A Closer Look at Ottoman

Three Thrift Trips

Jenny and I did a big-ish thrifting adventure a couple weeks ago or so and I've done a couple really quick ones with Boo in the last several days (quick because Boo really learns by touching things and it makes me a bit nervous when he wants to check out fragile items...he really has a tough time just looking, can you blame him?).

On my trip with Jenny, I mainly found items for other people, but I did find a couple scarves that I thought I might wear:

This one doesn't have a tag, but it's so beautiful! I love to wear these colors. Here's another part of the scarf:

This next scarf it just cute (it's vintage...I can tell by the tag):

On my first trip with Boo, I found a couple embroidery hoops and three tea cups in the pattern that both my grandmother and Jeff's mom had; I've been resisting when I see this pattern, but I can't help it, I'm going to try to slowly collect them up for a full set:

Then, on our last trip, I found another hoop, some rogue tea cups for a future project, some plaques for another future project and some thread that I'm guessing is used to crochet doilies:

I thought the string/thread would work great for garlands. I had so much fun making the one for the birthday gift, that I'm surely going to make something for the house.

All for now!

Happy Tuesday!

Lichen Pincushion (V2 - log) 3

Just listed in the shop:

Lichen Pincushion (V2 - log) 3

This one has re-purposed (or upcycled) fiber filling. I recently replaced some pillows and I washed the ones that were replaced to use for filling V2 pincushions. I love that!

Summerly Swap

I participated in the most recent swap on the City of Dionne blog and I decided to do a color theme for my little gift to Tonya of Kotori inspired by this post. I'll let Tonya post on her blog about the gift as I didn't photograph it (she's on a trip, so it may take a bit).

Now onto the little giftlet I received from Tonya. Here's a look:

I'll start with the top left and go clock-wise and end with the center. First off, a card that Tonya made, a little art kit for Boo and myself to do together, an oil cloth business card holder, a cuff that Tonya also made, some camera buttons, and some decorative clothespins for organizing and such. Thank you Tonya!

If you'd like to participate in a swap such as this, be sure to keep an eye out, Dionne will do more, I'm sure! Oh, and thank you Dionne for organizing the fun!

Happy Monday!

Garden Update (beans, zucchini, cucumbers)

The garden may not be lush and green like I wanted, but I am harvesting. I think know I need to start composting, and I think when we relocate the veggie garden next year, I'm going to have zones because I've learned that some plants like more water than others.

Today, Boo and I harvested some beans, zucchini and cucumbers. Boo ate some of the beans raw (because he harvested them). The cucumbers are the pickling variety, but with only two to harvest so far, I'm not going to pickle just them. So, hopefully, they will be good for a salad or somesuch.

Here's another shot:

Happy Friday! Next week, I'm going to share about a swap and my latest thrifting adventures.

Personal Watermelon

Personal watermelon?

Yep!

Boo has been wanting to get a watermelon so that he can spit seeds. So, we were at the store recently and the personal watermelons were on sale. I figured that the size was about right, if Boo didn't eat any (young kids' taste sure can change season to season), I could eat it myself without any of it going bad (I don't think Jeff is a huge fan of watermelon, but I could be mistaken...Boo and I ended up eating it all before he had a chance).

Oh yeah, I didn't realize that the seeds in these are really tiny, but we found one spitable seed which was enough to make Boo happy and he's been talking about it ever since. Ah, eating watermelon outside and spitting seeds...summer.

Attempting to Stock-up on "for your Wall" Pieces

I added a few more "for your Wall" pieces to the shop yesterday:

Lichen for your Wall 8, (5 inch)

This is the first one with red lichen. After I got that cashmere embroidery floss at the thrift, I wanted to see if there really was red lichen so that I can use it in my "to be" limited edition. There is! So, I bought some cotton embroidery floss in two spice reds.

Next, are two pieces with the stained hoops:

Lichen for your Wall 9, (5 inch)

Moss for your Wall 6 (5 inch)

I mentioned earlier the "to be" limited edition...and notice these new three are all 5 inch hoops....Well, the only place locally that stocks wooden embroidery hoops in small sizes is Michaels. When I went there, the only size they had were the 5 inch size (other than huge ones); there was room for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 5x9 sizes (and larger ones) on the wall, but they were out of stock. So frustrating! Hopefully, there will be some more in soon, or I'm going to have to find another way to find hoops! I guess I'd better start pestering.

Happy Wednesday!

Jenny's Quinoa Salad

Boo and I joined our friend Teddie at Jenny's house for a lovely lunch in her backyard a couple of weeks ago. Jenny loves quinoa and made a wonderful pesto/tomato/mozzarella cheese salad with it; she likes to use it as a substitute for pasta (it's high in protein for a grain). It's also nice to eat a whole grain rather than something processed.

I liked the salad so much, I made it myself (after Jenny explained it simply). It's really easy. Here's a look:

All you do is cook 1 cup of quinoa (I bought it bulk and the cooking instructions were on the bulk container, so I just followed them) which obviously makes more when cooked. Add pesto to taste (I bought pesto and I don't know how big the container was, but I had a similar-sized container of hummus at home that was 7 ounces...I used the entire container of pesto). Then add diced tomato and mozzarella cheese to your liking. I found that the salad needed a bit of salt.

This is a really yummy and healthy alternative to pasta...sheesh, I eat a lot of wheat and it's nice to have an alternative sometimes!

Happy Tuesday!

Sow Bugs, not Sal Bugs

It's been a crazy busy day. First, we went to a combined birthday party (see previous post), then ran tons of errands, including mailing my swap (a week late, but so was she...she was in Italy and I had the flu, so it worked out for the best....I'd rather go to Italy, however).

More garden news. I mentioned before that I had problems with Sal Bugs eating my strawberries and such....Well, I learned today that they are Sow Bugs; apparently, I had only heard the name orally, not seen it written. Anyway, it's gotten to be a pretty big problem in the garden and I had put off doing anything because I also wanted to release lady bugs and didn't want to harm them. Well, Jeff finally said that I had better do something today or we just may lose the garden (I'm the one that doesn't go to work...he's not bossy - he he). The other reason I procrastinated was that I didn't know what to use that was organic. I went to my local ACE hardware store and found diatomaceous earth, but it had 5% bait (and I didn't know what it was) in it and didn't state that it was okay to use in veggie gardens. So, I went online and found that I needed food-grade diatomaceous earth. So, when I called a local garden center, they didn't have it, but had something called Sluggo Plus:

It's organic and gets rid of Sow Bugs...perfect! I moistened the soil (as directed) and sprinkled it about the garden. We'll see what happens. Really, I just want my money's worth from the garden...no, I want more than that, but I don't expect a glorious garden like I had had previously. I also think that Boo is having a lot of fun and he's learning a lot which is also really important. I don't think the garden will dissappoint him, so I shouldn't let it dissappoint me.

Okay, that was a long explanation, but hopefully it will help if you ever run into a Sow Bug infestation of your own...it could be worse...Sow Bugs are much better than many other bugs!

Happy Monday!

Garland for a Girl

Tomorrow, Boo and I are going to a birthday party for a brother and sister (two and four, respectively) who have birthdays close to each other (it works at this age). The little boy is pretty easy to find a gift for...anything with wheels is perfect. However, what do you get a sophisticated little four-year-old girl who already has a lot of toys? Well, I decided a garland that sparkles would be nice. I also wanted to make something with the supplies I already had, since I have so much accumulated. Boo likes sequins, so I'm sure a little girl would too!

Here's some rough shots, my shelf behind the woodstove was the only proper place to hang it, and it's on the north side of the house, so it's a bit dark there.

A sequin on each little wool-blend felt triangle...a perfect craft for one recovering from the flu. Here's another shot:

I hope she likes it!

Happy Sunday!

I love how the light comes in my kitchen window (avocado on toast).

I love avocado on toast...

Mmmm...avocados. Again, I wonder why my sister and brother-in-law don't have a tree on their back slope in Southern California (hint, hint). I love the idea of feeding my family with food from the yard. Really, I'm going to have to plant some fruit trees someday...first get rid of blackberries, second find a place for the trees, third find a way to deer-proof inexpensively.

Anyway, back to avocado on toast...

Toast, buttered, fork-mashed avocado, salt, pepper. I prefer sourdough, but we had whole wheat in the house and it was still good. The next day, we bought some wheat sourdough...mmmmm.

Oh that cold must have been the flu...it's lasting forever and includes fevers - phooey!

Happy Thursday! (It is Thursday, isn't it?)