peas in a pod~

I ♥ growing peas!

a gift for baby #6…

Yesterday morning I was invited to a baby shower that was last night.

I made some burp rags by adding a strip of fun fabric down the middle of some new Gerber Diapers.  They are trying to decide on a name ~ I mentioned that there were some great options on one of the burp rags that might help them:

Owen, Luke, Slim, Squirt, Tex, Polecat…

side 1 of charm

With the arrival of baby #6, I decided that a little something for mom would be in order.

side 2 of charm

Phenomena: an observable fact or event

There’s a phenomena in this area when the huckleberries begin to ripen.  People sneak around and speak in hushed secretive tones.

My sis-in-law invited me to join their group last night to pick huckleberries.  It’s a rare opportunity to be invited to the secret place where an abundance of berries might be found..and I didn’t even have to be blind-folded.

We did find that nice spot where we could pick for a couple of hours w/o moving around much.

My first berries looked like this…

…then Marc found this…with one finger to his mouth {in ‘shhhhh’ fashion} and the other finger quietly telling me to join him…

…we picked until dark.

Marcus is a competitive aggressive picker.

He, by far, out-picked everyone in the group with his gallon of berries in 2 hours.  I came away with ½ that.

…and his girls came away with less {in their buckets but plenty in their bellies}.

We picked in the area of Chewelah Peak, home to our beautiful ski resort 49° North.

{if I told you more, I might just have to kill you}

Birds & Blooms

birds & blooms charm

Liz & I had a great time @ Creation Northwest this past week.  I love spending this time with my girls.  While we were there Lauren came home from her time in Germany so she wasn’t able to go this year.

When I’ve been gone I love to come home and see how my girls {chickens} are doing and my garden.

Here is the rooster that I specifically ordered to 'do the job' and it turns out he's a fryer. I promise to NOT blog about where he ends up (and the process involved).

They are so funny as they are now trying to find their 'big girl' voices.

squash bloom

cucumber bloom

strawberry bloom

zinnia bloom

bloom on some of my herbs

hollyhocks

Something that the pictures don’t show {because I won’t allow it…of course} is that the weeds have taken over.  It’s hard to have a beautiful, weed-free garden when life keeps taking me here and there.

It’s a wonderful thing though when we can overlook the yuck and gunk in our lives and find fascinating beauty.

Where is the beauty that you can bring focus to today that will give you a bit of  joy in an otherwise {possibly} overwhelming life?

Just another day

There are lots  of raspberries to be picked…

Cash likes to go everywhere I go and …do everything I do…

More custom charms are ready to go out the door~

I’m heading out for 4 days to the central part of our state where it promises to be over 100° each day and where there is NO shade…and I will be camping!   ~this gives me a little anxiety!

this one is interesting…

…and a bit fun!

I emptied a bag of rice and converted it into a shopping bag.  At my last show I bought a big pile of drapes made out of this glorious red & black, damask fabric.  It really is beautiful.  I’m starting to get quite a collection of this rubber-backed drapery fabric.  Most of it is rich and elegant but the rubber makes it difficult to sew.

Hopefully, I can stick this in my car and remember to take it into the store so that I can save just one plastic bag from going out of the doors.

an apron for Michelle~

I finally finished a project today…

Michelle, a friend who visits me here often, asked if I would make her an apron.

Recently, I made one similar to this one, which she liked.  Since I still had the {ingredients} to make another one we decided that would be a great custom apron for her.

This one’s for you, Michelle…

a little time for sewing…

My friend, Lin, is here with me for a few days and our plan is to do some sewing together.  Whenever she spreads her fabric out both the cat and the dog like to snuggle on it.  {not such a great thing when they aren’t your pets} ~the only thing I’ve accomplished is taking some fresh bread out of the oven.

I better get busy! ~

a view of my garden~

zinnias that I planted from seed ~ just beginning to bloom

I picked my first handful of raspberries yesterday ~ our bushes will yield gallons and gallons...

Our garden is very demanding: spring, summer and fall!

It really is one of my favorite places to hangout these days.  Pulling weeds becomes overwhelming but I find it to be so relaxing {when my back doesn’t feel like it’s breaking}.

It’s a great place to:

~think

~plan

~dream

~pray

~…and of course work!

a piece of Paris~

My friend, Amber, was recently able to take her first trip to Paris.  She brought me home a few fun items.   I adore these fun, little {soupçon} vintage items…very thoughtful!  The postcards aren’t actually mine to keep, just borrow for a little bit.