At Home All Saturday

Warms my heart to see these two curled up together

My "gotta have a snack right now" fix

My growing up daughter

Today's home sewn hat, going to etsy

Another shirt model, getting closer but still not ready for gifts and sales

Saturday is a time of fun for people who've been working hard all week. For us it tends to be a "dig in" day of intense labor focused on the children and the home. Husband was good this morning, entertaining children for hours while I zoomed through five loads of laundry and other chores.

I played with daughters also, but nothing particularly fantastic to mommy-blog about.  Bubble baths and cartoons, snacks and lunch and dare I say candy.  For me there were several cups of tea and coffee unconsumed due to the calls of pets and children. 

"Baby on my Hip Guacamole"

Mash an a avocado into a dish. Add a dash of lime or lemon juice. Stir in a tiny bit of cumin. Stir in a tiny bit of cayenne pepper powder. Stir in a tiny bit of salt.  Normally I might add tomato but I don't have one right now.  I'll add a sprinkle of grated cheese.  So hungry.  Eat on chips.

I did squeeze in some nice sewing time on a few little things. 

Ideas are plentiful.  Time is scarce.

Wrapping up January

It's me

The view of the lake today

Finished this hat

Working on this wall art

Working on this night house fabric picture

The world would be a better place if everybody could make something. It's lucky to live in a country with such wealth where things are unbelievably plentiful. It's nice that people can get what they need. But wouldn't it also be nice if they had one little something or other they made to share or sell with the world?  And then of course it would be nice if people in less wealthy countries had the means to create items. Not that all corporations should disappear or anything, I'm not that extreme in my thinking. Just that making things is a nurturing process. Selling or giving a thing is a matter of pride as well as generosity or prosperity. Make quilts, not crack. Naive but well intentioned. Oh well, just a thought. 

Snowing All the Day

We all enjoyed the bird show out the back window,

while the snow fell heavily all day.

Thanks for the seeds and nutty suet, he says.

But don't let that terrier out again, he says.

The daughters played with flashlights in a fort.

I baked cookies and sipped Constant Comet tea, 

then wrote a letter to friends in Japan.

I finished the baby bee hat today.

Still working on this lady's hat.

Ending January

Yes, that does say minus eight degrees.

I made this bag today.

It's Ok but I'm not thrilled with it.

My proudest 34 minutes of the day happened on the treadmill.

They say it's never too late to rejuvenate your body.

From this... the harsh reality of motherhood in my case.

Gee, what should I write about on this blog that nobody reads except for me and occasionally my mother and husband?  

On the Mom duty side of things, I've been working overtime to try and keep the troops going. Healthy and happy is my usual goal for them all. It's not been a star studded week of achievement, I'm afraid.  Julia remains the top of the wounded board as she survives day five of antibiotic treatment for her ear infection. Her energy is restored but she is suffering side effects of the antibiotic. I can't wait to complete the course of the medicine and again, hope that she never gets sick again. Times like this I contemplate taking her out of preschool completely for the hope that fewer germs might mean fewer sicknesses. The doctor says that might not be completely worth while.  Also I might develop mental issues from being in mom mode all the time (see that picture up there?).  BlackJack the cat is doing quite well this day following his neuter surgery. The vets and everyone assure me that this seemingly unnecessary operation will be worth while because he will not propagate and he will "be much happier" without the urges and frustrations that come with the male gender.  Ellie and Tom and Ubi are doing alright but I haven't had as much time with them lately since Julia and BlackJack have demanded extra care.

On the adult side of things, I've been suffering from having no time whatsoever to exercise or sew. I suppose the world would go on just fine if I never sewed anything. But without my personal time, it's impossible to manage stress.  Today I had some time.  I sewed the bag in the pictures.  It was far too much work for what it looks like. But it gives me an idea to invent a simple bag based on fat quarters. I would like to even put a tutorial on my web site here, as many other home sewers offer.  I also thought of another better method of bag construction, using a bigger piece of fabric so there would be less sewing.  On the mistakes side of things, I learned that muslin is no substitute for fabric because it is goes up in smoke if you iron it. Muslin must be made of dust. I suppose it's only use is to make pattern guide pieces.  

I also ran on the treadmill. Dull yet effective. Although my numbers (too unimpressive to write) were meager, I felt a distinct pick-up in mood and energy the rest of the afternoon. 

Aside from the sick child, this could be a good formula.  Sew a something.  Run or ski.  Then spend hours dedicated to the family.  Then, hopefully, at the end of the long day, rest.  And blog.

We all have needs

Little Julia was thrilled to see me show her how I crack open an egg. She also got a big kick out of the mixer. After seeing the process completed, she was eager to mix her own batch of cookies. I gave her a big bowl with a half a cup of oatmeal flakes and a big spoon. That kept her very busy for a while. Of course I ended up sweeping oatmeal from the kitchen floor but it was worth it. She has the makings of a good future cook.

Ellie and I headed out for some Starbucks down time this afternoon. She drank milk and played with her new Nintendo DS game, which has a drawing game and a fashion designer game keeping her interested right now.

I sipped coffee (I'm trying to switch to tea but it isn't going so well). I read my Couture Sewing book in between reading the play by play directions for Ellie on her game.

Very interesting to listen in on other conversations at Starbucks. One young man was explaining his plans for the evening, going to an engagement party. It's hard to take in the fact that the world is full of young, single people with active night lives. Even when I was young and single, I wasn't much for night life. And now that I am quite married with young children, I can scarcely imagine that anybody has a night life, much less me of course.

I was trying to devise a plan whereby I can give my children the best possible life routine and also include work and exercise for my own interests. Having a productive and reliable routine is crucial to success in my opinion. Maybe it seems mine is lacking because it all got thrown off this week since Julia was sick. 

My best idea of the day, I thought, was to have a few different sewing items in "to go" form, so I can do some hand sewing when the need arises to go out of the house, or sit by while Ellie has tap dancing class, etc. 

I think I might have had some other ideas but they elude me now as I am falling asleep from childcare-induced exhaustion. Moms need care too.

The Relief of a Diagnosis

Ubi spent time exploring the tracks of squirrels after I let her out to chase them too soon for them to escape properly. I thought they were well out of range but one slow squirrel lagged behind in the deep snow and met up with Ubi. I had to run out and get snow in my sneakers to pick up the dog to save the squirrel.  Luckily he had ducked under tunnel in the deep fluffy snow and escaped. He will live to raid the bird feeders another day.

Poor little Julia has been home sick, stuck in the house three days on end. I took her out for a glimpse of life from the stroller. She was in a bit of a daze.  

Julia sleeping on the way home. 

She always takes her shoes and socks off to nap.

The girls shared raisinettes as we waited for Julia to see the doctor. Her diagnosis was ear infection. It was a huge relief to know a clear reason for Julia's hard week. Let's get on with the cure and find our happy child once more.

By the way, now that the little daughters are asleep and I don't have to worry about sickness and waking up in the middle of the night, I can fall asleep with the question of how to use these new fabric pieces. I could sew something practical like a dress or skirt.  Or I could sew something whimsical like a hen and eggs.

An alternate plan

A view of Portsmouth, NH

Snow on the Sea Shore

Our curious, fearless cat

Why is our mailbox in our kitchen?  Two words: Snow Plow

Tom is the fire building specialist

Julia was home sick today. Knowing we wouldn't be able to get any work done with both girls home, we decided to make alternative plans focused on making the day go by.  Julia benefitted from a long nap while Ellie and I spent some enjoyable hours in our favorite small city, Portsmouth, NH. 

Moguls on the Half Pipe

I've been thinking a lot about the mom crafting industry lately. The more research I do on the internet, the more I think it would be best to find my own, personal niche of things I can make that people. On the one hand, I'd like to make practical things. On the other hand, it seems wise to "let go" and make a bunch of random stuff to figure out my style and taste and direction. 

Here is a random project I have been working on with no particular goal in mind. It's a good experiment for pink and certain techniques. I tried out some applique backing. I tried all the crazy stitches on the machine. Pink is a unique color. I love pink but when they got together for the little flower bunch, the greatness of the individual fabrics was faded out. Anyway now it's a huge applique quilty thing with no purpose. Time flew by and I had to go back to chores and kids and the rest of the day.
This afternoon Ellie had a ski lesson.  The preschool class has many moms and one dad.  Some of the moms seem to know each other from elsewhere. There are a couple other little toddlers who come to watch their older preschool siblings take ski class. Everyone bundles up the kids and whoops it up to get them out the door. It's like a moonscape where skiers look like astronauts. 
Ellie has mastered the magic carpet. She has moved over to the next up hill to work on stopping and turning. Today she showed a big boost in confidence since her lesson last week. 
During her lesson, I go ski alone for exercise and fun. After her lesson, we ski together until she's tired out and ready to go home. Went pretty well but I shouldn't have taken her up the ski lift to the bunny slope. We made it down without accident but she needs more practice before facing that slope again. 
I have to admit, the best 10 minutes of my day were spent alone on the ski hill, when I went down on the half pipe. It's like a giant pipe with the top half cut off so to make the shape of a gunnel, covered with tons of snow. You can play with gravity and speed by tipping yourself off the top edge and zooming down the gunnel before shooting up the opposite side. There was a lot of powder shoved every which way at the top but on the half pipe, it was pushed into bumps called moguls. Any way it was fun. Moms need to have fun too. It can't be all Thomas the Train Engine and Hanna Montana.

On track for January

Nice day for cross country skiing.

Perfect snow for the hilly loops.

Quiet trail to go dashing through the snow.

Ellie grabs a bite before dance class begins.

Twilight in town.

Woo-Hoo!  Inauguration day is happening. How exciting and hopeful. 

Go, Obama, Go! 

Go, USA, Go!

Welcome Monday

Oh How do I love Monday mornings, when the daughters go off happily to preschool. We revel in the routine of it, somehow a welcome return to school that feels fresh after far too much free time on the weekend. And when they go out the door, the house falls silent. The woods out the window come right in and we are together.

The pets take turns biting each other on the neck.

BlackJack likes birds.

My first cardinal hat.  Hmnmnmn....

Leaves on a hat.

This flower bouquet going to hang on the wall I think. The stitching takes quite a bit of time. Can't judge it yet. It has a ways to go still.

I spent three hours cleaning daughter bedrooms this morning.

Just barely had time for an hour of skiing. Cross country skiing today was phenomenal. Outstanding snow. Beginner's paradise. Everybody's paradise! I took the "Advanced Skiers Only" trail loop, which turns out to have a beautiful view of the lake. I was floating on snow. What a perfect day.  What perfect snow. 

BlackJack stalks a wind-up toy during play time this evening.

I'm loving my beverage center but it definitely needs some lady like sprucing up, as I am noticing on some of the vintage lover's websites and blogs.  Maybe I need to browse some antique shops for something less store-bought looking. My beverage center needs to visually reflect the superb comfort factor it represents. By the way, making tea with this electric kettle and pouring it over loose leaf tea leaves in the tea pot is way, way, way tastier than just heating water in a microwave and sticking a tea bag in.  This has me intrigued on the English tea tradition.  I might need a tea cozy.