snow bound!

   Last week kept us at home mostly because of the snow (well, I can drive my car in the snow but everything was closed and...) but mainly because of the colds, ear infections etc that were worming their way through our house. It was not good. The snow was so pretty to see but it was difficult to enjoy it super sleep deprived and in the midst of nurse maid duties and trips to the hospital. Our little lady, who is actually quite healthy, has terrible breathing problems when she gets a congested cold. Now we have an inhaler in the emergency arsenal so I'm happy to know it's there if/when we need it.

   Some of the snow days were so impossibly grey. Still, the kids managed to get out in it for a bit everyday. It was so so quite. Like everyone disappeared or something. I liked it. Our usually bustling city seemed deserted and small town-ish. Driving was THE BEST! No one was out on the roads. It was delightful, if a little slippery...

   I made some progress on the pile of work that needs to be finished up before I photograph and put them into the shop. There will be many little spring skirts for pretty little pixie girls! I'm all about the elastic waist-that way the skirt can grow with a girl. Elastic waist is so perfect for ladies under 12 or so!

   Here's the crazy cat lady cat face mug that we got at the estate sale up the street (we walked in the snow to get there). Everything was priced ridiculously high but this mug was a quarter and now there are 3 of us that seem to be fighting over using it. I love that it's ladylike china but with a jumbo cat face.

  Ok, back to sewing trims on tiny skirts. If the sun is with me tomorrow, I'll take pics and get listing. happy Wednesday friends! xo m

friday link loves...

   There's still a lot of snow on the ground but it's raining and melting and I think things will be back on track tomorrow.  It's been hard to really enjoy the snowy prettiness of it all. The little lady has been terribly sick and just as she improved the rest of us came down with (I hope!) the same nasty cold. It seems like the winter is just one cold after another. I've had a lot of time to catch up on internet based things (I had been making a real effort to spend very little time online but with being snowed in and everyone ill... well you know...).

Here's what I'm loving right now:

*ahhh pinterest. what a fun and lovely little time waster! I'm here so check it out...
*netflix kept suggesting united states of tara and I finally gave in and ripped through all 3 seasons in about 5 days. I really enjoyed it but season 3 is kind of a mess...
*will the Ryan Gosling goodness ever end? I hope not.
*I super wanna try this! I hope it works, we'll see.
*this recipe makes me wanna dig out the old crock pot.
*Chelsea Wolfe is so RAD! How did I just know find out about her magicalness?
*I'm wanting to make some valentines paper garlands kinda like this...
*seriously, this lady is amazing!

So tomorrow will find me slaving away at my sewing machine. My etsy store is being pretty (blehhhh) bad this month. I haven't sold a stitch in 10 days (um but I haven't listed anything new since the 9th...) and I'm determined to list a batch of handmade clothes & herbal items next. My calendula/chamomile infused oil was ready today so I can make a few potions with that for the shop... off to sleep. well, maybe not yet, but I need something new to watch...? xo m

snowed in...

   Yes, the snow is here. Seattle is a ghost town, everyone at home on lock down. The lights keep flickering. I actually had to drive out to childrens hospital in the blizzard yesterday morning (an ear infection on top of a nasty cold had my girl coughing like crazy with a high fever) and at first I was scared but it was actually pretty chill and really beautiful and no one was out on the roads. It felt good to try something hard/frightening and push through it to get something done, coming out on the other side just fine!

 It was just too cold to stay outside for more than 15 mins or so. I was desperately bribing with cocoa to come back in.

 I broke down and had a little coffee (75% decaf) yesterday. so so good!

 and this morning, more snow. covering up all the footsteps and trails. It's still snowing hard now and the sky is the darkest grey. It's obviously pretty but I love to get outside and go do things. As much as I'm a homebody, the day is usually punctuated with numerous trips outside of the home.

  This picture was taken from inside the chicken run. They are NOT happy about the snow, or the fact that I had to grease down their combs and wattles (we had a few spots of frostbite last year and Sadie lost most of her comb) with vaseline... The hens won't even step into the snow. It's sooo deep!
  I guess today is a chane to really clean out the kitchen drawers etc... happy snow! xo m   

before the snow...

   There are rumors and whispering that a HUGE snowstorm is headed this way. Weather reports are often wrong, so far we've had tiny dustings of snow. Today it's supposed to get crazy... We'll see. When there's even a bit of snow on the ground, this city pretty much shuts down, at least transportation wise, and the people who are out there driving, really should not be cuz they have no clue what they're doing... 

   On Friday I was tidying up my sewing area (/playroom/hallway/family room-our house is small and each room is multi-purpose) when the house became awash in the lovliest light! It was as if someone clicked on these perfect pinky-orange floodlights outside and it just came pouring in all the windows. I went to take a closer look of the setting sun out back...

wow!! Happy Sunday relaxing... xo m

eating joyfully!

  After Christmas day I made a renewed commitment to eat super healthfully and prepare mindful meals every day. For me, this means being vegan, gluten free, sugar free, coffee free and alcohol free. I feel like I've been overdoing it with certain things (sugar is a real problem around here!) and I can't really moderate so I need to do a complete ban on problem items and I was vegan from age 10-23 and then when I got pregnant with my first child that conviction wavered. My littlest is very sensitive to gluten so it's best not to have it in the house. So anyways, it's been going well. The kids are happily eating everything I make and enjoying it. It's been fun making and trying new things.

 Miso soup with rice noodles, kale and tofu...

 phad see ew and panang curry w vegetables.

 red beans and rice with avocado and tempeh. salad w tahini (tahini is my favorite thing in the world!)

 chickpea curry w rice... (this was a yummy lunch at chaco canyon cafe)

crispy brown rice treats! so good. Just kind of threw together a few things cuz we were all needing a sweet treat.

Crispy rice treats:
5 cups brown rice crisps cereal
1 cup natural peanut butter
2/3 cup sweetener (I used 1/2 agave and 1/2 maple syrup)
pinch of salt
handful of raisins and currants (you could use natural chocolate chips to be really naughty...)

Put cereal in a large bowl. oil a 9x13 baking dish. melt sweetener and peanut butter over low in a small saucepan, add pinch of sugar, combine well. pour over rice crisps. add raisins, currants. mix well. press into dish. pat down firmly. It helps to refrigerate for about an hour it so it firms up well. cut into squares and eat! store in refrigerator.
so super yummy!

Happy Wednesday! xo m

old moon-presley-bowie...

  The first full moon of the year is called the old moon. It also happens to be the birthday of Elvis Presley and David Bowie... yowza... super magic vibes today. I'm gonna do a tarot card reading right now!

oh so pretty! tonight's moon via earthsky.org

Happy Old Moon! xo m

pssst... bluebell and bonnet blog!

  I forgot to mention that I changed my etsy store name from "birds and black fawns" (honestly that portlandia "put a bird on it" skit was the last straw for me clinging to a name that I no longer felt worked) to "bluebell and bonnet". I'll be adding handmade (by me) clothes and herbal bath products (and a few other surprises)in the next few weeks.

Please stop by the bluebell and bonnet blog and follow there for shop updates, special offers and sales.
 xo m

moments to meditate...

   The dark and rainy days are here.  I've been making an effort to get away and spend some time alone, without the computer, writing and sitting and thinking. Mapping out what I want 2012 to be. I want to be released of my judgements of others and the ability of thoughtless people to get under my skin.  One off interaction with someone will cause me to go over and over it in my head. It shouldn't affect me so...

 Bath time. Plenty of candles, a little incense, bath salts and rose petals in the tub... ahhhhh. breathing in tranquility. Getting over a cold as well which has turned into a cough, but it's on it's way out.

happy weekending. xo m