Poppy Heart

Kitty Love

2010-11-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

We have ourselves another new animal in our world. Let me introduce you to Finn, our 4 month old boy kitty. He is very sweet, playful and has green eyes. He came from the Humane Society and when we meet him, it was instant love. All I can say is "he had me at meow". Chloe and I knew right away that he was the one for us, I will always remember the look in her eyes, and the tears I had to fight back.

All we know about his history is that he was found about a month ago in a box, outside with his Mother. Someone was going for a walk and heard meowing and found the box in a bush. We think his Mama was adopted by someone else.

Before we went to the Humane Society, Chloe happened to fall off our hammock and hurt her shoulder. We ruled out a dislocated shoulder and after about 45 minutes she seemed to be okay, so off we went to search for a new kitten. When we got home that night Chloe was still in pain and the next morning we found ourselves at Children's Hospital getting her checked out. Turns out she broke her clavicle (collar) bone. So, she is now wearing a sling and taking it easy. She still has figured out how to hold Finn though, and is doing pretty well. We are always going to remember this day, when we adopted Finn, that Chloe had a broken collar bone and we didn't know it !! I figured if she was okay enough to go to the Humane Society, nothing was broken, how wrong I was on that one, another lesson learned !

New Additions

2010-10-22T11:30:00.001-07:00

We are now officially raising 4 baby chick's who will turn into to happy egg laying hens in about 5 months. Yes, we have taken one more step to self sustainability in our urban dwelling. Knowing where are eggs have come from, what our hens are eating, and that they have a happy stress free existence, really matters to us. Plus, they will provide us with a nice amount of manure for the vegetable and herb gardens.

Our chicks are about 5 weeks old now. We first purchased them when they were about 10 days old. We took a trip out to East County to a feed store and picked out 2 Plymouth Barred Rocks (twins, named Daisy & Loretta) a Rhode Island Red (named Blossom) and an Araucana(named Cookie).

We have watched them grow literally over night. They are very cute, and the colors in their feathers are beautiful. Observing their behavior has been a favorite activity around here. We have seen first hand what all those funny chicken sayings mean, and crack up as we use them in our daily language, realizing we have not only heard these sayings, but have used them for years, but now have a new and improved perspective on them ! Here's some....

"ruling the roost", we think Cookie will fill this role.
"flew the coop", Daisy already did this once, luckily she didn't make it very far!
"nest egg", I think that's our 401K.
"chicken neck", I tell Blake to stick out his "chicken neck" while using the neti-pot.
"chicken scratch", turns out they love this scratching thing.
"pecking order", jury is out on the exact order at this point.
"mother hen", that would be me....

I know there are more sayings, so before I google them, leave me a comment with some of yours...

Oh, and I forgot to mention, these chicks are living in a very fabulous and secure two story chicken coop, complete with several roosting area's, 2 luxurious egg laying compartments, a spacious run, and fresh chicken feed & water supplied daily. There is even a storage area to keep all the supplies you need to care for these birds. All this was built by Alan & Blake over several weeks, in August and September. They had a great time working together, and I loved watching them.

Here is a chicken quote I found for Alan, "Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

We love our chicks & their cathedral !

The Best Cat in the World!

2010-10-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

That's Eddie, who in our eyes, was really the "best cat in the world". After 18 healthy, happy and sleepy years, we had to put her to sleep last week. Her kidney's were failing, something that happens to old cats very often, and up until a month ago she was doing pretty well. In the last few weeks, she became fond of baby food, chicken dinner versions, but we knew she was close to the end when she stopped eating, and became dehydrated, it was obvious her body was shutting down. We had the choice of giving her injections of fluids to keep her alive, but as the vet said, that would have been only for our benefit, not hers, she was ready to go, so I made the decision to euthanize her. I knew this was coming and spent time preparing Chloe & Blake for it, logically knowing it would happen soon, but when it came down to her last day I was not prepared for it. We lost Eddie's sister Wally 5 years ago, to a dog who chased her down and attacked her, and I remember how devastating that was, and assumed since I had been through it once, that this would somehow be easier, well, I was wrong.

I still don't know at this point which part of the loss we were feeling was harder, my grief, or being witness to Chloe's grief. This was her first experience with death & loss. Watching her heartbreak was gut-wrenching. She is a natural with animals, they gravitate towards her, and are always calmed in her arms. She had a relationship with Eddie that I knew was special, but didn't quite realize the depth of it.

We have spent the last week and a half crying, talking, and looking back at pictures of Eddie, & Wally. We have learned that everyone grieves differently, and that we are not the only one's who have gone through the loss of a beloved pet. We talk about how we keep expecting Eddie to walk around the corner and meow at us, but quickly realize she is gone. We also found out how supportive everyone in our network of friends and family are at a time like this. Chloe's teacher sent home a sweet book for us to read, fittingly titled "The Best Cat in the World!"

The most beautiful part of our grieving is the way in which Chloe has processed her heartbreak through an outpouring of drawings, some in the sand at the beach the day Eddie died, and the others on t-shirts that Chloe wore to school during the week, even her Art card's for school and a Birthday Card for her friend reflects our loss. Her drawings have helped us, the love that is reflected is so pure, and I have watched them help heal Chloe's heart.

So here's to Eddie, the sweetest, calmest and most comforting cat I have even know. She was witness to the last 18 years of my life, watching me grow up in a sense, move to California, and start a family, and of course she was part of our family. One of our close friends who has watched over Eddie when we were out of town called her "The Angel Kitty". Such a fitting name, she was an angel, and I am sure she will be someone else's in her next life.

We love you Eddie, and are grateful to have had you in our lives for so many sweet & wonderful years. You will surely be missed !

One Year Later

2010-09-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, I have abandoned this blog for a whole year now, so sorry to everyone, especially my future self, let's see if I can keep up with posting again. I have thousands of pictures from the past year, along with lots of stories, and I have no idea how I could recapture that here. So maybe I will play some catch up in the coming weeks, and maybe not, no expectations, right ?

What I can say, is we are back to school yet again, Chloe is in 4th grade, and Blake in first. We had an amazing summer, great food, an abundant garden, totally relaxing & fun vacations, a fun birthday celebration for Chloe, a festive labor day party with great friends, and lots of time to chill at the beach, which is what I am missing most at this point. So all I have right now is this picture that I LOVE, it was taken on one of those lazy evenings at Coronado beach while we were packing up and heading home. Sun-kissed and grateful for living just 20 minutes away from the ocean.

Blake's New Hair

2009-09-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of changes in Blake's life. He just started Kindergarten, he has made new friends, he's learned how to swim, he lost his very first tooth,and now he has short hair !!

He's been wanting this for a few months now, but Momma & Daddy had a hard time imagining him without out his long locks. After seeing him with short hair, which really enhances his big boy attitude these days, I think it I was hesitant because the long hair still makes it feel like he is a little, little, boy. Oh be still my beating heart!

He was really into sitting in the chair. Suzi the stylist really knows how to give a good boy's cut !

Look at all that hair ! I bet this makes the Grand Parents happy, it has sure made all of us happy, especially Blake.

Summer Salads

2009-07-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this article in the New York Times. 101 Simple Salad Recipe's for your summer veggies and greens. The possibilities are endless !

The Tee Pee's

2009-07-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Chloe's school has an annual Art Night celebration & auction, it took place in May. Each classroom works to make a auction item and this year the kids were studying the art and life of Georgia O'Keeffe. So, we thought it would be cool to make a tee pee and have the kids paint their version of an O'Keeffe flower. We gave them some different silk flowers as inspiration and laid out the tee pee fabric flat on the floor for the kids to work on. I love their work !

The tee pee construction turned out to be more work than I thought, and with most big projects I take on, there is usually some mistake I make that puts me in a panic, but thankfully, in the end turns out to be much better than I could ever imagine. I used this tutorial. I wanted to save some money on the fabric, so I bought pre-made painters cotton drop cloth from Home Depot. I thought the finished measurements met the required one's that the tutorial called for, but after I cut it, it turned up really short on the bottom and very uneven. So I had to wing it on piecing together extra fabric to add all around the bottom, after it was all painted. With the help of some other Mom's in the class we pulled it off, and it turned out really cute. There is a little girl out there right now who's Mommy purchased the tee pee and I am sure she is having a ball in it.

I had extra fabric left, so I made another one for Miss Olivia, & The Circle of Friends preschool. It was our parting gift to the school, Blake graduated and starts Kindergarten in September. We have been with Olivia for 6 years between Chloe & Blake. On this one, we put the tee pee together and let the kids paint on it standing up, it went much quicker and we let the kids paint whatever their hearts desired. It turned out just as sweet.

Now, if I can just pull another one off, Chloe & Blake could have their own. I will add it to the summer project list !

The Blog Slacker is Back!

2009-07-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know I have been neglecting this space for way to long. Instead I have spent quite a bit of time outside in the dirt, cultivating & growing as much food as I possibly can. If I am not in my garden then I have been in someone else's. I have to say, I would rather be away from the computer than on it, dirt or clay under my finger tips is much more satisfying then keyboard induced carpal tunnel.

I have however, been taking lots of photo's so I will attempt to catch up in my next posts. For now, I will share with you some of my favorite images that have come from my newest I-photo application that I am loving these days, thanks to my friend Emil who turned me onto it. Its called Shake It Photo, it simulates the polaroid experience I can't believe how well it takes pictures and how beautiful the colors are. If you have an i-phone its a must have app !

What's been growing at my house...

Beets

Green Onions

A salad every night

Green Beans

Our first cucumber

The Beach

The Del Mar Fair

Alan's newest growth... love it

The ultimate kid summer pastime, The Lemonade Stand

Alright then, back outside, hope your summer is great !

The Dreyer Family Band

2009-05-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

The best family CD, ever! That's my review.
Our good friends Annie, Matt, Mac, Emmett & Silas, (the West Coast Dreyers, is what they call themselves) just finished this wonderful collection of beautiful songs with the (East Coast Dreyers). It was so lovely to see it all come to fruition last night at their CD release party, held at Plum Pottery. I feel like I was there at the birth of these songs. Last year when I would see Annie in the school garden, or chat on the phone with her, she would sing me lyrics as she wrote them. I would get goose bumps all over my body and warm fuzzy feelings in my heart, I just knew the songs were going to be something special. Well, a year or so later, here it is ! A beautiful gift to us all.... Go listen to it, buy it, and celebrate its messages with your family.

The Dreyer Family Website

Fava Beans

2009-03-28T23:23:00.001-07:00

I have been spending my Thursdays at Chloe's school taking her class out to the school garden to dig, plant, grow and harvest food. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed doing this. So far this year we have been continually harvesting salad greens, radishes and carrots. This past week our bounty included two big bowls of fava beans that we planted back in October. First the kids picked as many beans as they could ( it was a fava bean frenzy I tell you !) and then we all gathered in a circle on the grass and passed around the bowls to see how heavy there were. We then proceeded to shuck the beans. The kids talked about how well they worked as teams to pick them, and they really loved pealing back the green flesh to find big fat fava beans inside.

This was the first time I attempted cooking in the garden, good thing I had that handy camp stove ! Before cooking the beans, there is still one more layer to remove, and most people boil them for a few minutes then transfer to ice cold water before removing the layer that gives you the yummy green bean that is eaten. Since we were running short on time, we skipped the boiling step and we sauteed them in their shells with a bit a garlic and olive oil. The heat made the bean pop out and we separated them just before eating. Everyone ate them and really liked there taste. Their are still more beans to harvest and share.

Some of what we have learned about Fava Beans:

~They are a great source of protein & they taste good.

~They are really fun to plant, but way more fun to pick !

~ They take about 4 to 5 months to actually produce the beans, first come beautiful flowers, and they are edible to.

~ Fava's are considered a cover crop, which means you can plant them to cover soil that is not being currently used for another crop and it will keep your soil productive as well as "fix nitrogen" into it. Fixing means the plant actually takes nitrogen from the air and feeds it back into the soil. It as a great plant to put in the soil that you usually grow tomato's in during the warm months.

For more detailed info you can check the Wikipedia entry here, and there is a nice article with recipes written here.

P.S. The last two images above were taken by Emil @ erb photography, I love the fava's in the air !!

Smiley Faces

2009-03-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

Our little guy Blake has pretty much put holes in every pair of jeans he owns, with all the work he does as a rambunctious boy. I have spent hours ironing on and sewing patches onto all his pants, only to find that where the patch is not, is where a new hole emerges. We found these smiley face patches and Blake really loved them so I put them on last night, knowing they will only last long enough to take a really cute picture in the school garden with them. Hooray for Happy Faces !

The Potters Produce

2009-02-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Chloe's school has a kiln now, very exciting indeed. The first project was a pinch pot, the one above is hers. She presented it to me with a flower in it. How sweet and beautiful, especially the smile she had on her face when she handed it to me. The one that says " I am so proud I made this!" Chloe was sick the day of her next project so her Art Teacher gave us some clay to take home to complete it. Hanging plaques, which will be hung around the school on art night in May, even Blake made one, next week they will glaze them.

I was very happy to bring home my first set of respectable mugs this week from my class. I can't tell you how much I loved making these. I think the best part about bringing home new pieces is that I leave them on the table for Chloe and Blake to find in the morning, they get so excited, and want to use them right away. They are my biggest fans ! What a gift that is. There will be more mugs to come, I am on a roll !

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

We celebrated yesterday, with a party in Chloe's second grade classroom. There were so many sweets and treats it almost felt like Halloween, except there was the lovely colors of red, & pink all around. The theme was to have red food. So there were strawberry's, in different versions of dipped chocolates, white, dark, even strawberry's atop mascarpone cheese in a little tart, yummy. We also had red grapes, red peppers, red apples and strawberry yogurt. What a spread it was !

Our contribution to the spread were some very delicious chocolate butter cookies with melted white chocolate and red sprinkles on top. I got the recipe in the Holiday Baking edition of Cooks Illustrated. I found the recipe printed online in another blog here. One note, I didn't have expresso powder, so I just used instant coffee, and it worked great.

Chloe made some sweet little handmade Valentines. We kept it pretty simple, she cut out hearts from red cardstock, and put a wise saying on it, one I am sure you all know well, we sing that tune around here often.

Hope your day is filled with Sweet Love !!

The Radishes are Ready !!

2009-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like 3 days of California Rain to finish off the Radish patch & make the greens grow in our winter garden bed! Let me tell you, they are pretty tasty and really fun for the kids to pull out of the dirt.

We have been picking just enough each day to eat. Time to plant more seeds...

Happy Nappy Time

2009-02-06T10:05:00.001-08:00

Blake and Eddie, snoozing after a busy morning of crashing cars and trucks into each other, while staying home from pre-school with a yucky cold. How cute are they?

Photo's taken with the I-phone, as you can see, the click on the camera made them stir...

New Pillows

2009-02-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making some new pillows for our very boring dark blue hand me down couch. I am so into green these days, particularly a chartreuse type green, mixed with orange. When I found the fabric I used on sale at Repro Depot, I was in love, especially with its modish vibe, I only wish I would have ordered more.

This was the first time I made a pillow with an invisible zipper. The installing of a zipper into a garment in general is always very scary to me, since I rarely do it. So, when it came to this one, I found a video tutorial online that helped me through it. Its a good one, but I found myself telling the lady to speed it up a bit, while being thankful at the same time that she was being extremely detailed in her description. I think after doing a few of these, I feel less intimidated now. Oh, how I do love the Internet, and all the sewers out there that take the time to put together tutorials, & blog posts, all in the name of sharing their skills so someone like me can find the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes with learning and successfully completing a new technique.

Plus, now that my pillow covers have zippers, I can take them off and throw them in the washer when one of them gets soiled, and we know that will happen very soon !

Happy Birthday Blake

2009-01-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

I can't take credit for this sweet image, it was taken by our good friend Emil, at erb photography.

Our little Blake is 5 today, and we are off to Legoland to celebrate, then back to our neighborhood to eat sushi at Blake's favorite resturant, and last but not least a stop by San Diego Deserts for a yummy Birthday Cake.

Holiday Recap

2009-01-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone !! I have been meaning to get some blog posts here during the Christmas break, because there is lots to report, but I was busy just enjoying our days. Days that are warm in the mid morning to afternoon with California sunshine, and chilly in the evenings and early mornings, giving me the feeling of winter, the kind that I can bear. Oh, and in between, some very nice and well needed rainy days, a few just in time for Christmas eve, which justified staying inside all day, baking bread and a nice juicy ham for dinner, while sipping Bailey's & hot tea. Yes, this Christmas and New Years was a much more improved version than last years. I made a commitment to not overdue it, and to start early on the buying and making of things. It worked. Smile

So, here it goes, the photo recap .....

The Holiday Bread Wreath, complete with bits of thyme and sage inside, straight from the herb garden.

Blake had a ton of Happy "I can't wait till Santa comes energy", so I gave him some tools from my jewelry making kit, and some wire and showed him how to wrap it.

You can see his masterpiece behind him, I added a simple bead and a leather cord, then it became Grandma's handmade Christmas present, a one of a kind. She was thrilled !

These are Chloe's beautifully made, and hand painted clay pendants, before the leather cord. We had a great time at pottery class making them together a few weeks before. She gave me that pretty yellow and red star.

The soap dish, or whatever you want to use them for collection, from my tuesday evenings at pottery class. I wrapped these along with some handmade soaps from Summers Past Farms. I think they were a hit. I sure had fun making them !

Pendants I made for Chloe & Blake, I have been known to wear them to...

Aprons for Aunt Sandy & Grandma Elva

The Crochet Hook Clutch for my Mother

Our small pink tinsel tree, which took many tumbles this year, which might be its last, we just sort of gave up toward the end and stop putting the ornaments back on. Next year, a real tree !!

We had visitors from the blistery cold Midwest this year, Grandma Elva & Grandpa Myles, and my brother Uncle Andrew. Snow birds we call them.

Christmas Eve Dinner

The movement of Christmas Morning

Andrew soaking up the California Sun before he had to go back into hibernation

The only picture, but the best I have from New Year's Eve. Our friend Ashley, with another friends lovable canine companion, Mini, part chihuahua, part jack russel. If we were to ever have a little dog, it would be just like Mini !!

Wishing you all the best in 2009 !!

Merry Christmas !

2008-12-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

From Alvin & the Chipmunks....

Just 4 years Ago

2008-12-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures of Chloe & Blake in December 2004, I think I sent them out with Christmas Cards that year, and since I have not done a Holiday Photo as of yet this year, thought I would share these. For those of you who remember my post about the Solstice Tree in my next store neighbors yard, well right directly underneath is where these images were taken.

The Poncho, Sweater and Hats were knit by my Mother.. I just loved them, they are definitely in the keepsake box now, except for the poncho, Chloe still wears it four years later. Thanks Mom !

Chloe Art

2008-12-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

Chloe made me these tags to go on the aprons I made for the Winter Boutique last week. So not only did the ladies receive a nice handmade apron, they got a little piece of artwork as a bonus. Thank you Chloe !

I did the back, with a very thin lined pen, really helps when you have not so great writing, (micron's, the pens, highly recommended).

I encouraged Chloe to make some slightly bigger pieces to sell herself, this one was my favorite. Our friend Annie was the happy recipient. Chloe really enjoyed using her earnings to play some games and get some treats.

I really enjoyed meeting some of the other Momma's that create and sell their art. Some very cleaver and beautiful things. I don't have very good pictures of our table or the others, it was quite windy and the sun was in a funny place, plus I was to busy gabbing away with friends !! All in all it was a fun day, and I was really glad that Chloe came along, it just might be the beginnings of a budding Poppy Heart business for us!!

Winter Boutique Preview

2008-12-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

A few details...
Embroidered Vintage Napkin Pocket

Vintage Inspired 1950's smock

The two aprons below are for a girl size 5-7, Chloe says she would wear them as an accessory over her pants.

The Bernina and I have been very busy these past few weeks making aprons for our School's Winter Boutique. This will be my first time selling aprons at a craft fair, and I am looking forward to it. There are a few more aprons that didn't make the photo shoot, hopefully I will get some images of them tomorrow.

Notice in the images my newly acquired dress forms, Mandy & Mindy. Below is the lineup I picked them out of at Farkas store fixtures. It was pretty fun staring at these forms and mannequins trying to figure out which one to pick.

So all my girlfriends out there...come by school tomorrow and get your aprons on...

P.S. My good friend Daleth will be sharing a table with me and selling some very beautiful bags and purses. Great time to buy yourself or someone you love a Christmas present !!

Peace

2008-12-01T09:00:00.001-08:00

Chloe has been making entries into a old dream catcher journal that Alan had lying around never used. I just love this entry, Peace has been a theme for Chloe since the beginning of this school year. She was part of a group, (5th graders and 2nd graders) who got together to form "Peace Pals" for International Peace day. They learned to sing "We are the World" and had a performance in the school auditorium for everyone. So, I think this little entry was influenced by that event. Notice the word bubble coming out of the little person on the bottom, it says "Yes, we will" written backwards... Its so interesting to see how the world influences a 7 year old, and how it comes back out on paper.

Manual Labor

2008-11-09T10:31:00.001-08:00

Look what I made this week. With the help of my Father-In-Law, I made a redwood raised planter box (12x2ft) for my Winter Garden. The original idea was for me to pickup all the supplies and have my (FIL) do the work, but guess who ended up doing all the drilling, and in the meantime learning exactly how to make one of these things...yes, me. Its always a good feeling accomplishing a job that I usually rely on the Men in my life to do! Thanks to Grandpa Guntist for teaching me how its all done!

At Chloe's school, we were busy utilizing grant money to build the school an Outdoor Classroom, more raised planters, and a circular butterfly bed. I spent this past Thursday with our good friend, Rich, who has acquired excellent masonry skills over the years, making the form for the circular bed butterfly bed, and then pouring the concrete. We were on a time crunch, because of daylight and we needed it to be dry for everyone at school in 2 days in order to start the mosaic designs on the sides.

After an eight hour day, with about 4 straight hours of that time mixing and pouring 70 bags of concrete, (Oh, my aching back !) I definitely had a real sense of what manual labor can feel like. Along with another 8 hour day at school yesterday, this Momma is wiped out, but feeling a huge sense of accomplishment, and a gratifying sense of community!

You can see more pictures from our school garden work day and the beginnings of the beautiful mosaic designs here.

Yes We Did !

2008-11-05T10:10:00.001-08:00

When I started this blog, I promised myself I would not talk about politics's in this space. What I write and show here, is suppose to be about art, nature, life, & family. It is also a journal for our family to look back at in the coming years, which is why I could not let this time, and these few days pass without putting it here, for us to look back and remember how it felt, what it looked like, and what happened as a result. Its historical, its the beginning of change and I am very proud to be a part of it.

By the way, in regards to Art, I have never seen so much creativity behind a Presidential Candidate, so amazingly cool! The image above is from the same website as the previous post. So, in a way, I am still keeping with my theme...finding the beauty and art in everyday !

Got Hope

2008-11-04T10:57:00.001-08:00

If you want to print off some beautifully designed Obama Posters, like the one below, go here, you will love them all !

Halloween Characters

2008-10-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Chloe got busy making some spooky characters to decorate with for Halloween. Here's who she created....

I love them all....

Girls Weekend in Idyllwild

2008-10-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

Chloe & I went to Idyllwild this past weekend, for a Girls Only adventure at "The Little Cabin on the Creek". Daddy & Blake stayed home so they could go to the Miramar Air Show, experiencing fun & exciting Boy time.

We had a very peaceful time. We read books, watched the Stellar Blue Jays & squirrels eat peanuts we left on the deck for them, had a nice warm fire in the evening, drank hot cocoa, went for walks breathing in the fresh mountain air along with the scent of pine trees, and visited the Idyllwild Nature Center. It was a lovely time, and we have images to prove it !!

Thanks to our friends at Plump Otter for sharing their beautiful cabin with us, a great place for Mother/Daughter bonding!

Sunset

2008-10-03T09:35:00.001-07:00

We went for an evening jaunt to the beach on Thursday, one of the Hottest Days we have had this month, to cool off and catch the sunset. It was of course, beautiful as most sunsets are. I had a hard time figuring out how to pick up the vibrant orange color of the sun in my camera, so imagine it turned up about 5 notches.

When we got there, we ran down to the ocean, breathing in the smell and the coolness of the ocean air, I thought yes, I can capture this moment with pictures, the kids playing in the water, the different colors of the sunset sky, the pelican's flying close to the ocean waves, but then it happened. The beans & rice that we ate for dinner before coming were having their way with Blake's digestive system, he put his hand over his behind and said, "Mommy, hurry up, dig a hole, I have to go poop !" So, what does a mother do at this point ? Dig a hole if front of everyone so we can stay close to the water and click away on the camera, or turn around and run to the public rest room ? (By the way, I have never dug the whole at the beach before)

Well, you guessed it, we ran, away from our perfect moment, all the way to the bathroom, and got Blake on his throne, while Chloe and I watched the sunset from the boardwalk. It was all the way down when Blake was done. How quickly it goes below the horizon. All that work to get to the beach, ah, well, we will have to try again another day, another sunset.

Finally

2008-09-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, finally I am done with the Tree Blind I started months & months ago for Chloe & Blake's room & finally I am back on this blog. Seems that lately its been taking me a long time to accomplish my creative endeavors. I have been sidetracked by summer, school starting again, the garden's and exercising. On my mornings where both of the little wonders are at school, normally I would have been spending my time on the blog, but I started out this year with making sure I do something in the realm of physical fitness, and its been paying off health wise for me, but has left me little time for being here.

So back to the Blind. I found this tutorial from the Two Straight Lines Blog, a lovely craft blog. One of my goals was to make something that would block out the early morning sun for the children, in the hopes of getting a little extra shut eye in the mornings, which is why I used the green canvas fabric. It does block out the sun nicely, but it does make it hard to capture nice clear images. These were the best I could do.

This was my first attempt at making a blind/curtain of any kind, so I did learned quite a bit from the process & outcome. Like anything you do (seams, using print fabric's) will show through when the sun is shining on it. The other function I wanted it to serve was the ability to roll it down but have the bottom 3/4 still covering the window, so there would be nice airflow through the room on hot nights, but no one could see the little people inside. I really like how that worked out.

As far as the tree shape and the leaves, it really took a long time to cut those out and iron them on, I used heat n bond lite on the leaves, and the ultra hold version on the tree to adhere them to the fabric. I did add some hand embroidery details to the sun in the corner, the flower, the butterfly and added grass on the bottom, all hard to see unless you are right up close to it. The bottom hangs a bit funky, possibly due to not measuring the back fabric and front fabric correctly. It also has one other function, it can be folded up to the top using the ribbon loops to secure it.

I am pretty happy with the blind, although when I look at it, the tree is a funky shape, and I don't know that owl's hang out during the daytime with the sun shining on them. Oh well, those were the things that I wanted to add to it, so who cares if it makes sense? The important thing is, the kids really like it in their room, they have been patiently waiting for me to hang it up. Now that I am done, I need to make another blind for the other window. I am going to use the same fabric front & back, but no extra applique's, just a simple blind this time. That way I might get it done much quicker !!

Birthday Girl

2008-09-03T10:05:00.001-07:00

Chloe's Halo
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

Chloe turned 7, we had a great party to celebrate. I was having so much fun, and didn't get pictures that could portray how wonderful the day was. My friend Emil, the master of capturing moments so beautifully did, if you click on the link, you can see more of his images from the day.

Its hard to believe 7 years have gone by since Chloe was born... Looking back, I have loved every minute of it, watching her grow into the bright, sensitive, funny, and confident girl she has become. Happy Birthday Chloe !!

My New Bowls

2008-08-06T15:15:00.001-07:00

I have embarked on a new and exciting art form this summer, pottery. I was very lucky get into a class at Plum Pottery, my friend Annie's amazingly beautiful and inspiring studio. So here it is, my very first set of bowls, finished and ready to be used at home. Thanks to Annie, for being a most excellent teacher !

Back to Cali

2008-07-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are home, back in California, warm weather, dry air, more brown than green foliage on the sides of the roads, and a big beautiful ocean close by. No more mosquito's, firefly's or humid, hot rainy days. No more delightful family and friend visits, minimal laundry to tend , or dinners out. It's back to my daily Mom routine of well, I could go down the list of chores...but most of you know what I mean. We really had a great time, and I had a very comforting feeling of home while I was there. Maybe because it was a 3 week stay, but mainly it was the people, my parents, brothers and close friends calling me daily to make plans. While we were taking off in the plane to come home, as the plane started to lift of the ground, I felt a huge pain in my heart, for that feeling of home that I was leaving. Tears flowed, and I realized that is was not just sadness I was feeling, but an overwhelming sense of gratitude & happiness, knowing that I was able to spend such quality time with everyone I love, and that Chloe and Blake are forging a close bond with our extended family in Michigan. When our plane was landing in Los Angeles, the tears came again, this time I think it was tears of joy to be coming back to my home, my husband and friends. Since I have been home, I have been doing quite a bit of nesting. Cleaning out drawers of old clothes, wiping out cupboards, tending to my garden & trying to get back on California time. I think the nesting has allowed me mental time to digest my experience in a place that used to be my home. For all you Michigan folks reading this post... Don't forget to plan your next trip to San Diego....because I miss you all already !!

I still have lots of images....

My Dad, with Chloe & Blake....this tree is in my parents backyard, I spent quite a bit of time playing under it as a little girl...my how that tree has grown !

My Mother's rock garden...

My Mom, love the look on everyone's faces...this was after a satisfying pizza dinner at Buddies

Adam & Estelle, with Chloe & Blake....a great bunch of good friends !

All the girlie cousins, all just a few years apart, Luca, Chloe, Payton & Kara

Rosie, the nicest Great Dane we have ever met !

My Cousin Cindy, playing her piano for Chloe....we want one of those !

Fresh carrots from the ground of my friend Gina's vegetable garden.

Dress up with Estelle and Grace

Chloe receiving $7 from Grandpa Guntist for her upcoming 7th Birthday.

Collecting seeds from Grandma Elva's Garden.

One of my all time favorite perennials, growing everywhere in Michigan, Echinacea.

By the way, during our last week of our trip in Michigan, I was unable to plug into the Internet and post, so I added a few new travel posts in the last few days, so scroll down after this to see what's lurking below.

Grandma's House

2008-07-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week of our trip traveling 3 hours to Niles, Michigan. Its a small town on the west side of the state, very close to South Bend Indiana. We visited Grandma Elva, & Grampa Myles, (Alan's side of the family). They live in a lovely house on the St Joseph River. Its really like a vacation staying there. I spent lots of time swinging on the wooden swing overlooking the river and listening to the birds sing. Quite relaxing. I also started reading Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert ( yes, it took me a long time to get to that book). My good friend Leslie passed it on to me, and it was a perfect time to read it.

Chloe spent her mornings walking with Grandma, in her garden, while Blake and I slept in. Each day there was a new Day Lily that greeted them with amazing colors and shapes, among many other beautiful flowers. We also took a few pontoon rides down the river into town. Grandpa let the kids each take turns steering the boat. Chloe & Blake did some fishing off the dock, and Chloe caught her very first fish ever ! A small mouth bass. After taking pictures, she threw it back in the river. This was a very exciting moment, because Chloe was determined to catch something, so she sat for a long time just waiting for that first bite !

Chloe learned one of her very first card games, "war". There was much time spent on the back porch with Grandma playing it. Blake even got in on it! We found out it could be an endless game. Perfect for a lazy afternoon on the river !

I think the highlight of our trip to Grandma's house for the kids, was a ride on Grandpa's Harley. Look at how shiny that bike is ! Its very well taken care of by Grandpa Myles, he even built it its very own room in the garage.

We also ate alot of Michigan Sweet Corn...bought on the way to Niles. We took a driving route that took us through quite a few small towns, and in between their were farms. Pretty much all they were growing was corn & soy beans. Oh, and we ate lots of fresh peaches and blueberries to....I even made a cobbler...mmmm, All in all, we had a nice relaxing time. It was really the first time we had more than a few days to visit Niles, very enjoyable !! We recently heard from Grandma, and she informed us that it was pretty quiet around the house since we left. I know there will be more happy visits in the future !

Making Something out of Nothing

2008-07-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

One of the places I had to make sure I visited while in the D, was The Heidelberg Project . I believe this is a very important exhibit of what one person can create in the midst of nothing. I wanted to make sure Chloe and Blake saw this, and the neighborhoods surrounding it. I think they are pretty young to get the whole concept, but at least they were exposed. It won't be the first time they visit this place ! When I was living in Michigan, I made sure to take anyone who visited from another city down to Heidelberg street to see what was happening. It has definitely evolved since I was there last. Good things have been happening. So what am I talking about ?? Well, take a look at all the images and then click on the link above and watch the video to learn more....

I know, tons of pictures....I couldn't help myself !

Eastern Market

2008-07-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

One of the places we visited was Eastern Market in Downtown Detroit. I am very fond of this place, because it was the first Farmers Market I experienced as a young adult. I spent many Saturdays throughout the years here, cold wintery one's, rainy, and sunny ones. I used to spend maybe $20 at the most, and come home with a slew of fresh veggies and fruit, and bouquets of flowers to decorate my house with. You can find just about everything there, surrounding the outdoor market are various specialty shops in old buildings, where you can get bulk goods, meats, wine, and even vintage treasures. It makes for a leisurely afternoon, with lots of authentic people watching. By the way, it was a warm and humid day, no sunshine, just misty rain here and there...felt good.

I was with my good friend Elizabeth, and her daughter Estelle, which Chloe and Blake just love. The girls were sporting there bonnets, which brought quite a few strange looks our way. We visited The Pottery Guy, stopped to listen to the people at Bert's, a little jazz cafe, they were having an outside karaoke party. Then we went to The Rocky Peanut company, which is a bulk goods type of place, they have a huge selection of candy, and on the way out, one of the employees gave the kids candy cigarettes, which where made of gum with a wrapper around it. This was a hit, especially when we walked back into the market to find blueberries and peaches. We were heckled by folks, and at the same time I was totally disgusted due to my gum phobia.

Lots of images to share from the day....

The kids smoking their fags outside the "Mr Softy" Ice cream truck. This guy was so funny. He painted all the images in his truck himself, and when I got to chatting with him, he told me the whole business was for sale, $25,000.My friend Elizabeth buying some zuchinni

I just loved the grown in Detroit sign, notice the carrot, in place of an i.

Great buildings, great shopping and eating inside.

The kids loved touching this big blue ball while visiting "The Pottery Guy"

The Avalon Bakery, on 2nd and Willis, we ended the day here, with coffee and yummy cookies, and a loaf of bread, there speciality !

Greenfield Village

2008-07-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful day visiting Greenfield Village yesterday. It has been one of my favorite places to visit in Dearborn,Michigan for a long time now. It is part of what they call The Henry Ford, which has a museum and the outdoor village. The Village is a step back in time, where there are historical homes, (the actual ones), a working farm, a real steam engine train, model T cars to ride in, and more. The people who work at the Village are dressed in attire that people wore in the late 1800's, they speak to you about the history of the time. It is really fascinating, and it is a great way for children to learn about history. As a little girl I took lots of field trips in school to both The Village and The Museum. When I was an adult I had an annual pass that brought me to the Village with friends many times. Its one of the places that makes me feel at home when I am visiting these days.

I realized as we were enjoying our day, that all the times I had spent at the Village before I never photographed it, now that I am constantly trying to document what I am doing for the blog, I discovered how much time and even energy it takes away from the experience to be pulling out my camera to shoot. I thought for a moment how nice it was to just take things in and not be distracted, so I held back a bit on the photo's, and took a few video's instead.

Here is some of what I did capture.....

These pictures below are of The Cotswold Cottage, built in the Early 1600's in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England. The Gardens were beautiful!

This picture below is the Garden out behind the Dagget Farmhouse, which was built in 1754 in Andover, Connecticut. I loved how they made a bean tee pee out of tree branches.

This picture is of the field of corn and tobacco, that was grown on the Susquehanna Plantation, you can see the house in the backround, it was built around 1835 in St. Mary's County, Maryland.

These ladies were walking down main street chanting about their right to vote.

I love this picture. Chloe and her friend Estelle wanted us to buy these bonnets for them. They spent about 15 minutes looking for the same one's in the same size. Chloe has been wearing her's ever since. I need to complete the rest of the costume for her when we get home.

When I figure out how to get Blogger to let me download the video I took, I will add it to this post. In the meantime, click on the Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford link above to learn more.

Green & Rain

2008-07-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

There is so much Green here in Michigan, the trees, the grass, all the different plants... For the past two days we have had rain in the afternoon. It was warm, muggy and dewy, everything I remember a summer rain in the Midwest to be. I even had a mosquito grace me with a bite right on my cheek. I really should have more images, but there is still time to capture it all. Right now I am just sitting back and taking it all in.

All of these pictures were taken at my dear friend Leslie's home in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The Red Eye

2008-07-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Michigan. The drive up to LA was nice, the sun was setting, and I had that feeling of relief you get when everything is packed and all you need to do is get to the airport on time. We arrived just in time to check in our bag, get through security, and sit down to read a short book to Chloe and Blake. Then it was time to get on our 11:30 pm flight. I actually thought we would sleep the whole 4 hours but that didn't happen. Their was to much excitement, noise and people who like to drink coffee and eat during the midnight hours. Both kids did manage to sleep on my lap for some of the time, and I nodded off a bit.

The strangest thing was to open the windows 20 minutes before we landed to see a bright sunrise, when it was really 3:30 am California time. That's when I took our red eye images. This is what it looks like !!

We arrived at my Brother Andrew's house about a half an hour after our plane arrived... thank God he lives close to the airport !! We immediately went right to sleep for about 3 hours to try to catch up on a sleepless night. I felt a big guilty taking my kids on the red eye, knowing how much sleep they would miss, and how much it would mess up their schedule. But, its kind of a trade off for the experience they will get with their cousin's, Aunt's and Uncle's and Grandparents... its all a trade off this parenting stuff anyhow, right ??

We woke up around Noon and ran off to my other Brother, Matt's house to swim, and have a BBQ with Chloe and Blake's cousins. Everyone had a great time...and the kids were so exhausted they fell asleep on the way home, and we moved them right to bed.

Chloe & her Cousin's, Kara & Payton, she and Blake have 6 total... all adorable and great fun !

The ironic thing about our Red Eye experience is that today when Chloe woke up she had an eye that was swollen shut with a yucky discharge that had come out during the night... I used a warm compress, and followed it by a cold compress with tea bags, and then found the nearest Urgent Care clinic, to have her diagnosed with Pink Eye. It seems to have cleared up pretty quickly by this evening, so I think she will be okay. The important part is that we are having fun, and we made it here without a glitch !

Jackpot Air Fare

2008-07-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

We are headed to Michigan this evening, for long visit. I hit what I call the "Jackpot Airfare", with Spirit Airlines and their email specials. I have been watching their deals every week for at least year and a half, just waiting for that deal so I could go visit family and friends on a last minute whim. They had the sale advertised for one way tickets at $11.11. So after playing around with the dates and times, we ended up with $22 round trip tickets from LA to Detroit, no stops. Of course there are a few added fee's, taxes, baggage and seat reservations, so in total, we are paying $200, for 3 of us to fly. Woo Ho !! Most of the people ask, how can that be possible ?? It does mean we are taking a red eye flight out of LA, and a very early flight back home out of Detroit, but I think it is worth it. I will gladly report how it all goes. In the meantime, go to Spirit Airlines and sign up to be on their email specials mailing list (their is a link on the top of their site that says e-mail specials). They have a $9 fair club that cost's money to be a part of, in my opinion, you don't need to sign up for that, just the emails. They come every Tuesday morning, and you need to act fast if you see a deal for you, because they sell out quick !!

I plan to blog from Michigan, hopefully post a picture daily to document our fun and adventures while we embrace humidity, summer rains, and mosquito's !

P.S. The image above is from the cover of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of, you guessed it, Michigan !

Fun at The San Diego County Fair

2008-06-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

We went up to the Del Mar Fair this past week. It really was a perfect day...which does not always happen while attending this type of fair... Chloe and Blake were in their glory, of course if I indulged them, we would be going to the fair everyday. Instead, we have lots of images to remind us of our day...

This Monster Truck below is always outside the fair on display...Blake loves sitting in the tire...we have pictures from previous years on it...looks like a tradition is started.

Then there was the food...we stayed as healthy as we could with corn, lemonade, and Greek food.

Of course you could have fried "anything", yikes !

There was the pig race...to which we won a coupon for a free pound of bacon from Ralph's, kind of unsettling in my opinion. I could have a whole discussion on the Animal factor at the fair... Caged farm animals to look at, parade around to be judged on their best physical attributes, raced for entertainment...I kept saying to myself...I know these farmers love their animals, right ??

Pony Rides...also a tradition

The kids rides...loads of fun...

Wine tasting for the adults...all local...San Marco's, Temecula, all together excellent, and a nice way to relax towards the end of the day...

The view from the Sky Ride...nice way to get back from the Kid Zone.

My favorite part of the fair... The Flower & Garden Show, different groups design and implement some amazing landscapes.

Two Happy children with their Budda/Fairy/God Mother, and Cally the stuffed dog we won.

What a nice day... My recommendations for any of you local folks reading this post who are thinking about going to the fair. Spend the day there, make sure its a cool one, & go on a weekday to avoid the crowds. Get wrist bands for the rides. Have an equal adult/kid ratio. Visit the Fine Arts Building, and the Flower & Garden Show, and don't forget to hit the Beer Garden for a cold one, or a wine tasting !!

The Beginnings of Summer

2008-06-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back, at least in this space. I was suffering from my "can't bare to blog" phase that I experienced last year. This time the Hubby took a European business trip which left me without my camera, and little time to dedicate to the blog. The past two weeks have been very busy and I have felt like I was living the life of a single mother while Daddy was away. I have renewed respect for all of you out there doing it alone !!

Well, Hubby is back, school is out for the summer for Chloe, and it's Father's Day. So, this post will be a little montage to all of the above...

First off, Alan came home with yummy gifts, and assortment of Swiss chocolate to last me through the summer. I'll be enjoying little pieces of them with my afternoon tea.

The Bee Sting...

Our busy days have lead us a camping trip, a talent show, a field trip to the beach, and a end of the year first grade picnic on the last day of school. This made for loads of excitement followed by exhaustion repeatedly for Chloe, Blake and I. The Bee Sting happened on the last day of school, at the picnic. I was busy photographing the salad the 3rd graders picked and ate from there garden plot, when a Mom came over holding Chloe who was really in pain. We looked at her bare foot to see that something was in it...she had stepped on a bee. I have to admit my mothering skills didn't quite kick in.. I felt kind of helpless actually, trying to pull out the stinger. What happened then was really wonderful, one mother came over and immediately got the stinger out, and brought ice to put on her foot. Then another Mother offered to run home and make a baking soda paste to draw out the poison, (you can see it on her foot in the image), by the way it works really well. Another Mother came with drops of rescue remedy which immediately calmed Chloe down, and then there were all of Chloe's classmates, who came by to rub her back, or tell there bee sting story, which all sounded way worse than what Chloe was experiencing. Then there was Aiden, who sat next to Chloe with a huge plate of cookies, waiting silently for her to take one. Poor thing, she wouldn't even eat her favorite treat, I knew she was really hurting. I have to say I felt so cared for, and so grateful for all the parents who helped us...all the way down to the Mom who carried Chloe on her back to the car to get her back to school. As I thanked one Mom, her response was, "It takes a Village"...and she is right, I knew that the best place to be at that moment was in the village of our school community. Chloe went on to school to receive her promotion certificate to Second Grade. She still was sad in the image. After getting home, and taking a well needed nap, she ended up being just fine, and we actually laughed about the whole experience later that evening. I think Chloe experienced the true feeling of gratitude that day, I know I did...

To start off our summer this week, both our Apricot and Plum tree have been bearing gifts of luscious fruits each day for us to eat. Every morning, we run outside to see what has fallen on the ground waiting for us to sink our teeth into them. This year Blake got to eat the first plum...he loved it. There is nothing like eating fruit from your own tree, I am so glad Chloe and Blake get to experience this as little people. What a delight ! Local readers of the blog, you should drop by our house this week, sit under our tree's and eat with us !! Check out the bowl that our fruits are in, that's one of two beautiful pieces of pottery that Annie gave me for my Birthday...

To all you Daddy's and Grand Daddy's out there, Happy Father's Day ! Thank includes my Father, who I hope is out catching the "Big One" back in Michigan on Drummond Island (he love's to fish), and of course to Alan, who always drums up a boat load of fun for the kids...

Art Night Preview

2008-05-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

We have been working since last weekend on a few items to put into Chloe's School Art Auction. I made a simple half apron with fabric that was used as gift wrap on a beautiful present given to me by Annie. Of course, I have fallen in love with the fabric and the combination of some scraps I had in my stash.

The other item is a canvas that is a collage of watercolor flowers that the First Graders painted. I took some of my favorite floral fabric's into class as inspiration for the children, and they made some absolutely beautiful flowers. It started out with Chloe, Blake and I painting different color squares, (very satisfying) then I glued the flower portraits to each square, after using fixative on the water color portraits so they didn't bleed when I used modge podge (I love this stuff) as glue. The collage is almost done, just a few more portraits to glue on, and I need to add some trim for a finishing touch. So, for all of you Ladies and Gentlemen who will be attending Art Night...feel free to purchase these items if they tickle your fancy, there has been lots of love and hard work put into them ! A few pictures of the process below as it unfolded....

P.S. The Water Color Collage would be a nice gift to give to the school to display in the Art Room.

The Mural

2008-05-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

A week ago, we helped paint the new mural at Chloe's school. It was really one of the most rewarding artistic experiences I've been involved in. Our school is so fortunate to have a Parent, Rafael Lopez who is a very gifted artist, and his work includes community art (murals), book illustrations, stamps, and much more. You can see more of his work here. The school mural was created after Rafael worked with school staff members. He asked them to come up with 10 words to describe our school. Many of the teachers and students were involved in the process. He then used the words to create the design, which match the images in the mural.

The words.....
Growth/Planting
Vision
Togetherness
Caring
World Community
Art
Nurturing
Phoenix
Music

Our friends Kellie and Phillip came out to help. It was a good thing, because when we got there, not much was left to paint, so Chloe and Blake got up on their shoulders. Look at how happy Blake is in this image, he just lit up when Phillip picked him up...so precious

I was able to paint a very small area, which I think is so symbolic to my experience with the Gardens at school, it was the green leaves and stem on the flower that represents, growth and planting. It was repeated on the gate right next to the mural.

I think Chloe and Blake will remember this forever, what a beautiful imprint in their young minds.

Lesson Learned

2008-05-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Note to self.... Before you let your husband dig a hole with his new pick ax to plant a tree that is ironically called a "money tree", (on Mother's Day no less), be sure to check where the underground water line might be in relation to the hole, before you give him the go ahead. I won't go into the complications that occurred after calling the plumber who we had to pay double time because it was a Sunday. Let's just say 24 hours without water is not fun !

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T11:22:00.001-07:00

I spent the past few days celebrating Mother's Day with Chloe and Blake and all the great Mothers of their friends and classmates. So, I was a guest at two different Mother's Day Tea's. How sweet! For the past 4 years I have really enjoyed Miss Olivia's English Tea at Circle of Friends Preschool. She brings out her bone china, makes some lovely treats, and the children greet us at the door and seat us at a beautifully set table. If you notice above, their is a picture that Blake drew on the Purple Tea Pot, he said it was a picture of me with a flowered dress on. Inside the Tea Card, Miss Olivia tapes a tea bag, and writes down a sweet little quote from each child describing their Mother. She also writes in every card;

Here's a gift for Mother's Day
I'll try my best in every way,
But when you get upset with me...
RELAX
And have a cup of tea !
Love,
Blake

I love it ! The first year that I attended this tea was when Chloe was 3, and Blake was just under a year old. I think it was the first Mother's Day that I really felt appreciated. I remember tasting my first sip of tea, and to my surprise tears filled my eyes, because their was so much effort and care put into the event, but also because it reminded me of my Mother, and of my Scottish Grandmother. The tea tasted exactly like what I used to drink with both of them when I was a little girl. Red Rose Tea, milk and sugar, in bone china, just like it was long ago, sitting in my Grandmothers kitchen. What a gift it was to be taken back to that moment on Mother's Day.

Olivia also takes such great pictures of the kids in action at school, and displays them on a board outside the entrance of school. Look at Blake below, eating what he loves, noodles with chopsticks !

At Chloe's school, we also had a Mother's Day Tea, although this time, I made the tea, and we had no way of keeping it warm, so we had it cold, still good though ! I was greeted at the door by Chloe, she sat me in a special chair, gave me the vase and flowers she made, and after serving me tea and cookies, proceeded to read to me. Yes, Chloe is reading ! Chapter Books already ! It is so wonderful to have that time with her, in her classroom.

I can't end this post without saying a formal Happy Mother's Day to my own Mother, who I wish I could be spending the day with, but, since she is in Michigan, I can only chat on the phone, and drink a cup of tea in her honor. Happy Mother's Day Mom !

To all the Beautiful Mother's I know, I hope you enjoy your day !

Urban Farming Inspiration

2008-04-30T14:28:00.001-07:00

I found this video through SouleMama's Blog. So, what do you think ?? Would you yank out your lawn to do this ??

Wedding Bliss

2008-04-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today, Alan and I went to The Wedding Cove overlooking the Ocean in Lajolla and got married. We had our own circle of love filled with our close friends and family.

Then, we took this double decker bus up the coast for a beautiful ride to The Beach House Restaurant in Cardiff.

Chloe met us there for a brief cameo appearance

We took some sunset pictures...

And had a lovely candlelight dinner. A Beautiful Day....

Happy Anniversary My Dear....

Earth Day

2008-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

As I pondered this morning what I could write on this blog about Earth Day, a friend of mine sent me an article written by an author I truly respect, Micheal Pollen, titled, Why Bother ? Please take some time to read his words, they really resonated with me today, and I hope they do with you. If you want to read more from this man, pick up one of his books. Oh, and for you people reading that don't think you could ever grow your own garden...don't be afraid !! You can !!

Birthday Presents

2008-04-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was my Birthday. I had a nice day, spent time with Chloe at the Farmers Market, talked to quite a few friends and family on the phone, and had a nice dinner out with the family. I also spent some time with my new presents. I have been wanting the Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer and my Hubbie bought some attachments to go with it. I had no idea how many attachments you could buy for this workhorse of a machine. So, I used the juicer and made the yummiest fresh orange juice. I usually do it by hand, and it takes so long just to squeeze out one glass, this time I had a whole pitcher's worth!

My next present was a surprise for sure, Chloe adorned the box with her art, and when I opened it, I almost fell off my chair. Guitar Hero for the Mac.

Now, most of you know me to be a purist when it comes to musical instruments, (an upright piano versus a keyboard) and I guess you can call me a simpleton as well, because I don't want to add any more electronics, games, computer programs, etc to my already busy world. So you might be saying, as I was in my mind "How could anyone play a plastic guitar with colored buttons instead of real strings, and enjoy it ?" Well, my answer is even a simpleton like me can get sucked into Guitar Hero and really like it ! A few weeks ago we were at a friends house and they were playing the game, so as silly as I thought it was, I gave it a try...and not only did I catch on, I was laughing like crazy, and it gave me a sense of accomplishment that I could actually rock...on a silly plastic guitar... So, if you look at the guitar, Alan put a special sticker on it for me....that I think sums it all up... "Sold Out". Now, I might add, that I had a sneaking suspicion that this gift was really more for Alan than for me.... Take a look at the picture below, this is how I found him in the office after I got the kids to bed... what do you think ???

Beans ! Yeah !

2008-04-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

I started cleaning out the veggie garden to get it ready for a new round of planting and found the remnants of the pole beans we had last summer. There were very dried up pods still hanging on the tee-pee, its funny I had never really noticed they were there. I knew Chloe and Blake would love to open them up and harvest them, so I called them out to the yard. They quickly went through everyone and look what we have! A huge crop of new beans to plant. This was so exciting to me...a very simple pleasure at 5pm, after a long day, to find these beans and have the kids just as exited as I was. Since I have been working with the Children at School in the garden, I have learned how much they love to not only plant seeds, but they absolutely love to go through our seed box and touch them all. They not only touch them, but they so much want to own them, take them home...hoard them almost. Today at school, we had a whole bunch of extra bean seeds and the kids wanted to have one to take home, they practically begged me....so of course I had to give them some. Then to come home and discover our own beans...how sweet ! It is just so cool to see the whole Garden experience through Children's eyes.

Sweet Pea Day

2008-04-12T16:24:00.001-07:00

Today was Sweet Pea Day at Summer's Past Farms. They have a huge sweet pea maze and once a year when they are in full bloom you can go there and cut your own bouquet. It was quite busy today, and there really was not enough flowers to cut for all the folks that showed up. Luckily we got to cut from the tower in the Children's Garden.

The kids had fun in the sand box area to. They informed me they were working hard on making a garden.

There seems to be endless amounts of flowers and herbs blooming all over the grounds, its just so lovely. A few of my favorites, vibrant blue delphiniums, with pink and white valerian behind them.

We are definitely having a very warm summer weekend here. Believe it or not, the high is 92 degree's today....sorry you Michiganders, just had to let you know what you are missing.

Vintage Fabric Love

2008-04-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

I got a intercom call last night,from my Husband while he was in our office and I was in the kitchen, asking me why I have not done a blog post recently? I think the exact quotes were "why is that bread post still up? that's old news?" (Yes, sometimes we intercom each other, silly, I know). Well, my answer was something like this "I haven't had time " Which is very true because I have been very involved in the School Garden, its spring after all ! Check out the blog here to see what's been going on. So for the few of you who read this blog and are sick of seeing the bread post..here is a new one !

A Mom at school, (Donna) gave me about 3 yards of the fabulous vintage fabric a few days ago. Its cotton, and has a bit of a sheen to it. I just love it, because it looks like a hand painting of flowers...so lovely. I am not sure when it was made, but I do know that is was from Donna's, Grandmothers stash that she inherited. It says So-Fro original, which if I am not mistaken is a Fabric Store chain of the past. Although, I goggled it and found that there is still one in Detroit, Mi, my home town. Anyone know about So-Fro Originals ?? So, my plans for this fabric is to make a cute little dress for Donna's 4 year old daughter Vica in exchange for this treasure. As for the rest of it... maybe a bright cheery skirt, an apron...who knows, it will speak to me as I work with it, and let me know what I should do with it...that's the beauty of fabric.

Breaking Bread

2008-04-01T09:15:00.001-07:00

I recently purchased the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" and after reading it and making a very small investment in some baking tools, I started baking my own bread at home, and guess what, it tastes great !! I have to say that I have received so much satisfaction from this experience, unlike anything else I have found in cooking and baking in my kitchen. There is something so gratifying about baking bread, and eating it fresh with family and friends. I am hooked !

Now, I am sure almost all of you are saying "baking bread, I don't have time for that!" Well, I really don't either...I am just as frazzled as any Mom on a daily basis. The method in this book is actually much easier than the traditional method of baking bread, and it is really doable. You mix up 4 batches at a time, just stir it with a wooden spoon, if you don't have a heavy duty standard mixer with a dough attachment, (who does ? oh yeah, Martha Stewart). Let it sit for two hours, then store it in the fridge. Then you can get the dough out anytime, I recommend 2 hours before you will devour it. Bake it, let it cool and enjoy.

The best part about it is, each time I have made a loaf, it is turned out so good ! Its a feeling of accomplishment that I just LOVE ! Not to mention...the satisfaction of eating it all up !! Oh, and the book has so many great bread recipes with dinner, lunch and breakfast recipes to go with. Did I mention, fresh bread is very adored by Chloe and Blake...I think the smell of the kitchen speaks to them, Chloe's comment after a few days of stuffing herself with it was " Mommy, now you can work in a Bakery!"

As for the recipes, The picture above is the first one in the book, it is the Boule Artisan Free-Form Loaf. The pictures below are the same recipe, which is basically a sourdough bread, but they are Baguette's.

If you want to see a video with the Authors demonstrating the process, check out this video.

The Littlest Birds

2008-03-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

When I woke up out of a deeply satisfying sleep this morning, I heard the sweet sound of birds singing outside my window...its another sure sign of spring. It made me think of this song by the "Be Good Tanya's".
Enjoy....

Swinging

2008-03-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Two little people, two Jacaranda trees, two swings...what more could one ask for...

Mountain Bliss

2008-03-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

We were so fortunate to have spent a long weekend in this lovely, cozy little cabin in Idyllwild , courtesy of a very generous family. What a way to get~away! Oh the bliss of no obligations other than the basics, warm food and drinks, keeping the fire going, and spending quality time with your family. I just loved doing what I call, "tuning out"..... from the TV, the Computer, the Blackberry, the constant driving! There is much to be said about living a simple life, and that is what we did for 3 days. It was just so peaceful and relaxing, not to mention, quiet. There was also, fun to have, fun in the snow that is ! Chloe and Blake got to experience their first snowfall, first time waking up to a winter wonderland, first time sledding, first snow angels, and first snowman built. For Alan and I, we got to remember what it was like for us growing up in Michigan Winters. As much as I love Sunny Southern California, it was really a treat to have a change in weather...just two hours away and we were in the mountains with snow.

This is what it looked like as we woke up on Sunday Morning..

Snow Pants...I forgot about those...

Sledding...

Keeping warm...we did a lot of this...

Some great reading...one of the many cabin amenities

Chloe and I learned to crochet...Blake is helping to...

A Weekend Get~Away, so very good for the soul... Thanks Annie !
More images here.

Mama's got a Brand New Bag !

2008-03-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

I finally made a bag for myself! It has been on the project list for close to a year now! I ran into a road block on the tree project, and am waiting for some fabric to finish it. So, when I came across this tutorial a few days ago, it was just the perfect quick project to get that feeling of accomplishment I was needing in my sewing world. I used one of the fabrics from Anna Maria Horner's Bohemian line. Its suppose to be reversible, but I added some pockets in the inside so I don't need to fumble for my keys and phone. I also added a liner of cotton flannel to give it more weight, a suggestion that came from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing Book, which I highly recommend whenever you are making a bag or purse. Great book I might add to !

Spring Bloom

2008-03-11T14:22:00.001-07:00

Flowers are blooming in our front garden bed. Each day a new flower emerges to greet us. It is definitely spring here in San Diego !

Maybe it might be time to take down the snowflakes in our windows !

Beauty

2008-03-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

We just received our weekly issue of The New Yorker, my favorite magazine, and one of my few truly pleasurable indulgences that I take part in every weekend. I could go on and on about how wonderful this magazine is, and how everyone should possess a weekly copy of it, but I won't, you will have to look for yourself, if you have not already. I will tell you, one thing that I look forward to is finding it in my mail, and the first glance I get at the art on the cover. This one just blew me away...isn't it just beautiful ! The Artist is Ana Juan, and it looks like she has done the art for some great children's books, that I will just have to purchase in the future. Check out her website, and enjoy!

P.S. Sorry I was gone from here for so long...I was enjoying a well needed blog break.

30 days ~ Day 30

2008-02-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is my 30th day... I have really enjoyed posting a photo everyday, or shall I say almost everyday. I definitely have learned more about my camera during this time, and am very pleased that I have a collection of a month's worth of what we were doing during this time in our lives. It has also gotten me used to posting everyday, which for the most part I like, but there were times that I felt like I didn't want to have the obligation to. Either way, I think it has gotten me on the way to posting more often. As for 30 days of Self Portraits (Ashley's suggestion), I don't think I can do that at this point..but I will most definitely sneak a few of them in in the future, now that I got our tripod out of its dusty home in the garage. Thanks for taking the 30 day ride with us !

30 days ~ Day 29

2008-02-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

I am close to being done with my tree project...it has taken and very, very, long time. I think I may still need to add more leaves, and more texture in the way of embroidery to the trunk. I suspect it will be another week or so before I'm done. It's going to be a version of a roman blind for Chloe and Blake's room.

30 days ~ Day 28

2008-02-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

I couldn't go 30 days of photo's without showing you my very messy cutting table. Yes, heaps of stuff on it. It seems to pile up during projects until I finish, then there is the need to clean the space so I can begin a new project. Believe it or not, I have no problem working when it looks like this...but there is quite a bit of satisfaction once I have finished something, and then have a clean table, it goes hand in hand. I am near the end of my tree project, which is what has contributed to creating this heap, among other things. I will show you a photo of the progress tomorrow.

30 days ~ Day 27

2008-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

The 3D glasses are quite a hit around here with the littles. Chloe and Blake have been sporting them regularly. We finally got outside after the rain stopped and the sun came out, for a scooter ride around the block, and they wore the glasses the whole time. Just this morning as Blake made his way out of bed, with sleepy eyes and a staggered walk into the kitchen, I looked down at him to see, you guessed it, the 3D glasses. He said he slept with them. There are more images of 3D love over on flickr.

30 days ~ Day 26

2008-02-24T20:31:00.001-08:00

Went to see U23D with Chloe and our friend Anne. It was very cool, I highly recommend getting out to see it. I was not sure if Chloe would get into it, but she did pretty well. I guess in a way it was Chloe's first concert...(a 3D way)

The image I snapped was at the very end of the movie, the heart was beating, I couldn't resist grabbing the camera for it !

30 days ~ Day 25

2008-02-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

Went to my favorite little Farmers Market yesterday. A place where I stop at least once a week, to pick up organic produce from some very nice people. They have a farm up in Valley Center and make a delivery Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. They are known for their organic citrus, and we savor the Valencia Oranges we bring home to make fresh orange juice with. If you look closely at the picture above, you will see the front door of this place. Its an old screen that makes that quick slamming noise after you walk in that reminds me of an old cottage. It's quite small inside and there is even a resident white fluffy kitty to greet us. Its comforting to be a regular there, its got that small town feel that I think our world lacks so much these days. Not to mention...it means we are buying and eating produce that has been grown and harvested very close to our home. It defines me as a Locavore, which if you haven't heard was Oxford's word of the year ! Check it out here.

30 days ~ Day 24

2008-02-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite Library....

Rosie's Calico Cupboard, is a quilt shop a little less than 2 miles from my house. They have 6 huge rooms full of fabric, in every color, design, and texture you can imagine. This picture is taken in one of my favorite sections, the 1930's feed sacks reproductions.

Both Chloe and Blake know Rosie's as "The Fabric Store", and get dragged in there regularly. I remember fondly doing the same with my mother when I was a little girl, knowing I would be getting a new dress for Easter, or a new pair of pants to wear. I find myself echoing the words of my Mother when its time to go saying "come on, lets run down to the fabric store". At that time it was Minnesota Fabric's, and it was less than a mile away from our house. I used to look at all the buttons,and trims, those were my favorite as a child.

Since Rosie's is a quilt shop, I am almost always the only younger person with Children shopping there. I do try to go there without the kids, that way I can spend hours in there, but there are times when I just have to take one of both of them, when a project requires another fabric, or more thread or we just happen to be driving by. I have never felt any warm vibes from the Ladies that work there...maybe its because every time we go we have to ask for the Bathroom key because someone has to go "you know what" it's like clockwork ! I get the feeling that they resent me for bringing my children in to shop. I make a point to talk to Chloe and Blake before hand and ask them to keep their voices down and not to run...which they do. I often wonder, don't they remember what it was like when they were Mothers to young children ? Did they take their children into the fabric store like my Mother did, and did they get the feeling they were not welcomed by the staff and sometimes even the other patrons? I find it hard to believe they always left there children home.

I actually think it is a good experience for my kids to visit the store, and they like it. They have a large trunk full of buttons where Chloe and Blake spend a lot of time. You should have seen those ladies faces the time the kids pick out a cup of buttons each to take home. Both of them took turns dropping them all over the floor while we were in line to pay. If it was not for the fact that Rosie's has the best selection of fabrics I can get a hold of lately, I think might stay away from there. I stopped by recently on my own one Sunday, and there was a Mother my age with her two young girls picking out fabric for new dresses. The girls were involved in the process, and I just wanted to hug that Mama...of course I held back, but I made sure to talk with her and her daughters about there dresses and the fabric.

In about 25 years or so...I will have this post to remind me of what these trips to this particular fabric store were like....

P.S. I know I just cheated on the One picture a day rule I made...but I could not tell you this story without showing you the button treasure chest ! Good thing I made the rules.

30 days ~ Day 23

2008-02-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Its been rainy here, which makes for gray days, with a bit of chill in the air. It's a perfect time to sport the scarves my Mother made for us. This image is one of my firsts self portraits, at least one that I somewhat like. It does a good job of representing how I feel when I constantly have to drive around everyday. On the bright side though, at least I have a car, and have a choice of where to send my children to school, and have a handmade scarf to take me there, that I am thankful for !

30 days ~ Day 22

2008-02-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

A close-up of one of my favorite flowers, Osteospermum, or African Daisy. Not to be confused with Osteoporosis, which is what I always think of when I see this flower...me and my faulty memory. This is a great plant to have in your garden, it is really considered a shrub, the plant gets bigger and bigger every year, and it blooms only in the spring. It is really very easy to care for, and it comes in a variety of different colors that are equally stunning.

30 days ~ Day 21

2008-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

We had our good friends Kellie and Phillip over for dinner last night...and as usual whoever is visiting at bedtime has the pleasure of reading to Chloe and Blake. I snapped this image while they were reading from one of our favorite books written back in the 70's by Roger Hargreaves, Mr. Mischief. I have started collecting the series for the kids...I remember reading these books to my little brother back when I was around 10 years old. I think my favorite one is Mr. Happy. I highly recommend getting some of these books, the kids just love them, and they are really a delight for parents to read to... On the back of each book is a picture of the other Mr. Men and Little Miss's...so we always spend time looking at them to figure out which one we should get next.

We just purchased Photoshop CS2, and for the first time I played around with it, to color in Mr. Mischief. Its not the best edit..I found it a bit hard to stay steady with the brush stroke, but it was very fun ! So, now I have to properly learn the program, more online learning for me, from lynda.com

P.S. For you crafter's out there, the pillow behind Chloe is something I made for her last year for Valentines day..Its pink, with a hot pink heart appliqué, along with an iron on heart. This was the first pillow I ever made...and its soft and fuzzy fleece.

30 days ~ Day 20

2008-02-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

1. Day 20, 2. Strummin
We bought Blake a Ukulele for his Birthday...along with some harmonica's. Chloe has really taken to the Ukulele, so we are slowly learning a few cords, and discovering how hard it is to press and hold your fingertips on the strings. Ouch...it hurts. We went to the Music store and picked up a basic cord book, and a song book. Chloe was strumming and looking at the music, believing she was reading it and making a song. I love how she just go's for it. Blake is just into strumming, then running away and blowing on his harmonica... Now, if only we could acquire a free piano...

30 days ~ Day 19

2008-02-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

We were back at Skate World again, this time for a Birthday Party! We (the party that is) had the place all to ourselves. Chloe improved her skating skills, and I had a chance to re-live my teenage years ! The last thing the kids did was play the claw game shown above. This time it was to win candy...and most of the kids had success, which was nice to see because those games usually just rip you off !!

30 days ~ Day 18

2008-02-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

Valentine Cookies...

We made cookies for Chloe's Valentine Celebration at school. Chloe was yet again a busy worker bee on this one. It started with mixing all the ingredients...Blake was in on that step, then rolling out the dough, cutting they tiny heart shapes, putting them on the tray, adding the sprinkles and in to the over they went ! We wanted to make the cookies a pink or red color, so we used a natural food coloring that indicated the color would come out strawberry...well, it turned out to be a blah blah purple...we laughed about it, and ended up thinking it was not so bad once the red sprinkles topped them. They turned out to be yummy and we have a ton of them left.

When we got home from school, I found this e-card from Alan in my mailbox...I was cracking up. (P.S. When you click on the e-card it will skip a bit, just wait it out for a few seconds.) Enjoy !

30 days ~ Day 17

2008-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is our cat Eddie...she really likes to sleep in baskets! I interrupted her snooze with the camera...she popped up her head..and this is the shot I got...

30 days ~ Day 16

2008-02-12T21:43:00.001-08:00

Home sick from School...

Chloe just loves school...but she tends to catch colds and flu's very easily. We have had our share this past month of all of them...and let me tell ya, once one of us gets it, eventually we all do. I actually thought we would be on the mend after the last round, which kept Chloe out of school for nearly a week, (only 2 weeks ago), but Monday, she came home just feeling terrible, I won't go into detail...but this time, I am not entirely sure she didn't get some sort of food poisoning... Either way..as you Mothers and Fathers reading this know...it is really nerve racking when our littles fall ill. I feel like trying to keep them healthy, not to mention keeping myself healthy is a battle I can never win...just when I think I've got a handle on things...those nasty virus's attack !

30 days ~ Day 15

2008-02-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Valentine Cards...

I helped Chloe put together her Valentine Cards this weekend. We looked through a few craft blogs for ideas, and Chloe choose Patchwork Fabric Hearts (#4) from Kids Craft Weekly. She choose these cute fabrics from my scraps stash. It was a very enjoyable morning for all of us...even Blake got in on the action. There is really a nice opportunity for learning while making cards for your loved one's and classmates. Chloe got a thrill out of checking off each friend from the Class list we have, and counting how many hearts we had to trace, and how many sheets of card stock we needed to glue fabric on to get to 20 total...and of course there were some extras made for very special valentines!

I am on the email list for Kids Craft Weekly, although, its more like a monthly email. Chloe, Blake and I like to look over what kinds of projects they do, sometimes we go for it...sometimes not, but either way its fun, and makes for a good way to spend some time together. It's nice to share the love of making things with my children...

30 days ~ Day 14

2008-02-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

Santa brought Chloe and Blake bow & arrow sets. He actually forgot to load them on his sleigh for a Christmas Eve delivery, so he had them sent Federal Express a few days later. I ended up saving them in the Garage until just the right time...this past weekend was it ! They must have spent the whole day running around the yard shooting their arrows, it was great fun for them, Daddy even made a target for them...as the weekend went on, they quickly became experts.

Now, all they need is the whole Native American costume to go with them ! This would be nice to. The costumes have been added to my very long project list.

30 days ~ Day 13

2008-02-09T21:49:00.001-08:00

Saturday morning play.....

I just love Saturday mornings...we can be stay in bed and read, have tickle time, make pancakes, eggs, and slowly sip our tea. What I think I love the most though, is how Chloe and Blake play together. I think they really miss each other during the week, so they just jump right into after breakfast. After I cleaned the kitchen this morning, I found them playing with Barbie, G.I. Joe (seen here sporting Barbie's hot pink vest) and Ken(as Prince Dominick). A friend of mine brought Blake this cool Jeep, along with Joe, in a full on Army Uniform, complete with a shovel. (She left the gun out, per my request) We told Blake he was a Gardner. I know I can't keep him from guns and such...but I am trying for now. Anyhow, she found this treasure at the Salvation Army. This makes for great play, because you can pile the Motley Crew in and go ! You can see a few more of the fun in my images on flickr.

30 days ~ Day 12

2008-02-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

I received the Volume 6 issue of Craft Magazine at my doorstep this week. I thought they were just an online magazine, but it looks like they are doing print to. It is full, I mean full, of so many creative ideas, that it would take me a year to try each one. I was thumbing through and found out that they featured the Prairie Girl Apron Contest I was a winner in, pretty cool ! Then I realized, that's why I got a copy.
Thanks Craft ! I am definitely going to get a subscription. If you are looking for some daily inspiration...check out their blog on their website.

30 days ~ Day 11

2008-02-06T10:46:00.001-08:00

Blake(left)and his little friend Jasper, at Miss Olivia's(Preschool) working hard to make some mud pie's. This is a part of Miss O's that I just love. Her backyard is set up for some much creative outdoor, messy, muddy play. Chloe spent many days at this bench as well. The sun was shining and it was really a beautiful morning.

30 days ~ Day 10

2008-02-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

Our very Green front lawn. This would be a result of new grass seed and lots of rain. I know it won't last like this for long, because we are not into using so much water on our grass, we try to save it for the Gardens. It is really this color to...I didn't even edit this image. I was playing with Aperture, really the only thing I think I understand. My camera will go from F2.8 to F8.O. So this was at F2.8. I also learned that if I keep my ISO down to 50 or 100, (this was at 100) my camera gives me a red warning that it is shaking. I need to start using my tripod or setting it on something steady...that might be more than I am willing to do at this moment...

I thought after getting to know my camera better, my images would be better, but actually they seem worse....(you should see the other 12). I am overwhelmed...time to purchase some books on the subject ! The bliss of not knowing a thing, which is really the idea behind the point and shot camera...was kind of comforting...

30 days ~ Day 9

2008-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

I'm back ! Our technical difficulties with I-Photo and Networking were solved by the Cry Wolf Dude. It took the guy almost 2 hours, but after he was done doing his job, we agreed that it was money well spent !

So, I now have my own working log-in (Do you like my screen-saver?) and I can use I-photo on the laptop, plus Alan can get to it on his log in as well. The only bummer is that I lost quite a few days of images and video's from last week, some of those I can retake the shots, but Blake's Birthday party is gone forever...bummer.

I got hit with a nasty head cold this weekend...actually we have all had it, Alan and I were the last to be attacked by it.... Anyhow, it forced me to be in bed most of the time, so I finally had time to read my Canon Power Shot S80 Advanced User's Guide. I guess its about time, seeing that I've owned this camera for almost 2 years! Now I know what all the buttons and settings can do...man its pretty complicated ! I am really such a novice at all of this photography business, but I am hoping that I can really grasp all of the available options and put them to work. ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, White Balance,they are starting to make sense, but I do have a long way to go...which is why I choose to do 30 days of images, that way, I can actually try out what I am learning. I have also been spending a bit of time on lynda.com, learning basic digital photography principles. I highly recommend a subscription, they have a huge amount of online courses that are video tutorials...great for the visual learner, like me !

30 Days ~ Interuption

2008-01-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well, wouldn't you know it...when I decide to commit myself to posting a photo everyday, computer problems get in the way !!

I have to say, I love I-photo, it has changed my short photographic life. Editing is so easy and makes a huge difference, not to mention the program is just so easy to use, especially for someone like me. But, we have problems, and have been having them ever since Alan updated to Mac OS X Leopard, and purchased the MacBook Pro laptop. He had a great idea in mind, and that was to have each one of us log in as different users. He also purchased an external hard drive to keep all the photo's in, since I have been taking so many these days. So, for the past 3 months he has been working hard to try to network everything together. It has taken hours upon hours, and the biggest challenge has been with I-photo. As of today, I can't edit any photo's, and can't even find the one's I have downloaded in the past few days, and have no access to all of our photo's since we went digital.

So, I am going to take a break from 30 days of posting, and hope to resume at the end of the week. Bummer, because I was really having a good time, and have 3 days worth of great images to share with you. Alan has decided to call in The Geek Squad, and they will be coming on Thursday. Man, I hope the Geek is a Mac Genius!! If any of you know something about networking Mac's, or know someone who does know, please tell me !!

4:59 PM, Update; We are having a specialist from Cry Wolf of San Diego come out, not The Geek Squad, apparently they are Mac pro's.

30 days ~ Day 8

2008-01-25T17:43:00.001-08:00

We had a mellow day for Blake's Birthday. Chloe has had a yucky flu, (for 3 days now) which kept us home bound. So, what better way to celebrate then to make Chocolate Cupcakes or (Pupcakes) as Blake still likes to call them. We used the simple cake recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa can, and believe it or not, its a great recipe.

Blake and Chloe love to bake with me. Blake does all the mixing and Chloe cracks the eggs, and I clean up the mess...it's a group effort !

The end result, a little Happy Birthday song, four candles to blow out, and a very happy Boy. Of course, another celebration is in the works for Sunday....with lots of friends and fun...Let's hope we don't get rained out...

30 Days ~ Day 7

2008-01-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Today, is my Baby Boy (not so much a baby anymore) Blake's Birthday. He's 4 years old. I tried to go back through photo's to find some earlier baby pictures of him, but since we have switched over to the Mac, and have been having some issue's with I-photo, I don't have anything available beyond last year. So, I had to resort to taking a photo of one of a the Black and White Film series that we have hanging in our hallway. (Which keeps with my theme of a photo a day. It might be cheating using past images, right ?? Good thing is, I can make or break the rules on this one..:)

Back to the photo, this was taken just minutes after Blake was born, by Nicole, the Doula we had helping us. I am so thankful for these images, because my labor was so short and sweet (and lets not forget PAINFUL!) that we may not have gotten any photo's if it were not for Nicole. We laugh because she really ended up being our photographer more than anything. After having a 13 hour labor with Chloe ( 3 hours of that just pushing..harsh, yes I know !), it was a true blessing to have a 2 and a half hour labor with Blake.

Looking at this image reminds me of what I consider to be one of the most precious moments of my lifetime. Not only because I had just given birth to my son, but because my two and a half year old daughter Chloe was right there to share it all. It felt so completely natural, and she was so calm and sweet. I think she was in awe of Blake as we were, but she also took care of me at that moment, stroking my neck and comforting me with her unconditional love. There is really much more to the story of this day 4 years ago, but I will leave that out for now. I do know that I will remember it vividly for a long, long time.

Happy Birthday Blake !!

30 Days ~ Day 6

2008-01-23T09:33:00.001-08:00

On our way home from pre-school, big, puffy, and low lying clouds. I love the clouds, and the color of the sky the day after rain in San Diego!

30 Days ~ Day 5

2008-01-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

A very big project I am working on... Image is not the greatest, it was taken in the garage late at night, and the lighting is pretty low, so I edited it to Black and White. Anyhow, you get the idea...I am hoping that this will turn out close to the way I envisioned it, and that it will work functionally. I will leave you hanging on what it will be...and promise to show the finished results!

30 Days~ Day 4

2008-01-21T22:50:00.001-08:00

A little late today on my photo. We were having I-Photo issues, images on an external drive, networking to the laptop, things I have to wait for the Computer Genius to come home and fix. (Grateful for Him, that's for sure !)

So, can you believe I still have tomato's slowly ripening in this Wintry San Diego Weather? This is the second round, from my summer plant. Unfortunately the Veggie Garden only gets a few hours of afternoon sun this time of year, so these baby's have been Green for about 3 months now, they just started changing color...I even have some cherry tomato's to... Can't wait to eat them...here's to hoping that we can escape this next month without a frost !

30 Days ~ Day 3

2008-01-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

Chloe's Mermaid and Lobster...

30 Days ~ Day 2

2008-01-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

Fresh cut flowers....Pink Gerbera Daisy's

30 Days of Our Days...

2008-01-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

Vintage Roller Skates ~ from Skate World

In the spirit of a few of my friends, and their inspiring 365 days Photography Projects, here, here and here, and other blogger inspirations, I am going to post a simple photo from our day, for 30 days. The hardest part...will be to pick one photo! I am a lover of posting numerous photo's, so this should be interesting...especially since Blake's Birthday is next week.

Bulbs

2008-01-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

Patiently waiting for me (for over a month now) to plant them in the ground, so they can give us their gifts of flowers.

Two different types of Narcissus (also referred to as Daffodil, and Amaryllis...

Soon, my precious bulbs, soon.....

Handmade ~ Giving and Receiving

2007-12-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

Quite of bit of crafting went on for Christmas Presents this year. Here are some of the highlights...

~These are some of the things I made~
Aromatherpy Rice/Flax Bags, made out of flannel with a fun applique, complete with a tag of instructions. These are great for warming up in the microwave, and laying on that aching head after experiencing the Holidaze..

Arsty Clutch for my Sister-In-Law, pattern is from Amy Karol's "Bend the Rules Sewing" Book. I added some simple embroidery and a fabulous vintage button.

Here are some of the things My Amaziningly Creative Mother made for us.

The Christmas Tree Necklace, there are earings to match to..

A Brillant Pendant, which there is a name for these beads, that I can't recall, Mom, help me out.

I call this the Crystal Ball Necklace, it looks much more beautiful in person. Its made from Swarovski Crystals, that are strung together with needle and thread, and each hole is the shape of a star. It was to hard to get that on film.

I love this...Its a hand knit Alligator Scarf for Blake..how cute.

These are sparkly Pine Cone Ornaments that Chloe and Blake made at school..

Complete with lovely hand drawn wrapping paper from Chloe... a joy to open up on Christmas Morning!

My Friend Annie, made this Candle holder, she works with Mosaic and does a beautiful job...

This is one of my favorite gifts, although it is not handmade, it is a gift card for my favorite store of all time... Anthropologie. Thanks to My Hubbie...

The Solstice Tree

2007-12-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, amidst the craziness of the Holiday Rush, we found a moment just before sunset to revel in the falling leaves of our neighbors beautiful tree. It finally dawned on us, after 4 years of watching the leaves change color and then fall, that this tree always drops its leaves on or very close to the Winter Solstice. It was a brief and wonderful moment for us. Somehow knowing that connection calmed my soul just for a short time, until I had to go back to the marathon of Christmas work ahead of me. The funny thing is, for a few weeks now, I kept looking at that tree and wondering when the leaves would turn and go. That morning as I drove away to the Farmers Market, I noticed the color had changed a bit, and when we got home 5 hours later so many of it's first leaves had dropped. I tried my best to capture the beauty I was seeing in these images, but looking at them now, they barely look like it did at the time...

We came back to that tree again on Christmas Day. More images..

Looking back to last week, as some of you know, Christmas was hard for me this year, on top of all the work it took, lack of sleep, and a monthly visitor, I had a major meltdown, and I was not myself during Christmas Eve, and Morning. It all just seemed to be way to much for me to handle. But, their were very small moments that brought me out of it, the solstice tree, family and friends that helped me through it, and of course the pure joy and happiness, and laughter that came out of Chloe and Blake. I am glad its over, but thankful for the many blessings I have, and the extra sleep I have been catching up on! Soule Mama could not have described the feelings of the Marathon of the Holidays better in her merry merry post. Check it out.

Holiday Cards

2007-12-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

We did a photo shoot with Ashley from Ventana Kids a week ago, to create an image for our Christmas Cards. I wanted to do something different, so Ashley suggested we head down to Barrio Logan and go for an Urban Look. We found some great colored garages and walls for our backdrop.

We narrowed it down to a few images. Now, I just need to decide which one to use. Any thoughts ? Yeah, I know the cards will go out late, but I like to go with the motto, "better late than never" !

Dip n Drape

2007-12-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

As I work on handmade gifts and decorations this week with Chloe, I was remembering back to when I was young and made things with my Mother. She worked at a very cool independent Craft Store, with some very nice ladies, (this was before the Micheal's of the world put the small craft store owner out of business). It was called Weatheralls. I know this job made my Mother very happy, she was always making things, still does to this day... (beautiful things I might add). They taught classes there and one of the one's I took was called "Dip n Drape". I can't recall any other classes I took, but I do remember that I made a macrame purse, which I wish I still had, because it would be the perfect one for me right now. I also did alot of "rug hooking". Remember that ??

So, I asked my Mom to take some pictures of what she still has around from my younger days of crafting. She sent these two. Christmas Carolers that she still decorates with till this day... Dip n Drape is basically using some type of glue and water, in fact, the product used might even be called that name. I still remember the stickiness and the smell of it. Anyhow, we started with Styrofoam balls, and various fabrics, dipped them, and then draped them on the figures. This took a period of weeks, because we had to wait for each layer of fabric to dry. We then painted on faces, and here they are in their glory. I must say, they have held up pretty well, considering they must be about 32 years old or so...

Thanks for sending the photo's Mom...

It's Beginning to look like Christmas

2007-12-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

Slowly but surely we are decorating around here. I wish we had more time to do it, but we have to settle with bits and pieces here and there. Funny thing is.. I wish I could just hibernate with the kids for these next few weeks. We would spend our time, making things, decorating, wrapping gifts, drinking hot tea and cocoa, reading Christmas Stories, baking cookies and cakes, taking walks during the warmest part of the day, planting bulbs in the garden, then taking naps. I am sure I could add alot more fun things to that list, but I need to get back to reality...

Here are some photo's of our work so far...

Chloe's handmade Christmas Tree

Have to have snowflakes on the windows..

Chloe cut these herself..

Orange Spice Balls, with cloves and oranges...

Chloe's handmade felt ornament

Blake helped with this one...his first stitches

Even Budda got a bit of tinsle !

Hope you are enjoying your Holiday Creating...

Sledding ~ California Style

2007-12-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

We went to the Beach after school yesterday to see the Huge waves, but found a sand hill, new friends and a frisbee, that was way more exciting !

Leftover Chili

2007-12-02T14:29:00.001-08:00

Mmm... There is nothing like leftover chili for lunch on a crisp cold day.

This past Friday we had a beautifully long rainy day and night. It was cold...and wet, and I was so happy to know that everything was being washed down, and soaked by tons of rain. I of course, could not find the umbrella, and didn't have a rain coat, but that didn't even bother me. I kept finding myself saying giddily.."its not everyday that I can get really wet from a rainy day!" By dinner time it seemed obvious to me that the only thing to make was a nice warm pot of vegetarian chili. How satisfying that was, cutting up the vegetables, sauteeing the onions, and garlic, adding the spices, and the slow simmering of the chili. I think my favorite part of the whole process is cutting up the green onions and fresh cilantro that we used for toppings...right before it is time to dish out the chili. Or maybe it is opening up the Bottle of Vino that we will drink with our dinner...

Over the years my chili has evolved into a mixture of various recipes from my very beat up and worn out version of "The New Basic's Cookbook".They have at least 6 different chili recipes...they are all great. I bought this cookbook years and years ago, when I first starting cooking on my own...it taught me quite a bit.., and there is not one recipe that I have used that did not turn out wonderfully. I have often given this book as a gift in the past..

So here is my version of Vegetarian Chili...
The main meat ( so to speak) of the dish is beans, and peppers (sweet ones).

3 to 4 Garlic cloves minced
1 Big Sweet Onion
1 to 2 Zucchini
4 to 6 Red, Yellow, and Orange Bell Peppers chopped, (not to small though)
2 cans (big ones) of crushed tomato's
2 cans of Black Beans
2 cans of Kidney Beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup vegetable broth or water (sometimes I add more)
2 to 3 tablespoons of good chili powder
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of dried basil
1 tablespoon of dried red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
2 tablespoons of brown sugar

For Toppings;
4 green onions or scallions chopped
4 tablespoons or so chopped fresh cilantro
Grated cheese ( we use blue, but you can use whatever you like)
Creme Fresh or Sour Cream

Heat about a half cup of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and saute just until tender. Transfer it to the pot you will be simmering the chili in. (Note, I have simmered this recipe in the crock pot all day to...yummy)

Heat about 1/4 cup more of oil in your skillet over low heat, add onions, garlic and peppers and saute just until wilted. This is when I like to put all the chili powder and the dried red pepper flakes. Transfer the mixture into the pot with the Zucchini. Place the pot on low heat and add the rest of the spices, tomato's, brown sugar, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered, stirring often, for 30 minutes.

Stir in the beans, and cook for another 15 minutes, also adjust your spices. If you have fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, you can chop that up and throw it in as well.

When you serve up your chili, make sure to top with Fresh Cilantro, cheese, scallions and cream...then mix it all together and dig in. I also like to serve big blue corn chips or a fresh loaf of bread to go with...

Sometimes, I really need to have a chili that has some meat in it...so, I will use this same recipe and add about a pound of ground turkey, and about 4 long strips of cut up crispy cooked bacon. Equally yummy..

Enjoy...

Tag City

2007-11-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

Me in my "Teen" Years...

In the past months I have been tagged three times by my blogger friend Louise, and twice by my friends Lauren and Annie. I have been a bit conflicted about the tag thing, as I am still trying to figure out what my focus and intentions are on my own blog, not to mention I really hate chain letters, and somehow tags feel a bit like a chain letter. Maybe I was just feeling writers block when it came to tags...I like the freedom of writing about what I want, not what I am possibly expected to write. Anyhow, I think I may have been secretly waiting for the "7 weird or random things about me tag", because I can easily write about that !!

Here are the guidelines for this tag...

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. {or less if I already tagged pretty much every blog you know!}
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now onto the 7 weird things about me, you might want to get a cup of tea for this one...it's gonna be wordy!

1. I am referred to as "Sir" on the telephone at least once or twice a week, and have been ever since I went through puberty. ( I have a pretty deep voice), I have many stories to share about it...

2. A great prank I pulled off in College was to impersonate various "Frat Boy's" on the telephone, in order to have them come to our neighbors, ( anti-frat-boys) apartment during Rush week to pick each one of them up. This went on for the whole week. It was deeply satisfying. To this day, they still do not know it was me... (talking to dude's as a dude, is quite an experience!)

3. I loved and still love Barry Manilow, (even with his jacked up botox, face lift, crazy face). I can vividly remember the Christmas that my parents gave me the "Barry Manilow Live Album". I was so excited I was almost jumping up and down, then I looked up at my brothers and saw them looking at me like I was a freak, and proceeded to collect myself. I spent many days in my bedroom as a young girl playing his albums on my red box shaped record player. I can still sing every word to every song...his lyrics and songs have touched my soul on a very deep level...(yes, I know this is very cheesy! ). During some painful periods in my adult life, I broke out his albums that I still own and played them over and over, it was quite healing. About 10 years ago, I was able to see him in concert for the first time, while I was in training for a job, in Rochester New York. I went with a fellow trainee, who I have not seen or talked to since that week, and found out she had the same love, and played the same records as a kid. We both cryed uncontrollably (which we did not expect) and sang almost every word to every song...and didn't feel ashamed. It was as if we unlocked parts of ourselves that we had hidden deep inside for years....

4. I had two different nick names as a kid. Charlie, was what my Aunt and Uncle called me, and still do to this day. They even gave me a bottle of "Charlie" perfume one Birthday, I liked that. The other, which is the weird one, was bestowed on my by two of my older female cousins... "Amos Mooperhead", we were all Mooperhead's, with a first name attached, Makes for a great email address.

5. I was once a DJ at an after hours joint in the middle of the Hood in Downtown Detroit. I was one of a trio, and we called ourselves "The Alley Cats". While one of us handled the mixing board, the other two of us danced for the crowd. I landed upon this gig, by complaining about how bad the previous DJ's were to the owner, saying something like "I could spin some better tunes than that !" Mind you, none of us had any experience whatsoever, we just faked it till we made it...

6. I absolutely hate chewing gum. The smell, the look, the packaging, the sound of it when someone is chewing it... It just freaks me out like no other thing on earth. I can't have my children chew it around me...I just can't take it. I have to extract myself from social situations in which someone is chewing that nasty stuff.

7. Some of you may already know this one, but I have a thing about dirty feet...can't stand having them, or my children having them, so we find ourselves washing feet before bed, even if we can't wash anything else. I also, cannot walk anywhere, even in my house with bare feet, (except for the beach). I always have to have something on them, slippers, socks, shoes, flip flops. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my Father had a rule that we always had to have slippers on our feet in our home when we lived there. There was hell to pay if we got caught without them... Sometimes I try to break this affliction, by running through the house or the yard with bare feet, but I just can't get very far without having to cover them up quickly.

Yes, I am weird and I own it !!

While we are in Tag City over here... I am going to answer another tag... a Name Tag, Louise got me on this one.

Here’s how it works:1. Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of their first or middle name.2. When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.3. At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag.4. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they have been tagged, and to read your blog....

I am going to use my first name on this one...

A~ Abundant, in every facet of my life right now, and Appreciative for it !
M~ Married, happily I might add, something I was not sure would happen to me. Let's not forget Mother to, that I am for sure!
Y~ Yippee, I am finally done with this Tag Post !!!

As for tagging other bloggers...the only one I can tag is Louise, for the 7 weird or random things...So have at it !!

For the rest of you, beware, I have one more tag left in me, and I might just bust it out very soon...