I believe this was the highlight of Courtney's weekend. She started out fully clothed, with just a few fingers in the water. Things progressed from there. ;-)
A quick rescue was performed here by "Boppa". I think Courtney was just trying to stand up, but got a little too close to the edge. As you can see, it didn't faze her much.
Yesterday morning as I was checking my amaryllis plants, I discovered an extra plant growing in one of the pots. Can you see it along the edge of the pot?
Try a closer look.
It's an impatiens plant! Apparently a seed landed in there last summer when I had the amaryllis outside.
Have you ever noticed what impatiens seed pods are like? They're little rolled up things... they kind of remind me of a crescent roll... about a half inch long. If you squeeze one between your finger and thumb, they burst open and the seeds pop out. It's kind of a cool little surprise. On their own, the pods burst open when they're ripe enough and the seeds pop out. And this time one of them popped into the pot above.
I'm going to leave it there. It'll be interesting to see if it'll survive and bloom. It's so tiny, though, that I'm going to have to make sure I keep it watered so it doesn't dry up. I'll keep you posted on its progress (providing there is progress). It's like a tiny bit of spring!
As most of you probably know, we spent last weekend in Waterloo, IA, to celebrate our Christmas with Jess and Alex. We were so happy that Nate, Suzi and Courtney were able to make the trip with us. Courtney was sooooo good all weekend! She was quite the little trooper on the long van ride, plus in Waterloo with all the riding and stops and ins and outs of that car seat!
(Click to enlarge.)
She had new boots, which she loves, obviously. :-)
The bottom right photo was taken on the way home. She was sooooo tired, but that little gal doesn't give up easily! ;-)
My first 4 buckets sold out in less than 24 hours! And commentors are "crying" and asking for more. Good thing I have more in the works!
And the first four are now available in the Etsy shop. I'll be very busy making more the next couple of days so I can hand them over in person to Jess this weekend. So don't be surprised if you don't see much of me here till next week!
I thought the cloud formations this afternoon were kind of unusual. There were so many different combinations all at one time... must've been some funny air currents up there. (Click any to enlarge.)
I was hoping for more guesses, but I guess I'm out of luck. So I'll just have to tell you what I'm making. Yes, they could hold umbrellas... folded up ones, anyway. And if you were feeling really silly, I guess you could wear one for a hat. ;-)
But really, they're storage buckets. Nice sturdy ones. In fact, I laid a couple of books on the top of an uncuffed one, and it didn't collapse! They're 8 inches in diameter and 11 inches high uncuffed. So they should hold a lot of 'stuff' (umbrellas? toys? knitting? you-name-its?).
They can be used either way, but I think the cuffs make them even cuter. And the cuffs could be folded to any size you want, to make the bucket any height.
It's been kind of a hair-pulling experience, trying to figure out how to work with that heavy interfacing, but I guess I've got it worked out now. I mailed the first shipment to Jess, so if the post office cooperates, she should receive them today, and they should appear in the Etsy shop tomorrow.
And I'm busy making more, with many fabric combinations! Fun!
Late addition: Here's another one, in a different fabric.
The results of the poll "Have you ever locked your keys in your vehicle?" are as follows:
Heheh. At least I don't have to feel alone in that. I've only done it once, and it's been MANY years. Now having said that, watch me do it again soon...... ;-/
Thanks to all who voted!
And an alligator with a hat!
And just previous to this next video, she'd bumped her toe or something and said "ow", so I told her to kiss it to make it better, which she did. :-)
And... um... just pretend that the last few seconds of the video isn't on there. Or just laugh. ;-)
Look what this child was wearing yesterday!
No, not the flowered pantleg (although that's awfully cute, too). Look some more!
I'll let you know when she gets the leather jacket. She must've gotten her start here.
I'm not even going to mention the blizzard we had yesterday. I'm only going to say that it's very nice having something fresh and green growing in my window. Here are my amaryllises as of Sunday.
The center one is the only one with flower buds so far. I thought of having a contest to see who could get closest to guessing the day of the first full bloom, but I decided not to. Too many variables. And I'd better keep on with my Etsy projects (right, Jess?) and not fool around with other stuff right now. In fact, if I don't post regularly, don't be surprised.
No, not the colored stuff. You've seen that before. It's the big bolt of white stuff. It's 20 yards of very heavy interfacing. (I got a good deal on it, and even bought it locally.) Jess and I have new ideas of things for the Etsy shop. Stay tuned for updates!
The results of the poll "What's your biggest email frustration?" are as follows:
I'm glad to see all you voters back after the holidays! It looks like the forwards are the "winner" for being the most frustrating. Very understandable. I have a pretty quick "trigger finger" on the delete key when it comes to forwards. Most of 'em get a quick scan to find out if I've seen 'em before... and I usually have... so they're immediately dumped. And I almost never pass one on. Occasionally there's a really neat one, but they're few and far between. Most are just a waste of time and bandwidth.
However, that's not what I voted for. I voted for the ones that don't get answered. :-)
Thanks for voting, everybody!
Courtney spent the evening with us last night while Mommy and Daddy went out for supper. Here she is with "Boppa" (a.k.a. Grandpa), doing some snuggling and reading. These are the only pics I got of her last night... she was moving too fast the rest of the time. :-)
(Nope, no additions to the house yet, Grace, but they did have a good time playing in it. Well, Courtney was in it, anyway.)
Okay... from the back yard. I almost decided to name this post "Not Courtney", since she's kinda been the main subject for quite awhile. Not much else to take pics of these days. But hey, she and her antics seem to be most people's favorite subject, anyway. :-)
These pics aren't very clear, because they were taken through plastic on the window. It was also snowing. But at least there's some wildlife out there literally "makin' tracks".
I like the way his front feet are off the ground in the last photo.
Time for a "nap". But not much leg room in that big box.
Translation: "Grandma, cover me up with my blanket!" "Dee-dee (tee-tee?)" is what she calls blankets. I have no idea how she ended up with that name. Mommy?
Maybe adding a pillow will provide a little more leg room?
The big box has been just the greatest toy. She has spent LOTS of time in it!
(Click to enlarge.)
I love the little pats on the baby's bottom at the beginning... so sweet. And I don't know what she's doing when she tucks everything between her legs like that... she did it over and over again for the longest time.
Ya think she's too big for that exersaucer? ;-)
(At least it's safer than jumping in the bed!)
One of Courtney's most fascinating (in her eyes, anyway) gifts was left in her stocking by Santa. It was a little tub toy fishing set. The fish hook (okay, so it looks more like a ball) contained a magnet, as did the fish, turtle and squid(?). She looked more like she was trying to beat them to death than "hook" them, but eventually she got the idea, and now she's a pro fisherwoman. :-)
Interestingly, the cleaning instructions on the package said to spot clean them with a wet cloth. As in not get them too wet? Duh... they're bathtub toys!! Funny. :-)
