Salvage Love

All A Blur....

2012-01-22T02:17:00.000-05:00

My son's fifth birthday party was today, and as usual, I can't remember much of what I said to anyone. I probably sounded silly and distracted, and I have a habit of stopping mid-sentence and just sort of trailing off. I used to stay awake at night going over everything I said and cringing, but now I realize that I'm not so important that people are obsessing over what I say...I hope.

I've stayed up too late. Again. I go upstairs to bed, and my husband and son are lying next to each other, in mirror image poses with arms above their heads, which makes me laugh. My husband, still wearing his clothes from the party, and obviously exhausted, doesn't move. My son whispers in his sleep, the only time he's quiet, and moves toward me, laying his head on my hip. As much as it exasperates me during the times I'm busy, I love how my children don't seem to see me as separate from their own bodies, and climb over me, press into me, and rub their lips and faces on my clothing. My son's most precious possession is a black stuffed bear toy made from my favorite sweater that he took from a laundry basket and nuzzled and burrowed into until he put a hole in it. Sometimes, he'll surreptitiously take a shirt I've worn into his room, and I'll find it later in his bed.

Now, at the start of his sixth year, he is balancing his adoration with separation. He sometimes covers his body with his hands, and no longer wants or needs my help in the bathroom. When he cried last week, he told me he wanted to be alone. I look at him, his sweet face asleep, and I sit up, leaning forward to more easily type, and he makes a soft kitten noise, moves with me and presses his cheek against my back, eyes closed and still dreaming. I know it won't last, and it shouldn't, I want him to push away from me and grow and be strong and have adventures and everything else a mother wants for her son, but just for right now, instead of carrying him to his bed, I'm going to hold my son tightly and sleep.

Naked Lunch

2011-07-06T00:18:00.001-04:00

I haven't been this excited about doing something in our home in a long time! After the birth of our daughter last March, renovations have slowed to a crawl. We have the kitchen mostly completed, but there are the little things that get left until the end and sometimes never get done, especially when you have a husband who really doesn't mind minor things, like mismatched light switches and gaps in the trim. Five years ago or so, my brother found an amazing set of vintage diner signs for sale on the side of the road and bought them. I was living in Miami at the time, but I made him promise to save me the other half of the "Lunch" sign; I would find some way to get it, I vowed. He now has his own sign hanging in his family room; these are like our version of two halves of a "BFF" necklace.

Fast forward a few years, and we're now living in an old farmhouse in Michigan, with the Lunch sign stored in our barn. My husband claimed he didn't like it, but I suspected that it was more that he was overwhelmed by how we would hang such a large, heavy sign. In my former life, I worked for an art services company that, among many things, hung artwork for museums, galleries, etc., and one of my favorite tricks is hanging heavy things with a cleat. You cut a piece of board to fit behind the object, screw it into the studs, then hang your objet d'art from the board. In this case, we cut a piece of 1x4 oak that we had in the barn, then screwed the sign directly to it through some holes that were already in the sign. It looks like it was originally lit by roping a strand of lights around each letter with some broken clamps that I removed when I was cleaning the sign. I love the idea of adding lights back to it someday, and using it as a nightlight for the kitchen.

The Fragrance of Peonies

2011-06-08T23:29:00.001-04:00

Up until this summer, I have been hesitant to cut flowers to bring into the house. Part of the reason was that I didn't know how long the blooms would last in a vase, and another part of me felt that flowers should be left outside to grow. This year, I realized that we have an abundance of flowers, and clipping a few in strategic places to bring in the house lets us enjoy them with more intimacy. Earlier this summer, I cut some sprigs of lilac and was amazed at how our home filled with the sweet fragrance. We also had a few hydrangea branches that were almost as short-lived as the lilacs, and pretty, but no scent. Tonight, I risked being devoured by mosquitoes to cut an armful of peonies before several days of predicted storms, which ruined our peonies last year. When I first walked into the house with them, I dumped them in our farmhouse sink, and loved the way they looked, spilling over the edge.

Those annoying people who think their kids are so cute...

2011-05-03T00:27:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am one of them. And I can't help laughing every time that my four-year-old son says that he "bomb-ed it" when he means that he "vomited". Maybe it's just that it's so rare now that he gets something wrong - gone are the days when he pronounced "sandwich" as "flatherch", said apples as "appoos", and called our dog Good Girl, because he thought that was her name. He used to say that the moon must love him, because it followed him wherever we went. Once he told me that the crescent moon must be really hungry, because it was so thin now. It was months later that I made the connection: a full moon and a hungry moon.

Now, he knows the truth about so many things that I wish he didn't. He tells me things that make me angry and break my heart and make me despair that I am an inadequate parent. He asks for toys and video games and candy and ice cream and soda and all of those things that I have to remember I longed for, too. He refuses to wear the expensive clothes and shoes that I buy him, things that my own parents could never afford, claiming that they're too tight or too loose, too long or too short. He tells me that he wishes I would leave our family, then cries when I go into the bathroom and he thinks I've gone. He tells me that he is a frog, then a baby cow, then a king, then a dinosaur, and when I find him asleep in his bed, he has wrapped one of my sweaters around himself, the arms of it encircling his tiny body like a phantom hug.

...

Happy Birthday, Jeffrey

2011-04-25T23:19:00.001-04:00

It's been a few years now, and I suppose it's finally sinking in that you will not somehow reappear or just call me to talk, and that I will not miss you less and my heart will not stop breaking each time I think of you. I wasn't sure if I wanted to write about you this year, because sometimes it's easier to avoid the memories. Still...

When my husband and I were married in Greece, you told me that of course you'd be there. By then, you had moved to New York, and we'd gone from seeing each other every day to weekly phone calls. When we arrived in Chios, I didn't hear anything from you, and you hadn't booked a flight, so I assumed you weren't coming. My parents and Janelle were staying in Karfas, and as we walked to the taverna to meet everyone for dinner (my mom and Janelle giggling the whole way, keeping you a surprise), there you were, looking like you'd planned this all along. Which, of course, you hadn't. You went to a travel agent in Manhattan on Monday, got a lower price for your ticket than any of us, ran home to pack your bags, and went to the airport on Monday afternoon for your flight. You had no idea where you were going, only that you needed to get to the island of Chios, got a taxi at the airport, and when the driver somehow took you to the area of Karfas Beach, you saw my mother and shouted her name. Then you got a little room with a sea view across the street from where my parents were staying. The matronly proprietress adored you and was washing your clothes for you and inviting you to dinner with her family. That night at dinner, we held hands and fawned over each other, and I saw George's dad looking at us with narrowed eyes, until he came to the likely conclusion and relaxed and smiled at you. We talked about reading "The Dogs of Babel" and quoted "I remember my wife in white" to each other. It's bittersweet to think of that now. We and the dear friends who had also made the long trip across the ocean, spent a day on scooters in the fortress village of Pyrgi, where we dreamed about owning one of the crumbly little houses, and then at my favorite beach, sunbathing on black lava rocks and wading in the breathtaking blue of the Aegean Sea. On my wedding day, I asked our florist for wildflowers and lilies, and you commiserated with me when my bouquet was a ball of roses and I cried in the melodramatic way that brides do.

Only Jeffrey, I thought. Only you would arrive with elan on an island in a country to which you'd never been, with no names, addresses or phone numbers. Only you would book a flight for a song at the last moment, find my mother within minutes of landing, get the best room at the best rate, and on a whim, continue on to other islands. Only you, in that selfless way you were famous for, would replace my wedding bouquet with an armful of achingly beautiful lilies that we put in my honeymoon suite and reminded me of how much you loved me.

Only you.

...

Proud to be a part of Indie Craft Month at Rebel Reclaimed

2010-11-28T01:31:00.001-05:00

I am super happy to have my needle felted work featured at the fantastic and amazing shop, Rebel Reclaimed, at 926 E Fulton St in Grand Rapids. If you're looking for the perfect, one-of-a-kind gift or something special for yourself, this is definitely the place to go. My husband and I are painstakingly working on our kitchen, bit by bit, using shades of aqua and persimmon. When I stopped in Rebel Reclaimed, the proprietor, Dann, had a wooden pedestal made of found wood pieces, topped with a glass cloche, that was just perfect, in the exact hues we're using in our kitchen. Here it is with a tree stump pin cushion I made for the Indie Craft Month event at Rebel Reclaimed that's going on right now.

I find something I adore every time I stop in - there are handmade folk art pieces, restored vintage finds, and repurposed and redesigned objects that make my heart beat faster. ;)

Rebel Reclaimed

Little Wicker Rocking Chair

2010-09-18T01:01:00.002-04:00

Since the last photos of the nursery were taken, I've replaced the little brown rocker with a gift from my mother: a vintage rocking chair in yellow wicker with a patchwork pillow seat. When I was a girl, I had a brown wicker rocker with a patchwork seat that I loved, but it disappeared somehow. They will neither confirm nor deny it, but I strongly suspect that my dad and brother thought the raggedy little thing was junk and burned it in one of their garage-purging sessions, so this gift was an especially sweet gesture from Mom. Here it is in my baby girl's room with an owl-print blanket I made (more on that in another post).

Mamabargains.com Balance Bike Deal

2010-07-26T01:02:00.000-04:00

I've talked about Mamabargains.com before, and I check it daily, so it's a bit of an addiction. The current deal is a wooden balance bike for $43.50 (from retail $89.99), available in pink and black. We don't have this brand, but the one my son has is very similar, and he loves it, as do all of the kids who come over to play. He's gotten really good at it and coasts around, balancing with his feet tucked behind him, and he also loves to dirtbike it around our yard, over little hills and whatever else he can find. This is a much better option than training wheels if you don't have a lot of pavement, because it can really go off-road and anywhere your kid wants to take it.

It Just Comes Naturally Now

2010-06-23T02:11:00.000-04:00

Though for most of my adult life I wasn't sure I even wanted to be a mother, save for a short time in my early twenties, which my husband (then-fiancé) salved with a tiny pitbull puppy I named Ava. Parenthood seemed so unglamourous, and for the most part, it is. Tonight, I walk through our creaking old farmhouse and glance in a bubbly mirror as I pass by and see myself with an infant on my hip, my face looking content and comfortable, and I am glad that I went for it, happy that we've been so fortunate, and constantly amazed that something so commonplace is extraordinary to me.

At 2:00 am...

2010-06-16T01:53:00.000-04:00

She's sleeping, with her lips pursed just the way I did when I was tiny. I pick her up and she arches her back, stretching. Her hair stands straight out from the back of her head in little wisps that make my chest ache. I think of her brother, when he would finish nursing with a startled, scrunched face and disheveled hair, looking like vintage Jack Nicholson. That old joke about how we begin and end life in diapers. Reminders of mortality in small moments. I think maybe this is something like how she will look when she is old, and I realize with a pang that I won't live to see that. I hope whoever does will
see just how beautiful she is.

Things That Make Me Happy

2010-06-16T01:37:00.000-04:00

1. A smiling baby face 2 inches from my own when I wake in the morning.
2. A little boy flexing his muscles in an inflatable pool.
3. My husband making woo-hoo noises at me when I change into my pajamas.
4. Raw cookie dough.
5. Reading a new book late at night.
6. Rereading an old book and being surprised by things I've forgotten.
7. Looking for treasures in a thrift shop.
8. People who laugh loudly and without inhibition.
9. The scent of lilacs.
10. Donating money to the causes that are most important to me.
11. Dreaming about realistic goals, such as owning a small, crumbly house in my favorite village in Greece.
12. Dreaming unrealistically, such as playing Penelope Cruz's role in "Nine".
13. Sleeping late.
14. Buying apple butter from a roadside stand at an Amish farm.

Spring Reading List Recap

2010-06-14T00:41:00.002-04:00

Things My Son Has Said (And I Found Amusing)

2010-06-02T01:23:00.000-04:00

1. Mama, you are splendid.
2. You're a genius, Mom! (in response to a very minor fix to one of his toys)
3. Mom, when the baby goes back in your belly, we can go for a bike ride.
4. Jackson and I both drink dog water.

Happy Birthday, Jeffrey D

2010-04-25T10:55:00.002-04:00

Do you remember how we used to walk our pitbulls down the sidewalk and terrorize the unnecessary bouncers at that pretentious bar, Grass? You called it "Ass". You were always so indignant about pretension, and would travel coach with your Louis Vuitton bags. I loved that about you. I also loved how you would wear a pair of white jeans and let them drag in the dirt and not worry about keeping them immaculate. I emulate you in these ways, so as not to take myself so seriously. You could be extremely self-conscious, but you taught me how to laugh at so many things, without being cruel. We would go to a nice sushi restaurant in our paint-covered clothes and dried sweat and sit outside and drink margaritas for you and Thai iced teas for me. You taught me how to eat edamame and laughed your teeth out when I first picked up one of the pods you had already emptied and put it in my mouth. We shopped at Saks in leather flip-flops and cut-off jeans and spent hours in Target, perusing every aisle. We bought old houses a few blocks away from each other in a gritty neighborhood in Miami and prided ourselves on living there and loving it just as it was. I just read in Elle Decor that there is now a Christian Louboutin store a few blocks away from where we lived, and it crushes my heart that I can't call you and tell you that so we can cackle over our prescience. We fought like mad and just as quickly let things go, like children do. You were my best friend, my brother, and my sister. Once you told me that in a past life, you were an aristocrat, and I was your servant, which infuriated me then, and makes me laugh now. I called you "Princess" to get under your skin, then I noticed you changed your ebay ID to "honkytonkprincess", and I realized you secretly loved it.

You met my son once, and I'm so thankful for that. I always thought my children would grow up with you in their lives, and it breaks my heart that they will miss out on knowing such an amazing person and such an incredible heart. When I point to you in a photograph, my son calls you "Mommy's Jeffrey". I took for granted that you would always be in my life, because I knew that our love was so big, that nothing we could say or do would ever be bigger than that. For months after you died, I felt you in my baby's bedroom at night, and I kept telling you not to appear in the dark or you would scare me to death, but I never saw you at night or in the daylight. Sometimes, when I was driving on a sunny day and a Prince song was playing, you were in the passenger seat with me. You went a lot of places with me the summer after you died. I saw you in my dreams and even in those dreams, we both knew you were gone from this world. I don't see you or feel you as often any more, and I hope that means that you were able to move on, and that you and Petunia are walking together somewhere beautiful. I hope Petunia has lots of seagulls to chase and you have designer shoes to wear, and I hope you know how madly you were adored by me and by everyone else who thought of you as their one, true, soulmate friend. I will never stop missing you and I will never stop loving you, Jeffrey.

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

2010-04-11T00:29:00.004-04:00

Today was one of those magic days, where everything is ordinary but seems so special. From the morning spent in bed with my husband, my son, and my baby, giggling and wrestling and playing "monster under the covers", to finding my husband and son asleep in the rocking chair upstairs, a Curious George book open on their laps. The baby shared the first smiles of her life with us today. My son and I walked outside in the sun, searching for frogs in our small pond, and counted the seven goldfish and one koi in the larger fountain, while baby sister napped in my arms. We ate spinach & feta pizza and chicken wings and licked homemade barbeque sauce from our fingers. My son wore his first ever red koolaid moustache. My husband and son built train tracks on the floor, while the baby laughed out loud in her sleep. Tonight, we visited our neighbors in the evening and walked back in the dark along the gravel road, with a flashlight to guide us home.

....

Winter Reading List

2010-04-11T00:23:00.000-04:00

In the Pink

2010-03-10T22:47:00.010-05:00

I had about 2 weeks notice that we needed to change our nursery from blue to pink. At first, I was thrilled, and then I panicked. I chose the pear green paint color because I knew it would be fine for both genders, but I had always planned on having months to make the changes from blue and boyish themes to pink and more feminine details, if it worked out that way. However, our baby girl kept curling her legs under and didn't want it known until the last possible minute that she would be needing a nursery makeover. Luckily, I am (more than) a bit mad, and have been stockpiling those "just in case" girl items for years, so I had a Dwell for Target bedding set in "Farm Girl" with all of the accessories (bought super-cheap on clearance, of course), some wall decals that I picked up because I thought they were cute, the birdie mobile, and the little mushroom nightlight. My husband spray-painted the wooden number/letter set on the wall by the rocker, and I found the hatbox set and lampshade on Land of Nod's website. My mother gave me the vintage milk glass lamp years ago; I've been storing it, waiting for the perfect place to use it in this house. I also found a pink and white tole chandelier for $20, but my photos of that didn't turn out well, so I have to wait for another sunny day and try again.
For the curtains, I found exactly what I wanted at Pottery Barn in pink velvet. The nursery is in the northwest corner of our drafty old farmhouse and can get really chilly without heavy drapes, so I like to use velvet or lined silk in the bedrooms. I told one of my childhood friends the cost for all three windows, and she shamed me into making them myself with candy-pink velvet I purchased on eBay, for a savings of more than $150.00. Once I got going, they really weren't difficult to make, and I finished all three panels in a few hours. I think the color is actually prettier than the PB ones, and the fabric is a nice, heavy cotton velvet, too.

We moved the Mary Blair "Small World" tapestry that was above the changing table to my son's bedroom, and replaced it with the decals. I also have plans to needlefelt some little birds and make a sort of mobile above it.

Not So Out of This World

2010-02-27T21:19:00.016-05:00

It took more than two months, but I completed the quilt I've been working on for my son, and I was so excited to give it to him. While I was sewing, he would ask, "It's a special blanket for ME?!?", so I thought he was going to love it. While he was at preschool, I went into his room and made up the bed with his new quilt, then told him I had a surprise for him when we got home. He ran up the stairs and into his room, filled with excitement, then stopped and said, "Um, I don't really like quilts, Mom."

Sigh.

So, for the last week, he's been making nests out of his old baby blankets and throwing my quilt off of his bed. Then, after putting my son to sleep tonight, my husband came down the stairs and told me that he said, "I'm cold - I want my quilt, Dad!" Maybe all of those late nights and pricked fingers weren't a huge waste of time after all...

If you're looking for modern or whimsical fabrics, I highly recommend Fabricworm. I shopped from Etsy, but they have a separate website, too. Cynthia & Andrea are super helpful, answer and ship quickly, and Cynthia helped me immensely with the fabrics for this quilt, even putting together and taking pics of the ones I liked, so I could see how they looked before I bought everything. It's difficult for me to see separate pages of fabrics and visualize how they'll look assembled, so I can't thank Cynthia enough for that.

Here's a close-up of the fabric and the borders and binding I added. I started with a pattern for a lap quilt, and used that for the basic layout with the double border and changed the dimensions to make it a twin. I also bought a book, Better Homes & Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting, that had detailed instructions for rotary cutting the squares and the border/binding strips, how to attach the binding, etc. which was very useful, since I had just been winging it before. I'm still not very precise, and I can't sew a straight line to save my life, but luckily, I like things to look handmade.

Sweets For My Sweet

2010-02-18T20:55:00.005-05:00

I finished the felted sugar cookies shortly after I made the oatmeal cookies and am just now getting around to posting the pics. These are really simple to make with a round cookie cutter, some natural, undyed wool, and a few candy colors for frosting. I use a multi-needle tool to make the initial cookie shape quickly, then finish with single needles.

After "eating" all of his cookies, my son said he was very thirsty...

Tea Party

2010-02-06T22:35:00.005-05:00

While cooking at his wooden kitchen playset, my son asked me where were his cookies. I've been meaning to needle felt him a few cookies for months (and months!), so I felt a twinge of guilt, then put them on my mental "projects list". Nevermind that my husband says I don't need any more projects, since I'm currently sewing a quilt, needle-felting a doll, and working at my Stella & Dot jewelry business, all while renovating our kitchen. I like it this way, I tell him.

So, one night, I felted two oatmeal raisin cookies, though the husband (he has quite a few opinions, doesn't he?) said they looked like chocolate chip. I don't like chocolate chip, so I say they're oatmeal raisin, though I can see how they could be either. In the morning, my son was thrilled, and decided to have a tea party with the cookies. Since his main interests are cars, trains, machines, and demolition, I was pretty pleased that he was so excited and took literally 54 photos of him playing. Sadly, uploading those pics is still on that mental "projects list", so I'll have to post those later...

In Another Life

2010-02-03T19:57:00.005-05:00

Lately, my three-year-old son has started saying to me, "You're my best mommy ever!" Tonight, I asked, "Exactly how many mommies have you had?"
"Two," he replied.
"Who was your first mommy?"
"It was you!"
"So I wasn't that great the first time around?"
"Yes, you was!" he laughed.
"But I'm better at it this time?"
"Yes!"

I just love the idea of lifetimes of being this happy, trying to get it right with this kid, and each time, being his "best mommy ever".

...

Right On the Money

2010-01-28T00:55:00.002-05:00

My husband had the day off today, so he spent it with my son, taking him to his class at the library, lunch, shopping for toy cars, etc. I went to an appointment, had lunch with a friend, then went shopping. And shopping. And shopping. Everywhere I went, it seemed like everything was on clearance, and I am not the kind of girl who can resist things marked down to $2. I finally came home, hours later than I said I would be, and found that this was my Yahoo horoscope for today:

Still not ready to quit shopping? Still patrolling the malls, local specialty stores and boutiques in search of just the right price on the perfect accessory? Well, fine, if it makes you happy. But you ought to consider that you'll probably want to have a couple of bucks left over to pick up something nice for your sweetie. Bring the spree that wouldn't die to a close now. While you still have some available credit.

Charmed

2010-01-25T22:58:00.002-05:00

I woke up to blue lights flashing in my eyes and a siren wailing in my bedroom. My three-year-old was holding a sounds-and-lights Lego Duplo piece about 2 inches from my eyes, saying, "Time to get up, Mom!" I am so not a morning person...

..............................................................................................................................................................................

Then we had a little potty-training incident this morning, and my stubborn toddler asked me, "Are you happy, Mom?". "Not right now," I replied, "I'm disappointed." "No," he said with this earnest expression on his little bitty face, "you're my great mom. You're so happy. I think you're happy, Mom." And just like that, I was.

Stella & Dot New Spring Line

2010-01-14T14:48:00.014-05:00

The new spring line jewelry from Stella & Dot is up on my site, and I adore every piece! The theme for the line is Passport To Style, with 4 mini collections: Sayulaita, San Tropez, India, and Palm Beach. Everything is really on-trend for the Spring, with the main runway trends being braiding, mixed metals, blushed colors, and insects. Anyone in the U.S. or Canada can shop online from my website. And if you're interested in hosting a trunk show or want more information about becoming a Stella & Dot Stylist, I'd love to hear from you. Any Stylist who signs on in January receives an extra $100 in free jewelry!

Braiding:

Colette Necklace $138

Josephine Pearl Lariat $98

Mixed Metals:

Riviera Pendant Necklace $59

Avery Chains & Pearl Necklace $69

Blushed Colors:

Uma Dyed Silk Wrap Necklace $49

Priya Flower Pendant Necklace $59

Insects:

Boca Necklace with Bee Brooch $98

Bloom Flower Ring with Pave Ladybug $39

Rotary Cutting Rocks

2010-01-11T23:36:00.004-05:00

So, cutting strips and squares with a
rotary cutter is definitely the way to go. I'm sure this is old news for experienced quilters, but it was truly a revelation to me when I saw how straight and even my cuts are and how quickly I could cut out the 130 squares I need for this quilt. Hopefully, this will help my columns line up better than they did when I was hand-cutting everything.

This is the first row I assembled. My son is very interested in the whole process, and keeps asking me, "This is a special blanket for my big boy bed? For ME?" I'm loving that I told him it was a quilt, and he's calling it a "special blanket" and saying "for ME" like he can't believe it's for him. There is such a thing as too much interest, of course, as I discovered tonight when I couldn't figure out why my machine was working so slowly, then realized it was because someone had adjusted my speed settings...

Space-Themed Quilt WIP

2009-12-09T17:47:00.005-05:00

I have been MIA for a while, but wanted to post a quick pic of my latest project, which is a quilt for my son. These are most of the fabrics I'm using to make a quilt for him, now that he's officially graduated to the "big boy bed". I've made quilts before, but I didn't know what I was doing. I just cut a bunch of squares, sewed them together, and added batting and some backing fabric. This time, I bought a book, have a pattern for a throw-sized quilt that I'm using for a guideline, and am armed with a rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat. I'll post more photos of my progress, which will hopefully not be too painful...

Needle Felted Kitty

2009-11-09T20:00:00.005-05:00

My latest needle felted project was a little espresso cat for my mom's sister. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it for my first try at an animal. I remembered to take work-in-progress photos, too, so you can see how I started out with a pipe-cleaner armature, then wrapped wool around that, so the cat is partially poseable. Besides adding enough wool to fill out the shape of the body, all that was left were little bits of pink for the ears and nose and some green for the eyes. It's amazing how the projects that look the simplest, though, are often the most difficult to finish. Making objects like a cupcake or a cheeseburger doesn't require attention to anatomy and proportion, which is something I haven't worked on in 3-D since my college sculpture classes...

Bath Before & After

2009-10-06T20:27:00.008-04:00

One of the first projects we tackled was the downstairs bathroom. My husband claimed that it made the most sense, because it would be quick and easy. We started in the spring, and we intended to be finished in enough time to spend the rest of the summer working on the kitchen (which we have still not even begun, two years later). The plan was to strip the wallpaper, paint, and install a new toilet, countertop, sink, faucet, and light fixtures. Unfortunately, I started pulling down the wallpaper behind the tub, and the entire wall was water-damaged from a leak in the roof. The water was running down the back side of the wall when it rained and the wallpaper was hiding the staining, so we and the previous owners had no idea. So, all of the tile around the tub had to come down, then the wall behind that, and part of the ceiling. We also had to get the roof repaired. After the repairs were completed, my husband re-tiled the tub surround, put in new bath fixtures, and replaced the 1970's yellow formica with a new granite counter and a porcelain sink from Home Depot (free shipping to our porch!). Of course, the standard-size countertop was too big for the built-in oak cabinet, so he made it work by cutting into the wall and sliding the entire thing back into the wall, then installing the backsplash against the walls where it should be, and it worked out.

I found some old trim in the attic that I cleaned with our air compressor and spray painted white, which we then added as a crown molding after I had painted the walls an icy aqua. I bought a chrome shower curtain rod designed for a clawfoot tub, and we hung that so the shower could be used. I found the shower curtain and the rug in Anthropologie's sale section and bought the fixtures on eBay. It was hard to get good photos in such a small space, but I think you get the gist. And I still can't figure out why someone thought this tiny bathroom needed two doors...

Think Pink with Stella & Dot

2009-10-01T18:09:00.008-04:00

I am all about donating to and supporting charities, so I'm really excited about this offer from Stella & Dot jewelry! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In support, Stella & Dot will donate 20% of net sales of items in our Pink Boutique to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The donation applies to all items featured in the Pink Boutique from October 1-31, 2009. Click the below link to visit the Pink Boutique on my online shop.

Stella & Dot Pink Boutique

Cupcake Party

2009-09-29T21:27:00.007-04:00

This weekend, one of my childhood friends had a cupcake-themed party for her daughter's 1st birthday. I was in Chicago for a Stella & Dot workshop and had to miss it, which was too bad, because my husband and son said the food was amazing: sweet cupcakes of all kinds, meatloaf cupcakes with piped mashed potato "icing", and macaroni and cheese cupcakes. Heavenly!

For her gift, I bought the sweet birthday girl a hoodie from Gymboree with cupcake pockets and made her a little needle-felted cupcake for her tea set. I started with a sort of ball-shape from my all-purpose undyed white wool, then flattened the bottom and sides, trying to make the bottom a little smaller than the top, for that cupcake shape. Next was a layer of bubblegum pink over the sides of the cupcake (where the paper liner would be), and a thin layer of my toast-colored wool over that, so it would look like it had been baked. I then got to work felting vertical lines all the way around the sides to form the ridges of the "paper liner". This is tedious and I really had to pay attention to make the lines somewhat straight, but it was necessary for the look I was going for. After that was finished, I took tufts of fuchsia wool and laid them out on my foam pad, felted them together, and folded over the edges to make a flattened "blob" shape. This was draped over the rounded top of the cupcake and felted into place to make the icing.

The little rose was constructed the same way I made Flapjack's scarf - a few layers of wool felted together in a long, rectangular shape. I rolled this piece tightly and attached it to the top of the cupcake. Then, two small leaves were easily made and felted next to the flower. If you were making a cupcake for an older child, it would be adorable to also add beads to the top for sprinkles.

The Things I Gave Up for You

2009-09-17T23:48:00.004-04:00

A list for my son:

1. Going to the bathroom alone.
2. Days spent at the salon.
3. Long afternoons at the bookstore.
4. Sleeping in.
5. My career.
6. Watching movies on opening weekend.
7. Not having to share everything I eat or drink.
8. Smudge-free windows, doors, and mirrors.
9. Wearing 3-inch heels every day.
10. Discomfort about bodily fluids and feces.
11. Needing an alarm clock.
12. Generalized selfishness.
13. A limited capacity for love.
14. Doubt about my purpose in life.
15. Associating a paycheck with self-worth.
16. Looking at the world with jaded eyes.
17. Everything I thought was important, and nothing that truly was.

Felted Flapjack

2009-09-12T17:06:00.007-04:00

My son loves (okay, and my husband and I do, too) "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" on the Cartoon Network. Flapjack is a cherubic little boy whose best friend is a cranky old sailor named Captain K'nuckles. Flapjack sleeps in the mouth of his adopted mother, a whale named Bubbie. The gist of the show is that Flapjack & K'nuckles spend most of their time trying to find and eat candy and searching for the elusive "Candied Island".

For the felted Flapjack, I started with a snowball-sized bunch of white wool and formed it into a hard ball. I then flattened it a little here and there, making more of a head shape for Flapjack. Then I felted a short cylinder and attached to it 4 thinner cylinders to make the arms and legs. I covered the body in pinky-tan wool (it's actually the toast color I bought to make hamburger buns). That part was very difficult to do over the arms and legs, especially the fingers. Next time I make a doll, I'll go ahead and construct the arms and legs from the wool I'm using for the skin color, rather than trying to cover the white wool on such small areas. I use the white wool as a core for construction because it costs less than the dyed wools. For the eyes, I made white discs and attached them to the head, and a small ball and two half-circles from the tan wool for the nose and ears. I had some wavy yellow wool, so the hair was just a matter of placing the curls where I wanted them and attaching them to the head. I made the hat with a flattened circle and a ball with a divot, and the scarf was felted in a long thin shape, then tied around his neck. I finished the details by choosing the colors I needed, cutting the fibers to size and arranging them where I wanted them, then felting to attach. Another thing I wish I'd done differently is give him a pipe cleaner endoskeleton so he could be posed more easily. A wire armature would have also given the legs more strength to support a massive head like Flapjack's. It works okay as-is, but if anyone is thinking of making his/her own Flapjack, I would recommend using the pipe cleaners.

Hello, Gorgeous!

2009-09-08T17:44:00.003-04:00

After we moved from Miami to Michigan, I assumed that I would be giving up one of my loves: big, sexy tropical flowers. I planted a little hibiscus tree that grew tall and continuously bloomed outside my kitchen window in Florida, and it was one of my favorite things in the garden. My plan for after the move was to console myself with armfuls of fragrant lilacs and visions of bushes full of hydrangeas.

However, each spring, a strange looking plant snakes out of the ground and slowly winds its way upward, growing taller the entire summer. Then, in late August, I am greeted by the sight of eight gigantic, crimson hibiscus flowers, peeking at me from behind the other, traditionally Midwestern plants and flowers. This is one of my favorite things about living in an old house - the continuous surprises, like gifts from a person who lived here before me.

Mamabargains.com

2009-09-05T15:46:00.002-04:00

I'm addicted to the discount site Mamabargains.com. The couple who run the site post a heavily discounted parenting or child-related item at random times of the day, and when that item runs out of stock, a new one goes up. So far I've seen infant carriers, baby clothing, Halloween costumes, and toy sets. Right now there is the cutest little t-shirt and pants set in soft cotton, priced at $13.00 - a 72% discount from the retail price of $48.00. It's a lot of fun to check out the home page whenever I have a minute, because I never know what will be for sale and, if I like it, if there will be any left.

http://www.mamabargains.com//

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

2009-08-27T18:12:00.007-04:00

This summer, my son and I found some vintage books at a garage sale. One of them was The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton from 1942, which won the Caldecott Medal that year. I love how old children's books have pages made from really thick paper and the way the illustrations seem so much richer. My two-year-old really enjoys the story of the little pink house, which starts out in an idyllic country setting, then suffers as the years go by and urban sprawl consumes "the field of daisies and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight". Burton's depiction of the city is dirty and dreary, and while that's not my memory of living in the city - a part of my life I loved - it's a sweet reminder of the beauty of a rural setting: watching the light change as the sun makes its daily progression across the sky, the leaves turning brilliant hues in autumn, being able to see so many stars at night, and yes, our apple trees swaying in the wind.

Felted Pear

2009-08-17T19:31:00.005-04:00

My family and I met my friend, her husband, and their baby daughter for sushi recently. All was going smoothly until I went to remove my son from his car seat and realized that the blanket he'd had wrapped around him was hiding his bare feet (!). Luckily, there was a Shoe Carnival nearby, so we bought the only shoes they had in his size, which happened to be a nerdy little pair of boat shoes that my husband loved. I always joke that if it looks like something Charlie Brown would wear, then my husband will want it in his wardrobe.

This was the same friend for whom I had made the needle-felted pear that I mentioned a few posts ago. She graciously brought along the pear, and I took a photo of it next to one of their sushi orders. Then my son pulled off the stem, so I owe my friend some repair work next time I see her. If only everything he broke were so easy to fix...

Athena's Burger

2009-08-11T21:52:00.006-04:00

A friend in Canada asked for a needle-felted cheeseburger for her daughter, Athena. I didn't have any more of the cheddar colored wool and instead felted a little slice of Swiss. A tomato was also requested for the menu, so Athena will have lots of options when she assembles a burger. As you can see, it's comically tall when it's put all together, but that's not something children worry about. I love the kid concoctions that happen when friends and family come over and play with my son's kitchen. For example, my nephew will attach the halves of a carrot and a pear and make a "pearrot".

A Rainy Saturday...

2009-08-08T15:50:00.003-04:00

My son will always find ways to amuse himself on a rainy day, whether it's chasing the dogs in circles around the dining room table or driving Matchbox cars around the ring of dirt in our potted palm tree. Today, he is wearing a Yo Gabba t-shirt, socks, and a plastic Viking helmet while eating a frozen Hot Pocket that he took from the freezer and refused to let me cook (we have one of those easy-toddler-access bottom drawers), and occasionally yelling, "Raaaargh! I a VIKING!".

~

A Little Bird Book

2009-07-28T20:03:00.004-04:00

Two of our closest friends, who live in San Francisco, sent my son the sweetest little book of photographs about an abandoned bird named "Pepito". There is very little text in the book, only a page of introduction and four words on the second-to-last page. The photographs are beautiful and show the story of Pepito as he gets bigger and stronger. My son and I look at the photos and talk about what is happening in each one, and it's such fun to hear the narrative from a child's perspective. I like the idea of very little (or no) text, too, because it's a book that can be shared with anyone, regardless of language barriers.

Pepito by Eduardo Soler at Blurb.com's bookstore

Needle Felted Flower & Bird

2009-07-25T22:07:00.004-04:00

I made a pincushion for my friend's birthday that looked like a little yellow pear, but I am very forgetful and never remember to photograph things before I give them away. In lieu of photos of the pear, I'm posting pics of some older pieces I finished. The first one is a large pink flower that can be a brooch or attached to a handbag or knit cap. The second is a robin sitting on three eggs in a nest, the purpose of which apparently is for my son to carry around the house, then leave on the floor somewhere for his puppy to chew on. It's been repaired a few times since this photo was taken, but it still looks pretty good.

And It's Only Tuesday

2009-07-21T16:33:00.002-04:00

This morning went along like a typical day with my son, involving messes like orange juice in the button divots of the ottoman and an entire foam-rubber alphabet plus the numbers 0 through 9 displayed on the living room floor. The ultimate adrenalin-rush happened when I found him dangling by his fingertips from the top of the large metal birdcage in our sunroom, and unable to reach him in time, watched the entire thing tip forward in the direction of a large, glass-fronted cabinet. It was atypical of him, but he fell clear of the entire thing, and received for his efforts only a small scratch on his knee, and there is a minor scrape on the bottom of the cabinet. A few inches either way, and there'd have been broken glass or little toddler legs cut by sharp metal or both. The scratch on my son is in good company with the six bruises, twelve scabs, and three other scrapes currently decorating his legs.

I decided we'd spend the second half of the day outside, and it went something like a Calvin and Hobbes sandbox strip. It'll be okay if my husband doesn't ask me what happened to all of the water in his goldfish pond...

~

The Secret Language of Toddlers

2009-07-15T11:45:00.004-04:00

I seem to be the only person who can understand my son. This morning, when he said, "Mama, I uh show you the bih pie-yer!", I knew that he said, "Mama, I'm going to show you the big spider!". Luckily for me, he thinks that the smallest of bugs is a "giant pie-yer!". Last night, he had a phone conversation with my dad that went something like this:

Grampa! I uh die-yo-sore! He angwy! Roooaaaarrrr! He sweeping now. Grampa! I rye my Grator outside! I pih the ticks and uh to the Holy Mokes! And the carry backfire! Goo-nite! I wuv you.

Loosely translated:

Grandpa! I have a dinosaur! He's angry! Roooaaaarrrr! [wraps up the plastic dinosaur in a damp dishtowel] He's sleeping now. Grandpa! I ride my Gator outside. I pick up sticks and take them to the Holy Smokes (the fire pit)! And there was scary backfire*! Good night! I love you.

*a miles-away neighbor was target practicing with a shotgun

-

Bedroom Before & After

2009-07-13T15:11:00.009-04:00

When we decided my son was old enough, we moved him across the hall from the nursery to his "big boy room". This room was another series of stripping wallpaper, removing carpet, and floor refinishing. I found a ufo graphic online that I liked, and sketched it out on the wall with chalk, then filled it in with grey paint. The alien and the robot are outlines of an Uglydoll and a robot softie that my son sleeps with. He also has a little ghost/goblin named "Blah!" that he asked me to paint, so I plan to add that and another, smaller ufo.

The rocker was a vintage find from my mother, and I plan to rewire the old metal Saturn lamp. We'll swap out the crib for a farmhouse-style twin bed soon, but the toddler rail made the transition to the new room easier for my son. And it's not pictured, but I inherited from a friend a 1960's "flying saucer" glass pendant lamp and hard-wired it where there was a ceiling fixture. Kids' rooms are so much fun to do, and they're the only rooms in the house where I don't mind having a bit of a theme.

Baked Apples

2009-07-06T20:59:00.004-04:00

I think we've already established that I'm not much of a cook, so it should be no surprise that two of my three baked apples split in half. I bought these cute little dishes from one of the women who grew up in our home (and whose daughter babysits our son - small town!), and she said her mother made baked apples in them. They're signed and dated '73 on the bottom - her mother was a painter, so I'm guessing they were from a ceramist friend. I love all things 70's, and I also like the history of happiness that small objects can carry. When my son asked me about the dishes, I told him that the children who lived here before him ate baked apples from them. He said, "Oh!" in that sweet way toddlers do.

I do not own an apple corer, so I stabbed a knife around the core and popped them out (which is probably why two of them broke). Then I stuffed some raisins in the center and sprinkled brown sugar and a little cinnamon on top. I didn't have any apple juice to pour in the bottoms of the dishes (to keep the apples from drying), so I used orange juice. As per my vintage Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I peeled the skins from the tops and baked them at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. My son , squeezed between my husband and me on our small wicker sofa in the sun room, devoured his with some vanilla ice cream. My husband complained that I left the skins on, but I thought mine was delicious, with the skin just a little tart from the orange juice.

Bicycle Trail

2009-07-02T21:59:00.003-04:00

I used to ride my bike a lot when I lived in Miami - to the pharmacy drive-through, around the neighborhood with friends, to the Post Office (back in the olden days, before Click-N-Ship), and to buy barbeque sandwiches and watermelon soda from the guy who worked a bbq stand from his pickup truck. In the summer, it was way too hot to ride during the day, so we'd go in the evenings, when it was a cool 85 degrees or so. If we wanted to ride on a trail, there was a flat, baking-hot loop of concrete that went through Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park - if you wanted the off-road experience, I guess you could try riding over one of the many alligators that sun themselves along the path.

During Michigan summers, it's rarely too hot for me to ride my bike, and there's definitely a shorter season for it, but there are some really pretty trails, with trees, rivers, and hills. We leave the truck at one of the parks, ride the trail around into the downtown area, get ice cream or visit with friends, then ride through town back to the park. I would say it's perfect if the summer in Michigan lasted longer and I weren't wearing an undershirt, long-sleeved shirt, and cardigan as I type this. In July.

Greek Potato Salad

2009-06-29T20:27:00.003-04:00

I readily admit to not being very talented in the kitchen. When I try, I really really try, and the results are usually tasty, but not always pretty. When I don't try, it's frozen ravioli baked in the oven with some shredded cheese melted on top. However, I do like good food, and my mother-in-law made this salad when she was here last month. I thought it was a fantastic alternative to the mayo-heavy traditional fare we usually eat in the Midwest. She called this "potato salad" (only she said it in Greek, of course) and it was especially refreshing on a hot day.

Ingredients:

Some boiled potatoes, peeled and quartered
Olive oil
White vinegar
Chopped raw onions (fresh tomato is nice, too)
Salt
Pepper

Start with the potatoes and onions (or tomatoes) in a bowl. Add olive oil and vinegar to coat, toss in a little salt and pepper, and enjoy!

(extra)Ordinary Summer Days

2009-06-25T17:40:00.002-04:00

It helps, when I am missing my former life and career, to remember that on an ordinary Thursday at 2:00, I would be glaring at the little clock on my computer and wishing it were 6:00 already. I would not, for example, be lying on a beach chair next to my son's pool, sipping sweet tea and reading a book, while my boy, laughing and naked, chases our dog on the lawn.

Sandbox Driver

2009-06-22T00:19:00.004-04:00

My husband built our son a sandbox that's designed to look like a car. He used scrap wood he found in our barn and a couple of new boards from the local lumber store. He added a few coats of orange opaque stain, and I painted some headlights, taillights, and tires to finish the look. It reminds me a bit of a vintage Land Cruiser. We parked it off to the side of the garage in the shade of a gigantic spruce. The kid is so happy with it that he woke up this morning asking for the sandbox, so I'm either going to have a big problem or a wonderful diversion on my hands. Knowing my boy, it'll be a healthy dose of both.

Weekend in June

2009-06-17T23:48:00.006-04:00

Over the weekend, we traveled north for my cousin's Open House. My aunt and uncle's home is a picturesque farmhouse with a pond, cute animals, and lots of room to play. My son had his first real horse ride, and he was ecstatic! He has this loud, delighted laugh that sounds like one of David Bowie's goblins from the Labyrinth, and I find it adorable (or annoying if he's laughing at me trying to get him dressed). Someone even brought along a baby raccoon that had been abandoned, and my niece was allowed to feed it from a dropper. I wish I'd thought to take a photo of it; its little hands were so sweet.

During the drive home, my husband and I talked about how the day reminded us why we'd moved to Michigan: to be near family and to give my son the kind of day when the smile never leaves his face, even after his sleepy eyes droop closed before we've even left the driveway.

2009-06-14T23:24:00.004-04:00

June in Michigan has been unseasonably cold and it's not really felt much like summer. Also, we've had too much rain and now most of the peonies are lying on the grass like drunken debutantes.

Needle Felted Bracelet

2009-06-13T13:43:00.006-04:00

I'm currently working on painting a ufo, an alien, and a robot on the walls of my son's new bedroom, so I don't yet have photos to share of that room. The best time to work on it is when the kid is napping, but since he sleeps in his bedroom, that doesn't really work out....

In the meantime, I'm posting pics of a few needle felted objects I've done. This was my first attempt at a bracelet. I'm working on another one that's supposed to be a gift for my girlfriend, but it looks like a big cupcake right now (too many candy colors), so I'm not sure if I should just start over or keep working at it. It has coral wool yarn, aqua dyed wool, and coral glass beads on it, which may be why it's looking more like a confection than jewelry. For the one pictured, I kept it simple by adding strands of dyed wool to the band.

Play Room Before and After

2009-06-10T11:23:00.010-04:00

This is actually the third room that I restyled, but the bathroom is not fit to be photographed, so I'm skipping it for now. This room is an upstairs bedroom that was originally part of the second-level attic (there is also a third level attic) and was converted in the 70's to create a fourth bedroom to accommodate the previous owners' four children. Since it wasn't part of the original living space, there was no plank flooring under the pea-soup carpet, just plywood subfloor. I wanted to lay hardwood, but carpet was less expensive and easier to install, and as my husband pointed out, cozier for on-the-floor playing (for the kids, not us).

This wasn't a high-priority room, so I did my best to use furnishings we already owned. The old slate chalkboard was in the upstairs landing, along with the vintage desk, and a schoolhouse light fixture that I convinced my crabby electrician brother to move into the play room. There's also a huge bookcase that was in the room we use as a master bedroom, which we screwed into the wall and filled with toys and books.

The curtains were made from fabric that a friend bought for me
years ago from the Ikea in New York when I was living in Miami and had never heard of Ikea. For wall art, I opened boxes that we'd never unpacked and found prints and a vintage linen childrens book and put them in inexpensive frames. I also used some self-adhesive racing stripes that I found at Lowes for a few bucks. Add jalepeno paint, one excited kid, and his Plan City, and we now have a Play Room.

A Peony from Our Garden

2009-06-08T21:33:00.004-04:00

This is a peony that my son picked. When I told him that he hurt the flower, he asked it, "Are you alright?" Then said to me, "He's alright, Mama." Then when I put it in water, he said again, "See, he's alright." Can't argue with that logic.

Nursery Before and After

2009-06-05T16:16:00.010-04:00

We bought our 1870's farmhouse two years ago, loving all of the details: the beautiful crown molding in the living room, the carved oak leaves on the fireplace in the library (a library!), and the fountains in the yard. So much so that I was able to delude myself into thinking it would be no problem to deal with the acres of wallpaper that cover every wall surface, including the insides of the closets, or the circa 1973 carpeting that hid the pine plank flooring upstairs.

The first room I tackled was the nursery. The wallpaper was extremely difficult to remove, and I spent weeks soaking the walls and scraping off the paper, piece by piece. I left the carpet on the floor while I worked, and after I had painted the room pear green, my husband and I tore out the carpeting, he sanded the floors lightly with a rented orbital sander, and I applied several layers of glossy polyurethane.

Gloss because it's easy to clean, wears longer than satin, and because I like the brightness of the light reflecting off the floor. Light dies in matte surfaces, which is one of the (many) reasons I dislike wall-to-wall carpet. That, and the chocolate-milky water you get after you shampoo it, even if it looks clean.

I'm happy with the room now, which is bright and cheerful. Also, the color is easy enough to work with when we decide to change the room for another use.

Needle Felted Cheeseburger

2009-06-01T16:33:00.005-04:00

My son has a great love for cheeseburgers and ketchup (also fruit, cheese, yoghurt, and most foods in general). He has a wooden toy kitchen with a slippery wood burger that would always slide out of his hands and hit the floor. I needle felted a burger for him, and since the wool is "sticky", he can cook, reassemble, and pretend to eat it without howling in frustration. My husband calls it "The McRoyal".

A Day At the Farm

2009-05-29T22:39:00.006-04:00

My son and I spent the afternoon at a farm. It's the childhood home of my best friend from elementary school; she and I fell in love over My Little Ponies in third grade at Catholic School. In the barn, there is the sweetest little black calf named Henry, who was abandoned by his mother and is being fed by bottle. We were able to give him his 1:00 feeding, and my son was thrilled! Hands-down the cutest thing I've seen in a long time - my happy little boy feeding a fuzzy baby cow a bottle of milk.

In the pasture, there's a pond where we used to swim with the horses on hot days when we were young. The kids splashed and caught tadpoles and filled their boots with water, while the dogs dove after a rubber ball. There is also a box full of kittens tucked into the hay in the barn and a foal that we watched nurse from his mother. Later, while I watched him climb on a tractor, play in the sandbox, and savor a grape popsicle, I knew I would be dragging a reluctant toddler to the car when it was time to leave. Just a very simple, storybook kind of day. :)

Three Things That Happened Tonight

2009-05-28T22:30:00.004-04:00

And I only liked one of them.

My son kissed me and smeared grape juice all over my face.
I wondered why my printer tray was closed, and when I opened it, found it stuffed with Tonka truck puzzle pieces.
Our puppy peed on the tire of my kid's plastic ride-on dune buggy, which is a toss-up between hilarious and infuriating. Mostly infuriating.

Memorial Day Flea Market

2009-05-27T15:39:00.010-04:00

There is a fun flea market filled with antiques, plants, flowers, and dusty junk at Burley Park in Western Michigan. My mother and I went together on Memorial Day, and I stuffed myself with carnival food: elephant ears, corndogs, and gigantic paper cups of watery soda. My magpie mother immediately ditched me and bought a little ceramic cat and a brown enamel pitcher with mushrooms on it. I found a cute side chair with aviary print fabric for $8.00 and filled a bag with vintage Fisher Price Little People toys for my son. I think I spent more on the food than I did on my finds...

Oakdale Farm.

2009-05-25T21:15:00.012-04:00

Looking out my bedroom window tonight, I'm enormously grateful that we chose to live here. The wind is blowing through the branches, rippling the water in our ponds and my son's new inflatable pool, and I can feel the breeze on my bare feet through the gaps between the wide pine plank flooring. Our barn looks romantic through the wavy glass of the window, charming with the slight sag in the center of the roof and the sign that reads, "Oakdale Farm.", as though the name is by itself a complete sentence. For me, I suppose it is. :)

I walk down the stairs with every third step creaking my descent, and see my son still playing in the backyard, driving his small cars in the dirt where I filled in a hole that his puppy dug so deep that I had to use dried leaves and grass clippings to help fill it in. My husband asks if he should bring him inside, it's way past his bedtime, and I look at my boy, so happy in the waning light, with the fifty-year-old white hydrangea swaying behind him and the almost-hatched peonies near his face, and I say, no, let him play.