In keeping with my resolve to write down every book I read this year, here is the next installment of “Books I Read in 2016”. For the previous one, go here.
Gardening is one of those hobbies that requires that so-called (and overrated if you ask me) virtue known as patience. It can take years to realize a vision as plants settle in, establish themselves and finally, spread out. It’s a constant work in progress, with mother nature ultimately the one in control.
My friend Anna, who is a gardener to which I dare not hold a candle to, posted a photo of her bluebells yesterday, which made me go look in the backyard for mine. I had checked last week, but there were little signs of life back there at the time. It was after all, snowing two weeks ago then warm enough for an outdoor happy hour under a blooming pink tree one week ago, so this week, there finally were signs of life all over.
Ever since I was a kid, egg rolls have been one of my favorite things about Chinese food. We’d eat Chinese takout regularly and I was always quite content to try and make a meal out of just egg rolls ( I was never allowed to succeed though, which is why I still to this day make a meal out of hot & sour soup and eggrolls). When my mother discovered egg roll wrappers at the grocery store, complete with a recipe on back, home made egg rolls became a regular in the dinner rotation and I finally was able to realize the dream of nothing but egg rolls for dinner. Continue reading
It’s officially March and the front yard looks like this:
Mostly dreary, but with crocus in bloom. Continue reading
This has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but isn’t it a rather lovely shot of a hellebore from my garden?
Inspired by all of you who keep track of what you read (and manage to share it on the interwebs), I thought I might give keeping track of what I read in a year a try. It’s February and already I feel like I’m not doing so good at that, although I did manage to make a list the other day. However, given my tendency to have lists stuck all over the house on random scraps of paper as well as my complete ability to read a book and then either completely forget I’ve read it OR remember the book itself but forget the name and the author, I’m decided I’m going to try and keep track here. According to what I remember, this is what I’ve read thus far this year: Continue reading
Friday afternoon, ten of Edie’s girlfriends came home on the bus with her to attend her birthday party, which had been postponed from last Saturday afternoon, due to the weather. Unfortunately, the change meant a few friends couldn’t make it, as neither could her father. That left me solo, refereeing eleven teen girls. Continue reading
New Years Day found us getting up bright and early to drive to Baltimore for a wedding we’d been looking forward to for some time – my cousin Molly and her beau Patrick. Edie was to do a reading in the wedding, so the idea was we’d leave early to allow time to settle in where we were staying before getting cleaned up and heading to rehearsal. Continue reading
I’ve had a long tradition, since at least college, of aspiring to make as many of the gifts I hand out at Christmas as I possibly can. In years past, this has led to a furious whirlwind of making in the days leading up to the big holiday (like the year I learned to knit and then knit a scarf for everyone on the list in just over a month), but at some point, it dawned on me to start these endeavors earlier in the year. Actually, that may have been the realization that I could give away things I’d canned over the summer and have them be well received. At any rate, I now attempt to have ideas I can carry out well before the calendar turns to December so that I’m not a complete hot mess leading up to Christmas. Because as we all know, when you are a mom, Christmas is serious work, especially when you are a working mother and you stay put at Christmas, meaning it is all on you to pull that magic out of thin air and throwing the compulsion to hand make a slew of gifts into the mix, well, that’s just a recipe for disaster.
Aunt Jenny had requested months ago I knit her a scarf, so after I finished Mollie’s birthday gift, I immediately started on this one for her. Knit of a merino wool in the hourglass eyelet pattern, it has a nice feel and stretch to it. She sent me a photo of herself wearing it Christmas day, so I think she liked it.
For some time, I’ve been kicking around the idea of printing some of my pretty bug and flower pictures on canvases – what’s the point really in taking these images if I don’t do something with them? I took advantage of some online pre-holiday specials and got at least some of my photos printed to share as gifts. I loved the way they turned out, but more importantly, I loved receiving this photo Christmas day of the gift I sent my Uncle Kevin:
My zinnia photo, already hung, right by the front door. I hope all the flower prints I sent out were as well received.
Edie girl, who has come to expect the mama-made gifts, had a whole section on her wish list of handmade items she would like to see. While I managed to outsource some of it to local crafters (like my friend Jen who was totally down with home delivering her lovely bracelets, as well as stumbling upon the sweetest ceramic gnome ornament from Tasha McKelvey), in the days before Christmas, I managed to pull of a flurry of giftmaking that made my girl quite content.
A cozy for her handle-less teamug, knit up out of scrap yarn while watching a movie one evening (the pattern inspired by one linked to by Food in Jars recently). A beaded necklace inspired by a trip to the bead section at Michael’s one day (where I always seem to think I can do that particular craft, get too ambitious, spend too much money only to come home and realize I bought all the wrong things, but maybe, just maybe since I pulled this one off and my friend Joanne, who does this sort of thing for a living (and does it well!) was kind enough to share some more than helpful hints, I might actually attempt this again?) that we debated about for a few weeks before I sat down one night and just did it. And last, but certainly not least, Mr. & Mrs. Gnome, a Wee Wonderfuls pattern that whipped up quick and easy. I used fabrics and trims from the stash, including the old coverlet from her bed for their hair (last seen in a pillow for purple moose, although I’d forgotten how that fabric really doesn’t respond well to being reused, as it’s an extremely temperamental knit) and while I might not be overly wild about the end result (I skipped a few steps I probably shouldn’t have and definitely got a little too loosey goosey with things maybe I shouldn’t have…), she adores the end result, which is sort of the point, now isn’t it?
I realized the other night as I went to bed, I’ve finished all the books and craft projects I’ve had lined up for months, clearing the deck for me in more than a few ways. The so-called ‘happy corner’ got a little cleaning attention post-holiday, so that I can jump in and hopefully spend more time making than I have in the last year or so. I’m not one for resolutions, but I’ve decided I’m going to try to and spend more time with my sewing machine this coming year than I have in the past few.
2015: The Year of the Captain. Continue reading
My garden looks rough. There’s no way around it. Granted, it’s the middle of October and everyone’s garden looks rough. August and it’s lack of rain combined with September and early October’s deluges have just left everything looking rather unfortunate. Partially inspired by an article I recently submitted for publication on the topic of how to winterize one’s garden and partially inspired by the purchase and renewal of the house behind us that has sat vacant for well over a year (and had slipped into neglect the last few years before that), I found myself with a few free hours the other day and decided to do a little bit of a clean up in my sunny perennial bed, aka, the ‘down by the side of the road’ garden. Continue reading
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 