oooh, feels like summer!!

  We've been lucky in the pacific northwest this year, it already seems like we've had many more stunning summer days than we did last summer. The last couple days have been especially wonderful.  It makes it so much easier to get the dozen things on my to do list done (or almost done) when the sun is shining. I try to appreciate and enjoy what each season has to offer but after living in Washington for oh, 16 years, I think summer has become the favorite. Summertime can be really amazing here. Otherwise it pretty much rains all the time.
  This month has been devastatingly sloooow online, my esty shop is just full full full of goodies, so I've been working every possible avenue just tryin to make ends meet... And organizing the house, setting up a music room, enjoying the fair weather....

 and getting new crystals! A friends of mine is moving across town and really went minimal, getting rid of most everything...

 spending time with friends, getting dressed up in fancy prints to go see friends bands.

 the summertime mudroom is in full effect! In winter is gets so cold and damp that I can't really have any plants or books out there but in summer it's the perfect greenhouse for succulents and cacti.

 BONNET madness!! I am sooooo into the clothes on Little House on the Prairie! Especially the bonnets! I'm looking for just the right bonnet pattern.

 Somebody still loves Garfield a lot!

 This guy has been hunting. Lazily, he's not actually hungry but can't resist batting a grey rat to death here and there. I end up chasing him around with a rake when he puts them in his mouth. It's just so, ick...

 My little, very red hued, booth at the hangover flea market. Fun hangin w pals, not so good for making money, but I got a better idea of what their shopper are looking for (NOT koo koo crazy printed dresses!)...

  Yesterday was a very busy kitchen day. Made biscuits, mixed berry jam and mixed berry crisp. I cleaned out the freezer of the last bit of last summer berries we picked (we still have 2 big bags of blueberries!) and we were out of jam so... I just cannot bring myself to buy jam, homemade tastes so much better.
  Another busy day of work and hustling clothes today. Rent is right around the corner... The end of this day will find us planting a few seeds in the garden, I just know it! Happy thursday! xo m

summer solstice

It's nearly 9pm and no sign of actual darkness. Hope your day has been warm and lovely! Summer is here!! xo m

loved...

   My first Bluebell & Bonnet studio sale/party was a big success! My entire etsy shop inventory and then some was completely organized and color coded...  It was so lovely to have a big group of amazing and stylish ladies (and a few gents) hanging out, chatting and playing dress up! I made more than a few new friends and just really felt the love and support of my community. It was a dazzling evening. I have some ideas for how to make the next one (in August) even more fun.

 organizing and cleaning in progress... note the huge shop vac in the corner...

 pre party...

2 sweet friends showed up with bouquets of flowers for little old me! And several people were bearing bottles of wine. I have the sweetest family of friends and I woke up the next morning feeling elated and full of love for my city... Then on Monday, I walked into to Oddfellows and spotted 5 (!) ladies among the beautiful servers and patrons wearing clothes I had made or sourced... It was a pretty lovely feeling. Happy Thursday! xo m

seasame seeds & epipens...

  After all the years of guessing and wondering about food allergies, it turns out my little one is more allergic to the environmental allergens. Let's see, um, cats, grass, pollen, dust, pretty much everything except mold-phew- pretty good since here in the nw there in mold everywhere!! My gal has asthma pretty intensely and two major food allergies for which we have to carry an epipen. Damn you peanuts and sesame seeds! She has a complete aversion to both and would never (thank goodness) eat either willingly but we had a pretty major scare last night...

   I was eating hummus and dipping bread in it and got up to get my tea. She swiped the bread of my plate and took it into the playroom and started nibbling on it. She came running back into the kitchen saying "ewww, something wet was on it!" and then I realized that the piece of bread had hummus on it and she had eaten it and there are SESAME SEEDS IN HUMMUS!! Anaphylaxis is pretty unpredictable and often hard to know what's even going on until it's serious... After a call to the allergy dr and a calming talk with the on call dr (plus a dose of antihistamines) I chilled out a little and just watched & waiting... All turned out well but it is just so nerve wrecking (I'm an anxiety ridden person as is...) having to deal with severe allergies... I'm going to take a chill day with my little one today and just relax and read books, splash in a few puddles and go to the library... It raining cats and dogs again... xo m

sunday...

   May was a challenge. Along with work being a bit slower than usual, my little lady has continued acting out and is upset that her Dad doesn't live with us anymore. She becomes so woeful that it sometimes brings me to tears.... Just trying to be patient and hoping things will improve but it hasn't been the most pleasant time...

 I cut of most all of my hair. It was time... Chin length. It feels so nice and free and healthy! It feels free.  I think this new chapter of my life needed new hair.

   There have been lots of biscuit days. We all love them so much. Our jam supply is dangerously low. Just in time for berry picking. We hope to get out there next weekend and pick strawberries!

    Tending the succulents. They are so easy and prehistorically pretty.

   Alphabetizing the records was a BIG deal! I found so many wonderful records (um, the soundtrack to Legend!) I pretty much forgot about!

 Right now I'm working on a wholesale order for a lovely store in Portland (rad summer), and making a few new summer blends...

Huge and delicate poppies are everywhere!! So gorgeous. We had a few in our garden a couple years ago but the weeds seem to have smothered them out, there is much weeding that needs to be done. The garden is in A STATE... There just hasn't bee the time to spare... xo m