Thursday, September 29, 2011

A new day, a new energy, a new blog post.....

Ok, you can call me a liar.  I promised that I'd post regularly and here it is over a year later.  Sorry, life was busy--I know that's not an excuse!  There are bloggers who are superwomen---they can design crafts or recipes, make them and take pictures of each step in a stylish manner and then post them to their blogs while making dinner, taking care of the children, the dog and the hubby.  I admire those women.  I ENVY those women, LOL!  But, I am here to try again---I'm no longer homeschooling so I do get 4 days without kids which will enable me to do all of the bloggy things that I respect and admire in other bloggers!  So, here goes, the Crafty Celtic Housewife is back to try again and post things that may be interesting to someone out there in the blogospere!  yay!






What have I been doing this last year? I'm not sure---I didn't make anything crafty except for a few e-reader covers, some pillow cases and a skirt. I've dabbled in crochet, cross stitch and knitting---not finishing anything.








 I have found that my eyes aren't what they once were (I have a hard time seeing up close!) and my carpal tunnel has been getting the best of me during crafts that I was once so prolific. Will that stop me? NO! I just have to figure out a less painful, irritating way to do things. It really sucks when you can't thread a needle because you can't see it up close or from          further away, LOL! Time for reading glasses....





                                                                                 

  I did cook and bake quite a bit this past year.  I've been very good at posting my creations on Facebook, but not bringing them here---so I will add pics and recipes as I go.















The garden never even got off the ground this year.  I think that put me in a major funk which was probably why I didn't do much craft-wise.  Last spring wrecked havoc on our land and my garden area---we were so wet for so long, by the time it dried up enough to be able to work in the beds, it was nearly July and then the heat hit---so it was a waste to try and plant anything.  All the seeds I started died---either because I couldn't get them into the ground or because I did put them in the ground and they got drowned or suffocated by the weeds that completely took over our entire acerage.  It was too wet to cut until July and by then everything was at least 3 ft high if not higher.  When we tried to go in and cut everything down, our power tools protested and everything was breaking down left and right.  I took that as a sign and stopped trying.  I did get herbs in the herb spiral at least---but even the spiral suffered at the hands of mother nature and it imploded during a stormy weekend.  It can be fixed easily enough---we'll wait until next spring to tackle that....Even my compost bins were destroyed---a huge storm destroyed the second one and the first one (which had caught on fire last fall) just fell apart from the floods we had.  I got the hint.......


In homeschooling news---we are no longer homeschooling.  My 15 year old decided he wanted to go to high school---which is fine, my older children went back to public school for high school and they both did very well so I have high hopes for the 15 year old.  So far, he's doing very well!!  My 13 year old wasn't as excited about going to middle school---but he is doing well, his grades are good, his teachers love him and he's making a lot of new friends.  As long as things are going well, I can step back from my dislike of public schools.  The oldest son at home is now a senior and completing his final year at the Medina County Career Center in the Chef and Restaurant management course.  He's wanting to go to the Culinary Institute of America next year.  My sous chef will become the master and I see a sous chef position in my future when I cook with him, LOL!

The youngest is doing very well at his school---his speech has improved SO much, he's reading books and he's calmed down some.  He goes through periods of clarity and we are able to reach him, talk to him, reason with him, just communicate overall.  Then the Autism takes over and he's lost to us again for a bit.  He's improved so much over the past 2 years, though, that I am happy for any time we can get from him where he isn't in his own world!  I do feel hopeful for him, I see more possibilities for him having a more "normal" life.



So, here it is, the end of September 2011.  It's gray and dreary outside, it's supposed to drop into the 40's tonight and it's going to be chilly for the rest of the week---time to fire up the wood burner--chilly.  In September.  What a weird weather year we've had...  On the happy side of that I see soups and stews and crumbles and more breads in our future---heck, in our present!  I see cuddling up and working on some crafts.  I'm looking forward to leaves changing, apple cider, pumpkins, corn stalks, haunted houses, trick or treats!  I do love fall, it's my favorite time of year!!




The ever changing, always evolving craft room has had some major improvements done to it--not done yet but we're so much closer!  I've been trying to paint my house.  RAIN.  EXTREME HEAT. RAIN.  I haven't gotten very far.  Made some cute changes in the kitchen---but we've also got some major changes coming there as well!




I've got more painting to do around the inside of the house, the livingroom is going to change colors, the stairwell up to our bedroom needs to be painted, Seamus' room needs to be painted and I'm going to do a mural in there.  SO much to do, to keep me busy and out of trouble.  We also have a bathroom that needs updating and remodeling, a second half bath that needs to be built....The work in a 150 year old house never ends.
So, that's my news of the last year---a lot of words to say that not much has happened, LOL!  I will be trying to post daily now, and I hope to have a lot of interesting things to post!

Leslie:-)