Well I have almost no crochet-related stuff to talk about. I've been working on something for sooo long now, but was missing a very important part. Finally bought what I thought I needed, but nope, I was wrong. But I think I've finally got it! So now I can hopefully finish this project (which is my first own design and I'm very happy with so far!).

But the last two weeks have been pretty crappy. Ciaran got croup, so he was out of commission for about a week. Poor little guy, I've never seen him this sick (even when he got croup at this exact time last year). He spent three days sitting in my lap watching Teletubbies and LazyTown. I don't think he's been still for more than a few minutes since he was born! And certainly never cuddled for more than a few seconds. But the meds kicked in and he started to get better. I, on the other hand, got worse. From what I understand adults don't get croup, instead they just get a bad cold. So I've been useless for a week too.

But by not being able to do much of anything, I've been surfing alot. I'm switching Ciaran to cloth diapers. There's several reasons I'm doing this even though he's 21mths. The biggest one is environmental. As we no longer have the luxury of a garbage service here on the farm, we have to incinerate everything ourselves. We had no idea just how many dirty diapers we go through. It is overwhelming! Then I started to crunch some numbers. Sposies are expensive, even though we prefer the cheapie Walmart brand. While we probably don't even have a year of diapering left until Ciaran is potty trained, there are some major savings involved by switching to cloth. Plus he has very sensitive skin (my little red-head!) so having natural fabrics that breathe sounds so much nicer than plastic disposables that have weird absorbent gels and chemicals. Plus as I've switched to cloth fem products, I can attest to how soft they are and how nice they feel! Why wouldn't I want that for him?

So I've orded a few dipes from Sears, cheap Kushies that I've heard good and bad things about. They're cheap enough that even if they're not great, its ok, but if they turn out to be great, then we're ahead of the game. I've also ordered a few Mother-Ease Sandy's. Again I've heard mostly good things, so we'll see how we like them. And because I'm just a crafty crafter who has a new sewing machine, I'm making some too! I've scrounged up some old t-shirts, have some el-cheapo flatfolds, even bought some flannel and some fleece. I have a free online pattern, and will hopefully have a finished product to show off in the next week or so. Buying some is great because I'll be able to see the different designs and what we like best, and hopefully translate it into something I can make. And then when the next baby comes, I'll know whether I can make them myself, or if its just worth it to order some (and of course we can reuse any we already have!). Win win win!

I've already switched to cloth wipes for Ciaran using baby washcloths (16/$5 at Walmart) and a solution I found online (1c water/1/2T canola oil/1/2T babywash). I'm just so mad I didn't do this sooner, they're fabulous!!! So soft on his skin, non-irritating, and I really feel like he's clean. I use a plastic container from some storebought wipes, and the solution makes enough for a couple days worth of wipes. Any mom out there who reads this, I highly recommend giving it a shot, they work so much better, so much cheaper and alot more earth friendly!

Oh, and with all this info about cloth, and trying my cloth pads and Ciarans new cloth wipes, I'm going to try my own cloth 'bathroom wipes'. Yes, cloth t.p. When I first read about it, I thought I could never go that far, but oh my goodness cloth just feels so much nicer! Forget about the environment, cost, etc. It just feels so nice. My hoo-hoo deserves to be pampered! And its no extra work with the cloth pads, dipes and babywipes. So I have some extra flannel I'm going to try. And if it doesn't work out, I'm no further behind. Alright, enough about all that.

The next thing that's on my mind is the garden. As I look out my window to what seems like several feet of snow, with more falling as I type, and a balmy -20c, I can't wait until spring comes and I can start digging. My mom and I went through her seed catalouges, and I've ordered all my veggies and herbs! Tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, zucchinni, beets, garlic and more! I also ordered a set of three ferns, a purple one, an orange one and a green one. And a whack of sweetpeas. We haven't done too much about flowers yet, its still early, but I'm thinking about it lots. I'm digging out a bunch of delfeniums that cover a side wall of my house and replacing them with honeysuckle. And there's a big row of lily's along the front of my house that will go to be replaced maybe by coneflowers. I transplanted some of the lily's last year and I'm much happier with them moved. The rest look great for a short time while in bloom, and look like scraggly crap the rest of the season. So perinnials that bloom from June-Sept I'm searching for. I also have a beautiful fence line of white yarrow (that is considered a weed in the city!), and I'm thinking of mixing it up with some different coloured yarrow I've seen in books. Helps to disguise the ugly page wire.

I just set up an indoor grow shelf. My mom gave me one of her old grow lights, and I have now been successful at starting some cilantro, basil, chives and peppermint from seed myself! Its so exciting to go into the room everyday and see how they've grown. Within four days I had a little field of basil, and in a week and a half my cilantro outgrew the little plastic cover. Ciaran loves it too and we check the plants all the time.

Well Ciaran has just finished napping (convenient!). Alessandra I hope you're feeling better!!!