picnic at hanging rock=inspiration

  Have you ever seen "Picnic at Hanging Rock"? One of my all time favorite strange and magical movies and the clothes are amazing.Very Nellie Olsen Australian Style, love love love it all!

  Back to organizing my closet. I need more sashes, hair ribbons and bows. tra la! xo m

dirt

 We finally filled up our new raised bed. We had to borrow a friends truck and go to the dirt exchange and buy a truckload of soil. This giant claw picks it up and dumps it right into the bed of the truck while you're sitting in the cab watching. crazy cool. Then we went to the hardware store and my man bought me a wheelbarrow and a tarp. I was so jazzed. My idea of a really great date. Serious.

   Oooh, I want a truck SO BAD. I really want this one. yeah, that might be Tim Riggins in it... Dang, 1985 Chevy Silverado... A girl can dream...

 Everyone helped unload. Dad wore his weird white suit.

  The chickens were in super love, until I put up the new keep-out-hens-chickenwire-fence. They were mad. Now it's all planted up with squash and needs a few other starts and seeds.  ok, time to try this new $5.99 wine. I was convinced by the name "Velvet Moon", sounds like  bandname. We'll see. xo m

new in the shop...

  So... I am obviously not a model, never wanted to be one, I don't like to "pose" for pictures... eek! But necessity is the mother of invention and a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do cuz coordinating with pals to model is too complicated so I handed my 12 yr old the camera and struck a pose... find these gems in my shop!

 and yes, since you asked, there is still a 30% off sale happening. Use the coupon code "SUPERFRIEND" and buy whatever makes you smile the most. xo m

lightning frightening!

  This morning I was awoken by the craziest thunder I've ever heard in my life. It sounded like a car was being ripped apart and thrown onto the pavement. It was terrifying and the lightning was super visible in a very end of days sort of way. It was a rude way to wake up but the dream it woke me from was way too strange and creepy so... better thunder and lightning than scary nightmare sorcerer dudes trying to bewitch my best friend and I (that's what I get for watching true blood right before bed)!

   We are so lucky to live in a city with so many wonderful parks. Several in walking distance of our house and we walk to one every day, sometimes (usually) more than just once a day.

   It was 58 degrees today, It really feels like fall. I am feeling like I'm fighting a cold so I made green lentil soup(with coconut milk from the Super Natural Everyday cookbook) and I was overcome with Autumnal emotion as I was sipping my soup, it was eerie. Nature seems very confused, or totally dysfunctional, it makes me sad. I love the seasons. Getting a bit of summer makes the constant Northwest gloom bearable. Without the sun, it's like living in a desperate barren frontier land where everyone is kinda hard hearted and depressed. Have you read The Living? It's like that...

   Studying up on bees bees bees... I've had this book on my wish list for years and My friend, Ria has a super awesome original that she let me borrow. In love with those bees.  I am planning on getting a hive this coming spring.

 Reeeeeally into muffins right now. Maybe it's because it gives me a reason to use all my cool colorful and patterned muffin papers...

 Once in a while it hits, oh,  75 degrees and we can have a popsicle.

 Spent some time over the weekend organizing my herbs and tea shelves and I'm so happy I did. Some teas were super old or ones I didn't even like and now I know what i have and can see it all.

   Yesterday was a cooker, I think it actually got up to 80 at one point. I'm so used to the cold I was actually sweating like crazy and fanning myself with my hand, it was silly, but sheesh it felt so hot. Spending time with friends in the sun felt so nice though.

  Tomorrow I get to force my man (or son) to take pics of me for my etsy. It's so hard trying to find a model and then coordinate a time to take pics. My stack of items that need to be listed are piling up so I guess I'll have to model what I can because I can't put it off any longer. try not to giggle (too hard) when you see my new listings in a couple days! xo m

wuthering heights & the great gatsby

   I think Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) has to be tied with The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, sigh...) for the most romantic book I've ever read. Boy, I was obsessed deeply with these two books... Reading them as a child certainly assisted in warping my own sensibilities regarding love...
  You may have heard that we're not having summer anymore in the Pacific Northwest. It's pretty much Autumn forever all the time from now on so I feel darn cozy spending my time baking cookies, watching my seedlings get waterlogged and watching depressing love stories... and they're even on you tube for you to enjoy... I really enjoy these modern adaptations.



The Great Gatsby wouldn't embed but here's the link to it....

sweet dreams lovlies... xo m

p o t a t o e s

  The other morning I was outside sipping my tea and picking up around the backyard and I kind of tugged on one of the potato plants (they kept falling over and I felt sort of annoyed and thought they were dying-I had no idea they were just ready!) to try and get it to straiten up... and... It came out in my hand revealing tons of little potatoes!

  We pulled and tugged, and collected and dusted off a good 8 or so pounds of potatoes (from only 5 little seed potatoes). It was incredibly satisfying and dang, they are sooo good! The best potatoes ever!  I'm going to try a late planting of some blue ones tomorrow. we'll see... xo m

handkerchief curtain...

  I had been wanting to make a handkerchief curtain for months (I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this project, it took me less than an hour and I really love the way it turned out). The curtain that was on this window before was an ugly blue/white/brown 60s floral that I didn't really like but I found at a thrift store and it was the right size so I got it and there it sat, on our window, taunting me, for a good six months and every time I looked at it I though "ick"...

   I've been collecting (hoarding?) vintage handkerchiefs for years. I used to make dresses out of ace bandages and old slips and used hankies for hem ruffles. Mostly we've been using hanks for their actual purpose (blowing noses) since we all have allergies... But I got to use a few of my favorites for this curtain. I'm starting a new project of making dresses and using some handkerchiefs on those so more handkerchief projects will be coming up soon...

  I really wanted a sheer curtain, to let light through but not so sheer so that our neighbors could see completely through. It is just perfect!

This little horse is such a sweetie! I see his face whenever I lock the door. Happy Monday friends! xo m

late night sewing soundtrack...

  Tonight I'm making a curtain out of vintage handkerchiefs and listening to...


and...


and...


and...


and...


and...


 and yes, I was goth when I was a teenager! xo m

portland, oregon

  A whirlwind 24 hours in Portland. It was a crazy little trip and I only snapped 4 pics on my phone...

strawberry fields forever...

  We went on a pretty long (we got very lost and the gps couldn't get a signal) strawberry picking expedition last week. When we finally got to the berry field we were all a little cranky and the sun was high so we only picked for about an hour. Still, we brought home a good 9 lbs worth.

   One of us did much more eating than actually picking...

 I made jam and froze the rest. Perfect timing, our jam from last summer was down to the last jar of peach and the little gal and I are the only ones who even like peach.

  The next day we went to a birthday party in the park and the cousins were there so I had to get some pics of them showing their love.

  I think we'll be heading back to the berry fields on Friday or Saturday but to the one that's a bit closer (and I know how to get there)... Happy Wednesday! xo m

sunny summer seattle

    We just returned to our city after an intense 24 hours away. I really do love Seattle, sometimes I just need to go to another state to have my perspective shifted. So happy to be home! xo m

love love love

I want to spend as much time as possible...

1- Appreciating the beautiful city I live in. There are still so many little corners I have yet to explore, even after 15 years!

 2- Laying in the sun and just relaxing, without strict schedules and too many plans.

 3- Reading a few inspiring articles and just spending a bit more time with friends who are doing really wonderful, creative things.

4- Loving all the sweet people and animals in our home. Practicing patience and kindness.
now I need to practice getting to be early. This mama has been keeping some crazy hours, staying up way too late writing and watching bland tv shows on netflix. not tonight.  I'm going to be, right now! xo m

summer is...

  We've been enjoying our sunny days at much as possible. It was actually really gloomy and sprinkly today but it gave me a much needed change to work on our garden (which is mostly containers this year), I just camped out under the carport and potted tomatoes, peppers, mint, catnip, cucumbers, and many more tomatoes... We had to go all over town to three different places before I actually found some decent looking ones. No sungolds though, oh well, next year for sure.

   Making so much sun tea. Mostly green and white ones.

 Date night, fancy (strong!) margaritas and many salsas at senor moose.

 Love these faces. Makes me so happy when we aren't on a schedule and can just hang out and be together.

 A "shandy" is beer and lemonade. Sometime I add a little hot sauce, a salted rim is good too!

 best ever gluten free biscuits. We'll be making more for dinner tomorrow. I will hopefully have a fresh batch of strawberry jam (berry picking tomorrow!)...

 the tiniest pool. She loves it.

 Real beach, I really sunburned my legs and tops of feet, ouch. We just stopped by unexpectedly and I only had a little tube of sunblock for the kids. It was worth it. Thankfully I had a paper parasol so my face, shoulders and arms were spared.

  Looks like we may be getting a new kitty in our family. We'll see, Papa is sleeping on it... cross your fingers. xo m