Orton Park Festival

it's hard to choose.
maybe a little of everything.
the hardworking bakers, taking a well deserved break.
(photo taken by my dad) Oscar & I rearranging the bakery on the table.


In my town, Madison, Wi, on the east side of that town there are 4 + festivals a summer. All held in a beautiful neighborhood park. Local restaurants provide food, the boy-scouts provide the games and the best lineup of music you can hear north of Chicago. The Waterfront festival, Le Fet de Marquette and The Orton Park Festival, to name a few.

I grew up next to Orton Park and have volunteered for these events since I was 5. The best, the best best best of these events ( in my bakerly opinion ) is the Jazz Brunch. Held Sunday morning, on the last day of the orton park fextival this little bake sale is the best one you have EVER been to. Neighborhood folks donate dozens of bakery, like red velvet cupcakes, feta & phylo torte, scones, muffins, grits, quiches, macaroons, I could go on & on. Everything is $1 each. All the money is donated to the neighborhood association for free summer camp for kids.

For me it's about being at home again, a good sleepover at Grandma's. Baking late into the night, the healthy competition between mother & daughter as to who will bake what. In the morning dragging the vintage tablecloths & fresh flowers down the tent. And transforming the bingo tent into a proper outdoor brunch spot. The ladies who have been doing this for years all deserve a break ( MOM! ) but I am sure they love it so much they never will.

back again

We made it ( barely). The boys explored every inch of mimi's farm, from the large stones to the sunflowers. While I had convinced myself that I would get a rest, I soon realized that it's the same amount of work, just in a different place. We did have a major breakthrough with Felix tho, in the potty department. So for all the running around & picking up after them it was worth it.
Now that we're back there's much to do, we're having a party here on friday night. My thirtieth to be exact, a perfect time to invite the whole town over for a potluck.
hope you have a good week & I'll have updates on the goings on over here soon. But I need a nap.

trying hard

I'm trying hard to be silly, present & kind with them.
To not pay attention to what's next, who's coming and what's expected.
But this one is hard.

I'm taking the boys to a friends house in the country for a few days in hopes of reconnecting with them ( and not yelling so much). Wish me luck.

squaredancing

What could be our last bit of summer spontaneity, we went to a square-dance up in the driftless area of Wisconsin last night. Like a new kid at school, our little family has started to meet folks who live & play music in this part of Wisconsin. We heard there was to be a dance & at 4 pm we took the 2 hour drive. We seem to be experts now at packing pj's, a bottle, potluck items and snacks for our little journeys. It was totally worth it.

More squaredances closer to home next time I think.

a new commitment to home

I have taken a hiatus from the computer not because I had to but because my attention needed to be on my house. I find the best reward of a vacation is to come home feeling refreshed and ready to be home again. Making little changes to make things work better & feel better. The kids love their toys again, mama loves her dirty kitchen again and papa yearns for his shop. Everyone gets what they want. So here are some of my favorite views recently. I illuminated some artwork and hung this old straw hat in our hallway. I really like this simple calm moment before we head downstairs for our day.
Our newly furnished guest room ( no more futons!) Since we have people staying quite often this room needed a good bed. Its a great space to read tin tin before nap time too. I hope to re-upholster that chair this summer too.
Felix's tussled bed. I made this new cork board for the beginning of his school year, in hopes of hanging up his artwork & photo's. We're in heavy "big boy" phase these days.
The start of tomato's tomato's tomato's. Roast, De-seed, cook, puree, can & freeze, repeat.
Here are our new girls, 5 hens giving us 5 egg's /day. I love to just watch them. Oscar & I have a good post nap routine where we feed them the kitchen scraps for the day and wake up slowly.
This is the best part about my house & why I want to commit to being here fully. These gardens are so unbelievable, every hour of the day people are coming & going, growing, harvesting, visiting etc. The energy that is alive across the street is immense, it wafts over into our house all day long. So we get up and do something good, everyday.

Hiawatha Music Festival

Our first family trip to Hiawatha Music Festival, in Marquette MI, happened last weekend. Usually I send T off to the woods to play but we thought we'd give this a try. It worked well because we were on our way to our cabin for a week vacation. It was a great experience, great crowd and the music was wonderful. What we did not expect is how hard it would be to play and camp with a 16 month old Oscar, who as it turns out is FEARLESS!. The festival was so well organized and carried out, the kids tent was amazing! Homemade instruments, kids parade and guess who weaseled his way on stage?? Dances, workshops, funnel cakes, a great first family festival. Cabin entry to follow soon. Oh, new camera too!

Stitch Coach

Onto number 2: Sewing
I had a few goals set for this year, 1: to have a show of my paintings ( check) 2: to sew more clothes for my family. As luck would have it a friend asked me if I would be interested in attending a private fitting class with her a few weeks back. Taught by a stitch coach, Steffani. So literally the morning after my opening I packed up my sewing machine and headed over to my friends house for this unexpected class. It was amazing, three of us ( my mom came too) all had projects, and Steffani jumped rite in. Helping us fit clothes, make patterns, tips upon endless tips on how to sew garments that actually look good on your body.
The second session was at my house this past weekend and was equally inspiring. It's like doors are becoming unlocked into the secrets of sewing. And the first key is to have someone measure you, here's a good form I found for you to jot the numbers down. Knowing your measurements is key to looking at patterns and adjusting them to properly fit you.

So in the que are boxer shorts for Mr. T and a shirt for me. Now back to it, I'm leaving the laundry & dishes rite where they are!