too many clothes

Nature has changed from its winter wardrobe to its spring and summer wardrobe... why can't I? I have so many clothes sitting around - I can't put away all my winter clothes and I can't get out all my summer clothes. We have had days with sun and 80+ degrees, and days (like today) that are grey, rainy and barely 60 degrees. I will have to get to work, though, and fold up all my sweaters and sweatshirts. I certainly don't need those anymore! (At least, I hope not!!!)

Freezer Burn

I have been dreading this task for quite awhile. I know I am supposed to defrost our freezer once a year, but what a gargantuan task that is! My friend in Iowa had a great way to deal with this - she simply did it in the dead of winter and let everything sit outside in the snow (staying nicely frozen) while she let the freezer defrost. Our winters here in MD are not as cold, and I didn't have a chance to take care of it then...

Lately, the food I get out of the freezer has been freezer-burnt, and we do not care for that at all. Yuck! So, this morning I bought two large bags of ice and cleaned out the freezer. I ended up with two coolers and a rubbermaid box full of food and ice. I also ended up with food to throw away - freezer burnt stuff that no one will eat now. What a waste. It is my fault, of course, and I feel horrible about that "money down the drain."

Perhaps next year I will do bettter and defrost on schedule.

Perhaps I should have shelled out the extra money for a self-defrosting freezer...

Helloooo?

I can guess why KJ has let her blog go, as Joel probably has highjacked their computer to keep up with his immensely popular blog. I suppose Linda might be busy with the school year winding down, and that could be why her blog has also lagged. I miss them, though, as they seem to be a convenient way for me to keep up with everyone.

Super-creativity

Am I trying to prove something here? I can't believe what I put myself through this week... I guess I need to do a better job at scheduling myself.

First - I have been planning on moving the brick walkway. (We always cut across the lawn anyway!) I thought, "I can do that myself!" I was right, for the most part. But, boy, oh boy, it's hard work! Lots of digging up old bricks, grass and dirt, tamping down dirt, spreading sand, laying bricks, spreading more sand... I started with a nice herringbone pattern, which looked great, but would involve many, many cuts for the edges. We don't have a brick splitter... and didn't want to rent one for $24 a day. Oh well. I changed the layout, and it looks okay (better than the original), and I only need two cuts, which I hear can be done at Home Depot for cheap. This job took two days - because I have to work during naptime, and because I was exhausted the first day!

Second and Third - I made and decorated two cakes. This is teacher appreciation week (brought to our attention by our school's weekly newsletter), and we have special snack tomorrow. Dorothy asked for a cake, so I baked one for her and decorated it with a lovely buttercream icing (which I purchased from Shelly, my friend who works for Giant). The peach flavored cake "to a peach of a teacher" written under a peach made from a cupcake. Cute. The other cake is for a baby shower tomorrow, and it a two layer cake with cute multi-colored little polka dots on it. I wish I had photos. Too bad.

Anyway, I am tired, and have asked Jim if we could have Mother's day tonight so I don't have to cook. I've been creative enough for one day...

the wait...

Oh, how horrible, it's going to the theatres first! We'll have to wait at least a year and a half before we can see it!

What, you ask, are we so impatient to see? The latest from Aardman, of course, a new Wallace and Gromit movie! It comes out in October 2005...

The cut of your clothes

"Happiness in wearing clothes is dependent, however, on some homely and revealing facts. You must know what you are really like. No one else, however, need know the whole truth about you." (emphasis mine.)

"Be yourself as you are and as you want to be. The frocks you wear will achieve this ambition for you. You can create a charmed circle of admiration wherever you go simply by the way you dress. Cultivate your gift for clothes. The puritan virtues concerning dress, while still virtues, are no longer in fashion. Enjoy your clothes."


"But what of the woman who is really matronly in build? No puffy bouffants for her. She would become terrifyingly enormous." (All right, so I threw this last quote in for fun!)

The wording in these quotes may clue in to their age. They come from a book published by the Butterick company in the 1930's, called Paris Frocks at Home. (I found it on a website devoted to vintage sewing). Even though these are from what we would consider an old book, they are true today. In fact, these ideas are repeated often today, just in more modern language. Of course, we no longer think that the average woman is going to sew her own clothes, let alone tailor them!