Window Shade Bleg

For years now, I've had this nice light filtering cellular window shade above the window in my kitchen. It died this weekend. It won't be pulled up or down anymore. I've repaired the mechanism multiple times but this time, it just won't cooperate. I can't even pull it up to take a picture of the window right now.

The window opening measures 71 inches wide by 35 inches long. That's a very wide width. I just don't know what to do with it. When we purchased this cellular shade, it was on super clearance price and just happened to be wide enough although too long, but I didn't care. So, I'm looking for suggestions. because it's so wide, it can't be anything too heavy. I'm considering putting up two shades instead of one big one, but that would put a cord right in the middle and this window is recessed about 12 to 14 inches and I'm kind of short, so I have to be able to open it and close it without always asking the 15 year old to help. I thought about trying to make a Roman shade but I'm worried that it would be too bulky at the top when it was opened for such a wide but short window. Ideally, I'd also like it to be easy to clean.

So, any thoughts? What would you replace it with?

 

Stroller Bleg

After spending some time with Patty's girls on Saturday, and checking out Clementine's spiffy ride, I think I'd like a lighter weight stroller for Cupcake, something a little easier to get in and out of the car. I'm thinking a step up from an umbrella stroller. You know... beefier wheels but still reclines. And it has to have a decent sun canopy. Nobody likes a burned Cupcake!

Suggestions? Links? Thanks!
 

Dolly Hair Transplant ~ your opinion, please!

If you've been a reader of this blog long enough, you might remember this post, the first of our themed birthday posts, in which Sunshine received a homemade Waldorf doll to complement the Cutie Beautie that Shortcake loves. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Cutie Beautie's hair was very thin and hot glued onto her head. When I originally made that dolly, I didn't know how to do the hair and this was in the era before Youtube. You know, back when dinosaurs roamed the internet. Anyway, I did the best I could which was pretty pitiful and hoped that someday I'd get the chance to redo it. Well, that day was yesterday!

Shortcake was really scared that Cutie Beautie would look different and it took a couple of tries before I got her stamp of approval. I followed this tutorial and made adjustments to make her look like her old self, just with new hair exactly the same color as the old. Here is the finished look.

 Wow, those kind of look like mug shots. Oh well. Here is my new dilemna. I can't find the doll kit that I used to make both of these dolls. I don't think it's being sold anymore. I want to make a doll for Cupcake, maybe for Christmas. I think I still have the pattern somewhere but I would need to hunt for skin fabric and wool stuffing.

I have this doll that my big girls have been saving for their baby sister. It was a Christmas gift from long ago. They only play with their special mom-made dollies now and have set most of their other dollies aside. (Secretly wiping away tears of remember when...) I like the look of this dolly but being an actual Waldorf doll and not a homemade one, her hair is  mohair I think and really fuzzy and very easily pulled out in clumps of fuzz so much that I don't feel comfortable giving it to Cupcake just yet. I don't want my baby coughing up a hair ball. So my question is, should I save it for her for when she's older, maybe 3 or so or should I attempt another transplant? She's also a little overstuffed for my girls' taste. They like their dollies squishable so I think I would also try to remove some of her stuffing.

Inspired by this beautiful doll on Etsy, I took these pictures of the doll with some yarn that I thought was fun and kind of funky laid over her hair just to get a feel for what it might look like. We all agree that she looks cute both ways and can't decide what to do, so here's where you get to tell us what you think!

Leave her as she is and make a new one or use what we've got and give her a make over?
 

Salad advice

It's stinking hot down here, as it always is this time of year. Last year, when I was pregnant with Cupcake and my dear OB started making some murmurings about my body not tolerating the pregnancy all the way until 40 weeks based on the evidence he had, I kept whining and complaining that I did not want to have a baby in August because it was the worst month in the whole world! He smiled and said, "My birthday is in August." Yeah... that shut me up. But I still hate August. And even though I first went in to the hospital at the end of August complaining of stomach pains I thought were food or virus related which now I know were pre-eclampsia related, please note that Cupcakes birthday is September 2nd!

Anyway, back to the subject at hand... salads. I make boring salads. Lettuce (romaine), tomato, carrot and celery with maybe some hard-boiled egg, some shredded chicken or sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. I love looking at beautiful salads. Check out this link and you will see 35 beautiful salad ideas from Southern Living. I look at them but I wonder... how does all that stuff taste jumbled up together like that? I've even been reading over Auntie Leila's salad post and realizing that is a standard I aspire to but need to work my way up to. You know... baby steps. Taco salads are about as fancy as I get.

Here's my biggest problem besides not being adventurous enough... the dressing has to be on the side. Why? Because none of my children like salad dressing of any kind. Trust me... we've tried them all. Raspberry vinaigrette, thousand islands, blue cheese, ranch, oil and vinegar. Nothing. They like their salads plain and dry. And to complicate things even more... ever since I had an ulcer in college, I can't tolerate vinegars in my salad dressings or even in sauces like BBQ sauce. Balsamic is the worst.

So... that's my salad predicament. I'd like to try some salads with variety. Any advice? Suggestions? Recipes? Thanks!

 

A Mystery...

So, we've had a slight change of plans and haven't actually started back to school officially yet. That change of plans included a change of sleeping arrangements for the big kids with the requisite furniture re-arrangement and cleaning out of junk and clearing off bookshelves that comes along with giving your already extra-tall 14 year old and your still-growing-not-getting-shorter-anytime-soon 8 year old the twin extra long bunkbeds that your definitely-not-extra-tall daughters have had for years and coming up with a new sleeping arrangement for them.

Anyway, in cleaning out the bookshelves we found an old copy of The Story of a Family: The Home of St. Therese of Lisieux. It has an autograph in the front that we can't identify.

We aren't sure where this book came from, possibly a used bookstore. It looks like an autograph, not a "this book the property of" kind of signature. We can't decipher the name at all but believe that underneath it says Phila (as in Philadelphia) 1950. Any ideas?

Cookbook Bleg

Looking for a cookbook (or books) with cuisine from different countries that would be easy enough for my 11 and 13 year old to make. Suggestions please...

Have you seen this Spiritual Record anywhere?

I am trying to find more of these Spiritual Records. They were sold by a Catholic bookstore that wasn't online, but had a catalog business based out of California, I think. And I have one for each of my big kids so they were still available as of about 7 years ago, maybe more like 10. I might have ordered BigBoy's as an extra to have on hand when Shortcake was born,

They were printed and hand colored by one of the daughters if I remember correctly. I can't remember the name so any information would be helpful!

Gratuitous baby shot!