it arrived! *and a give away*

When I was in third grade I attended one day of bible camp with a friend. She went to the local catholic school and I was so jealous of her uniform. Plaid pleated skirt? White shirt with peter pan color? Navy cardigan? Saddle shoes? Yes please!

I was lucky enough to win a red plastic whistle in some unremembered contest. It was nothing specially but for the rest of time it was pretty much the only thing I had won. Until last month.

Melissa of Checkout Girl was having a pay-it-forward give away and I was amazed to have won. I have admired her work since I first found her blog and now that we are trying to make this house a home it seemed perfect to have some handcrafted home-iness to grace it's walls.

But because we had moved there was some scary post office drama that ensued and I was panicked that it was lost in the mail. The curse of the red whistle and all. But finally it arrived. I tore into that package with an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm and literally squealed. It is so beautiful.


The tiny bird. The Flowers. The lavender scent. The careful and artful stitching. So beautiful. I keep moving it around the house so I can look at it throughout the day. It give me a little smile whenever it catches my eye.


Thank you so much Melissa!

And because this was a pay-it forward giveaway, here is one of my own to spread the love.

* * * Give Away * * *

Leave a comment in the post by Sunday evening and you will be entered into this giveaway. This is a surprise handcrafted gift that you will receive in about a weeks time after I choose the winner on Monday morning.

Good luck!

ah humidity

One of the hard things about New England winters is the bone dry air. Inside, outside, everywhere. Were are constantly drinking water and slathering Weleda cream on our skin in an effort to not dry out so much that we crumble into pieces.

We also escape to places with more humidity - namely greenhouses (no Caribbean vacations for us alas). In case you can't read the above sentence without the benefit of spaces between the words, it says:

"Mimi is a star and likes to go to the butterfly place"

She can't spell yet, but she likes to ask "how do you spell 'is' mama" and then write (or in this case, string) the letters.



The butterfly place is one of the tropical locals that we visit when it just gets too dry and too cold. The air is moist and warm, there are butterflies and flowers and a small pond. You can sit on a bench, close your eyes and be in summer for a few minutes.





We've had a couple of those hope-filled days this week where the temperature soars to a balmy 48 degrees. Folks around here can sometimes be seen wearing flip-flops on such days. We New Englanders are a special breed... We know there might even be a few more inches of snow in our future, but these days remind us that "yes, spring is coming, and it will feel lovely just like today". Those are the days that I start picnic blanket plans and Miryam and I snuggle before bed and talk about what we'll bring. And speak of frisbees and camp outs and smores and sandals and canoes and fall asleep dreaming of barefeet in deep grass.

well that was tiring...

Sooo...since that last post (several years ago apparently) we found a house, bought it, packed up everything we owned, moved it into our new house, unpacked about 20 boxes, and left the rest of the boxes in the garage so I don't have to live in a box jungle anymore. Wow.

We were in our apartment for about 8 years so it had been a while since I had moved. This move also has some factors that complicated it:
a. I have a lot more stuff now (apparently)
b. I have two children, one of which had just learned to pull up on things and enjoys eating random bits of grossness off the floor.



Last winter we bought a swing from IKEA for Miryam and hung it in this doorway between the living room and dinning room. It was a lovely way to burn off a little pent up winter energy and it hooked onto rings in the doorframe so it could be taken down when not in use. While we were in the scary basement packing things up I found this swing that Andy's sister handed down to us and it also was able to hook onto the rings. Fantastic. Apparently we wore Éamonn out with all the packing.

So now we are a bit more settled and soon I'll show you some interior house photos. For now you can peak at the back yard.

We have a bit over 3 acres, mostly wooded. This photo is from the sliding glass doors in the dining room and you can see the lower half of the photo is just yard, then there is a stone wall that holds up a terraced section where the garden will go.

I have to tell you, the best part about buying a house is that I don't have to buy a house now. Thank goodness that is crossed off the to-do list. So much stress involved.

Now I can just settle in and start sewing curtains and napkins and throw pillows and make this house into a home.