What Can You Make From Pallets?

Creating things from reclaimed wood from pallets is pretty common. There are the vertical gardens that are really just a pallet on it’s end, to shelves cut from sides of the pallets, to things as extensive as beds and walls…
Here are some of the things we’ve been doing with pallets…

Crates to deliver arrows to the castle (or hold sheet music in the livingroom)

A really nice bench with a storage shelf below (also doing double duty as a movie prop)

A really cool great big storage box

The beginnings of a fireplace soon to be completed

Frames for castle walls

A way cool medieval looking cart…

And even a wonderful midwife’s cottage! (granted it’s just a facade, but still pretty cool) (We also have a facade of Brodor Clarke’s chapel started but I don’t have a picture of it yet.)
So, what have you made from pallets??

300 Balls and a Tent

Legends of the Saloli – Book Review

Title: Legends of the Saloli – Approaching Storm
Author: Adam Bolander
Publisher Synopsis: “To become a man, he must become a squirrel”When a dark threat arises, a single boy must become a man by becoming a squirrel. Jeremy Lander wanted nothing more than to relax during his summer break, but a Saloli tribe looms on the brink of war and is forced to look for help outside their own species. Facing the threat of never being human again, Jeremy must serve his new tribe, even to the point of death, all while keeping his human past a secret. The stakes grow higher every day. The upcoming war could affect far more than one measly forest, and he just may be the deciding factor.
I read another review about this book and knew I wanted the opportunity to read it for myself, so I was so glad when the author, Adam Bolander, allowed me the opportunity for a free copy to review. The whole idea of a boy who becomes something else in order to save them just sounded too much like God’s own son becoming a human to save us, you know? I was expecting an allegory of sorts because of that. Though it wasn’t allegory, it was a wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Adam Bolander creates a world that is utterly rich and believable. The anthropomorphized squirrels (called saloli after the Cherokee word for squirrel) have a society that is well thought out by the author and given many details of its customs, code of conduct, and religion to really bring it to life. Although it seems to be written for children, and the feel of the writing bears that out, it is a story that will be enjoyed by all ages. I was drawn into the story completely and could not put it down. The writing is rich and thought provoking.
Jeremy Landers is called by Valde Abbas (God) to become a saloli (squirrel) and must learn how to live as a squirrel, how to win the trust of his tribe called Icefire, and how to follow God’s call upon his life. Finally, he must choose between his life as a saloli and his life as a human. Like a fantasy story should be, there is a clear deliniation between good and evil. Unlike many children’s stories that portray the villains as unintelligent buffoons, the dark side here is realistically powerful and insidious and it is clear that only with Valde Abbas can Icefire tribe succeed in defeating them.
Much of the saloli religion echoes God’s word clearly, but there are a few places in the book that concerned me just a little bit as a Christian reader reading a Christian fantasy. Of course, that opens up the question of whether all Christian fantasy needs to line completely up with Scripture or when it’s ok not to. But that is another Thought for another Thursday. I’m waiting for the third book of the trilogy to come out before making my final determination. However, because of the violence involved in the book (about the level of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques if you’re familiar with those) and because of the seeming theological ambiguities, I would recommend the Legends of the Saloli be reserved for more mature readers or used as a read aloud with plenty of discussion along the way.
All in all, I was very pleased with this story. It is an exciting narrative that leaves you on the edge of your seat. And, just as a warning, this first book, Approaching Storm, ends with such a cliff hanger! I just had to purchase and devour book 2, Vengeance and Mercy, immediately!

If I Were To Write A Blog Post...

If I were to write a blog post, I'd like to go back to February and write about missing Savannah on her birthday and how God brought us through it and made it a beautiful day anyway. Mike and I went to Paint it Pottery in the Dells that morning and I chose a little cup and saucer to paint. I wanted something that I could use every day that would remind me of Savannah but not necessarily be about Savannah - if that makes any sense. It says JOY on the side of the cup, and around the saucer, it reads "Joy cometh in the morning" - one of those passages that I held in my heart and kept reminding myself was true.

Then we went as a family to Walmart and we let each of the children pick out some gift for a newborn baby girl. We put all the gifts into a basket and brought it over to the hospital where Savannah was born along with a note that explained that the gift was for the first baby girl born on or soonest after Savannah's birthday. I was able to find out later that a baby girl received the gift the next day and her parents were blessed by it. God is so good!




Or If I were to write a blog post, I'd go back to June 2nd and write about how God blessed us with an incredible little guy named Wilmer Markus. He is such a beautiful baby. Right now he is in that wonderful smiley, talkative stage that is such a blessing. Joy truly has come in the morning. In fact, my cup runneth over!




Or if I were to write a blog post, I'd go back to the middle of July, when I actually got to go visit my dear friend, Jewels and her family. My two oldest boys paid for a ticket, my husband took the time off of work to stay home with the children, and Wil and I set off in an airplane for four and half days of wonderful fellowship!





Or I'd go back to about a week ago and tell about the graduation party we had planned for our oldest son, Micha and how proud I am of him.

But that's if I were going to write a blog post. It probably would make more sense to face reality and accept the fact that I am not a blogger. My lack of posts over many months makes that pretty clear, doesn't it? So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...

God bless you and good bye!

Love,

Heidi

This Week's Projects

I finally made up a dress this week with fabric that I designed myself. Spoonflower.com is a website where you can upload your fabric designs and have them printed for you. If only it were a little more affordable, my sewing room would be filled with my creative inspirations. :) This one is called, "Stripes and Paisleys" - (real original LOL) and is printed on organic cotton sateen. I chose the color palette to hopefully coordinate with the colorgrown cotton that I've been using, but I got the cream background a bit too yellow. Still, I really like it. :)
I used a little of the organic cotton lace I had left to finish it off.




So now I'm on a roll. I love designing fabrics. I have three new ones that I uploaded this week,

"Cross Stitch Rose Border Print" - because there just aren't enough vintage embroidered pillowcases in the world ;)



"Vintage Roses" - a companion print inspired by a fabric from the 1940's



and "In Bloom" - a pink ticking stripe with vines and hearts and flowers.

I'm thinking I want to use the border print for Easter dresses this year, if I can manage to squeeze it into the budget.

This Week's Project - Wilmer's suit :)

When we found out from the ultrasound that we were having a boy this time, the first thing I realized is that we had almost no clothes around here for a boy baby. It's understandable since Jeremi will be 14 before Wil is born, but certainly something that needed fixing.

I went through my bins of patterns and was surprised to realize I had nothing for a boy there either! While I was considering running to Walmart or Joanns, I remembered my shelf of Sew Beautiful magazines. Hooray for Sew Beautiful!

I found an issue with a free pattern called "Aaron's Christening Romper" and thought in another fabric it would be perfect. :)

So I dug through my fabric stash looking for Something - Anything - suitable for a boy. I finally found some light blue gingham that even my husband was willing to accept as not too feminine. :)
The original pattern included a sort of triangular yoke which you are supposed to lay over your smocked piece and cut away the part of the smocking that it covers. Maybe it's just my laziness, but I was not willing to spend that much time smocking just to cut it away. Not to mention, I couldn't find the power cord for my embroidery machine. :) (Now before you look at the picture, let me explain that I am a very novice smocker. This is a total of three times that I've even tried. I don't even own a pleater, I just sew line after line of a gathering stitch on my sewing machine and then try to gather all the lines together. So let me just warn you that those funny little blue blobs are supposed to be cars and you can pretend that you knew that all along, ok?)

In the past I've made just a few outfits that opened at the legs for changing, and they were all flops. The snaps never stayed closed and the poor child was left crawling around with these billowy goofy looking wings hanging behind them. (Just ask my husband about the "bug pants". I don't think I'll ever live those down LOL) So, I tried something new. I used tiny buttons and button holes all along the inseam. They are surprisingly not difficult to button and unbutton. Hopefully that will still prove to be true ON the baby. :)

It was labled a newborn size, but it looks pretty big. At least he'll grow into it.

And then, my husband found me a power cord that worked for my embroidery machine after all. Who knew that a PS2 actually had a legitimate reason for existing?!

I can't take credit for the play on words. That was the title of a cross stitch design of a little car that I ran across on the internet somewhere while I was looking for little boy patterns and I thought it was perfect for our Wil. I plan to make a bib out of it.

News from the Kaether household :)

Last week I had my first ultrasound. The ultrasound went well and showed us a beautful, healthy baby. God is so good! I also "peeked". LOL

We are having our first boy in 14 years!! We are all so excited and looking forward to getting to meet Wilmer. (Named after my Grampa Gartman) I am starting to do some sewing and have already had a package addressed to Wil come from my Mom and Dad with some clothes. There isn't much saved from when Jeremi was a baby, understandably. :) But Wil won't be going naked. Emilie (my 3 yo) is concerned about him being naked right now though. She keeps asking if she can give Wil his clothes and toys and wondering why he isn't born yet. I think she'll love being a big sister.

Also last week, the new Daddy's Little Princess and DLP Organics websites have gone live. I'm so glad to have them done - for now anyway. You can check them out at http://www.daddys-little-princess.com/

Juli earned herself a SPiDer nap for doing her chores above and beyond last week, so I'll be heading to Burger King or McD's with her this noon. "SPiDer" is something I've adapted from my own childhood. It stands for Special Priviledge Day. When I was little, the person with the SPiDer got to sit up front in the car if we went somewhere, dry the dishes while Mom washed (yes this was actually considered a priviledge believe it or not!) and stay up a little later after everyone else went to bed. Mom managed to do this for us weekly, which I find amazing. For my own kids, it has become something to be earned once in a while.

Here is a picture of Juli here wearing her new blouse and skirt that she made herself!

I'm probably going to be losing both of my biggest helpers for the summer to other jobs, though I'd never want them to give up the opportunities they've been given. I sat down this morning and worked out a summer schedule for the rest of the children that I think will work well. The schedule we have now, we've been using for almost a year, which is significant. I am schedule-challenged and this is the first schedule to last more than a day or two! I'm praying the new one will go as well.

Well, that's it. All the news that's fit to print, as they say. :) God bless you and have a wonderful day!

- Heidi