Lakeshore

we took a little trip to the lake today. (or the ocean or the pond.)

we went looking for driftwood. so that we could paint it.

it was a great end-of-september day.

inspired by this photo.

Wood Gathering

our wood pile is growing.

after a few truckloads and a couple of failed attempts, we're hoping to stay nice and cozy this winter.



p.s. i was reading designmom today, and a sentence from this post jumped off the page, right into my heart.
"sometimes, all you need is a person to bounce ideas off and respond with confidence."

Fingernail Fun

we've been collecting nail art as of late. and the resident twelve year old is painting up a storm!

photo courtesy of victoriac7.tumblr.com

aryn found a fun site on youtube with lots of tutorials. she even talked me into letting her paint my toenails... after watching this one:

we didn't have the orange color, so she used purple. it didn't quite turn out like the video, but i think she had fun practicing!

5, 475

gene and i celebrated 15 years of marriage on wednesday.

this weekend, we are going to sneak away for some time together.

did you know there are 5,475 days in 15 years?

Sometimes

sometimes... when the house is full, i like to go outside. to be by myself.

to think and to water the garden.




sometimes... that doesn't last very long.

Wild Turkeys

these are the wild turkeys that have been roaming our neighborhood.

early in the morning, we usually get to see them in the horse field on the way to school. later we see them running through the different neighbors' yards.

it is such an unexpected treat to see. (this is the first year since we've lived here that we've seen the turkeys.)

i think it's a mommy with nine not-so-little babies. it causes me to reflect on my own five wild turkeys!



and i just want to share a wonderful blog i've been reading since april...Schlitzohren. i love her beautiful style.

Mid May Garden

two of our garden boxes.

a hummingbird holding still.

Teeny Tiny Legwarmers

this is a legwarmer pattern i made for the birthday girl's doll.

size:

16 inch friendship (waldorf style) doll

finished measurements:
2.75 inches wide  x 4 inches long

materials:
small amount of worsted weight yarn: 40-50 yards (i used lion brand wool-ease)
size 2 (2.75mm) double pointed knitting needles

Cast On 30 stitches and divide evenly between three needles. Join for working in the round.

work in ribbing pattern (knit 3, purl 3) for 4 rows.

then, work in stockinette stitch for 2.5 inches.

continue with ribbing pattern (knit 3, purl 3) for last 4 rounds so that the legwarmer measures about 4 inches total.

Bind Off and weave in ends.

doll clothes for the birthday girl

finally. this doll has some clothing.

she arrived the christmas before last wearing only a nightgown. zoe has been wanting a change of clothes for her for quite some time. she now has a few items to mix and match.

can i tell you how much fun i had making them? a lot. just as much fun as when i made the doll.



(some details: i wanted to make the doll in the first place, after seeing the bamboletta dolls. i bought a kit from dancing rain dolls, but i'm not sure the company still exists. then i got really motivated to make the clothes after seeing this on trulakids. i do plan on making at least one more doll and some clothes for miss g. and maybe aryn. we'll see.)

The Cake

 when i saw this cake, i knew that i wanted to try it on the next birthday.

i fell in love with the casual, messy, colorful look of it all. (the original site shows a much more sophisticated, cleaned up cake.)

at first i thought i would make two cake mixes for the batter, but then i changed my mind and went with one cake mix. i wasn't sure i'd made the right decision when pouring each color into the pans to bake. they were very thin. and when i took each layer out of the pans, i was even more worried. the yellow broke into three pieces.

icing holds a lot of things together. and covers up a lot of mistakes.

i'm still in love with the casual, messy colorful look of it all.