In other news....

Well, I feel like after a title like that, I'm supposed to have something very exciting to say. I don't, alas. It got miserably hot here for a few days, and then the last few days have been deliciously cool and rainy. My veggies might be a little stressed by the quick change, but I'm loving it. I'll take cold rain all summer long, thankyouverymuch.

In celebration of the cooler temps (as I write this, it's 45 degrees, and we have the heat on!), I made some delicious biscuits. I know Mike is the biscuit king in this house, but I got a bee in my bonnet for biscuits to go with our roasted red pepper soup last night. I made this recipe (thanks to my brother for buying me the source cookbook for my birthday) using Ford Farm Cheshire cheese, fresh ground black pepper, and oregano from our garden. Serious yum!Anyway, what have we been doing?
Well, back when it was warm (too warm, even), we went to an outdoor environmental festival here in town. I know, right? But it was actually very nice. We were among our people. We also picked up a free reusable shopping bag there. Natalie made good use of that.I think she just had some of her blocks in that bag (which was quickly relegated to the garage, where all bags like that live, given her proclivity to wrap things around her neck).

Natalie does, however, like to pick things up, carry them off, put them down elsewhere, move them around, etc. She is always very busy. In fact, last week, we had some garden center coupons go missing. I desperately wanted to find these since they offered an amazing deal on some roses that I wanted to plant in our backyard (this was my Mother's Day present from last year, so my goal was to get them in the ground before Mother's Day this year). We searched high and low. I don't have to tell you where we found the coupons, right?(Uh, we've also been missing her shoes since Friday. I can certainly tell you where they aren't.)

Speaking of finding things, please find the baby in the picture below.How about now?Or now?Natalie's had a real language explosion in the last week. New words include: door, flower, bear, monkey, duck, bear, moon, jeans, shoes, cracker, Grrr (for Gramps) and, uh, pear and phad thai (as a family, clearly we have our priorities straight).


Also, since we're doing videos, here's an older video of Natalie giving gentle touches to (and kissing!) doggies in a story book (credit for the book goes to Jen Em).


Natalie's reading tastes have progressed since then. Or, she is clearly her Gramps' granddaughter.Also, here's Natalie modeling a sweater I knit for a friend's daughter. I haven't given this gift yet, but I don't think that family reads the blog, so it's okay to share it here now (I hope). Anyway, this is sweater using the same yarn I used to make my first baby sweater (which was for the older sister in this family). I sort of made up the pattern as I went along, adjusting an existing pattern that called for very different yarn. Hence, it looks a little funky, but I think it's passable enough.Hang loose until next time!