Here's what's new...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. (I notice that I say that far too often! I'll work on that.)
Here's what I've been doing instead...

My daughter and I have joined the Boy Scouts of America. Yep, we're girl Boy Scouts! It's called "Venture Crew" and it's a co-ed, high adventure themed troop. It's run by the kids themselves, adding just a *little* bit of extra chaos to my life. Actually, the kids aren't bad at all, it's the leader of the troop, who is chaotic-good. (Geek alert! Dungeons & Dragons reference. =D)

Right now, they're planning a scuba-diving trip for next summer. So, we've been taking scuba lessons! It's kept us pretty busy in classes after school, and diving in the pool all day last Thursday.

They're planning several fund-raisers for the trip, including baby-sitting nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so parents can go shopping without distraction. In the spirit of things, my daughter has signed up for the Red Cross Babysitting course. Wish her luck!

The only thing we have left to do is the outdoor dives. We have to do 4 dives, under 20 feet, for at least 20 minutes. It looks like we'll get some of that done this weekend. I think the plan is 2 dives on Saturday, but Sunday is still up in the air. (Ha-ha!)

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, but I was in the water too! I'll try to get some on Saturday. =)

I've also signed myself up for weaving classes, and my girlfriend Sally had offered me a free floor loom! Sweet! Again, pictures to come!

Escape!

So, here's my cricket:

I picked up this cricket cage at a tag sale for $5 just because it was neat. Nice to have a use for it. =)

She seems to be OK with the cage,

Except when she's not. =D She does go back in when she's hungry, but right now, she's between the floor and the fireplace. =(

I've been giving her fresh spinach and fruit daily. Today she has a bit of my first ripe fig!

I noticed that the fig was starting to split, so I picked it. =)

Shared it with Erin, and cricket. It was so very sweet! 

I've decided that I like figs after all. Fresh and ripe figs are nothing like grocery store figs! =D

The Mark Twain Library had it's annual book fair this weekend, I bought lots of books at great prices. Erin and I have joined Venture Crew, it's a co-ed Boy Scout troop whose focus is "high adventure". We're working on a scuba trip for next year, and Monday (the last day of the sale) was our first fundraiser. We start dive certification tomorrow!

Today, I made a new batch of liquid laundry soap.

You know the drill, shred the soap, mix the stuff, boil for a bit.

Clean up the mess.

Fill up my containers. Not bad, these four containers lasted three months. That means I bought enough Fells-Naptha to last me two years! I wonder if there's enough Borax and Washing Soda to last as long. It's looking pretty good, so far.

Elephants Trunk

Party at a friends house last night, love the makeup!

We went to the Elephants Trunk for the first time today. The Elephants Trunk is a giant tag sale. =) It was great fun to explore all the stuff for sale.

I bought a garden cultivator. When I get a better picture, I'll post it for you.

Of course, it started to rain. And rain, and rain...

 

You can see how deep the water got, and my cultivator wheel next to her foot. We were all holding down the tent, to keep it from blowing away.

Erin saved a life!

Now we have a new pet. =)

Comic Conn Saturday

Gamzee Makara:

 Scary things outside at ComicConn, are you sure we have to go in?

I got a kiss from a Storm Trooper! 

*swoon*

Slowly we picked up other Homestuck fans.

Adding a few here and there.

 Almost all together now.

 Just make yourselves right at home...

As the entertainment walks right through the door!

A couple more girls. By now, I've started taking pictures of all the people taking pictures of Erin Gamzee and friends. 

The temporary horns finally came off. Still cute, Gamzee!

Eventually, Dr. Who and friend stopped by to chat.

Some aliens from "V".

 Two Thors and a Mr. T.

He held that pose for a really long time, I was very impressed!

Wolverine.

There were others, but he was the best.

Ironman.

Squeee! R2D2!

No, there was nobody inside, it was just a display, but so cool.

And friend.

Anybody know the mane of this character?

And a good time was had by all!

Last Fig (and others) Update for August!

This is my unknown variety of Italian Purple fig. Third year I've had this one, and I may get a ripe fig from it!

This one is "Peters' Honey".

I think this one will be a light colored fig. It's hard to tell, but I think some of them are starting to get ripe.

See the lower one? How it's starting to droop down from the stem? That's what makes me think it's almost ready. =)

Little figs, staring with Black Maderia.

Early Violet.

Violett de Bordeaux

Giant Amber. Yes, the second one has a few new leaves! 

And Genoa.

The green Champagne grapes look a little better than when I planted them.

And the Crimson Grapes are beautiful.

Both seem to have a critter digging around in them. I'm guessing it's a chipmunk.

Last, but not least, the raspberry runners that I pulled and potted. I sold a bunch of these at a tag sale in the spring. =) Let me know if you need any!

Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

We dog-sat for Waldo for a few days.

 After he went home, we messed around with hair for awhile, then went to spend the day at Maritime Aquarium.

I loved this little guy! He's a Bull-nose ray. He kept coming over to Erin and popping out of the water to say "Hi!" and did the dolphin walk a few times. =) Very cute.

We saw some neat things.

And, some scary things.

Why are all the seals blind?

Not a great shot, but it shows that this seal is blind in both eyes. =(

They have a new, temporary exhibit. Lorikeets!

You could buy little cups of nectar to feed them, and they love the stuff! They also had a thing for Erins' hair. =D Look at #5 on the wall, eyeballing her shoulder.

If you live nearby, you should go check it out. The nectar is $3 for the 1oz cup, and it lasts awhile, depending on how many birds land on you! I just found out that this weekend, Labor Day weekend, is the end of the exhibit! Hurry!