Quality

This back to school season was different from the ones before, because it featured very few new items for the big day. No shopping excursions were necessary because, well, we have so much already. Our closets and dressers are stuffed full and need no supplements. The girls did design and help sew a new skirt each (look for those soon!) and other than that, the only thing they lacked were backpacks.

This was going to be a challenge for us, as we have made a commitment to start buying more responsibly. It didn't feel right to run out to some big store to buy the latest and greatest cheap import. I considered homemade but, given my sewing skills, I imagined the girls lunches falling right through the bottom on their way to school. With making backpacks myself ruled out, I was off on an adventure to source handmade, quality ones.

After a lengthy Internet search (a time span, "A" reminded me, that was about equal to the time I would have spent on a trip to the store), I found the perfect backpacks.
Handmade by DCR Creations, these backpacks were custom made for the girls in prints/designs they got to choose themselves. When they arrived in the mail, we pulled them out and immediately started exploring them. We marveled at the quality handwork, we were thrilled with the cute theme-matching fabrics used for the linings of all the compartments, we found the water-bottle pocket, and then the girls noticed something else: the smell! They were lightly scented with just a hint of fruity aroma. This was their favorite feature of all and if they had the chance, I'm am sure they would ask you to smell those new backpacks, too.

We considered it a small victory to have sourced some great backpacks that served as an alternative to the inferior mass-produced ones. This gives us hope that we will be able find quality, affordable handmade products whenever the need arises.

DCR Creations is a mother-and-daughter run business that sews backpacks, wallets, aprons, totes, lunch bags, and so much more. Most products they offer can be custom-made in any fabric you see on their website.

Good Neighbors

It's been a while, I know. We are back online, after a complete computer meltdown, all thanks to my sister who loaned us her old CPU. Whew! It's a crazy feeling, being shut off from the world like that (chuckle chuckle). But I have to give a shout out to my kind neighbors who, as soon as I mentioned our computer died, called and emailed to say that not only did they have an extra computer we could use, but also let me know I could go on over and use theirs whenever I need to. Seriously, neighbors don't get much better than that.

Speaking of good neighbors, I had the pleasure of being assigned the booth next to Little Garlic Press at last Sunday's Design Hive Market in Cambridge, MA.

Little Garlic Press is a Portland, ME based operation featuring clothing made from re-purposed vintage fabrics, cotton t-shirts bearing antique botanical illustrations, and beautiful paper products. The creative force behind the shop is Nikaline who, aside from her 4 (four!) other jobs, finds time to design gorgeous scarves, skirts, dresses and shirts from vintage clothing and fabric she cleverly sources.


She has gotten her hands on so much vintage fabric over the years that she sells that, too. I couldn't resist this piece of mushroom print polyester fabric she was selling, so I scooped it up before anyone else could buy it. I can only imagine what was originally done with this fabric in the 70's ( think: women's pantsuits and men's shirts a la Travolta). What will I do with it? I have no idea. I just know needed it. Polyester mushroom print fabric doesn't come along every day, folks.

You can find Little Garlic Press at Material Objects in Portland, at Design Hive during the holidays, or at her Etsy shop (her shop is currently empty, but check back soon as she'll be adding new items).

Surroundings: Part 3

When we moved into our home, the kitchen was a bit out of date. And by out of date, I mean 1940s, complete with a huge contraption that we believe was the first dishwasher ever. Fast forward a few years to the kitchen renovation—a budget remodel, done completely by "A".

The new walls, windows, floors, cabinets, and counter tops were a dream come true, but it is the back splash that remains the conversation piece of the room. We covered the walls between the counter tops and cabinets with pebble tile, giving the kitchen a natural feel. The best part? The wave.


Crafted in homage to our time spent surfing in Southern California, our wave is a reminder of the place where we started our family. And with time flying as fast as it is (case in point: our baby started to kindergarten today), we are doing all we can to keep our special memories at the surface. This pebbly ocean swell may seem like merely a decorative touch to some, but to us it is so much more.

Three Days

This long weekend brought some of the best things in life...

like climbing trees (can you find the 2 little trolls in this photo?)

Special treats, like chocolate-slathered frozen bananas

Enjoying the backyard scenery (read about this carpet of flowers here)

a little bit of work

and a spur-of-the-moment zip line (why not?)

Surroundings part 2

"Check in the second drawer of the red dresser!"
This is something you hear in our household many times a day. No matter what you're looking for, be it nail clippers, a hair elastic, or a headlamp, you're likely to find it in the second drawer, our junk drawer, of that dresser.

It was rescued from my parents' old cottage, destined to become a TV stand and storage piece for us. When we brought it home, it was a pinkish-brown, as was most of the furniture in that cottage. (I'll have to ask my parents why one of these days). I painted it bright yellow, then a watery crimson so the yellow radiates through the red. It brings color and character to our living room.

But I'm not here to talk about our junk drawer, or the makeover the dresser got. The thing that makes this piece of furniture a prized object in our home is it's secret (apparently, we are partial to furniture with hidden surprises. Remember the table?). Our resident woodworker fashioned a special place for a modern amenity in this antique piece. A flip-down drawer front reveals our DVD/VCR player hidden inside the top drawer. We just flip it back up to hide it all—keeping the big silver box out of sight.

I have never been particularly fond of decorating my home with various technological components, so this was a great solution. I did have some reservations about modifying such a nice, old piece of furniture but in the end, functionality won out—and I'm glad it did!

Surroundings

There were plenty of folks at the party this past weekend who had never been to our home. This brought on lots of kind comments about our surroundings—most of which had to do with the great architectural details of our older house (built in 1920) or the landscaping. It got me thinking about where we live, and how we forget to appreciate our little nest sometimes.

There's the furnace that has been known to shut off only on the coldest day, the paint that's peeling from the foundation, and a front lawn that is mostly crabgrass. It's easy to get hung up on what the neighbors might see as not up to par, but it is what I look past almost daily that makes this house special. A pretty window that looks out to the backyard, the kitchen back splash we put in a few years ago, and the sturdy front door that we opened with a skeleton key the first time we entered the house

Today, with renewed enthusiasm about my home, I have decided to run a series featuring the special things that surround me and my family. These things might inspire, spark an idea for you and your own home, or could be a clever solution you may want to try for yourself.

So here goes! The first "Surroundings" feature:

This trellis was built by "A" only three years ago. The vines have completely covered it, creating a green "room" that houses our hammock. And it just so happens to be this very week that the vine explodes with tiny white flowers that drip off the top of it. We call this place our "secret garden," our little hideaway right in our own backyard.

What about you? What is your favorite thing about where you live? Is it artwork, an architectural feature, an outdoor element, a prized piece of furniture? Do tell.

Looking Back, Looking forward

We pulled it off. The surprise 40th anniversary party for my parents was a success. The secret was even kept by 2 small girls who love to drop hints. The celebration had it all—roughly 40 guests, 3 courses of food galore, and a tropical storm (which we welcomed, after being downgraded from hurricane).

A kind friend loaned a very large tent to the cause, which filled our entire yard and gave the guests a dry place to get a little elbow room. Our backyard big top was a comforting refuge from the wind and rain, and twinkling lights and candles gave it a cozy ambiance.

Would you like to see photos of this celebration? Yes, me too. But somehow, between keeping up with the food, catching up with family members, and peeking out back to make sure the tent hadn't blown over, I forgot to take pictures. Shame, I know. But I get comfort in my memories of the day, and know that I will get a glimpse of photos from family members to look back on.

For now, I have these images to share—the remnants of the celebration that linger in our home.

Two weeks of home and yard preparation and 3 solid days of cooking may explain why our crafting and cooking for fun came to a screeching halt.

Today, we look forward...to our last two days of care-free summer pleasure, to eating all those party leftovers, to the start of a new soccer season, and to the gears of my metals shop cranking once again.

Mush

Alas, today brings the last of the blueberry recipes—and it only seems fitting, as we experience a break in the heat and wake to a crisp, dry 60-degree morning. It's as if, just like that, the summer weather has set its sights on back to school and apple-picking season.

We have eaten the majority of our blueberry glut frozen, like little hard candies. The remainder of those berries went into yogurt and scones, were served up with homemade whipped cream, or as an icy treat.

Today's recipe is the result of setting the girls free in the kitchen to do what they wished with a bowl of berries. They raided the drawers choosing a cheese grater, meat tenderizer, and wire whisk, among other tools, to transform bananas and blueberries into, well, mush.

The final product was surprisingly delicious, with a pudding-like consistency and a rich flavor. This is a snack to be eaten immediately, as the mashed banana will soon turn brown.

Those little chefs have thought up a healthy snack—one they plan to put on the menu at the restaurant they are going to have when they grow up (it's a perfect plan, since one girl aspires to be a chef and the other longs to be a waitress). They have generously given me permission to share the recipe with you. Enjoy!

Blueberry Granita

An icy blueberry treat...the perfect berry recipe for these hot muggy days. You may have noticed that since the scones, we have not baked any other blueberry recipes. No thanks. In fact, I don't think we have turned on the oven at all. It's been sandwiches and grilled fare for meals all week. So enjoy another blueberry recipe that involves very little cooking:


Blueberry Granita
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
water

Combine blueberries, brown sugar and water in medium pan. Heat over low flame, stirring often and using back of spoon to break up berries, cook for about 10 minutes. You want the consistency to be syrupy-mush.

Dissolve 1/2 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup boiling water. Combine with blueberry mixture and pour into shallow pan and put in freezer. Use a fork to scrape the freezing mixture every 15 minutes or so, to make ice shavings. Once the mixture is completely frozen, scoop out into small dishes. Enjoy!

They're SUCH Hippies, They...

Another Blueberry Idea
A friend of mine once described a family he knows as follows: "they are such hippies they make their own yogurt." To which I whole-heartedly agreed, "wow, total hippies."

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when we made yogurt for the first time. Or maybe "grew" is a better word than "made". In any case, it was a cinch and the yogurt was delicious. We sweetened the plain yogurt with honey and vanilla—so yummy.

I found the recipe in Kathy Farrell-Kingsley's book The Home Creamery, a gorgeous book that has inspired me to even try making cheese again. (I tried my hand at making mozzarella once—I put it on a pizza and, long story short, we had takeout for dinner that night. )

The blueberry recipe? Blueberry yogurt, of course (it's not so much a recipe as a suggestion, I suppose). Processing fresh blueberries into this yogurt gave it a seasonal zing, tangy and sweet. I should mention that the blueberries did make the yogurt a bit thinner.


If you're not up for making your own yogurt, simply blending (or food-processing) the berries into plain or vanilla yogurt would work just as well. Store-bought blueberry yogurt does not compare to the freshness of adding your own berries.

Homemade yogurt has now made its way into our regular kitchen routine. So this begs the question, does that make us "hippies"?

{note: the recipe for making yogurt is available if you follow the link above to Amazon.com, then click on the "search inside this book" link on the left}

If Your Children Play with Legos...

I think we can officially name this school vacation the "Summer of Legos" at our home. The girls start off each day by dumping the Lego bin onto the floor and building the day away. A parent couldn't be happier about that, right? Right. But the challenge lies in the fact that they leave and come back to them throughout the day (the reason I don't make them clean up right away). This means way too many opportunities to step on them (ouch!), or kick them under the bookshelf, or send them sliding into the next room. We have been finding those minuscule pieces everywhere, and it is a major project getting them all cleaned up at the end of the day.


Enter "A", who recalled his little-boy Lego storage—a "parachute" bag, he called it. He described it in detail, and it sounded like the perfect solution. I got to work, with my adviser close at hand for some grommet work.


The idea is simple—a circle of nylon (though any fabric would do), grommets around the edge, and a cord. It lies completely flat, so the girls can work from the pile of pieces in the center, eliminating the likelihood of having them scattered about the house. When it's clean-up time, they simply pull the strings and they're done!

The girls are thrilled to have their new bag, "A" is happy to have re-created this bit of his childhood, and the soles of my feet are thanking me.

Berries and Beating the Heat

Blueberry Recipe of the Day:
Blueberry Scones
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 6-oz vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup blueberries

Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just moistened. Fold in berries. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. This recipe yields from 8-30 scones, depending on preferred size. We made 24 smaller ones.

In this near-record heat, we will not be turning the oven on to 400 degrees again today. Look for another no-cook blueberry recipe soon. Until then, we'll be here:

Happy summer days of berries and beating the heat!

Desk Job

This weekend brought new life to an old desk. The husband made this desk and stool set for our oldest daughter when she was one. Another child and countless craft projects later, this desk was in serious need of a makeover—and a new owner. Yes, sadly, our girls no longer fit at it. But the set, handcrafted by "A", is a quality family heirloom, not something I'm willing to Freecycle or yard sale away.

So we scrubbed, sanded, scraped, and washed (believe it or not, this photo was taken after it was cleaned). Orange and olive green paint were the chosen to revitalize this tiny work station.

The finished product is headed to the nephews' home today, for many more years of use and abuse.

As for the blueberry overload—I will be featuring blueberry recipes for the next few days (however many days it takes us to eat them all).

Today's recipe: Simple Blueberries and Cream

Ingredients:

Heavy Cream

Maple Syrup

Blueberries

Instructions: Beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until it is the consistency of whipped cream. Add a bit of maple syrup to sweeten the cream to desired taste. Continue to beat for another minute. Add blueberries and enjoy!
note: we froze some blueberries and used those in our cream, for a yummy cooling treat.

Not a Dull Moment

The Peruvian wool I splurged on a few weeks back is starting to take shape. As you can see, I am running out of room on the pattern to make note of my sets and rows. What am I knitting? I'll bet most anyone who is a fan of knitty.com could guess. I do believe it is, by far, their most downloaded pattern...

Our pick-your-own blueberry excursion today yielded 5 pounds (five POUNDS!) of berries, for exactly $10. I call that a bargain, if there ever was one. But wait, speaking of bargains...

I scored all this booty at a local church yard sale this evening. Fabric, ribbon, rick rack, bias tape, string, a bread pan, and a pair of knitting needles of every size from 1 to 7 (!!!), and more (read: various random animal statues the girls chose, beads, a mug, leather gloves, felt squares...) for, once again, exactly $10.

So here I am—with an interesting knitting pattern to concentrate on, more blueberries than I know what to do with, and crafting supplies to last me far into the future. I don't imagine a dull moment any time soon.

The Wet Ocean Air

Enjoy these snapshots from our past few days. It was such a good getaway—and a nice distraction for the girls, as we all get used to the idea of life without our beloved family pet.

Taking in the wet ocean air...
Sandkindgoms, not sandcastles...

historic landmarks...

...and this view—a bluff overlooking the Atlantic.

I only wish you could all take a deep breath and be in this moment. The sea, the brush, the breeze, the sound. Life's chatter dissolves into the thick, damp air, leaving behind only what matters.

Time and Time Again

I just read this article about time banks and had to share. This concept really resonated in me—just seems right, so obvious, so easy.

Time banking is basically good ol' bartering—trading goods or services. It is something I have fantasized about, but I never knew there were organized groups of time traders. We have so much to offer, and could benefit from so many of the folks in our area. What better way to build community, save money, support local businesses and organizations?

So I'm off! ...to look into these time-based currencies a little more. I'm also off to the beach for a few days away. I'll be back!

In the mean time, check out the Onion River Exchange and visit TimeBanks.org to learn more.

Only This One Moment, and a Nap

We recently had the pleasure of a much-anticipated hike with friends, complete with four bounding-up-the-mountain girls who stopped, quite possibly, only this one moment...

an impromptu trailside art installation (done completely independent of any adults)...

...and this little cherub, who found her first hike less than thrilling.

Table Talk

A few months ago, my husband (I'll call him "A" from now on) completed our new dining room table and, aahhhh, is it a beauty!

It brings so much to our home. Because we live in a small house, he crafted a table that would have a lightness to it—I'm not talking about color, but structure. He designed a trestle table, that has thinner lines below, so as not to appear too heavy in the room. And it is beautiful in it's spot, letting the light from the adjacent windows flood the room.

Working out of his cramped workshop in our basement (a room over from mine), "A" had to address his first, most obvious challenge—how to fit a finished table out of the basement and through the narrow stairway to our dining room. The solution? This table completely disassembles (as many trestle tables do). Made with keyed through tenons, the trestle can be removed from the legs, the legs detached from the top, making moving and assembly a cinch.

But the best part of this table is the secret it keeps.

This carving is in the center of the underside of the table top, visible only if you crawl underneath it (which might explain why we frequently find the girls under there). The texture of this carving is irresistible, and it is a crime you can't all run your fingers across it.

Our family spends so much time seated at this table which, aside from meals, is host to homework, craft projects, blog and jewelry photography shoots, sewing endeavors, and so much more.

What's next for our resident woodworker? He's making a bench to go with the table. I can hardly wait, and will surely be keeping you posted on the progress.

That Stack of Fabric

Remember that gorgeous stack of fabric I was making plans for? Well, I made it into, uh, a gorgeous stack of fabric...

I got one of Anna Maria Horner's "palette piles," excited for a project worthy of such stunning material. I thought of making napkins, but quickly shelved the idea, thinking napkins we not a good enough end product for these pretty prints. They would just get stained and otherwise defaced. Then it dawned on me—what better thing to make with the fabric? They are out on our table, in plain sight all day, every day. They get used at three meals a day, plus whenever snacking requires them. And, as an added bonus, they are an attractive addition to the the kaleidoscope of colors hanging on the clothesline.

Robots and Kings

The finished product (see previous post). I crocheted this adorable set for my nephew's birthday, and he has been blasting off ever since. The pattern, from Amy Gaines, is simple and quick. I have written before about Amigurumi crocheted toys here. They are fun to make and even better to give. My girls have lots of handmade friends now, and count them among their most special toys.

...and this little arrangement was on our table the other day. A snack, that the girls gathered from the garden when I was remiss in getting them something to eat. They were referring to their assortment of tiny carrots, nasturtium, and mint as "the king's snack," a name we will most definitely be using from now on. I am thinking I will delay in getting them snacks more often—just to see what they come up with on their own. This snack, fit for a king, is much better than what I would have served up to my little queens.