SNOW!

Georgia and I killed the perfect snow fall with tracks. HOW did I play in this stuff when I was young?! It's sooo cold! My hands hurt!

We got a lovely snow storm here on Sunday which lead to a white Christmas! All things considered, a decent snow fall, though I was expecting more! I took Aidan out and got a picture with his balaclava on. So cute!!!

Sunday Aidan and I got together with grand-da, Terri, uncle Kyle and Alisha for lunch and presents. Grand-da is a super happy, proud man who lavishes his grand-baby! It's so cute!

Christmas day Aidan woke us up early! Cooing and giggling! So we made some flapjacks and opened gifts. Dan of course got me stuff even though I told him NO. I feel so weird receiving things, especially since I'm a poor woman who's whole check goes to bills! [side note: I need to start making things for next year] After lunch we racked the strawberry mead! Now to bottle it.

The patio crew came out today. They got the screen doors on, the inside calked and the upper windows installed. There will be no outside calking due to the freezing weather (>.>) and the thingies that seal up the upper windows won't be complete, again due to the freezing weather. Foreman says that they may be measured and cut in the warehouse then brought out and installed. Also, all my wee grievances apparently are already aware of and will be corrected at completion. We shall see. I can only hope! Though cleaning up along the way is a great business practice they should think about implementing!

Saturday Dan got the electrical complete. Michael, from JSB, was to bring us out the box we would need. Wasn't able via text, to tell me what it was called & refused to call me. This was earlier in the week. Apparently he doesn't want this job to be completed by years end.

Sloppy workers. Besides what I've already bitched about we found loads more damage to the unit. I still haven't gotten any of my questions answered....because he wants to talk in person (I'll be at the work site) but never shows (unless it's after I leave for work).

Corporate is getting a call from me. Hopefully they are more communicative then the guys I've worked with so far.....have I even met this Michael ....I Don't think I have now that I think about it.

We've gotten a good bit of snow here. Enough that JSB hasn't been out since Thursday last week. They left their trash and patio parts in the yard so that all got buried in snow. Dan went around yesterday after the first snowfall melted and picked it all up. I got words for them!!

Then today I'm trying to print some shipping labels but am having the damndest time connecting to my wireless printer. I have the worst luck with this thing! Windows keeps throwing updates my way and fuggering up all my settings. & it should update the rest of my software damn it! I should not have to go in and update individual components! This is why I love my desktop. No network connections. And island oasis unto itself! and I have to problems with it...except adobe is starting to give me shit and I lost my bloody disc so I can't reinstall any of it. *pounds face on desk*

Sunday Amanda came over and taught me to make soap. I'm super excited about this! It's currently in my basement setting up. I can actually cut it today then let it cure for 2-4 weeks. She also helped me test bake a batch of gingerbread espresso cookies which turned out amazing! I've definitely added them to Iron Shot Cafe's holiday menu. So chewy with a dark, complex taste!

As for crafting, I've got another test knit to complete. This time it's a pair of fingerless mitts with horseshoe cables. Looks amazing in the Rios that the designer used. Simple and cute in the Lion Brand yarn I used. But I can't always have Malabrigo yarn on hand. Shits pricy!

Some images that I had to take. I think I was making them nervous.

Paw paws!

Well it's coming along nicely. Better then we first thought it would look.... they did end up cutting into the house [that board that runs along the roof line of the living room] so I'm not sure how they plan to seal that up. That and the siding. It's almost time to start the wiring!

My yard is a construction site. La sob!

New Lynn Wheeler bowls

We ordered a patio & got a shallow pond!

Time to put up the walls! JSB showed up early this morning to begin constructing the enclosed portion of the patio. By early I mean they were parked outside my house before 7:30am when I woke up!

They've pieced together the walls and lay them against my neighbors fence....good thing they have a sturdy fence!

The concrete crew showed back up yesterday to clean up the dirt hills. Given the weather (wet plus rain yesterday) I'd say they did a great job. I had moved all the scrap wood and paver stones up into the gravel by the ac unit (like I guess Dan asked them to if they needed to move it). I couldn't get the steps because they were way to heavy for me. I didn't even try! I picked up the plastic that the brick layers didn't bother cleaning up ... it was in the back of my yard.

They needed to move it further a field because they brought in a bigger cat to grade out the dirt. I'd like to know their business name because they cleaned up after themselves in the end. Even picked up and folded the tarp!

Junk moved!

Moved the junk I could

Spread out

The red hats are coming along nicely. I've modified my cable beanie pattern slightly to make them a touch larger, since Aidan's head seemed to grow out of his within the week! I definitely enjoy knitting up these quick little hats! I just wish I could see all the wee bairns wearing them!

I've also been selected to be a test knitter for Knit a Bit of Whimsy. I'm almost ready to start this pattern as well. The yarn I've selected is a bit larger then what she used so I might knit up 2. One in Bernat Roving with a contrasting yarn of James C. Brett Rustic. Like I used for the Balaclava. [Still don't know if I want to sell this pattern or just make a youtube follow along video] The second cowl I think I'll use Lion Brand Tweed Stripes. It's the correct wpi but might prove to cluttered. We'll see. I can always frog it!

JSB missed a gorgeous day Monday to work on the patio. They at least showed up today. So the hole gets back filled with stone and sand, compacted and the slab gets poured! They might actually get to building the room this week! These guys are also gonna move what dirt they can back up around the foundation. I might have to get a rake out to spruce up the yard some!

So I was making dinner when I noticed that our neighbor was mowing on this very cold day. Not only that but she had dragged her very tiny child out to follow her along. She wasn't watching him though so I had to go outside and made sure her child didn't hurt himself in the construction zone that is my yard. WTF was she thinking. If she wanted to snoop she should have left her damn son inside or put him into the safe fenced in back yard that she has. Not let him, destroy my garden beds, possibly dump my compost barrow onto his head [I have nocked it over before] fall into curing concrete or climb onto my wood stack on the other side of the yard......What do I do about neighbors like this? If the kid gets her because of her negligence she can still sue me!!!! I should just call the cops. Bitch waited till I was up on her child in the middle of my yard before she said anything to him. Didn't even fix the garden logs.

Footers cured the brick laying begins. The concrete crew covered their work, said it would be dry enough to work on in a few hours. I had a fun conversation with them, comparing fence building techniques. Plus the knife they had to cut the plastic that was to cover the then wet footers was dull so I lent them a pair of scissors. Nice guys even if they did damage my house...and leave concrete in my yard.

Turns out the loud crashing I heard when they were moving the logs further out was one hitting the corner of the house. I though it was the shed. The conversation with Andy was amusing and pissed me off. The man, IMO, contradicted himself & if he noticed the damage [he knew right were it was without me having to specify] before they began work I feel the smart move would have been to have informed me immediately. Especially if it's were they were to be working! I don't expect much;  pride in ones work, professional curtesy and quality work. Apparently it's too much to ask for.

The masons, of the 3 men it looked like the old man was doing all the work. At least one of the younger men mixed concrete. They had to stop for an early lunch because the JSB crew didn't bring enough bricks and concrete bags the night before. All in all not a bad job. They did pull the plastic up off the footers before they began! but left it to fly all over my yard....sigh. I have a cold so I'm not gonna go get it. Besides what am I paying JSB for if not to build an overpriced 3 glass extension and clean up after themselves!

Saturday was a horribly rainy one. Severe thunder storms which Aidan woke up early to hang out with me before work and enjoy. We had our drinks and giggled while the guard dog hid under the covers! I have no idea why that dog is afraid of storms. I love them and Dan is indifferent to them. I wonder if she has bad memories? Anywho, on my way to work we had flooded roads. That was fun. I almost had to find a detour so I didn't drown my car!

Work was boring and painful with my cold moving into my throat. Once I got home Dan informed me that we had a blow out in the bounceroo! Worse then he thought. It had just happened as I was pulling in and Dan was just removing clothing as I came inside. So I put everything down and gave the poor thing a bath. Right as I'm dressing him he starts throwing a fit [so unlike him], I settle him down and the lights flicker....flicker...and die! Pitch black! Holding Aidan and Georgia darting right under my feet. Still don't know what happened! All the stores sold out of generators so Dan called Joe so come save my books!!!! and everything else in the basement! The power finally came back on around 1:30am. I admit I slept/napped while poor Dan guarded/monitored the subpump!

Then I had to go back to work....double sigh. My Sunday boss is really trying to make me question the solidity of my mind. When I got there I was no longer on the schedule....so I called Dan back [he was taking baby to grandmas and then dropping off Joe's generator]. I'm sure Dan was like WTF get your act together!!!! Bless his heart for not speaking it allowed. As I get to the truck my coworker runs out and says that I'm actually working today! LOL! It gets explained that boss lady didn't realize I was extra help and when Tim wasn't on the schedule she just changed my name to his!!!

The source of the loud crash

Flash flood and black out

Concrete has begun. I thought it would be a new crew since they told me it was hard finding someone. However, I see that 2 of the guys were here digging the hole with only 1 new person. ......6k for 1 new guy to pour concrete? We'll see what the brick laying consists of.

Does anyone know why they are spraying my windows with the hose? I thought the one had splash but the other window isn't where they are building.

A little back tracking is in order.

I pulled out the bouncaroo for Aidan. He's been holding his head up rather well and has been standing with some assistance so I figured it was time. Sadly, on the lowest tab it's still too tall for my 2 foot boy. That doesn't stop him from having fun in it!!! He kicks his little legs and makes the music start then coos to it!

Poor guy has a cold though. I'm impressed with his attitude considering he has trouble breathing through a stuffy nose. Said stuffiness makes it hard to eat and sleep. I got a new boogie sucker coming. Hopefully it helps.

Georgia is a bit jelly that Aidan gets all the fun toys. Ones that she could tare apart in a few hours or less!

While he was napping I managed to finish Michael's Tabby Timbuck. Hopefully in time for the convention he has [or possibly had] this month. He's going to take commissions for me and let me keep all the profit so I figured I'd at least try to get him some sells on his books. Posted to Instagram on both my personal [just created] and Iron Shot Cafe's is an offer of a discount on the plushie if you buy his book. I was thinking $10 off. & I need to perfect that sweater so it looks much better!!!!! If interested shoot him an email at FehskensComics@gmail.com. I'll be making his William Purburger OC once I finish a few other WIP.

While that was going on we had JSB beginning their work on our patio. So all that decking was taken away by a lovely young man who was going to build picnic benches and animal shelters to donate. I was super happy to know they were getting reused rather than filling a land fill. What was left JSB relocated to the corners of the house and started digging.

I messed up a bit by procrastinating on relocating all those damn rocks....now they are buried and likely will be hard to find. I might get lucky but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

JSB made a hell'a mess though. In stead of locating the dirt into the center were the patio is going [where they need to raise the ground quite a bit] they covered my grass and some of the rocks that were going to stay pretty.....Clearly not any more. There will be lots of beautifying and landscaping going on in the back yard this spring!

Georgia isn't thrilled by their work. She stands at the back door, did some growling at them and the hole since. Even outside she glowers at the mess. It's adorable!

Ok so then last night once Dan got home and frowned at the mess he decided he needed a drink. I made dinner [bbq chicken, with a delicious potatoe, mushroom soup] and got him that drink. Toasted marshmallow mead in a hot coco! Warm, tingly goodness!

Aidan's new toy

Commission/Trade

The mess

The work begins

Dinner

Mizer's Coco

Georgia being silly at dinner

Typed while sipping a peppermint mocha and eating a pumpkin/mushroom/cheese omelet!

& down it went! Dan spent all morning pulling it down!

Now to get the wood removed!

Time for some demolition! The deck needs taken down before the patio can go up. Plus rocks need moved....Dan started last night by taking down the railing.

I did some crazy baking these last few days. Chocolate chip cookies for my mate and as a gift for some alpaca fur! Then the crazy part...I made macarons! Whipped that meringue by hand!

The macarons were actually easier than I was thinking going into it. The hardest part was hand whipping the meringue. After all that work though, the damn things stuck and I had to cut them from the cookie sheet....I almost scraped the whole lot! Luckily I persevered! They taste great and got lots of complements! So I have a few things I'll change about my recipe but not much. These will definitely be on Iron Shot Cafe's menu!!!

Well it's finally time to retire my beloved shirt.

So I made nursing pads out of it!

Finally finished the dream catcher. Thoughts?

First trip with the baby and the puppy dog out to get puppy dogs nails trimmed. They were kind of in desperate need. Though Kings Kutz says they looked pretty good.

Georgia was remarkably well-behaved. I believe she was aware that I was carrying Aidan and decided to to be gentle with me. Of course when we got to Kings Kutz she attacks him with love and kisses and jumped right into his arms. When on the table getting her nails trimmed though, she was very well-behaved and stood still. My little girls growing up!

Well with baby sleeping I got some cleaning done.....by picking up puppy poo from the yard. I know I missed some since my grass is tall and it's been weeks since I've picked up poop. I'll just carry a baggie with me when I finally get around to mowing.

Did some rough housing with the puppy! Little bugger tripped me so I tumbled her! Poor thing doesn't get to rough house all that much anymore. I should pack the stroller up and take her to the puppy park...only the thought of all those dogs horsing around near new baby is scary so ... maybe a walk.

I also noticed that he's quickly growing out of his clothes! So I've got some to add to the garage sell (or online garage sell sites).

Gardening:  getting the beds cleaned up. Got some carrots and bell peppers still growing so I'm leaving them for now. The squash and melons are all done and packed into the compost barrel along with the expired tomato plants.

Got a new wee apple tree that finally sprouted! Super excited! Pink crisp, hope they can survive ohio winters!

Pink Crisp apple

The 1st batch of clothes

Pumpkin spice bagels with hazelnut cinnamon coffee!

I harvested all my watermelon (all 2 of them). The vines finally died back so it was bring them in or let the bugs eat them! A little small but good so I'll be growing them again next year...if I can get the yard all cleaned up this year.

I did some playing around with my sleeping baby...my settings were all wrong and the lighting...Still came out fairly well. If I can't figure out how to fix my camera settings I might have to go back to shooting in RAW to guarantee size.

Can you tell this is the wrecked helmet?

Big sister

Three weeks in and it's time for a diaper review!

Seventh Generation:
I really wanted to love these diapers. They are earth friendly and chemical free for baby. They feel a bit rough which I expect from natural items (sadly) but the inside wasn't so bad. Aidan didn't seem to mind though he's starting to develop a rash (likely from his poop since that doesn't seem to absorb in any of the diapers we've tried to date). Now the reason I'm not happy...they leak 90% of the time. When he's in his car seat all scrunched up like he's safe. When he's laying down, tummy timing or being held [up right or on his back/side] he'll leak all over the place/person. I thought at first it was the direction he was pointing but even when I made sure it was pointing down we still had leaks, from the sides and/or the back. Just not a quick absorbing interior. So sad!

The wipes...well as my sister stated, "they feel like a wet paper towel". Not all that unexpected really. They could be a bit softer but I figure they are like a wash cloth in that they actually scrub off determined poop particles that love to stick places!

Babyganics:
I'm very pleased with these diapers. They absorb quickly and as of yet don't leak.  They fit snuggly and aren't rubbing all up on his belly button (though I do fold down the top some). The material feels soft to my callused fingers (hopefully to his sensitive bits as well). Super absorbent as well.

Up & Up:
Another environmentally friendly diaper (sensing my theme yet?). They are larger then Babyganics but slightly smaller than 7th Gen. They are soft and comfy. Aidan seems to like them. No leaking and super absorbent. The pee indicator...love that thing. Makes it super easy to tell if he's messed his diaper.

Huggies:
Not all that nature friendly but at least fragrance free for sensitive babies. That awesome pee indicator and they fit comfortably and snugly so no leaks. Definitely like these diapers for those 2 reasons. However, because there are earth friendly alternatives that are just as good [or better because they ARE earth friendly] I'll not be purchasing these.

The wipes .... bloody soft they are! Fragrance or fragrance free I'm leery about what's in them! They do seem to clean his bum fairly well with little fuss but they struggle to get some of the poop particles off his bits or even his leg some times.

Pampers:
Again: snug fit, soft and comfy, leak proof [from the few I used at my sister's house] and that brilliant indicator strip these are great diapers. Just not very earth friendly with their plastic bits.

Well that's it! No more diapers or wipes that I've received and used. No pictures either, sorry about that! Till next time.

Side note:  I've started to upload more videos to youtube. Random things like the puppy dog being crazy and reviewing my garden! Go check them out while you wait! My Channel

Edit: Another diaper review 10-9-17

Lovs:

These babies have a smell to them. The smell screams baby. Which I guess is fine, however, once it’s full it strongly smells of urine. The one thing I never mentioned with the other diapers I’ve tried because I never noticed it was the smell….or lack of. These things always seem to smell and the scent permeates the whole room and then some. So besides not being earth friendly they smell. Ok I think I’ve mentioned that enough. They do fit snugly on baby’s waist and they hold quite a bit…unless they are just super puffy with liquid. I’ve also noticed an increase in bum rash! It looks and appears to be far more painful.

1st day home with out Dan working in the garage. We added some finishing touches to Aidan's room.

Open

Closed

All his cards!

Squishy face

Must get as close to tiny human as possible!

Spent the majority of the day at my sister's house yesterday. The purpose was to get some photos of wee Aidan.

Here is a sneak peeks.

Me and my baby!

The godling awaiting his photoshoot to proceed.