Saturday, January 30, 2010

memorable quotes

Before I forget to write them down:

In waking up this morning.. "Mom, what is thunder? I mean, what does thunder actually do?".

"You are the best Mom I ever made." Melt my heart!

"I'm not eating it! I'm just licking it!" In reference to play dough.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

a boy and his bunny

Who said a boy needs a dog? They are good buds. Eliot loves to sneak him out of his cage and run to tell me Dexter got out. When Dexter goes down the back hall way we have exciting bunny hunts and try to sneak up on him. Those big ears give us away every time.

Eliot picks out stories and we read to the bunny when he is running around. He always comes over and listens. Eliot tells him all about his days and adventures. Dexter is a good listener.



Sunday, January 24, 2010

weekending

It has been a mellow weekend so far. I have been gung-ho about finishing projects and I was able to scratch a couple off the list. I matted, framed and hung this print that I have had for many months. I found the wooden frame (about 5' X 4') at a yard sale last summer and I was planning to use it as a magnet board for Eliot. That didn't happen so it has been relocating around the house in various forms since. But, no longer! It is now hanging in the dining room where I think it is going to stay.

I received my piece of wood I ordered for the fish tank. It seems a little odd to order wood but it is extremely heavy and will look really cool once I get it in there. It needs to soak for about 2 weeks to leach out all of the tannins. I am so close to getting the plants in it!

And, of course, I have been busily working on my rug. I have 20 rounds made so far. I think I am going to need about ~60 more to make a rug the size I want...about 4 or 5 feet across. I would say about 5 more and I would have enough for a circular mat. I am thinking about selling these in my very empty Etsy shop. I am trying to work out pricing. That is always the tricky part.


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Wintery Beach

Before we got all of the snow we have now, it has been snowing for 4 days, we had one really warm day. It was in the 40's with no wind and lots of snow. And, what do you do in Maine when it hits 40? Go to the beach! Eliot has been talking about the beach a lot lately and I have been missing the waves, so we took a family trip to Willard Beach. We ran and dug and played for a good long time. It felt good to be outside after so many frigid days stuck indoors.

Even found some interesting 'art' under the playground.




Monday, January 18, 2010

For the Grandparents

We had a surprise snowstorm today. I heard word of 3-5 inches and we woke up with about 10" that turned into a solid foot throughout the day. We managed to convince Eliot, who keeps looking out the window and saying "I miss spring.", to go outside and play. He ended up enjoying himself quite a bit. He tromped through the snow for a good hour while Kevin and I dug out my car - snow up to my windows from the plows - and re-parked for the snow ban.

Whenever someone would walk by he would fall over into the snowbank and make a big deal about pretending to be stuck. It's a great way to meet your neighbors.




Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Beaded Wool Rug

The beaded wool rug is starting to slowly come to life. I have been busily cutting up scraps and sweaters that I have had hanging around. It was exciting to have these little rounds come together exactly how I imagined. I love when an idea becomes reality - and then actually works.

I have been learning a lot as I go along, such as, using sweater wool is a lot easier than densely felted fabric. It is a little scary wielding a 6 inch needle so I filed it down. It was a challenge to actually find a 6 inch needle. If you are interested, they have them in the drapery section of craft stores. I am really disappointed in the book I mentioned as far as instructions and clarity go. There is a wide open market for a new one! It was a good starting point but the images are so blurry it is hard to tell what is going on.

So far I have 7 rounds completed with many more to go to make the full rug I envision. I'll keep you posted.


Sunday, January 10, 2010

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We are all getting back to our daily routines now that the holidays are over. We had a nice Christmas at my mother's house with Great Grandma and 'regular' Grandma. We were lucky to see Kevin's family several times through the holidays as well. Eliot is enjoying his new toys and I am still trying to figure out how to rearrange things.

This was the tree at our house Christmas morning. Eliot did his stocking here and then we packed everything up and brought it to Gram's. Unfortunately, he was really sick that day but managed to pull through. Christmas eve, when I was putting him to bed, he kept telling me he didn't want Santa to come, and to make sure the doors and windows were locked. I think the reality that Santa was actually going to come to his house really freaked him out. He was really into the Polar Express this year, too. Now he vacillates between being upset that he is going to miss it and worried that it is actually going to show up.


We have been drinking a lot of hot chocolate lately, too. With the highs in the teens this weekend we will probably drink several more rounds. Time to make some more marshmallows!


Eliot loves reading his new Dahlov Ipcar book, Hardscrabble Harvest. She is an awesome children's writer/illustrator local to Maine. She is in her 90's now and still writing and painting. Check her out if you haven't seen her work. They are so well done and pleasant to read aloud.

The fish tank is up off the ground and clean. It took me a while to get the stand painted, but it's in the house and ready. I just ordered the hardware and substrate. I am looking for some interesting bog wood and stones for it, too. Then the fun part - plants and fish!

I made a new year's resolution/goals list this week, too. It was made in a free form spirit but I thought I should put it here for reference as I ease into 2010:

Be in a craft fair.
Have a photography show.
Make a rug.
Work on a photography website.
Make cheese.
Make wine.
Send Christmas letters.
Work on Christmas all year.
Balsam Pillows.
Keep working on species identification/nature journaling.
Keep working on home school ideas.
Leaf printing on fabric.
Wooden blocks from natural (bark on) wood.
Leaf printing in general, ferns, etc.
Sew from the vintage patterns.
Make coasters.
Fabric mural on Eliot's wall.
Develop fish tank.
Finish Alphabet quilt.
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