Adjustments

 September has been a season of adjustments.  Adjusting to a new school year, and with that, the adjustment of managing grandchildren after school.  This year both of the 2 youngest kids have new "schools". Grandson #2 has moved to public school kindergarten, and that left Baby Girl the only one at the day care that was 5.5 miles from my house.... so my DiL was able to get her into their church's preschool/daycare program, which is located very close to the boy's school - both of which are geographically half-way between their home and ours.  PERFECT!  I can leave baby girl (who is no longer a baby, but almost 4) at her school until 6, but I don't.  Why make an extra trip? So I have all 3 for about 3 hours every afternoon.

In addition to after school care, the boys have "activities" that necessitate either a large snack or supper before 5:30pm, so some weeks I feed them dinner 3 nights.  Not a big deal, but it does require planning.  Children do not like to eat the same things as old grandparents. Then compound this with DH's work, coaching, and bi-weekly tennis playing and... I think you can imagine.  It's been a circus.

KiwiCo kits are great, but still need a bit of adult help.

This is what my island looks like on rainy days.

Baby Girl will entertain herself if  "the Brothers" are doing something she isn't interested in... Like TV.

She loves cooking

And so does middle brother.
We make cookies once a week.

Playgrounds are nice for no-school days.

Sometimes when we go to a different playground out of our area, 
they can make new friends for a game.

Baby sister just likes to swing.

We found a weekend free of kids and tennis and work, so we took off for Fargo to have a night out and visit the Hjemkost museum in Moorhead, MN.  It was a nice road trip.  Archie was able to go with us and he navigated life in a 14th floor hotel just fine.

Stave church
Replica built by local on a pattern from a church in Norway.

The view out of our hotel room window.  
Facing Minnesota.

Inside the church.
The builder learned to carve, just so he could do all this!

Then we switched nationality and had dinner in
The Blarney Stone Irish Pub.

VERY shortly after (like the following Monday) I took a mis-step coming out of the shed and twisted my ankle.  Really bad.

I'm very annoyed....because

Well, THIS... again.
Thank goodness I kept the boot from my injury in 2014, becaus it was just what the Dr. ordered.
2 weeks in the boot, then another week or more in a brace.

Nothing broken, all my rods and screws were in good condition according to the 9 X-rays that they took.  But it was really annoying to be laid up in nice warm (ok, HOT) weather with the garden going great guns!  No gardening for about a month as walking on the uneven ground was the worst thing I could do!

When I finally got back out and about, this is what was waiting for me:

A jungle of overgrown tomato vines,

A harvest of celery that was really past-due,

PLENTY of tomatoes

Cucumbers that I didn't expect, but not many peppers....

The night before a frost warning, I got out and grabbed everything that I could.  I took me a couple of days to get everything put up. And I was out of canning jars, so it all had to go in the freezer. After the frost (which didn't really hit our garden) we got Grandpa to help with digging the carrots, and they boys and I went out to the Community Garden plot to see if there was anything out there... maybe potatoes?

Digging carrots.

 

At the Community Garden plot, digging potatoes.

Lo and behold, with no attention or watering, we actually had some sweet potatoes!
And a few pinto potatoes
and an handfull of dried Jacob's Cattle beans
and tons of weeds.
NOT a good idea for me to have a garden plot so far away!

And finally, I got started on my wool coat.  It was a bit of a puzzle, finding fabric for the lining without going out and buying something that I really didn't want.  So I have pieced together some Pima cotton from a dress made years ago, some dupioni silk (in two pieces of different colors), and the project is started.  To date, the shell of the coat is done and I'm starting on the lining.

My selections of fabrics for the lining.  All pretty together, but will it look like Joseph's Coat?
Maybe, but just on the inside.

Oops... forgot to check for right and wrong side before stitching lining to pocket.
Rip it off, flip and resew to the other side....

It will fit!

The zipper went in like a dream,
but I hand basted it in first.
Good move ;-)

And finally, the end of an era. I decided to start going through my big dog equipment and decided to sell our Lure Coursing machine.  I have a buyer that I'm going to meet at the Field Trail in Omaha next month.  I haven't used this in years and have no place to set it up, anyway.

Good Bye, Coursing machine.

No more racing dogs.  Or maybe?????