Spring is here!

I have neglected the computer because I have been playing in the dirt. I would be outside today if I weren't sick with some kind of sinus issues and viral infection and feeling utterly miserable. It is almost 80 degrees and simply beautiful outside. The sun is shining, there is a wonderful breeze and the magnolias are in bloom, which is one of my favorite times of year. I always get so bummed that the blooms only last a couple of days. I am sitting in my den with the windows open as I write just so I can smell and see the magnolia in our front yard. There is something about their beauty; the shapes of the petals; the cream and pink; the faint smell...




And then they are gone.



These days I have been consumed by getting ready for the my new season in the garden. I have planted 3 types of potatoes, 9 rows of snap peas, broccoli, cabbage, 3 types of kale, over 150 onions, 10 rows of spinach, 4 rows of arugula, 5 rows of mixed beets, 4 rows of mixed carrots, 6 rows of lettuces, Persian cress, dill, cilantro and parsley.



Here are about half of my 60 tomato plants that were started about 3 weeks ago. They are all over my house eating up the heat and sun. And...I am loving every minute of watching them grow! I have a tray in every window on the main floor of our house and when it is cool in the morning and the steam heat radiators kick on, I put the plants on top of the radiators to get a kick of heat. This is how I manage to plant so many tomatoes on the cheap. I won't plant 60 tomato plants, but I have room in my garden plan for 35-38 in this year. I think I have some to spare if anyone in Metro Detroit might need a tomato plant!


















I also decided that it was time for this MASSIVE rose bush to go...adios




SO this is what that area looks like now...



And in another week I will have new pictures of this area that now will host 3 more 5'by5' beds for veggies, my little fig tree and a bench so I can actually have a place to relax in the garden. For some reason a lot of neighbors have been stopping by lately to check out the castle house that has the "urban farm" and I am loving it! Happy Spring!!

I found it!!

It has been quite some time since I have posted and life has been very busy since my motivation was hiding from me. First I will let you know that it came one night in the end of March at about...8 p.m. when I was least expecting it. For some odd reason I decided it was time to paint my laundry room. Yes, that is right; on a weeknight after the kids were in bed and my main squeeze was doing his ironing I decided that it was time to crack open that "Lemon Curd" paint I bought in the fall and get to work painting oven the very drab sage green that I stare at way too often these days. I began this paint job from hell and I am close to being finished which is a good thing. Since I have to cover up the green it has taken me a lot longer than I anticipated, but I am hoping to finish it over the weekend. Aside from the fact that I do numerous loads of laundry every week, my primary motivation is the fact that I have set up my sewing station in the laundry room and right now I have a pretty intimate relationship with this machine.


This machine was given to me by a dear friend last year who had no need for it and wasn't quite sure if it worked and if so, exactly how to thread this crazy ol' beast. I took it in to have serviced last winter and even though I was told it was in "mint condition for it's age" and that this was "a keeper" I still had no idea how the hell to thread the needle, or the bobbin or set the tensions and then actually use it. So it sat in my basement all of last year yearning for attention, but with the garden I couldn't help but to ignore it and promise that I would put it to work in the fall and winter. In December I started messing around with it, but I didn't have a manual and I couldn't find this machine anywhere on the net after numerous hours of searching. With the holidays in full swing I had little time or patience to devote to this overwhelming task.

After the new year I decided it was time and so with the help of You Tube I found a tutorial on how to thread needles and bobbins on vintage machines and then with a couple of books and fabric designer's blogs I have been going from one sewing project to the next. My first was this pin cushion.
Then I did this apron for a friend

And then I decided to take it up a level and do these baby pajamas for one of my daugher's teachers who is due with her first baby in the next couple of weeks. The pattern is from a company called Oliver and S and they have very cute patterns for children's clothes.

Right now I am working on matching dresses for my daughter and her cousin since they both are turning five this spring. Here is one of them that is done and I am working on the other.

So yeah...I found my motivation and a new hobby that I LOVE~

I'm looking for my motivation....

It seems to be lost and can't be found.

Has anyone seen it?

The boy is 2!

I can't believe that as I sit here and watch this little dude run around this morning that he was born two years ago! I can still remember the details of his early and extremely fast birth (woke up at 3:20 a.m. because my water broke as I rolled over in bed; he was born on the bathroom floor at 4:59 a.m.). The call to the midwife; the anxiety about the pace of the birth; the sun rising as we took our first bath; the excitement of his sister and his dad as they held him for the first time; the beautiful, little details of this boy that were now physically present: tiny fingers and toes, a head full of dark hair, big eyes, tiny perfect pink lips. Now he is two and I am just as in awe of him today as I was then. How time flies, eh?

Yesterday was an interesting day. It didn't go as I had hoped or planned, but he did not seem to mind. He was very happy and content with the events of the day even if I was not. His sister has been having a very hard time this last week and yesterday definitely was the day that the rest of the week was building up to for one HUGE day of meltdowns. Wednesday night was a full moon and we are well aware that when the moon is full it has some type of pull on this child. She is usually really squirrely or really emotional; but yesterday she was not only emotional and squirrely, but also mean and whiny which made the day emotionally exhausting for me.

While the kids napped I finished sewing up Keegan's birthday crown and was going to make his honey cake until I realized I didn't have enough eggs. So I scrapped that idea and I will make the cake today and we will have two days of celebrating. Here is a picture of the crown. It wasn't as easy as the blog made it out to be, but I think it was worth it. I am pleased with the way it looks and so is he. This morning he has been riding around his "horse" with his crown and it is simply adorable!


I also stole some time to myself while they napped and looked through birth photos and wrote in his special journal that I started the day he was born. I am so amazed that these two little people were in my belly at one point and now are such amazing and beautiful little people with such STRONG personalities. Every time I look at the photos of my children's "birth day" I get so weepy. Today was no different, but due to the emotional aspects of the morning I didn't just cry; I sobbed. It was at that point that I knew I needed a nap as well; so I crashed on the couch and 30 minutes later the kids were up and ready to play and we all felt much better.

The birthday evening ended with the boy's favorite meal; pasta with homemade pesto, a salad (which he surprised us by actually eating) and then more presents and yogurt covered pretzels for dessert.