windchill below 0

While the wind kicks a chilly lick outside, we're keeping warm. Roan suggested our house slipped off the foundation a little with this wind. So bowls of rice grains and pots of fabric paint will do!

"cut your own pasta" night

Saturday night after Thanksgiving. What's for dinner? Time to make pasta from scratch, divide it into 4 equal parts, get a big pot of salted water boiling, and have each diner cut their shape of choice. Fun! 2 cups flour, 3 eggs.

the weekend out of a nutshell

Spiced pecans,
rice flour play dough,
Twister, Ola walking, Roan's first tooth gone (unrelated to Twister),

and a book (illustrator) I am happy to have found.

vintage arrival!

Heck yes. This was a fun swap. My swap partner packed a picnic basket of goodies for me and it's been so much fun playing and planning with my new/old treasures. Yea! There is also a hand mixer and 2 of the cutest wooden bowls. They've already found a spot and I'll post soon. Thank you, Brandy!

autumn sun, fall ball

I love this time of year. The sun sits just a little lower in the sky and shines in through the windows, lighting--ever so slightly--different corners of the room. The change is subtle, but it's just enough to let us know that it's the autumn sun coming in. Outside the window there's a ballgame--the Fall Baseball Season is in full swing here. A few more cracks of the bat before winter comes to stay. I'm not, though my house location would say otherwise, a die-hard baseball fan, but I do look forward to that sound (wood crack! or metal ping!) when spring arrives.

10-layer-cake

Today I'm helping a friend with the loving task of creating a 10-layer-cake for his daughter. She'll help him decorate the 3 layers that she's happily settled for (after weeks of talking of 10). Tonight, when she's asleep, he'll add the additional 7 layers. Included in these is a layer that he's baked in a spring-form pan so he can hide a dragon in the cake. I love it. Oh, yes, I'll add here that he's British and the recipe he follows for cake is: 3 eggs--weigh them. Then add equal parts flour, butter, and sugar. Add a little leavening (wouldn't need to in Devon) and bake! So I've brought out the scale. This afternoon I'll sneak over the 4 layers I'm making.

grilled pb&j

It's a rainy fall day here. Roan thinks it's the perfect day for grilled peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I quite agree! Sure, the puddles in the park are inviting, but it's a little chilly outside. We've got some chai simmering on the stove and we're just about to bust out the oil pastels for some rainy day fun.

vintage swap

Hee. I just tracked the package that I sent off to my vintage swap partner, and it looks like it's on her front porch. I'll post one picture of what I sent, and post the rest after I know she's opened the box (on the really off chance she'll see my pics before she opens the items herself).

water park!

I was sitting at home this morning when I heard the sound of autumn. Around here, that's the crackling of leaves but it's also... Time to clear the water lines at the park!

sunshine!

It's been pretty rainy here as of late. The sun poured in our windows today, confirming the warm October afternoons to come.

kindergarten soccer

Yea! It's the middle of the game here. Team huddle? Well, yes, I suppose. As I took this shot, the game was in full swing. This huddle, though, is around a storm drain. They are throwing in grass and "trying to catch a raccoon." The boys on the field playing the soccer game could not wait for the whistle to blow so they could return to the fun by the drain. I think I spend most of my time during these games just laughing.

tree house

The roof went on the tree house today. Yea! Here is the platform before the house frame went up. We're practicing with different pulley systems as well. Single? Double? It'll be fun.

old shirt, new dress

Here's a dress I made for little O out of a few tee shirt pieces that I had left over from the shoes and pants. I had fun learning the wheatear stitch for the blue detail. I put a link there for those of you who have not checked out Primrose Design's oh-so-fun Stitch School. Who knew scraps could be this much fun?

freezer paper rules! (freezer paper rules)

We love freezer paper stencils. It's good to lay out a few rules, or guidelines, I've found. After the first effort (a tee-shirt with a pedestrian crossing with skateboard) was spotted by our neighbor, he came over with 5 white tees and a list. We made trasformer mask tees.
Then the excitement grew and the enthusiasm for even greater tees was audible. And Roan suggested R2D2. I suggested that was a little too much cutting for a freezer paper stencil. I suggested a nice big square. Then I said I'd work on it. It was worth it. Perhaps it's best to have no rules here. But if our neighbor wants one, I'll let his parents do the cutting.

about me?

I've been thinking about "about me." How to sum up the ins and outs? Hm. I've just started a blog. I wanted to name it "found harmonium" but that one's taken by a fellow who set out to restore 2 pipe organs. He last posted in 2005. I hope he's rockin' those pipes now.
Here's a little fun from today. The good ol' vintage mouli got a nice hot bath afterward. And I'll go find a "craft" iron at the thrift store. The crayon recycling station is in full use!