The Blog Slacker is Back!

Alright, I know I have been neglecting this space for way to long. Instead I have spent quite a bit of time outside in the dirt, cultivating & growing as much food as I possibly can. If I am not in my garden then I have been in someone else's. I have to say, I would rather be away from the computer than on it, dirt or clay under my finger tips is much more satisfying then keyboard induced carpal tunnel.

I have however, been taking lots of photo's so I will attempt to catch up in my next posts. For now, I will share with you some of my favorite images that have come from my newest I-photo application that I am loving these days, thanks to my friend Emil who turned me onto it. Its called Shake It Photo, it simulates the polaroid experience I can't believe how well it takes pictures and how beautiful the colors are. If you have an i-phone its a must have app !

What's been growing at my house...

Beets



Green Onions





A salad every night



Green Beans




Our first cucumber



The Beach






The Del Mar Fair









Alan's newest growth... love it



The ultimate kid summer pastime, The Lemonade Stand





Alright then, back outside, hope your summer is great !

The Dreyer Family Band

The best family CD, ever! That's my review.
Our good friends Annie, Matt, Mac, Emmett & Silas, (the West Coast Dreyers, is what they call themselves) just finished this wonderful collection of beautiful songs with the (East Coast Dreyers). It was so lovely to see it all come to fruition last night at their CD release party, held at Plum Pottery. I feel like I was there at the birth of these songs. Last year when I would see Annie in the school garden, or chat on the phone with her, she would sing me lyrics as she wrote them. I would get goose bumps all over my body and warm fuzzy feelings in my heart, I just knew the songs were going to be something special. Well, a year or so later, here it is ! A beautiful gift to us all.... Go listen to it, buy it, and celebrate its messages with your family.

The Dreyer Family Website

Fava Beans

I have been spending my Thursdays at Chloe's school taking her class out to the school garden to dig, plant, grow and harvest food. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed doing this. So far this year we have been continually harvesting salad greens, radishes and carrots. This past week our bounty included two big bowls of fava beans that we planted back in October. First the kids picked as many beans as they could ( it was a fava bean frenzy I tell you !) and then we all gathered in a circle on the grass and passed around the bowls to see how heavy there were. We then proceeded to shuck the beans. The kids talked about how well they worked as teams to pick them, and they really loved pealing back the green flesh to find big fat fava beans inside.



This was the first time I attempted cooking in the garden, good thing I had that handy camp stove ! Before cooking the beans, there is still one more layer to remove, and most people boil them for a few minutes then transfer to ice cold water before removing the layer that gives you the yummy green bean that is eaten. Since we were running short on time, we skipped the boiling step and we sauteed them in their shells with a bit a garlic and olive oil. The heat made the bean pop out and we separated them just before eating. Everyone ate them and really liked there taste. Their are still more beans to harvest and share.




Some of what we have learned about Fava Beans:

~They are a great source of protein & they taste good.

~They are really fun to plant, but way more fun to pick !

~ They take about 4 to 5 months to actually produce the beans, first come beautiful flowers, and they are edible to.

~ Fava's are considered a cover crop, which means you can plant them to cover soil that is not being currently used for another crop and it will keep your soil productive as well as "fix nitrogen" into it. Fixing means the plant actually takes nitrogen from the air and feeds it back into the soil. It as a great plant to put in the soil that you usually grow tomato's in during the warm months.




For more detailed info you can check the Wikipedia entry here, and there is a nice article with recipes written here.

P.S. The last two images above were taken by Emil @ erb photography, I love the fava's in the air !!

Smiley Faces

Our little guy Blake has pretty much put holes in every pair of jeans he owns, with all the work he does as a rambunctious boy. I have spent hours ironing on and sewing patches onto all his pants, only to find that where the patch is not, is where a new hole emerges. We found these smiley face patches and Blake really loved them so I put them on last night, knowing they will only last long enough to take a really cute picture in the school garden with them. Hooray for Happy Faces !

The Potters Produce

Chloe's school has a kiln now, very exciting indeed. The first project was a pinch pot, the one above is hers. She presented it to me with a flower in it. How sweet and beautiful, especially the smile she had on her face when she handed it to me. The one that says " I am so proud I made this!" Chloe was sick the day of her next project so her Art Teacher gave us some clay to take home to complete it. Hanging plaques, which will be hung around the school on art night in May, even Blake made one, next week they will glaze them.




I was very happy to bring home my first set of respectable mugs this week from my class. I can't tell you how much I loved making these. I think the best part about bringing home new pieces is that I leave them on the table for Chloe and Blake to find in the morning, they get so excited, and want to use them right away. They are my biggest fans ! What a gift that is. There will be more mugs to come, I am on a roll !

Happy Valentines Day

We celebrated yesterday, with a party in Chloe's second grade classroom. There were so many sweets and treats it almost felt like Halloween, except there was the lovely colors of red, & pink all around. The theme was to have red food. So there were strawberry's, in different versions of dipped chocolates, white, dark, even strawberry's atop mascarpone cheese in a little tart, yummy. We also had red grapes, red peppers, red apples and strawberry yogurt. What a spread it was !



Our contribution to the spread were some very delicious chocolate butter cookies with melted white chocolate and red sprinkles on top. I got the recipe in the Holiday Baking edition of Cooks Illustrated. I found the recipe printed online in another blog here. One note, I didn't have expresso powder, so I just used instant coffee, and it worked great.



Chloe made some sweet little handmade Valentines. We kept it pretty simple, she cut out hearts from red cardstock, and put a wise saying on it, one I am sure you all know well, we sing that tune around here often.



Hope your day is filled with Sweet Love !!

The Radishes are Ready !!

There is nothing like 3 days of California Rain to finish off the Radish patch & make the greens grow in our winter garden bed! Let me tell you, they are pretty tasty and really fun for the kids to pull out of the dirt.



We have been picking just enough each day to eat. Time to plant more seeds...

Happy Nappy Time

Blake and Eddie, snoozing after a busy morning of crashing cars and trucks into each other, while staying home from pre-school with a yucky cold. How cute are they?



Photo's taken with the I-phone, as you can see, the click on the camera made them stir...

New Pillows

I finally got around to making some new pillows for our very boring dark blue hand me down couch. I am so into green these days, particularly a chartreuse type green, mixed with orange. When I found the fabric I used on sale at Repro Depot, I was in love, especially with its modish vibe, I only wish I would have ordered more.

This was the first time I made a pillow with an invisible zipper. The installing of a zipper into a garment in general is always very scary to me, since I rarely do it. So, when it came to this one, I found a video tutorial online that helped me through it. Its a good one, but I found myself telling the lady to speed it up a bit, while being thankful at the same time that she was being extremely detailed in her description. I think after doing a few of these, I feel less intimidated now. Oh, how I do love the Internet, and all the sewers out there that take the time to put together tutorials, & blog posts, all in the name of sharing their skills so someone like me can find the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes with learning and successfully completing a new technique.

Plus, now that my pillow covers have zippers, I can take them off and throw them in the washer when one of them gets soiled, and we know that will happen very soon !

Happy Birthday Blake

I can't take credit for this sweet image, it was taken by our good friend Emil, at erb photography.

Our little Blake is 5 today, and we are off to Legoland to celebrate, then back to our neighborhood to eat sushi at Blake's favorite resturant, and last but not least a stop by San Diego Deserts for a yummy Birthday Cake.

Holiday Recap

Happy New Year everyone !! I have been meaning to get some blog posts here during the Christmas break, because there is lots to report, but I was busy just enjoying our days. Days that are warm in the mid morning to afternoon with California sunshine, and chilly in the evenings and early mornings, giving me the feeling of winter, the kind that I can bear. Oh, and in between, some very nice and well needed rainy days, a few just in time for Christmas eve, which justified staying inside all day, baking bread and a nice juicy ham for dinner, while sipping Bailey's & hot tea. Yes, this Christmas and New Years was a much more improved version than last years. I made a commitment to not overdue it, and to start early on the buying and making of things. It worked. Smile

So, here it goes, the photo recap .....


The Holiday Bread Wreath, complete with bits of thyme and sage inside, straight from the herb garden.




Blake had a ton of Happy "I can't wait till Santa comes energy", so I gave him some tools from my jewelry making kit, and some wire and showed him how to wrap it.



You can see his masterpiece behind him, I added a simple bead and a leather cord, then it became Grandma's handmade Christmas present, a one of a kind. She was thrilled !



These are Chloe's beautifully made, and hand painted clay pendants, before the leather cord. We had a great time at pottery class making them together a few weeks before. She gave me that pretty yellow and red star.



The soap dish, or whatever you want to use them for collection, from my tuesday evenings at pottery class. I wrapped these along with some handmade soaps from Summers Past Farms. I think they were a hit. I sure had fun making them !





Pendants I made for Chloe & Blake, I have been known to wear them to...



Aprons for Aunt Sandy & Grandma Elva



The Crochet Hook Clutch for my Mother



Our small pink tinsel tree, which took many tumbles this year, which might be its last, we just sort of gave up toward the end and stop putting the ornaments back on. Next year, a real tree !!



We had visitors from the blistery cold Midwest this year, Grandma Elva & Grandpa Myles, and my brother Uncle Andrew. Snow birds we call them.

Christmas Eve Dinner



The movement of Christmas Morning



Andrew soaking up the California Sun before he had to go back into hibernation



The only picture, but the best I have from New Year's Eve. Our friend Ashley, with another friends lovable canine companion, Mini, part chihuahua, part jack russel. If we were to ever have a little dog, it would be just like Mini !!



Wishing you all the best in 2009 !!

Merry Christmas !

From Alvin & the Chipmunks....

Just 4 years Ago

I took these pictures of Chloe & Blake in December 2004, I think I sent them out with Christmas Cards that year, and since I have not done a Holiday Photo as of yet this year, thought I would share these. For those of you who remember my post about the Solstice Tree in my next store neighbors yard, well right directly underneath is where these images were taken.













The Poncho, Sweater and Hats were knit by my Mother.. I just loved them, they are definitely in the keepsake box now, except for the poncho, Chloe still wears it four years later. Thanks Mom !

Chloe Art

Chloe made me these tags to go on the aprons I made for the Winter Boutique last week. So not only did the ladies receive a nice handmade apron, they got a little piece of artwork as a bonus. Thank you Chloe !





I did the back, with a very thin lined pen, really helps when you have not so great writing, (micron's, the pens, highly recommended).




I encouraged Chloe to make some slightly bigger pieces to sell herself, this one was my favorite. Our friend Annie was the happy recipient. Chloe really enjoyed using her earnings to play some games and get some treats.



I really enjoyed meeting some of the other Momma's that create and sell their art. Some very cleaver and beautiful things. I don't have very good pictures of our table or the others, it was quite windy and the sun was in a funny place, plus I was to busy gabbing away with friends !! All in all it was a fun day, and I was really glad that Chloe came along, it just might be the beginnings of a budding Poppy Heart business for us!!

Winter Boutique Preview

A few details...
Embroidered Vintage Napkin Pocket





Vintage Inspired 1950's smock









The two aprons below are for a girl size 5-7, Chloe says she would wear them as an accessory over her pants.



The Bernina and I have been very busy these past few weeks making aprons for our School's Winter Boutique. This will be my first time selling aprons at a craft fair, and I am looking forward to it. There are a few more aprons that didn't make the photo shoot, hopefully I will get some images of them tomorrow.

Notice in the images my newly acquired dress forms, Mandy & Mindy. Below is the lineup I picked them out of at Farkas store fixtures. It was pretty fun staring at these forms and mannequins trying to figure out which one to pick.





So all my girlfriends out there...come by school tomorrow and get your aprons on...

P.S. My good friend Daleth will be sharing a table with me and selling some very beautiful bags and purses. Great time to buy yourself or someone you love a Christmas present !!

Peace

Chloe has been making entries into a old dream catcher journal that Alan had lying around never used. I just love this entry, Peace has been a theme for Chloe since the beginning of this school year. She was part of a group, (5th graders and 2nd graders) who got together to form "Peace Pals" for International Peace day. They learned to sing "We are the World" and had a performance in the school auditorium for everyone. So, I think this little entry was influenced by that event. Notice the word bubble coming out of the little person on the bottom, it says "Yes, we will" written backwards... Its so interesting to see how the world influences a 7 year old, and how it comes back out on paper.

Manual Labor

Look what I made this week. With the help of my Father-In-Law, I made a redwood raised planter box (12x2ft) for my Winter Garden. The original idea was for me to pickup all the supplies and have my (FIL) do the work, but guess who ended up doing all the drilling, and in the meantime learning exactly how to make one of these things...yes, me. Its always a good feeling accomplishing a job that I usually rely on the Men in my life to do! Thanks to Grandpa Guntist for teaching me how its all done!



At Chloe's school, we were busy utilizing grant money to build the school an Outdoor Classroom, more raised planters, and a circular butterfly bed. I spent this past Thursday with our good friend, Rich, who has acquired excellent masonry skills over the years, making the form for the circular bed butterfly bed, and then pouring the concrete. We were on a time crunch, because of daylight and we needed it to be dry for everyone at school in 2 days in order to start the mosaic designs on the sides.



After an eight hour day, with about 4 straight hours of that time mixing and pouring 70 bags of concrete, (Oh, my aching back !) I definitely had a real sense of what manual labor can feel like. Along with another 8 hour day at school yesterday, this Momma is wiped out, but feeling a huge sense of accomplishment, and a gratifying sense of community!



You can see more pictures from our school garden work day and the beginnings of the beautiful mosaic designs here.

Yes We Did !

When I started this blog, I promised myself I would not talk about politics's in this space. What I write and show here, is suppose to be about art, nature, life, & family. It is also a journal for our family to look back at in the coming years, which is why I could not let this time, and these few days pass without putting it here, for us to look back and remember how it felt, what it looked like, and what happened as a result. Its historical, its the beginning of change and I am very proud to be a part of it.

By the way, in regards to Art, I have never seen so much creativity behind a Presidential Candidate, so amazingly cool! The image above is from the same website as the previous post. So, in a way, I am still keeping with my theme...finding the beauty and art in everyday !

Got Hope

If you want to print off some beautifully designed Obama Posters, like the one below, go here, you will love them all !

Halloween Characters

Chloe got busy making some spooky characters to decorate with for Halloween. Here's who she created....






I love them all....

Girls Weekend in Idyllwild

Chloe & I went to Idyllwild this past weekend, for a Girls Only adventure at "The Little Cabin on the Creek". Daddy & Blake stayed home so they could go to the Miramar Air Show, experiencing fun & exciting Boy time.





We had a very peaceful time. We read books, watched the Stellar Blue Jays & squirrels eat peanuts we left on the deck for them, had a nice warm fire in the evening, drank hot cocoa, went for walks breathing in the fresh mountain air along with the scent of pine trees, and visited the Idyllwild Nature Center. It was a lovely time, and we have images to prove it !!






Thanks to our friends at Plump Otter for sharing their beautiful cabin with us, a great place for Mother/Daughter bonding!

Sunset

We went for an evening jaunt to the beach on Thursday, one of the Hottest Days we have had this month, to cool off and catch the sunset. It was of course, beautiful as most sunsets are. I had a hard time figuring out how to pick up the vibrant orange color of the sun in my camera, so imagine it turned up about 5 notches.





When we got there, we ran down to the ocean, breathing in the smell and the coolness of the ocean air, I thought yes, I can capture this moment with pictures, the kids playing in the water, the different colors of the sunset sky, the pelican's flying close to the ocean waves, but then it happened. The beans & rice that we ate for dinner before coming were having their way with Blake's digestive system, he put his hand over his behind and said, "Mommy, hurry up, dig a hole, I have to go poop !" So, what does a mother do at this point ? Dig a hole if front of everyone so we can stay close to the water and click away on the camera, or turn around and run to the public rest room ? (By the way, I have never dug the whole at the beach before)




Well, you guessed it, we ran, away from our perfect moment, all the way to the bathroom, and got Blake on his throne, while Chloe and I watched the sunset from the boardwalk. It was all the way down when Blake was done. How quickly it goes below the horizon. All that work to get to the beach, ah, well, we will have to try again another day, another sunset.

Finally

Yes, finally I am done with the Tree Blind I started months & months ago for Chloe & Blake's room & finally I am back on this blog. Seems that lately its been taking me a long time to accomplish my creative endeavors. I have been sidetracked by summer, school starting again, the garden's and exercising. On my mornings where both of the little wonders are at school, normally I would have been spending my time on the blog, but I started out this year with making sure I do something in the realm of physical fitness, and its been paying off health wise for me, but has left me little time for being here.

So back to the Blind. I found this tutorial from the Two Straight Lines Blog, a lovely craft blog. One of my goals was to make something that would block out the early morning sun for the children, in the hopes of getting a little extra shut eye in the mornings, which is why I used the green canvas fabric. It does block out the sun nicely, but it does make it hard to capture nice clear images. These were the best I could do.



This was my first attempt at making a blind/curtain of any kind, so I did learned quite a bit from the process & outcome. Like anything you do (seams, using print fabric's) will show through when the sun is shining on it. The other function I wanted it to serve was the ability to roll it down but have the bottom 3/4 still covering the window, so there would be nice airflow through the room on hot nights, but no one could see the little people inside. I really like how that worked out.





As far as the tree shape and the leaves, it really took a long time to cut those out and iron them on, I used heat n bond lite on the leaves, and the ultra hold version on the tree to adhere them to the fabric. I did add some hand embroidery details to the sun in the corner, the flower, the butterfly and added grass on the bottom, all hard to see unless you are right up close to it. The bottom hangs a bit funky, possibly due to not measuring the back fabric and front fabric correctly. It also has one other function, it can be folded up to the top using the ribbon loops to secure it.



I am pretty happy with the blind, although when I look at it, the tree is a funky shape, and I don't know that owl's hang out during the daytime with the sun shining on them. Oh well, those were the things that I wanted to add to it, so who cares if it makes sense? The important thing is, the kids really like it in their room, they have been patiently waiting for me to hang it up. Now that I am done, I need to make another blind for the other window. I am going to use the same fabric front & back, but no extra applique's, just a simple blind this time. That way I might get it done much quicker !!

Birthday Girl

Chloe's Halo
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

Chloe turned 7, we had a great party to celebrate. I was having so much fun, and didn't get pictures that could portray how wonderful the day was. My friend Emil, the master of capturing moments so beautifully did, if you click on the link, you can see more of his images from the day.

Its hard to believe 7 years have gone by since Chloe was born... Looking back, I have loved every minute of it, watching her grow into the bright, sensitive, funny, and confident girl she has become. Happy Birthday Chloe !!

My New Bowls

I have embarked on a new and exciting art form this summer, pottery. I was very lucky get into a class at Plum Pottery, my friend Annie's amazingly beautiful and inspiring studio. So here it is, my very first set of bowls, finished and ready to be used at home. Thanks to Annie, for being a most excellent teacher !

Back to Cali

Yes, we are home, back in California, warm weather, dry air, more brown than green foliage on the sides of the roads, and a big beautiful ocean close by. No more mosquito's, firefly's or humid, hot rainy days. No more delightful family and friend visits, minimal laundry to tend , or dinners out. It's back to my daily Mom routine of well, I could go down the list of chores...but most of you know what I mean. We really had a great time, and I had a very comforting feeling of home while I was there. Maybe because it was a 3 week stay, but mainly it was the people, my parents, brothers and close friends calling me daily to make plans. While we were taking off in the plane to come home, as the plane started to lift of the ground, I felt a huge pain in my heart, for that feeling of home that I was leaving. Tears flowed, and I realized that is was not just sadness I was feeling, but an overwhelming sense of gratitude & happiness, knowing that I was able to spend such quality time with everyone I love, and that Chloe and Blake are forging a close bond with our extended family in Michigan. When our plane was landing in Los Angeles, the tears came again, this time I think it was tears of joy to be coming back to my home, my husband and friends. Since I have been home, I have been doing quite a bit of nesting. Cleaning out drawers of old clothes, wiping out cupboards, tending to my garden & trying to get back on California time. I think the nesting has allowed me mental time to digest my experience in a place that used to be my home. For all you Michigan folks reading this post... Don't forget to plan your next trip to San Diego....because I miss you all already !!

I still have lots of images....

My Dad, with Chloe & Blake....this tree is in my parents backyard, I spent quite a bit of time playing under it as a little girl...my how that tree has grown !


My Mother's rock garden...


My Mom, love the look on everyone's faces...this was after a satisfying pizza dinner at Buddies



Adam & Estelle, with Chloe & Blake....a great bunch of good friends !



All the girlie cousins, all just a few years apart, Luca, Chloe, Payton & Kara



Rosie, the nicest Great Dane we have ever met !



My Cousin Cindy, playing her piano for Chloe....we want one of those !



Fresh carrots from the ground of my friend Gina's vegetable garden.



Dress up with Estelle and Grace



Chloe receiving $7 from Grandpa Guntist for her upcoming 7th Birthday.



Collecting seeds from Grandma Elva's Garden.



One of my all time favorite perennials, growing everywhere in Michigan, Echinacea.



By the way, during our last week of our trip in Michigan, I was unable to plug into the Internet and post, so I added a few new travel posts in the last few days, so scroll down after this to see what's lurking below.

Grandma's House

We spent the last week of our trip traveling 3 hours to Niles, Michigan. Its a small town on the west side of the state, very close to South Bend Indiana. We visited Grandma Elva, & Grampa Myles, (Alan's side of the family). They live in a lovely house on the St Joseph River. Its really like a vacation staying there. I spent lots of time swinging on the wooden swing overlooking the river and listening to the birds sing. Quite relaxing. I also started reading Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert ( yes, it took me a long time to get to that book). My good friend Leslie passed it on to me, and it was a perfect time to read it.





Chloe spent her mornings walking with Grandma, in her garden, while Blake and I slept in. Each day there was a new Day Lily that greeted them with amazing colors and shapes, among many other beautiful flowers. We also took a few pontoon rides down the river into town. Grandpa let the kids each take turns steering the boat. Chloe & Blake did some fishing off the dock, and Chloe caught her very first fish ever ! A small mouth bass. After taking pictures, she threw it back in the river. This was a very exciting moment, because Chloe was determined to catch something, so she sat for a long time just waiting for that first bite !



Chloe learned one of her very first card games, "war". There was much time spent on the back porch with Grandma playing it. Blake even got in on it! We found out it could be an endless game. Perfect for a lazy afternoon on the river !



I think the highlight of our trip to Grandma's house for the kids, was a ride on Grandpa's Harley. Look at how shiny that bike is ! Its very well taken care of by Grandpa Myles, he even built it its very own room in the garage.



We also ate alot of Michigan Sweet Corn...bought on the way to Niles. We took a driving route that took us through quite a few small towns, and in between their were farms. Pretty much all they were growing was corn & soy beans. Oh, and we ate lots of fresh peaches and blueberries to....I even made a cobbler...mmmm, All in all, we had a nice relaxing time. It was really the first time we had more than a few days to visit Niles, very enjoyable !! We recently heard from Grandma, and she informed us that it was pretty quiet around the house since we left. I know there will be more happy visits in the future !

Making Something out of Nothing

One of the places I had to make sure I visited while in the D, was The Heidelberg Project . I believe this is a very important exhibit of what one person can create in the midst of nothing. I wanted to make sure Chloe and Blake saw this, and the neighborhoods surrounding it. I think they are pretty young to get the whole concept, but at least they were exposed. It won't be the first time they visit this place ! When I was living in Michigan, I made sure to take anyone who visited from another city down to Heidelberg street to see what was happening. It has definitely evolved since I was there last. Good things have been happening. So what am I talking about ?? Well, take a look at all the images and then click on the link above and watch the video to learn more....













I know, tons of pictures....I couldn't help myself !

Eastern Market

One of the places we visited was Eastern Market in Downtown Detroit. I am very fond of this place, because it was the first Farmers Market I experienced as a young adult. I spent many Saturdays throughout the years here, cold wintery one's, rainy, and sunny ones. I used to spend maybe $20 at the most, and come home with a slew of fresh veggies and fruit, and bouquets of flowers to decorate my house with. You can find just about everything there, surrounding the outdoor market are various specialty shops in old buildings, where you can get bulk goods, meats, wine, and even vintage treasures. It makes for a leisurely afternoon, with lots of authentic people watching. By the way, it was a warm and humid day, no sunshine, just misty rain here and there...felt good.



I was with my good friend Elizabeth, and her daughter Estelle, which Chloe and Blake just love. The girls were sporting there bonnets, which brought quite a few strange looks our way. We visited The Pottery Guy, stopped to listen to the people at Bert's, a little jazz cafe, they were having an outside karaoke party. Then we went to The Rocky Peanut company, which is a bulk goods type of place, they have a huge selection of candy, and on the way out, one of the employees gave the kids candy cigarettes, which where made of gum with a wrapper around it. This was a hit, especially when we walked back into the market to find blueberries and peaches. We were heckled by folks, and at the same time I was totally disgusted due to my gum phobia.

Lots of images to share from the day....


The kids smoking their fags outside the "Mr Softy" Ice cream truck. This guy was so funny. He painted all the images in his truck himself, and when I got to chatting with him, he told me the whole business was for sale, $25,000.My friend Elizabeth buying some zuchinni

I just loved the grown in Detroit sign, notice the carrot, in place of an i.

Great buildings, great shopping and eating inside.

The kids loved touching this big blue ball while visiting "The Pottery Guy"

The Avalon Bakery, on 2nd and Willis, we ended the day here, with coffee and yummy cookies, and a loaf of bread, there speciality !

Greenfield Village

We had a beautiful day visiting Greenfield Village yesterday. It has been one of my favorite places to visit in Dearborn,Michigan for a long time now. It is part of what they call The Henry Ford, which has a museum and the outdoor village. The Village is a step back in time, where there are historical homes, (the actual ones), a working farm, a real steam engine train, model T cars to ride in, and more. The people who work at the Village are dressed in attire that people wore in the late 1800's, they speak to you about the history of the time. It is really fascinating, and it is a great way for children to learn about history. As a little girl I took lots of field trips in school to both The Village and The Museum. When I was an adult I had an annual pass that brought me to the Village with friends many times. Its one of the places that makes me feel at home when I am visiting these days.

I realized as we were enjoying our day, that all the times I had spent at the Village before I never photographed it, now that I am constantly trying to document what I am doing for the blog, I discovered how much time and even energy it takes away from the experience to be pulling out my camera to shoot. I thought for a moment how nice it was to just take things in and not be distracted, so I held back a bit on the photo's, and took a few video's instead.

Here is some of what I did capture.....

These pictures below are of The Cotswold Cottage, built in the Early 1600's in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England. The Gardens were beautiful!







This picture below is the Garden out behind the Dagget Farmhouse, which was built in 1754 in Andover, Connecticut. I loved how they made a bean tee pee out of tree branches.



This picture is of the field of corn and tobacco, that was grown on the Susquehanna Plantation, you can see the house in the backround, it was built around 1835 in St. Mary's County, Maryland.



These ladies were walking down main street chanting about their right to vote.



I love this picture. Chloe and her friend Estelle wanted us to buy these bonnets for them. They spent about 15 minutes looking for the same one's in the same size. Chloe has been wearing her's ever since. I need to complete the rest of the costume for her when we get home.



When I figure out how to get Blogger to let me download the video I took, I will add it to this post. In the meantime, click on the Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford link above to learn more.

Green & Rain

There is so much Green here in Michigan, the trees, the grass, all the different plants... For the past two days we have had rain in the afternoon. It was warm, muggy and dewy, everything I remember a summer rain in the Midwest to be. I even had a mosquito grace me with a bite right on my cheek. I really should have more images, but there is still time to capture it all. Right now I am just sitting back and taking it all in.








All of these pictures were taken at my dear friend Leslie's home in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The Red Eye

Well, we made it to Michigan. The drive up to LA was nice, the sun was setting, and I had that feeling of relief you get when everything is packed and all you need to do is get to the airport on time. We arrived just in time to check in our bag, get through security, and sit down to read a short book to Chloe and Blake. Then it was time to get on our 11:30 pm flight. I actually thought we would sleep the whole 4 hours but that didn't happen. Their was to much excitement, noise and people who like to drink coffee and eat during the midnight hours. Both kids did manage to sleep on my lap for some of the time, and I nodded off a bit.

The strangest thing was to open the windows 20 minutes before we landed to see a bright sunrise, when it was really 3:30 am California time. That's when I took our red eye images. This is what it looks like !!




We arrived at my Brother Andrew's house about a half an hour after our plane arrived... thank God he lives close to the airport !! We immediately went right to sleep for about 3 hours to try to catch up on a sleepless night. I felt a big guilty taking my kids on the red eye, knowing how much sleep they would miss, and how much it would mess up their schedule. But, its kind of a trade off for the experience they will get with their cousin's, Aunt's and Uncle's and Grandparents... its all a trade off this parenting stuff anyhow, right ??

We woke up around Noon and ran off to my other Brother, Matt's house to swim, and have a BBQ with Chloe and Blake's cousins. Everyone had a great time...and the kids were so exhausted they fell asleep on the way home, and we moved them right to bed.



Chloe & her Cousin's, Kara & Payton, she and Blake have 6 total... all adorable and great fun !



The ironic thing about our Red Eye experience is that today when Chloe woke up she had an eye that was swollen shut with a yucky discharge that had come out during the night... I used a warm compress, and followed it by a cold compress with tea bags, and then found the nearest Urgent Care clinic, to have her diagnosed with Pink Eye. It seems to have cleared up pretty quickly by this evening, so I think she will be okay. The important part is that we are having fun, and we made it here without a glitch !

Jackpot Air Fare

We are headed to Michigan this evening, for long visit. I hit what I call the "Jackpot Airfare", with Spirit Airlines and their email specials. I have been watching their deals every week for at least year and a half, just waiting for that deal so I could go visit family and friends on a last minute whim. They had the sale advertised for one way tickets at $11.11. So after playing around with the dates and times, we ended up with $22 round trip tickets from LA to Detroit, no stops. Of course there are a few added fee's, taxes, baggage and seat reservations, so in total, we are paying $200, for 3 of us to fly. Woo Ho !! Most of the people ask, how can that be possible ?? It does mean we are taking a red eye flight out of LA, and a very early flight back home out of Detroit, but I think it is worth it. I will gladly report how it all goes. In the meantime, go to Spirit Airlines and sign up to be on their email specials mailing list (their is a link on the top of their site that says e-mail specials). They have a $9 fair club that cost's money to be a part of, in my opinion, you don't need to sign up for that, just the emails. They come every Tuesday morning, and you need to act fast if you see a deal for you, because they sell out quick !!

I plan to blog from Michigan, hopefully post a picture daily to document our fun and adventures while we embrace humidity, summer rains, and mosquito's !

P.S. The image above is from the cover of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of, you guessed it, Michigan !

Fun at The San Diego County Fair

We went up to the Del Mar Fair this past week. It really was a perfect day...which does not always happen while attending this type of fair... Chloe and Blake were in their glory, of course if I indulged them, we would be going to the fair everyday. Instead, we have lots of images to remind us of our day...

This Monster Truck below is always outside the fair on display...Blake loves sitting in the tire...we have pictures from previous years on it...looks like a tradition is started.



Then there was the food...we stayed as healthy as we could with corn, lemonade, and Greek food.




Of course you could have fried "anything", yikes !



There was the pig race...to which we won a coupon for a free pound of bacon from Ralph's, kind of unsettling in my opinion. I could have a whole discussion on the Animal factor at the fair... Caged farm animals to look at, parade around to be judged on their best physical attributes, raced for entertainment...I kept saying to myself...I know these farmers love their animals, right ??



Pony Rides...also a tradition




The kids rides...loads of fun...





Wine tasting for the adults...all local...San Marco's, Temecula, all together excellent, and a nice way to relax towards the end of the day...



The view from the Sky Ride...nice way to get back from the Kid Zone.



My favorite part of the fair... The Flower & Garden Show, different groups design and implement some amazing landscapes.



Two Happy children with their Budda/Fairy/God Mother, and Cally the stuffed dog we won.



What a nice day... My recommendations for any of you local folks reading this post who are thinking about going to the fair. Spend the day there, make sure its a cool one, & go on a weekday to avoid the crowds. Get wrist bands for the rides. Have an equal adult/kid ratio. Visit the Fine Arts Building, and the Flower & Garden Show, and don't forget to hit the Beer Garden for a cold one, or a wine tasting !!

The Beginnings of Summer

I'm back, at least in this space. I was suffering from my "can't bare to blog" phase that I experienced last year. This time the Hubby took a European business trip which left me without my camera, and little time to dedicate to the blog. The past two weeks have been very busy and I have felt like I was living the life of a single mother while Daddy was away. I have renewed respect for all of you out there doing it alone !!

Well, Hubby is back, school is out for the summer for Chloe, and it's Father's Day. So, this post will be a little montage to all of the above...

First off, Alan came home with yummy gifts, and assortment of Swiss chocolate to last me through the summer. I'll be enjoying little pieces of them with my afternoon tea.



The Bee Sting...


Our busy days have lead us a camping trip, a talent show, a field trip to the beach, and a end of the year first grade picnic on the last day of school. This made for loads of excitement followed by exhaustion repeatedly for Chloe, Blake and I. The Bee Sting happened on the last day of school, at the picnic. I was busy photographing the salad the 3rd graders picked and ate from there garden plot, when a Mom came over holding Chloe who was really in pain. We looked at her bare foot to see that something was in it...she had stepped on a bee. I have to admit my mothering skills didn't quite kick in.. I felt kind of helpless actually, trying to pull out the stinger. What happened then was really wonderful, one mother came over and immediately got the stinger out, and brought ice to put on her foot. Then another Mother offered to run home and make a baking soda paste to draw out the poison, (you can see it on her foot in the image), by the way it works really well. Another Mother came with drops of rescue remedy which immediately calmed Chloe down, and then there were all of Chloe's classmates, who came by to rub her back, or tell there bee sting story, which all sounded way worse than what Chloe was experiencing. Then there was Aiden, who sat next to Chloe with a huge plate of cookies, waiting silently for her to take one. Poor thing, she wouldn't even eat her favorite treat, I knew she was really hurting. I have to say I felt so cared for, and so grateful for all the parents who helped us...all the way down to the Mom who carried Chloe on her back to the car to get her back to school. As I thanked one Mom, her response was, "It takes a Village"...and she is right, I knew that the best place to be at that moment was in the village of our school community. Chloe went on to school to receive her promotion certificate to Second Grade. She still was sad in the image. After getting home, and taking a well needed nap, she ended up being just fine, and we actually laughed about the whole experience later that evening. I think Chloe experienced the true feeling of gratitude that day, I know I did...


To start off our summer this week, both our Apricot and Plum tree have been bearing gifts of luscious fruits each day for us to eat. Every morning, we run outside to see what has fallen on the ground waiting for us to sink our teeth into them. This year Blake got to eat the first plum...he loved it. There is nothing like eating fruit from your own tree, I am so glad Chloe and Blake get to experience this as little people. What a delight ! Local readers of the blog, you should drop by our house this week, sit under our tree's and eat with us !! Check out the bowl that our fruits are in, that's one of two beautiful pieces of pottery that Annie gave me for my Birthday...



To all you Daddy's and Grand Daddy's out there, Happy Father's Day ! Thank includes my Father, who I hope is out catching the "Big One" back in Michigan on Drummond Island (he love's to fish), and of course to Alan, who always drums up a boat load of fun for the kids...

Art Night Preview

We have been working since last weekend on a few items to put into Chloe's School Art Auction. I made a simple half apron with fabric that was used as gift wrap on a beautiful present given to me by Annie. Of course, I have fallen in love with the fabric and the combination of some scraps I had in my stash.



The other item is a canvas that is a collage of watercolor flowers that the First Graders painted. I took some of my favorite floral fabric's into class as inspiration for the children, and they made some absolutely beautiful flowers. It started out with Chloe, Blake and I painting different color squares, (very satisfying) then I glued the flower portraits to each square, after using fixative on the water color portraits so they didn't bleed when I used modge podge (I love this stuff) as glue. The collage is almost done, just a few more portraits to glue on, and I need to add some trim for a finishing touch. So, for all of you Ladies and Gentlemen who will be attending Art Night...feel free to purchase these items if they tickle your fancy, there has been lots of love and hard work put into them ! A few pictures of the process below as it unfolded....







P.S. The Water Color Collage would be a nice gift to give to the school to display in the Art Room.

The Mural

A week ago, we helped paint the new mural at Chloe's school. It was really one of the most rewarding artistic experiences I've been involved in. Our school is so fortunate to have a Parent, Rafael Lopez who is a very gifted artist, and his work includes community art (murals), book illustrations, stamps, and much more. You can see more of his work here. The school mural was created after Rafael worked with school staff members. He asked them to come up with 10 words to describe our school. Many of the teachers and students were involved in the process. He then used the words to create the design, which match the images in the mural.

The words.....
Growth/Planting
Vision
Togetherness
Caring
World Community
Art
Nurturing
Phoenix
Music



Our friends Kellie and Phillip came out to help. It was a good thing, because when we got there, not much was left to paint, so Chloe and Blake got up on their shoulders. Look at how happy Blake is in this image, he just lit up when Phillip picked him up...so precious




I was able to paint a very small area, which I think is so symbolic to my experience with the Gardens at school, it was the green leaves and stem on the flower that represents, growth and planting. It was repeated on the gate right next to the mural.



I think Chloe and Blake will remember this forever, what a beautiful imprint in their young minds.

Lesson Learned

Note to self.... Before you let your husband dig a hole with his new pick ax to plant a tree that is ironically called a "money tree", (on Mother's Day no less), be sure to check where the underground water line might be in relation to the hole, before you give him the go ahead. I won't go into the complications that occurred after calling the plumber who we had to pay double time because it was a Sunday. Let's just say 24 hours without water is not fun !

Happy Mother's Day

I spent the past few days celebrating Mother's Day with Chloe and Blake and all the great Mothers of their friends and classmates. So, I was a guest at two different Mother's Day Tea's. How sweet! For the past 4 years I have really enjoyed Miss Olivia's English Tea at Circle of Friends Preschool. She brings out her bone china, makes some lovely treats, and the children greet us at the door and seat us at a beautifully set table. If you notice above, their is a picture that Blake drew on the Purple Tea Pot, he said it was a picture of me with a flowered dress on. Inside the Tea Card, Miss Olivia tapes a tea bag, and writes down a sweet little quote from each child describing their Mother. She also writes in every card;

Here's a gift for Mother's Day
I'll try my best in every way,
But when you get upset with me...
RELAX
And have a cup of tea !
Love,
Blake

I love it ! The first year that I attended this tea was when Chloe was 3, and Blake was just under a year old. I think it was the first Mother's Day that I really felt appreciated. I remember tasting my first sip of tea, and to my surprise tears filled my eyes, because their was so much effort and care put into the event, but also because it reminded me of my Mother, and of my Scottish Grandmother. The tea tasted exactly like what I used to drink with both of them when I was a little girl. Red Rose Tea, milk and sugar, in bone china, just like it was long ago, sitting in my Grandmothers kitchen. What a gift it was to be taken back to that moment on Mother's Day.


Olivia also takes such great pictures of the kids in action at school, and displays them on a board outside the entrance of school. Look at Blake below, eating what he loves, noodles with chopsticks !



At Chloe's school, we also had a Mother's Day Tea, although this time, I made the tea, and we had no way of keeping it warm, so we had it cold, still good though ! I was greeted at the door by Chloe, she sat me in a special chair, gave me the vase and flowers she made, and after serving me tea and cookies, proceeded to read to me. Yes, Chloe is reading ! Chapter Books already ! It is so wonderful to have that time with her, in her classroom.



I can't end this post without saying a formal Happy Mother's Day to my own Mother, who I wish I could be spending the day with, but, since she is in Michigan, I can only chat on the phone, and drink a cup of tea in her honor. Happy Mother's Day Mom !

To all the Beautiful Mother's I know, I hope you enjoy your day !

Urban Farming Inspiration

I found this video through SouleMama's Blog. So, what do you think ?? Would you yank out your lawn to do this ??

Wedding Bliss

Six years ago today, Alan and I went to The Wedding Cove overlooking the Ocean in Lajolla and got married. We had our own circle of love filled with our close friends and family.



Then, we took this double decker bus up the coast for a beautiful ride to The Beach House Restaurant in Cardiff.




Chloe met us there for a brief cameo appearance



We took some sunset pictures...





And had a lovely candlelight dinner. A Beautiful Day....



Happy Anniversary My Dear....