april

A few thrifted treasures

April 30, 2015

Because I strive to live by the questions “Do I truly love this? Will it bring me joy?” when out shopping I tend to not buy a whole lot of stuff.

As of late there hasn’t been much that has caught my eye and I have walked out of several thrift stores in the last couple months empty handed, that is, until yesterday.

As far as I’m concerned I hit the jack pot because what I brought home, I absolutely love. Did I need any of it? No. Where any of these things on my “List”? No. But I do adore my new treasures and I did stick a few things in my Goodwill bag to cancel out what I brought in.

There is no guilt in my book if something I bring into my home brings me joy.

:: I actually squealed a little when I spotted a set of those vintage antler candle stick holders. We have quite a collection of antlers in all shapes and sizes around our house all of which were found in the woods by Chris and the girls. These will happily be added to the collection. I just may gift one to my sister for Christmas this year. Shhhhhh!

:: I fell in love with that green glass carafe with the brown leather strapping and stopper. It will look great on the bar with my beginning collection of antique wine bottle coasters.

:: That sweet little studio pottery vase spoke to me. It said “bring me home!” I love it’s shape, pattern and blue hues. It’s new home for now is the mantle.

:: About a year ago I found a shorter version of that same set of hooks where it hangs in the baking area of my kitchen. I love the rustic look of the wood and metal hardware and the hooks swing! This longer one now lives in my bathroom above the tub, perfect for washcloths.

A new storage space

April 23, 2015

I love the challenge of living in a small house. Rather than wishing we had more closets and storage we get creative and work at finding ways to utilize our space making life feel a little more efficient incorporating both the practical and beautiful.

Our most recent light bulb moment was the top of our basement steps.

My Pop and Chris had installed bead board in this area when we first moved in but it never got painted and quite honestly was left forgotten as the basement door hid this neglected space.
A few years ago (when our girls were safe from tumbling down the stairs) we removed the door to open things up which actually made the kitchen feel a bit bigger.

The door was left off but the space remained unpainted and under-utilized until recently when I became frustrated with my ever growing cast iron pan collection. We have accumulated an array of second hand pans in all shapes and sizes. They are the workhorses of our kitchen and are used daily. I love the versatility of cast iron, able to go from stove-top to oven. Our favorite pan is the extra large one used for big batches of granola and roasted vegetables. Chris found that pan for only 25 cents at a yard sale! Wishing that I had a space to hang my pans rather than stack them I realized that I did have a place!

Yes, the top of our basement steps would make the perfect pantry for pans but how about a place for hanging tools such as dust pans, brushes and a brooms. And while we are at it, let’s hang a few hooks for extra coats when we host company since our house came without a coat closet. Killing two or even three birds with one stone is how I like to roll in our home.

Once we envisioned our new space we got to work and started with painting the bead board and walls a crisp white. Chris hand forged hooks (made with recycled iron from an old hay rake) that would be sturdy enough to hold the heavy pans.
He also made a light fixture from Kentucky Coffee Tree wood and a ball jar.

I hung a wooden accordion hook on one side for dust pans, brushes and brooms and installed a few hooks on the other side for aprons, coats, spare cutting boards, etc.

A while back my mom had gifted me an antique drawing of a woman selling at market. I could never find quite the right place for her until now.

I love this new space displaying our tools that are both practical and beautiful.

I find that domestic work becomes a bit more enjoyable when your tools are pretty enough to display.

Rather than let them sit until the end of the day, I now eagerly wash up our pans after each use to hang them back on their hand forged hooks in their very own pantry.

Easter Weekend

April 7, 2015

Cyanotype eggs

April 2, 2015

I have been sharing my egg dying adventures on instagram and thought it might be fun to share my process of making cyanotype eggs. Don’t worry though these prints are made with only natural ingredients!

I used a purple cabbage dye bath which makes the most perfect blue and gives a sun print effect on the egg.
I clipped leaves and flowers from my backyard and houseplants such as snowdrops, juniper leaf, oxalis, fern, begonia and ranunculus leaf.

You can use hard boiled eggs or dye raw ones to be blown out after they have dried.
It really is a simple process with a gorgeous result.

Cyanotype Eggs

~White hard boiled or raw eggs
~Nude pantyhose cut into small pieces (I may have just pocketed a few of those throw away peds at the shoe store. Shhhh… but they do work perfectly!)
~Leaf and flower cuttings from your backyard or houseplants
~1 whole purple cabbage
~White vinegar
~Pint size ball jars

In a large pot, mix 2 quarts of water and 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. Add 1 head of chopped purple cabbage. Bring water to a boil and simmer for 1-2 hours.
Turn off heat and let cool. While cooling, position leaf/flower cutting on egg and hold in place by encasing the whole egg with pantyhose. Tie tightly in a knot or secure with a rubber band or twist tie.

Fill individual ball jars with dye bath and place each egg into it’s own cup. You could also submerge all of your eggs at once into the large pot of dye. Let sit overnight or for several hours to get a deep blue. The longer it sits the deeper the hue. Keep checking to get your desired shade.

Pull egg from dye bath and place on paper towel or rag to drain a bit. Allowing it to dry as long as possible makes for a crisper silhouette.
Remove pantyhose and allow it to dry some more.
Gently peel off leaf and voila!

Cookie Cutters

April 14, 2014

Ever since I can remember I have always loved to bake.
My mother was ever so patient with me in the kitchen whenever I would help make cookies, scones and pies alongside her.
I still have the glued together pie plate I broke when I was about five years old due to my over zealousness and excitement to assist her.

As I got older I loved to sift through my mother’s Martha Stewart collection of magazines and dogear all sorts of cookie recipes. Even though I still lived at home I began to collect my very own baking accoutrements in my teens. One of the first things I acquired was a set of vintage cookie cutters and began to master the art of a rolled out sugar cookie. Soon I was collecting cookie cutters of all shapes and sizes for every holiday and special event. I made cookies for Christmas, Valentines day, Easter, Halloween, birthday parties, showers and weddings. I even made heart shaped cookies sandwiched together with strawberry jam for my own wedding.

When Hannah was born I couldn’t wait until she was old enough to help roll out dough and cut out cookies alongside me. By that time I had quite the collection of cutters for her to choose from. She loved to see how many shapes she could fit onto one piece of rolled out dough.

I recently culled through my cookie cutter collection which had grown into two huge baskets. I passed some along and kept my absolute favorites. As I sifted through them I thought about what each one was used for. A saw and hammer I had bought to make for my Pop’s birthday one year. An umbrella and stork for all of the baby showers. A guitar and musical note for Chris when he first started playing and an antique chicken cutter when we first got our hens.

Although I may not make as many cut out cookies throughout the year as I did in my younger days, not a Christmas or Easter goes by without them. This weekend I saw my Aunt Patty, who hosts Easter dinner every year. She asked “you’ll bring the cookies right?”
Of course I will!

A few new things

April 23, 2013

i was going to start this post by saying how busy life has been but i like the words full and abundant better.
so there, life has been full. life is so abundant!

there are many fun and exciting things that are happening in our lives at the moment…..

:: you may have noticed that things are changing a little in this space.

we are working on sprucing things up a bit but are still focusing on the back end of things. there is now a new services page which we are excited about. we teach several different backyard classes and through these courses we have had many people email us asking for help in building coops, raised beds and consulting them on creating their own backyard space. chris is lined up until june with 3 coop jobs and a raised bed garden and i have several backyard chicken and small scale gardening classes to teach throughout the spring. since this is a side gig for us on top of our other jobs it has been time consuming but oh so fun!

:: i am running for borough council and campaigning has begun!

it has been fun meeting new people, knocking on doors and learning more and more about this little town i have lived in since i was 9 years old. never would i thought of doing something like this until several people in the community approached me and asked if i might consider it. my first reaction was “hell no!”. but it didn’t take long for me to get excited for a new challenge and turn my answer around to a “why not?!!!” i am excited about the possibility of being an integral part in helping to continue to move the incredible town that i live in forward in the right direction and make it the best it can be.

:: our attic project will begin next wednesday!!!

when we first moved here we considered our house a starter home.
it had 3 bedrooms but before we even moved in we took down the wall of the middle bedroom which made for a very dark and narrow hallway. i’ll never forget how exciting and fun it was to knock down the wall with our bare hands and throw all of the debris out the second story window dropping it into a dumpster below. taking the wall down created an open lofty type space where we would hang out in, read, watch movies etc. it really opened things up and brightened up the space. we figured that we would be moving over time so only having two bedrooms would be just fine for a few years. but here we still are 15 years later with 2 daughters. we have grown quite attached to this little neighborhood of ours, the community and our home. and as you might have guessed we aren’t going anywhere. we are staying put and we are all pretty darn happy about it.

the girls have been so good about sharing a small room together over the years. my mom always reminds me that this is how she grew up (with three girls all crammed into one bedroom with one drawer each for their belongings). we are good about living in a small space and not accumulating too much. we utilize our space well. and luckily for me, who is always looking for a new project, there is plenty of opportunities even in this little house of ours to expand a little.

starting next week the process will begin to make our attic into a room for hannah.
i have been collecting all sorts of inspiration over the last year and now the time has come to see it happen.
hannah is over the moon with excitement. that little sister of hers however has had her ups and downs with the fact that hannah gets the bigger room and one with it’s own set of stairs oh my! but i have heard hannah whisper to norah several times that she is always welcome for a visit. and yes there will be two twin beds up there for the many nights that i know hannah (who still likes to fall asleep alongside me and norah each night in my bed) will be inviting norah up for a sleepover.

Over at Tend

April 14, 2013

a little post over at tend

Spirituality in the garden

April 11, 2013

i have been trying to heal a back that went out and have been laying in bed for the last few days.

laying around makes me grumpy but these photos of sunday’s breakfast cheered me up.

I am itching to get out into the garden. one thing i was able to do from bed was order a load of compost to be delivered today.

last weekend i gave a presentation on spirituality in the garden at a local church in town. when my neighbor asked me to be a part of the day i was hesitant since i don’t consider myself much of a religious person. she reassured me that i didn’t have to be and so i decided to take the challenge.

once i came up with my own personal definition of spirituality i could not stop writing. i put together a slide show of 100 photos and told a pictorial story about my own personal journey in the garden. each photo had a message of what the garden has taught me, given to me and opened my eyes to. i focused on abundance, acceptance, joy, creativity, reflection, connection, observance, inspiration, nourishment and appreciation.

putting this presentation together was such a gift and a reminder to appreciate all that i have. for me spirituality is a broader concept than religion. other expressions might include prayer, meditation, interactions with others and nature. all of which take place right inside my garden.

p.s. you may have noticed this little space here is going through some changes. my good friend kate is helping me switch things up a bit. thanks for your patience and stay tuned!

A New Season at Tend

April 5, 2013

a new season over at tend has begun!!!
today was my first post of the year.

It warms my heart

April 3, 2013

it warms my heart…
~to see how much you two enjoy one another.
~to find you reading to one another
~to find your dolls wrapped up in my scarves after a morning of play
~to hear you giggling in bed in the morning
~hear you hug and kiss at night and say i love you.
~norah,that you still call hannah sissy.
~to see how totally different you are from one another yet it is completely clear that you are sisters.
~to know that you will always be the best of friends.

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