For the Home

Earlier this summer I was looking for a few projects to brighten up the dining room.  I found a used sewing machine table for $20 on Craigslist that fit perfectly in the corner, but then wanted to make a fabric cover for it.  I found this tutorial which to give me a little guidance.

The fabric were some fat quarters I picked up at Purl Soho when I was in New York on a girls trip back in April.  I think they are Amy Butler.

Then I used the leftovers to create a coordinating table runner.

* These pictures aren't great, I was a little impatient taking them at night.

With another piece I updated our nature table for summer, simple, but I liked the effect.

The little gnomes disappear regularly only to be found after be played with in various rooms of the house.  Perfectly perfect in my opinion.

Berries!

Originally posted July 4th, 2011.

On Saturday we took the girls out for their first Strawberry picking adventure, and they had a great time filling their baskets, we just had to repeat “only pick the red ones” and “don’t pick up the mushy ones on the ground” a few times before they got the hang of it.  It was a beautiful day with the sun shining, and although a little crowded, we all enjoyed our time at Krause Berry Farms.

Once home we immediately set to work making some strawberry popsicles.  This time around I went with 2 recipes: Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles and some plain Strawberry ones.  For the first ones I used honey instead of agave nectar because I don’t usually use agave.

Last weekend we had made another couple of recipes which I would say were bigger hits overall:

Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles (these were my favorite, I just used our regular plain yogurt and it worked out fine) and Watermelon Mint Popsicles (Davin’s favorite by far).

After the popsicles we put the rest of our 20 pounds of berries to good use:

• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp – really tasty, but I would increase the crisp to fruit ratio, I tend to like more crisp (the best part!) and less fruit…
• Fruit Leather – our first time making and it turned out great
• Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins – a double batch that I froze most of for when baby comes and I need healthy yummy snacks on the go.  I didn’t have buttermilk so I used kefir, and I substituted coconut oil for the butter – yum!
• 2 large freezer bags of whole strawberries for smoothies over the winter
•  A few bottles of sliced strawberries frozen for baking  
• The rest went in the fridge for us to snack on all week.

Since I was on a roll I also squeezed in the time to make a batch of pumpkin muffins and banana muffins (also frozen for later), but by last night I was pooped (and done with strawberries for a bit)!  There were plans for jam, but I’ll save that for another time… maybe when the raspberries come…

Easter Fun!

Originally posted April 29, 2011.

Our Easter weekend turned out perfectly, with some sunny Spring weather as an added bonus.  On Friday we started the day with a tea party complete with a castle cake.  Davin instilled a dresscode, which included dresses for the girls and a shirt and tie for the boys, and we all had a lovely time.

That afternoon we were busy dying some Easter eggs which the girls had a lot of fun with.  On Saturday morning we were up bright and early and off to our old neighbourhood for an Easter egg hunt.  Fortuneately the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day to be outside.  The girls had lots of fun finding the eggs and then enjoying the goods that were inside.

After the big hunt we were all enjoying the beautiful weather so much that no one wanted to to go in so we stayed outside for the rest of the day with children playing while the adults basked in the subshine and enjoyed refreshments.  It was a wonderful kick-off to Spring.

The Easter eggs for our family hunt on Sunday morning deserve a post of their own, they were a huge hit with the girls - who wouldn't enjoy smashing real eggs on the floor / table / etc. to find a surprise inside?  Then it was just a matter of sweeping up the eggshell before the dogs tried to eat it.

After the egg hunt it was off to Aunt Barb's for turkey dinner (yum!) and a visit.  The girls wore their Easter dresses from Nana, and Aunt Barb had gotten them new sun hats which matched the dresses perfectly!

A Happy Easter indeed!

Stepping off the Edge

Originally posted February 14, 2011.

Well today I did something completely spontaneously and didn’t even think about it.  I called Dame, and said I wanted to book us a family trip to Lunenburg, NS in May using points to check it out, what did he think?  He said “let’s do it”, so before I had any time to re-consider and think it through I logged on and booked four tickets.  I’m so excited!!  I feel like it is the first major step towards some big changes coming, and I love it.

We’ve been thinking about heading back east for a long time, but nothing ever felt right, and we didn’t actually do anything about it.  About a month ago I was googling Waldorf schools in Nova Scotia, and found one near Lunenburg. In then exploring Lunenburg itself for a bit I was completely taken by the beauty, the older buildings, the history, the sense of community, and started sending Dame links to look at.  He felt the same way, and now we are exploring business / work opportunities and the feasibility of moving there.  We are targeting Spring 2012, so the new baby won’t be quite so little, and it gives us time to do some planning and organizing.

We’ll see what happens, but it feels so good to finally be working towards something, instead of feeling like we’re just kind of floating around in uncertainty, which is what I have felt like for the past few years. 

My 2011 Word

At my Mama Renew class the other night we talked about coming up with a “word” for 2011.  A word that has meaning to us, a word to help us focus, or a word to be inspired by.

I thought a lot about what word it is that has meaning for me right now, and I kept coming back to the same one – nurture.

I looked up the definition of nurture, and this is what it said:

Ø      to feed and protect: to nurture one's offspring.

Ø      to support and encourage, as during the period of training or development; foster: to nurture promising musicians.

Ø      to bring up; train; educate.

I think that is perfect.  Right now our family is getting ready to welcome a new baby in just a few short months, August to be exact.  That means we are all going through another big transition, we will become parents of three, my baby won’t be the baby anymore, and D will be a big sister to 2.  I think some nurturing is required on all sides: I need to nurture my own body and soul to help keep this baby healthy and strong, D & M will need a little extra love and attention while they adjust to their new positions in the family, and Dame and I need to nurture our relationship to keep it strong through another round of sleep deprivation and crying babies.

Yes, nurture is indeed the word for 2011!

Welcome!

I’ve been tossing around the idea of a blog for some time now, and even started designing it after Christmas, but never seem to find the time to actually write anything.  There is no time like the present, so here goes!

Welcome – this is a place I hope to record thoughts, family happenings, our latest crafting adventures, and anything else that comes up.

I read and admire so many great blogs out there, but rarely comment or “put myself out there”, as is my nature.  I think it’s time I dive in and do just that.  It might not always be pretty, I may not always be the most regular blogger, but it’s my blog, so I’ll do what I can and what works for me.

I’m not a consistent journal writer, so I’m hoping this will serve as a journal of sorts – here goes nothing!