FiSHiNG

"Good things come to those who bait. "

~Author Unknown

We spent a day on Greers Ferry Lake out on Kalin's boat. It was a lot of fun. Our guide (Kalin) had us in search of croppie. It was one of those days where we caught everything but a croppie. We ended up heading home with an empty ice chest (no fish) but it was a fun day.

Violet and Daddy driving the boat

So here are some pictures of a few of my finished felted projects. I am trying to build up stock for my booth at the Folk Festival Artisan's Market in a few weekends. I had a lot of fun last year and I am looking forward to another year.

FELTiNG MANiA

"Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you."

~Mahatma Gandhi

Violet and I had a blast experimenting with my stash of wool. I was working on some more flowers for an upcoming show and she was really in to it. She created some beautiful pieces of felt.

We filled a small bowl with water. I shaved off about a quarter size piece of soap and we nuked the bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds. We picked out some colors and created. We made rings, and flower petals, and small pieces of fabric.

They are on the drying rack. I will post our post our finished projects and a tutorial on how to do it when they are completed. It was a really fun project and something that a 4 or 5 year old could do.

FiRST SPRiNG PLANTiNG

"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. "

~Mirabel Osler

Well I have finally gotten some seeds in the ground. I worked in the garden all day on Wednesday, while Violet hung out with her Auntie Em (who has just arrived from Florida). It felt so good to be outside in the beautiful almost spring weather. I planted some romaine starts that Kalin's mother gave me and pansies and violas.

This year I am making a real effort to keep edible flowers in the garden for salads and cakes. There is something so lovely about eating flowers. Pansies, violas, violets, nastirtiums and marigolds are among the edibles. YUM! I also planted a mesclun mix, salad bowl lettuce, bunching onions, red onions...and quite by accident turnips. I thought that I was oversowing the romaine with purple globe radishes. Upon closer examination of my seed packet, I realized I had indeed planted turnips. Not my favorite but others will enjoy them. oops

I also harvested some spinach and carrots that were planted from seed back in the fall. Check out the mutant carrot. A little scary but oh so delicious.

On another note... we worked on our house today some. It rained all morning so that put a cramp in our building style. We got a few more columns poured. We also had our handy dany helper aka Violet who worked hard filling the buckets with sand and gravel.

She was such a big a willing little helper.

The House Building Saga Continues

Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.

~Charles Dickens

While the wild violets push their way up through the leaves

the house building saga continues...

We worked all last weekend adding yet another layer to the basement,

and cutting and placing re-bar. We were finally able to start the cement portion of the project. (also thanks to some nights above freezing so that the cement will cure correctly)

On that note, I am delighted to introduce our new little friend...

the cement mixer...One of the finest pieces of machinery I have ever met. .

With the perfect ratio of mortar, sand, gravel, and water

Voila! We have cement!

Here is a video of the mixer in action. It is quite hypnotic

I am now officially a cement mixer attendant. My job is to pour the cement into the buckets and turn the mixer on and off in between each pour.

Here is a video of Noah (Kalins brother who has been a HUGE help--thank you Noah!) curring the cement to the scaffolding to Kalin who pours the cement into the walls. We are pouring a column every 4 feet. The cement mixer is such a time saver!!

I am so excited!!! It feels great to spend time down there dreaming and visualizing where everything is going to go.

First Bouquet of the Season

"The earth laughs in flowers"

~e e cumings

Amidst the brown leaves and bare trees of winter,


the happy daffodils, spring up from their slumber.




They were planted by my sister in law who used to live in "the outpost"...which Kalin and I have fondly taken to calling our current dwelling. The daffodils make me ever so happy as they reliably come up from their winter beds every year. Oh, how I do love picking bouquets of them adding a spring here and there of bridal wreath. They fill our home with such a wonderful light fragrance, a reminder of the promise of spring.

On another note...Thursday Violet and I went to story time at the Mountain View Library. They have such a good program. After story time, we went to Woods Soda Fountain for lunch. Violet decided it was her new favorite place. Later we walked over to Nancy's Antiques and I picked up a couple of treasures.

little pitcher perfect for flowers or milk for Violet's cereal (it will be easier for her to pour)
cute tiny wooden salt and pepper shakers from Japan, Violet likes these too :)