camp skills

I was unpacking one of the myriad boxes marked, very specifically, "BOOKS" and found one I had forgotten and knew I had to share. This book belonged to my father as a child and was a favorite of mine when I was young. I used to look at the pages and think about making a "temporary refrigerator" by submerging a bucket in a stream with my jug of milk in it and building a lean-to with sticks and branches.


Check out that " Daddy's Chair" - fantastic. And the washbasin? That's my kind of camping.


I think this book might be what lead me to join the Girl Scouts. I understand that the troops activities vary greatly depending on the leaders' interests but I must say that I was sorely disappointed in the lack of "Scouting" in my troop. I think the most scout-ish activity was the one time we were allowed to have a turn opening and closing a pocket knife. Sheesh!


I sometimes wonder, in that nature-vs-nurture way, about some of these fascinations in childhood. Was I drawn to this book because of who I was, or am I who I am because this book was tucked into our bookshelves. It makes me curious to see who my children become as they mix their own selves with the community with which we have surrounded them. What might this book inspire in them?

walking

Miryam took her first steps quite dramatically at 11 months or so. Andy and I both happened to be looking at her when she stepped once, twice and then sat down. For first time parents it was nice to be able to share the moment.


Éamonn has been shown his walking skills in a much more relaxed fashion. A shuffle here, a few steps there. He really gets a lot of practice pushing our kitchen chairs around the house. We have all wood floors and the chairs have felt on the bottom so they slide at the perfect speed.

More recently he has been taking Miryam's dolly Ruby Red for her morning stroll in the pram. He has learned to do corners by bumping in the the wall, wiggling the pram, bumping it again, etc. until he is in the right direction.


With the first child, it's so exciting to see them learn and grow. You just can't wait for the next milestone. With the second child I am a bit more whistful. Each new skill is an accomplishment and a celebration but it is also a reminder of all that has passed already, and how quickly. Still, I'm looking forward to the summer when I can marvel at his fat little feet walking through the grass.

a bit of unpacking - the playroom

I find that unpacking really goes on the back burner when there are two little children underfoot. We very quickly took out everything that we needed and left everything else boxed up in the garage. Well a couple of weeks went by before we even ventured in there for more boxes to unload. Just keeping everyone fed and watered and in clean clothes was enough. Adding more to the melee was unthinkable. It came to be, however, that the three books and one doll we had out was not enough fun for the kids. As much as I sometimes dream, we could never handle it Little-House-In-The-Big-Woods-style. So we unpacked the kids stuff (mostly - there are still some stuffed animal boxes that I (um) just can't find...yeah) and here is what we have.

The way the rooms work out there are two tiny bedrooms and two normal-sized bedrooms. So we have my midwifery office in one tiny room and Miryam's room in the other. Right now there is just a twin in there but we'll set up the bunkbeds this summer for sleepovers and for the future when Éamonn is ready to move out of our bed. The normal-sized rooms became the "familybed room" for Andy, Éamonn and I and the "play room". In general, I'm not very into the "playroom" concept as it is usually represented. Too often it is a way to segregate children (and their things) from the rest of the family. The whole "keep the toys out of the livingroom" theory. I think it is important for children (and their things) to be valued parts of the family, rather than closeted away is a basement "rec room" or some such. I have the benefit of a big plastic aversion so the vast majority of my children's toys are things that I enjoy looking at and are comfortable sharing my space with. It's important to me that my children respect their belongings and take care of them. I would find it hard to instill that value if I felt their things should be-out-of-my-sight. What you do, you teach, and all that...

That being said, it didn't make sense to have one big child's room and one tiny one. Especially because Éamonn really doesn't need a room right now. And how am I supposed to decide which room get's the play kitchen? No thanks. This way most of the toys are family-toys, rather than owned by one child or the other. The playroom is for play and the bedroom, which only has a bed, some books and a dresser, is for sleeping. Perfect.

So in the picture above you can see the play kitchen, the table (whose chairs are currently part of a fort in the living room), the dollhouse, doll pram and some rocking chairs. When I get some more daylight I'll take some pictures of the dolly sleeping in the pram - she is a waldorf doll I made for Miryam's birthday last year. The wall to the left of the photo has the closet you'll see below and the hidden wall on the right has a small shelf of toys and some baskets with blocks and balls.


The closet has art supplies, games and puzzles, and things that are best for when the baby isn't around. We tuck the horse in when not in use because it takes up a bunch of floor space. The horse was a thrift store find in Vermont. It's handmade and lovely but I've been meaning to give it some new yarn hair for a while. It's starting look like it should be put out to pasture, if you know what I mean.

I bought the stained glass butterfly, that hangs in the window, in Eugene, OR on our first cross-country trip in 2000. It catches the light beautifully in the afternoons.

I am making some plans for the room to work on during the April school vacation including a new rug (that one came with the house - they staged it for the sale) and curtins, some wall paint and a shelf that runs the length of the wall that you see behind the rocking chairs. Also some fabric-covered homasote boards to hang artwork on and a peg rack for dress up. I'll update with photos when we start working on it. Consider this the before.

we have a winner!

According to the random number generator...

*** Tiny House***

is the winner! Congratulations. Please email me with your postal address and start watching your mailbox next week.

And a big hello and welcome to new folks who came by way of Sew, Mama, Sew - I hope you'll stick around.

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.