Perils of the South

Weekly Rewind

Jumping on the bed, no wonder he keeps getting injured.

This week was filled with mishaps and dangers that could only happen south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Since we moved here nearly a year ago I have been all too aware of the feisty little critter called the fire ant. Coming from California I was previously only acquainted with bothersome, yet benign, ants. The fire ants are a whole different story. They are extremely tenacious and their bite leaves a nasty welt that takes forever to heal and often leaves a scar. Their nests pop-up over night in the yard and it takes vigilance to constantly patrol the yard, monitor their activity and treat the nests with insecticide if they are active. Before Joe left he was the primary fire ant killer in the family with Grayden acting as his trusty nest spotter. Now that I am the lone adult I have had to take on the duty and have barely kept up with the exterminations since the weather has turned hot. This past week I was the victim of five bites when I pulled the garden hose through a nest and the ants swarmed my hand. By Sunday I had discovered over seven nests in the front and back yards and there was a trail of them IN the living room. The only indoor insecticide I had was a plant based brew that did a half baked job of deterring them from traipsing across my floor.  By Monday morning I'd had enough and called Orkin to bring in the big guns to solve the problem.  I am concerned that the pesticides will harm the lizards, geckos and frogs in my yard but considering our upcoming six week escape to California, returning to a house overrun by ants (not to mention cockroaches the size of small birds) does not sound appealing.

Sprinklers have been a nice way to cool down in the evenings.

Our second run-in with a uniquely southern hazard was at breakfast Sunday morning at our local greasy spoon, the Rusty Pelican. Since Joe has been gone I have not had the energy to continue our Sunday morning ritual of making homemade raspberry pancakes and instead have been taking the kids out to breakfast. This week we picked up the babysitter beforehand so she could come home with us and watch the kids while I had a few hours of alone time. Unfortunately the plan was foiled when Grayden dropped a huge glob of piping hot cheese grits on his inner thigh and ended up with a second degree burn. The burn blistered up larger than a quarter so we threw the food into boxes and I took him to an urgent care clinic while Audrey stayed with the sitter at home. After getting a prescription for burn cream we returned home and I immediately had to do battle with the ants. Besides the 30 minutes I took for a shower and hiding out in my bedroom, my alone time never happened. Luckily the burn seems to be healing up quickly and as always Grayden has been a good patient, keeping the bandage on and allowing me to change it daily without a lot of fuss.

The missing tooth.

Added to this drama was the fact that Grayden had his top left tooth pulled last Tuesday, the result of an injury from a fall that occurred back in October. At his regular check-up a few weeks ago the dentist discovered that the root of the tooth was starting to decay and he was concerned about damage to his permanent tooth under the gum-line. It is strange that up until this past year he was relatively accident and illness free and now it all seems to be coming at once. I guess the bridge from baby to boy is full of challenges. The procedure was quick and uneventful, with the extraction occurring with him under the effects of nitrous oxide and Novocaine. Grayden has been insisting that the "laughing gas" did not make him laugh at all, something I can not confirm since they don't allow the parents to observe the procedure (which was just fine with me). He was excited about the $1 he got from the tooth fairy and told me he is saving it for his trip to Hawaii.

She has a thing for jewelry and shoes.

Audrey has continued to improve her walking skills and seems very content to be a walker. She hasn't  crawled at all over the last several days and loves to explore around the house carrying toys from one room to the other. I had a scare this week when I left her in the kitchen for a minute but when I came back she wasn't there. I frantically rushed around from room to room and discovered her in the guest bathroom happily unwinding the toilet paper roll. This seems to be her new favorite pastime, so if you come to visit please check the status of the toilet paper before using the bathroom as I can not guarantee she hasn't emptied the roll.




The Project

• Fabric: 1.5 yards cotton, $8; 1 yard stretch knit, $1
• Pattern: Simplicity 3850 shorts, $1; McCalls 6078 top $1
• Notions: zipper $1; buttons $4
• Time to Complete: shorts, 4 hours; top 1 hour
  
• Total Cost:  $16

This week I decided to reuse the pattern I made last week, this time as shorts with a cute cotton print I bought at Hancock fabric a few weeks ago. I altered the pattern to make the cut a bit longer to compensate for my "shorts issues" I described last week, but kept them short enough to make them comfortable and, I hope, stylish. I took my inspiration directly from Anthropologie this week with a fun pair of surfer shorts that were selling for the astonishing price of $88. I saw them in the store a few weeks ago and was drawn to the vibrant print and the contrasting piping around the pockets and waistband.

Pocket and waistband detail.

For my version I used single fold bias tape for the contrast in a rusty brown that matches the flowers in the print. I even found buttons that are similar to the ones in the inspiration garment.  Because I'd already made this pattern before the construction went quickly.  I plan to make a couple more pairs of these soon.

The top was very quick and easy, once I got over my apprehension of sewing with knit fabric. I bought two yards of this fabric for about $1, the price reduced because part of it had print marks on it from the manufacture. It is a very lightweight waffle knit that is buttery soft. It would really make great pajamas, which is what I might do with the leftover defective part. I used a double needle on all of the seams which made them look like they would on a mass produced garment. I made version B of the pattern, which has a drape neck front and a regular full coverage racer-back.