rocket and roll!

this june has been so wet and rainy and dreary. . . but we've managed to make some fun stuff! in fact i've been so busy at the sewing machine, that i haven't had time in the kitchen or at the computer to post much. but, that's a good thing, right!?


here's mommy's latest. rocket shirt! he proudly wore it to camp today. it was the only solace when he learned it would rain. again. and not go swimming in the lake. he had, instead, the happiness of "rocket shirt!" it is imperfect. as you can see. as most of my sewing projects are.

the template can be found on this awesome blog. isn't it good? i added the lightening/flames. he HAD to have some fire on there. who can blame him?

rainy days

June has been so strange. so chilly. so full of rainy days.

today was one of those "what is going on here?" kind of days. sunny, then rainy, sunny, then rainy. while we do still venture outside everyday, we have been spending more time inside than we have in past Junes. to be sure. this is a challenge after such a long New England winter. but, we're making it work. lots of cushion time on the floor, jumping and rolling. lots of ball play. and reading. mommy's been sewing a lot. i have several projects in the works! i seem unable lately to sit and focus on one thing. i have to flit from this to that. i guess it's more fun that way!


lately bb is fascinated with rockets (yes--some of the new sewing projects feature rockets). and so, we broke out our window crayons and started to draw some.


and then we got into drawing some people (or "dudes") to ride along.


and of flowers like the ones we hope to see bloom in our garden. if they every get any sunshine! i'm sure they will and our sunflower house will be all we hoped for.

until then, we ride the wave of rain and clouds until it passes and something new arrives. . .

a sweet giveaway

do you know about gardenmama? her blog is one of my new faves. immediately on the top of the (way too long) list of blogs i read.

she's doing a giveaway! 2 vintage aprons. mother and child. go see and you will know why i love her blog.

the giveaway post is here.

enjoy!

summer lovin' :: strawberries!!!

well, after a lot of looking forward to it, we finally defied the incessant rain and went picking!!! it could not have been more lovely or enjoyable.

the first creation (begun the minute we arrived home) was COBBLER. DE-lish.

these little beauties (above) have now become jam. 4 jars in the freezer already!


i love that we have accessible to us an pick-your-own ORGANIC strawberry farm. what could be better? i try to show my children the joys of the season thru celebration of whatever nature offers us in that given season. and strawberries are a true gem. they don't last long, so we must get while the getting is good!


i admit to being a little greedy and speedy out there in the fields. it was to much to behold. i kept pulling back the leaves to discover little clusters of red, sweet, goodness and i felt a bit like Gollem...."mine! mine! my precious...." though i did not say this aloud, it's how i felt! and i picked quickly!

seriously, though, wouldn't you??

sshhh, don't tell hubby. . . here's one of our FACES! this is my and bb's album cover shot.
don't we look sorta bad-ass? i'm not sure why. . .maybe it was all the strawberry hoarding we were doing. . .


a boy having his own basket is key.


and a girl her own bucket.

today we have begun strawberry ice cream! i will never forget the first time i made my own ice cream. it's such a different being from what you get in the market. i don't care how gourmet or organic it is, it's nothing next to homemade. which is why strawberry is the perfect flavor. what we picked yesterday is like a whole different thing than what you get in the market. it's pure joy and sweet sunshine.

enjoy!

the latest project

i'm working on a new embroidery project. after finishing (and loving) the bread bags, i decided to do something for the children.

i looked around my son's room and remembered that i wanted to make curtains that actually matched the room. isn't it so easy to stop really seeing what is around you? i think i tuned them out for a long time. and his walls need. . .something. and the clutter needs downsizing. bigtime. so, i thought this summer was the perfect time to focus on the "bedroom beautification project." both my children's rooms need it and i love putting my creative energy to use in making our home more. . . homey! so, the first thing on the list is some hoops. embroidery in some and just lovely fabrics in some others. simple, beautiful, natural. these are my 3 guiding thoughts.


the first of the hoops. . . a blueberry muffin! my son's favorite thing to eat. besides icecream. it's sort of a little joke for him. a blueberry muffin on his wall! so far, i've gotten started on teh yellow cupcake paper (bottom left). . . stay tuned for the finished product. . . .

pine cone bird feeders

we love our backyard birds and have been talking for a long time about making peanut butter pine cone feeders and finally on a rainy day, me and my boy sat down and did it.


i think we both had visions of birds flocking to it. chicadees a' chicadee-ing on over. what a beautiful sight! we put them up in the tree over our favorite sitting spot so we could watch them eat.

we have 2 beautiful trees there. and the birds love them. but. . . so do the squirrels. i'm not sure the birds even got a bite. we hung 6 of them and they were all just ravaged by the squirrels! when i made an unhappy comment about it, bb said, "well, mommy....you know.....the birds have to share, don't they!?"

yep. i s'pose they do.

but next time, i think i'll hang them in a different spot just the same!

cookie carnival :: may round-up!

well, we did it. we tackled the macaroon (macaron, whatever)! it seems like this cookie had a bad reputation. one of being tough to make. and it scared people off! itty bitty round-up this month.

the truth is, for me, anyway, i see why this cookie is avoided. it was a pain the *bleep* to deal with. i enjoyed nothing about making or eating these. which leads me to believe i did it wrong. supposedly they are lovely and delicate and sophisticated. all i saw was a sticky mess.

perhaps i was jaded by all the "ooooh, not macaroons!?" kind of comments. perhaps i was predisposed to not like them or enjoy making them. i don't know. and i don't think i'll find out!

for those who didn't particpate but are curious, we used this recipe from williams-sonoma.

as for the round-up...thanks to everyone who came through! i really appreciate not being left alone with these stickly little buggers!

i'm super busy this week (my mother gets married this weekend), so i'm sorry to have to offer up round-up *lite*. i can't do the full write-up and get it out soon. but here are all the links and photos that i got! enjoy! see you next month!

here is all who particpated with their photo ABOVE the blurb.


candace of Candy Girl played along. read her post here.


linda of Baking Foodie was back this month. i can't seem to get a direct link to her post--check her blog here.

claire of A Little Something from Claire came along for the ride. read her post here.

amanda of Amanda's Cookin' braved the macaroon! read her post here.


carol of No Reason Needed particpated and gave groovy photography. read her post here.


steph of Steph Chows played along. read her post here.


jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes was back and so is her great photography. read her post here.


kar of Obsession made some cute ones! read her post here.


rachelle of Mommy, I'm Hungry gave us cookies in a bucket! read her post here.


juliana of horneAndo Algo was back again. read her post here.



stacey of Simply Tasty made the macs! read her post here.

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!

popsicles of love

there's nothing like a frozen treat on a warm day. sitting out under our favorite tree there was a warm breeze. the birds were all a'twitter. and in a (rare) quiet moment i whispered, "who wants a POPsicle?" of course the boy immediately yelped, "MEEEEEE!" and the girl, not knowing what a popsicle is or why one would want one, joined in because if big brother wants it then it must be good.


we enjoyed these strawberry-lemon yogurt pops immensely. lots of giggles. lots of "mmmmmm!"

a perfect moment.

until. . .


the pop was gone. and she could NOT understand why she could not have more. so hard to explain to a little one that concept of "all gone!" mommy's not deliberately holding out on you. you ate the whole thing!

here is my process. . .if you can call it that. i do everything by taste when it comes to pops.

ingredients - strawberries, sugar, lemon, yogurt


:: yogurt in a sieve lined with cheese cloth. let it sit in the fridge overnight.
:: put some berries in a blender with some sugar. use the sugar sparingly, you can always add

more. blend it up and give a taste. add some more sugar if needed.
:: pour in a bowl. add lemon juice to taste


:: add the drained yogurt and stir it up. (you can use as much or as little as you want. some like a real creamy pop, some like it more fruity)
:: pour into pop mold and freeze overnight

YUM!

cookie carnival :: june means strawberries!

hey everyone! happy June!

i will have the round-up for May posted as soon as i can, but until then, here is the recipe for the June cookie.

i am beyond excited for strawberry season. the jam! the pies! the smoothies! it's a strawberry frenzy around here for much of the month, so i felt i had to find a strawberry cookie recipe.

leave it to martha to come through with that! we'll be baking STRAWBERRY-SHORTCAKE COOKIES!

i know not all of you are martha's biggest fans, but i hope you'll play along anyway. we had remarkably low attendance last month. maybe the macaroon was too scary?

this recipe is pretty simple. or so it sounds, anyway. but sometimes--in fact most of the time--simple is delicious, so i hope you will all give it a try! we now have 170 people signed up to be part of the carnival. it would be great if you all participated. of course that would mean the round-up would take a whole lot longer to do!

enjoy strawberry season..... a.pdf of the recipe is here for the downloading.

please email me your link and photo by 7pm on JUNE 30th to be included!

cheers!