So pretty. And sooo 1950's! Flea Market find this weekend. My computer is refusing to rotate photos for some reason, therefore I am unable to show the TWO tiers of these billowy, "excuse me while I straighten my pearls and serve lemon meringue pie" curtains. I'm not sure what that means other than it's all I can think of when I look at them, all seven of them! I know!! Emily's bedroom only has four windows. Hmm, what to do with the extras? Of course... send them to the neighbors house so they too can have a bedroom fit for hat boxes and stiletto's. Making the neighborhood a happier place, one over the top frilly curtain at a time. Both girls are thrilled, and now I just need to find myself some of these dishes like Meg's, serve a little breakfast in bed, and I will have officially entered a time warp.

Oh, I'll just put them in anyway. Gently drop your left ear towards your left shoulder...

Okay, we're doing yoga now, breath into the side neck, release tension...

Have a great Monday everyone, and thank you for all of the sweet and kind words of support over the weekend. Really, thank you.

The little shop that I mentioned a while back, you know, the one I said was opened in early February? Oh, that one! Well there are finally some handmade goodies for your enjoyment, to add to your ever expanding Etsy shopping adventures. I do hope you stop by, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. My reason for procrastinating around the opening of this little shop? I feel a little shy about putting my things out there, on such display. (blush)

Well, with the encouragement of others, I'm letting go of that, and jumping in. Because truthfully, I get such pleasure out of making things. The whole process... salvaging fabrics at flea markets, music on the ipod in the studio, combining fabrics until they look just right (love!), a bit of wine or tea enjoyed while crafting, and finally, the satisfaction of producing something with my hands. Something that is made of mostly or all repurposed materials.  I think that above all is what I keep coming back for.

So, without further ado, welcome to my official grand opening, there is a link over to left, in the sidebar, if you're interested. Please enjoy your visit!

Now, back to dreaming of weekend plans.

Lovely, yes. This was yesterday. Outdoor knitting, reading, sun soaking. Happy moment for sure. Lots of gratitude captured in this photo.

Enter today. It seems we are being invaded by turkey vultures. We live on 1/4 acre, so when the oak tree fills with 20-30 of these creepy fellows... it's just freaky, especially when today's sky is dark and ominous.

It's okay now though, all is safe, 9 year old vulture whisperer and lover of all critter type things intervenes. Phew! Emily had a long chat with these uninvited tree dwellers, turns out they're not so bad. Apparently they promised not to eat Sukha (dog), Hazel (cat), or the neighborhood children. They mean no harm, just happen to like this old oak very much. Oh, and they wished her luck on her guitar lesson. And I was quick to judge.

Enjoy the weekend! I do hope the sun returns. Adam will be rock climbing, dry rocks would be nice....

One for dinner, one for the freezer. I have a not so secret obsession with filling my freezer full of meals, cookie dough, cakes, frosting for cakes, muffin batter (yes, you can do this), bread, soups, stews, casseroles, it's endless really. I'm not sure why I do this, it's just really easy to, so why not. It's so easy to double whatever it is I'm cooking, and throw one in the freezer.

I love food. I love to read about it, shop for it, cook, and serve it. The women that inspired my love for cooking all cooked big. My family is French Canadian. My paternal grandmother, Memere, had what I believed as a little girl, to be a magic oven. I remember actually believing it might be magical. She had nine children, you could never prepare too much food, not possible. Whenever she would have gatherings at her house, that grew over the years to include spouses and grandchildren, the oven produced food I swear until the final guest went home. Roasts, potatoes, casseroles, baked beans, it just kept coming, never ending.

When my parents were teens and dating, the first time Dad had dinner with Mom's family, Mema politely served Dad the potatoes first, as he was the guest. Dad promptly took all of the potatoes from the modestly sized, delicate serving dish. There were no teenage boys in Mema's house, she wasn't prepared for his appetite. He wasn't prepared for the food to actually run out, or the ridiculously impractical serving dish.   

I also learned to cook working on an Herb Farm years ago. A lady named Delia was the head cook, straight from the south. We helped her prepare a five course luncheon daily for 100 people, one seating. Cooking big, it's what I know how to do. It pays off though. At least once a week we pull from the freezer stash, accommodating late schedules, afternoon hikes, laziness. It's quite lovely really. I am such a dork, honestly. Still, would you like to come for dinner? Cake?

Have I mentioned Emily's girlhood hero's are Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Laura Ingalls, and Pippi Longstocking? I'm not kidding. But who wouldn't love a girl strong enough to carry a horse!

A little gift to my students. A collection of music to hopefully keep them inspired as I am bringing classes here at the home studio to a close, and taking a brief sabbatical from teaching. My hope is to return, at a studio or two in the area, in the near future. Life has presented different demands of my time recently, some things (and lovely people) that require more attention. Attention that I am happy to give, but just didn't have the necessary time. It's really a good thing for now. 

I don't believe my students know of this blog, I just felt like putting it out there, my gratitude for each of them, for what they have taught me. I have deeply loved sharing yoga with each of them, and have seen some incredible yoga reveal itself from these very special people. I will miss it, but I also look forward to just being a student once again, for a while.

If you are having yet another sunny day today, enjoy it, I plan to.

It was absolutely glorious. There is no other way to describe it! How about your weekend? In the course of 48 hours we worked, played, thrifted, ate ice cream, went fishing at two rivers, swam in one of them, napped, made homemade applesauce (I know, wrong season, but still...), read, had our first beer of the season on the deck, realized how badly it needs to be painted, but didn't care enough to discuss or plan such a project. Instead we just soaked up the sun, everywhere we turned, SUN! I could not ask for more.

Oh, and please notice with enthusiasm my thrifting purchases... $12.00 for all that you see... I admit, I did a little dance.

Feeling pretty, sort of. Here is my attempt at the sassy spring skirts Amanda posted about here. Oh my, this came together easily. A very sweet vintage sheet (part of) was used. I picked it up at Sal's for $1.00, can't beat that. This skirt probably cost $ .33, and took less than one hour to make, which makes for very happy crafting... sort of.

Sort of you ask? Amanda, if you happen to read this, please tell me that you too found the pattern runs a bit -um- small. I actually made the skirt one size too big as I thought I would be kind to myself, you know, avoiding any surprises in the 'fitting room'. Yeah, big surprise for me as it is a bit snug in the hips, I am officially very sad. Oy... what's a girl to do? First, enjoy a few more shots of my new soon to be favorite skirt...

Then remove all heaping portions of chunky monkey pancakes from my life. I think a little Spring cleanse is in order. Lesson learned? Cute skirts look nice on hangers. Pancakes do not look nice on hips.

There is simply nothing like eating an entire meal of food that grew from the earth. Don't get me wrong, I believe if you have freshly baked bread, sharp cheese, and a good amount of red wine, you have all the makings for a satisfying meal. But this... this makes sense.

Have a lovely, creative, with a bit of nature throughout, relaxed weekend.

Please offer advice, input, warnings, encouragement, I could use it all, really. For over a year now I have had all the necessary supplies...

I could have easily made the time, instead I made excuses...

Until now. This weekend, I will toss aside my fear of injuring family members with disfiguring chemical burns, and I will embark on my first attempt at cold process soap making. Woman have always done it, and I am a woman, I should do it... right? Okay, so woman have also birthed in caves and I preferred the comfort of my own bed, but still... it's only soap. After the very brief, but oh so dangerous volatile period where the lye does it's thing... it's all downhill from there. In the end, I'll have experienced a taste of a generations old 'craft' born out of necessity, and my family will be appropriately stock piled as summer approaches and feet are good and dirty at the end of each glorious day.

Finally, a confession. I have totally been dabbing that nag champa oil behind my ears for a year now, I'm pretty sure there won't be enough of that one for a batch of soap!