Aaaahhhh.... summer....

Finally summer has arrived in Portland. Of course it came in with triple digits, I think we topped out at 103 degrees. Much too warm for this pregnant lady, but now it is pleasant with highs in the upper 80's. We have been dining most evenings in the back yard. We have a wonderful back yard that I have managed to over-landscape, but it's lush and green and a great sanctuary to relax in. I found some cushions for my yard-sale-find wicker set....



Attractive outdoor cushions were almost impossible to find this time of year. Every store was closing them out and what was left was either really ugly or not the right size. The chairs are 20" wide which apparently is 2" wider than a standard chair cushion. So I started looking at 20" square floor cushions and found these babies at Crate and Barrel. The blue cushions and pillows are sunbrella and repel water really well. I accidentally let them have it with the spinkler and no harm done. The green cushion on the setee is not and neither are the little multi-stripe pillows, but everything looked so good together, I just went for it. Crate and Barrel was having a really good sale.

Here's another look at the color in my living room...

I like it more every day. The flowers are from the spouse for our 8 year anniversary.

Check one off the list!

I think we have sold the climbing wall!!! Someone is coming by tomorrow with the payment. As soon as they pick it up, the way is clear to start on the basement.... now if our contractor would just get moving.

Still painting... and basement-ing...

In the previous pictures of my living room, there is still some peach paint on the fireplace surround. That peach color combined with the yellowed-white trim made everything look dingy. I painted over the last of the peach this morning! It looks all fresh and tidy now. It's amazing how dirty a house gets just by living in it. I don't consider myself a poor housekeeper, but I'm amazed at the build-up that accumulates on the floorboards and in the corners of the trim. Yuck! What wouldn't wash off has now been painted over in white. I still need to paint the inside of the shelves (robins egg on the back with white shelves), but I'll save that for this weekend, I think.
We have finalized the plans on the basement and are awaiting a bid and start date. I can hardly wait!!!! I am now at 27 weeks, so that leaves 13 weeks to do the basement, paint Elsie's new room and get her moved in. We also want to do a little redecorating in the nursery (changing the hot pink to robins egg), but the little man won't be in there until he's 3 months, so we have a some time. I am getting impatient, however. I am not good at waiting.
We have one other large item to sell out of the basement- the Climbing Wall. We are asking $475 and the plywood with screwholes comes with it as well as 130 holds and a finger board. If you know anyone in Portland who wants it send them my way....

What a week!

I now have the most gorgeous living room! My wonderful parents helped me paint the whole thing. It went from this....


to this...

... shortly after this photo was taken our darling cats knocked over the beautiful bouquet of flowers spilling water everywhere.

There is still a little more work to be done on the mantel, but it is so much better than that strange yellow that had been there for 10 years. Finally every room in our house has been painted!
On Thursday morning we were getting ready to paint the hall and were going to run a quick errand downtown. We were sitting at a stop light and were rear ended! I spent a couple of hours getting the van to the repair shop and picking up a rental car. Then I talked to my doctor who sent me to the hospital for 6 hours of monitoring! Everything is just fine with the baby- no damage at all. He wasn't moving around too much after the accident, but he really is more of a nocturnal guy. I came home a little after 8pm to find that my wonderful Dad had painted the entire hallway himself while Mom kept Miss Elsie occupied. I was a little disappointed that this was the last day that my parents were in town, and I didn't get to spend it with them. Miss Elsie and I are planning a trip to the farm soon.
Here is a pic of our littlest painter...

On the road to recovery... and Happy Father's Day

I'm finally pulling out of this miserable cold. I really dislike the whole concept of the summer cold. Just when you are wanting to be outside in the garden and doing things around the house, it takes the wind out of your sails. All you can do is sit on the couch with your box of tissues and look at all the things you want to do outside.... which just makes you more miserable.
I managed to pull myself together yesterday and accompany the spouse to the Laurelhurst Neighborhood Garage Sale. Dave wanted to do this as his Father's Day event. This is a huge sale here in Portland that happens once a year. The neighborhood association prints out maps too! Although I didn't make it very long... due to still needing to rest from the cold... and still being tired from the pregnancy on top of it... we did score! I've been wanting some loungy furniture for the back patio. All we currently have is a 50's style round metal table and matching "bouncy" chairs. Not really a good spot for lounging with that drink... or bottle of wine for an entire evening. So we found this 4-piece set of wicker for $100!

It is not properly installed on the patio yet, but you can see the pieces. I can't wait to make some pillows and add some quilts.
We also found an old trestle school desk which will work well in the basement for Dave's letter press for only $10!!! For now it is in the garage, so I couldn't get a picture of it. But it is very heavy and very sturdy.
My parents are on their way to our house today for a visit and to help with some house projects, so the blog may be a big quiet this week. We are hoping to paint the living room among other things. Miss Elsie is so excited to have her Nana and Papa here and is already making plans.
And to all the fathers out there... Happy Father's Day! Especially to my dad (who is loading his tool box and paint clothes in the car as I type this) and to my wonderful husband, David (who is currently being awakened by his daughter 1 hour too early).

Summer cold

I am trapped in another cold. I felt terrible for the past two days and did nothing. Fortunately Miss Elsie has been very cooperative, and I was able to nap yesterday while she did. Today I'm feeling much better and am able to resume my knitting project. I'm attempting my first sweater. It will be a wrap sweater that ties with a ribbon for Elsie... and it is pink... what other color would it be. She picked out the yarn herself. I will post pictures as the progress continues.

Back Tack Arrived!

I received two darling bunnies from Sharon... and some maple candy!!!! I love maple candy, and so does the spouse, so we may have to hide this. Thank you, Sharon! Elsie loves her wee, wee bunny and has already requested to nap with it. The littlest bunny is about 4 inches high... very tiny.
The pictures are a bit dark, but it is overcast and rainy again in Portland. Maybe when we have a sunny day, we will take them in the back yard and take some more pictures.

Rose Festival and a quiet weekend

Since Miss Elsie and I are both sick, we were not up to much this weekend. Our big outing was to the Grand Floral Parade downtown. Rose Festival started two weeks ago and there have been events going on all the time, but the parade is the biggie. Elsie loves a parade and spent most of the time on her daddy's shoulders...

Here are some highlights...
... these ladies came all the way from China...



... Mexican riders from the Los Charros riding group.... check out the saddles!

Back Tack Done!

The Back Tack Kitty is finished and on her way to her new owner. Whew! I don't know why I put things off. The project itselft didn't take long to complete, but between being tired from the pregnancy and having tendonitis in one wrist, it seemed to be more challenging. So this morning, I put "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" into the computer and let it putter along as I finished it up. I think she turned out really well, and I feel like I'm crossing things off my "To Do" list. Also, Back Tack III made me do a crafty project which I absolutely enjoy. I think some special people will be receiving their own kitties this year. Here's a peek:

Also this week, I received this fabulous enamel jewelry assortment from eBay. (How I love that site!!!)

One of the earring sets is still on its original card! I'm hoping to make some tote bags/purse things for the summer and thought these enamel pins would dress things up a bit.

Great Grandma's Sewing Basket

My blog posting has become more and more infrequent unfortunately. I am so tired and spend most of the afternoons in a state of half-sleep with Miss Elsie circling the walls and bringing me "things". Usually the things are extra spoons, hair combs, toys, or the occasional item from the refridgerator. So that leaves only my mornings when I'm alert enough to do things. That said... this morning, I finally moved into my Great Grandma's Sewing Basket that I have had for several years and just never used....

I have put my knitting supplies inside and my assortment of UFO's....

Now I need to make a needle holder because they get all jumbled inside... especially with Elsie "checking on them" every half hour or so.
I never knew my Great Grandmother Mary. My dad remembers her always knitting even while she was visiting or hosting people in her home. Her son, my grandfather, could sew and darn socks like nobody else I've ever seen (he thought darning eggs were the most interesting things), but neither of my grandmothers knitted or crocheted. So I didn't have anyone in my family who could teach me. Fortunately I bought a good book and have many friends that do both, so it was not too difficult to learn. It's nice to be able to use the old sewing basket for something that the original owner would have approved of.

A proto and some peelings

It's always a good idea to make a prototype BEFORE embarking on the real thing. I made a pointy kitty this week as a test before doing the Back Tack kitty. There were a few construction issues and the questions of how hard to pack that fiberfil into the body... the answer is- quite firmly. The first kitty still needs its eyes and nose, but Miss Elsie carted it off right away and was in love. You will notice that one eye is really crooked. I have appliqued in a while. I need to practice working around the pins, rather than removing them and going freehand.




Here is the skin of the cat for the Back Tack project:

I'm trying very hard to stay within the 20 percent allowance for an accent color.... it's very hard.

Mother's Day... weekend, actually

I hope all the mommies I know had a wonderful Mother's Day.... and you all remembered to call your mothers to wish them a Happy Mother's Day. Here in Portland, the weather was gorgeous... so of course I over did it in the garden. By 8pm, I was so stiff I could hardly get up from the table!
On Saturday, Elsie requested a Family Movie Night and sleepover in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Since we have watched every family movie we own at least 20 times, we thought we would purchase a new one. We bought Nanny McPhee. If you have not seen this movie, it is a gem. The set design and colors are fantastic bordering on the surreal and getting more so as the story takes off. In the children's room, each of the seven children have their own bed. Each bed has what appears to be a handmade coverlet- one with granny squares, another quilt in a log cabin pattern. I need to see it again just to focus in on the detail.

Mother's Day morning came at 6:30am as my offspring woke up and then woke me up to ask "Where is Daddy?" who was downstairs making breakfast. So Elsie and I curled up in bed to watch some Disney channel for a bit (no Charlie and Lola this morning unfortunately). Dave brought the breakfast upstairs, so I had a lovely breakfast in bed and then received some fabulous Mother's Day booty downstairs. Elsie and Dave had given me a large bouquet of Gerbera daisies the day before which I had been thoroughly enjoying. Then I received a stack of Green and Black's chocolate and a printout of the Cath Kidston umbrella I wanted (the printout was to show that the umbrella had indeed been ordered and was just not here yet).
Then we headed for Portland Nursery for some general plant wandering and shopping. Followed by 8 hours of intense gardening, planting, cleaning, etc... an excellent day! I fell asleep at 9:30pm and slept soundly until this morning... when getting out of bed was a challenge due to sore muscles.

New favorite things

I have been an avid reader of blogs for the past year. I have come across several things that various bloggers seem to absolutely love. I have tried two of them over the past week.
The first is Green and Black's Organic chocolate. So purchased two bars to test- dark chocolate with currants and hazelnuts, and dark chocolate with almonds. I have no pictures to post, because in my current pregnant state, I eagerly munched them right down. Of course taking advantage of the high iron content of dark chocolate. They are (were) every bit as good as people have been saying! I now will have to purchase the other flavors (I'm particulary interested in the caramel). Maybe next time I'll have time to take a picture. The packaging is lovely.
The second thing is anything to do with Pride and Prejudice- book, mini series, or various movies. I am now ashamed to admit that I have never read the book nor any Jane Austen for that matter. I read other types of classic books (H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Shakespeare, etc), but not any Austen. After all the ravings after the most recent movie came out, I thought I had better explore this particular work. I treated myself to an OnDemand movie of the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice . Amazing!!! I loved the story and characters, Lizzie's parents, and, of course, Mr. Darcy (who wouldn't!?!?). I have heard rumblings that the BBC miniseries is actually superior to this movie in terms of accuracy and character development, but it is 5 hours in length total. So for now, I have added a DVD of Pride and Prejudice to my birthday/anniversay/just-buy-it-for-me wish list. Did I mention that the costumes are stunning?!?!.... links have been added for shopping convenience.

Springtime baking...

I love pies and tarts. Growing up, all I ate for breakfast during the summer was cherry pie. We had a pie cherry tree growing in the front of our house, and my mom would bake the pies as long as I picked the cherries. This seemed like a reasonable arrangement... so I ate a lot of pie.
Elsie and I did some baking yesterday. We had some leftover crust, so we made some mini tarts too. We will fill these with fresh strawberries later.


The finished product in the back yard....


I have found that Martha Stewart's three pastry recipes work the best- Pate Brisee, Pate Sucre, and Pate Sable. One for each occasion. The trick- keep that butter COLD! and then chill the dough before rolling it out. A beautiful flaky crust every time! Let me know if you want me to post the recipes.

Back Tack Thoughts

I have more energy today than usual, so there are two posts. I've been contemplating my Back Tack project. I hope my partner doesn't think that I've completely forgotten the whole thing. I haven't posted anything.... YET. I spent a little time rummaging upstairs and came up with these things...

Lovely large plaid, but maybe too much red to qualify. Looks good with some of my vintage ric rac...


I love the spider web-like appearance of this all-over lace. It is a gorgeous fabric that I have now had for over ten years! I would have to back it with something...


These are all the black or black and white options that I could find at hand. I kind of like the houndstooth. The red buttons are from my Grandma's button box... probably came off something my Mom wore.

Basement Update

As I type, our alarm guy is moving some wires (read as tucking them up and out of sight) and an electrician is also doing the same with the jumble of wires in our basement ceiling. Each of the previous owners of this house put their own spin on do-it-yourself home wiring. We have an interesting woven pattern of wires criss-crossing the ceiling... which we are planning on leaving unfinished and spraying white. We also have a Gordian knot of plumbing, but that's a story for another time.
This is officially the start of the remodel. Hopefully Dave and I will be able to move a cabinet this weekend and tape the layout of the new walls onto the floor. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!! I was starting to get depressed due to lack of progress. It's no fun to spend all winter cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and then 3 months of planning, planning, planning, and nothing happens.
Since I haven't posted any pictures lately (and what fun is a blog without pictures), here is a photo of our bubble princess in the bath....

Tired, tired... oh yeah, did I mention I was tired?

I have been extremely exhausted this last week (hence the no posts for a week), spending most of each day on the couch in the TV room. All the blood tests that the doctor has done indicate that I am just fine and nothing is wrong. Apparently it is just general pregancy weariness. However Miss Elsie doesn't want to play quietly from 10am until 2pm which is about how much additional, horizontal rest I need each day. I've shifted my eating around a bit to include more protein and iron and am also taking an iron supplement. I seem to have a bit more energy and am spending less time on the couch.
Since I'm not up to much gardening, house cleaning, or anything physical, I've decided to tackle my knitting pile of UFO's. I was trying to knit Miss Elsie a skirt last November, and did not follow the directions. The skirt is knit in the round and required two rows of reducing stitches (knit two as one). My first attempt, I only reduced 1 row and did not wind up with the cute flirty ruffle at the bottom. Also the finished width of the skirt was large enough for two Elsie's. So I gritted my teeth and started to unravel and re-knit. That is when I discovered the challenges of unravelling on fuzzy yarn. What a nightmare! The first few rows of un-knitting almost wound up as a giant felted mass... but I perservered and am about 5 inches in length away from finishing the skirt. It is probably a little heavy for spring/summer, but I'm adding a bit to the length for this fall. I will post pictures later.

Springtime and flowers....

I have been spending a lot of time in the yard over the last two weeks... doing a bit of weeding, planting and pruning. Things are looking so bright and flowery! Here are some of the flowers that I have been enjoying...





Miss Elsie's house all duded-up for the summer....

... we planted her pots a few days ago.
The yard and flower beds look really great through June and then everything starts to slide downhill. I have quite a few beautiful dahlias that start to flower in July, but the yard just doesn't have the same wow factor as May and June. I need to do some research and find out what I can plant that will give me some mid-summer punch. Maybe I should plant cosmos seeds where ever there is any soil peeking out. They grow easily from seed and bloom in a whole range of colors...hmmm.

Has it really been a week since my last post??

The sun comes out, and I disappear to my back yard. I just love spring and planting things!
Wednesday was cloudy and cool all day so we did spend the day inside sewing. I made this outfit for Elsie.

I've been promising to make her some new clothes and just can't seem to find the energy or the time. The top and pant are from a Burda pattern. Burda has way cooler clothes for kids than McCalls or Butterick. Sometimes home sewing patterns can look.. well... homemade... as in "yes, I made this myself". Rather than "That is such a cool outfit! Where did you get it?". I usually strive for the latter comment. Another awesomely inspiring kid's pattern resource is Ottobre Design. Each magazine comes with all the patterns for every garment shown. I bought a subscription last year. Unfortunately, I haven't sewn anything yet, but the spring issue has some amazing things. Maybe this weekend I'll whip up a few more things for Elsie.

My crafty self...

I have been in touch with my Back Tack partner who is heading out at the crack of dawn to some amazing Quilt Show/Flea Market in Arkansas. At her request, I have posted things on my site to help her get to know me a little better... actually I should have done this months ago.... it was a very inspiring exercise.
After spending an hour in my studio, I was able to locate some of my stash to photograph. I have come to the conclusion that I am better at aquiring vintage goodies than using them in projects. I firmly believe that some raw materials need to age until the right project comes along, but I think I need to get moving!
Here is a tiny sampling of my treasures:
I started to hunt for old heat transfers a few years ago. Sometimes they are priced a little too high for my taste, but I was able to get a good deal on this stack. The pillow case was embroidered by my Great Aunt Ruth. She always made these for every family member for big events- high school graduation, marriage, etc. I aspire to embroider as well as she did... and she did it right up until the end while she was sitting in her chair with her oxygen.


I love, love vintage hankys. I use them for some of my children's skirts. Every once in a while a come across these scene or single image ones. I love the graphic style. This one is done by Pat Prichard, but I also have several by Tammis Keefe.


These fabrics were an amazing score at a city wide yard sale in my hometown in Idaho. I think I paid $2 a yard and the woman was VERY generous at estimating yardage. These will eventually be curtains in the house.


Assorted goodies... you can never have too much vintage ric rac or seam binding. The old colors are way better than that interesting primary polyester junk in the fabric stores.


My favorite purchase ever! I was looking for a vintage paisley for three years and found this one shoved in a trunk at a flea market. It does have some moth holes which is acceptable considering it is from the late 1800's. The laces on top of it are fine, fine cotton. One of the cards says made in France.


Detail of the lace.... so delicate... I'm saving it for a special project


This little project has made me realize that I really need to go through everything and press it and group it, so when I start a project I can find things! Maybe I'll sew a little something up for Miss Elsie this afternoon. We've had a long dry spell, and I'm getting inspired to creat a little something.