Autism woes - or is it puberty?

   Tonight we had another blow up.  I thought we might make it through the entire night without anyone yelling foul obscenities or hitting anyone - but I am silly to dream like that!  Our eldest feels the need to interject himself into any disagreement (or perceived disagreement) between his two younger siblings.  Now tonight it wasn't even an argument.   My daughter had a water gun and the younger son wanted to know if he could have it.  She said no, he said okay he'd get the other one and our eldest decided this was a place for hitting so he pounded his sister's shoulder.  She, being armed, squirted him with  the gun and all Hell broke loose!  The profanity that came out of my eldest's mouth and the venom with which he says it are stunning.  Thank God our neighbors are tolerant (and one set is on vacation) or we'd have the police out here on a weekly basis!
    And people wonder why we do not entertain more often, nor travel for vacations anymore...

Jamming things into the summer.

    I do not know if it is the oppressive heat and humidity or just a lack of overall focus, but my list of summer "to dos" does not seem to be any shorter.  I bought six gallons of paint during a fabulous sale at Home Depot last spring - they were phasing out the Ralph Lauren paint for Martha Stewart, so it was on sale - on top of that there was a bigger sale happening, so I grabbed paint  for the kids' bath, the kitchen and the Dining room.  Well, furniture being what it is - heavy and stacked to the rafters in our house now - we probably won't see a re-do of the wall in the DR until next year - but a bathroom - easy.
    I soaked all the tub toys in bleach and got them out of there.  I think the funky smell we've been hunting may have been from mildew inside a bath boat (and I had been blaming the boys' poor aim)!  The curtain rod is now bare,  waiting for spackle to set so I can smooth the edges, and then we will go from builder's beige to bright blue!  My daughter is very excited about the change in colour.  At our last house we took the bathroom from a sick seafoam green to a deep eggplant purple.  I think the name was actually midnight eggplant.  That with the 1940's tiling was really lovely. This will be less dramatic, but at least it is a colour of our choosing.
Bit by bit we are taking the house and turning it into ours - I have gotten rid of two bedrooms worth of wall paper, and  a kitchen and two bathrooms worth of borders.  One bathroom was repainted last year - as well as retiled, new sink and cabinetry.  I am longing for the day when dear hubby breaks down and let's me rip up the rest of the NASTY wall to wall carpeting in the LR and foyer, but we know (after having ripped the dining room carpeting up) that all the floors will need to be refinished - and I know he is not feeling up to that!
     Finally put the super on the second hive - this is the blue hive which we started this year from a nuc. The girls seem active and happy, but I haven't officially checked them in a couple weeks.  This super has non-wired foundation in it so we can try harvesting it as chunk honey - or crush and strain.  I can rent an extractor from my local bee guru, so I may use that for harvesting the honey from the flower hive.  I spent part of Wed afternoon getting the frames built - on my kitchen floor.

  This foundation is so light and fine, the breeze nearly bent the top layer in two as I brought it to the car after buying it.  Here is the shot of  my youngest and I painting the super - a left over greenish blue from his Dr. Seuss bedroom mural  mixed in with exterior white - and, Voila! the blue hive!

      I am a blur here, but look at the concentration on his face!  I love the focus children can have.  

      I made the black raspberry/ red currant jelly and it is good!  Of course, my pot was just a touch too small so when I hit the rolling boil, look out - the smell of burnt sugar still lingers in the air!

   

Independence Day and beyond

     Fourth of July weekend plans were made - and unmade.  I had expected one of my sisters to visit - she hasn't been up to my house in nearly 2 years - but her pipes started to leak Friday evening, so no go.  We just ate the salads and such ourselves.  However, the chance to slow down a little was also nixed.  When there are "other" folks at the house, we actually tend to slow down a little and socialize - but instead we spent most of the time building bookshelves and unpacking five more boxes of books from my mother-in-law's house. You can never have too many books - well - I used to think this, but I may be on the verge of changing my mind!
    Because I am stubborn, and because I think stopping to celebrate - even a little  - is important, we made a couple of the salads we usually don't bother with except for get - togethers, and my daughter made a cake.  It was yummy and very patriotic, if not (as she noted) historically accurate!

   Had my last spinning class yesterday.  We dyed the yarns we had plied two weeks earlier.  I was aiming for olive green, but it went more dull green - needed a bit more yellow, I think, but here is the result.

     I wish I could take the next spinning class, but the Sat. schedule for that does not mesh with my summer schedule. Another time I'll take it and learn Navaho plying.

     For now I will take the new bats of purple wool I bought yesterday and sit with a fan at my back and spin.  These blisteringly hot days are good for activities that do not require a lot of outdoor activity. 

I hope it is warm and sunny where you are, and the breeze is enough to keep you cool. 

Ciao!