4 weeks to go..

An update has been a long time coming, mostly because my computer got slower and slower and finally Dave sent it in to get repaired. A faulty logic board fix later (whatever that is) and I'm back in business! Lots of photos to post, so here we go!

at the ballet with Grandma Gini and Auntie Caroline. We saw an abbreviated version of Sleeping Beauty specially designed for young children. It was beautiful and good, but I needed the interpretations as much as Julia did. Who knew that at the end of sleeping beauty, the owl and the pussy cat do a dance as does little red riding hood and the wolf. and some couple dressed in blue. still not sure who they were!

an over exposed shot of us, but check out that belly!

meanwhile our chicks graduated to the garage from the house. It was time! things were getting mighty smelly and the chicks could almost escape their box. They took to garage life like champs, exploring the straw and extra room to run around. 

one day i managed to convince Julia to put on overalls and join me in the garden. seeing her in pants hasn't happened in so long it warrented a picture. a little modern american gothic. 

we spent some sunny days hanging out at the beach. it's still mostly deserted these days, but soon i'm told that will change. 

Julia loved going out with me to feed the chicks in the morning and evening. I could only catch them when they had fresh food to distract them, but in this picture, Julia's holding a little yellow one. 

Julia got dino fabric in the mail from Carol Witte! She wanted a dinosaur dress. I took a deep breath and got to work.  

our new and bigger chicken coop arrived and took some impressive action to unload and place. Thankfully dave's brother John and girlfriend Leslie and my sister Grace were all visiting, so with skids and logs and pushing and mud up to noses and some cursing the coop got moved to the back of the garden. I got relegated to taking video and pictures as everyone gets worked up when the pregnant woman so much as picks up a cinder block. 

After the coop excitement, Grace and I made soap! my first batch but not hers, so she walked me through using the lye. We added orange oil and calendula petals from my garden last summer, and the base of the soap was olive oil, coconut oil and shortening. It takes a good month to dry and cure, so I haven't gotten to test it out yet. 

beyond the raised beds, Dave went crazy over break and dug up and enormous circle garden. it doubled the amount of workable garden space we have. He's vague about what he intends to plant, so we'll see! I've planted kale seedlings, lettuce, broccoli and strawberry roots. I just started a flat of flower seeds. It will be interesting to see what else happens after this here baby arrives!

a lovely day on the trampoline.  

and a dinosaur dress! it actually turned out pretty good! I'm very impressed with myself, and Julia is in love with it, which is super gratifying. 

The chickies started charging and dive bombing each other which I learned is a normal working out of the social order, but I thought a distraction was due. I pushed the coop out of the garage and jerry rigged a temporary fence around it to give them a first taste of the great outdoors. I also cut them off from the heat lamp! They loved the grass and quickly caught on to the deliciousness of worms. 

Julia and I both have been spending lots more time out in the yard, now that we've been getting more sun and less rain. The  little creek through our yard is flowing north (!?) at a good rate and she's been "fishing" in it. 

here we are back at the beach watching the sun set and she's built herself an airplane out of driftwood. 

We got started on her birthday project which is a fairy garden! I got an old drawer and we filled it with dirt. We added a stepping stone she had made a few weeks ago and planted violets and pansies. I've slowly been bringing out little things for her to add and she seems quite taken with it. 

she loves hugging the baby and is surprisingly gentle about not crashing into my belly. She's got it in her mind that the baby will come right after her birthday, which is next week. 

The chickies soon decimated the grass in their tiny enclosure, so I got excited and moved the coop to the garden! the big coop still needs some finish work, so for now the a frame coop is doing a fine job of holding them. I set up a fence across the back 4th of the garden and that gives them a good large area to dig and explore. They love it, but unfortunately the hawks loved them. five fatalities occurred before I could get bird netting set up across the top to sufficiently protect them. All three of the little silkies are gone as well as two of the bigger ones. It was heartbreaking, especially to loose the silkies but I am thankful that I planned on losing a few chickens when I ordered so many. Now it's been several days without any casualties so I think we'll do ok. Once the trees leaf out they will have excellent cover so I'm looking forward to that. 

We have had lots of baby shower action! I don't have any photos of it, but the women from our church gave us a baby shower, then we went to Gini's for another one and then the moms from my lady group on the island gave me one too. It's been lovely to feel so loved from so many people! (and it's not over yet, as the women at the school are planning a shower as well!!!) My photos are limited to Gini's, which featured relatives and sisters and chosen family. 

Julia was thrilled by aunties and cake pops and lots of presents for her too!

games, food, conversation... 

and a mountain of presents to open!

but soon we were waiting for the ferry again. back on island, I am counting down. 4 more weeks till due date! I'm feeling huge and awkward and often sore and tired, interspersed with manic ideas of cleaning projects and desires for more dressers to organize things. I'm getting occasional braxton hicks contractions, that remind me of the near future and fuel more manic ideas. clean the coop, finish the other coop, clean the fridge, organize the sewing room more, finish the warp for the loom, weave more baskets, get a dresser for the baby stuff, get the car seat out here from dave's dad's house, clean the car seat, clean the car so there's room for the car seat. clean and wash laundry and cook like normal. plant flowers so the deck looks pretty for Julia's birthday party. organize the storage shed. clean the oven. write more thank you cards. ect. ect. ect.