after the first snow

knitting for my dear sisters

Advent candles, one for each boy, found them .here

recycled sweater tree garland inspired by meg

 We Wisconsinites got our first snowfall yesterday.  It was perfect,  only 4 inches or so and on a Saturday.  I had been thinking about starting to unearth the Christmas box and this snow storm completely got me into the holiday spirit.  Here's some views from around our house this weekend.

Simple snowflake ribbon wrapped around a wreath. 

I found this amazing vintage felt appliques thrift shopping,  I'm happy I got to finally use them.

Finally a tree for the boys room.  I think this is the year they will reallllly get into the holidays.

 

 

tiny acorn hat

Ta Da!!
my first try at a hat,  a teeny tiny hat.  I modified this free pattern on ravelry called swell.  Since my kids arn't surfers I thought an acorn pattern would be cute.  Even though they look more like Chinese lanterns than acorns I'm happy with the result.  And while there's no one in our home to fit this tiny hat I'm sure I can find a little person to give this too before the winds blow. 

Now to cast on for one double this size for my guys. 

acorns again?  we'll see. 

projects, always projects

tiny wooden shoes

It's the middle of my new work schedule so no garden shots, crafts or art.  So I thought I would share the newest addition to our growing dress-up collection,  tiny wooden shoes.   My mother in law found them at our thrift shop & they fit Oscar perfectly.  He clomps in & out of the house, half dressed or to the babysitters in these. 
so enjoy the rest of your week, I hope these photo's made you smile, they sure make me.
L

Pie or Cobbler? both of course

Let's make cookies mama! hmmmmm,   Scones????  weeeelllllll.....    Pie!   YES!  


During quiet time yesterday felix & I wandered arcross the street to the gardens to raid a friends Rhubarb patch that was going to seed ( I got permission ;).  Felix wanted to bake something and we settled on Rhubarb Pie, one of my all time favorite desserts.  It had been a while since just he & I cooked together.  Rather than 4 little hands knocking,  moving, and fighting over tasks, felix got to do all of them.  It was so calm, while I had to hustle to prep he just chattered away, telling stories of his dreams, friends or telling jokes.  Oh, the 4 year old.  In the middle of our sweet time Todd comes in and starts lobbying for rhubarb cobbler not rhubarb pie.  what the?!@#$  I had a plan.   So felix decided on both,  we'd make cobbler for desert and pie filling for the freezer.   how smart. 

I'm feeling like my little blog is becoming all cooking latley, and while I suppose it is true I'm really missing being in my studio.  Is it unrealistic to think I can do it all??? when there are obviously no more naps?

probably not,  but we still can have rhubarb pie this winter and be very very thankful.

Addicted to annuals

Spring this year in Wisconsin is absolutely the most perfect spring we've ever had.  That perfect sunny 60's weather that begs you to have your coffee outside.  It's so nice in fact that I am terrified by the idea 40 degree weather again.  How quickly I get spoiled.  We've planted our kale, beets, potatoes, spinach etc. and are eager to get more into the ground.  And I caught the annual bug last weekend, from my mother.  I arrived at her house & saw flats of annuals ready to put into window boxes. Already??
So I did the same.  I know I know we're risking it, it's April 20th for gods sakes !  But I'm rollin' the dice. 
More garden photo's coming once things come up, we have a whopping 4 going this year ( in different locations) I guess this early start was a good thing.  


I love this season. 



( meg that dirty feet photo is for you ;)

New inspiration

Restless cleaning up energy made me see all these things today,  lots of red huh.    I'm paring down the inside from toys, books & piles of projects, trying to get to a clean, fresh ( spring ) feel.  Moving our life outside is so pleasent but it does take a toll on our floors.  Random thoughts on a sunny windy friday afternoon.  Hopeing to have a productive gardening weekend,  cross your fingers for me.
Happy weekend everyone.

photos:
1) a print I bought here, finally found a good spot for it this afternoon,  great words to live by.
2) these fantastic red boots that have been though so many little feet, finally made their way back to Oscar just in time for mucky gardening.
3) Another piece acquired this winter from Adam, a great musician & artist.
4) The first tulips bloomed this morning.  Our house guests are horse folks, so I thought this bottle would be perfect.
5)This crazy book with fantastic illustrations.

cook book organization

We tend to cook three meals a day in our kitchen, so our cookbooks got a lot of use.  My Joy of Cooking is looking a lot like my mom's, broken binding and sugared pages. But they were getting a little overwhelming lately, normally piled on top of the fridge looking as if they might fall at any moment.  So this is my little fix up.   I like that we can still access our books when needed but the clean space above the fridge makes me calm. 

in the morning

A quiet moment,  before the cereal and lost socks, boots & a sword, no one is awake. 

liquid gold - homemade maple syrup

A few weeks back I posted about taping the trees in our yard, another experiment in our urban homesteading.
I'll be damned, it worked !  Now credit is givin where credit is due, Todd did about everything, except digging the buckets out of the dumpster at my work.  A friend had the taps, after the initial tapping of 3 trees in our yard & 8 across the street we yielded 35 gallons of sap.  Which boiled down to about 1 gallon of syrup. 
here's a good link if you want to do it too!


  A bunch went to the maple syrup festival yesterday, where families could come and see the whole process.

Besides having pancakes I also made a Maple Cheesecake for guests last week.  Ironically I forgot the sugar but the maple syrup provided enough sweetness for everyone.
After giving pints of homemade syrup to those who helped we have about 10 left over, now we have to make that last until next year.   Do you have any favorite things to eat with maple syrup?

back on the porch

It's that time again,  to get these two rambunctious kids out of my living room and onto the front porch.  I'm realizing this is an annual event.   A great time to purge, tidy up and give new energy to old toys.  It's also a perfect opportunity to gather toys to sell at this event.  So out with the old and hopefully not too much new.  This year I've added a larger folding table so we can have meals out here and I can work while they play (yeah rite! ).  I've also added an art box,  I've seen them at friends houses and loved them.  My two are not the most art orientated guys, but maybe this will be a good way for them to explore on their own because I realize that I am the one who ruins art time.  ahhhhh, anyway.


More art from me coming soon I hope.  I have some embroidered covered buttons I'm finishing and I'm taking a screenprinting workshop this weekend and I have high hopes it will result in a whole new direction.

I hope to post about Elizabeth's 'Snippits' project this week too.  Check it out, a great idea to get the creative juices flowing.

a quick project

I bought this old cheese mold last summer in hopes of using it to store root vegetables.  As it turned out this was not a very good potato bucket.  So it sat, like so many other items, in our basement, a treasure trove of cool old things.    Well, it just got elevated to first floor status, as my knitting box.   The overflowing basket of yarn & needles  in the wardrobe was getting to be too much.  So I made a quick cloth lining, organized all my yarn into one place and popped the top on.   Now I can knit in my favorite chair and have a place to put my coffee. 


ahhh,  if only all projects could be this quick & satisfying.