ducky house

taking time back

I recently hired my son to do some babysitting for me twice a week in the afternoon.   It's a mother's helper situation, where I am still home but it gives me time to myself to do a block of sewing for a few hours in the afternoon without apology.  He takes care of the needs of the littlest ones and I pay him oodles of cash to do so, what a deal!

Yesterday as I sat down in my make-shift studio, and after a hour passed, I noticed a pattern that keeps eating up my creative time.  administrative clutter - ick!  Somehow, most likely unconsciously, I've been using this precious time to organize papers and such, pay bills and generally deal with the clutter that surrounds me...twitch, twitch.  Paper really is my nemesis these days, I'm sure many of you can relate.  And while I've switched the majority of the household bills over to the eco emails somehow by the end of the week you would never know, paper is still making it's way into our home.  In an ideal world I wouldn't even allow paper work into my art zone but right now while we renovate, there is a limited amount of space. 

Once I realized what I was doing, I shuffled everything aside and turned my attention to the fabric, pictured above.  I turned the administrator off and instead worked on a new design that's been floating around in my cerebral hemisphere for a few months now.  There are still kinks to work out but I made some real progress on it's direction and I am happy with where things are going.  

I realize more and more that I need my creative time, it fuels my right-brain and rejuvenates my energy.  I feel much more centered during my day and that helps me in so many unspoken ways.  I dare say it even makes me a better mumma...or at least a more creative one.  Confirmation came from the hubby when he said "everyone seems to have had a good day"...oh yes...a good day indeed.

what do you see?

I see:

•• children ••

•• color ••

•• creativity ••

I'm enjoying the bird's eye view of things on this end and loving how something as simple as an egg carton can spark the imagination.

A big welcome to the SewMamaSew readers.  I hope you enjoy the tutorial and thank you ladies for the feature. xxx

halloween 2009

filled with:

•• lots of imagination ••

•• a ton of sewing for this mumma ••

•• laughter and fun for everyone ••

When is your birthday?

My hubby has his birthday on probably one of the worst/best days.  Halloween.  It's trouble for obvious reasons, we spend most of the day gearing up for good ol' trick or treating so "dad's" celebration gets pushed to the background.  Poor fellow.  On the other hand, once you get out on the streets, everyone is dressed up and celebrating so there is this great party atmosphere.  Too bad they weren't all celebrating him!  We never let that stop us though.  On top of all the preparation, we still try to have a nice dinner and a little cake for him.  The latter part, having cake, always feels a bit weird to me when I know we are about to enter the world of endless sweet treats, but it's his birthday after all. 

I have a few things on the go this week in planning for the weekend.  One of which is almost done.  I took some wool to work with me for the s-l-o-w times and knit up the half-pipe hat for the hubby's birthday.  He doesn't complain about much but one of his life beefs is that hats are never big enough for his head.  Uh huh, he does have a big head, I know first hand because I birthed his children ;)  Given that he always has trouble finding a good sized hat, I altered the pattern by adding an additional 20 cast on stitches. The hat is large, very large but I think he might like it that way.  He takes public transport to work and when winter hits, it's cold here, very cold.  He has to be bundled very warm during the commute and that means gloves, scarf and hat.  By the time he get's to work he says tight fitting hats give him terrible hat hair.  Yuck!  I already feel his pain, I hate having bad hair days.  Hopefully giving him a little extra room will help out with these issues.  I still have to finish securing the rim, tying in lose ends and then washing/blocking the hat.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to block a hat?  balloon? 

The other thing on the go is the kid's halloween costumes.  I have 3 to make, the B-meister is recycling a costume he wore a few years ago, bless his heart.  As for the rest I have requests for a rabbit, flower and jubjub costume.  More on those later, especially the last one.  That's it for today, Happy Monday to you all and happy creating! xxx

the roles we play

So my peeps time to update you on what's been going on.  I've been a full time working girl for the past two weeks while my big sister (my boss) was away holidaying. Let me first tell you that I forgot how hard it is to get anything done when you are gone from the home all day.  Sadly blogging and crafting went by the way side.  My hat goes off to those of you who can juggle it all. 

As for my schedule, most days started early with me out of the house by 7:30 am.  That meant a 6:30 am wake up time, for those of you who are more familiar with me, you'll recognize that hour hasn't been on the schedule in a very long time.  But I actually surprised myself and didn't mind the early hour so much, made me even think that I could handle it on a more permanent basis.  Don't quote me though.

For the most part everything went fine at home, the kids were a bit needy by the end of the whole experience, or maybe that was me deflecting ;)  Thankfully my mum stayed close to keep them fed, watered and made sure they were working on their assignments. 

And what did I learn during the past two weeks?  There are drawbacks on either side of the stay-at-home/work full time option.  Being a stay at home (-schooling) mumma truthfully makes me crazy at times, then there are those nagging insecurities and doubts in my head about what I am accomplishing long term.  I often fool myself into thinking I would be ultimately fulfilled in a stylish pinstripe suit with an assistant and a name on my door.  Hmm, sounds lovely in my minds eye doesn't it?

But when I think about the things I'd have to give up I quickly realized that today, right now, is not that time for me.  I would miss the kids too much, the interaction with them during the day, being a part of their lives in the way that homeschooling allows. I would also miss sneaking in a little creative time each day without being consumed with how the next day is going to fly in my absence. 

The choices I've made my life might be a little odd and non-conventional but I like it that way.  It's a life of slow paces and (mostly) happy faces with noisy kids all about.  It's not always rosy, it certainly isn't perfect - I'm their mumma after all - but it is an expression of what's inside my heart and mind.  And while I still get confused about my direction, I am certain that a life filled with love can never be far off the mark...and that mark for me is home. 

PS, the photos above are from the Basilica in our city that burnt down in 1968.  It was later rebuilt but some features of the original basilica were left as is.  I have some additional photos to show that I'll leave for a later post.  It's good to be back in this space, I've missed it.  xxx

just in time

We finished all that work I mentioned a couple of posts back and apparently just in time.  Phew. 

Can you guess who this is? 

If you said me then I am going to run to a hair stylist this afternoon and have some issues taken care of.  No it isn't me, it's my dog Spencer.  He just had to investigate with me. He's a snow loving dog that's for sure.  In the winter when his hair is long, little snow balls attach themselves to his belly region like burrs.  Nothing like the fresh smell of wet dog the outdoors during winter. 

PS.  I just wanted to welcome all the newcomers from the Quilt Festival to this little space.  I know things aren't 'sew-crafty' right now.  I'll explain a little more next week about where I've been and my lack of craft.  For now make yourselves at home in my archives and categories.  And if you get a chance, please do leave a comment, your input is very meaningful and a highlight in my day and I love knowing where everyone is coming from.

quilt festival time

Yay! It's that time again. My entry for the festival is going to be a quilt I made and finished up in June. I love this quilt for a number of reasons; it's simplicity, the way the white fabric (also vintage) breaks up the diamonds, the patterned fabric has loads of orange which is fast becoming a favorite color of mine, but mostly I love this quilt because it is made of re-purposed vintage sheets which not only makes me happy, but also the earth.

On their own the sheets probably wouldn't have made it to anyone's bed as a fabric of choice now that the 70's have long past, but incorporating the bright sheets in bits and spurts gives new life to something that would have otherwise made it's way to a landfill site. Given the age of the fabric, it is surprisingly sturdy and oh so very soft.

Right now I have the quilt on my sofa table as a decorative table cloth. It cheers up my day when I see it and gives me hope on those days when I feel like I am never going to finish a quilt(s), like the three sitting on my table right now, ahem. 

The quilt pattern is the brain child of Rosebud's Cottage and was orginally published in the Quilts and More Magazine dated Spring 2009. If I could name this quilt it would be called "happy" because that's just how it makes me feel.

preparation

That's a good word to describe what is taking place here at our end.  It started with the cool weather that has set in overnight, literally.   It's sent me rapidly switching out our seasonal clothing and turning the heat on.  Weren't we just wearing summer shorts and skirts a week and a half ago?  Yikes! 

In addition to the "out with the summer and in with the warmer clothing" we also did the unspeakable and took down our beloved summer room.  Soon our deck and back yard will be filled with heavy white flakes and that is all too much for our simple sun room to bare.  And so we say goodnight to it for a season. 

With all this winter preparation I've been thinking a lot about soups.  Is there a better way to welcome the cool fall days then with a big pot of soup?  A combination of leeks, yams, carrots, and lentils all went together into a stock pot, simmering into this delicious 'welcome fall' soup. I added one mystery ingredient for a little extra goodness and let me just say the yum factor was high. I was skeptical at first thinking it might be more than my kidlets could handle but there were no complaints on the kid front.  Bonus!

Bring it on fall, we are ready for you. 

one frogged, one not

Remember that sweater I yapped about here.  I was planning on frogging the sweater because it seemed to sag in the worst way.  After looking at my options and figuring out time frames, I opted to give it one more chance.  So I washed it, blocked it and then re-evaluated the situation.  Maybe with a little securing and vintage buttons I could fix the issue?  It would take away the option of opening the sweater but in the end that isn't so bad considering the two rambunctious girls that would be wearing them. 

The sweater was secured on the diagonal seams from the inside with yarn and then on the outside (diagonal) seam, buttons were added merely as an eye pleaser, cute and completely non-functional.  As for the green sweater, it was frogged as my original knit up was way too large, I'm not sure what happened.  I mentioned in my earlier post, my first attempt at a re-knit (after frogging) the yarn was too kinky to work with.  I tried steam ironing the yarn but the results were a flat, lifeless, yarn; in the end I soaked it, let it dry and wound the balls for the re-knit.  Second time was a charm in this case, I proceeded to secure the seems and add buttons as I did with the blue sweater. 

The girls have been wearing their sweaters all spring and summer and loving them.  They are so easy to please when you put something new on the shelf, it quickly becomes a favorite and is in constant use. 

It's been awhile since I knit anything and I'm starting to feel the urgings to pick up the needles.  Over the week I've been compiling a list of things I want to make and the sheer size of my list makes me so thankful that knitting is a transportable craft.  At the top of the list is the half-pipe hat, for the hubby whose birthday comes late in the month.  I'd also like to get some knucks done for the boys, a hat, scarf, fingerless mittens set for myself, socks for my mum, socks for ... well you get my drift.  There is always something to keep these hands busy.  How about you?  Do you knit?  and what are you working on?

the harvest

There was frost the other night, there had to be.  Nothing else could send me out the doors, even before I had my morning coffee, to check on the veggies that didn't get harvested yet.  There were a lot of wilted leaves but thankfully the few cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and green onions that we had left were fine.  But the real winner of the harvest came from a last minute planting that we did, a simple root vegetable. 

Back in early June on planting day, I was taking a lunch break in the kitchen and noticed our bag of organic red potatoes had sprouted.  In a moment of spontaneity I decided that I would just plant the potatoes since they were already seeding.   I know it's not protocol, I probably should have gone to the local nursery and picked up a proper box of seed potatoes and do it the way the regular folk do it.  But in my thinking, potatoes were not on my list of things to grow this year and here I had a bag of potatoes that would have otherwise ended up in the compost pile, why not use them instead of going to waste?  Determined to plant the potatoes, I set out for some information through the scholarly google.  I found this on videojug, it seemed straight forward enough: dig a trench, put the whole potatoe in the ground about 15 cm (6 inches) deep, eyes up, cover with soil and let them grow.  That was 3+ months ago. 

Yesteday while harvesting the vegetables, we noticed a few potatoes peaking out on the surface.  A quick dig revealed that there wasn't just a few but a whole harvest of large delightful red potatoes.  We filled not one but two bowls, definitely more than 20 lbs...who would have thought?   And since they originated from organic potatoes I can happily say they are organic. Not too bad for this unplanned potato planter.  You can guess what we will planting again next year, the crop that stole my heart.