links worthy of collecting

A few nice links to kick off the new week:

Wolfie and the Sneak are part of the new Poppytalk Handmade market. Come check us out, the prints are linked to shops that have them in stock (hooray for easy shopping!)

Sprout (Dispatches from Three Gardens) follows three gardeners through their plant exploits.

A Seed Company That Helped Presidents And Immigrants Garden Falters: If you haven't ordered a D Landreth Seed Co. seed catalog you're truly missing out. Equal parts drool-worthy seed selection and educational gardening information makes it quite a treat.

I saw a link to this Kickstarter and thought it was a link to this past weekend's music-heavy Prairie Home Companion. It kinda is, but without Garrison Keillor {which might make it even better to many. Oops, sorry Gary.}

Mabel Monday

We had a low key weekend watching 7 episodes of Nip Tuck, season 1 {okay, so that was just me, not C}, eating junk food {practicing moderation} and fresh, healthy food from the farmers market.


Did a little bit of weeding, fertilizing with kelp tea, and wall-painting in the kitchen. We also added molding in the kitchen {tidying up all those little details we overlooked} and painted a coat of white over all the trim.

I scraped one section of the balcony, part of the prepping process for a coat of bright white to go on at a soon-ish point {probably in the fall}.

More than anything else we played and played and played and played.


C got out his lensbaby and took it on a short walk around town, I did a little bit of creative cooking {and it wasn't a total failure} and we harvested figs that are bigger than M's fist.


It was a good move putting the chicken pen around some of the fig bushes.

And we realized Mabel took her first steps a week or so ago. Don't ask me how such a milestone slipped by, but she'd been taking a step and falling. . . baby steps. They're tiny, practice steps, a little insecure; she flaps her arms around to balance and takes 2 at a time. My mom saw it and asked if we'd seen her walk. "Well yeah," I said, "but they're small. Do those count as her first steps?" Ummm, duh. Of course they do, but I think I'm in denial that she's ready to walk. Can't we just swaddle her up for a little while longer and keep her small and immobile while I catch my breath?

Actually it's exciting, and before you condemn me for wanting to stifle her, it's exciting to watch all these changes and celebrate with her as she grows, explores and learns. It's also getting harder and harder to get pictures of her that are in focus. Rats.

Listing+Wisting


The weekend involved:
an attic sale/clutter removal technique;
bad movie watching {including Thunderbird Six};
PBS watching {food shows are a weakness favorite};
Surprised to see Feist singing about the number four on Sesame Street;
Stared at new garden in bedroom;
Snuggled.

This morning I started my day digging through the archives of Where the Lovely Things Are, and found so many truly lovely things.


Did you have a lovely weekend?

Summer Camp: Rock 'n Roll Allowed

Jena and I had a few conversations about personal pressure to get things done, and how it can pile up to stress. Somewhere in the conversation I realized how much we all need a summer break, even though it's something reserved for school age kids. Why is that?? Oh yeah, 'cause the bills don't pay themselves. But why not take the summer to have an excuse to put pressure aside and have fun. Play games, not as exercise but as a way to reconnect with people and nature. Have little activity centers like a summer camp: crafts, exercise, down time in the cabin, even mess hall duty. Yeah, we'll skip the bonfire where we burned rock 'n roll tapes and tee shirts if that's okay with you. But music is a good addition!

Take a moment: breathe in {deeply!}, and exhale all the pressure and expectations away. Watch them swirl away in the wind. Don't worry--they'll wait for you right around the corner and come back out to say hi when you're stuck inside for the winter. Let's do it again: breathe in, breathe out---shake off all the last little bits of self-expectations.

Hula Seventy has some great lists up, especially the Things I'd Tell My Seventeen Year Old Self and while I forget to read Hula Seventy as often as I'd like, her Summer List has motivated me to make my own. Mommy Coddle also has one {actually I saw hers first, pointed it out to Jena who pointed me towards the Hula Seventy one}. Mav has one too, though less structured, but it fully captures the spirit of what I'm saying.

Here are a few things I'd like to do this summer just for fun--no pressure, no expectations.

Crafts:
  • Sew a simple cotton dress for me!
  • Make a tent and sleep in it.
  • Try out making hypertufa.
The Dining Hall:
  • Can. can. can. {learn to use the pressure canner}
  • Dry fruits and veggies.
  • Make homemade ice cream. . .the real stuff. Close my eyes to savor every last bite since it won't help the 20 lb goal.
  • Try new restaurants but mostly eat at home. . . which leads me to:
  • Try new recipes.
  • Try new foods.
Down time:
  • Finish a few outstanding house projects, but do not add to the project list.
  • Read.
  • Take time to be still and enjoy the breeze.
  • Make friendship bracelets and mail them to friends with handwritten letters.
  • Write letters even without the bracelets. Maybe even find a pen pal.
Games and Outdoor fun:
  • Ride a bike {hmmm, car free weekends again?}.
  • Go to the lake {and maybe even go fishing...i know, gasp!}
  • Try water skiing again
  • Go to the beach.
  • Try surfing. {Ignore how uncoordinated I am.}
  • Go to the mountains (since I live in NC all three are just a short drive)
  • Try new wines. {What?!? That can be an outdoor activity!}
  • Play badminton
  • Kickball.
  • Bocce ball.
  • Scrabble hours away on the porch.
  • Go to the pool. A lot.
  • Go sailing with the Mr.
Music:
  • Play records while the sun shines through the windows. Introduce Mabel to Neil Young on vinyl.
  • Go to shows and shake my/your booty.
And even with cleaning, take the time to get outside when you can, you know? Don't use chemicals in your mop water so you can pour it on ornamental plants in the garden. Hang the laundry on the line and breathe in the fresh air as you do it. Linger a little longer than usual to feel the sun on your neck.

Alright! You ready to pack up the pressure and relax your way through the summer? Let's go!
What kind of summer camp are you ready for?

lists and things

I always check out who favorites me on etsy, and today I saw that someone named macyd had favorited a couple items. Upon further investigation, (ie clicking on her profile. . .) I found her blog, and it's super fun groupings of cool objects, usually themed for the day. Check it out here: Poesia, but hide your wallet first, 'cause the girl has a great eye for design.

Also, vote for the Craftiest Bastard! (Might I suggest Jaime Zollars? Her work is A.A.A. or Always Above Awesome)

Bored out of your gourd? One Pretty Thing has a list of tutorials that will fill up your to do list faster than you can say "Those are the prettiest thank you letters I've ever seen!"

This weekend I'll be doing 3 days of Habitat Steward Certification; two days in a classroom, one day in the field.
As described on the National Wildlife Federation website, I will be fulfilling these goals:
Habitat Steward™ Volunteer : Help people in your community to create and restore wildlife habitat. There are two levels of involvement: Steward and Host.
Stewards take the intensive, hands-on training facilitated by the Host. We ask that Stewards make a commitment of providing 30 hours of service to NWF within a year of completing their training. A small sampling of the projects Stewards have accomplished includes:
  • Consulting with neighbor about filling habitat needs in their backyard
  • Speaking at civic association meetings about the importance of wildlife habitat
  • Writing articles for local newspapers
  • Distributing habitat information at a local festival
  • Helping volunteers at a local school to certify as a Schoolyard Habitats® site

* * *Are you ready for a big drum roll? It almost seems anticlimactic to unveil something so exciting at the end of this post, but I can't keep it secret any longer, so here goes: * * *

But that's not the only super special project I'm working on. For the past several weeks I've been curating a coloring book of magnificent proportions. 25 artists, 25 self portraits, and I'm ready to say they're available for preorder! I'll be unveiling the artists this week, and you will be amazed with the list involved (including the 4 sneak peeks above: Lisa Solomon, Jessica Gonacha, Frances Hawthorne, and Julianna Swaney also known as Oh My Cavalier!).

I have a feeling this will be an ongoing project, I think there are so many artists I'd love to have involved in future volumes.