Category Archives: Life

Last Week

The newest little resident on our street; Rasputin Bissextus.  Possibly the funniest lamb name in all the history of sheepkind.  The Bissextus part was my children’s doing as it was their word of the day on February 29th, the morning of his birth- bissextus being the word for that day in the Julian calendar that comes but once every four years.

We’re playing the quarter jar game again.  Due to some unsavory influences out and about in the world, the children have been using some words that I prefer they didn’t.  We each have a jar.  Say a bad word, pay a quarter.  The person with the least at the end of the week takes the pot.  Because they are ones to quibble over such things, one of them declared that we needed a list of all the banned words, so there is no arguing over whether people owed a quarter or not.  So, in giant letters and dark marker he wrote up a list of all the worst words you could think of and posted it on my kitchen wall!  Swell.  What a welcome sight for any guests in our home!  Every time I walk by I both shake my head in dismay and laugh.

Trying to work with a toddler about is an exercise in frustration.  I set up my little stock of supplies and within 45 seconds tea has been spilled on my sketch.  Thirty seconds later and my embroidery floss is a tangled mess.  I try to set her up with a project of her own and it spreads and sprawls, pushing my own work off the table.  Even this lasts for but a moment or two before she wants to be on my lap and she would like the needle for herself.

The opening of Mama Collaborative was wonderful!  Thank you all so much for checking in and showing your support!  I wanted to take a picture of the various packages with their different colored wrappings, but I was feeling completely paranoid about mixing them up and thought it best not to risk it!  We had so much fun with our grand opening that we’ve decided to do a special stocking with gorgeous and fun seasonal treasures just in time for Easter and the Equinox.  More on that later in the week!

I’m starting A Week in the Life, full well knowing that it’s going to be a week quick to live and long to post.

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Kids, Life, Mama Collaborative, Mothering
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Sewing Pattern Giveaway: Leotards and Swimsuits

Hello, hello!  We have been sssoooo busy.  The snow is receding, our trees are all tapped, and we are up checking for lambs several times a day.  Could spring really be coming?

I will be posting more this week.  I will, I will.  We’ll have a right good catch up.  I have such exciting news!  But until then, anyone want some sewing patterns?
I’m getting real about which patterns I’m actually going to use in the future and these didn’t make the cut.  My local fabric store was giving away out of print patterns and I must have gotten greedy.  The truth is I only ever use the same leotard pattern over and over again.  I don’t really need these.  They are all leotard or swimsuit patterns.  Five are girls sizes 4-7, one is a woman’s XS-XL.  Some of the envelopes are a little beat up, but all of the patterns are complete and unused.  Send me an email (upper right corner there) or leave a comment if you are interested!  There will be more patterns of various sorts coming soon!
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crafts, Food, Kids, Life, sewing
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In Honor of President’s Day

Apparently we’re getting a whole winter’s worth of weather in this one week.  It’s particularly bitter tonight.  Steve and I are taking shifts feeding the fire so that the pipes won’t freeze.

Photos from last year.  Goodness they’ve changed!  A glimpse at American history at our house.  Are you familiar with George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation?  It’s a handbook of maxims to guide a gentleman in proper conduct, a translation of which was copied by Washington when he was 14.

A sampling:

  • Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs roll not the Eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.
  • Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Dressed.
  • Eat not in the Streets, nor in the House, out of Season.
  • Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring out your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly.
  • Reprehend not the imperfections of others for that belongs to Parents Masters and Superiors.

My kids would do well to apply that last one to their relations with one another.  At some point we started compiling our own rules of conduct taken from the life experiences of our community and more suited to our lifestyle.  It’s been a long running joke and we add to it from time to time.  Great pearls, such as:

  • Place not the lamb upon the futon, for if you do, she’s sure to pee.
  • Partake not of the scum produced by boiling sap.
  • Heed thy neighbor’s wisdom and urinate not upon electric fences for if you do, more than your companions shall be shocked.
  • Kick not at the mink whilst naked, lest you attract an audience.*

George Washington would be horrified, but I like to think that Teddy a least would have appreciated the stache.

*Let’s just say that there was a situation involving a friend on a rural farm, a violent middle of the night chicken attack and house guests that were forgotten in the heat of the moment.  On the up side, she did mange to pull her boots on as she ran out the door.

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Books, Homeschooling, Kids, Life
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Closet Anatomy

Why yes, I do hang my Edwardian nightie up in my closet.  I want to get a hook to hang that empty bag on as well.  I rearranged things so that the line of clothing slants upward to the right, as per Konmarie, which felt really backwards and wrong at first, but now I think I like it.  There is a shelf running across the top, way up out of my reach, holding a small office-sized box of clothes and 4 pairs of shoes I can’t currently wear, but am not ready to part with.  I laid out my favorite necklace to remind myself to wear it more often.

I sorted through all my clothing, from all over the house and threw away a kitchen trash bag worth of items that weren’t fit to give to people with no clothes.  Eye opening.  And I don’t just mean a little stained.  I mean I would be at risk of being arrested for indecency, were I to wear them in public.  At home I would try to layer them so that the holes wouldn’t line up.  I donated a paper bag worth of clothing that never fit or was from another lifetime- one that has nothing to do with my current reality- to charity.  I did not only keep items that I love, as much as I relish the idea of an entire wardrobe composed of outfits I adore.  I’m too pragmatic for that.  But from here on out I hope to replace pieces with great care and that goal in mind.

As it is, I could fit all of my current clothing, all types, for all seasons, in one dresser drawer with ease.  The box on the top shelf is clothing that I wish to keep, but can’t currently wear.  Dresses that I can’t nurse in, outfits that aren’t right for my figure at the moment, but may be again in the future. I know everyone says not to keep clothes that don’t fit, but I think the situation is different for mothers of many.  There are so many phases we go through and from experience I’ve found that my body makes a profound shift around the time my babies turn 2 1/2- 3.  I’m not attached to the idea of reaching a certain goal in wearing them again.  They are just there if I need them.  And if not, it’s one small box that’s out of my way, no big deal.

I would, however, like to cover the box or find a nicer one.  The plain cardboard isn’t aesthetically pleasing and since we haven’t built doors for our closets yet, I see it many times a day.

In that same box are some dresses that I seriously doubt I’ll ever wear again, but they have sentimental value.  I thought the girls might have fun with them when they are older.  I know that as a teenager I used to enjoy mixing my mom’s old clothes into my wardrobe.  It was a fun and funky way to be different and also connected to her and the young woman she was.

And now, where to go from here?  I’ve started gathering ideas for both an Autumn/Winter Capsule Wardrobe and a Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe.  There will be some cross over of course.  I’m thinking 10 pieces?  Maybe? I think I’ll have to live with it and see what works.  Someday I will have an entirely home-made dream wardrobe, but my sewing time is very limited at the moment.  I’m going to try to add a custom piece or two each season.  Does anyone have suggestions on where to find good quality clothing that doesn’t cost a fortune?

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Housewifery, Life, Mama Care, Our Home
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February

I want to be finishing up Galen’s birthday sweater.  His birthday is in three weeks.  I only have the sleeves left to go, which should be easy, except I’m always afraid to take it out and start working.  He keeps popping down at night, for all manner of reasons.  I really think that there is some sort of conspiracy amongst my children to stop me from getting a decent night’s sleep ever.

Beyond Lyme Disease reads rather like a school report, but there is a lot of information in it.  I’m sick of trying to be informed.  Trying to find answers.  Trying to get better.  Bleh.  So much of life wasted on something I would prefer to ignore.  But can’t.  sigh.

Bark is fabulous.  The younger kids and I have been working with it on Woods Day.  The older boys can already identify all the trees in our area, dormant or not.

I’m trying to get back into the habit of daily walks.  We need it.  I need it.

Iain, Elijah and I are working on a large project for Galen’s 10th birthday.  I have no pictures of that.  We work on the one night of the week when he’s at dance.  We run around like crazy people every moment that he’s away.  Just a few minutes before he walks in the door, we rush about packing up saws, sweeping and dusting off sawdust and generally trying to hide every sign of our efforts.  We try not to pant as all causal like we greet him, behaving just as though we spent the evening lounging about, leisurely cooking dinner.

We’re trying to convert a section of our upstairs hallway into a little mini-room, a cosy-creative nook just for him.  It’s supposed to be a surprise.  We’re kind of trying to do a custom pre-fab, sort of thing.  We’re making all of the pieces in chunks so that they can be rapidly installed on the morning of his birthday while he’s on a little outing.  There are so many ways that this can go wrong, but he’s going to be absolutely thrilled if all goes right.

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Books, building, Homeschooling, Kids, Life, The Renovation Journal, WIP, Yarn Crafts
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35

Breakfast in bed.  I don’t think I’ve ever been served breakfast in bed before.  They went all out with dairy free eggs florentine over home-made grain free English muffins.

My sisters came to stay for the weekend.  One knitted me socks and brought me herb and citrus finishing salts.  The other tried to make my birthday dreams of tiramisu a reality.  Her efforts resulted in what she coined “tiramisoup”.  We had to freeze it to be able to stick candles in it…and there was much insistence that there be candles.  All 35 of them, fire safety be hanged.  So another ice cream cake.  This one a surprise.  But it still tasted good.  And kind of a last hurrah for us, as we are embarking on some serious dietary changes.  I’m over-whelmed by this, but also looking forward to it in a way.  I want to feel well again, truly, truly well.

In a supreme act of creativity and sweetness, Steve tracked down a night robe, from approximately 1905.  It’s huge and billowy and comfy and rustles when I walk and I look kind of ridiculous in it, but he says it’s somehow sexy.  The detail on the eyelet trim is amazing and I love it all, even the ridiculousness.

We had a little walk, on my beautiful birthday.  This year has been crazy.  We spent all of November and December wondering when winter would start and at the end of January we’re all asking each other, “Is it over already?”  I can’t even tell you how deeply grateful I am.  I think another long winter would have done me in.  I feel the hope of spring even in mid-winter and time in my garden feels close at hand.  The Wee Girl is utterly perplexed by her lack of needing a snowsuit.  She can not fathom why she’s being let outside without one.  But she still wears her boots.  Her new-ish pink snow boots that she thinks are the bees-knees, which make little star prints in the melty snow when we go off to visit the birds.

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celebrations and festivals, Food, Kids, Life, Mama Care
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8 things I’m kind of obsessed with

Deep winter is finally upon us and that fire cider has been coming in handy.

One my mind and in my kitchen….

Grapefruit.  We’ve been peeling them like oranges and eating the meat out from between the segments.  It’s messier than slicing them in half and daintily eating with a fork, but far more satisfying.

The perfect teapot.  Having given up hope that I’ll ever come across a giant pottery one like they use to serve tea in the servants hall on Downton Abbey, I think this, in white, may be my more realistic dream teapot.  The one that I use now, which has been without a lid for the past 4 years, is by this same company.  I love, love, love the infuser basket.  And this one is shaped like an acorn. Cute!

 Simplifying.  I know I talk about it all the time, but I’m stepping things up a notch.  I just sent five bags of books packing and I’ve only just begun.

The Concept of a Capsule Wardrobe.  And more specifically, a mostly home-made capsule wardrobe.  This of course ties in with the topic above.  On a ten piece wardrobe.

These Books.  Give me a fantasy adventure geared at teenagers and apparently I’m good to go.  Oh, but I’m almost done!  Suggestions for future reading?

Color.  That’s right, the Queen of Neutrals is all about the color at the moment.

Knitting.  Shocking, right?  But perhaps even more so than usual (I don’t really know how that’s possible either).  After a long hiatus, I’m back to designing and will hopefully have a couple new patterns for you in the very near future!

Tiramisu.  As in trying to figure out a way to make it with safe-to-me ingredients for my birthday next week, quite the challenge!

What’s interesting you these days?

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Food, Life, my knitting patterns, Yarn Crafts
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approximately 7 minutes with the munchkin girl

Seraphina’s knitting

Scene:

Our house, a typical weekday night.

I’m quickly trying to finish something up before Steve and the older boys get home.  Mairi and Galen are upstairs working on a project.  Miss Seraphina is busily running in and out doing her own little toddler thing.

Suddenly I hear, “Mommy!  Mommy!”  “Mommy, hep, hep!!” (help).  I find her locked in the bathroom without a light on, complements of whichever child left the door open this time.  I scoop her up and say, “Were you trapped?” in that soothing mama rhetorical way.  Wide-eyed she nods solemnly and says, “scream”.

A quick cuddle and she squirms to be put down.  I go back to my task.  Just moments later, I’ve got my hands full when I hear her running by behind me.

Me: Whatcha doing baby girl?

Her (cheerfully): Have knife!

Everything is literally dropped on the floor as I come running to find that the knife in question is a plastic butter knife that has somehow escaped our box of camping supplies.

Me: Ok, you can have that one.

Her: *smiles* and runs off again

Me: returns yet again to my task

Around two minutes later…

Galen: Did you know that Seraphina is nakey bottomed on the kitchen table, helping herself to applesauce out of the jar?

She used the knife to serve it.

For the record I was never more than ten feet from her this entire time.  You can kind of tell just by looking at her that she is full of mischief!

Last week I told her to take something out of her mouth.  She smiled at me ever so sweetly and said “no!”.  I gave her the stern mommy look and still with a great big smile, she squinched up her little eyes so as not to see me.

Yup.  This one is going to be a handful.

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Kids, Life, snapshots, Yarn Crafts
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the perfect everyday cardigan

It would be nice to be with a man who wants to know what’s underneath my cardigan. FYI, it’s another cardigan. ~Amy Farrah Fowler

No, my ideal cardigan is not of pink lace, though this yarn is heavenly…baby soft, both in tone and texture, like knitting wisps of pearly cloud at sunset.

I’m in a period of self examination.  As a mother, do you find yourself over-looking yourself?  I know I do.  I’ll put the greatest of care and thought into decisions and purchases for the children and others, but for myself I just take whatever comes my way.  Whatever is easiest.  Whatever requires the least amount of thought and effort.  I’m trying to be better about caring for myself.  If nothing else, I really want to be a better role model for my girls.

A big part of this process seems to be about paying closer attention to the things that I truly love.  It’s a little startling to realize that I often don’t really know my own likes and dislikes!

For the last, gosh, 20 years or so, I’ve always had a go-to cardigan.  There are others in my collection.  I do love me a good cardigan- that much I know!  But there is always one that I grab consistently, most of the days of the year.  Sad to say, so far I’ve never made a sweater that has been elevated to this status.  My current everyday cardi is on it’s deathbed; pilling, threadbare and well past being presentable in public.  Which has left me considering the elements of my perfect everyday cardigan…  Grey- my last two were grey, that seems to be a theme.  It has to be fairly washable.  At least half wool, just cotton doesn’t cut it.  Not too fitted, but also not too bulky.  Pockets, there must be pockets.  At least thigh length, I think.  Some sort of closure.  Soft.

This pattern was love at first sight.  I think I literally gasped when I saw it.  I really don’t know why, but it just felt entirely right.  The only item off my list that it lacks is some sort of closure, which I think can be remedied with a pretty clasp.  Inconveniently for me, the pattern isn’t available on it’s own, but only as part of a $22 book, which adds a considerable amount to the final sweater cost.  I’ve tried to convince myself of the merits of other patterns, but this one seems to be the one.

Yarn wise I’m thinking Swish Worsted in Dove Heather.  I really should do Marble Heather or Cobblestone Heather.  They would be more practical.  Sometimes I resent practicality.  I’ve really been drawn to lighter colors lately, but with five kids, a garden to tend and most of my day being spent in the kitchen….  Still, I really would prefer the Dove.  Do I risk it?  I think it might just be worth it…  It will be a while before I’m able to put aside the money for it, so I have some time to decide.

Are you as cardigan crazy as I am?  What would be your ideal?

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Life, Mama Care, pretty things, Yarn Crafts
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odds and ends

“The worst thing you can do is to wear a sloppy sweat suit.  I occasionally meet people who dress like this all the time, whether waking or sleeping.  If sweatpants are your everyday attire, you’ll end up looking like you belong in them, which is not very attractive” ~ Maire Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (read while wearing a pair of sweatpants handed down to me by one of my children and looking every bit as though I belong in them)

Galen knitted a hat for my uncle, which I found totally adorable.  And actually there is a really cute story behind it, but probably a bit long to share in this space.  It made me feel really good about the kids being able to have a heart connection with our extended family, even though they are all far away.

I’m trying to get life back on track now that the holidays have passed, including getting back to regular posting here, and failing miserably.  I’m reading The Life Changing Magic when I’m feeling motivated and inspired and a young adult adventure series when I couldn’t care less and just want to pretend everything away!

I am excited about being in this space in the coming year though.  I have a feeling that this year is going to be a pivotal one in my life.  It will be interesting to see what develops.  I have several fresh ideas and exciting projects to share.

Iain and Elijah spent huge chunks of the holiday break trying to figure out how to solve rubiks cubes.  Now that they’ve mastered the 3×3, they’re moving on to more complicated configurations.I’ve spent the last week banishing Christmas from the house and still I’m finding rogue ornaments in the dress-ups basket or amongst books on shelves.  I think…I think, I may finally have gotten it all.

Winter has finally arrived. I made fire cider with our Christmas horseradish and other garden goodies, to help keep our family warm and well through the winter, along with several jars to share with friends.  It’s really fabulous over roasted cauliflower.

Our house is many things to many people, including a concert hall, as needed.

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Books, Food, Herbs, Kids, Life, snapshots, WIP, Yarn Crafts
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