Dusk

Yesterday at the grocery store I was contemplating buying some flowers for our dining room table. There were bouquets of deep red, magenta, mustard yellow, dahlias and zinnias, sunflowers. But something has shifted in me and I bought the plain white dahlias.

Henry spotted this bluejay feather on a recent walk and he found the broken robin's egg in our yard a few weeks ago. I think they're so beautiful together, and suddenly I'm drawn to those cool blues. I love adding nature finds to our little kitchen windowsill vignette, and I love how the blues and whites seem to creep in organically near the end of the summer.
Last night was the first night that I consciously noticed the dusk coming sooner. In a light rain, the end of the day felt so *summer*, but with a twist of fall. I think I say this every year around this time: I'm so ready.

Spring sensory bin

I found myself falling back on tv as a babysitter a lot more often than I hoped as we moved back into our house. There were times when I needed to unpack a box or reorganize a closet without little people underfoot, and so into the basement H went, to watch an episode of Little Bear. I know that tv has its place (for example, he's so excited to talk about all of the characters from that show, and the things they do often relate to our days, especially on walks or at the farm), but I don't really like the way H zones in front of the screen. So after I saw the wonderful sensory bins that Counting Coconuts' Mari-Ann puts together for her son, I decided to create one of my own.

This is our Spring sensory bin, with a garden theme. Henry loves to manipulate and sort tiny things, so this has been a huge hit. I put the items in a 32-quart under-bed storage bin (with a lid!) and added a little wooden bowl for sorting. I just need to get a magnifying glass, and this bin will be complete.

And the thousand dollar question: Does H keep the items in the bin, or does he throw them around making a huge mess for me to clean up? Well here's a little story about that. The other day, H wanted to play with the bin when I had just put it away. He pulled it down off the shelf, scattering beans and tiny things everywhere. We sat together and I made him pick each little individual item up, not letting him stop until they were all back in the bin. I told H how proud I was of him for cleaning it all up. Then I started to put the bin away, but saw a quivering little toddler lip, and relented and let him play a little more. I think this "animal bin" (as H calls it) might be the favorite toy of the moment.

I'm excited to build the Summer bin when the time comes (already have some great ideas!), but I hope he doesn't get upset when the Spring bin disappears in the night.

This bin contains: 7 pounds of black beans, 2 pounds of pinto beans, unscented (sparkly!) fishing lure worms, flower buttons, tiny insect buttons, wood beads, brown glass beads, green freshwater pearl beads, fake flowers in two sizes cut off of a "silk" arrangement from Michael's, brown pom-poms, feathers, and by far the most popular items: the contents of this Toob.

Making a home

I've been filling out a lot of forms lately. Some of them have been official forms for banks, others less official (although only slightly!-- people are *serious* about preschool) ones for H's first year of "real" preschool next year. And all of the forms have a little blank for me to fill in with my profession. Each time I write "home maker". I know some people who do what I do have problems with this term, but I think it's the best way to describe it, despite some negative connotations. (It's certainly better than "house wife", for example.)

I live in an area where many women and men have very high-profile careers. When they hear that I stay home, some think that I have no ambition. But they're wrong-- this is my ambition. It kind of always has been. I enjoy making our home and being a full-time wife and mother. Building the atmosphere of love in our house and practicing our routine, day in and day out. Stacking up peaceful days like waves on the shore.

Christmas stockings

The first (ahem) several years that we were married, I kept promising my husband that I would get around to making us some Christmas stockings. Some new stockings to hang in our new family home. I even started a couple of stockings with Hillary Lang's elf stitchettes, but although the stitchettes are dang cute, they didn't feel substantial enough, special enough to anchor the family stockings that I wanted to make. When the baby came, the pull to make the stockings got much stronger. Here is what I finally decided on, knit and lined in time for Christmas.
These are just what I imagined. Soft and substantial and huge. Homey and cozy. I love them-- they're probably some of the best things I've ever knit. Just before Christmas, my mom talked me into buying more yarn in other colors, enough to make more stockings for any other little ones who might (we hope, we hope) come along.

Pattern: Falling Snow Stocking by Jennifer Hoel, a free pattern on Ravelry
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky (has to be my very favorite chunky/bulky yarn-- so so soft)
Needles: U.S. 9 dpns
Lining: Very nice cotton interlock that my mom gave me, sewn in by machine

PS: Here's a photo of our baby-friendly Christmas tree in action. I didn't want to set up a full tree and then put a gate around it, and we didn't want to be constantly pulling the baby away from tree and ornaments, or worrying about the whole thing toppling down on his head as he tried to pull up on it. So, tiny tree on a table it was (is, actually; it's the 12th day of Christmas, so the whole thing's still set up). H loves to lie underneath and stare up at the lights, wiggling and pumping his little legs. Sweet boy.

Friday nights

On Friday evenings, I knead the dough alone. But by the time it has risen and the pizza needs topping and baking, he is usually home. We talk about the week. He spreads the cornmeal on the pizza peal carefully, and I give it the final olive oil drizzle before it goes in the oven. We've got a comfortable rhythm going.

Just checking in

Well, summer hasn't gotten any less busy, so it's no surprise to me that it's been almost two weeks since I've written here. I present a few (fuzzy) photos to catch up. The progress on my hill-y ripple blanket, started many moons ago. I'm using all Debbie Bliss yarns (Baby Cashmerino, Cashmerino DK mostly) because if you're going to do something that takes this long, you might as well do it right. This will be a really luxurious blanket for our queen-sized bed. As a bonus, it's quite heavy, so it will be nice and cozy in the winter. Here's hoping I can get it finished by then! I've done about 35 rows (each row is two rows of the same color and comes in at about an inch in width, depending on the yarn), and I'm a little over a third of the way done. I'm digging the way the colors are coming together.
Buttermilk batter-fried squash blossoms from a couple of weeks ago. These were phenomenal. We bought a pint of these little gals at the farmers' market for about $3, which seemed expensive at the time, but they were so delicious once I fried them up that I wish I could get them every week. I used a 1:1 buttermilk to regular flour batter and pan fried them in canola oil. A little sprinkle of kosher salt, and yum yum. Not all of them are shown here, because you have to eat them piping hot, don't you know.

And anniversary flowers from my sweet husband. This is our fourth anniversary, so fruit and flowers are the traditional gifts (or, as Wikipedia wants to call them, the "British" gifts). These are huge and beautiful and they smell wonderful. I'll share the (somewhat silly) gift I made for him here tomorrow. Happy Anniversary, Brian! I love you.

Rainy day: Flowers inside

It's a bit rainy today, so I've taken photos of the lovely flowers that I've been able to bring inside this spring. Does anyone know what this is? It's rather woody, a little gangly, and was covered in those tiny hot pink buds for almost a month before the star-shaped lighter pink ones opened. The flowers are clustered almost like on a hydrangea. Here's a photo of what the whole plant looked like earlier in the spring. *ETA: Mountain laurel! (Maybe kalmia latifolia) Just stumbled across my own answer by accident today.
These are peonies from my grandmother's garden. The beautiful just-pink and yellow one on the left is called raspberry sundae. Isn't that beautiful? Our house is kind of small and not so well-lit, so the counter top beside the sink is the best place to display fleurs. There, I see them often.

Also, Happy Anniversary to my cousin Krista and her husband Brad!

Hump day

Today we were talking about my rhododendrons, which are going crazy this year, and my grandmother said that our soil must be acidic at the house since the rhodos and azaleas do so well here. She said she thought that might be the reason that my peonies haven't done so well, because "they like the sweeter soil".

And a couple of works-in-progress:
On the sewing machine.
And on the design wall.

100!

Wow, this is my 100th post. I meant to post something more interesting in honor of the occasion, but I'm afraid it will only be more Dear Jane blocks. So here we go. At least this batch means I'm only two blocks behind on my quilt-along.
This is A-13, Starlight Starbright. I really like the way it turned out, even if the inset seams did get a little wonky. It's fun to work with some blue fabric for a change, too-- there'll be so little of it in my interpretation of this quilt.This is B-1, Bachelor's Buttons, reverse applique. I like to think I'm getting a little better at this applique business. It certainly is easier to applique a circle than a teardrop.

Oh, and a little anecdote that has nothing to do with crafting: Wednesday night I was standing at my ironing board in our basement when I heard a buzzing noise, growing louder, in the bathroom. I found several yellow jackets buzzing around the windows and lights in the room, and then I opened the door to the bathroom and it was like a horror movie. At least two hundred yellow jackets were swarming behind the curtains of the window facing the back of the house, back lit by the setting sun. I was just waiting for them to come after me. There was nothing to do but close the bathroom door, call the exterminator and spend the rest of the evening upstairs. Yikes. But maybe I can blame my lack of posting on the wasps?

Bleeding heart

The bleeding heart is really going crazy this year. They must really enjoy their home under the holly trees in the back yard. This is one of five fronds of hearts, and the last frond whose blooms haven't fully opened or "broken" at the bottom. This little plant always amazes me.

Green week: 4

Today has been rainy and dark, but things will be noticeably greener tomorrow, after this day-long drink. We don't have any daffodils in our yard, but my husband sent me these cut ones today, and I can't wait until they open up on my kitchen windowsill.
I've really enjoyed Shining Egg's Green Week; it has helped me to convince myself that Spring will actually be here in full force one day very soon.

The second photo represents another way of being green--recycling. We're big on that around here. This is a detail of one of two bathroom rugs that I crocheted this week from old t-shirts, using Amanda Jean's tutorial. The acid green stripe in the photo was made from a Big Rock Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament shirt that I bought during spring break in high school. In the days before the Internet, we used to make a point of buying "good" t-shirts when we were at the beach in North Carolina. Most of these shirts had paintings of sport fish on them. I've had a pile of these worn-out shirts in my basement for the better part of a year, so it feels good to finally do something with them, since I couldn't make myself throw them away. I could probably still tell you which shirt each stripe was made of-- I wish I weren't so sentimental about things that really don't matter.

Happy New Year! Be sure to eat some money.

So the end of 2007 got away from me, but here we are at the beginning of a whole new year. I wish you all health, happiness and luck in 2008. We're hoping that these collard greens (with cornmeal dumplings, yum), hoppin' john, and black-eyed peas (because apparently hoppin' john is always dry) will help to send good things our way this year.

These are all from recipes in the January 2008 issue of Gourmet, which pays homage to late Southern chef Edna Lewis. I tell you, her essay on "What is Southern?" made my mouth water and renewed my interest in the lives of Southern writers like Carson McCullers, Truman Capote and Thomas Wolfe. January may be the month of Southern food (and authors) at our house.

Warming Up the Living Room

Our living room was made for fall and winter. It's a cozy space with a small fireplace, decorated in shades of red and green. Probably a little passe, as modern decorating goes, but very comfortable. We spend the most time here on the weekends, lingering over baked goods and the Sunday paper, the dog wedged between us on the couch.

When I was in Raleigh a couple of weekends ago, my mom gave me these lovely cathedral window pillows, made by her grandmother Mimi (did I spell that right, Mom?). Mimi instilled in my mother the same creative, make-your-own spirit that my mom passed on to me. Although they need some tacking down in a couple of places, I love these pillows (and all the vintage fabrics!) and the way that they make the living room even cozier, just in time for the cooler months.
This batch is double-sided-- just look at all the cool fabrics on this side alone!

On another textile note, while I was in NC, my mom and I visited Thimble Pleasures in nearby Carrboro. As I was flitting around the very nice store, a silver-haired man wearing a neon purple polo shirt came in and started pulling bolts of large scale realistic fruit and vegetable prints. Bright red watermelons and tomatoes, shocking green peas and hot pink blooms. I did a double-take-- turns out it was Kaffe Fassett, in town to teach a seminar in the shop. I get a little overwhelmed when I run into famous people, no matter who they are, but this chance encounter was pretty cool. I didn't introduce myself or anything, but it was interesting seeing him select fabric, pulling bolt after bolt from the shelf. The energy in his quilts definitely seems to be a reflection of himself.

Top two revelations from this trip to the quilt store: 1) Man, the good thread makes a difference, both in the machine (so smooth!) and when quilting by hand; and 2) Good marking tools actually do exist.

A Good Desk Chair

This was the sorry state of our office chair last week:

I tell him that I love him all the time, but I definitely do not love his cigar-smoking habit. Plus, that tiny lumbar pillow did not make this chair very comfortable for long stretches of computer time. So I made this:

Not perfect, but oh-so-refreshing. Very girly and more in keeping with the cozy-cute vibe of the office. And definitely more appropriate since I'm the one who actually *works* in this office. This was my first attempt at any kind of box pillow or (loosely) upholstery. I winged it, and was pleasantly surprised when the edging actually worked out. I will have to find a better way to cut 2 inch thick upholstery foam, though (and dang is that stuff expensive!), as this came out a little scraggly and not quite as square as I would have liked. Still it makes me hopeful for future upholstery projects (slipcovers, here I come!).

Note the puppy dog tail at the bottom of the photo. The picture below is actually an old one from his puppy days, but it gives an idea of the cute that I have at my feet as I work at this now more comfortable desk:

Mail call

As (relatively) new homeowners, my husband and I get a lot of mail. Much of it from creditors eager to take over our loans or bury us under more debt (at a one-time special rate of xx%!, they scream). Our 70-year-old home is a mostly untouched colonial; we are only the second owners, having purchased it from the original owner's daughter, who grew up here.

Not that it's so 'historical', but we are grateful that the house is as it always was, without an addition tacked onto the back haphazardly, racing the arrival of a second child, as is so often the case in our neighborhood. We love the huge trees in the neighborhood, and the small set of shops a half-mile down the road (earlier this week I went to the dry cleaner, the post office, the pharmacy, the hardware store and the grocery all in the space of an hour!).

But I do wish our neighborhood did mailboxes instead of mail slots. I love coming home to mail, but hate the sight of it splayed on the floor of the foyer when I unlock the door. And I like the ritual of the trip, however short, to the self-contained mail unit, so tidy and neighborly, out there facing the road as a representative of our house and our family. Recently I tried to get some mail love back despite the slot, with the lovely pleated pocket front door organizer tutorial from Meg at Montessori by Hand. Very good and straightforward pattern. I decided to forgo the small front key pocket in favor of simplicity-- we're enjoying the results very much!

And just because we all need a little cuteness in our days, a gratuitous puppy pic.

Have a great weekend!