While we wait

Look! Look! I made that bassinet skirt and liner!

A kind woman from freecycle came over to teach me how.

It used to be two thift-store sheets and some thread and lace, and now it's pretty!

Bedroom ready for baby

Things are changing.

It's been a week since I rearranged my dresser to make room for baby clothes and things, but I keep opening this drawer expecting to find my socks and being surprised to see diapers instead.

Baby stuff... slowly taking over

Advent wreath situation

When I was home yesterday to see my grandmother, I went toward the woods to look for greenery so I could fix up our advent wreath. We are not getting a Christmas tree this year, so it's our big Christmas decoration.

Yes, that is a ball of tinfoil. It worked fine, but was not so pretty.

Back at the parents' house in Cloverly, I set out toward the woods with clippers. But I didn't even make it to the pine trees there, because my neighbor's compost pile had some big  pine branches lying right on top! I clipped and clipped.

Look!

There was plenty for the Advent wreath.

Much better

Then I made a pine garland.

Whee!

Today Joe and I put it up and added some greenery to the door.

Door

And here are some silly shots Joe took. 

Added later: Maybe next year I will try adding cranberries! But how would one pose with cranberries?

Measure twice, cut once

Joe playing with blocks

He is actually starting to make a compost bin.

Okay, now he is really playing!

Surprise in the pipes

As Joe was plunging the toilet to discover the cause of our plumbing problems, he came up with this:

Ai ai ai! It was not the source of our problems, however, which Joe and his auger unplugged some 22 feet further down the pipe. It seems tree roots might have broken in... but we can't figure out what trees they might be!

Finally got around to it!

At long last! I made my own laundry detergent. Look!

Here is the recipe I used. The ingredients are washing soda, borax, water and a bar of soap. It is yellow because I used yellow-orange "gold soap" from CVS. I might use a different color next time... part of the process involves shaving the soap into a pot of warm water on the stove to melt it, and it looked just like egg drop soup.

Making it was more complicated than it should be because I ran out of room in my bucket. (See the milk jug full of stuff off to the side? There's some more in an old detergent container, too.) As a result, it took me about an hour. I will get a larger bucket or just make a 2/3rd batch next time, which should speed things up considerably.

Also, it is much thicker than I expected -- more a gel than a liquid. Fun and slimy, but I don't think it will pour very easily from my milk jug! Maybe when I get a larger bucket, I will get one with a lid for easy storage.

I am still astounded at the number of people who think taking on such a project makes me certifiably crazy. It's fun! It saves money! And anyone who doesn't want to do it can just go buy some detergent at the store! :~)