Fire House Fieldtrip.

Yesterday morning Savannah's class walked down the street to our local fire house.

We took a tour of the bay (the garage) and the fire fighters' living quarters (so tidy!).

After a little excitement with the ambulance being called away, we got a thorough tour of Engine 21. 21 weights in at over 44,000 lbs and hold thousands of feet of fire hose as well as some of the most impressive tools I have ever seen. 21 is washed two times a week and waxed once a week.

Each firefighter has to have mad math skills, there is a dry erase board on the side of these gauges with what looked like complicated math equations. Also, firefighters carry on the engine piles and piles of fire/water resistant tarps used to prevent a home owner's flooring and furniture from ruin.

Firefighters must be completely outfitted in one minute.

Savannah getting her chance with the fire hose.

Haunting.

Bits from my Mom keep popping up. It is a bittersweet surprise. I found a few boxes of her things in my attic, boxes I put off going through for years until the pain dulled a bit. One box contained her Brownie and Girl Scout uniforms, her first walking shoes and a few crafts she made. Another was filled with scrapbooks of cards and childhood photos, class reunion rosters and all her grade school report cards. The last box held every birthday, Mother's day, anniversary card and little note her children ever gave her. I didn't know she treasured those cards so dearly and now I wish I would have put more thought into picking out the perfect card for each occasion. While thumbing through her favorite trusty cookbook the other night the spine opened easily to a page containing her recipe for Pumpkin Pie (it was the best!). My heart always leaps and falls whenever I come across her Calligraphy handwriting. Immediately I think she has left me a note and I've now just found it. Love washes over me but then reason blows over and I realize the truth. I fear one of these days there will be no new surprises. For no new written notes or recipes have been created and all these little treasures, proof of her existence, have already been found. 

Amador Day Trip.

We had such a fun Autumn weekend! Tim's Mum came to stay, we love when she sleeps over. We spent a morning out at Amador Flower Farm* where My Littles picked out baby pumpkins and we all enjoyed our first corn maze. We were so lost!

Then we spent the afternoon in Sutter Creek. The town was celebrating with an old fashioned Carousel Organ Rally. There were organ grinders on every corner and in between. Savannah even got to help out, she was so proud.

*just a little note about Amador Flower Farm...The corn maze, hay bail rides, and petting farm are all FREE! They offer for sale snacks and pumpkins in order to support a free family outing to everyone. There were no crowds and the landscape was beautiful. And if you like to wine taste? The Flower Farm is in the heart of The Shenandoah Valley, Amador County's primer wine growing region. Check it out here.

The Gift Of A Dusty Closet.

Remember when I kept up this? The project was so beneficial to me in many ways, some of which I am still figuring out now.

A Dusty Closet helped me ORGANIZE my clothes and closet. I always planned the night before what I would wear the next day making my mornings less crazy (so much easier). I was always ready to leave the house dressed for any appointment or "quick" grocery run or equally important if by chance someone unexpectedly knocked on my door, I didn't look/feel like a slump-a-dinka.

The project was so much fun CREATIVELY. If you followed along, the point was to wear a different outfit everyday without wearing the same pieces together more than once, therefore continuously creating new outfits just by shopping my closet. I enjoyed mixing patterns and colors I wouldn't previously imagined combining. So many times I took a cue from Miss Savannah Jane who is a super brave fashionista. During this time I started wearing my hair differently and making a point to do my hair every morning. I also whittled down my makeup to this;

under-eye concealer, cream eyeshadow (2 colors), eyebrow shaping kit, blush, mascara, eyeliner and eyelash curler. That's it.

I SAVED/MADE MONEY shopping my closet. When an item sitting unused for too long was just taking up precious hanger space-off it went to the "consign or donate" bin. At the end of the summer I took two bags of clothes to consignment. I didn't expect much money in return but thought it might be worth ironing everything and placing what needed on a hanger. I had a number in my head. It looked like $20. The buyer took 80% of my clothes and I made $125. When I did donate, I made sure to get a recipe for our taxes. I didn't feel like I "needed" to go shopping, after all I hadn't worn every possible combination in my closet yet. When I did go clothes shopping, I considered carefully every garment candidate and it's applicability to my closet, I wasn't just on cruise control or impulse buying. So I decided to save up my personal money and aim high. The mission: buy a really great handbag. It was hard and took me forever.



So even though I have stopped taking daily photos, I haven't stopped shopping my closet. I am now in the habit I hoped I would find myself in when I started A Dusty Closet at the beginning of this year. Here's the truth. Before this project, I was in an unhappy place mentally every morning while getting ready for the day. When I was teaching, I dressed up every day. I tried my best to look my best. But I haven't had a full-time paying job for over 7 years. My work here at home raising My Littles requires attire able to withstand grubby/dirty little fingers, snot and other stickiness-es, plus the ease of getting up quickly to rescue Littles from owies or being ready at the drop of a hat to roll around on the grass...think yoga pants and a t-shirt. But I need more. I want to use yoga pants FOR YOGA only. I guess what I was looking for all along and trying to preserve by keeping up with A Dusty Closet was...my DIGNITY.







Good Morning Honey Hutters. I'm so excited...Angela and Baby Lucas are here for a visit! While I get in some quality sis-in-law time, I wish you a lovely day. By the way, did you know Angela and I were friends before Tim and I dated? I thank my lucky stars to have my friend as my sister-in-law. Here is a little photo of The Little Girls and I from the weekend.

Great Bones.

I found this beauty at an estate sale a few weeks back. Immediately I saw through her dated fabric and stain, imagining her instead with white paint and distressed navy twill. I underestimated the work it would take to get her looking the way I imagined. I haven't done a re-upholstery project in quite some time, but it all came back to me...the inspiration, the supplies, the work, the crisis, the loss of faith in my ability, the wanting to call my Mom for help, the breakthrough, and the finish. I know this bench is going to be destroyed by stains from grubby little fingers so I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about the "quality" of work I did. I know she has a good year before another makeover. Overall I like her and I'm glad this lady is ours. 

 

Treasures.

The Antique Fair in my town always falls on the last weekend of September. Before Savannah's party on Sunday I took myself on a morning date to treasure hunt on Main Street. I loved the above staging at one vendor's booth, very pioneer/gold panning-ish, pegging my old town perfectly. 

I fell hard for both of these oil landscapes but thought they would be expensive so I stood in front of them for quite some time, the vendor saw my hesitation/longing and quoted me $5 per painting. I quickly threw a ten in his hand, sealing the deal. I am still on an "antiquing high" from this bargain! 

This one makes me think of Palm Desert and the memories we've made there with our Littles.

And speaking of Littles...Look at Hank-opatomus! He is such a precious lovey. His smiles melt my heart.