Lazy Long Weekend Approaching

August has flown by! We're now preparing for a 3-day weekend with pre-fall house projects, errands, a cookout, and hopefully a walk to the ice cream shop.

Before this we celebrated a birthday with family--

And visited 2 brewpubs in as many days. :)

photos courtesy of Marci!

And went to an OR Symphony event at Mt. Scott Park with friends --
Next week: photos of home projects. Woo!
Have a great Labor Day!

-A

The Value of One Hand

, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Here lies a 12-pound baby. If she is not lying on her back losing hair, or on her tummy squawking, or in any various baby containment apparatus, she is in arms. This creates challenging tasks for a holder's once-simple activities. Try typing an email using one hand, or fixing breakfast, or going to the bathroom. Huh?
Anyway, what I've created may revolutionized diaper changes away from home, and also help lessen the need for disposable and plasticized changing mats. Prepare yourselves...

for the One-handed Diaper Change Travel Mat!*

Fold

Roll Mat

Roll Strap

Fasten Velcro

Ta-Da!

Now in reverse!

No, I'll spare you. Maybe these will end up in my etsy shop someday.

-A

* made from 100% cotton.

PS - For demonstration purposes only, the opposite hand held a camera rather than a baby.

Hop Shortage? I Think Not!

Tis the season in the Pacific Northwest. The rest of the homebrewing world may be suffering from high hop costs, but here at your local A&P, hops are plentiful. This is my third year with these two vines, one Cascade and one Willamette. This year is by far the most productive. I figure I have about 3X last years yield, so I should have about a pound and a half of dried hoppy goodness. The only down side is the loss of some great shade the vines provided on top of the arbor. To my bro-in-law, you can expect a few ounces of koski-cascades in the mail one of these days to brew with. I just need to do some picking, drying, and vacuum sealing first. If anybody is eager to try a fresh, ultra hoppy IPA in about 5 weeks, feel free to stop on by. It's on my to-do list within the next couple of weeks!

Running Around

Running, originally uploaded by apkoski.

WE just returned from raucous tour of grandparents, Aelaide's that is. We saw not two, not four, but six grandparents in fewer days! Lucky girl; we only had four...

We made our triangular way from G&G plus cousins in St Louis to G&G plus uncle in Columbia, MO, to G&G plus cousins in Washington, IA. We played basketball, ate meat off the grill, toured the best student Rec. Center in the country, ate at a microbrewery/enjoyed MW microbrews...
took walks, watched the municipal band concert, went to the Farmer's Market, got McDonald's for breakfast (woo-hoo), went letterboxing, had an summer birthdays party, got a manicure and massage.... oy.

I am sad to say that we have very few pictures from the trip - busy trigger fingers. (If you're reading this and have a couple shareable pics, we'd love to get a copy, digital or otherwise!)

-A