bread and buttons

throwing down the gauntlet

Oh lovely long weekend, why did you have to end? Going back to school after the official start to summer seems so unkind. We lolly-gagged, lounged and otherwise noodled around with friends and it was all so much fun. We took a trip to the zoo, had dinosaur's picnics, ate outside, had sleepovers, dinner parties and barbeque's and today...well back to school. But as it is the end of year we have all kinds of fun performances and events to be a part of. My son is up there dancing the Virginia Reel amongst many others he has learned this year. I do so love our expeditionary learning school.

I have made my daughter a couple of simple summer outfits based on a pillow case pattern taught to me by Vicki. I want to sew more things but can not seem to find the time right now.

I threw down the jam gauntlet with my good friend and summer jam making accomplice. We have a little arrangement where we get a sample of each others jam. I made my first mini batch this weekend; Rhubarb ginger, recipe here. Ridiculously good, so good in fact, I immediately bought 3 pounds of rhubarb to make a full batch. Vicki the challenge has been made and there is a small Weck jar of jam for you in my fridge. I'll be expecting something in return pretty soon.

That last photo of my daughter is of her chatting on the phone with her best friend. They think it is super funny to call each other up and just chat about stuff like how you could actually catch a fairy, what the funniest joke is, clay insects, you know that kind of thing. It is wonderful and hilarious to listen to her side of the conversation. She is full of the funnies at the moment. The other day she was eating some cheddar cheese and said to Andy, " Wait! Is this dog cheese?" Uhhh...like is that even a thing? Dog cheese? And if it was, would we serve it to her? Still laughing about that one.

Oh and this cake, cinnamon roll cake, is amazing. So good and buttery and I would love to share the recipe with you but I can not find it online anywhere, I got it from Susan at Hometown Girl and if you really want it, I will email it to you. It is resting on the kitchen island and I keep walking past it, slicing an edge off here because honestly that thing is so good, it is rude not to eat it.

in the garden

This weekend was everything it needed to be. We all got the rest we'd been craving so much. I got my vegetable garden in, such as it is. My Mother's Day present was this elevated garden bed. I've overstuffed it with herbs and lettuce, have been watering it constantly and can't keep away from it. The tomatoes went in pots that I got years ago but never used. I haven't had much luck with tomatoes in the past, we'll see how they grow here. All the vegetables are on our back deck this year where I can hover over them protectively. I love them already. The sun shone and the rain kept away, the kids and the puppy played, the grown ups sat and read, drinking shandies (beer and lemon soda). We made a stellar homemade pizza and dreamed of making one everyday in the summer. We went to a dance recital and both kids said they would like to join the dance company. There was a birthday party for a friend and a visit to our local co-op garden center. It was kind of perfect.

weekend

Hoping for calm days, warm days, lying around days, in the garden days, eating outside days, hand sewing days, handmade days, home baked days, reading days, feeling the love days.

So happy it is Friday.

cleo's maggie

This was made for a very sweet little two year old who celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago. I loved making this set and the book to go with it, so completely rewarding and fun. And look! Just up today, new patterns for Maggie! How exciting. I am planning on giving my daughter the original Maggie with a whole wardrobe for her birthday. Luckily that isn't until August so if I start now it might just happen.

quilts, dates and dog beds

We've used this quilt all winter and how I love it. So warm and cozy and soft. I hand tied it on every other corner where the blocks meet, it took a good long while but I enjoyed it. And now it is spring and I am working on another quilt, hexagons this time and all hand stitched. I am just loving making it, I have cut a whole bunch of paper templates with a whole bunch more to go and have made a good start on the fabric squares to. I'll put a post up soon about which tutorials I used and a show and tell of all the fabrics too.

I took my daughter out to the ballet last month, not for the first time, but it was the first time it was only the two of us. She was the most charming of little dates, in her new dress and pearl necklace. She loved getting all gussied up and going out on the town with her mum, I hope we will always do this kind of thing. I remember taking my mum out to the opera for her 60th birthday. We went, the two of us, up to London on the train and to the English National Opera. I bought tickets to Der Rosenkavalier because it was the very first opera she had ever seen when she was a young lady.

I scored the most amazing set of never-used vintage kobenstyle saucepans from an estate sale last month. I hadn't been out to an estate sale for a very long time but these were calling me, so on the last day of the sale I stopped by, just on the off chance they were still there. They were 60% off the original asking price.

And Leonard turned one yesterday. No pictures of the actual day but I think it was a success. A new chew toy and a meatball for his birthday treat. He also has a new bed in the art/sewing room. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see him all curled up in his giant basket snoozing away on the many pillows, while I sew. I love that dog.

this blog is reversing

It seems strange to post about Easter now, it feels so long ago, but these photos are blocking up any other posting on this blog. I needed to go back and sort through the things I wanted to mention weeks ago but got too busy.

Easter eggs made with silk. Kit here, instructions here. I blew out the eggs so I could keep them for next year. Butter mints. Potions here and here. Spring ladies.

Spring is now in full swing here and not a moment too soon for me. The weather was glorious this weekend; warm and sunny not too hot. I sat on the front porch, drank my tea, listened to the birds and watch the trees come into leaf.

Our dining room has had a makeover. It is now the libring room. We had two walls covered in bookshelves and instantly filled them with almost no room to spare. But that is it, I am not having any more bookshelves built. This makes our third set plus the one in the living room which was already here and yet somehow they are pretty much all filled. I feel like we'll be featured on some awful episode of hoarders. The libring room does look lovely though and we had fun putting all those books in alphabetical order, which was so satisfying. We are just waiting for our new dining room table and then it will be finished. I'll post some photos when it is done.

The kids are ready for school to be over for the year but there are 8 more weeks to go. I am ready for it to be all wrapped up too. I love those easy summer days. I am dreaming of sprucing up our back garden but it is very shady. I need some good ideas for low lying shade plants with color. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on that.

Hope you are all enjoying the spring friends.

at nine

A couple of weeks ago my son turned nine. Nine. This is a big one for me and for him too. The night before his birthday he was tearful. He said he loved being eight so much and he liked being a kid and he was a little sad to grow up. Which is funny isn't it? It seems like my kids are always stretching up, trying a new hat on for size, pushing boundaries and reaching towards the next thing to do. They are always growing.

At nine, he is a sensitive boy. He is thoughtful to his friends. He sticks up for them if they are having a hard time and looks out to make sure everyone is getting their fair share. He worries a lot too. He worries if other kids get in trouble at school. He worries if everyone is happy. He is a worrier, for sure. But that is balanced with the most incredibly lightness. He smiles a lot and laughs hard. He is a joyful being. My friend commented when he was six months old that his nature was like pure light, a ray of sunshine. It is true, he has a way about him.

At nine I realize he has one year before he is in double digits. At nine, he is halfway through living with us, assuming he goes to university at 18. That just floors me. How quickly these past nine years have passed and quicker still time seems to be moving now. I want to hold on to him forever.

At nine, he loves his friends. He loves hanging out with them, playing lego, talking about stuff. He loves minecraft, a lot. He likes going to school. He is smart. He loves books and anything to do with history. He says he does not like math. He loves art and drawing. He is into manga comics. His favorite kind of days are when we are all together, maybe we go out for lunch and go to a bookshop then we come home and hang out, drink tea and read. He loves that, all of us togther in the living room. He also loves his family and tells us often.

He came to us nine years ago, without a cry, looked at me and cooed. I love him beyond words and beyond all measure. He is my little light, my love.

links and things

Someone is riding their bike without training wheels. It took a while to get to this point, she was reluctant to let them go but now she is whizzing around and it is fun to watch.

I made my first pavlova this weekend. It was good but it needed to be in the oven drying out for longer. We had it with raspberries and whipped cream. Eton mess, almost. Andy emailed Eton this week about an image for his new book. There was an instantaneous automatic reply saying that the person would be back in their office on January 25th 2012.

A newish addition to our dinner table. The freeloader fork. My nearly nine year is devoted to anything funny and can't stop buying fake mustaches. It is pretty hilarious.

For Easter, I am thinking a few chocolate eggs and maybe some cupcakes. The ones above were for the school bake sale. I also made mango carrot cake for my son to take to school on his snack day. He reported that it was an epic flop, the kids did not like it, apparently they prefer Gushers. Just, you know, I know you guys really know what I am thinking right now. Whatever.

Back to Easter. Maybe I'll make these felt eggs with the kids. I thought it would be nice to print some of these cards and let the kids watercolor paint them.

I love these tiny flower arrangements. And I bought one of these kits to try with the kids. I will be blowing out my eggs like this. 

Here's my spring and Easter pintrest board. What plans do you have for this Easter?

-nard

Spring has been so slow in coming. The sun just peeked out today but otherwise it has been cold and grey. I'm kind of over it now. I've been relentlessly buying flowers to prove that somewhere in the world things do grow. I've been putting up spring and Easter decorations. I've called in the gardeners but they just look at me and smile and say not yet.

So instead of spring, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day and NY State maple weekend and we doodled on the moon. We've had school plays, bake sales and there has been quite a lot of sewing here too. None of these are bad things, they are all good, but they are distractions for sure.

Leonard ate three sticks of butter the other day. Wrappers and all. It was a pathetic and gross day for both of us. He was all sad and shivering because he felt sick and wanted to sit on my lap. I, who knew he was going to puke any moment, did not want him on my lap. He did puke, in the garden and I watched with horror as he then tried to eat it again. I found myself on a freezing March day trying to scrape up half frozen butter dog vomit.

We use the suffix -nard a lot now. If we see a fluffy dog that looks like Leonard, that dog instantly becomes Fluffnard. There's also Princessnard for the poodle that looks a little like him. If he's lying in the sun, he's Sunnard. Babynard if he's being all cute and puppyish. Stinknard. Evil wizardnard.

We call him Jerknard on the days he eats three sticks of butter.

bunnies

There's been a lot of talk of bunnies in the house ever since we bought this little one. She needed a new sleeping bag of course. The older bunny was feeling left out so she got her portrait done by our tiny French artist. The artist works in the unusual medium of expo markers and a dry erase board and because these images are only temporary, the artist likes to take photos of them. That's her photo up there.

Also in bunny department, I am working one of the new kits from Posie Gets Cozy. Love it! I chose the Felicitie colorway, it is so pretty. I hope to have this little bunny all finished up by Easter.

Last Friday, the loveliest of friends came for tea in the afternoon. I made her cupcakes from Spilling the Beans, and yes they did have beans in them, one cup of white beans and they were so very good. Especially with the raspberry coulis buttercream frosting. Can you believe there was no food coloring in that icing? It was so lurid, but delicious. While she was here we made potted ham from Homemade Winter because we like food. We like to talk about it and look through cook books together and we like to eat it and most of all we like to cook and bake and if we can do that together, then so much the better.