The Boy

Sixteen years.

Sixteen?  How is that even possible?

Just last week he was a tiny baby (and I was barely more than a child).  Just yesterday he learned to walk and play card games and tap his toe to the rhythm of the music.

There's just no way that my little baby has become this broad-shouldered, nearly six foot tall man-child.  It doesn't seem possible. 

And yet, here he is.  He's an amazing kid.  He...

• makes amazing chocolate chip cookies.
• loves video games.  A lot.  But a few days ago he decided to skip having any game time until he returned from a trip downstate because he knew he was going to have lots of extra time for his birthday - such a mature idea!
• has a 5 year old best friend.  He and Pookie are two peas in a pod.
• loves to draw and is constantly making strides to improve his skills.  His favorite subject?  Dragons.
• would rather play Phase 10 than any other card game and most any other board game.  It's been his favorite game since he was about 11.
• likes spicy food.
• is into the fantasy genre more than any other.  He loves Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and any book or movie involving dragons, elves, spirits, wizards or sorcerers, etc...
• is an avid reader, devouring an average of two books a week.
• has a current overall grade of 96%.
• helps out whenever I ask, with little or no attitude.
• has a great eye when it comes to photography.
• likes rock music and sings along when he thinks no one is watching/listening.
• was adopted by Bryant when he was 4. 
• refills the bird feeders for me whenever they need it because he knows I can't reach the tops very well and he can.
• is crazy smart, super creative and all around one of the coolest people I know.

Happy birthday, Baby!  I love you!

Flabbergasted



Crab apple blossoms

 Wow!  So, on a whim I decided to check out the stats for this blog and I was shocked, amazed and humbled to learn that I've been read in quite a few countries, including Russia, the UK and Iran.

I understand that those may have been one time deals, probably those people haven't come back for more, especially since I haven't been writing as often as I should.  But I'm still amazed. 

I Googled my little blog and found out that using the search "Swiss Army Wife" I'm on the sixth page.  Six!  Out of gazillions.  That's pretty crazy.

When I started this blog I expected to be read primarily by people I'd see at Gram's house on a holiday, maybe a stray reader here and there.  I certainly didn't expect to be seen by people a world away.

Now I'm feeling a little self conscious, but also encouraged and motivated to make blogging more of a priority in my life. 

So thank you, readers, for taking a moment out of your busy day to stop by.  Feel free to leave comments, especially if you're not related - I'd love to know what drew you here and where you're from. 

By the Bay

Idea fog

I wake up slowly most of the time.  My brain simply does not go from sleep to wake with any speed or efficiency like some people's might. 

So here it is, 9 AM.  I've been awake or nearly awake for just over an hour, but it's only now, as I'm eating my breakfast, that I'm beginning to feel some semblance of brain activity.  Everything before now has been auto-pilot. 

This morning I've felt a little niggle in the back of my brain, like an idea was forming but I wasn't quite able to see it yet.  I felt it when I snuggled Pookie on the loveseat.  It reared it's head again while I chatted about music with The Boy.  And again as I fixed ham and eggs with sourdough toast for Bryant. 

It was only as I sat here with my own breakfast that I began to see the details of my idea, an idea that can be summed up in only a few short words...

Family road trip.

Ampullaria (Pomacea) cuprina

This is MapleShade.  She/he/it is a Gold Mystery Snail.

We decided to do a science project in January and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't do as much research as I should have before we started.  Had I done my research, I would have known that this particular type of snail is a hermaphrodite (they don't need to have sex to breed, they have both sets of organs).

Those little packets that look like tiny wads of chewing gum are actually the egg sacs.  The eggs will stay where they are, allowing the snails to grow for 2 - 4 weeks.  They don't necessarily hatch at the same time as the water temperature plays a role in how quickly the eggs develop.  In a small, controlled environment like this, there isn't much difference in the water temperature, but in a large aquarium or in nature, it can have a huge effect. 

We currently have four egg sacs, each containing up to 15 eggs, though most of those will be devoured by the snail or snails that hatch first.  Only one or two eggs from each sac will survive long enough to hatch.  Once they do hatch, the babies will eat the softest vegetation, steering away from the healthier, more robust parts of the plant.  After about a week, they can eat anything the adults can.

We started with two Mystery Snails, a gold and a dark brown.  Another tidbit I wish I'd known before I bought them is that this type of snail typically lives for 2 - 10 years, sometimes longer if the water is kept around 80 degrees.  Albert, the dark brown snail, died within a month, but not before the egg sacs he was covered with hatched. 

These are both from the first egg group and the larger one near the top is about 1/4 inch long.  We haven't named the little ones because there are so many of them (15 at last count) and we don't really have a good way of telling them apart. 

That darker shell is what's left of Albert.  When his babies hatched, they could often be seen crawling in or on his shell.  I assume that is a protective instinct since their shells take a bit of time to harden and they would be searching for safety from predators.   

We bought a single plant in January when we set up our little snail habitat and just last week we had to replace it.  The snails eat the plant or will also eat small pieces of spinach, kale or other leafy greens, as well as cooked carrots, cucumbers and, in extreme circumstances, other snails.

Our snails live in a one gallon glass jar and they seem to do fine, although I don't think it can hold too many more before we'll have to start disposing of the egg sacs before they hatch. 

The cover of our jar is a piece of mesh bag (that I bought oranges in), cut to size and tied with a shoelace to keep it in place.  Snails are prone to leaving if they're uncomfortable and I didn't want to wake up to find snails on the living room floor one day.  As it is, I think the mesh is pretty unnecessary at this point.  MapleShade doesn't try to escape and the holes in the mesh are too big to keep the small snails in.  But it keeps us from accidentally dropping things into the jar, if nothing else. 

The kids love to watch the snails and it can be quite entertaining to watch them crawl all the way to the top of the jar and then simply let go and float down to the bottom again.  All in all, I wish I'd done the research before we bought them, but I'm glad we did. 

Time flies when you're having fun

A month ago, I turned my alarm clock around so that I couldn't see the digits anymore. 

Two days ago, I unplugged it for good. 

It wasn't the alarm that bothered me (although I hate having to wake up before I'm ready) or even the light from the digits.  It was the time.

I'd wake up in the night and glance at the clock before closing my eyes again.  As I laid there, trying in vain to get back to sleep, I'd start thinking about how many minutes until I had to get up.  If it was 2:30 AM, I'd start thinking that I had to be up in less than 5 hours and then I'd start to think about all the things I had planned for the following day and going over lessons or chore lists or ingredients for dinner, etc...

This would go on for a bit, then I'd fall back asleep, but if I woke up again (on my own or with help from a small person), the whole process would start over.  The more it happened, the worse I slept and the more it happened.  It was really just a vicious cycle. 

So I've given my alarm clock to The Boy and I'm simply using my cell phone alarm to get me up in the morning.  And yeah, I could just flick my cell on and see the time, but that would require me to get out of bed and that's something I just really don't like to do, especially when I'm all warm and cozy. 

And since I turned my clock around, I've been sleeping so much better!

Soaping Up

Holey moley - it's been a long time since I wrote anything here!  I didn't realize just how long until I happened to see that I haven't posted since mid-April.  Yikes.  : )

Quite a few years ago (like 8-10) I learned how to make cold-process soap.   That's soap from scratch using fats and lye, it has to cure for no less than 2 weeks and up to 8 so that the lye doesn't chemically burn your skin when you use it.  It's been a long time since I made any, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. 

I really enjoyed trying out new fragrances and different ingredients to make unique finished products. 

So here's my question to you, lovely readers:  If you could have any kind of custom scented soap, what would you go for?