{7QT} The Things they Say + More

1.  The girls are often commenting on Sparky's "fake crying" act.  He hates it.  One day he is crying and carrying on about something, and then stops suddenly, turns to me and says in a completely normal voice, "Mom, I'm real crying."  Then he starts crying again.

2.  Sunshine:  I don't like wet kisses.  I wipe them off.  I mean, well, I try not to wipe them off.   I know they are for love, but . . . I don't really like them.

3.  When Rosebud cut her foot open and we were waiting for the doctor to numb her foot before the stitches, D. was trying to persuade her to let him take a picture of her wound on his phone.  She would cry at the suggestion and shake her head vehemently.  The other day she told him, "Sorry I didn't let you take a picture of my foot, Daddy.  I was just kind of out of my mind."

4.  
Last week D. found a robin's nest in a small tree in our back yard.  There were two large baby birds in it, and I knew because of their size that they would be moving out soon.  But barely a day or two later they were gone without a trace.  No more mommy robin cheeping loudly at us as we looked, and no more baby birds.   We didn't get much time to enjoy the joy of baby birds in a nest.
I guess August is late for birds to be raising young, anyway, isn't it?  



5. 

Our garden is doing better then last year -- after several years of poor garden attempts, I guess we can be glad for any improvement!  We get a steady stream of delicious lemon cucumbers,  which I love, because of their great taste, even if left too long on the vine, and their perfect small size.  Two vines have borne plenty for our family to eat our fill but not so much that we are sick of them.
I planted 8 bean vines and about 12 purple pod bush beans and they are finally increasing in their production such that we will be able to cook, for the second time so far, a batch to feed our family at dinner.  
The carrots, even after the 10 weeks of growing time were tiny (but good!), the swiss chard is bitter and tough and the basil is a little sparse.  The lone okra plant has produced just two pods, so that is a bust, though I don't know how much an average plant should bear . . .  maybe I should have planted more.  
I wonder if the compost component of the "Mel's Mix" formula for square foot gardening soil that I have been using just doesn't contain the nutrients for good growth.

6.    Nevertheless, Sparky and I planted more squares of fall carrots and kale.  In the next few weeks we will also plant a second square of radishes and try some beets and lettuce for the cooler fall weather.  We planned to do some sugar snap peas, but the cucumbers and beans are monopolizing the trellis.

7.
I've been hearing plenty about this NYT bestseller book 
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.  I have been both intrigued and dismayed by the things I have read about the principles in the book, because I am a conflicted woman.  I LOVE getting rid of things in my house . . .  AND  . . . . I am sentimentally attached to things/think we might need them someday/ the queen of indecision.
Recently, with a small house constantly filled with kids stuff all. over. the. floor this so-called "life-changing magic" is calling my name.  Very loudly.

But today, I see her Kon Mari method and raise her Two Happy Girls in Upcycled Cloaks:

And, in case you are wondering, in this case, I'd win, because these are just cool!  
By Marie Kondo's principles these old, homemade skirts of my teen years should most definitely have been looooong gone.
But, look!  They wanted cloaks to dress up in and I dug these beauties out, my full and flowy long skirts of old, cut up the back seam, made a casing for the ribbon and voila!  The girls were thrilled!

This is why people, this is why you can't throw it all away! Sometimes you should hang on to stuff because you never know! ;)

Visit Kelly's for more 7QTs and read her tips for long drives with kids.  Haha!!