about

Have I mentioned here before, those anxiety ridden days, with lists, feeling like I need balance, time slipping away? Yep, that's what I'm about these days... I think summer in Oregon precipitates some of that... such a long, cool stretch then wham, summer and there is just so much outside time you want to cram as much as possible into before descending into the gray inside time again.

Lost: We lost Grandpa Emery this month, he had a wonderful, long, life. He went in his sleep, though not without a bit of a fight. He was a wonderful, impressive man, he perpetually had a positive attitude, a heart so full of love that he would get teary at the thought of it, and could talk his way into and out of about anything I"m pretty sure. Spent a few days with my cousins, folks and aunt taking down his house, going through... his life. You know what sticks... his pictures, the man had pictures going back a hundred years, more... literally. It is so amazing, so wonderful to be able to look at him and his little rascal-like gang, his basketball days, army days, his heyday at Kresgee/Kmart, oh the 70s, the plaid, the heavy framed glasses. I'm so glad he got to meet Owen and Grace, wish he could have seen them grow, but still, the love, the touch of family will always mark them.

Plans: so many summer plans, vacations to take, deferred chores to do around the house, at work, camping, having the kids home for a few months (excited and anxious), getting ready for kindergarten.

Grappling: with the fact that O. is indeed going to really really go to Kindergarten, that he is growing up so fast. We say farewell to his YMCA buddies, though G. will return there in the fall. Owen can be silly, profound, helpful, sweet... so very sweet, adventurous, brave, he hides his anxiety well, but it pops out unexpectedly, so I suspect that it drives some of his behaviors that I otherwise have a hard time understanding... I wonder how school will impact this boy, I just don't know. I mean I expect he will do well, but how will he change? What will his teachers, his new friends, his world be like? Will we be able to get him there on time every day???

Making: Uh, my list of things to make grows daily, damn pinterest, BUT i'm kinda stuck on this quilt. Though I did get a quick summer skirt and wee backpack together for Kaylee. That was fun, I think I need more of those short projects right now. Not quite half way done with the quilt squares for my topper. Want to make more skirts, O. wants a bag like Kaylees, some pants for boys, maybe even a top for myself (maybe, though not quite feeling that brave yet).

Must: clean out the darned house, feeling like its closing in a bit, just too much stuff everywhere and not enough space. Starting to wonder if we can make it as four adult sized people in our space. I LOVE a small house, so much more efficient, I know where everyone is, relatively easy to clean-up, no stairs, just don't like 'em. but dang... too much stuff, want some secret space of my own too instead of squatting in poor Grace's bedroom.

Oh, there is more to be sure, that big fun summer bucket list to do. That less fun, but necessary list of other things to do, ... berries to pick.

We'll get it together, always do.

mushrooms and a perfect evening.

Stepping out from swim lessons with Owen the last few weeks we have stopped to admire the mushrooms popping up under the pines, under the red currents, all around in our wet wet ground. Is this really June? Why are we still wearing our winter coats and keeping our toes covered in socks and heavy shoes? June? Hello? Mushrooms, yes, so we have been counting them each day until yesterday when there were just "So many that Mom couldn't wait in the rain for me to count them all" (as Owen reported to Brian). So many mushrooms of at least three different varieties; we stopped by the library on the way home and asked the librarian for all of her books on mushrooms and headed home with two (only 2 with good pictures and a handful of ed emberley books that I had on hold, so excited). Owen immediately set down and flipped through the field guide, figuring out potential matches to the mushrooms we saw and has been engrossed in it since.

Pasta night!

Family pasta party! Rings off, dough made, dinner loved. Also made a pretty cool, easy and inexpensive tent... I think $8 including the thrift-store sheets. After charging the battery for the drill maybe 10 minutes assembly (I didn't hem the sheets any more, just sewed some elastics on). Perfect inside and outdoors, super fun and the kids love it. I love it, I have spent as much time laying under it as they have :)

rocks and owl houses

I donno, the title kinda sums it up. I had a bit of a crafting spurt after spending most of my free time... sleeping, working, that other stuff. http://www.purlbee.com/little-urchin-crochet-covered/ I am not really sure what the rocks are for, but they were my first foray into decorative crochet...they were really pretty easy, forgiving (believe it or not I used pretty much the same pattern for all of them, but my interpretation I guess varied... s'alright though, 'cause they're just fun covered rocks.) . There is something metaphorically satisfying about them, a solid, earthy, heavy rock covered with light lacy stitches. They look a little like sea urchins, a little spiderweby, pretty on the outside, tough, solid on the inside... appropriate for many of the Mom's I know.The first one was the large white one. when I finished Owen said "that's beautiful Mommy... you'll have to give it to Great-grandma Mary 'cause its your first one, it turned out pretty and she's a really special lady" Really, how could I argue... I made the next two for Mom, dyed the purple one with cabbage juice that we have been using for pH indicator fun with O and G. I got a fun afternoon away with some friends and we got a great brunch and hit Crafty wonderland. I wish I could remember the vendor's name (update: shufu found it), but there was a woman who made these awesome Onion houses. I made a facsimile of them when I got home, it was pretty easy! she also had some log houses, which were shaped more like mail boxes with cushiony logs quilted for the top and sides. Finally though, something to do with my overly felted (really thick) sweaters and those pendelton blanket scraps that seemed so perfect but have been sitting in my stash for a long time. We use them for Owl houses! super fun, not too tough... the pink one's door is a touch big, but otherwise they are pretty fun!

fun with sculpey (polymer clay may be more generally correct, but sounds so stuffy)

Oooo, we had amassed a small, but useful stash of sculpty and during Grace's nap yesterday, Owen and I had a fine time making monsters, monster toys, buttons, cute little ring dishes. Sculpey and fimo (i'm sure there are other companies out there, but that's what at our craft store) have so many pretty, fun and bright colors as well as a more sophisticated palate... The little dishes are inspiration from a recent revisiting of some of my Etsy favs (http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtMind, http://www.etsy.com/shop/palomasnest) and a Sonoma friend's NY resol. of balance :). Just little pinched out dishes (have a pretty cream and grey both with just a bit of pearly sparkle to them) with our alphabet stamps... some with balls of polymer clay, some with holes for some embroidery thread to swoop through.

I have a lot of work to do this weekend, but while with the kids, we have indulged our creative side as well, only took an hour or so of QT with the big kid and we both had a really great time... see balance!

Actually, Grace had fun too, she wanted to eat the clay, but had a great time pinching playdough to little bits.

Such fun, so easy, such cute little dishes to make me smile (while writing midterms).

Brian also made a cool lino for Chinese New Year! Happy year of the rabbit!

We'll have to pull together some t-shirts for the kids... maybe combine CNY and valentines day... we'll see.

whale of a time

Just some presents... the shirt for Owen (and similar for Kellen) for Christmas. Brian, of course is the artist, did a pretty awesome job really on both the whale and squid. He did the whale again for Henry's birthday present.

Some cute Karate pants with a whale on the bum and fish on the legs... Modeled by G. I love the fabric, though haven't found a use for this... it goes perfectly on the pants :)

Great breakfasts

Great breakfasts.... these are great not because they are complicated, unusual or anything other than mine ... for long periods of time... breakfasts that I would start nearly every day with. I love breakfast, it is by far my favorite meal of the day. I would rather go out for breakfast than almost any other meal. My breakfast choices have been accused of being "boring"... though I like to think of myself as dedicated. I enjoy a hearty breakfast... make a good beginning. I like to know how my day will start, what I will savor and they are always full of flavor, warmth, love. I love breakfast.

In New York, and heck, it may have (and likely) started when I moved away from home and any college meal plan, I would start my day with an egg fried over medium (or with my Dad's method of steaming a fried egg... with a splash of water under a lid until the top is just set) in a tortilla with some cheese... salsa if I was feeling crazy! This staple lasted me a long long time.

I am trying to remember what I ate after we moved back to California, but can't remember exactly, maybe I just stuck with this awesome way to start the day, though in SD I had a year or so with fresh squeezed OJ after Ry got me an OJEX. I also converted to oatmeal with some sort of dried fruit for a while after visiting Brian's folks and Renee made a really great oatmeal with currents. I think I like dried apricots (in the boiling water for the oatmeal so they soften a bit) the best. Oatmeal definitely made a good, hearty stand for a few years...

Summers in Bodega and after we moved out there I would eat two slices of Wild Flour bread (crusty, flavorful, delish wheat bread) smeared with Bodega goat cheese... one slice with jam as well and a cuppa Taylor Maid coffee. I have used an at home "espresso" machine... a pretty good krups machine since college. After moving to Portland, I had to make my own bread... so used the 5 minutes a day bread for a good 2 years. After we got chickens my two slices turned into one slice with goat cheese (nothing as good as bodega goat.... miss it much) and a poached egg fresh from our coop... so good, nothing beats a fresh poached egg.... and one with goat cheese and homemade jam... Oregon is great for fresh berries and we have used them to make an abundance of jam... mmm. BUT... our chickens started... well, stopped laying eggs. We haven't changed them out yet so still only the very rare egg. What to do? I have made a dramatic switch the past year... Granola. I have never been a cold-breakfast kind of gal, but homemade granola, soy milk, frozen berries in the microwave for 1 min to warm it up on cold winter mornings... topped with a big dollop of plain whole-milk yogurt. My coffee has even changed... a pour-over for breakfast (Aeropress later in the day... also a great coffee).

I'll see about gathering pictures sometime, but was just pondering food (maybe it's all of the"gourmet diary of a foodie" episodes I've been watching or this appropo exhibit...http://www.jonhuck.com/breakfast/index.htm (what would your picture show??) via a perfect article by http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2008/04/on_hotel_breakfasts_and_how_not_to_have_them.php... ... not that I have to dodge hotel breakfasts much these days), wishing I had a cookie instead of the really lousy cupcakes I made for poor Owen's birthday.... I should stick to cakes or pies.