third in a series

fairy house

the other day tashi and i were looking at a book called fairyhouses. it was full of photographs of miniature houses made from twigs, berries, moss, stones, pods and other bits of nature. when we got back home tashi wanted to make a fairy house but it was dark, wet and cold outside. so we used what we had on hand and built a little fairy house under a small table. we piled up some stones, pulled a poinsettia leaf as a welcome mat, and filled a shell with water (an outdoor hot tub of course). tashi sprinkled everything with sage.



on the left, the upturned shells are seats, with a small flat stone for a coffeetable. there is a houseplant made of coral, a fireplace, and the beautiful shell with a spiral, well, it's an entertainment center of sorts. on the right there is a stove. it's cut out of the close up, but next to the stove is a shelf full of red berries. provisions.

wannabe

these are a couple of books that i picked up recently.



if there is one garment i would love to be able to sew, it's the skirt. but it doesn't take much to confuse a novice sewer like me. last night i was looking over the directions to one of the skirts in sew what and breaking out in a sweat of anxiety.

i purchased see and sew for tashi. i may just love the retro images more than anything.



i will surely learn just as much from the book as she will.



wish us luck!

smiling on sunday

yesterday was excellent. it began with an astrological forecast by molly. if ever you are in need of a birth chart interpretation or a transit forecast, i highly recommend molly. i learned a lot of new things and a lot of very positive things. all signs say go.

in the afternoon dan, tashi and i took a country drive. this is one of my favorite things to do on a weekend afternoon. there are so many incredible country roads around here that will lead you to old world hamlets, roaring rivers, steep inclines, deep forests and farms. on the way home we stopped at the covesville country store and consignment shop. instead of buying things (i was frothing at the mouth a bit), i took pictures. you can see more here.



last night dan and i watched marie antoinette by sofia coppola. it was an astounding visual feast. i wonder how accurate this interpretation of the last queen of france is.

this morning we woke up to snow. which has now turned to freezing rain. next to me is a strong cup of coffee. dan is doing the dishes while tashi reads on the couch. i will attempt to make a collage and use some images from the 1940's woman's day magazines i picked up yesterday. we may find a cozy cafe in which to spend the afternoon reading. and tonight is the oscars. i love it when there is actually something on tv to look forward to!

inventory

meet iris



wee pudgy bun



and lavender cat

they are the only soft toys i've ever made. so far.

a wee breeze

today was the first slow day i've had at work in about three months. it's been so intense. but i think that things might be winding down a bit, or at least we're past the reimbursement heavy, application receiving, annual reporting, budget planning, routine audit part of the year. i was actually able to work on back burner type things. and admittedly, i slacked off a bit. every one else did too. it felt good.

above is my little book worm, deep in book six of the dolphin diaries. she loves dolphins. she also loves reading.

speaking of, i discovered library thing. i'm not really sure what the point is, but if you click on the little icon in the upper left margin of this blog, you will find out what i'm reading (or eventually, what i've read). it seems like it might be a fun online tool to explore.

i also added a couple more crafty mama blogs to my links. i am so full of admiration for these women who can make lovely things daily while feeding their babes with a free hand. for now all i can do is eeek out a thing or two every once and a while, and draw inspiration from their example.

i think there are probably some hidden benefits to my current full time administrative academia job. but i look forward to the day when i can have more time and space and security, to be the person i was born to be. i'm still figuring out who that person is.

i also added a bit of a profile. if you care to look.

orange puffer cat

this is the second most handsome man in the house

second in a series

i'm not certain it's complete. but it's time to move on.

baby in the house

tucker and sissy are visiting for the weekend while bagus and dan have an adventure in the west virginia wilderness.



we're enjoying our own adventures!

happy valentine's day!

from the bed & breakfast bear

sunday stack up

oh glorious sunday full of housecleaning.

yesterday was full of fun. first i made almond sugar cookies and lentil zuchini dal. then tashi and i went to the family art jam at the uva art museum. the subject(s) of the day were indian miniature painting and african masks. we filled details into our own indian miniatures and then made our own masks. at some point tashi turned to me with a huge grin and said, "i looooooooove this."

after art jam we took our cookies and dal up to the waldorf school for the "family valentine's music night." there was good turn out and tons of great music. from bluegrass to surf to african drumming. guess who is in the surf band. my husband! even though i saw dick dale in san francisco and he was awesome, surf has never been my genre of choice. but seeing my handsome guy up there on stage creating a rockin' sound with a bunch of other great musicians makes my lil' heart skip a beat. the kids went wild for the stuff and were buffing the floor with their bodies, storming the stage and staring at the musicians with dreamy eyes. it was good clean fun. and after tashi stopped jumping around like a pogo stick, she actually danced with me.

i forgot to bring the camera though.

today i've got to prepare the house for sissy and bagus and baby tucker who will be arriving thursday. and tashi and i are going to make valentine chocolates with her candy making kit. and i'm going to rearrange tashi's tiny room. there is a door to a crawl space in her room and she's convinced that monsters lurk on the other side. so it's time to get her bed away from it and cover it with a bookshelf. and finally the collage, which is already underway, but is a silly one indeed.

snow day

this morning i stayed home with tashi. we had some fun in the snow.







then we came inside and enjoyed hot chocolate and soft pretzels.



after collaging together, counting all of tashi's piggy bank money, and convincing her not to buy an american girl doll from ebay, we went to work. . .

where tashi made a cavern for herself under a desk.

laptop suggestions

the time has come to buy myself my very own mac laptop. lately i've been using dan's dell, and before that i was using his old mac laptop which is simply too old for the wireless era. any suggestions from the mac lovers out there?

first in a series

productive-ish

today was a day of puttering, organizing, photographing light falling through windows, drinking coco, beginning an epic poem and collaging (one of my new years resolutions, a few blog entries back).



before i could begin the collage i had to tunnel my way to the collage materials. this sent me into a frenzy of organizing my work-room which is also the guest-room-linen-closet-toy-overflow-catch-all room. and before i could really gather the materials i had clear off the coffee table where i was planning to pile the materials and work on the collage. a clear surface in my workroom? i don't think so! a clear coffee table? rarely. here is a before and after coffee table picture. i think i spend a good percentage of my life putting away things that end up on the coffee table.





during the day's various de-cluttering activites, i came across a journal that dan's brother gave me several years ago when we lived in california. this journal is a perfect collage journal. it has thick square light brown paper pages. so i began my collage in there. it is of course not complete, but at least i began one. and the goal is that it will be finished by next weekend, when i will begin another collage.

in fact, perhaps i will go and finish it right now.

our day in pictures

this morning we made imbolg candles.



tashi was a little frustrated by the process, as the petals on the taller candles kept falling off. so a heavy duty playmobil session was in order.



afterwards we had an imbolg lunch of orange and yellow foods to represent light and warmth.



and then we started our spring cleaning by taking some stuff to salvation army and then of course acquiring a few things. i just loved this little cup with it's little graphic of a peaceful seat.



and we found a chariot for the bed & breakfast bears. these bears have been a part of our family for some time now, and they are the main characters in many stories of great adventure.



i also found this cute little cup for tashi. she often likes to have tea before bed and small cups suit her.



i found a few cd's too. one is a live recording of such greats as zakir hussain and ustad sultan khan and bill laswell performing live in san francisco's stern grove. when i was checking it out at home i realized it was a two cd set with the first cd missing. oh well, it was still worth the one dollar.



i'm not sure what got into me but i purchased these hideous dino pillowcases. i figured the graphic of birds and a little boy and a dino holding an exit sign was silly enough that i could use the fabric for the lining of something. perhaps a bag.



and now we're going to eat blackened cajun catfish cooked by dan. mmmmmmmmmmm.

scattering seed

now that i have emerged from the worst january ever, i'm ready to make some new years resolutions.

1) create at least one collage or one still life every weekend
2) always carry a poetry book in my purse
3) write in my journal - whether it be for a minute or for an hour - every night before bed

those are the creativity resolutions, and just a few. and then there are the family resolutions (play more). the health resolutions (exercise, nutrify, meditate) . the job resolutions (get back on the doula path).

but for now, i'll start with creativity.

wishing you all a wonderful imbolg, also known as brigid or candelmas. may the seeds that you plant grow into the beautiful blossoms you envision.

booking along

today some books arrived in the mail. i'm thrilled about semina culuture which is a beautiful book about wallace berman and his circle. i was leafing through it when tashi walked in and became jubilant about the other book, celebrating the great mother. she immediately wanted me to read her the part about a child's inner wisdom. then we played tarot card games and discussed the pictures on the cards and what they meant to us.

not a bad evening at all.