My favorite things

daphne on November 1, 2008

When the dog bites, or the bee stings, or the polls show an erratic swing and it feels as if we won’t ever make it to election day, I simply remember my favorite things. You know, my favorite things, plus a bottle of wine and a sack or so of mini-snickers. That’s all a girl needs, right?

And I am a lucky girl. A fact that occasionally gets lost what with all the whiny there is to be done. But I’ll leave the whining for another day. Today, I’m focused on my favorite things…

Here’s a perfect example. Just look what I caught the children doing the other day: each other’s hair.

Really, if they keep pulling this kind of behavior, CNN’s going off for good. It’s enough to make a mom feel a little guilty for eating all their Hershey bars. Well, almost. I’ve got my gripes with this national fascination on seeing how much candy mom can consume once the kids head out for school. But that’s for another day. Today only the positives (or at least the abundant photo ops) of Halloween.

Like pumpkin carving.

We made them cute. We made them scary. We made them hopeful (oops, there I go, slipping back onto the politics bandwagon.

And to answer the question burning in your minds: A witch, scary, and a fairy, magical. Here they are:

The witch spent the day correcting people who dared assume she was a good witch. Our witch is all evil, all the time. And while I’m straightening records, Kira is a fairy who also happens to be a princess. Not to be confused with a fairy princess. Got it?

Now that that’s clear, pass the candy. We’ve got to bulk up a little before hitting the leaves.

Hey, Maria von Trapp was on to something. This favorite things thingy really worked! Just look at how relaxed I am in this picture:

Oh, ok. That is Acadia, not me.

But I’m sure that I am no more than a few more fist-fulls of Halloween loot from being there. Or maybe one more bottle of wine. Right? Who am I fooling? Check back on Wednesday–maybe then I’ll be able to finally relax.

Summer lovin’

daphne on October 1, 2008

Sure there was that boy, cute as can be, splashing around and all that jazz. Really, what’s not to love about summer? Oh wait, I know. There’s that inescapable, miserable, sweltering heat. Which frankly I can do without.

Suffice it to say that if my calendar tells me it’s time for fall, I become a bit impatient with the stubborn resurgence of 80 plus degree days. I’ve got certain expectations of my September, and heat isn’t one of them. I’ll tell you who is grooving on this protraction of summer love–my garden. The raspberries are flat out refusing to pack it in this year.

And they are not the only ones. Out on the porch the petunias (or pansies or pandas for all I know. I’m still a bit rusty on the flowering things out there, what with my preoccupation with veggie knowledge and all.) Flower-lovers, share with me. What are these hearty beasts?

Whatever they are, they are tough as nails. After taking a couple of months off during that dry spell (when I forgot to water them, I mean) these lovely ladies re-reared their purple and pink faces. Following the hostile take down recently suffered by the sunflower patch, my plan is to immediately cease all other floral attempts and replace them with Pinky Tuscadero and her friends.

As I begin this bout of whining, Acadia’s birthday is behind me and back to school nights are a thing of the past. It’s time for pumpkin picking (you know, if, like my brother, you’ve got some frisky squash at hand.) It is the time for leaves to yellow and leap and for apples to give themselves up for pie.

And if a perfect pie isn’t your thing, the girls have been munching away at these babies, dipped in honey, shmeared in peanut butter, or warmed with cinnamon sugar. All I’m missing is a steaming mug of spiced cider. Welcome Autumn my old friend.