Growing in Gratitude 3

growing gratitude is inspired by the blog Earth Mama 101

Grateful for a daughter who happily wears what I make for her. So grateful she likes them and isn't asking for the name and logo emblazoned things she sees in the stores and on other kids.

We had a baby shower at my house this weekend, and i am so grateful everything worked out. It was a surprise and it worked! Everyone brought delicious things to eat and so much laughing was done.

So grateful this bit of the present I made for our mom (again) to be was dry and ready in time, it was sadly forgotten until the morning of the party.

Grateful for the amazing bouquet of European tulips from the farmers market, so cheery and happy in the kitchen.

Grateful for the fresh cut asparagus also from the farmer's market that I wrapped in bacon for the party, so grateful it turned out so yummy. However I totally forgot an after cooking picture with getting ready and all.

So grateful everything turned out so pretty, our colour theme was blue and green and everything worked together so nicely.

So grateful for the beautiful cake, it was lemon and strawberry and so good. Our mother (again) to be Andrea is a baker and makes the most amazing, beautiful, yummy cakes (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/redlettercakes) and we knew none of us could live up to her cakes so we outsourced and bought this one. So cute.

Grateful for my amazing friends and how everyone chips in to make everything easier. Gratefulness for my sweet, loving friends never ends.

So so so grateful Andrea made it. It is one of the risks you take when planning a surprise baby shower that the guest of honour won't be too tired to make it. Luckily I host a crochet group called "The Happy Hookers" at my house once a month and Andrea is an awesome crocheter so she always comes, and even in her end of the road condition she still came. Grateful it all worked out, there is nothing like celebrating a new life and the one carrying it. For those of us with older kids it is so fun to live a little vicariously through them and an easy reminder of that special time.

And last but not least grateful for the new Fair Isle style sweater pattern I came across and the perfect yarn combination to go with it, a work in progress always makes me grateful.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A work Complete

linking up with Linda from http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com

I finally finished the "re-make" afghan I had been working on. You may remember i had begun an afghan to go with the little blue sweater-vest and then scrapped it because it wasn't appealing to me. Well the remake is awesome, so happy I made the switch.

Ready to cut the material for the backing.

Cut the material with these inherited pinking shears, which I received from my cousin Michelle when her mother my Aunt Shirley passed away about 5 years ago. They are the Griffon brand and they even have their original pink box, I love using them they are wonderfully sharp and easy to use.

Cut and pinned ready to sew.

Sewing machine set up, I have a Brother sewing machine, and though it is simple and straight forward and I would love to someday have a more intricate machine I do love it.

Unpinning after sewing, and "quilting" with yarn ties.

All done and I love it, these are so wonderful to lay baby on as they are extra thick and soft. They also are just the right size to tuck around baby in the stroller or car seat.

Turned out so cute.

Can't wait to give it away and see it being used. I hope it is loved as much as I have loved crafting it.

Craft On

{I am linking back to Nicole at Frontier Dreams for this post}
Finished a couple projects in quick succession which is always good for morale when crafting I think. None of the completed projects are for me but are gifts which is also good for the soul.

I completed the purple sweater finally all the ends finished off and the buttons finally chosen and sewn in. I do love it and I hope the sweet little girl it is for will get much use out of it come the fall.

These are the silver buttons that were chosen for the sweater, they are so sweet with a delicate bit of etching in them. I'm going to have to get more I think I would like to use them on the daisy chain cardigan I'm working on for Finnley.

This straight forward and soft afghan was made by my mother to give with the little purple sweater, and though she had completed it she was unhappy with the edging she had done and had asked me to take it out and re-work it. I worked the edge with a variation of straight stitches and then added a pretty shell or ruffled pattern which I love on things for little girls. The overall effect is quite nice and I'm sure it will find a happy home.

I also finished the edgings and added the buttons to the little summer vest I had been working on and am in love with it! It is the cutest little thing ever, and i wish I had had one or five when Iain was born. Though I did not have a model for it so I had to make do.

This is Finnley's bear Cleo modeling for me, this sweater is just to sweet i can't get over how much I love it.

Growing Gratitude 2

growing gratitude is inspired by the blog Earth Mama 101

I am grateful for flowers, all flowers and the pops of colour that are brought about after the starkness of the winter, reminding us the earth beneath us, that sustains us is alive.

I know this one may seem a little odd but i am so grateful for my washer and dryer. With children someone is always dirty, sticky, or worse and being able to strip them and chuck things straight into the wash is a luxury I feel blessed to have every time I hear "mom Iain spilled".

I am grateful for the sun spilling across my kitchen window. I love the view over my sink, it makes doing daily bouts of dishes much more pleasant.

I am grateful for the things I inherited from my grandma Marion who passed away last May. The silver tea service passed down in my family for 4 generations. The tea cups my grandmother lovingly collected. The Ba leek vase she brought back from our trip to Ireland. The commemorative cup from Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding keeping her European roots close to her heart. The Japanese glass buoy a reminder of the fishing family she grew up in. The soap stone carved native dancer she bought during Fur Rendezvous some years ago, and the oosik a reminder to me of her deep love for Alaska.

Another odd one, but I am also grateful for my gas range, I never had one until we moved here, but now i can't imagine life with out it. It heats so evenly, and the convection oven is lovely.

I am grateful for these dog dishes, they are Pixie's now but they had belonged to my last dog Echo whom we had to put down almost 2 years ago at the age of 11. I love seeing Pixie use them and I love that every time I fill them I am reminded of a family member gone away, and it makes me smile even if in a little sad kind of way.

I am grateful for Pixie, my daughter who is suffering from a rather high fever and had to stay home from school today is both comforted and distracted by Pixie's attentions. Despite being only 3 months old she knew Finnley was unwell and wedged herself into the chair to be next to her.

Eternally and endlessly grateful.

eggs, flowers, and turquoise

Saturday was amazing here, almost 70 degrees and blue skies. We wandered about the Saturday farmer's market for quite a while, there is a park there that the kids like. We left with two dozen glorious fresh farm eggs, two big bunches of morning cut asparagus, and the most amazing bouquet of daffodil, tulip, and narcissus, and something small and purple I don't know the name of.

Quite a good haul I think, the eggs being my favourite, there is something so amazingly lovely about fresh, brown, softly speckled, farm eggs. I love the look of them and the smooth feel of the shells they are almost too pretty to break.

The bouquet is of course wonderful, the children love to watch the people at the market building the bouquets and cutting all of the stems, they do it all with such precision and agility. The flowers were almost too big for my largest vase and so fresh and spring smelling. By far the best $10 I've ever spent on flowers.

There is this wall in our living/dining/kitchen area that we have been changing the colour of with the seasons for a few years now and this spring is no different. The kids and I made the trek to local paint store and came out with this bright turquoisey colour, it was Finnley's pick. The colour brightened our living space from the warm, dark, velvety purple that is now hidden and transformed our home from warm place to hide from the rain to an open airy space we pass through in the warm months.

Last but not least I was messing about with my camera, which I am still learning about and managed to take this shot of Finnley and am in love with it. I think I may have to print this one out and hang it up, I love it that much. Some day I hope my children appreciate the masses of pictures I take of them.

Saturday WIP

This week has been a very busy one, Robert went back to work, and with school and my projects there is a lot going on. This week was also quite rainy which means everyone indoors in the evening which only adds to the feeling of business. Last night it wasn't raining though and the kids were out till 7 and bedtime is 8 so dinner was a little rushed, I didn't want to make them come in until I had to.

More and more daffodils keep making their way into my house, i can't help it i just love them, living only a few miles from the fields is such a treat. Daffodils remind me of my grandma Marion she always had bunches of them in the spring.

So many projects right now. I had been making a blanket to give with this cute summer sweater as a gift but then I came across this bunny and letter fabric at the store and totally changed my mind. Now it's going to be a crocheted blanket with a fabric backing- I think.

Two tam style hats awaiting their embelishment for an order.

Finnley's daisy chain sweater is coming along and I am already planning a dress to go with it, and maybe a sweet blue toile skirt too. This morning I put it on her for sizing, it is a little large but when it's complete with sleeves and buttons and she is wearing it over a shirt as a cardigan should be i think the fit will be just right with a little growing room.

Though you can tell how excited she was to be trying on a sweater at 7:30 in the morning. I hope she perks up before we go to the farmer's market. Have a wonderful Saturday, and if you live in western Washington enjoy the sun!

This Moment-Friday

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window:: The morning began with some drizzle but has cleared nicely. I even put out one of my plants to get some sun, hopefully the rest of the clouds will burn off but it being Washington, who knows.

I am thinking:: I am thinking about art projects for the classes i teach for the last few lessons of the year.

I am thankful:: I am thankful for my family, some days reminding myself of that becomes very important. Mornings filled with crying, picking on each other and yelling in particular. Sigh, then a deep breath then out loud "I am grateful for my crazy, loud, impetuous family."

In the kitchen:: Well my man ate the bread, no surprise there, but that means more must be made, and I have come across a lovely morning glory muffin recipe that uses carrots, apples, and raisins I can't wait to try. I will post later when I make them about how they turn out.

I am creating:: I am currently working on a project i call the daisy cardigan, it is a crocheted cardigan for Finnley and has a sweet daisy accent row. I am also going to be taking out and putting a new border on an afghan that my mother made, she is unhappy with her result and wants me to rework it for her.

I am going:: Tonight Robert returns to work for two weeks which means we will be making the trek to the airport a little while after dinner.

I am wondering:: I am wondering what colour to paint my seasonal wall, it is sadly in need of a spring colour, I'm thinking maybe blue, or yellow?

I am hoping:: I am hoping the transition from daddy being home to not goes smoothly, Finnley is used to the change now, but Iain occasionally likes to test the boundaries when daddy leaves so we will see how it goes.

I am looking forward to:: I am looking forward to this weeks farmer's market, I love to see the produce selection grow with the change in the season.

I am learning:: Forever learning, it seems just when you have a grasp on one thing something else either crops up that you want to learn or a situation presents itself with something you must learn.

Around the house:: I have been actively cleaning and purging, numerous trips to the Goodwill later I am about 1/2 done. I even began the dreaded task of weeding through the displaced items from the accident, but on the other hand I haven't missed any of it, so getting rid of a lot of it has been easy. I love the feeling of lightening our load, weeding out our useful items for use by others is satisfying, and knowing places that held items of little value are now empty and ready for the important things to come.

A favorite quote for today:: “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”  Mother Teresa

One of my favorite things:: One of my favourite things is how excited my son is when I pick him up from preschool, he always has a story to tell and a treasure to share.

A few plans for the rest of the week:: Flowers and planting are in order, but they will have to wait till the weekend so the children can be involved of course.

A peek into my day::

slow tuesday

Today has been a very slow day. Finnley was the first up, mornings have become quite relaxing since the kids spend as much time outside as possible everyone sleeps later in the morning. She went right for her new large animals colour pad by Melissa and Doug, which she has been working on very studiously. (On a side note she picked this colour pad, she had the choice between the animals one and a princess and pony one, I consider it a mothering triumph that she chose animals over princesses.)

Pixie and i walked Finnley to school this morning leaving Iain to some daddy time before he has to return to work tomorrow evening. Pixie and I enjoy the walk with Finn but the walk home is relaxing and a good time to plan the day. Even with planning there wasn't much on the agenda as the weather turned and it began to sprinkle soon after we were home. The morning chores of sweeping, a load of laundry, bathrooms and dishes were done rather quickly which left a lot of the day to fill.

Crochet is of course the obvious answer, I started a new summer cardigan for Finnley and worked on some ordered items, Iain played with Pixie, and Robert played some video-games thankfully with headphones. Today was also veggie box day and we received a glorious box full of organic veg on our porch 1st thing this morning. The box also had a small bunch of organic heirloom narcissus and they are beautiful and delicate and smell so nice.

Pixie had her 3rd puppy appointment at the vet yesterday and received her last round of shots and weighed in at a whopping 35lbs. at 14 weeks. She is growing so fast it's hard to remember her little fuzzy self without the aid of pictures. I love puppies so snugly cute but there is something so wonderful about a grown dog as a member of the family.They become a part of you, they make you feel better when you're sad, they stay with you when you're sick and they warm your feet on a cold night. I can't imagine my life without a dog in it.

Iain made a little book at school yesterday about the journey of a frog, from egg to full hopping, fly eating glory, which he excitedly told me about. While the narration is endearing I love the look of his little book, cut out with his little fingers as they learn to do everyday things, the little "mistake" cuts and the crookedly placed staple is what makes the book so perfect.

{linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for this post}