n o d d y b o o m

there is still leftover birthday cake in the fridge...

::  birthday highlights  ::

love notes and handmade gifts (some of which were scavenged from around the house) from littles
favorite coffee and one of my favorite cakes (chocolate pound cake from Urth)
time to reflect and unwind
green and blacks milk chocolate with almonds
great conversations with friends i haven't spoken with in a while
sushi dinner with the whole family
love and kisses
a beautiful day

I'm spending probably a little too much time on the computer these days figuring out different programs for different reasons.  And I'm putting a little more thought into my Shoppe than I originally was and have decided to postpone the grand opening for a while until I'm completely ready.  The juggle of these things and family life is a bit overwhelming at times, but thankfully there's a lot of love to go around which makes it all do-able.

::  things that help when you're feeling overwhelmed  ::

sleep
vitamins (calcium, B complex, C)
yoga
a warm bath
deep breaths
being in nature
letting go

nerve tonic tea       
3 parts lemon balm
1 part chamomile
1 part oats
1/2 part chrysanthemum flowers
1/2 part rose petals
1/4 part lavender flowers
honey to taste         

Combine the herbs.  Add one tablespoon herbs to every 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil and let steep for 30-60 minutes.  Drink 1 cup 3-4 times daily.

I've also noticed that cutting down on the chocolate and caffeine and increasing greens in my diet helps significantly (wouldn't you know). 

Have a beautiful day, everyone.

thirty six today

 

 

less is more

A new yarn I'm working on.

This is just a quickie, because for some reason today got away from me rather quickly (why does that keep happening?  Hmmm.  Worth analyzing?!).  I'm still sticking with the idea that if I can get the house organized, it will all get easier.  Feng Shui and all.  It's a work in progress, what can I say.  I need to get rid of some stuff.
Speaking of which, there's a really good article on NPR about the importance of unstructured play for children.  It's interesting to note that in the 19th century, "play" didn't seem to revolve around toys, but rather an action.  Kids ran around with each other playing pirate or princess or whatever it was, using their imaginations to guide them.  Toys didn't become nearly as important in "play" until Mattel introduced the toy gun called the "thunder burp" on t.v. in 1955.  So the notion of play has changed, and apparently with grave consequences (ie:  imagination under siege =poor executive function = more high school drop-outs, drug use and crime).  Scary.  I'm really trying to clean out half the stuff we have (I've been doing this for a while).  When we discovered Waldorf Education, I got all wrapped up in the "wooden toy" thing and bought way too much of it, thinking I was creating the best possible environment for my children.  Uh... no.  I mean, yes and no.  I meant well, but I went a bit overboard.  I wasn't quite grasping the right concept, yet.  I realize now my kids don't need nearly as much stuff as I thought (in fact, the stuff seems to inhibit them), but rather thrive in just having ample time to run around in nature and be with their friends and help me with cooking and such.  Don't we all need that?  Yes, we do.

Yarn balled up and ready for the knitting machine.

And not that the "wooden toy" thing is bad, by the way.  I'm not saying that.  It's brilliant!  I love surrounding my kids with things made from nature and things that are made by hand, etc.  I think it's important.  But I do notice that the less they have, the more likely they are to care for what they have.  They appreciate and use what they have more when I scale things down a bit.  And they prefer, above all, to just play with friends and go to the beach or the park or just... outside.  Less is indeed more, in this case.

As I continue to clean out my office/studio, and work my way through projects that have been lying around and the floor becomes more visible and the piles of crap diminish, Marley says to me, "It's good that you're starting to use some of this stuff because then it's not just sitting around and everything is starting to feel better in here". 

Yup.  That's how I see it too.  I can't wait 'til it's done.  :)

awesome pecan bar recipe

Quick, write this down!

Maude's Happy Trails Pecan Bars

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 pound butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups pecans
pecan topping

Combine flour and sugar in food processor.  Add butter and pulse on and off 6 to 8 times or until mixture is crumbly.  Pat dough (it will be very crumbly) into 9 x 11 inch baking pan (I used 8 x 8 and it was fine).  Bake at 400º for 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Sprinkle with pecans and pour Pecan Topping in thin stream over the pecans, covering entire surface. 

Pecan Topping:
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup corn syrup (This is comfort food, people.  Food for the soul.  Just go with it).

Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool slightly.  Cut into bars.  Try to wait until they cool completely before you dig in.  Just try.

shoppe, eat, pray

Hi there.  We're home from the snow and trying to get back in the swing of things around here.  I'm gearing up to open my shoppe (I kind of like that archaic spelling, don't you?) next week.  I still need to make stickers and such, but I have the weekend for that.  All my paper labels and tags (and stickers) will be printed on recycled card stock and stationary, which finally arrived this week.  Very exciting.  Perhaps one day I will splurge on the recycled paper that has seeds embedded in it (and that you can actually plant to grow flowers), but for now, I'm quite happy with what I've chosen.

Other than that, nothing much to report.  Rain.  Bunny pellets all over the house (maddening, this.  I have gone over and over the litter box training suggestions to no avail).  A successful batch of Pecan Bars (a la my good friend Maude's recipe - I will try to post it tomorrow or after the weekend, if I can get her permission.  Look for it.  It's incredible).  Fighting children (good lord).  Playing children (bliss).  Cello.  I've officially had 15 cello lessons now.  I counted.  I'm learning long bows, enfin.  Monday night I'm to perform "Twinkle Twinkle" in front of a small group.  Grin.

And then there's this.  I saw a rather distressing film last night which left me feeling quite raw, like this chicken.  I hate to weave this into what should shall be evolving (hopefully) into more of a cheerful blog/zine about family, food, vintage and modern design and hand made goodness, but let me just say, because it is on my mind, that there is a reason I do not watch the news.  There is a reason I do not normally see movies like this.  And thank goodness I believe there is just as much, if not more good in the world than there is bad, because otherwise I think I would collapse in a puddle of grief.  Because the bad stuff that exists is really bad.  It is heart wrenching. I simply can not bear it.

I won't go into it, because I don't want some weirdo linking to my sight based on a word search for this particular content, but I will say I am touched by the courage of my sister and her schoolmates who have been working to raise awareness about the slavery that is prevalent in this country (and around the world) and who are also raising money to build a safe-house to protect some of the survivors of this grave injustice (it is they who sponsored the screening of the film at a local theater).

For those who are interested, there are many organizations who are working to stop this calamity.  You can access them here.  I hope you will at least check them out. 

In the meantime, I am praying and sending everyone white light.  I wish we could all be safe.  Perhaps, one day, if we all work together, we will.

happy heart day

Crocheting the edge on a scarf I knitted up yesterday on the machine.  I have had this knitting machine for years, but haven't used it for... years.   I took a refresher course last weekend on machine knitting and now I remember why I bought it in the first place.  Because I love it so.

Eleven different colors of merino goodness.  I promise more photos when I'm completely done (I can't finish it now, I have to go pack - we're leaving incredibly early in the morning!).  I'll be bringing my camera and computer on our little trip so that I can be in touch with the blogging world and also upload any photos I happen to take of stuff I happen to be working on.

Happy Valentine's Day and have a wonderful weekend!

ps... a rather lovely blog entry to read. 

wool

Is it already Wednesday?  Goodness.  We are leaving in two days for the mountains again.  More contact with snow.  Joy.  More travel.  Ugh.  I will be bringing my knitting and perhaps sketch book with me.  Hopefully there will be time to work on it.  We return Wednesday and I hope to open the shop the following Monday-ish (if, that is, all of my shipping supplies, labels, etc. that I need arrive intact by then, which I'm hoping they will - I've been waiting for a couple of weeks now.  Sigh).

Look, there's that hand-spun yarn (again) that I'm still working on (or rather haven't been working on... it just sits there glaring at me, lovely as can be).  I keep getting sidetracked by life (ie: bunny fights).  Does that ever happen to any of you?  Geez.  I thought the yarn deserved another photo.  I'm going to bring it with me to the snow and turn it into something, finally.  (Hopefully).  I'm now considering making it into a hand puppet.  I've made one of them before and it came out rather cute.  I love hand puppets.  The truth is, I've never really gotten into using them with my kids, but I love the way they look (hand made ones, that is) and I love the idea of them from an artistic standpoint.  Anyway, possible hand-knitted hand puppet on the way.  I don't know, I'm still experimenting.  I do love the look of the yarn.  It is infinitely inspiring, all the colors and its hand-spun goodness.  Yummy. 

Deciding on color combinations for another wool project I'm working on, using my knitting machine.

Oh, guess what just arrived as I sit here typing?  The bunny cage!  Oh joy.  I need to go put it together so our fighting bunnies can finally each have their own castles and give me one less thing to worry about, poor dears.  I suppose I won't have time to bike to the library today.  I'm desperate to check out Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged".  I'm nearly done with "Eat, Pray, Love" (which is turning out to be very nice, indeed).  I'll be needing something new to read and I'm craving a little Ayn Rand.  Perhaps I can make it over there tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

blog epiphany

accruing little plastic animals for our terrarium project...

I am currently reading the end of the second section of Eat, Pray, Love (I had put that one down for a while, but I'm picking it up again because I am promised an ending that makes the whole book worth it).  While reading, it dawned on me that blogging has started to affect my life in an unusual way.  How, you ask?  Well, I read something (in the book) that resonated with me and I found that I wanted to comment on it.  I was craving interaction with the author and whoever else might be reading her book.  I wanted to comment on what I had read and to share my feelings about it and I couldn't.  I couldn't, because I was reading a book, not a blog.  And I was literally annoyed that it wasn't possible.  My comment sat there burning inside of me and there was no one to share it with  (well, sh*t, I suppose I could just as well share it here, but now, I have no idea what it was about.  I'll have to dig it up).  Anyway, has anyone else had this experience yet or is this whole thing going over like a fart in church?

By the way, look at these cools sneakers!  Aren't they just the bees knees?  I mean, they have Little Miss Hood herself on them (me and my fairytale obsessions).  Cute!  Plus a portion of the proceeds goes to charity and everything.  It's just a win - win.  Of course, I'm not shopping at the moment (we're in save mode around here).  Just looking and compiling a wish list.  And drooling.  A bit.

here and now

Griffin in his self-made robot costume.  All those little holes he poked in the box are "buttons".  Beep.

Addie, I'm contemplating what you said about cleaning something up just to turn around and realize the other half of the room is completely messed up again.  Sigh.  It reminds me of the hermit in "Every Cowgirl Gets The Blues" "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" - oops - (have you read that book?  I can't remember most of it, I read it so long ago, but I remember it had an impact, at the time that I read it.  I still have it in my library, in fact.).   Anyway, the hermit just kept pushing his stuff back and forth across the cave he was living in.  Therefore, one side (of the cave) would always be tidy and the other would remain dirty.  He felt it was very Zen to live this way.  He never bothered to just clean the whole thing up. 

I'm also reminded of a story my girlfriend Toni told me about a time when she was trying to accomplish something in her life.  I don't remember what she was doing exactly, but the idea was that if she could just get to that place, everything would be better. Everything would resolve itself somehow.  And a wise friend explained that, that "place" she was trying to get to didn't exist. 

Why?  Because that mentality of "trying to get somewhere" places you constantly in the future, which doesn't exist.  Because we're living in the present.  There is only the here and now to contend with.  Everything I've ever read or heard or experienced continues to guide me to that truth.

And yet, I am struggling with this concept, because in my world, at this particular moment,  I am convinced that if I can get my house in some sort of order, my life will be easier to manage.  (If I can just get to that place...)   And yet, I have been organizing my house for... years?

So, I don't know.  I will say though, that stashing the kids toys into baskets has at least made the toy clean up in the living room (their general play area) a breeze.  Every different type of toy has its own basket.  Dolls in one, wooden blocks in another, etc.  They can dump everything on the floor and mix it all up and the clean up is still ten minutes, as opposed to, oh maybe thirty.  Plus, we can usually find everything.

So, I am going to continue organizing and just try to be in the moment about the whole thing and appreciate it for what it is.  A process. And hopefully, when I'm done, I'll be able to find that floral wire I just know I have when Martha Stewart comes up with a cool project like the felt fortune cookie valentines that require such a thing.  And we'll see if "that place" exists or not.  If only for a moment. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

fortunes in felt

Fiddled with these felt fortune cookie valentines a bit more today.  Now I've filled them with a mint valentine note (to match the mint rick-rack), Japanese candy, a needle-felted acorn and a mini-MOO card.  Fun.

They're all tucked away in cute little packages, just waiting for little hands (and big ones.  These are going to my friends and family too, as well as the kids' classmates).

I've actually completed something on time.  Bliss.  I think I'll enjoy this moment (insert deep breath in and out here and then smile).