Joy In Whimsy And In Fango-Mangoes

Whimsy: 1. An odd or fanciful idea; a whim.

2. A quaint or fanciful quality"

I love whimsy. Sometimes I see it somewhere and it is outlandish -- or so loud it practically forbids even the birds to sleep a wink. Those times I am glad it isn't my own whimsy, but it brings me a great deal of joy to look upon for a moment or two. It looks fun and happy and is not just "going with the flow". Out of the ordinary.

Maybe I am in the doldrums, driving down the road, a bit mopey. Then I spy a silly yard ornament or a ridiculous Bobble Head Elvis on someone's dashboard. It makes me smile. Even if just a little.... or when someone creates art that is contradictory. Like the now well known Bear Dance. I remember when it first came out I loved it. In fact, we still have it in our basement family room. I love that the style is traditional, like an oil painted feel that is sort of stuffy, and you glance at it with little interest. Then you spin your head back around after your eyes tell your brain that it is not what you expected, for the subject matter of bears dancing and having a party in the woods is far from stuffy! (I like it better without the words on the bottom, but this is what I could find)



There is a house nearby that is painted in at least 20 colors I'd say. Not shades of the same color, but actual different colors -- pink, purple, green, yellow, blue... The man who owns it told me it was his wife's idea and he wasn't really that cracked up about it. But he did it for her anyway. Now we all know his dedication to her, don't we? Since it was built and painted I have admired it. I don't want it. But I love seeing it up on the hill as I drive by. Even the style of the house is similar to one from Grimm's Fairy Tales!


A neighbor on our road painted their well house like a child's color collage. (Remember making those, coloring for hours and hours in hopes that your step-mother might frame it and put it over the piano?)


Whimsical. It's fun and unexpected to see.


Our front door is a little whimsical (especially without a doorknob).




And the metal finial to an old wood stove that we have in our perennial garden is quaint.



Can silly looking Flying Nun goats be whimsical?

This is Clementine. I think that even her name is whimsical. Oh my Darlin'...


Today I saw this bus shelter and I think it is adorable.




A few years ago I painted our old, worn out Adirondack chairs in loud and busy colors. I wish the picture showed the true colors of periwinkle purple, forest green and orange. I will need new ones soon and I shall paint them just the same!

I put them in front of our living room window so I can see them when I look out. They are even more unique now that they are barely holding together. I love the metal flower too, crafted by a local man. I bought it at a Farmer's Market.

The fire-hydrant-turned-watering-spigots in the Healing Garden at the Burn Center where my cousin is right now is whimsical (pictured on page one of the pdf document linked above). The kids who come to visit loved ones can fill watering cans here and go around and water the plants and flowers. You can see why they call it a Healing Garden. These suffering people need whimsy much more than I do.

We have a watering can shaped like a flamingo. I bought it as part of the decorations for a birthday party for my husband. The theme was Flamingo Lounge and we all dressed up in styles from the 80s. I'll post more about that another time.
Our baby boy makes that cute watering can even more delightful. He carries it around and calls it a "Fango-Mango". Isn't that sweet and whimsical? I kind of hope he never says it correctly.

And look! Another natural smile instead of a cheesy grin.

And now each time we drive down our driveway I get to hear Little Man say "Mama! One, two, four Fango-Mango!" (this is his way of saying there is more than one of something). Because, well, look what the neighbors put in their new garden... in front of their new barn... which is right at the bottom of our driveway...


Two Fango-Mangoes! Fango-Mangoes are whimsical aren't they?

Especially in the northwest,

out in the country,

in front of a barn:)

I love whimsy.

So there you have a few of the things things that give me my whimsy joy. Do you love whimsy? What whimsy is in your home or yard or life? What whimsy makes you smile? Or do you prefer to stay more traditional?

Maybe I should start "Whimsy On Wednesdays"!....



(I must consider the question: Where is the line between whimsical and just plain tacky? There definitely is one...)

My Sweet Angel, Being Molded...

I especially love this picture because it is a rare find. When he sees a camera pointed in his direction, he cracks a "cheesy grin". While it is cute, I have so many of them -- and it makes his nose turn into a triangle. This one is a real smile. Sweet and precious. And cuddly too.

Tonight my not-yet-two year old walked in on me, through a closed bathroom door, where I was trying to put my nightshirt on with some degree of privacy. I said "Baby, you shouldn't walk in when Mommy has the door closed. You should close the door, then knock before you come in, You Silly". Of course, this was kind of rhetoric, like when I said "thank you" for him when he was 8 months old to eventually train him to say it himself.

Do you know what that baby did next?

He said "Yes (small pause) Mama", closed the door, then knocked! Yes he did!

When I said "Come in" I saw the biggest beam on his face become bigger still as I told him what a good and obedient boy he is. All of this hard work, training an apparent "naughty" (active, spunky...) baby has been paying off in spades as he has been very deliberately saying "Yes Mama", "Yes, Daddy" and even sometimes to one of his brothers, like tonight when he said "Yes, Nathan".



These are the sweetest days I'll know...

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

I am always on the lookout for recipes that I can amend in order to use honey and/or whole wheat flour. Lately I have had an abundance of zucchini so have been looking for recipes using that too.

Here is a recipe I have been playing around with which we have enjoyed, and it uses all of those things. Make sure you pay attention to the "other" ingredients as these are what make them so yummy and help you make them according to what your family likes. Most kids are going to like the idea of a cookie for breakfast. I hope you like them!

1 Cup Real Butter
1 and 1/2 cups Honey
2 teaspooons Vanilla Extract (or extract of your choice. I prefer Orange Extract.)
2 Eggs

1 and 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini (I'm not picky about measuring. You could get away with a little more or less)

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Cups Oatmeal

Approx. 2 Cups + or - (see list at bottom of recipe)

Cream together first four ingredients. Stir in zucchini. Combine the dry ingredients then stir into zucchini mixture. Add "other" ingredients and mix well. Place by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until browned and cooked through. (When I make the dough ahead and refrigerate overnight, it must be cooked at least 20 minutes.)

Other Ingredients --
Choose a few or add your own:
Nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, almonds)
Dried Fruit such as raisins, currants, cranberries, etc.
Fresh apple or pear, diced into small pieces
Chocolate, White or Carob chips (*hint: Use mini chocolate chips. You can add less and still have chocolate in every bite!)
Granola
Trail Mix
Or.. what's your pleasure? You can be creative.

Best if used with 1-2 days or frozen

Menu Plan Monday

Click on over to Organizing Junkie for more ideas.

Goodness sakes. Where HAVE I been? I think it's been a month since I posted my meal plans. Things are not slowing down any. And it sure does help when things are planned out.
This week is full so this will not be fancy! Hopefully I will start getting my act together...


Well, I SAID hopefully!!!



Monday: Turkey and Red Bean Soup (from health food store, hubby gets teeth pulled today)
Tuesday: Trinidad Stewed Chicken adapted for Crock Pot
Wednesday: Farmer's Yakisoba (stir fried whatever we get from the farm this week with yakisoba noodles
Thursday: Sloppy Joes using leftover Garden Burger Patties ( I know, huh? We'll see how this one goes over. I'll have to use alot of chili powder and sauce so they don't realize. And maybe mix in some beef too.)
Friday: Seven Layer Tortilla Pie
Saturday: Homemade Pizza with Whole Wheat crust
Sunday: Burger Thing at church

Facelift: Our House

When we bought our house 7 years ago we knew it would need to be painted fairly soon. We got a slight discount in price because it had siding that was on a defect list. However, we found out that our particular siding just needed to be resprayed on the bottom of each piece to seal it. Apparently, to us "fairly soon" is a very subjective term.

It was a light blue-gray color with a darker blue trim and gutters. Out here in the country I can see why the former people chose a color that might melt into the sky. The scenery is so gorgeous that you wouldn't want a house to clutter it up too much. But it was definitely NOT us. And it was becoming kind of old and faded looking and, well, just not crisp and clean - or even warm. It just looked like it was about worn out.

For seven years it stayed two shades of blue, more and more faded, with more bare spots as time went by. Then a few years ago we added on to our house. The new part of the house was covered with siding that came already painted with primer in a tan color. The way the house is designed it didn't stick out as much as you'd think, having two different colors. But now it most certainly needed to be painted.

A couple weeks ago we were finally able to locate a painter who could do a smack up job for a great price, and now our formerly faded, tired looking house has a brand new look.. and it holds a surprise too!

Here are some pictures of the newly painted house. This will also show you some of why I haven't been around on my blog much the past month.

I took this picture to remind me of just how many paint colors we tried before we got what we were looking for. We wanted people to have to ask themselves " Is this house tan or green?". We like to keep people guessing.

With new paint on only the patchwork area and one garage door, this shot of the front gives you an idea of the former colors. What you don't see are the spots of bare wood on many parts of the trim (note adorable big brother carrying baby brother).

We finally ended up going with a custom mixed color for the main body of the house. We painted two of our architectural features a half shade lighter, as well as the areas just surrounding both front entry doors. The trim is the lightest color in the family. And we added a totally different color to the overall mix by painting the face boards just under the gutters a very dark shade of purple. In some lights it even looks black.

Here is what you see as you come up our driveway, which is actually the back of the house.
The two bumped out, kind of rounded places, are the areas where the paint is a half shade lighter.

And here, TA-DA!! is the surprise...

I am suddenly feeling a little more cheerful and a little whimsical and garden-y when I walk up to our Overtly Green door (which still has no hardware!). I told you, we like to keep people guessing!

We figure a house is kind of like a sofa. You should make sure it's conservative and that you can live with it for a long while. And a door is kind of like your pillows and room accents. Go wild if you want to. They are inexpensive and easy enough to change later, right?

I love this color of green. You can search on the internet and come up with all sorts of opinions about what green means and how it makes us feel. But this color reminds me of the newest sprouts of growth on a plant just coming back after a long winter -- refreshed. It is also the color of baby plants coming up for the first time -- new life. And it is the color of some beautiful accent plants we love to use in our hanging pots as well as our gardens, like the Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea) in the huge floral beauty hanging on one end of our garage.

We are really happy with all of our paint choices, even though it took us awhile. I guess all of that running back and forth between home and the paint store with little quarts of paint paid off. Hopefully soon we will find hardware for the door that we love just as much.

And with this beautiful scene to look at from our house, what's NOT to like about any shade of green?

A Facelift

Noooo, silly. Not me. Scared ya didn't I? I mean, if I needed a face lift at my tender age of 29 that would be some serious sun damage for a lifelong Oregonian!

AAaaanyway, any minute now you'll see that my blog has had a facelift, thanks to my friend Darcy over at Graphically Designing. Ohh, I can't wait.

It has taken quite awhile to complete this project. I don't think it is because I am especially picky so much as it is that I have no idea how web design works. I know nothing about finding artwork for blogs. I mean, I don't know where to find it, I don't know what type works for what, I don't know what designers create out of thin air and what they buy and place or tweak or , or, or -- ANYTHING!

So, while I had a vague idea of what graphics I wanted, it was merely a concept with no idea on how to go about 1) accurately conveying my ideas to someone I only know through the blogosphere and, 2) how to implement it once I had figured it out. This has stretched me and I only made it through because of Darcy's patience and her willingness to go through long periods of "I don't know", "I'm too busy right now", "I am too overwhelmed" and "I don't know what you mean". Thank you Darcy for being patient with me as I clogged up your queue. Thank you for figuring out what I mean when I say what I want in a different language than you might understand. Thanks for creating something that I find joy in looking at.

I looooove it. And I hope it is a pretty space you all enjoy visiting:)

P.S. Yes, here it is! Did I mention I love it? I still have lots to replace and some new elements to add. So keep checking out my new sidebar items in case something new pops up.

The Current James Dean, Superstar

Please read my post on our family site today.