lights! camera! action!

yesterday when i downloaded photos from my little fuji finepix camera (the camera i take with me on work wednesday), i discovered a bunch of pictures tashi had taken. she has an excellent eye! she also received her flip camera yesterday, something she purchased with her own funds. she is very excited and it is so pleasing to glimpse her view of the world through the lens.

work wednesday

::before::

i had a difficult morning before work. tristan fought me as i changed his diaper, put him in fresh clothing and pulled on his hat & jacket. i turned away for a minute to grab my jacket from the hall closet and knew i was doomed when i heard a tell tale clunk. he'd made his way to the cat's water bowl and was sitting in a small pond. nothing a little sunlight can't cure.

::during::

next week tristan will have his first birthday and it will probably be the last week i take him to work on a regular basis. mobility, curiosity, power cords, swinging doors, office machinery and steep stairwells are not a great mix. i passed his bouncy seat onto a pregnant coworker who will soon be bringing her infant to work. i felt a bit of sadness, but also gratitude that i've been in a workplace that has such spectacular tolerance of children & babies.

::after::

a shadow full of spring blooms says it all. let the seeds manifest in their fabulous unfolding.

self portrait: tuesday

even though today was a wonderfully temperate spring day, it started off rather cold, and i craved fire. so there it was, fire in the morning until eventually the living room door remained wide open to the beautiful season.

and signs of change:

the very last patch of snow from our once towering pile created by the snowplow.



white helleborus



and pink



daffodils make an appearance. and one of many fallen trees brought down by the heavy winter.



i do love the warming.

homemade monday: monsters & co.

there were some busy hands this weekend, a few embroidered place mats in the works, fabrics for a birthday crown gathered, another bend the rules blanket completed and a friendly monster who needs to be stuffed.

tashi is into making friendly monsters. the first one she made a couple of years ago from a tutorial on the crafty crow. she calls it fuzzawumble. the second is her very own invention.





in the works this weekend was a fuzzawumble for tristan. it has yet to be stuffed, but is just lovely.




i completed another blanket, same fabric as the last.



this one was for a very special small girl who's path lead her into the arms of some awesome parents. she's in for some fun, and so are they.



and there was the music coming out of tashi's violin. music is homemade, isn't it?

free form friday

as the rain falls steadily and tristan's first birthday approaches, i find myself reminiscing about the rainy spring of 2009. this evening i pulled up last year's march blog entries, and read through them. what a mysterious, magical time.

tristan seems to be transforming into a toddler before my very eyes, an active, strong-willed, loud toddler. there are melt downs, and a smile that melts me down. i feel some sadness as his infancy drifts away, but am so excited to meet this boy and all that he has in store for us!



the cheery towel in the above photo was found at the thrift store yesterday, along with a few other random items.







tashi and i have an alice date planned this weekend, and there is a whole lot of spring cleaning to be done around here. but i wouldn't be surprised if we all just snuggle around the wood burning stove, play some games, and enjoy the sound of the rain hitting all surfaces. or maybe the water from the cat bowl being splashed about?

self portrait: tuesday

homemade monday: blanket for a bid

despite a few struggles with my sewing machine, i managed make a bright little baby blanket to donate to our school's silent auction fund raiser. tonight i'll sew up some coordinating bibs to go with it. as always, these are from patterns in amy karol's bend the rules sewing.



and for dinner, homemade thai soup with chicken, coconut milk, lemongrass, bok choy, hot peppers and cilantro. oh so good.

a lotta enchilada

i mentioned these avocado cashew enchiladas on facebook, and received several requests for a recipe. hopefully there are no copyright infringements here, as the recipe is from mollie katzen's, the enchanted broccoli forest. i've had the cookbook since 1990, and you can tell.



katzen has a whole section on making enchiladas, with several unusual recipes for fillings, and two sauce recipes. i added cheese to the recipe, and cheated you might say, as i bought pre-made verdi sauce.

filling recipe:
2 ripe medium sized avocados
juice from a medium lemon
4 finely minced scallions (greens & whites)
1/2 cup finely minced parsley
1 cup finely chopped cashews, toasted
1/3 cup sour cream or firm yogurt
1 medium clove crushed garlic, if you wish

mash avocados, add lemon juice, mix in remaining ingredients. i bet this would be good with cilantro rather than parsley. will have to try that next time. oh, and maybe a dash of chili powder.



other ingredients:
corn tortillas
enchilada sauce, red or green, store bought or homemade
about a cup of shredded cheddar (my addition)

the cookbook says the recipe makes eight enchiladas. but i ended up with a dozen.

assembly:

* pour a small amount of sauce to cover bottom of shallow baking dish.
* soften tortilla shells by one of three methods: heat 10 seconds a side in a lightly oiled skillet, dip in sauce or dip in water. i used the heat method, which i think works best.
* place filling on one side of tortilla. the recipe says to use 1/2 cup but i used less, maybe 1/3 cup. i also threw in a splash of cheddar cheese.
* roll up and place in baking dish.
* repeat until your filling is used up.
* pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. i also sprinkled with cheese.
* cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

prepare a side of rice, black or pinto beans and a salad. eat and enjoy!

march into the light

ah yes, the sun seems to be shining a bit more, and the hope of spring grows with the daffodils and crocuses slowly emerging from the saturated soil. apparently the farmer's almanac warns of yet another snow storm. i would be alright with one more, as long as the days leading up to and following it are full of light!

the light that circles my baby boy as he plays with his first wooden blocks


the light that streaks across the floor and the ceiling


the light that shines through my children, even when it is dark


has your first week of march been filled with light, hope and the growing energy of spring?

homemade monday part deux: cat! cat!

i just finished this little cat softie and wanted to share. it's another prezzie for tristan's first birthday. his first word after mom & dad was cat. it is so sweet the way he says it: ". . . attt!. . . attt!"

the instructions & pattern for this little guy are in the book, softies only a mother could love. it is admittedly probably one of the easier projects in the book. there are many sweet creatures in the book, including an owl i'd really like to make as well.

i stuffed this feline with wool, and used one of the few fabric remnants i still have from when i worked in an import fabric shop in berkeley in the late 90's.



do you think it's a buddhist cat or a hindu cat?

homemade monday: tacky tiki

i didn't manage much hand work during the olympics. during most of it i was either holding a squirmy baby, nursing a tired baby, nursing a glass of wine, half asleep myself, totally asleep, or simply catatonic. i did embroider this tiki guy onto a onesie for tristan, mostly during the commercial breaks. i started it months ago but didn't get far before it fell into shadow on a shelf. i ironed three layers of fusible web on the back of the stretchy fabric, which was a bit much, and made stitching it quite a chore. i finally tore off a layer which made it much more pleasant a task. the onesie was once tashi's, and the tiki pattern is from my sublime stitch-it kit.



kinda sloppy, kinda silly, but something sweet to add to the birthday stash.



march on!

the smaller moments 1

a celebration of the glorious sun, for today it shines!

the smaller moments 2

the smaller moments 3

:: we call her harriet the hawk ::

the smaller moments 4

the smaller moments 5

the smaller moments 6

also, self portrait: tuesday

print by le papier studio

the smaller moments 7