Iced

In our area, winter will bring temperatures suitable to "frozen precipitation," but every time a band of rain moves through the temperature rises. As soon as the rain is gone, we have another cold snap.

But not this time! A few weeks ago, cold temperatures and precipitation finally coincided, and we got to experience some real winter weather. Yes, I realize I'm a bit late on this one -- but my camera died before I'd uploaded the pictures, and has been in rehab ever since!

Sadlly, we didn't get actual snow. Instead, we had freezing rain and tiny, tiny pellets of ice. By the next morning, every surface outside was coated in a sheath of ice.

The thin layer crusted over the ground was made up of tiny pellets -- like the little silica gel pieces tucked away inside shoes and handbags (C'mon, I know I'm not the only one who cut one open out of curiosity -- I couldn't resist with all of those dire warnings printed all over the packet). Too crunchy to make a snowman, but not as slippery as plain ol' ice, either.

It's really kind of pathetic how anything of this sort sends the South into shut-down. But remember (and I'm talking to those of you who live up North and routinely drive up and down icy mountains without a second thought), this kind of weather is so rare for us that we have no experience. With my husband away on a military detachment and a car with a rogue battery, we didn't mind being iced in for a day or two! The kids haven't seen "snow" since our trip to Newport last year, which I doubt they remember. I had a blast watching them toddle around, wrapped up in whatever assortment of winter gear I could rustle up.

And now comes the rollercoaster of Winter-Summer-Winter-Summer that we in Florida call "Spring." Seriously, it was 70 degrees outside a week after I took these photos...

On the Homefront

Life has been full of late. Not in a rushed, busy, stressful sort of way. In fact, I've spent more time at home than usual over the past month. No, it's more of a pleasantly occupied, getting things done, counting our blessings kind of full. As we muddle our way through this challenging season of life, I have been trying to keep myself busy. I've been catching up on cleaning and projects that piled up when I was feeling too nauseated and tired to tackle them. While I can't contemplate my current burst of energy without a pang when I remember why I feel "good," I am determined to make the most of it. I need time to grieve, not brood.

Not that my little ones are inclined to give me much time for brooding! They're both so energetic and curious. I've been trying to spend more time lately focusing on them (rather than "co-existing" with them), which I've found remarkably fulfilling. We finally replaced our little free shelf with a full-size bookshelf -- with most of our children's books displayed (I had quite a few from my childhood and young adulthood!), I find we're reading together more. Plus, our wooden puzzles are now out of Rosa's reach, which means less mess to clean up at bedtime.

This girl LOVES her books. She totes them around as she toddles all over the house.

Sadly, my Canon Rebel T1i died in January (i.e., nothing happened when I toggled the power switch), but it's finally home -- what a relief to have my most used piece of "technology" back!

I've been trying to improve my eating and exercise habits, partly because that's just good to do, and partly because I'd like my body to be as ready as possible should God choose to bless us with another child soon. It's not that those things will somehow guarantee me a healthy pregnancy, but not taking care of myself is certainly not wise or responsible. I've also recently started applying magnesium oil transdermally (in other words, I used these magnesium flakes to make this oil and spray it on my legs and feet every night), and I've been quite impressed. Of course, there's no way to be sure the improvements I've seen are related to the oil, but it does seem ironic that the dishydrotic eczema that had flared up on my fingers and toes over the past few months disappeared within three days of starting magnesium. I also feel much more energetic and less irritable.

My sewing machine is whirring once again, and it feels good to have my creative juices flowing. I am in very great danger of sewing too much for Rosa -- now that she's walking, it's even more satisfying to make her clothes, just to see her toddle around in them! That, and I have a bit more time now that she's *sniff* no longer an infant. I am loving that her clothes require very little fabric, so I can buy a used garment for $1 and make something entirely new for her with it (or just use up bits and pieces of scrap fabrci). She's already got two little "upcycled" summer dresses, and another two made from stash fabric as I made various mockups of this babyGAP dress (mine came out a little more heirloom and a little less chic -- but I do love the tulip sleeves!). Ideas for a knit colorblocked tunic had been fomenting in my mind, and the result was exactly what I wanted, so I'll have to share that as soon as I get pictures.

Well, there's a little update of life in our household! Hopefully soon I'll have more pictures and fewer words (or, more likely, more pictures and more words...). I hope you're all having a lovely week!

Perplexed in Chambray

During a recent spree at my favorite local charity shop, I came across a chambray skirt in a dark wash. The size was too big, the length was too short -- but it came home with me, anyway, because I had a Plan. 

The Plan was to remake the skirt for Rosa, using as many of the skirt's original features as possible. But as I started to deconstruct the skirt, imagine my surprise when I found an additional size tag! The tag I'd first spotted was "back and center" in the usual fashion, but the extra tag was just off the fly in the front of the skirt. How many garments need two size tags? In two different sizes?!

My first inclination was to regard this as the ultimate in vanity sizing -- you get to pick which size you want to be today. And then it struck me that no one in her right mind would arbitrarily choose to be a bigger size, just "because." No, this was a manufacturing flaw, pure and simple. Just a perplexing one.

Once apart, the skirt went back together relatively quickly. I decided to keep the waistband, which turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. Oh well. I took out the zipper fly and stitched the fly opening shut for a "faux fly" look (not very visible, which is perfectly fine with me). 

For the back, I used buttonhole elastic -- it's splendiferous for children's garments! The elastic feeds through an opening in the waistband, and then buttons onto... well, a button. Voila! Adjustable waist! I used this technique in a skirt I made for Rosa about a year ago. It was quite long then, so she's been able to wear it for quite some time. Considering that this skirt's also on the long side (at least compared to off-the-rack skirts), perhaps she'll be able to wear it next year, as well! When I go to the trouble of making a garment, it's lovely to know that it will be used.

The bottom band of the skirt (which eliminates the necessity of a hem) was also a detail from the original skirt. I simply cut it down and re-attached it. A double row of stitching above the band adds a little detail and gave me an excuse to break out my double needle.

I also salvaged the original drawstring, which had braided ends -- again, I simply cut them down, snipped off most of the drawstring, and topstitched a section to each side of the skirt. A blue button to complete the "faux fly," and the project was done!

In the end, the skirt turned out a bit larger than I intended (probably a result of my persistent fear that it will be too small), but it's perfectly wearable and will allow Rosa some room to grow. The total cost was $1 for the thrifted skirt -- far, far less than I could have purchased chambray for, even if I could find it locally.

And, at long last, this skirt can be a little less perplexed about its identity...