time flies

Wow. It has been a long time since I have been over here. Here’s what I have been up to – it has been pretty all consuming since I

launched last summer. Here is a quick recap of the family highlights..

Starting at the top left, moving left to right:

Santa Parade 2009 – Stella was a Who from Whoville.

Summer 2009 – summer drive down the Oregon Coast

My Papa Lou and I, who we drove down the Coast to see

November 2009 – First professional family photos

Summer 2009 – Stella is obsessed with the “Summer Queen” at our cousin’s wedding

Winter 2010 – Will introduces Stella to skiing!

Fall 2009 – Stella attempts Ballet class. The photo on the right is a more accurate representation of most classes.

Spring 2010 – We go to a long awaited wedding of some dear friends.

Summer 2009 – Family trip to Sechelt to see family

Fall 2009 – in this photo Stella is holding her “friend” Tooch in her hand. Tooch has played a big role this year.

Fall 2009 – Trip to the Cabin with me and Nana

Spring 2010 – A star is born

Winter 2009 – Christmas card photo (and this was the best one….sigh)

Spring 2010 – Easter of course.

I am sure there are loads of things I have missed – it has been quite the year….sad, happy, crazy, busy, stressful, peaceful…  pretty much everything has happened around here. Would love to say that I am back to blogging but…we know how that goes. I am feeling drawn to writing again, so we will see how/if that will evolve.

Well….I think it might be off to bed for me. I hope to be back soon!

Night all,

A

birthday girl

Stella turned 3 on July 12 and I have been meaning to post pics ever since. I thought that I was getting back in a groove, but then everything went crazy again. We had the party in our yard, and thankfully the weather cooperated. That night we had a huge lightning storm and rain, but it only started just as we were packing up.

Stella requested a “flwower party” and so naturally all the  little girls wore flower dresses, and we had a flower cake. It was the first time I used rolled fondant, and I was a bit disapointed with the choice of colours available. The only other options were baby pastels or primary red and blue. These ones were a little bright for my liking, but the kids seemed to like them.

I made tissue paper flowers (thanks Martha) for decorations, but also for the girls to take home as favors. We strung up lots of cloth and paper banners in the trees and it felt very festive.

We had about 10 families over for the afternoon and dinner, and while doing the invitations I realized that every one of our friends that we see regularly have all girls. Lots of fun when you want to have a flower party!

Awhile back I found a box of about 15 blank ceramic fairies sitting on flowers at a garage sale (for free!) and so for a craft the girls all painted one. They were really into it, and it was lots of fun for the parents to watch too. One of the girls painted hers in only black and red, making a very comical vampire-ish fairy. Stella has since repainted her fairy almost every day. I even got to use my collection of vintage aprons as smocks for all the girls – it was nice to put them to use.

I moved her play tents outside for the party, and it was sweet to watch them play in there together. I wanted there to be enough to do outside that they could just play and be happy, without planning too much. The only planned thing we did was the painting. We had a dirt pile with a hose (always a big hit), some play tents, an easel, bubbles and some toys and they seemed to have a lovely time. We surprisingly didn’t have any sharing issues or any fighting, and it was such fun.

For dinner we had a pasta salad bar, my favourite go-to party meal. I like it because I can cook and prep everything the day before, and then party day all I have to do it set everything out. It is nice to not have to worry about people not liking something, or allergies, because they can pick and choose what they want. I usually put out a few kinds of noodles and salad dressings, and then all kinds of veggies, cheese, olives etc. Very yummy, and there is usually lots leftover meaning I don’t have to cook for a few days too!

I seem to have lost most of my photos from the party, which I find very sad. I have just switched computers and somehow in the changeover I lost a few weeks of photos. There was a lot more I was planning to show you, but I suppose this will have to do.

Happy birthday Stella girl. You are more amazing every day, and I am so lucky you are in my life.

on my mind today

back from time out…

Well. I think I am back to blogging. I really can’t explain it, but when I got back from Lake Tahoe, something in me just wanted to be quiet for awhile. And so I was. And so now I am back. I think….but this could also be a one off post again.

Life around here has been happening at a whole different pace than it was while I was away in Lake Tahoe. It is a good and productive busyness though, and I feel satisfied at the end of most of my days. I have taken a part time job organizing a charity fundraising walk in August, and we are planning to list our house for sale in a few weeks.

That hasn’t left a lot of time for crafting or sewing, although I did manage to make it to one Market this summer so far, and I have turned out a few house projects that I will get around to sharing one of these days. I am hoping over the next few weeks to share some of the events and projects that happened during my little blog-break. There has been a lot going on, and I would still like to document it. So…..I’ll be back soon!

from the Stella files….Episode 7?

Since returning from Tahoe, I have been gripped with a mix of spring fever/reno obsession/clutter overload that has been consuming all my time. So….some projects to show you soon, but for now Stella has been coming up with some good ones lately.

This morning before we went to daycare for the first time I asked her if she was going to be good today and she says ” I’m going to show Erin (the teacher)  how sweet I mam.” She ended up having a perfect day – she is so ready for more social interaction and it is really fun to see her with the other kids.

I  know that there are so many other things she has said lately, and now that I sit down to write I can’t remember them. Sigh. Maybe tomorrow.

selling out

 

Well…not really. But I am going to close up the little (yiddle in Stella-speak) shop as of May 15th. I have so many ideas for projects in my house and my yard, and I feel like I need to focus on one thing at a time for a little while. It isn’t like the shop is terribly busy, but I am always thinking about it, and how to make it busier and prettier and better, and so I am giving my mind the summer off.

I have some ideas for the future of my business percolating on the back burner, but I don’t know what direction those will take me. I am reasonably sure that it will involve craft, recycled things, thrifting and hopefully some photography/design/other stuff but I have absolutely no idea what that will practically mean.

So for now I am planning to do lots of sewing and craft projects strictly for FUN(something I haven’t done in ages), spend lots of time outside with Stella, play around will all kinds of art supplies, take more photos, drink plenty of mojitos on my deck with my friends and wait and see what happens next.

my saturday was…

Breakfast devoured.

Nature considered.

Library explored.

Band (Ten Mile Tide) at Earth Day Festival rocked.

Face painted.

Toddler done.

Earth we thank you…

In honour of Earth Day I thought I would share my favourite earth-honouring Etsy peeps.

One of my long time favourite girls is rikrak, a fellow Canadian who uses vintage and recycled fabrics. I think these little wallets are so charming, especially the little rikrak tag!

I am a big fan of all kinds of reusable shopping bags, but these ones from EarthCadet are extra charming.

Oh how I love owls, and this pincushion is absolutely brilliant. I never have a pincushion when I need one so this is perfect. Nicely done blackbirdfashion!

I came across 2ReVert (another Canadian) when I was buying Christmas gifts this year for my skateboarder brother in law. I bought a coaster and a necklace for my sister and they were thrilled with them. I really like all of their items, especially these coasters.

This clutch, made from 100% recycled materials is so adorable. If only I didn’t have a toddler that made a clutch purse impossible. I love the detailing on this, and all the other cute bags by humade.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

How to Rise Up Like New Bread

 

John Engstead/Look Magazine/ MFK Fisher in 1942

I am not entirely sure how I haven’t come across M.F.K. Fisher until now, but I am glad fate intervened before it was too late.  I managed to get my hands on an original copy of  How To Cook A Wolf Trb, and fell in love with her writing. I mean, anyone who can use the word “huggermuggery” in a sentence is someone to read in my mind (Seriously….huggermuggery? How can I use that in my regular vocabulary? It is my new favourite word).

“How to Cook a Wolf” (the title a reference to “the wolf at the door”)  is a collection of essays interspersed with recipes that focus on the topic of cooking during food shortages and wartime. What I found most interesting about it was how relevant it seemed now even though it was written in 1942. It is full of  wonderfully vintage language, and quite a few recipes that I am sure aren’t ever made anymore( such as a sludge made of cheap meat and wilted vegetables recommended if you must keep yourself alive for under 50 cents a week), but she also wrote of many issues that seem to be just as timely now as they were then. For instance, she mentioned often the tendency of magazines and popular advice to confuse us as to what is best to do, rather than offer anything of substance – something that I think is even more of an issue now with the abundance of information that we are exposed to on  a daily basis.

I found the chapter titles very charming.  ”How to Rise Up Like New Bread” ( a Tolstoy reference),  ”How to Be Cheerful Though Starving”  and “How to Distribute Your Virtue” were just a few of my favourites – all referring to the general principles of economy and survival in difficult times.

I also enjoyed her thoughts on what was considered a “balanced diet” at the time and how that way of eating was prescribed so religiously, causing “gastronomical monotony” and loads of extra strain both on women and on food budgets.  She advocated creativity in the kitchen, recommending that as long as you balance the day with a good amount of variety you will still be healthy enough and likely find more enjoyment in food. One of my favourite lines in the book was her reference to institutional “balanced menus” as “…what kills the least number with the most ease.” I have eaten in enough institutions (colleges, camps, hospitals) to know this is still true!

Throughout the book she advocated using good sense  “..weeding out what you yourself like best to do, so that you can live most agreeably in a world full of an increasing number of disagreeable surprises.” I think this advice holds true today, as it is so easy to be mindlessly swept up in what the current advice is from media, or other people around us. We each need to find our own path, both in the kitchen and elsewhere, and I found much of this book to be a good reminder of that. She says to use our minds as well as our hearts when approaching the tasks of cooking for ourselves and our families and to “live gracefully if we do at all”. I find this an inspiring thought, as I am often overwhelmed and bored by the tasks of cooking.

Another of the ideas that keeps coming up in the book is the fact that “…sharing a meal makes it dignified” and that no matter what we have or don’t have on the menu, approaching it gracefully and thankfully and in good company makes “flavours clearer and a certain philosophic slowness possible.”  I love this approach to food – it is better shared, and when approached with creativity and love, you can dine like kings with next to nothing.

All in all I loved this book, and thought it was charming, engaging, funny and very quirky. For her time, she was quite advanced in her thinking, and I think that is why it seems still relevant. I haven’t yet read any of her other books, but I am keeping an eye out for them now.

Any other MFK Fisher fans out there? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this book as well…

 

 

 

E is for Easter

Off to find some eggs…

I have been saving this dress for Stella for a loooong time now. I made it with the intention of selling it, and then couldn’t bring myself to do it. I used a vintage embroidered sheet to make the dress, and lined it with some pretty yellow flannel. It is the perfect Easter dress because it was a little bit cozy and not too light. My mom knitted the sweater to go with the dress, and the tights were in the clearance basket so all round it came together pretty smooth.

 I love that she is starting to cooperate with me when I want to take photos of her. We had a lot of fun taking these ones.

Hope the Easter Bunny made it to your house!