Hey we have a mo-mato

We have tomatoes... Our porch gets sun only until 1 pm... so when I put tomatoes in Hopes garden this year I knew we might not get any tomatoes at all... but we do... Hope has been guarding her little hoard of mo-matoes ... waiting for them to turn red... One of our plants didn't make it...

I haven't pulled it out... but it definately is sick... and needs to go... but the plant that was created (hybrid) is beautiful...

I want one of these little birds so bad...
They are adorable...

http://annwood.net/blog/2008/07/13/camp-wapameo-for-birds/

On Friday Hope goes to a specialist to see if he can figure out what is wrong ... I hope it is something simple...

I have been a busy girl...

Some of you have already seen the little dress shirt that I was working on for my wardrobe refashion... but I will show it again here so you know why I haven't been sharing all the happenings around here... This little remodel... had everything go wrong that could... but here it is...

...
These pants were made from a shirt... they were much easier...45 minutes:)~

She loves the pocket... I was a natural part of the shirt...

We started potty training here... and it has been a fairly rough road here... I know I have been through this four other times, but I don't remember it being so much work... I would love to have as many tips as you have to offer...

A sandbox for Apartments

We live in an apartment... so our backyard consists of a nice back porch where we can have a little garden and play... This is the sandbox that I made last year. It consists of a cover with a locking lid... this is important because I don't always want to be cleaning up sand... and if it is open all the time it just invites a mess.

Inside the box there are hidden river rocks and glass rock "treasure."

(Sifting sand for treasure.)

We use a watering pot to add water... Which is even more fun...

Beware: This can be messy if left unsupervised... but it is manageable...

A screen door helps keep the mess on the porch. A broom easily sweaps up the whole mess and back goes the sand into the box...

("Can I come in mommy...")

Smokey Outside

I am so tired of smoke... ick...

New Favorite Shirt Dress Pattern

I have a new favorite little shirt dress pattern... McCall's #5458
It went together so easily...

This is not a dress... However she didn't want to put on leggings in the heat so in these pictures it looks like a short dress... This fabric is from Tahiti and I got it at the thriftstore for a dollar. I love the way it feels... I wish I had yards and yards of fabric like this in many prints and colors, because it feels wonderful and is so smooth to sew on...

(Miss Drama)

(Looking down at her shoes)

("Princess Shoes stolen from my closet")

Hope Update: She has a new doctor... She had tests to find out why she has been getting sick over and over again... We are waiting to hear the results... I will keep you posted...

Making a New Ironing Board Cover

Okay it's confession time... My ironing board had taken on a life of it's own. I can't even remember where it came from... but somehow about 3 years ago this ironing board came to stay at our house... I'd like to think that it came dirty and icky... but I can't even remember that... Let's just say this morning when I was having my coffee... I decided it was GROSS... and the cover had to go...

I removed the exsisting cover and rummaged around in my washed fabric and came upon a nice thick piece of white canvas. (Please note: it would be wise to iron the new fabric before removing the old cover...) I laid the old cover on the new fabric and cut it out with a 5/8 inch margin.
(The tag inside of the cover said do not machine or handwash... How would you clean it? You would have to replace it.)

I used a normal piece of store bought bias tape that I already had to finish the edges of the cover and to create a casing. I pulled a strong piece of kitchen string to gather the cover and tighten the cover to make it lay tightly and taunt.

Then I cut out a piece of Insul-bright (a heat resistant batting) the same size as the flimsy little foam pad.

I used a normal piece of store bought bias tape that I already had to finish the edges of the cover and to create a casing. I pulled a strong piece of kitchen string to gather the cover and tighten the cover to make it lay tightly and taunt.

TaDa....New lovely Ironing board.... I love it... It is a cheery white... and it is washable.... whoo!hoo!

The new cover went immediately to work cutting out new pot holders.

Little Hope is Sick...

This morning when she got out of bed she said she couldn't walk and that her feet hurt... So I put her in my bed with a cup of milk. Her cheeks were just a touch of pink... but I knew what was to come. As the day would go by she would become feverish.... and very achy... This evening her fever is 103.1F






This has happened about every 2 weeks for about a year... and it is a been a mystery illness... It is a high fever and sore bones... Last time we took her to a local hospital out of our insurance area... and it turned out to be strep throat... 10 days of antibiotics... She seemed well when it ended... but here we are again... I am a loss as to what to do... I just feel so bad that we don't know what the cause is... and also knowing that she loses days of been well too...





Poor thing