Like an Old Lover....

Admittedly, I don't know what having an old lover is like (oh, wait, Mr. S. is old - does that count? hee hee - hi honey), but I imagine that this is what it's like. Apart for so long, and really you shouldn't start again because it's bad for you; it does strange and crazy things to your heart. But oh, so good. Really......so, so good......

Meet Me In That Dream

I've finally (almost) finished the last quilt of the "Grow, Child" series. Waaaaaay back, last year, I had this idea about combining writing and embroidering and snuggling....all good things. My first poem was "Grow, child". (Somehow I've got to post the quilts in order here.) I've enjoyed it immensely, and can finally say that at least one quilt has been made for each of the stanzas of the poem.

Here's a sneak peak of the next series:

meet me in that dream
the one with the deer
and the friendly dark

we can count
the stars on our street
and the owls in the park

meet me in that dream
the one with the mouse
and the dancing moon

we can feel
the wings of the bats
as they weave on their bright loom

This one only has four stanzas :-)

I Want to Rock Like This Woman

This song will from now on be our house anthem. If you want to get in, you have to sing it at the door :-) It would also make a great lullaby, somehow.



Thanks to Katharine for turning me on to this rockin' woman, Malvina Reynolds. She reminds me a little of my Grammy, except she has a guitar.....and says the word "sex"......

Should've Been a Pirate...

...or an archeologist (there's no pillaging if you're an archeologist, right?)

The hunt is good. It gives an adrenaline rush (ha! sky-diving and bungee-jumping have nothing on....thrifting!), and it's useful. Well, usually :-) The nice thing about houses is that they are a finite space (except when you're cleaning - how does that work?), which usually puts a limit on the things I bring home. So, no more furniture or dishes or things like that. However, I have a feeling I created the business part of girl number twenty to enable myself to bring home more fabric (shhhhh, don't tell Mr. S). Ahem. I'm not going to explore that idea any further. Just to be clear, it's not just an addiction; we can live in the middle in Toronto on one income for various reasons, no car, cook food at home, socialized healthcare, and most of our clothes, etc. are second-hand.

My attempts at justification aside, I especially have a soft spot for anything well-made and wool. Look what I found! The first clue at the goodness within was: good quality cotton cover (polyester tends to cover polyester):

I furtively opened a few stitches at the Value Village and saw within: good quality cotton flannel. Ooooo. It came home with me. Besides which, it seemed too heavy to be filled with polyester. Once home, the reveal:



Eeeep! Wool! Look at the pencil-marks. Someone worked hard on this:



Thank you to whoever made this (and whoever donated it). On our bed now is a lovely wool-filled-duvet-mattress-thingy. We're sleeping on it, and it's heaven.

And how much does heaven cost? $7.99.

Taking Her Seriously

(The Spring Thing craft fair - a couple of vendors brought their kids, and you can see Shannon Gerard's cacti there - this is relevant, i promise ;-)

A lot has changed in a year. Whereas last year felt like I was juggling all the time, and trying to "integrate" having a child with my creative life and head-space (which sometimes felt like dodecahedron pegs in round holes), now, with Safiya all grown up at 3 and 3/4 years old, it seems a bit easier. Of course, there are other struggles, but now things just are, and there's not so much trying anymore. Maybe we're just both getting the hang of things. Or, I'm just more tired :-)

For instance, the last craft fair. Whereas preparing for a craft fair before could feel, well, a little bit traumatic (in a fun way, you know) now, while I'm preparing, sometimes Safiya also makes things for the craft fair. "Mama, I need a needle", "and some felt", "and thread". And off she goes, to shortly return with, "This is for the craft fair, Mama". I've never suggested this to her, it's something she does. There are now various soft sculptures and fabric pictures all over the house, and it didn't click until that last craft fair. I had just been saying and thinking "isn't that cute - oh, aren't they lovely, dear". Good grief, how patronising.


Like all kids, she likes to be involved (wants, needs, deserves? substitute your own verb, if you want). During the actual fair, she was making some of her sculptures, when I finally asked her if she wanted to put some of them up for sale. You should have seen her face! She was so excited! We discussed how much she thought people should pay for them, I made a sign, and stepped back (all right - not entirely - I asked my friend Becky to be her first customer because I know how impatient kids are and the sign was kind of small, and she looked so forlorn with no customers ;-) Actually, I didn't even need to step back - Safiya pushed me away! Very seriously, she took command, "Mama, you're in - my - space! I'm selling my sculptures!" (giving me a nudge each time). Awesome - anybody who thinks attachment parenting is going to create anything but independent minded kids hasn't met Safiya.


The sweet topping was her understanding that one way to obtain the cool crocheted cactus that she wanted to buy at the fair was to sell some of her sculptures and save the pennies. This is cool. I admit I'm clueless in the matter of kids and commerce (my own upbringing and experience having been dismally misguided in this area) so Mr. S. and I are just hashing it out as we go, but this is a good start, I think.

Wendy Priesnitz wrote a great article entitled "Children are People Too", which articulates very well something I hold as essential to being a person (just scroll down a bit on the page, it's her post from May 2). Not a parent, not a mother; a person. I guess the short version would be "we belong together" - and by that I mean people, not just parents and kids - in all areas, in commerce, in restaurants, in everyday life. Not just around the dinner table at the end of the day. We would do better to benefit from everyone in our society, children included, eh?

And as a p.s., for fun check out Toronto Life's article "Baby Wars" That's not sensationalist titling at all. Mr. S. and I just laughed at it and kept going about our business.....

Liberation

"If you post about that," said Mr. S. this morning, "you're going to lose all your readers!" That just seemed like a dare to me :-) But, out of respect for anybody's delicate ears, just a little warning that the next little bit might contain a too much information for some ;-)

Sewing merrily away, this morning, my thought was "Now that's liberation!" Not having to go to the store? check. Not having to spend extra money? check. Not having to throw away plastic? check. Making something extremely useful and reusable in very little time? check and check.

It's a pad. A reusable pad. Oh the horror, eh? Anyway, this morning I needed one 'cause I was out of the (environmentally friendly) disposable kind (which is a phrase that doesn't really make any sense), and the only reusable one I had was in the wash, so.....

Now, because I use a Keeper, (which is awesome, by the way) I rarely need to deal with anything more than a little spotting (also awesome). The reusable liner I had was one from Many Moons that I got from Grassroots a while ago, to see what it was like. It was fine, and I had been intending to make a bunch, but never got around to it. Necessity the mother, right?

Anyway, I used some left-over flannel and it was fast and easy. I like to sew, so no biggie. I could do it by hand if I had to. It's a skill I can teach Safiya. These are all good things. For more good reading, one of my favourite posts on the matter is Sharon Astyk's post "Everyone Talks About their Period, but Nobody Does Anything About it". Also, Crunchy Chicken (who I just can't. keep. up. with!) has challenges and everything for those of you want to live dangerously, you know, as far as your menstrual cycle goes. She also has started Good 4 Girls to counteract those stupid ads by a certain company encouraging people to buy disposable menstrual products and make whole generations of girls in other countries dependent on their products (how to dispose of them? build incinerators! that's good for the economy, right? and....the environment? sheesh). She's got patterns, too!

Even better than reading? How about getting your Mom a Keeper or a Diva Cup for Mother's Day? Crazy, eh?

Oh, and the title up there is a tongue-and-cheek, because in order to be liberated from something, you'd have to regard yourself as being oppressed. And, I'm sorry, but anything that enables me to have the privilege of giving birth to and then sharing my life with Safiya....really? I think a little blood and pain each month is worth it.

Mr. S. is threatening to leave inappropriate comments on this post. Hi dude! If you do, I'm emailing the link to this post to all your friends because, my love, what you don't know is:


He wanted more coffee, I wanted to get my pad done. He offered to help - Mr. S. really loves his coffee :-)

She Gave Me a Piece of Pink Lace as a Thank-You

She said, "that's the prettiest bag I've ever seen!"


For your travels, my love, no matter where you go.

Good Spring Things, Part Two

Where would you rather be? Outside in this gloriousness, or inside facing the aftermath of days of craft insanity:


Mr. S asked me why I was tidying if it was just going to get messy again - he said that was the point of having a studio :-) But if even I can't find things, it is no good. At least a little prettiness was added before I girded my loins and set to:


The buttons were part of the loot I scored from Becky. Apologies to her, because the crossed out part is my doing. Just a little something to remind me....well, over-analyzation in favour of actually doing something is a tendency I have (Mr. S. will back me up on that one....heartily....go ahead, ask him, he'll be delighted.....) And while in the decorating mood:


I really love that patch from Dory - it might be the start of a whole inspiration wall or something...


Also, I loved the jewelry in Old Weston Handmade Wonders' trunk, Lesley-Anne Green's little trunk of beautiful stuffed critters (see them in her Etsy shop - they're adorable! she was kind of my table-partner in crime for the day and I think I like her very much - I may have a fellow-crafter crush, she's very sweet and cool), and of course the very interesting Shannon Gerard, whose crocheted genitalia will blow your mind (not hers, she makes them - oh dear, I really messed that one up!) - and her cacti are very cute, too :-) Actually, everything was good and I wanted one of each!

One of the disadvantages of working in haste is that pictures do not get taken. And with my memory being what it is, I came home, stared blankly at all the fabric, and couldn't remember what the cutlery rolls that sold looked like. It seems people like them, so I'll be making more (sorry, no tutorial yet - I'm going to wait until later on in May, as there's just too much on my plate right now). Finally it came back to me and I pieced some of the colourways back together:


I love seeing other people's fabric on their blogs, so that's for all you who like a little fabric-porn ;-)

The second disadvantage to non-stop sewing is - I woke up on Monday morning and couldn't move my legs. "Now that doesn't make any sense", I thought, "sore back, yes, but legs? From what, sitting all day at The Workroom?" Baffled, I went downstairs and then it hit me (or my legs, really). Studio: basement, sewing machine: main floor. Aha!

Good Spring Things, Part One

Before:


After:


Theoretically, one could sew a needle book one's self. But why would one when there are talented and lovely people like Claire from Needlebook to do it? And so prettily, I might add. And she's as lovely in person as her writing led me to believe, so it was very nice meeting her (in danger of exposing my inner craft fair geek, I'd like it to be noted that we actually swapped...kind of....she bought from me eeep!, I bought from her....that's a swap, right? right?). Also scored an adorable patch from Dory (who I just made the connection writes at The Green Peugot) and swapped for some good stash from Becky. I lusted after a good many beautifully made things, as well - which I probably will go over in heartbreaking detail tomorrow. It's dangerous for the wallet to vend at a good craft fair!

Good talk, good venue, good crowd, good people, good snacks and tea, good craft, good Safiya and Mr. S. It was a happy happy day and I am tired tired.

More fun stuff tomorrow.

The Fabric Swap Quilt

The lady who introduced me to coffee and chocolate was the lady for whom I was an au pair many many years ago. I was a recently highschool-graduated Canadian farmgirl employed to take care of her grandchild, she was one of those ageless Parisian women who was tall, mince, had a perfect golden blonde bob, and was always impeccably dressed. "When you take chocolate with coffee," she instructed, "it must be the best chocolate, very dark." This, of course, seemed the height of sophistication to me.

Europe is on my mind not only because as I write I'm eating chocolate and sipping a very good coffee (in which I rarely indulge), but also because I've finally finished a quilt for Mr. S.'s expecting cousin who lives on the other side of the ocean. There seems to be a lot of life swirling around these days, but the sipping and nibbling and contentment of having finished something (and before the baby's born, no less!), seems to anchor me to a happiness deep within.


Except for the top fabric with the little trees (which I love) and the white-on-white flower fabric, the rest was all gathered at the recent-ish fabric swap at the Workroom. (Ah, now that I check the date, not so recent; it was two months ago!) When I spied the bottle-y fabric, it suggested little houses immediately, and I'm so pleased that they turned out.

There aren't any more pictures as the only recently appeared light was fading fast and the batteries in the camera were dying. So unfortunately that means no pictures of the other stuff I've been madly working on today - items for tomorrow's The Spring Thing Trunk Show. Thank goodness we're limited to only a suitcase of things to sell. A whole slew of projects was brought down to my Mom's for working on during our recent visit. Did it get touched? Of course not, not at all.

Hence the coffee :-)

Late at Night, with much Hoopla, a Number is drawn...

And no, I did not match the scraps of paper to her little night t-shirt....

First, thank you kind people for the lovely comments and roll-love. Safiya and I are visiting family, so I'm waaaay behind on emails, but I will be getting back to each one of you (yes, yes, I know it's not like 80 people commented, but you know what? it's still more than all my fingers, so :-)

What was I doing? (can you tell it's way to late for me?) Ah yes - #4 - Paige, my dear, you'll have to email me your address (and I have an idea which roll will be flying your way ;-) Congrats!

I will be taking up the good idea suggested in the comments a couple of times of a 2-pocket roll, and I've also decided to make some (of both the 4-pocket and the 2-pocket persuasion) for The Spring Thing trunk show, and I'll post some in my shop within the next two weeks.

And since it's really not that hard to make, when we get back to Toronto next week I promise I'll post a tutorial as well!

That everything? o.k. sleepy Mama needs to go to bed!

Thanks again for taking part!

Tie a String on Your Finger...

Just a reminder that today is the last day to leave a comment to be in the draw for the happy cutlery roll...

For the Soul

Sometimes you see a piece of art that makes your heart stop. And you know you don't have to defend your taste or choice to anyone, because very clearly the piece is somehow speaking directly to you. The above is "sheltered" by Shira Sela. Casually scrolling through Poppytalk a couple of weeks ago there it was. I took a sharp breath, and, using a little of my meagre Etsy earnings, soon it was framed and living here. And I'm glad. This I got for me, from my earnings, and those earnings supported an artist. That feels good.


When Mr. S. and I were Double-Income-No-Kids, we got for ourselves a piece of art from local artist Sheila MacDonald Roberts for precisely the same reason - we saw her work and it stopped us both in our tracks. This we considered a good omen, and it came home as a wedding present (for us :-)


When the beauty in our home comes from people that we know or local artists, it enriches us all the more, for these objects have those extra ties, that extra story behind them. I did the art-prints-of-all-the-artists-i'm-supposed-to-
think-are-important-and-reflect-my-true-inner-nature in university, and while I agree with an old professor of mine that prints of "great art" should not be frowned upon because they bring beauty regardless, wouldn't it be even better if the money from our hands went directly to those who worked so hard to create pleasure in this world?


I love Shaun Downey's work. Quite frankly I could never afford one of his oils, but a couple of years ago I went to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit with a mission to find something to commemorate a turn in my life. After a long afternoon I lucked onto his booth and after humbly asking him if he had anything in my price range, he kindly directed me to a box of sketches. I was stunned with the one above.

Someone else local whose work I love is Peter Schacht. He does these works with acrylics on wood:


Being a former farm girl, I'm really, really in love with the one on the bottom right. I ache for it, I pine over it...


The narrative in these is amazing, and I never get tired of looking at these little postcards. They'll be framed and hung, I think. It's the best respect I can give his work without being able to afford it. Affordability does not have to be a barrier to beauty.

And these days it easy to find. Think your local arts and crafts fairs. Think Etsy. There's Tiny Showcase, which supports artists and gives to charity. There are a million different places where you can find something to nurture your soul and support an artist directly...

Or hey, make it yourself, right? :-)



p.s. One of my friends is of the opinion that the art is our house is a little, well, depressing. But that's just the living room (and personally I find them comforting....). But anyway, there's plenty of thrift store flowers and landscapes in the rest of the house :-)

Beach Days Already

There is something about sunny days that brings peace of mind. No matter what else may be going on around you, you can look outside and say "well, at least it's a sunny day". Or close your eyes and feel that warmth as you tilt your head up, drinking it in. For me the sun is grounding; it's like a strong clearing drug that starts in my forehead and then blissfully works its way down to my fingertips.

For Safiya it's pure joy. Yesterday we went to the beach for the first time this season. Weird, eh? Two weeks ago there was snow on the ground and these last couple of days have been over 20 degrees celsius...so yesterday was sandy feet, rock collecting, and little toes daringly dipped in the still-icy water.

It took me four years of living in Toronto to finally come down to the beach and see what all the fuss was about. I'd just never thought of this city as a beach city, you know? Big mistake. As we discovered shortly after we moved to this house, the Woodbine beaches, only a 5 minute bus ride from our place, are huge, sandy, and gorgeous. Hmmmm......I think I need a proper beach bag this season :-)

The Best Reason for Homeschooling I've Ever Heard

We are walking by a small school. Safiya knows that children play there (but she does not know that it is a school for developmentally disabled children). Letting her hand glide across the fence as children do, she asks:

"Mama, why is there a fence here?"

I do my best. Schools have fences.....
She looks at me wide-eyed and says:

"But Mama, how do they go and see the world?"

On a Roll... (200th Post Love Update)

O.k., so I was thinking yesterday that maybe not everyone is as enamoured of brown as I am.


And also that these are fun to make, so might as well practice...


So, with regards to the draw, if you are selected you may take your pick!


And maybe the birdies will come home with you!
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Just to be really clear: this is a little update to the 200th post give-away. Please leave a comment on the original post before midnight, Tuesday, April 22nd, and your name will be entered into a random draw. If your name is pulled, you may pick which cutlery roll you would like: brown or birdies. Yay!

A Little 200th Post Love (for a Greener Planet and All You Nice People)

Want to be my cutlery buddy?

I know, that's so not cool....not even not cool enough to be cool. But hey, I'm loving this cutlery roll, and I had so much fun making it that I made two the same! (I'm thinking good craft fair item?) We put ours (the prototype - it's the one with the wonky seams 'cause I forgot to add the pocket at the right time) to a test drive yesterday at Safiya's favourite little sushi place. Very often at restaurants they give you throw-away cutlery and napkins, and this is our little way of cutting down on the garbage. It would also be great for picnics! I suppose you could use real silverware for a little luxe, but I'm not up to lugging the extra weight, so we packed ours with plastic cutlery from our oh-darn-I-forgot-to-tell-the-take-out-guys-not-to-include-cutlery-and-stuff drawer.

When lunch was done, we quickly wrapped up the dirty cutlery, put it back in the roll, and when we got back home popped everything in the washing machine (wait - cutlery in the sink, of course). Easy-peasy! The whole thing's cotton (except the ribbons), so it's durable. It's got 4 cutlery pockets plus one smaller one for extra stuff (more napkins, anyone?) 'cause I'm a Mama and Mamas need nice things that are practical and pretty :-)

I didn't do a give-away for my one year blogiversary, but today is my 200th post! Good grief, that's a lot of babbling! So, if you want to help lessen the burden on this precious earth of ours, leave a comment by midnight Tuesday, April 22 and I'll send you the buddy to our cutlery roll! (including the napkins, which are a cotton/poly blend, but you'll have to add your own cutlery). I'm giving you guys a week! On Wednesday, April 22 Safiya will draw a name randomly out of a hat, and I'll mail it that day! (I'm getting better on the procrastination, even though I still owe the lovely Jen the package she won from too long ago, and there are others but for them I've got a year according to the rules :-)....maybe this is a way of publicly getting myself in gear...however, speaking of babbling, I digress...)

And of course, I'll send you the nice one - no wonky seams for such nice people :-)

Quel Disaster!

That, my friends, is the picture of greed. How so? When I picked it up at the fabric swap, lulled into complacency by its beauty, I knew it was some version of plastic. I also knew that I would wash it in hot water. I tested it when it came home with me; yep, plastic. Huh. It looked a little fragile....but I certainly wouldn't have predicted...

It disintegrated! Poof! Should have left it for someone who would be a little less hard on it, eh?

And I can't even use it for scraps or for stuffing 'cause now it's got a really odd smell.....

Evidence and a Little Excitement

Just to show you that I did actually do what I said I was going to....although not from the couch that day. I started to try hand-sewing the patches, which promptly reaffirmed that it's just not my thing. Somehow embroidering yes, hand-sewing....not so much. Now I'm looking at that first pair and wondering about the wisdom of such a light colour on the knees, but seriously, those birds are super-cute, (and I'm not doing them over again), so the birds must stay! In other pants love, I saw a tutorial for easy kids' pants, which I'll try to squeeze inbetween other things coming up.

And speaking of, I've been working all day preparing my little on-line "table" for.....POPPYTALK! (Sorry, didn't mean to get soooo excited....but, actually, I am :-) I'm tickled pink to be hosted by them on their market starting tomorrow (there's a link on my sidebar too), and am looking forward to seeing how things go.
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Update: here's my table!
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There was other fun stuff going on today in the sun:


Be still my heart - she came in all excited afterwards: "Mama, I was going super-fast!" It aches a little, that going super-fast, that growing up super-fast....

Playing with Fire

Before:

After:

He he...that was fun. When I thrift fabric, my rule is if there's no label, I don't buy it unless I really like it and can use it for something that's not going to go next to anyone's skin. Which is fine, except when you go to fabric swaps and places like the "by-the-pound" Goodwill, where bags of donations are just dumped into bins and you have to fight the other vultures for what may or may not be cotton....

Now, everything thrifted goes into hot water wash and dry, because, well.....ick. Nothing personal, but I don't know what kind of environment any of those pieces have come from. However, I had got some fabric from a fabric swap at The Workroom (where there is a decidedly un-ick atmosphere ;-) and from the Goodwill that I wasn't sure about, fibre-content-wise. So, using info I found, I did my first real burn test this morning:


Here are my guesses, left to right, top to bottom (I wrote them down first) and the results:

blue and white gingham: mostly polyester :: mostly cotton
green: linen :: linen
lt. blue/pink flower print: mostly polyester :: mostly polyester
cream: cotton :: cotton
red/orange/pink flower print: cotton :: cotton
cream and red baroque print: no idea, probably man-made :: man-made
orange/white print: mostly cotton :: mostly polyester
stripes: mostly polyester :: mostly cotton
baby pink flowered stripes: mostly cotton :: mostly polyester
pink flannel: cotton :: mostly cotton
blue and white: cotton/linen :: some polyester
yellow/red/blue flowers: cotton :: cotton
nubby cream: i hope it's linen/silk :: linen (some polyester? - have to retest)
purple/red print: cotton :: cotton

Some other things I learned:

• blow out your match before becoming mesmerised by how the fabric is burning
• when they say well-ventilated area, they mean it - ack!
• whoah - cotton burns fast!
• make sure your last piece is extinguished before starting the next one - interesting fireballs may result if this advice is not heeded
• have a glass of water handy.....
  

Also, this confirmed my gut feeling about polyester. Why, oh why, would anyone want to wear something whose true (un)nature is revealed like this:


Do you see that melted edge? That's plastic. Gross.
There was a pleasant surprise, though. We have a huge curtain over the closet in our bedroom that I picked up at a thrift store probably a decade ago. It's a large bedspread, I think, and on each corner is woven this:

I was hoping it would be silk, and from the burn test, it looks like it is! It's beautiful regardless, but somehow it's just nice to know :-) I wish I could find out more info on it...

That, and see that sun? The last two days it's been raining, so I'm really doing a happy dance today!

Cinnamon Goodness

A couple of weeks ago my friend Katharine, she of the newborn third child, returned a baking pan of mine. It was, of course, full of goodness. Because she's that kind of new mom. She's got her priorities straight, man. Me? After Safiya was born I don't remember wearing anything but a housecoat for a while, and for the first six weeks, if I did go out (thank goodness for midwives - they visit you at home), the best I could do was pyjamas. Yes. New mother padding down to the corner store, downtown Toronto, in slippers and pyjamas. My mother was horrified. I argued that since we lived in a condo, technically the street was my backyard...

Anyway, back to Katharine's awesomeness. She had made these cinnamon buns (veganised: Earth Balance margarine for butter, soymilk for cow's) from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I think the other things in the picture are popcorn and some homemade applesauce that I finally got around to making from the hoard of apples. We had that for lunch....and then just cinnamon buns for dinner....and then first thing the next morning, Safiya came thumping down the stairs with these words:

"Mama, can I have some more of that awesome cinnamon goodness for breakfast?"

Yes.

And for other food awesomeness (even if there's not a vegan bone in your body :-), check out:

• Fatfree Vegan Kitchen (the title doesn't do justice to the true awesomeness of these recipes, and it's a prettty blog - very well done, well organised)
• The Post Punk Kitchen (she of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, seriously wicked recipes that don't rely on margarine for light, sinfully delicious cupcakes...)
• A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise (how I love thee, internet)
• The Vegan Chef (good list of recipes)
• shmooed food / the vegan lunchbox (of course)
• Two Vegan Sisters (serious food documentation and good feedback on recipes)
  
• Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit (writing makes me smile, and awesome list of food blogs on the sidebar)

Drooling yet?

On the Mend

Well, sort of. First of all, thank you so much for your kind well wishes...we endured one-and-a-half weeks of various combinations of the three of us having fever, aches, and coughs (I'm still coughing if someone makes me laugh), and at the end I was just plain old exhausted. And behind. So the past couple of days have been spent catching up on housework, on bills, on correspondence, on just being happy that we're all mobile and happy again, and the weather has been lovely fine, which we've been relishing with glee. So we're on the mend.

Until today when I dropped a giant 3L metal can of olive oil on my foot. Seriously...I'm such a clutz. This is better than fever though, because although immobile, there's none of that bleh-I-don't-even-want-to-think-about-moving-but-I-need-a-
drink-of-water-and-it's-on-the-bedside-table-but-that's-too-far
-to-move-I'll-just-roll-back-over-and-ignore-everything-feeling.

So the only pictures I've got for you today are ones that I can take from the couch :-) First, the awesome sewing basket I picked up at the thrift store a couple weeks ago, which Safiya promptly tried to fill with toys when we got it home, but I've reclaimed it....sort of. There's still building blocks in there somewhere....


The project inside is a quilt for an overseas cousin's baby, and I'll show it to you when I'm done :-) The other project for the day has been:


Mending! In keeping with the theme, some sad jeans of Safiya's to go with my sad foot. They still fit just fine, but yes, that's been our kid running around the neighbourhood (in her socks), knees bare to the new spring sun. They'll be good as new, and I love that ABC fabric, which was a skirt found and claimed, just for the fabric. Perfect happy fabric for happy knees.

Like a Cherry on Top

Yesterday was the first day where it was warm enough to open the front door to get some sun in the house. There's still snow on the ground, but it gives me hope.

Oh, and I started coughing this morning and now I've got a fever....if my posts start sounding delirious just email me and tell me to get off the computer and go to sleep! If there are no posts, I'll see you in a couple of days...

Beloved and Aged

My great-grandmother (my Oma) has moved from her little apartment to a room in the home and so some of her things have been passed to others in the family. Her daughter (my Grammy) and daughters-in-law helped her go through her things. She's still in good health, but has come to that point...well...I don't really know what that point is. She's always been pretty independent, steadfastly so, and so it's hard for me to imagine at my comparatively young age what kind of a decision, personal and familial, that must have been.

Now two of her china teacups have a home here, as well as the tablecloth. If I'm honest, I'll tell you that the china teacups, although pretty, came along more out of respect than desiring or needing them. Also, I don't particularly remember Oma using china teacups. But they certainly do evoke her spirit - always properly dressed, always kind and with lovely manners. Lunches with the ladies of the church, that kind of thing (although don't be misled, she's got a good sense of humour and plays a mean game of dominoes!) So I'm glad to be their caretaker; Safiya and I will have a proper tea party one of these days, with tea and little cakes and manners...I suppose part of this post is really a reminder to myself to take some time out to go and visit Oma...

When my Grammy passed me the very cool 40's tablecloth, she looked at me rather seriously and said, "I know you like these. But I don't want to see Safiya wearing this. This is supposed to stay as a tablecloth."

Yes, Grammy.

(But it would make a perfect little smock!)

I Blog, You Blog, We All Blog!

(Safiya a year ago...)

Thanks to Florence at Flossie Teacakes for tagging me for a meme about blogging!

1. Why did you start your blog?
This community of bloggers was so appealing, and like a lot of people, I had no idea this world existed until I was googling something or other crafty and one thing led to another and suddenly I had a ridiculous number of craft blogs bookmarked. And then that wasn't enough - reading wasn't enough, I wanted to participate and maybe give back a little. Couple that with a dearth of creativity in my life and that crossroads that a lot of Mamas go through when their little ones are between toddlerhood and being a kid, and you feel you need to do something for yourself and voila!

2. How did you come up with your blog name?
See sidebar. I couldn't for the life of me think of what to call this space until one day I idly picked up Dickens' "Hard Times" and there it was. Clear as day. I am girl number twenty and this space is my voice, my protest sometimes against the concrete sidewalk of the world, and also my solace.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think of it?
Yep. My family and friends far away like it because it lets them keep in touch in a completely unique way. The only person who doesn't often have time is my Mom (she really is really busy), which is kind of wierd, I think.....it's o.k. 'cause I think she thinks the whole concept is wierd :-) And I just asked Mr. S. what he thought of the blog, and after thinking for a bit he said (wait for it)....."It's good."

4. How do you write posts?
Usually I've already got it in my head. It's how I used to write essays for school (but somehow I agonise more over posts than I ever did over essays :-) - it just comes out. There is very little editing or rearranging. First I upload the pictures and put them in order with space for the words, then I fill in the words. I'll read it aloud a couple of times (o.k. when Mr. S. is home, otherwise strange, I know), and then...done!

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?
Nope.