~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
{pretty}
It's been a little cooler this week: highs in the low 90s (compared with last week's highs of 97-106). It makes me feel pretty tough to look at the forecast and say, “oh, we should plan to do our active outdoor things on Monday; it's only going to be 88!”
I can handle this. I wasn't spoiled rotten by those last three years on the beach.
(Actually, yes. Yes I was. But I'm trying!)
In other news, it turns out that the scraggly-looking little trees by the playset are crepe myrtles! Being a New England girl, I didn't recognize them, but my Dallas-born husband (who still doesn't have a new blog nickname) did.One of my new hobbies is reading up on how to de-scragglify crepe myrtles.
{happy}
This little guy busied himself with his bike, sidewalk chalk, and piles of dirt while I worked on painting cabinet doors in the garage. We both ended up pretty hot and sweaty (this was one of the 100-degree days) and covered in paint (me) and dirt (him).
Luckily, we also have a hose!
I had just a little bit of work left when he decided he'd had enough of the heat and the dirt, so we worked out a system where I'd roll a coat on a drawer, then come spray him for a few minutes, then do another drawer. While I painted, the poor kid would just stand there, looking at the hose all forlorn, until I got back. (Since then, we've located the sprinkler in the mess of the garage, thank goodness!).
Finally I was done, and could devote my full attention to getting him wet!
{funny}
Pippo still loves his Bean Game, which now includes his little bulldozer and dump truck (thanks for the tip, MDiskin!). I mentioned to my mom on the phone one day that I should have gotten the bag of mixed beans, so he could push, pour, dump, and sort. Ah well, next time I buy my son a bag of beans, I'll do that.
Well, what do you know, but she tied some ribbon around a bag of mixed beans, added a gift tag, and popped it in a box of baby things she sent our way. Hilarious! And awesome. She is a good grandmother, don't you think?
{real}
So yes. About those cabinet doors. Remember how we decided to paint our kitchen cabinets? It's still happening. In fact, it's almost done. And it's only been a mere two months since we started!
Once we got the cabinet frames done and could move most of our things back into the kitchen, it was easy to let other projects jump ahead in line. A kitchen without cabinet doors is, after all, a fully-functional kitchen — just a cluttery one!
What with everything else going on, we struggled a little to find our momentum again, especially since getting the doors finished meant spending big chunks of time painting in the 100-degree garage.
But I got the last coat on them on Tuesday, and I've informed the Lt-As-Was that for our anniversary (today! four years!), I'd like to put the doors back on my cabinets. If that's not romantic, I don't know what is.
If we manage it, well, not only will we have a lovely, spiffed-up kitchen (I'm really hoping to be able to share pictures next week!), but we'll get our garage back (as you might be able to tell from those photos, it hasn't been good for much other than painting cabinets lately), and be able to take the last of the kitchen things off the bookshelf in the breakfast nook and put the bookshelf someplace more useful, and do all sorts of other things that I've convinced myself are being held up only by the unfinished state of my kitchen. (riiight….)
In the meantime, I hope you and your families have an appropriately restful and festive Fourth of July! My mother has told you before about our tradition of reading and signing the Declaration of Independence each year. Since over here we celebrate the birthdays both of our nation and of our family today, I find myself also rereading the homily our priest (and friend) gave at our wedding Mass (“Thoughts for a wedding on Independence Day”). If you're inclined to add some reflections on freedom and marriage to your holiday reading, I think you might enjoy it, too!Happy Independence Day!
Sue says
How I can relate. I grew up in upstate NY and I have killed a crepe myrtle in Texas. Thanks for the post!
Joana says
Congratulations on your anniversary! I just realized from your link to the homily that the wedding mass was tridentine. I would love to hear you on that issue. Was it in Latin? My only connection to the tridentine mass is that I have been to Trento! 🙂
Joana (from Portugal)
_Rosie says
Joana, it was indeed in Latin, and (though I may be a little biased) remarkably beautiful!
Rhonda says
I am in Oklahoma too and this past week's weather has been wonderful- for summer in Oklahoma.
Crepe myrtles are great, you really can't hurt them. And they will reward you with pretty blooms all summer.
Mama Rachael says
I love Crepe Myrtles! They are beautiful and full and offer so much shade. And they survive central Texas heat with glory! for now, don't do anything (at least I wouldn't). I will trim off the old flower bits and over lapping branches and anything else growing in a bad direction (up against the house, e.g.) in spring, after its warmed up a bit, but the Myrtles haven't really budded out. Flowers are all produced on new branches, thus removing last years flowers. The Myrtles (at least mine) start growing in earnest after I prune them, and they usually bloom within a few weeks (the bush) to a month (the tree) of pruning. Around here, this means I prune, usually, in March. I suspect OK has longer winter as you are further north, so perhaps in late March or April? I could ask my Grandma…. she's lived in NE OK all her 70 odd years and has always lived on a farm/ranch. She knows how to grow things up there. 😛
May I never have such painting projects. Not sure I could handle them? I'll happily sew curtains for the cabinet fronts though!
Lisa G. says
Well, a happy anniversary to you! (I always thought it was spelled “crape” myrtle, but keep finding it spelled the other way of late)
_Rosie says
Lisa, like I said — I'm from Massachusetts, so what do I know? 🙂 I just checked, and Wikipedia has it “crape” first, so maybe that's better?
Lisa G. says
😀 I'm in Connecticut, but in the library where I work, I've always seen it spelled with an a in the gardening books. (I've never actually seen the plant!)
ellenjohnson824500384 says
Hey! It's my fourth anniversary as well! Happy Anniversary to you and Lt-As-Was!
_Rosie says
Happy anniversary to you, too!
_Jessica says
Your Mom sounds just like mine…sometimes I'm afraid to mention something I need, because it might appear on my doorstep! (I don't mean *afraid* literally…I hope that I'm helpful like that to my children some day, too!)
Happy anniversary! I can only imagine how beautiful your wedding was! Thank you for sharing the link to Fr. Scalia's homily, I'm going to put that aside for reading today when I need to put my feet up.
Anne says
Pippo is too cute!! Congrats on your anniversary! Did you have fireworks at your reception?
_Rosie says
Anne, we left before it was dark, but I think they maybe had some at the after-party! 🙂
Wadna says
Crepe Myrtles are glorious in Texas! What ever anyone tells you, never chop them off from the top!!!! Always prune from the bottom up! Neil Sperry is a well known Texas gardener ( you can Google his website) and he will provide excellent directions on how to care for them. Actually they don't need care to stay alive, they need care in how not to treat them!
Good luck!
Stephanie says
It is rather impressive the amount of work you have accomplished on your new home and I think it will be well worth it when it's done and you can really enjoy it all. Being Coasties, when we have just moved and everything is a mess, I always look forward to a season, say Christmas, when I know that all the mess I'm in will seem far away. Also, I really appreciate the overall creativeness of the Like Mother Like Daughter women with your constant sprinkles of new words…I laughed out loud at de-scragglify. Ha! Classic!
Happy Anniversary Rosie! God bless your family, especially the little one growing under your heart!
Mary says
Happy Anniversary Rosie!! I pray you and the Capt. Have many more years of joy and happiness ahead of you. We LOVE Fr. Scalia!! We are blessed to live in the Diocese of Arlington and have been to many a Mass where he has presided. Such a wise and learned man. How wonderful that he presided at your wedding. A wonderful blessing indeed.
Sara says
Happy Anniversary! I love crape myrtles. They're so pretty if they're treated right. I've never had one, but around here they get “murdered” every spring when they are chopped off all the way to the trunk and they're hideous for months! A landscaper friend said you should only prune out branches smaller than your pinky. Others prune of the tops of all the branches, which is not as pretty as leaving the dried flowers from last year on them, but not nearly as ugly as the crape murder!
Melissa Diskin says
I need to re-do our bean box, I know. But….my little guy is nearly 4. And the difference from age 3 to 4 seems to be the propensity to throw everything, immediately, usually at his sisters. And to say “can I smash it?” far, far more often than helping to clean up.
Oh, and if P is jaded by bulldozers at any point… may I suggest the little forklift that Bruder makes? It rocked my guy's world. It comes with tiny pallets!
Anne says
I love the picture of Pippo looking at the camera all wet and smiling! great crooked smile!
E.R. says
Is Finnabee on the way? There was no Bits 'n Pieces post today from Deirdre, and I am just wondering if the silence means we should be awaiting and even more exciting and impending baby announcement. 🙂
RubberChickenGirl says
Do NOT commit Crepe Murder. Tulsans do this annually. I guess in Texas they let them get big and tall naturally and don't chop them off at the knees.
http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens… http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2009/02/2…
Here's some perfect specimens that are not chopped off to fountain over (read break in a rain storm) OR look like a shrub with suckers sprouting out everywhere. They should have 3, 5 or 7 shoots/trunks. Not a zillion:
http://achefinthegarden.blogspot.com/2011/07/summ…
Good luck and be strong!
RCG
ayearinskirts says
Perhaps Dallas should be his new blog name. Although if you kept calling him the Lieutenant forever it would work too because even as his rank changes we all know him as “the Lieutenant”.
Mrs. B. says
Rosie, I just now clicked on the link to the homily and realized Fr. Scalia celebrated your wedding Mass! He used to be our pastor before his latest assignment from the Bishop – isn't he a thoroughly awesome priest?? Now we can't miss his columns for the Diocese's paper and his talks at the Institute of Catholic Culture (and you can watch them online, all the ICC lectures are very very good! https://www.instituteofcatholicculture.org/ )
Happy Anniversary a bit late! I hope you're feeling well these days – don't stay too much around paint!! And take good care of your myrtles, I love them! In Northern VA they are everywhere – I love that they bloom in mid-summer: they are so cheerful in these hot and humid days!