Seed love

Yesterday I stopped by this nursery to pick up a couple of packets of seeds in anticipation of spring (still a ways off, I know) and somehow ended up with 17 packets.  Yes, 17.  Oh my. 

Pros:

*purchased from a small independent business which is so incredibly important. 

*they are heirlooms, which fits my ethics and desire to grow unusual (nowadays) things, plus I am really annoyed angered by GMO's and Monsanto.

*they are so awesome--I mean, who can resist tomatoes called 'Black Krim'?

*my children will LOVE growing these together.

*we will LOVE eating these together (well, not the flowers)

Cons:

*where on earth (ha, ha) will I be planting 17 packets worth of seeds?  I see much garden work ahead, many more gardens to be made, somehow, some way.  Poor Rob.

And I had to post this today as my fb status update, since I read it last night and went 'WOW.' 

To live as closely as possible to the numinous wild a woman must do more head tossing, more brimming, have more sniffling intuition, more creative life, more 'get down dirty,' more solitude, more women's company, more natural life, more fire, more spirit, more cooking of words and ideas. She must do more recognition of sorority, more seeding, more root stock-keeping, more kindness to men, more neighborhood revolution, more poetry, more painting of fables and facts, longer reaches into the wild feminine.

~Clarissa Pinkola Estes, from Women Who Run with the Wolves

Earth Cycle Calendar & the coolest market in town (longest name, too)

I got this beautiful Earth Cycle Calendar and love it, so do my children.  It's so lovely to look at and so educational too.  We're watching the moon cycles which is fun.  If you order one from Lacey, tell her I sent you.  She's great!

Lils and I made this sign for our market, inspired by the Mudsock Market at Conner Prairie.  She came up with the name for the market and we started out hand drawing a sign wherein I did block letters and she was coloring them in.  We were also drawing pictures.  Then the phone rang and as I answered it, Lils decided to help more by coloring (scribbling) in large sections, making it unreadable.  So with naptime for Calvin running short, I printed the words but the printer is nearly out of ink.  Therefore the sign doesn't meet my aesthetic standards, but oh well.  It's only a matter of time before it gets torn down by Calvin, I'm afraid.  It says 'The Cow jumped over the Moon and the Chicken went into the Barn Market.'

I think here she's directing my next move.  Hm!

Aprons

A friend asked me to sew these aprons for her and her son to wear together when they cook. So sweet. Then I started thinking about my own apron collection and itching to find more when thrifting this spring and summer. One can't have too many aprons, can they?

Here are 2 of my aprons.  I can't remember where I found this lilac gingham one.  I love the embroidery.  This might be my favorite apron ever.  I'm sure I paid around $1 for it.

And this one was my mother's.  I love the skinny rick-rack!

Play and a Study in Photography

I took these pictures of Eric and Lily playing the other night and Calvin and Lily playing today.  I love their little dollhouse still lifes and how absorbed they get in play.

 I still don't know how to really use this new camera.  It's VERY intimidating to me, yet I know that when I understand it I will be able to do so much with it.  I need to learn how to shoot in manual.  Our friend who is a photographer took these pictures with it at a coffee shop. 

These five shots of Rob are so different.  I have no idea how this was done!

Couldn't I just capture what he knows and put it in my brain?  That would be sooo much easier.

want. to. make.

this belt.  from here.  we don't drink soda though, so acquiring the needed tabs (about 150) is a problem.  can you help?  if so, i would love to recycle your tabs!

grandma's quilt

We went to visit my other grandma earlier this week, and as we were going there I was feeling guilty that I didn't have anything to give her.  I wanted to make her something but was coming up with nothing.  In the course of our visit though, she mentioned her she didn't have a blanket for when she's in her easy chair and bingo!  I decided to come home and get to work on a lap quilt for her (after a brief not-so-serious thought of picking up a snuggie for her at CVS or something.  Ha! and no way).

I pulled out fabrics I thought she would like from my stash, they all kinda go together and I had just enough of each to arrange them so they fit to make a nice size quilt.  Sweet!  I used part of a yellow sheet I had in my stash for the backing, and flannel for the 'batting' part. 

Once I got it 'pieced' I had the kids draw some pictures on it, which I then embroidered on it.  As it was coming together so well, I got the thought 'hey!  I'm going to set a goal to finish this by midnight!' (I crave the instant gratification of quick sewing projects.  I'd started around 4 pm, and in between doing this and that was working on it, it was definitely achievable. especially once the kids went to bed.) Right? 

Wrong.  I struggled to stay awake as I sat on the couch embroidering a clown fish.  I fell asleep by 10:30.  Lame.

I started in again on Tuesday, sure I could get it in the mail by evening, she would have it Wednesday!  Yay!   I got close to finishing the 'binding' (the lazy Krista way of binding that is) and my sewing machine revolted.  Would.not.sew the last few inches.  Argh!   I pleaded and cajoled.  Begged.  Nope, she wouldn't do it.

I tried again last night, and still no go.  But tonight (Thursday), I got it done.  Sewing machine went fine.  And nothing else had changed.  What the heck?  I think my machine is temperamental, it's so wierd.

Anyway, so excited to get this in the mail tomorrow, I hope she loves it!

Sunday--family things

We went back to our hometown Sunday for a belated Christmas visit and were delighted to receive these snowmen ornaments above, made by my Grandma (who will be 90 this year). She also made the cute snowman below, the chenille is from my Great Grandma Daisy's bedspread. I adore these, it's so special to me to have family handiwork. Lily has claimed the snowman with the pink hat.

Mom also asked me to go through the bookcases for any books I might want and I gathered a stack.  I love this Little Farmer one by Margaret Wise Brown!

And, I was looking at Mom's coverlets and they are so amazing.  The ones she has date within a few decades of the 1850's.  Mom never paid more than $20 for any of them, she scoured auctions to find them (that's our family thrifting spirit!).  I love that.  I hope to find a quilt or coverlet that I can afford that way, too.  So anyway, I was saying how I would love to find some wool blankets and wondered if I would have better luck in New England, it would seem so.  So she pulled out these 2 family wool blankets and gave them to me!  Whee!  She'd forgotten she even had them, didn't know what to do with them, and was happy I wanted them.  She often comments how alike we are.  About certain things, yes.  I'm sure she will never understand my nose piercing though!

eating, sewing, and an animal picnic

We have been doing lots of eating around here!  Rob snapped this picture of me last night scooping up a handful of pumpkin bread crumbs.

And more eating!  Yes, that is a napkin on her head.

I had to get pictures of this little man eating with gusto!

I got some sewing time in today--yay!

And I reorganized my fabric stash--it's now in the buffet drawer for much easier access (it had been on the top shelf of the coat closet, usually causing an avalanche of fabric).

The stuffed animal friends enjoyed a lovely felt food picnic on the living room floor today.

these are a few of my favorite quotes

"There was a star danced, and under that was I born."
                                                               --Shakespeare

I love and collect quotes.  I had pages of them typed out of ones I had collected over the years up through living in our previous house...but now I can't find them.  I wonder if they are on our old computer, I need to check.

Not a week goes by it seems that I don't read a quote that I add to my 'new' quote list.  Here are a few that I love:

"Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others."
--Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
--William Morris
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
--Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

Giving Birth and Being Born
Brings us into the Essence of Creation
Where the human spirit
is Courageous and Bold
And the Body,
A Miracle
of Wisdom.
--Harriet Hartigan

Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.
--unknown

We came spinning out of nothingness,
Scattering stars…
The stars form a circle,
And in the center we dance.
--Rumi

We cannot depend on a market-informed cultural consciousness to enlighten us--we have to do it ourselves. --Raleigh Briggs


I have more quotes (many more!) but will stop!  I do believe I will also craft a post about a book I'm seriously loving, Women Who Run With the Wolves.  Can't say enough good about it--I'm going through it with a highlighter.  I would love to discuss it with other women who've read it and am hopeful that will happen in this new year.

Any other quote collectors?