up right on time the next morning. She seemed a little more insecure and needy the next day, but who wouldn't?

Tips?

another example of my not-too-fresh attempts at things I see other people do on the internet!

So, this is an informal, in between blogge posts blogge post. I'm still fairly new to this game and don't have loads of time to sit and fiddle with things until I figure them out. I use a Mac computer and there are some things I would love to do on my blogge, but just don't know how. This is a cry for help concerning the following:

1) A lovely blog Lenox Knits gave me a lovely blog award. When I feebly attempt to get the award to show up on my page, I just get the actual html script as opposed to the nice little image. I do it on the add a gadget feature and copy link. That is not working. Tips?

2) Am I missing something big by only being able to see if people have commented on my posts by scrolling through them to see the little hypertext at the bottom? This lovely blog award was discovered late because of this, and I would think there would be a way to be notified if someone comments on a post. Is this the case and I'm just missing out?

3)I did the google alert thing, but find the emails cryptic and/or telling me that I've just posted something new, which I already know, so is, therefore, superfluous; leading me to ignore most google alert emails. What am I doing wrong?

4) I would really like to post links with pictures to other people's blogs and/or etsy pages etc. I get that there are some pics that aren't able to be used, but know there's a way. I found Lenox Knits because she was gracious enough to post a pic of one of my shoppe items along with a link to my store. When I try this (in my ineptitude) nothing happens. I am reduced to simple text links, which are not nearly as enticing.

I'm totally open to help/critiques from anyone out there. I recently changed my background in an effort to make my blogge easier to look at. Did it work? Or do you like the old format better? I'm not wild about the advert in the corner, but I like the background and it was a nice user-friendly and free site, so...

I feel like there are many tricks out there that I will never master, but these are some that I feel should be pretty basic, if only I weren't such a feeb. If you know of anything else that is uber-useful that I am not using, it's because I don't know about it. If you have the time, I would love to know of any tricks or jibbets or whathaveyou that have been useful to you other bloggers!

Thanks Thanks in advance and much love from my little corner!

Selah

ASHRO!

For those of you who don't know me well enough, I have a bit of an Auntie Mame complex. I yearn for the dramatic silhouettes and fancy accessories of yesteryear. Hence, my recent craftings:

There are those among us who do an admirable job of putting flair back into current ensembles. My lovely friend katinkapinka is a soldier of fanciness. In person, she is her own best advertisement, making everyone around her wonder: "Why don't I wear feathers regularly?".

I have stumbled across fellow fancians on Etsy of course. A few of my most recent faves are: jenniferloiselle for her wonderful headbands, threehorses' fantastic fringe neckpieces, and terrygraziano for her versatile and stylish hats!

Now you will appreciate even more what I am about to tell you.

The other day, I walked into my living room (as if it were any other day) when, much to my surprise, a special catalogue the likes of which I've never seen, was laid upon my couch; as if waiting there just for me. I speak to you of ASHRO. This is a clothing/accessories catalog/website that is marketed to an ethnic or african-american demographic. These silhouettes I've been mourning the loss of were not ever actually lost, at least not completely. ASHRO has shown me that even though my personal demographic has seemingly forgotten how wonderful fashion can be, not everyone has!

This is just a sampling of notable looks:

Irina

Jazmine

Fur Capelet

Jennifer

Ericka

Liona

Francesca

Jacintha

They also have pretty shoes in larger sizes! Most of their styles go up to size 12! Usually, by the time you get to 11, you're reduced to choosing between sneakers or house shoes! The Lacy T-Straps are my fave, but I give an honorable mention to the Rose Kitten Heels for whimsy.

This catalogue of wonders also carries lovely wigs. I adore wigs. I used to be the wig mistress for my high school drama dept. These are a nice quality and have the bonus of particularly fetching names, such as: Fabulous Stacey, Marvelous Justine, Lady Paulette, Spikey Agnes, Queen Heena, Funky Constance, Blissful Crystal and, my favorite, Tender Lois.

Kudos to this publication and the women who shoppe it!

Studio Renovation Update:

Blogs I Follow: Grosgrain Fabulous

ok, so I would love to win a free bag, but also wanted all my readers to know about this fun blogger's page, she's always got something interesting, especially for kids and/or moms! I was sent a link to her page about revamping old tee shirts into new outfits for kids by a friend and really liked some of her ideas! Check out her page!

Grosgrain: Sew Cute Shop Amy Butler Birdie Sling GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

GERD

So, I think I might have GERD, or Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease. I'm attempting to drastically change my diet to see if I can control the symptoms (basically daily heartburn) before I go to a doctor so that HE can tell me I have GERD and I should change my diet.

I had no idea so many yummy things could be triggers for acid reflux! Sigh! Oh well, I've already lost a few pounds, which has always been a good thing for me, so there may be a silver lining in the end. My mother had to have some kind of procedure for this kind of thing because of damage to her esophagus (I'm blurry on the details, she's a pretty cagey individual), so I was on the alert when I realized I was having acid reflux so frequently.

I had it a lot while I was pregnant, that made sense, but 7.5 mos. later; that's something else entirely.

So, low fat, low spice, low sugar. We'll see what my "trigger foods" end up being over the next few weeks, and hopefully I'll be able to reclaim a few faves. Chocolate?! You've got to be kidding me!

In other news, I think I'm going to have to have Fridays be a second cleaning day in my weekly routine. Dicey has gotten way better at thwarting our efforts at getting fluff out of her mouth and I'm just going to have to keep this place way cleaner. Sigh.

I sometimes get time to work on crafts. I have been feeling very inspired and full of new fall ideas for the shoppe. I think I will call this post quits and go work on stuff!

It's nice to be nice.

A little tiff between my husband and I has reminded me that, despite the fact that I am usually right :D*, it never hurts to be nice. I sometimes lose sight of this fact and end up coming off a little harsher or less appreciative than I intend to. It's easy for me to take things for granted and let off a little steam without thinking. It's also easy for me to forget to give that gratitude and positive reinforcement that keeps us all going.

So, I'm remembering to be nice...until the time comes to not be nice. (Not really, but I couldn't resist quoting Road House, who can really?)

I've found many of the online venues I frequent to be "zones of niceness". It's really uplifting to see how much support and affirmation is being given online for individuals, businesses, what have you. Flickr, Facebook, Blogspot and Etsy are major "zones of niceness". There are always exceptions, of course, but I find it really life affirming how much niceness gets passed around on the internet, all things considered.

(It's much easier to be nice online though. You can delete and revise and people are usually much more thoughtful if something's being put into writing. Plus, my husband's not on any of these websites for me to interact with. He's in my house or on the phone. It would be good if I could be as nice in person as I am online.)

I was just put into another treasury by That70sShoppe; which makes the third time in as many weeks! That's quite nice.

My father and brother-in-law came and did a second installment on the renovation in my garage to make it a studio. Exciting! and very nice!

My sister, her husband, myself and my husband all helped each other out last night by exchanging babysitting so that Celena could go get a much deserved massage and Jack could pick her up without having to load up Max-o; and Bryan and I could go out to see a movie. It's very nice to know your baby is with people that literally treat them as though they were their own and are like a second set of parents.

I am really enjoying plugging away at my embroidered balls, being inspired by all kinds of things, even mail catalogs that would normally just get tossed. That's pretty nice.

Awhile ago, while I was still working a regular job, I realized that most casual, daily conversations amongst co-workers were just exchanges of complaints. I think it's really easy to fall into this pattern for most people. I'm trying to keep myself out of this habit though. There are so many things to be glad about, and the things that you do have to complain about are very rarely helped by said complaints, nor is the person hearing you complain helped in any way.

I know that venting has its place and, believe me, it is something I frequently do and consider healthy. Nonetheless, accentuating the positive seems, at times, to have become a bit of a lost art. So, I leave you with this: Oh, Bing!

Motivation

So, the second week into my "big plans" is going fairly well. Admittedly, the baby in my life ensures that my goals for each day are much easier to get started on that to actually finish; but slow progress is still progress! I have felt more in control and less overwhelmed by all the things I want to get done. Will probably have to tweak as I get more and more into a rhythm, but you have to start somewhere!

Have been inspired by my progress in a few different ways recently; it's amazing how just getting started on something can be such a motivator in and of itself. There is much to be said for momentum!

Just filled out my application today for the Cherrywood Art Fair. `Fingers crossed` I will be accepted because I am all geared up and excited about making sure I have a large enough stockpile of merchandise for a two day show! I recently bought some new yarns for my ball ornaments, but just had them jumbled together, so getting a nice big tub for this particular craft's makings was really fun and fortifying for my notions of having a lovely pile of finished balls.

I'm totally inspired by looking at the colored yarns next to each other and imagining what variations I can come up with next!

It is a little daunting to invest so much time/money/energy with no "payoff" as of yet; but I love making things and am confident that it will all be worthwhile ultimately. I have had some lovely feedback and interest shown in my items; slow and steady will eventually win the race, I'm sure!

Also was included in another treasury with a "Lush Lavender" theme. Having this kind of affirmation really gives me a little jolt of creative energy to keep making pretty things! Thanks chrysbonnaylewis!

If all that wasn't motivation enough, finally "broke ground" (or more accurately: "broke wall") on the project of renovating my garage into a glorious family art studio! It is trying at times to be patient for this much anticipated metamorphoses to hurry up and happen. I have to remind myself to be patient though, as my father and brother-in-law are being so generous to give freely of their time and talents. Verrrrry excited to at least have some progress though! Oh, the lovelies I'll be able to make then...

Big plans

Alright, so I've got big plans a-brewing.  Well, they may not seem big right now, but they could be and will be if I get my way.  Being a SAHM is an interesting shift for me.  I love it and feel very fortunate to be able to do it.  It gives me options though, instead of excuses.  

I have so many things that I want to accomplish and different directions I need to be headed, with a baby on top; I was getting a big disheartened and lost in the mix.  I am torn constantly between giving my baby all the attention she deserves (and demands these days with the early crawling/attempts to walk!), working on my art, keeping my house clean, cooking, revamping/maintaining my yard, working on my online presence as an etsy store and keeping up with friends, family and my husband.  I have the vestiges of a superwoman complex, so I expect great things from myself and am always disappointed a little that I don't constantly amaze myself.

Daughter has taken to trolling the floors for fluff and schmutz to put in her mouth, which has made me realize just how much fluff and schmutz is everywhere in my house!  This has made housekeeping forefront in my mind.  I am not a germ-a-phobe, quite the contrary, but no one wants their baby to chew on a wad of hair/lint/plastic as though it were chewing tobacoo.  (thankfully she didn't choke!)  So, I've decided to start systematizing things a bit.  I know I should go do the flylady thing, but I can't really stand looking at the character long enough to get very much out of that website; maybe someday I will.  KatinkaPinka gave advice of picking a day to be your cleaning day so that you wouldn't feel guilty other days and you would have time allotted for things, etc.  That sounded more my speed, at least for getting started.

This is the first week of doing things this way, so all this is subject to change. :D*

Monday= Cleaning Day.  Any free time I get will be spent cleaning.  ('any free time I get' being the operative phrase!)  I did get some stuff accomplished, but had to leave several jobs only partly done.  Hopefully I will get better at this once I have a few weeks under my belt.  I did clean many floors and feel better about the amount of crap that my baby can find now.

General tidying and cleaning is supposed to happen during the rest of the week as well.  This is still a bit of a stumbling block for me.

Tuesday 

Morning= Yoga at Sundara Yoga Therapy!  Some "me" time as well as being a way for me to take care of my body so that I am better able to do all the things that are needed of me.  This place is great.  Best teachers evar and super good prices/policies!  Nice, nice folks! 

Yay, time for crafting as much as possible mixed with husband's typical off day.

Wednesday= Gymboree for the babe.  This makes me feel better about the other times in the week when I can't be a constant source of amusement for my child.

More crafting time mixed with husband's typical off day.

Thursday= Internet business day.  A day for me to go through all the emails, blogs, websites etc. that help me to further my online business venture.  Hopefully this will mean a regular weekly blog from me as well, as opposed to my rather spotty efforts thus far.  I do have a baby though...

I also have to steal moments during the rest of the week to keep up with personal internet nonsense.

Friday 

morning= Another yoga day!  This may seem excessive, but I frequently don't make it to one or both of my yoga days, so having two as an option is great.  Also, my body is pretty lame.  I have joint problems and back problems and feel older than I am, so any time I can give to doing something physical and good for my body is a good idea.

Afternoon= another Gymboree day for baby!

Any free time for art.

Saturday = Gymboree again.  This may also sound excessive, but because my daughter is in the level 2 group (6-10 mos.) She can go to all the classes that suit her age group for the same price as going just once a week costs for the other age groups.  Why?  Because that age group is going through such rapid development and growth that they want those kids to get as much stimulation and experiences as they can.  Pretty rad, no?  It's also great as a SAHM who is not much of a joiner to have a place where I can meet other parents of similarly aged babies and have my daughter around said babies.

Any free time for art.

Sunday= Free time for art etc.

I also have my sister's fambly over regularly and like to cook and bake and go places I'm invited, so all this schedule is with giant grains of salt, but hopefully will be a step in the right direction.  I'm trying to make many ornaments for (hopefully!) being in the Cherrywood Art Fair this year with celenajustine and it's going slowly but fairly steadily. 

I'm taking the fact that I found out I was included in a lovely treasury today as a good omen.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Gotta go, baby woke up!  I had more to say, but I think I got the gist across...

Squash Vine Borers are Guh-ross! Plus musing about art.

So, my pumpkin plant got infested with squash vine borers; which are basically giant maggots that eat out the inside of squash vines (hence the name).  I read up on how to deal with them in the hopes that I don't have to give up totally on trying to grow a pumpkin this year.  You have to go in and incise the vine and get the worms out and burn them and any plant you have to cut off, burn that too.  Then you cover the cut parts with dirt/compost.  I did that and am hoping that the narsty task was not in vain.

Just heard that Pina Bausch died.  Pretty bummed about it.  Michael was bad enough, but Pina (an unfortunately not widely known genius of choreography, modern dance and theatre) too?  There has been a significant loss to the creative, artsy world and I'm taking it as motivation to create more.  

As an artist, it took me awhile to get into making things unless I had a specific reason, like a grade or a present for someone.  I finally understood that I consider it an artist's duty to put as much beauty into this world as they are able to.  When I think about how inspired I was growing up by just being exposed to art in various forms, seeing what compelling, appealing things had been created by other people, I get really excited about how art begets art.

I feel like several things have happened recently that have been making it obvious to me that, as an artist, I need to seek out other artists, for camaraderie, support, collaboration, inspiration, wisdom etc.  I recently had a craft night at my place and was warmed by having my good friend Janice there, seeing her pursue her own art completely without pretense, asking for help from her artist boyfriend when she comes up against something he's better at, being totally open about admiring someone else's work without the trappings of competitiveness, jealousy or territorial behaviors that so many artists end up with.  She and another friend, Lucy are like guileless art nymphs that make the world a much better place.

I've also been entering into collaboration with my sister, celenajustine on a booth for an art show this winter.  It's always exciting to work with her and I think it's something we have (understandably) been missing out on until now.  

Celena and I both have been getting many loving tips and critiques and advice from the wonderful and gifted KatinkaPinka, who has been kind enough to take us under her "Etsy wing".

I recently convo-ed a fellow Etsy seller, Waterrose and ended up learning a good deal about her that was not obvious upon first impression.  She turned out to be a really interesting person and the exchange reminded me just how special a person it takes to give your time and yourself to making beauty.  

All this has reminded me to never forget just how much one can learn from those around us and that we need to support each other's efforts as much as possible.

It's natural to be cage-y/competitive/guarded about yr own art/inspirado, but I think artists need to realize that working together and sharing will only "grow our market" (within reason of course).  There should be more art salons...there should be "art-ins".  Who's up for another craft night at my place?  Let's make stuff!  I just keep hearing my mother's (an art teacher) words: "this is the only class where you are encouraged to look at each other's work.  If it's better than yours, learn from it.  If it's worse, feel better about your own."

This, of course, is always easier when it's an artist that isn't making the same things you make! :D*

Happy Summer!

Well, I know it's not technically summer yet, but it feels enough like it and I figure everyone's in that state of mind, so I gave my blogge and shoppe little seasonal shift face lifts.  I plan on trying to keep up with this for all the seasons, probably recycling the same banners and stuff, but I thought it would be nice to mix it up.  

So, starting summer off fairly well.  Got a new item in the shoppe and have supplies and ideas for a few more to come.

Planted a pecan tree where I actually want one as opposed to all the volunteer ones that keep making my yard work more difficult.

My rogue lantanas (I found another one!) seem to be surviving with promises of thriving despite the fact that I butchered their tap roots whilst digging them up.  I have lost some respect for the tap root of the lantana plant.

I now have to put my baby to bed with a soft blanket, but then go in after she's fallen asleep and take it away from her so she doesn't smother herself.

Got a fancy new haircut at Avant Salon from a lovely stylist named Carianne.  She had tattoos and had her bleached blonde hair all done up like a cross between Gwen Stefani and Rosie the Riveter.  We chatted about the Make Up For Ever line because she liked my eye shadow (for those who don't know, I think this line is mostly used by drag queens and is carried by Sephora).  It was a great experience and I'm really enjoying the cut.  I may be a short hair convert, for at least a little while.

So things feel fresh and new, albeit hot.  Looking forward to changes up ahead and having the tools to tackle them.  Going to start tearing down some sheet rock any day now.  Maybe tomorrow.  I also plan to try to make pitas.  Tonight.

figs and stuff

Well, I'm in a bit of a slump in the artsy creative world.  I'm also torn.  The most important concern/endeavor is taking care of the bebe.  But what to do besides that? Deciding what for and how to use the extra energy and time that I sometimes have is a bit of a hurdle for me right now.  These are the options:

-cleaning 

-cooking

-yardwork

-prep for renovation in studio

-making things to put in my shoppe

So far, these things are seeming somewhat mutually exclusive and/or dependent on other things that don't always align properly.  I keep thinking that I could get into some kind of routine or at least quasi routine that would allow me to do all of these things, or at least more than I have been managing to do, and do them in a lovely cyclical, fulfilling way.

I take being a homemaker pretty seriously. I haven't gotten into a zone of house cleanliness yet that I would like to achieve.  Part of the issue is all the other things, part of the issue is my apparently old creaky body that doesn't like to bend or kneel very much, part of it is just that I haven't had the self discipline to make myself do it.  Along with cleanliness, I aspire to wholesome, and as old-fashioned as possible meal prep/planning.  I feel to officially achieve some of the goals I have that I need a large chest freezer.  I think I could get into a pretty great cycle of making things like tortillas, butter, chicken stock and rehydrated black beans if I had a large freezer to stock them up in.

This ties into yard work a bit.  I have some rogue pumpkin vines that I'm hoping to encourage and possibly pollinate.  Pumpkins don't always need to be pollinated, but it's good insurance if you want a pumpkin.  I don't think I would be able to time it appropriately for Halloween this year, but it seems I could try to schedule it better for next year if this year shows me it's do-able.  Unfortunately, we are without a functioning lawn mower right now so my pumpkins are surrounded by weedy jungle.  But I get all Little House on the Prairie when I think of growing pumpkins and figuring out some good pumpkin recipes.  Imagine growing my own pumpkin that I would be able to cook up for my little girl!  Imagine growing my own jack o'lanterns!  

My figs seem to be coming in like gangbusters this year.  I'm so excited!  I really hope to be able to successfully cook with some of the figs this year.   Almost every recipe I find calls for dried figs.  I still am not sure on how to do this, but this is the year I will figure it out.  I also have to wrestle every fig I use away from my husband who pops them like tic tacs.  I left some of the taller branches on this year in hopes that the birds and squirrels and stuff could be occupied by those and I can use the lower ones.  We'll see if that pipe dream comes true!  I don't care for fresh figs, but I know I could figure out how to cook with them and be able to enjoy having such a bountiful fruit tree.

I also have a Jujube tree that the Wallaces gifted me with.  I've been reading up on things to do with these fruits as well.  Lee said that it would fruit this year, but I'm dubious.  It looks happy though.

I think I've successfully made my compost heap not so attractive to interlopers and am pretty excited about that, but still a bit jumpy when I go out there.  

My front little planty/flower garden looks nice, but still needs finishing touches.  I'm usually only able to garden at night these days, after little D goes down and there's no sun to do me in.  But I have to be properly motivated to garden in the dark and that doesn't always happen.

I so want to work on the shoppe more but am feeling pulled by all of these other things as well as not having a space to work in yet, but only a space to work on, which doesn't get me any further on crafties right now.  I also have a plan for a line of embroideries, but I don't have all the supplies I need right now for that, so that's holding me back.

I did make some experimental Thai Butter Cookies last night from a recipe that came in this month's Vogue.  It didn't work out perfectly, there were some cookie casualties, but the end result is certainly tasty and inspiring to experiment with some more.  I'm also excited to try a recipe for Brown Butter from the same article.  I also made some Hummus that worked well and I fried up some triangles of tortilla to try to make chips.  The blue corn ones are a little funny, but the only just lightly fried, still chewy flour tortilla "chips"?  Delicious!  Will have to revisit.  Also on the experiment horizon, making my own pasta.  

I've made ravioli with reasonable success, and it wasn't hard.  I just want to go through my cook books and try so many things.

Getting LHOTP fever when I envision myself making all these foods that beget or lead into other foods and even being able to grow some of the ingredients myself?!  Super happy fun times!  Now if I can just choreograph it all and get my rear in gear, things will be quite snappy at the Douglas house!

Rat!

So, I cleaned out my fridge and was happily slopping the grody stuff into my compost bin when I saw a rat scurry away from said bin and into a hole in the cement foundation where a tube from my air conditioning unit goes into the house.  OMG!  My jaw dropped and I didn't even know how to handle this information.  I went and did some research because I knew that this would mean even bigger strikes against composting to my husband.  (I've only just barely gotten him to not fight me on it and throw everything away).  Boo.

So, research and a chat with Jack has garnered me these options:

1. poison

2. rat traps

3. sealing up the hole*

4. not composting anymore proteins* (I'll feel bad just tossing them though!)

5. peppermint oil sprayed all around bin

6. planting mint all around bin

7. turning compost more regularly* (I need a pitchfork!)

8. keeping compost more moist*

9. burying the scraps deeper in bin*

10. a WORM bin?!?!

11. Bokashi system

*- these things I can and will do regardless

On 10 & 11: I can't in good conscience just put all my protein/cooked food scraps in the trash!  I'll have to do it for awhile I guess until I come up with an alternate system, but I need an alternate system!  I could get a worm bin, but dude, it's a box of worms in yr house that you feed regularly.  Creep central.  The worms they recommend, get this, are called RED WIGGLERS.  I don't think I can do it.

Bokashi is something I just learned about online.  It's a mixture of wheat germ and molasses and water and some microorganisms (microorganisms supposedly available at Whole Foods).  You can make it yourself.  You need a special bucket, but you can make one for yourself if you're industrious.  You layer the stuff with any kind of food trash, it doesn't matter what.  Once the bucket is full, you leave it covered for 2 weeks. (the idea is to have two buckets that you alternate).  Once it sits, the food trash has effectively been pickled, rendering it very unappealing to critters, so it is safe to put into the the compost without attracting unwanted visitors.  It's also supposed to not be smelly in yr house while it's in the bucket and not be smelly in the compost either.

I've also read that bokashi can be used to feed chickens with and as cat litter that you can ultimately compost as well.

Not sure about spending the money to decompose my food trash on a regular basis.  Wheat germ and molasses and this EM stuff aren't the cheapest ingredients I can imagine, and it seems as though you'd have to make it and remake it fairly frequently.  This will be a sticking point for Bry as well.  

On a lighter note: I'm going to attempt to grow pumpkins.  I don't think they were planted at the right time to hit Halloween, but if this year goes well, I could time it better next year.

Any thoughts or insights are appreciated.

...studio

So, my first mother's day came and went without much ado.  I didn't get a formal pressie from husband, but, better than that, it marks the beginning of officially moving forward on renovating our garage into a studio!  The best mother's day present I could hope for.  

(Though when I did feel veeerrrry tired and low and headache-y, the Bears came and made my mother's day, while Bry was at work, as nice as possible, and we had a lovely morning with our mum at her house.)  

This is a project that I have been wistful about since we bought the house 4 yrs. ago.  Yay!  So, along with the fact that her baby was born a bit early, I had another reason to finish up my quasi quilt for Zoe quickly.  Bryan stayed up with me (so did Dicey!) for a long while as I worked in the garage late at night with the door open, sewing like the wind and thanking my lucky stars that my vague memories of quilting a tool cozy for a college draping class basically worked in informing my approach to finishing off the mini-blanket.  We had a fun time, Bryan holding D and playing with her in the grass until she finally went down for good, and then sitting on the car and sketching ideas and chatting with me so I wouldn't be spooked or harassed by the mentally handicapped teen boy that roams our street in the evenings.  We stayed up until 2 am!  But the quilt was done to my satisfaction and we got to deliver it to baby and mama the very next day.  Ah the glory of promised baby projects done before it's too late!  

Note: Bryan and I threw a baby shower for Zoe, one of the godmothers of our baby girl, that had an "Eco" theme along with pointing out that Zoe was wanting some black and white things for baby stimulation.  (What's black and white and green all over? was the line on the invite)  the activity was for people to decorate fabric squares with fabric being recycled from Half Price Books tee shirts.  So, completely using fabric that was already in my house, save for the batting and interfacing, I made this "eco-chic" version of a playmat for baby.  I even used the little scrappies that were cut along the way to pad out the border.  Fun!

So, now that my project that has been occupying my un-air-conditioned garage makeshift work area is finished, we can clear out the garage and start building a wall and putting in outlets and such so that a new era of my projecting can be ushered in.  No more transported messes migrating through the house!  No more using the front room as storage for all my homeless craftiness!  No more worrying about critters making their way into my things left out in the garage!  No more needles left out where Pete will make off with them!  No more woefully unused storage bins!  Oh the things I will be able to make, I can barely contain myself while I begin the probably lengthy process of getting the space to be actually workable.

I know some gal pals are itching for craft nights to be reinstated as well and have been hinting at having them at my place, but oh how glorious will it be to have craft nights in the studio someday!  Yippee!

project status

I haven't posted in so long.  I have yet to feel like I have any kind of routine that allows for regular updates online at all the etsyfacebooktwitterblogspotflickr what have you.  I tend to do it in spurts, but then I get exasperated at spending too long at the computer all at once.

Everything is in spurts right now for me.  I want to put so much more of myself into promoting my Etsy shoppe, but Zoe just had her baby and Mother's Day is upon us and my front garden is still unfinished, so more time sensitive things have taken the front seat.

I made the hospital cookies for Zoe and Marc.  They were in the shape of elephants and Texas and I was able to use my weird coloured leftover frosting from the ox cake for Nathalie's shower and dressed that up with the rest of my clear sugar sprinkles I had bought for the ox cookie favors.  Marc said he appreciated the sugar rush after their long labor and delivery having left his Marc's Mix in the car.

The quasi quilt is going fairly well.  I have the top and bottom pieced and stitched and pinned like a sandwich with the batting in between.  So all that's left is sewing through the sandwich, cutting the bias strips for the border, lining said strips with interfacing, stitching those together, then attaching around the edge, then, voila!  I will have made a mini-quilt, playmat, tummy time pad thingy.  Hopefully Zoe and Marc and Alden get some use out of it, or at least like looking at it.

Speaking of Alden, he is so cute and has the softest little blonde hair that makes his head feel like a baby kitten.  I'm really thinking of Zoe and Marc and wishing them all the best right now, because it's such a fragile time.

So, in my bizarre self-inflicted quest to learn recipes and make traditional things, I have discovered the Simnel Cake.  This is a cake, popular in England that was made on Mothering Sunday by the kids who had gone away from home to be servants and workers.  They were granted time off to take a cake to their mothers who, in turn, would give them a blessing.  It's a kind of fruit cake with lots of marzipan.  I'm attempting to make said marzipan, the first batch needed tweaking, so I'll have to give it another go after purchasing some more almonds.  This time without peels (I know, Celena told me so, but the recipe didn't say anything and Paula Deen says you're supposed to make something following the recipe first and then figure out how you want to change it).  The peely marzipan tasted good, but wasn't the look I was going for and I wonder if the texture may have been affected a bit.  We'll see.  I think I can use the batch inside the cake though.  I'm contemplating candying some orange and lemon peel instead of just using it plain.  I think I probably should.  I found a recipe, but they have to drain for 4-5 hrs. and then be stored in sugar, so here I sit.

The front garden started strong but then I ran into a lot of dirt mess that is a drag to clean up and makes the brush disposal bags too heavy for pickup.  "Why can't you just compost it Selah?"  Well, funny you should ask, but all the stuff I pulled up has sticker burrs in it and I don't want to spread the seed every time I use my compost.  So there.  I had high hopes when I dug up the rogue Lantana that showed up in my back yard.  It had smaller friends found on clearance at Lowe's already planted and was going to be my nice big one.  I nipped the very end of its tap root though.  I had no idea it was going to be so long and went out there with the naivete of someone who's never run into rogue Lantana before, Dicey in tow.  I thought I was so clever, it would be quick to dig it up, so I laid out a blanket in the shade for D to enjoy a bit of outside while I simply popped the plant up out of the ground and popped it back in where I wanted it in front.  A foot into the ground later, my hands are covered in dirt, it's all caked under my nails and I still haven't gotten anywhere near being able to lift this plant out.  I finally have dug as far as I'm willing because D is losing patience and so am I, so I tug gently, hoping to pull it out intact, but alas, it broke.  I'll never know how much I broke off, but it was pretty skinny, so I thought surely it could recover its loss.  Days later and my rogue Lantana that was so robust and beautiful has only become more and more wilty and droopy.  Unless it has a fighting spirit, it's definitely circling the drain.  Darn those all important tap roots!  I have been doing my gardening at night after D goes down, but my fingernails were all sore from a few days of this and now that all the plants (save rogue-y) are getting what they need, there's no longer the major impetus to push forward.  Plus, Zoe's baby was born early.

Oh well.  No pics, but thought I would share.  Think I'll go candy that peel now.