recap

A brief catch up of our last week or so...

Marshmallows...

The weird ornaments I promised...


Fabric wreath finished...
I have been working on a gag calendar for my boss at work. I took head shots of everyone and have been turning them into classic paintings. Luckily, I work with my mother, so I made her into the Girl with the Pearl Earring. She will kill me if she knows I posted this (Pam!).

And me as Frida. I re-did mine as Nefretiti because no one knew this painting. I'll share the other one soon. Kevin didn't know who I was in this one! He said "who is that guy?". Hum...

sequins and stockings

This is our Maine themed advent calendar. Eliot has been getting different rubber stamps each day so far with a few marshmallows mixed in. We made our own marshmallows this weekend flavored with vanilla beans..yum! Next will be peppermint. I am experimenting with some flavored sugars.

Eliot's Christmas stocking is now hanging up on our mantle where there used to be a fireplace and now is a radiator- close enough, ay? We got our tree up this weekend and it smells so good. We decorated it with the cast offs and childhood ornaments of my youth. Some are pretty funny, ie Santa in a track suit. I will have to share some photos.

I am trying to find ways to incorporate sequins into everything. I may have to make myself a sequin winter hat.

shes got legs

If I have to live through a Maine winter I might as well do it in style. Really, it's because it feels like I am wearing pj's all day. Heavy leggings with full leg length wool legwarmers are my new uniform under a cute skirt and boots. It is warm and comfy, highly recommended. This is the best sock site I have found.

This Christmas craft I haven't quite decided if I like or not. I made this from a Martha Stewart recipe and templates. I like the shape of the birds but not the texture of the dough. I am going to try lightly sanding them and then adding glitter. I think they may stay on our tree instead of being given as gifts. I may try this again with salt dough and see if it comes out any better. Or, maybe with a mod-podged mixed media look? It has potential.

Rainbow

We took a walk through the Audubon last weekend and I noticed a rainbow in my pictures. I guess in winter we still have color I just need to look a little harder.

Snowing and Making

Here are the pine cones I mentioned previously. They are opening up nicely and will soon be glittered.

This is another Christmas project Eliot and I are working on together. I hate to only give you half the story but I don't want to post finished products just yet...

Watching the first 'real' snow fall. Nice and snug between couch cushions.

We went and visited Santa. Eliot was so excited. He lit the Christmas tree via the bucket of a fire engine, ladder truck. That cemented Santa as the coolest guy ever. Santa asked what he wanted - a car. What kind of car? - a convertible that goes fast. That's my boy. Make it baby blue with white wall tires and I'll drive him to preschool in style.

a lit up walk

The moon has been amazing here the past few nights. It is huge and surrounded by wispy clouds. It almost out shines the Christmas lights around town.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving down on the Cape with Kevin's folks. Good food and family and very few pictures. The past week has been spent digesting and getting reved up for the rest of the holiday season. Eliot is into the advent calendar this year, so that has been fun, and a little challenging for me. He has had marsh mellows twice so far as I scramble to find things for the rest of the doors. So much for preparation.

I bought a wreath form to make a fabric wreath and I found a ton of awesome and easy ornament ideas on Martha Stewart's site. No matter what the blog world is up to I swear she manages to be a step ahead, or maybe I am a step behind? I also took some great pictures today in the woods hunting for pine cones and treasures, the river etc until I realized I forgot the CF card again! I need to hide backups everywhere.

Enjoy the lights around Portland:

Hello Ears

Goodbye curls, hello ears! Another haircut for the babe from 'Ben the Barber'. Eliot loves the guy. He is young and hip and has lolly pops at the ready.


We had fun this weekend playing in a drainage ditch. We had planned on walking down to the park and then on to the big playground but this little stop ended up being more than enough to keep him entertained. I love how my big plans get sidetracked by little diversions. It reminds me to slow down and just enjoy the moment. This rope was the source of a lot of imaginary play including several hundred rescues out of the ditch.

Our newest addition to our living room. A fish tank! 50 gallons of dusty dirty glass. I have been browsing Craig's list for one of these for a while and it turned out my friend had one in his basement that he traded me for some family pictures. I have big plans for this. It has a nice metal stand that needs to be repainted, too.

Another project I am working on is called "Adventures in Home Cheese Making". If you hadn't noticed, I have reserved another blog with that title. I plan on using it as a place to chronicle my fermented endeavors. Below is a hearth bread I made today. It came out really nicely. I haven't finished the construction of the new blog yet but I'll keep you posted. It will be mostly bread, cheese and maybe wine and beer if I get really motivated this winter.

our week

I had planned on spreading pictures out over the week but you know how that goes. So the following is a photo dialog about our week past.

Watching the last remaining glimpses of summer pass.

I found some linen twine at the weaving shop so that when I have built up enough of a wool stash I can begin the rug I have in mind. The hooked rug is coming along bit by bit, row by row.
Surprised by the waves when we took a family outing to the seaside. The fog horn was blowing and the waves were amazing.
The fog was settling in between the crags in the rocks so beautifully. This picture is only really done justice by enlarging.

Enjoying the last of my inside flowers, too.

Eliot shaking the leaves off the trees at the river.

Leaf piles.


And dragonfly visitors.

curtains and more leaves

I finished some curtains for Eliot's room this past weekend. They have a red panel at the top and very narrow orange bias tape at the bottom. I wasn't jazzed about the fabric after I bought it but now that it is up it works. I am trying to get more of his toys in his room instead of littered around the house. It is challenging and I definitely need to build or find another form of shelf/storage.


Here are more leaf pictures from the Royal River. I think a yearly series may arise. I missed the brightly colored leaves this year but the brown looks nice in a different way I think. My Mother said they looked like little sails.

thank yous

Eliot and I have been working on thank you notes for our birthdays. Eliot painted and stamped the pages and I have constructed them into cards. It has been a fun project to work on together. He likes having his hands traced and using the letter stamps.

Dexter had some running around time while we were working on this day. He loves to snuggle up and run madly around our feet.


As the weather turns, I have been taking lots of fall related pictures. This blog will be full of them in the coming posts. This is the last peach on the tree.