a mother's day tea and a walk by the sea

 

 

seven pots of tea. scones and clotted cream. homemade strawberry preserves. a spill and a scald. gifts and conversation. tea time is always good and my nose kicked in to enjoy it! whoo-hoo! mister got a lemon vanilla green and i picked out a chocolate and strawberry blend. the other five pots were of peppermint, smokey assam, irish cream, stitcky toffee pudding and a light green flavor i cannot remember.

 

 

 

 

 

blue, blue water, nervy squirrels and their babes. great white sighting signs everywhere. vibrant red finches, salty sea air, fat orange sea stars, all sorts of seals and their young uns. a wander through a parking lot shop. a pat to a friendly dog and a short convo with a tree trunk artist. after it all we drove back to the homestead and enjoyed homemade angel food cake with strawberry sauce. a most excellent scoop of gelato or two. warm fresh berries right off our plants and a pilfering of ripe blueberries from the front yard. back at the tiny casa, the mister finished the sofa. so cool! and we puttered about hanging this and that, watched some netflix, read a little and installed the homemade birdbath in the back. not bad for a single day.

possibly a smidge too much tmi

the pre-polyp face

 I woke up this morning, stupid early, with an earache so intense it made me want to cry like a wee one. A few hours later I did. Flat out bawled myself silly. Less for the pain in my ear, more for the astounding fatigue I am feeling. My nasal woes have reached new heights in polyp producing freakishness. I jest, thankfully that isn't entirely true thanks to the wonder of the internet one can view photos of truly awful heights in polypdom. Eeps! Though my left nostril (too much info?) is so impacted with a wondrous bit of biology that my face has been resculpted. My glasses sit slightly, ever-so-slightly askew from the swollen ick. Last Sunday I spent the day cuddling my neti pot to no avail. I knew it wouldn't work on me but I tried it out, every hour. Every. Single. Hour. The warm water did help soothe even if it didn't go anywhere.

After an hour at urgent care, I fled to Target clutching my prednisone prescription in my sadly dried out hands (nts apply lotion more often). Now I sit in the tiny bedroom typing up this tiny saga on my makeshift laptop desk as the mister tears apart our not-so-borrowed sofa so that he can recover it in the pile of clashing tablecloths I tossed on the floor yesterday morning. He's struggling with the upholstery staples and his form of cussing is pickled with quaint old fashioned interjections amongst ballsy cuss words. I've downed half my dosage of the awful steroids but am quite content to ride the instant placebo effects. I've been drinking cool water from a non-vintage mason jar in between popping American smarties into my mouth as a really sweet breeze flicks my hair into my cheek causing a tickle that is at once delightful (the breeze) and exasperating (the tickle).

Errands have been erranded, dishes have been washed and fabric has been gathered both for my project and the mister's. Yesterday as we discussed which fabrics to use, the mister hit the floor laughing at my concern the tablecloths would clash with the back cushion that I had created from non-matching vintage pillowcases. I was astounded at his reaction and could not fathom what was so amusing. Even when he managed to stop laughing enough to point at the pile of clashing tablecloths and then the assortment of pillowcases in the cushion I remained confused. Yes, they all clash but the tablecloth pile has more vibrance to it with a fabric that soaks up color and light while the pillowcases are of a light and airy vintage  that reflects light and color. He just doesn't get it. What? Stop laughing! I'm totally serious.

I dressed quickly out of my pajamas to get to the urgent care and ended up in too short jeans to go with sneakers unless I opted out of socks (and yes, I am aware I have an odd sense of style now sshh) but my sadly stressed out body has effected my swollen Flintstone feet so sockless was not an option. I grabbed the first pair of socks my fingers touched as I reached into the darkened closet. It wasn't until I sat in the waiting room I realized rainbow stripes were hardly non-descript and that the sock on my right foot was on inside-out. How's that for class.

Tomorrow we're taking the mamas in the family out to tea and who knows what else. Monday I am putting on the teacher's hat to teach the wee toddlers at my school and Tuesday involves all sorts of catch up and errands and appointments. Today I will sit on the bed and look at all the eye candy the internet has to offer in between bouts of reading as the sweet cool breeze continues to tickle the heck out of me.

art for the may bed

 It seems that my new making the bed has me creating something handmade very month as well. It's a good thing as at least I have managed to make something, right? For the may bed I created a fun butterfly/mothy bit of art that had me painting a little here, and cutting a little there with some crumpling and some sewing thrown in for good measure. A throwback to kindergarten art if you will. To create yer own, here's what you need:

*newspaper

*acrylic paint 

*scissors

*2 brown grocery sacks

*sewing machine and thread

 

To start, you will need to cut out your mothy butterflies. Fold two squares of newspaper in half and either draw your image or eyeball it. I used a large paper punch folded in half to act as a pattern and eyeballed the shape of the butterfly. I was really hoping to produce a moth effect but a butterfly looks like a butterfly. I need to practice a moth shape. repeat his step so you have four butterflies cut from newspaper.

 

On a paint friendly surface, open up your newspaper shape and blob some paint onto one side. Butterflies and moths have symmetry to stick to one side that will transfer to the other after you give it a good smoosh. Gently fold over dry side and give your paper a pat, a rub, and a smoosh. When pulling the paper open, move slowly as the acrylic paint is a bit tacky and may cause your paper to rip. Set aside to dry.

Add more details if you like such as dots and such. I used my neutrals first then added hot pink and other colors second. Lastly, I added a darker line in the center to create the body of my insect. 

While the paint is drying, grab your grocery sacks and cut down one fold to the bottom and then cut out the bottom. You will have one large swath of brown paper, Cut this in half and repeat with your other sack. 

 

 Crumple up sacks and line up two horizontal pieces, side by side. Add a smidge of tape on the printed side to anchor them together and bring to your machine. Use a large zig-zag to stitch the paper together. The pieces are quite large and since you crumpled it all up already, simply roll the right side up and in, toward your needle. This should allow for a little wiggle room as you stitch. Repeat for the other two pieces. Next, grab some floor space and position your two pieces so that they form a square of sorts. Add some tape to the printed sides to anchor them a bit and bring the whole thing back to the machine. This is where you will need to roll up the right side a bit so get the whole thing to move through with driving you absolutely batty. Trim thread if ya like, I like mine a bit dangle and prepare to add your painted insects.

Arrange your butterflies as you please and remember their order. Bring the large swath of brown paper to the machine and stitch one butterfly into place with a large X that goes from the top left wing corner down to the lower right and then the top right down to the lower left. Repeat for all four butterflies. Mix yourself an iced coffee and take a breather.

Hang in a happy place using your preferred method of hanging, I used vintage button covered thumbtacks. Stand back, take a swig of iced coffee and admire your old school handy work.

the may bed

 

 

the thinks of the week

 I've been thinking a lot this week. Thinking of the pile of books that I should read. Thinking about the time I waste when I get sucked into the pretty on the internet. Thinking about the meals I should cook using up what we have instead of buying anything new. Thinking of ekeing out a small space for an herb garden. Thinking about bringing back my week in review and thinking about absolutely tackling that last pile of boxes that have been sitting in the living room, under the window for the past ten months. Yikes!

Think, think, think.

I've been thinking of how my get up and go seems to have got up and left. I have absolutely no energy to get a move on or ride my pretty bike or even gussy up with a swipe of lipstick. I've been driven batty by the allergies that have outstayed any pretense of a welcome. My face swollen with puffed up sinuses and a confusing kerfuffle with my might-as-well-be-non-existent health insurance.  Even standing outside for twenty minutes as I wrangle toddlers to and fro is enough time for a new invasion of pollen into my system. I wake up loopy, slowly shed the ick, get excited about all I'm going to do once I'm home from school only to find my eyes in droopy-ville on the drive home. Even with all the blinds open and light flooding into the tiny casa I'm out like a light.

All is not despair though. I borrowed the sister a-go-go's waffle iron and filled the freezer with waffles full of slightly less fizzy beer and flax meal. It is also full of coconut milk pancakes, a kale and garlic frittata, two cheesy penne pasta bakes and perhaps a bomb pie or two. The fridge is full of slow cooked bbq pork ribs, taters, and onion and a sister made blueberry peach cobbler. We both decided to cook up extras and swap. It's a nice feeling not having to think of what to make for meals. I still have to whip up a cabbage salad and some cauliflower steaks.

Oh and whoo-hoo for new jeans that almost mostly fit and shoes that I hope work out. The May Bed has been made and I have piles upon piles of projects waiting to be crafted. So, what have you been thinking about? Should I bring back my week in review? Will I ever get that mad pile of boxes cleared out of the casa?

diy: wood and tulle necklace

 I have a wee love affair with tulle. I love the stuff. I had a dream I made this necklace which prompted me to stumble into the dark living room to write it down in the middle of the night before I forgot all about it like I usually do. Dreams can be so fleeting. My favorite tulle is hiding somewhere in the tiny casa so I had to venture out for a new swatch to make this necklace.The local fabric shop didn't have the color I was looking for but they were unboxing spools of this lovely coral which I swooped up. My original plan was to use a larger weave of tulle in a lighter color but I think I liek this way this tiny tulle stretches. Shall we?

Materials:

*wooden balls (not beads)

*acrylic paint & paint brush

*thin ribbon or cord

*needle and thread

*fine mesh tulle

*sewing machine

*scissors

*washi/masking tape (optional) 

 First up, paint the wood balls. I found a pack of balls at the craft store. They are about the size of a large marble. You can use beads if you already have them but I like the smoothness of the balls. Gather four or five balls and give them a coat or half coat of paint. Mix up your colors. I used thin strips of washi tape to create clean lines and/or small squares. Set aside to dry.

 

 While the paint is drying, gather up your tulle and cut a rectangle about two inches longer than your beads span. I recommend using the fine meshe tulle on spools. Fold over tulle so that it is a smidge wider than the width of one ball and stitch on the machine using a small zig-zag. Trim excess tulle and turn right-side out. You should have small tube with a seam along its length.

Once the balls are dry, remove tape pieces. Now you can gently place balls into the tulle channel. 

 Cut a length of thin ribbon or cord and handstitch to each end of the tulle tube. I twisted and folded the tulle around the ribbon and wrapped the contrasting thread as I stitched. I figured I couldn't hide the stitches so why not make them a part of the entire piece? Using the same thread, knot a small length between each ball and snip as close to the knot as possible.

 

If you used one length of ribbon like I did, simply snip in the middle after stitching to create the cord part of your necklace. Knot each end and tie around neck to wear!