Summer Eats

I recently made a huge batch of this yummy summer salad for my niece's birthday party. It was a hit and will definitely be a permanent part of our summer menu!

Edit: The recipe for this (not overly impressive, but definitely tasty) salad is:

Diced tomato (seeded), cucumber and red onion mixed with any Greek salad dressing. For the dressing I used 1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tsp. Parsley, 5 tbsp. olive oil 2 to 3 tsp. Vinegar, Garlic powder, Salt and pepper to taste. Then pour the Greek dressing over the veggies and let sit in the fridge over night. If you make it with any variations that are yummy let me know!

For a new babe

I I made this baby blanket for a friend who is expecting her first little boy next month. I started the week before we moved and finished last night. I think it turned out well considering it was my second attempt at crochet! Its the perfect size for a stroller ride on a crisp fall morning. I made it double long so it can be tucked right under to keep those little feet warm.

I think that Baby C needs one too...

Love at first click

Ah.... I am whole again! I can finally take pictures! Poor Baby C , if she thought that I took a lot of photos of her before... Last night the decision was made (not lightly mind you) and I picked up a Nikon D60. It was love at first click (and I am still shooting on automatic for crying out loud!). The pictures speak for themselves.



The view from the deck



Housewarming gift



Late afternoon on the deck



Our first house guests... mama protecting her babes!

Flash flash flash = excitment

Oh, I'm getting excited. We are nearly (and nearly is a loose term) unpacked and there is still no sign of my little camera. It is killing me not taking pictures this week. I was so sad to not be able to capture the look on Baby C's face when she first tried green beans (which she loved by the way)... so far I have everything else on film, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, apricots... brussel sprouts (I know, a sick joke but her friends loved them so I thought I'd give it a try... she hated them). I lost my train of thought here in all the writing about Baby C's foods... but I'm excited because tonight Mom and I are going camera shopping!!! I haven't decided exactly what I'm going with yet but the Nikon D40 is appealing to me this morning. I'll just have to see!

No pictures

Wow, I never realized how much I rely on my camera, or how much I loved my camera until I lost it. So far this has been the only real, and traumatic, causality of the move. We were taking pictures on moving day and then somehow in all the chaos it disappeared. I have the case, the extra battery, but no camera. Every morning when I wake up and see the beautiful view of the farmer's field in our backyard, covered ever so slightly with that lovely morning mist I wish that I could capture the breathtaking beauty of the simple things in life... but I can't. Maybe one day this week when we finish unpacking I'll find it. I'm sure its either in with the toothbrushes (which I promptly replaced when I realized they were missing) or in with a pile of miscellaneous kitchen junk.

Celebrating

We are doing a whole lot of celebrating here today. Baby C is 7 months old, wow - 7 months (and we didn't think we would survive those first 4!). She is an absolute joy. Today is also our 3rd wedding anniversary - why is it that we tend to celebrate our anniversary by moving? AND the end of this move is in sight (yet another thing that I didn't think we would survive!). As of tomorrow we will be living in our new home, enjoying our beautiful deck and view and hopefully taking it easy... but with finishing the basement renovation, painting and then there is the dreaded unpacking, I don't know just how easy we will be taking it.

Moving

This week there has been a whole lot of packing and not much of anything else. Moving.... ah.... moving.... not my favourite activity! At least Nick and Sweetpea found some time to roll around on the floor at the new house and have a good play!

Uh Oh....

I am in trouble... I have developed an addiction to crochet. The stress of this move and the basement renovation has filled me with so much nervous energy that I just had to start a baby blanket for a friend's upcoming shower. The yarn is delicious - I love the rich blue! It apparently doesn't matter to me that I haven't finished the packing yet, or that all the yarn and hooks were neatly packed away, I just needed to get started, so I did and I have the kink in my back to prove that I was not sitting comfortably when I did!

Bit by the Bug

Ever since I neared completion on the first quilt I have been dreaming of the next one. I have decided to not take on such a huge project and will be making a quilt for Baby C's crib. Her new room is going to be full of butterflies and will have a bit more pink than her current room (which has zero pink). I am envisioning gauzy shears over her windows with butterflies floating on them (eventually a mock canopy over her bed... once she is in a bed and will no longer pull it down on herself!) and rich splashes of colour throughout the room. In the new house the walls are a beautiful yellow with white accents - but its just a little too dull for us.

When I saw this fabric for my mei tai I knew that I wanted her new room to have a lot of bright, funky accents (not necessarily your typical nursery for a 7 month old, but I think that we would both have a LOT of fun in there!)... but recently I came across this room and just love the brown and pink combinations. As usual Just when I had it all figured out... I guess its back to the fabric store (such a shame... really... I'm not completely excited at all!).

3 Long Years

I started this quilt 3 years ago (the colour is a bit off as the lighting sucks today, not a bit of sunshine to be found!). A lot has changed in 3 years. 3 years ago today I was 9 days away from being married, working full time, living in my first house (next week I will be living in my 3rd and hopefully last - for a while), a full time student, and childless. There was a lot going on in my life that made crafting a lesser priority.

Since Baby C was born in December I have forced myself to take stock of my priories and shift them around a bit. I have decided to focus on those things that are most important to me: namely my daughter, my family, and myself (ie. my craftingself) - and I am a much happier person for it. So I decided that I needed to finish this quilt. I have had so much fun working on it, and now when I look at it I am reminded of all the monumental changes that have happened to us over the last 3 years. This quilt tells the story of our transition from single to married, 20somethings to parents, full time worker to stay at home mom... It is the first 3 years of our married lives written in cotton... mmmm... cotton!

Honeybunch

Since before Baby C was born I've been searching for the perfect baby carrier. I tried 3 carriers that I picked up at department stores (and once Baby C hit 8 pounds it felt like I was carrying a tonne of bricks), a pocket sling, and an Ergo (which is a great carrier, but it isn't that kind to the babe's short little legs). I was getting desperate and while I truly believe in and wanted to be an advocate for babywearing - I couldn't wear my daughter. I was starting to get quite discouraged and to be honest I was feeling a bit inadequate...

Well I just received my custom mei tai from Honeybunch Carriers and it is exactly what Baby C and I were waiting for! I wore her for 2 hours today and while we were out at a family BBQ she had her nap snuggled close to me. I couldn't ask for a more perfect day and think that I have finally found my solution to the babywearing question! What a beautiful way to spend her nap, I was the most elated mama at the party!

For my sweet...

This is how I work, instead of sitting down at my sewing machine to finish the quilt; I ended up learning how to crochet. There is no greater incentive to finish a project than to start another right? Ugh! Last weekend I decided that I needed to learn to crochet, and that Baby C absolutely needed me to make her a stroller blanket in the middle of summer… hmmm… good planning. But how could I resist? This yarn is so yummy... it reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream and that is perfect for the summer - so yes it had to be done!



Nick’s mom and I sat down for a rather impromptu lesson on how to crochet. A week and a half later Baby C's blanket is finished and my quilt is not – but I’m not worried because we don’t move for 13 days and that is definitely enough time to finish up, and maybe start a new blanket for an upcoming baby shower. Now when will I find time to pack?

My Inspiration

I have always loved to create and read. Dance, art, writing stories, designing clothes and anything where I was able to use my imagination have always been passions of mine. I just never thought of myself as creative. That is to say I never thought my creations were "any good." But then this little bean head came along and I decided that I don't care "if its good," as long as it is an expression of me. When I was sorting baby clothes for Baby C I came across 2 infant sweaters and a blanket that were knitted for Nick by his mom and grandma and that night as I snuggled down to sleep under the wedding quilt his mom made for us I realized that it is
incredibly important for me to be able to give Baby C something similar.

My husband grew up with a Mennonite background and it was his mother and aunt who sparked my curiosity (which later turned into a fascination and then love) of all things quilted. It is such an amazing art form with each quilt telling a different story. Our wedding gift was a quilt she made when Nick was young and every night when I go to bed I feel the love and care that was put into each piece. 2 years ago I started my own quilt which is still sitting in the piecing stage. First University, then working full time took most of my free time. When I became pregnant with Baby C I was so excited (for many different reasons) but one of which would be the time that I would have before she was born (and after I had finished work) to finish this quilt… Well… I couldn’t really reach the sewing machine for my belly, which made sewing nearly impossible and Baby C was itching to enter this work and came a month early – so my quilt remains in pieces.

I had made a promise to myself that I would finish it before July when we moved… now it is July but I technically have 2 weeks until the move so I do have time to finish piecing it together and meet my deadline. I need to meet this deadline because after all, when we move Baby C will need a new quilt for *her* new room wont she? You see Baby C is my inspiration and nearly everything that I do, or create, is in some way shape or form, for her.