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So many exciting things happening. I'll be announcing my new assistant soon, have some great shoots this weekend (including the one above...more on that later!), have so many Polaroids to show you, and am gearing up for the wedding season! Yay!
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! We are really enjoying the sun!
It's been raining all week. Either rainy or really overcast. But really, we have nothing to complain about at all. So we have been making the best of it...
Tea parties with friends in-between rain showers. (All the kids were running around picking dandelions and then filled a vase with them for their table. So sweet!)
Hula hooping under cloudy skies.
Taking Purple Violet for rides through town with friends.
And making lavender bubbles for sunnier days.
What have you been doing this week?!
It was a dreary, rainy day today. We spent the better half of it doing indoor things like violin lessons and a trip to the library for more books. But this afternoon the rain let up and we found ourselves outside on a mission: to find rocks for our garden. The raised beds are looking a little bleak right now and I wanted to add some color. Our wooden plant markers never make it through the season, so I wanted something that would last. So we went around the yard collecting the best rocks we could find.
We scrubbed them, dried them, and set them on the back porch. Then we collected the acrylics and paint brushes and set to work. The little one had such fun painting the rocks that we had to go back out three more times for more! We have enough to mark all the veggies in the raised beds and I love the fun and color they will add.
I'm so excited to get back outside and dig in the dirt. It's amazing to watch our yard transform every year. I never realized how much of my soul was connected to gardening. I have grand plans of sunflower huts, herb window boxes, potted plants all over the yard, succulents in the backyard, beds of flowers, creeping vines up and around her tree fort, a handmade stick fence, and more. So much more. I want to spend every second outside. Every single second with my hands in the dirt.
I'm loving finding garden inspiration out there in blogland. I love wild, crazy gardens that just look like magic. Would you care to share some with me?!
Here's some gardening music for you :)
Happy Tuesday everyone!!
Easter started an early 5:30 a.m. The little one was so super excited about a bunny hopping throughout the house that she woke up much ealier than usual! The night before we left the Easter bunny a letter, some carrots and spinach, and a basket full of eggs for him to hide. Our eggs came out so beautifully. We will definitely be using vegetable dyes again. The sweet little yellow egg basket I found on Etsy weeks ago and had it shipped all the way from Canada. It arrived just in time!
We enjoyed some chocolate (a bit too much), two egg hunts, a delicious sushi lunch made by Sasa and enjoyed with friends and Baba (my mama!), many hours drawing chalk on the sidewalk and riding our bikes, and a lovely early bedtime to finish the day.
Today we enjoyed the warm air, even though the sun didn't want to come out. I spent three hours on the front porch watching the little one ride her bike back and forth in barefeet and her pajamas. Then we came inside and made delicious scones after visiting our chickens for some eggs.
I hope your Easter weekend was terrific!!
What a perfect day for Earth Day! We spent the morning at nature-based program the little one attends on Fridays where we felted eggs, made houses in the woods, cleaned up the grounds a bit, and enjoyed the sun for a full four hours. Then we came home and gardened! It felt so amazing to have my hands in the dirt again. We had added compost last fall, so the beds were pretty much all ready to go.
We direct-seeded beets, carrots (4 fun varieties!), lettuce, kale, chard, beans, and peas and some annuals. The little one is my handy waterer, so she gave all the seeds "a nice drink so they will grow big and strong." She kept taking videos with her camera while we were planting the carrots. I loved the narration..."And here we have the carrots we will soon pick and eat for our dinners." Super sweet, she is. I love that she is getting more and more involved in the gardening process as she gets older. You can definitely tell she remembers doing a lot of this last year.
Then we came in and dyed eggs! Sasa made some natural dyes while we were gone this morning. He used turmeric (yellow), beets (pink), purple cabbage (robin's egg blue), yellow onion skins (orange), and then we mixed them all to make one fun color! We're leaving them in overnight so they get pretty dark. With 24 eggs in all, I think we're going to have a pretty crazy egg hunt on our hands this Sunday!
Happy Earth Day and Happy Easter! I'll be back at the beginning of the week to share some of our Easter fun!
Wow. The past two days have been so very full. I've found I haven't even had time to sit down until the evening! The concert last night was so much fun. So very very very much fun. Four of us went down and had dinner in the big city, then went to the concert where the music was just unbelievable. I have such respect for singer/songwriters. So much magic happens! Then we went back to the restaurant for dessert and a glass of wine. I think we arrived home close to 1 a.m. and my wired body couldn't settle down until about 2:30 a.m....which meant for a rather tired day today! But it was totally worth it!
So, I know it's not Monday, but I figure it's better late than never, right?! Here's some killer links...
Okay, now I'm off to work! Happy Tuesday everyone!! Leave me some link love...
Well, I have to postpone my Monday links to tomorrow because we are headed to see Iron and Wine tonight! We are so excited...!!!
But here's a cute picture from our Pippi Longstocking party we had on Saturday night. Complete with costumes and dancing and singing "Scrubbing Day" in the kitchen! Those two are so cute!
Happy Monday!!! Stay tuned for tomorrow...I have some great links for you all!!
I think that may possibly be the most random title in all of blogland. But there you have it...water kefir and hanging clothes! Yay!
Oh my, this water kefir thing. I love it. Adore it. It's yummy and amazing and so very easy. Not at all like kombucha. Oh no. I let it ferment for 72 hours and we're good to go. The little one is smitten with it. She drinks more than I do, so it's hard to keep up. Once our grains multiply (thankfully, this lovely lady gave me some!), we'll be able to brew more at once. I'm really looking forward to that because 16 ounces a day doesn't seem to be enough for me! I used this recipe, by the way.
And the clothes, oh the clothes. The little one and her cuteness and the clothes. Too much goodness right there. She makes me put up a mini clothesline just for her. And she washes her doll's clothes by hand with the big enamel tub and her washboard. Then she squeezes the water out and hangs them up to dry. I loved peeking through the window to see her doing her real work on the back porch. What a sweet little scene.
And I am leaving you with an awesome group I just found. Love this video. Happy weekend everyone!!!
Lettuce. Kale. Chard. Beets. Carrots. Peas. Beans. Tomatillos. Tomatoes. Leeks. Winter squash. Pie pumpkins. Basil. Basil. Basil. Nasturtiums. Zinnias. Sunflowers...
Those are just some of the things we are planting this year. We're expanding the garden this year to accomodate more winter storage veggies to last us further through the winter season. And our chicken fence will be the support for tons of pole beans. And then there are the sunflower forts we hope to plant. And the climbing vines and flowers all over her tree house. And the potted herb garden for the front steps. And the flowers for the window boxes. And the extra pear tree so our lonely one will start to bear fruit. And hopefully a couple of apple trees. And the extra medicinal herbs for the herb garden.
Boy, do we have plans. We have plans and plans and more plans. And I'm started to wonder with all the traveling and work I'm doing this summer if I can make it all fit in! But there's nothing that I love more than being out in the sunshine with my hands in the dirt, growing our own food. I'm hoping we can freeze more, can more, and store more to last us longer this next winter.
The little one and I started some seedlings. I won't lie...our budget is extremely tight right now. Trying to stay home with a little one with a mostly seasonal job means winter is tight. Even purchasing seedling containers seemed a little extravagant. We had a stack of egg cartons and it gave me an idea. We always plant a bunch of seedlings in egg shell halves that we save that the little one is in charge of, but why not use some of our millions of egg cartons for the rest?! So we did. And it is working! I only planted things like lettuce, kale, chard, and basil in them because they are so shallow and I know don't need to grow that big before we can transplant outdoors. For the the tomatillos, I purchased deeper containers. (I think I started about 30 plants...we do love our salsa verde!).
The little one is in charge of the flowers and her basil on the windowsill. She checks them daily and waters them. It's the cutest! It's exciting to watch them grow. We spent a day earlier in the week turning the soil in our raised beds and talking about planting the beets and carrots and beans and sunflowers. The little one ended up rolling for hours in the dirt...she clearly missed that feeling after this long winter! I know I did.
So yea...we are super excited about gardening season here. Super excited. I think I may just spend every spare second outside digging in the dirt. It's a nice thing having this little urban homestead. We can do so much on our land, yet still walk to everything we need. What a sweet little life!
What are you planting this year??! I would love to see pictures of your gardens!! Leave some in the comments...
It's blue now.
And I'm in love.
It was free paint from my friend's basement.
It couldn't be a more perfect color. I only wish I had a before to show you, but it was so hideous that I guess I never took one.
Happy Wednesday! I'll be back with some gardening updates! Yay!
Gee...this space is just itching for something new. Last week flew by. Spring weather meant we were spending every single second outdoors enjoying the sun. I even got a sunburn! Here I am with my crazy green eyes that just seem to get greener every time I look in the mirror. And that's my humid day crazy hair going on. Love it.
Today we woke up to thunder storms (!!) and an afternoon that was balmy and trying to clear. We went out and did more yardwork, made chalk drawings on the sidewalk, and enjoyed many walks with the puppy. This spring weather is oh so nice after such a harsh winter! It's hard to be inside working on those beautiful days. Speaking of work...I've got hours to do tonight, so I should move onto the links!
Check 'em out...
Okay! I'm off to do hours of work! (Thank goodness I love what I do!) Leave me some links that YOU love!! Happy Monday y'all!
I captured these photos yesterday of the little one with her violin. Her practice time now is pretty much self-directed, with the numerous enthusiastic comments from me! She wants to do it herself, and she now has the ability. She tries something until she gets it right, she asks me for help or guidance when she is stumped, and she excitedly asks for "concerts" with the piano which we play everyday.
She walks around the house singing her fiddle songs. She play the "air violin" when she doesn't have the real one close by. And we enjoy her playing so very much. She's inspired me to practice myself. I play the trumpet and piano daily now. And it feels so good.
Sometimes I look at her expression and concentration while she's playing and can see exactly how she will look years from now. Such magic.
Thanks for your sweet comments about the video on yesterday's post. They made me smile!
Hello on this fabulously rainy Monday! You may ask why it is so fabulous that it is rainy, and I can tell you that it is fabulous because it is NOT snowing! And that was what the weatherman said would happen. But instead of more whiteness, we have lovely brown grass peeking through the last of the snow from Friday and LOTS of puddles. So yea...I'll take that over snow. Anyday.
I spent a fantabulous day in Portland yesterday with this lovely lady. She took the picture above! Yay! I went down early to search for vintage 70's high-waisted jeans (no luck), then we met for our lesson, and then we had sushi for dinner! So much fun! I brought my film camera down with some new slide film which a lovely reader dropped off with Sasa for me (thank you!!), but my battery died so the meter stopped working. I did get some shots on my digital SLR, so they will be up on my photo blog soon...
Yay for links!
I'm off to eat some delicious potato-leek soup my love prepared for our dinner tonight. Then it's a movie, a glass of wine, and some chocolate to end the night. How lovely!
Happy Monday! What are you loving this week?
We decided to give these forsythia a little nudge in blooming. I love them paired with the yellow enamel tea pot I found at the thrift store. I think I'll take another picture after they have bloomed.
I'm headed down to the big city to teach this lovely lady some photo goodness tomorrow. So much fun!
I'm still adding blogs to my sidebar, so if you don't see yours, don't panic! I'm getting there!
Listening to this song all day today.
The little one has been playing "Shave and a haircut, two bits!" for the past four days straight. So cute!
My friend just dropped off a chocolate bar for me. Sweetness, eh? How lucky I am!
Now I'm going to do settle in on this Saturday night with my love, a good movie, my chocolate bar, and three fury animals while the little one snoozes.
I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!
The little one took these just a day ago.
We were romping through the fields of dry grass, finding crocuses and sticking them in our hair.
It made me think of summer and the flower crowns we will make.
Today we are stuck inside. The snow is falling quickly and has amounted to four inches already.
We are trying to stay positive about the whole thing.
We're planning on painting today. And visiting friends nearby. And then it's pizza tonight, minus the other half of our pizza party guests because the snow is just too icky.
But painting, pizza, and lounging all day while drinking lattes and reading books sounds pretty good to me.
Sometimes something like this is just what we need to slow down, take a deep breath, and just be.
Thank you snow for giving us that.
But tomorrow you can go, okay?!
