Friday, January 11, 2019

And like that, it's Friday again.

• P.'s trip draws ever closer. On Wednesday it suddenly popped into my head that we had yet to do anything regarding a bank account so she could have a debit card. I blithely thought to myself that we could take care of that on Saturday morning, until a friend reminded me that debit cards often have to be mailed. Cue panic. So yesterday morning, first thing, she and I set off for the bank. Three hours (yes, you read that right) later, she now has a bank account, a debit card arriving in the next day or two. After some long discussions with the banker, she also has a credit card arriving as well. Her having that little bit of emergency insurance with her makes me feel a whole lot better. We also ordered her some Euros so she has a bit of non-American cash to take as well. 
• Because it took to much longer than I had planned, I ended up texting D. and asking him to put on the video I had planned for that day. So, supposedly, my children have learned all about the Benin bronzes from Nigeria. Some school days are like that.
• The work on the barn is continuing. The managed to get all the roof trusses up in the past two days and the walls are starting to look more like walls.

• One of my goals for the new year was to work on finishing the multiple projects that I have started, but just never got around to finishing. I'm trying to get all these taken care of before I really allow myself to start new projects. I am also really trying to make room in each day for me to work on making something, even if it just for a little bit. I am a much happier person if I can find this time. First up were a pair of mittens. I had finished one, but the trouble with pairs is that you have to make the second one. The project had stalled because either the pattern or my knitting were off and the mittens were turning out rather huge. I briefly thought about just ripping out the yarn, but having spent a chunk of time on them, really hated to do that. So, they are becoming J.'s extra mittens for the car. It seems like a handy thing to have, right? And then I ran out of yarn, so decided to make due with a completely different color. The embroidery was a feeble attempt at making them look "planned". 

I wear a women's large in gloves, so you can see exactly how crazy bit these things are.

• K. is nearly all the way through all of the craft supplies he got for Christmas. It was a lot of supplies, this is no mean feat.
• More ducklings will be joining us next month. We love ducks, and decided a few more would be nice. We are going in on an order of mail order day old ducklings with a friend, and are getting six more ducks. They will be brooded in the barn, which is where all brooding really needs to happen in my opinion. They will not be in the house! So, we'll see how this mail-order duckling-thing works out.
• R. drew a number one the other day, pointed to it, and told me it was a one. That's actual progress. I'll try to think about the math if she manages to learn one number every three years...
• I had to buy eggs at the store yesterday. (Silly chickens must think it's winter or something.) I brought them home and the masses gathered around the carton and stared as if they had never seen an egg before. "They are so white!" "They are all the same shape!" "Why do they look so weird?" Six months ago, these were they only eggs they ate. We get used to things so easily.
• We will be having our Nigerian dinner tomorrow, but I'm still researching recipes for it, which means I still need to shop for it, too. If anyone has any great Nigerian food recipes they want to share in the next twelve hours or so, I will happily accept suggestions.

Have a great weekend everyone!