Tile that I'm trying to love

Our house is weird. It has several floors. The corners are round. The yard is triangular, kind of. There is a lot of light in most rooms, except for the dark ones. There are glass block windows in odd places.

And it has strange tile.

Interesting at first.

But then you live with it for a while.

Trying to love it.

Then realizing you don't.

And that's okay.

Yikes, I've been absent for way too long here...

I've been absent for way too long here.

And I'm going to blame it on my camera.

It finally breathed its last slow breath a few weeks ago when it started taking pictures like this

and this

Kinda cool in a 70s, faded sort of way, but not what I was going for.

It's a good thing grandmas are around to capture the recent cuteness, as in someone's first lost tooth

(yes, that mouth is blue from her first/last taste of cotton candy)

And someone's flute recital.

Today I just purchased a new-to-me camera on craigslist (hooray for affordability and no trashy packaging)!

I was able to capture the schoolgirls themselves, taking a luxurious bath in a cardboard box.

This camera is similar to my old one, but I suddenly figured out how to make the flash less obtrusive.

While I haven't been taking many pictures lately, I have been sitting here

making loads of these.

See the Eventual Farmer facebook page for details of the upcoming Holiday Markets that I'll be at.

Eight is great!

Eight is a great age to be! So let's celebrate with an artist-themed party, shall we?

Cupcake painters palettes for the kids party.

A whole cake palette for the relatives the next day.

I guess I didn't learn my lesson about rainbow frosting from last year's mess, because oops, I did it again.

Here is the birthday girl and her sister in the calm before the guests arrive.

Supplies for our crayon melting project.

All it takes is a canvas,

a pack of crayons,

a hot glue gun,

and a hair dryer.

Pretty impressive. And oh-so-simple.

Who doesn't love a fruit kabob?!

Remember all those spray painted frames? They made a silly time of group photos.

All in all - a great time for being eight!

Have you been to the Ypsi Food Co-op recently?

I really need to get there more often. They have local ... everything. Well, almost everything. And fun alternatives to the automatic way we've been doing things. Like plasticware. They have some that's made of corn and is compostable. Not exactly my style, as I'd rather just bring my own silverware from home when I go a-picnic-ing. But I'm thinking school cafeteria here. Field Day. Class parties. And the like.

Anyway, I'm pleased, proud, and downright giddy to announce that some of my products are available for sale at The Ypsilanti Food Co-op! Swing by their location on River Street in Depot Town to pick up a Snack Pack, a Sandwich Wrap, or some Fabric Gift Bags!

As you know, all of my stuff is made from repurposed materials.

So use this as an excuse to get thee to Ypsi and visit the Co-op. With Depot Town around the corner and the Firehouse Museum just down the road, you could make a little trash-free day of it.

Email Option!

Hey, all! If you would like to avoid checking here each day to see if we've planted, pureed, or spray painted anything new, I encourage you to subscribe via email. See the sidebar to the right.

What's new lately? Well, someone had a birthday, but that was so fun, I'll have to write about that separately.

I will share that a couple of weeks ago, we were hit with a silly virus that consisted of us having a fever high enough to make us feel rotten, but not high enough to make us sleep all day.

Solution: pretend that we homeschool.

The teachers sent homework home, and we got busy.

Judging from the smiles, they didn't mind a bit :)

we were framed!

Anyone else have mismatched picture frames, hanging around the house, engaged in idleness?

We had several.

Inspired by this post, I bought some spray paint. I wasn't brave enough for anything beyond black, so that's what I bought. Next we hauled the frames to the sidewalk.

Then, the fun began.

After the paint dried, the frames came back inside and we gathered some of the many random works of art that were floating from counter to wall to counter, not really knowing where to land.

Artwork, you have a home now!

And the extra frames are always fun for photo shoots!

7am = Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner time!

With the shift to the school year schedule, I noticed that 4 pm is not the best time to start dinner. We're tired at 4pm. We're in need of a snack. We're about to tackle homework. We're letting the dog out, answering the phone, and getting the mail.

Is 4pm like this at your house?

As much as I love dinners, I would really rather not think about it at 4pm.

So, I think about it at 7am, with the help of my crockpot!

First, I get breakfast going, usually pancakes or waffles (from a giant batch I make on the weekends), or some fast eggs. Then, the boxed lunch. I kiss the older child goodbye, then (ideally) enlist the younger child to help toss dinner in the slow cooker. By this time, it's barely 8am, and dinner is happily making itself.

We've tried several oldie and goodie recipes, as well as some fun, new strange ones. Here's a recap:

Chicken and Rice (before)

(and after, with sweet potato chips). Note: no recipe should be allowed to call for 3 cans of cream of whatever soup.

Beef Stroganoff (before)

(and after, over egg noodles)

Mile High Enchilada Pie (see Comments for recipe below)

We enjoyed saying this more than eating it.

Mediterranean Stew (before, how fun to put a half-lemon into the middle of it!)

Stuffed Garden Peppers (before)

Moroccan Stew (I loved all the flavors here!) (see Comments for recipe below)

And some Spiced Apple Butter. (This was surprisingly too flavorful for me. Next time I'll stick with a traditional apple butter recipe.)

Not pictured, but enjoyed anyway: Cashew Curry Chicken, Ceci/Garbanzo Soup, Black Bean Soup, Shredded Chicken Tacos.

I still hope to try Beef Barley Soup, Sauerkraut, and an Indian Bean Stew.

If y'all have some really great crockpot recipes, I can assure you, I'll try it. Send it my way!