'Nother Blouse:

Same pattern, but I altered the sleeves a bit. They were much too poofy and wide for my arms, so it took me a few tracings to get it right. I made muslins to check for fit. I have this great book which I bought for $3.00 at the thrift store months ago, and it has taught me tons about pattern making. Not that I now know tons, but much more than I did before. As you can see, the patterns are a bit dated, but the basic rules do not change.

Another lucky find: Baskets, also $3.00 a piece. This is my preferred method of baby toy and book organization. She can help herself to her stuff, and it takes like two seconds to put things away. She can also help participate in tidying which I think is really important for little kids.

This week:

After almost a solid month of rain we had THREE days of beautiful sunny weather:


Yes, diapers on the line is an exciting and photo-worthy occasion when you've had as much rain as we have (please ignore poop stains in foreground). Mostly though, I am thrilled that the Moonflower is finally blooming. They do have a luminous quality to them:



-So pretty.

In other news -we are anxiously awaiting TWO possible offers on our house. Although I have such mixed feelings about moving, another winter in our current home is not a possibility with our newly adjusted fuel budget notice. We have our eye on a TINY cottage a few streets over which would probably take some getting used to, but will meet our needs nicely while we still have TINY children. Please kieep your fingers crossed for me.

I love these Guys:

Morwenna Lasko, Jay Pun, and Ezra Hamilton. Everyone should check them out. They remind me of summertimes past, and all are on MySpace if you're interested.

Look HERE
or
HERE
This song is the live version of their album's title track "Etopia". Definitely worth a listen.

-Also, I forgot my own birthday on Tuesday. My husband had to remind me.

This is for you:

I just want to say in times of uncertainty what a comfort all of my fellow bloggers are. I have had the most wonderful support over the last few years through your comments, as well as off-the-blog communications. It really helps me to feel such a sense of extended community. I have awesome friends here in town as well as through cyberspace, and you all are just as real to me. I so enjoy having a peek into your daily lives and seeing that I am not alone in struggling over the decisions that affect my family. So thank you -you know who you are.

Some pretties:

These were taken on Father's Day:

By now most of these flowers have faded or been eaten up by bugs. As have all the vegetable plants I was trying to grow. Oh, well. The weather was not ideal, either. It was hot, it was cold, it rained torrentially. I can try again with all the greens, but I may have to do containers. We'll see. This actually bums me out a lot, because I braved blackflies like nobody's seen in 15 years, and put in a ton of labor, and got blisters over it. My potted tomatoes look good, though.

So, I'm kinda going through some things lately, and having to make some tough decisions. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but our lovely home has been on the market for quite some time. I hate it, but it's inevitable if I'm not going to continue drafting full time. Which I am not. I have a feeling that something may happen with it this summer, and that makes me really sad for obvious reasons.

Also, my business is busy, and getting busier, but I've had some health issues lately, and I'm beginning to feel a bit worn down. Plus, my business partner is pregnant, and having to slow down, and eventually stop cleaning. I'm bringing in another girl to help out, but I think I may have to wind it all down around it's one year anniversary. It was never meant to be a long term endeavor, and I knew that there'd be physical burnout sooner or later. I'm being given an opportunity to join a good friend of mine in her business, and it will provide Rayona and I with the ability to be in one place all day. We won't have to hustle all over, and carry all our gear everywhere -which particulaly sucks in the winter. So there are changes afoot, I believe. I think I ought to listen to my environment, and my body, and go with the opportunities when they present themselves. However, it's always scary to face these sorts of things.

It was actually quite romantic:

Yesterday we had a blackout...until just now (which is more than a day and a half later). Our neighbor's tree fell on a power line during a brief but violent storm -wiping out power for half the town it seemed.

So I prepared fiddleheads with garlic and white wine by candle light:

My flash makes the scene look deceptively bright -it was almost impossible to see what I was doing. Fortunately I have a gas stove, so I could still cook. Here is the tree:

IT looks deceptively small. It was actually an enormous tree.

THIS:

...is my constant companion most days as it is, but boy was I glad to have it during a blackout. It is my trusty hand-crank radio. We have been keeping the TV off during the day.

...so imagine the first photo, and the smell of garlic and wine sauteeing, and some Gillian Welch, and Drive By Truckers, and the like, which just happened to be playing on the North Country Public Radio station out our way...

...and you can see how it was actually quite romantic.

All I Wanted...

...was a decent photo of this blouse I made. However, I have a really hard time taking photos of myself, and as you can see if you look closely -it already has baby guck on it.

Anyway -BEFORE:

AFTER:

It has embroidery -at which I stink, but I was thinking of Hydrangeas as I did it. I'm not sure that's what these look like.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I've learned a few things about my new machine's stretch stitch functions, and also that I have a lot to learn about sewing knits. I got the idea from this blog. I did it a little differently than she did. I used the original neckband from my husband's shirt after cutting a new neckline and gathering it. That was no easy task for me as I am gathering-challenged. I can never keep things evenly spaced. I also gathered and re-set the sleeves, as well as taking-in and shortening the shirt. So although it's still only a tee shirt, and looks like something you'd just "whip-up", it was quite a challenge for me. I dunno if I'll do it again or not.