 Anybody out there ever watch Veggie Tales? That’s where the title is from. Anyway.
I recently reviewed Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts and I do sew but I have not sewn in oh, about fifteen years. I figured I’d leaf through the book quickly, never actually use it and be done. I was sucked in. So, I did give it a good review.There are some pretty clever ideas in the book and did I mention some are EASY… and FAST. These days, that’s my criteria.
These would make a great surprise in an Easter basket.
So Meghan and I gathered up all sorts of discarded clothing including three cashmere sweaters from Andrew and made the bunnies. The directions and pattern are available online: bunny pattern
 See that little tuxedo pillow under the bunny? That's another very clever project. 
 Cashmere makes very soft bunnies  We had Anwyn help with stuffing the arms and body.  You can sew the face on before stitching it altogether just make sure the ears go on the right way if you do...  These little guys had to have their faces redone because they were sewn onto the wrong side.
caitlin, March 10th, 2010
 Freyja loves having a yard. I love having a fence. We’ve been in our new house for 3 weeks now and even thought we are all out of boxes it isn’t quite feeling like home yet. Everything about living in the county is so different from apartment city dwelling. I had to get used to Freyja sleeping ALL THE WAY UPSTAIRS! I’m trying to get into the habit of remembering to fill the wood stove (our only heat source)….. BEFORE I realize the house is freezing cold. And I am trying not to be shocked when strangers in town are not actually strangers, but know a number of things about me , due to the fact that my husband grew up here.
Example 1: I went to get a library card last week. After showing my ID to the the librarian she said, “Ok, you are all set… oh, and tell Zac that his card is still good.” (Whaaat? How does she know who I’m married to?)
Example 2: I went to pick up a computer thingy- dingy so we could get internet. I called Zac at work to let him know I had gotten it. “Oh I know,” he said. “What? How do you know??” I said. “Well, you came into the shop and __ was working there, and she called to tell __ you had been in, and she called and told me.”
Our house is wonderful. I love old homes, and this one reminds me so much of the Dutch Colonial I grew up in, I know it will feel like home before long. Here are a few of my favorite things:
 Breakfast nook, perfect for morning coffee.
 This funky, vintage paper and pink paint in the pantry make me think of Betsey Johnson.  Sun in the sunroom!  Beautiful woodwork that you just don't see in new homes.  This charming iron work runs throughout the side yard.  I can now BLARE The Strokes and Shania Twain at full volume with no downstairs neighbors. So I do it often.
 Perhaps a lovely Easter gift? I think these are positively adorable and since I have four little guys I have a wonderful excuse to get all of them. What little boy wouldn’t want to ride an alligator or tame a zebra or elephant? Anwyn is more into the blue spotted pony.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” -John Lennon
Profound coming from a Beatle.
We can get so bogged down in getting through our very important schedules that we forget to simply enjoy right now.
Ecclesiastes can be misconstrued as a real downer,
“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.” Ecc. 2:11
It could be read as, “work your little heart out, who cares, you die in the end anyway; vanity.” But I don’t think so.
Rather we are given the blessing to go ahead and work but in the end do not forget to enjoy life.
When was the last time you sprawled out on the sofa with a good book for an hour or more?
When was the last time you took your children and blew half the day doing something for the shear fun of it?
When was the last time you let your house fall into the least bit of disrepair and chaos to enjoy the moment?
Recently, smack in the middle of our school day, Taite, Matthias and I set out to see the fort that Matthias and his buddies have been building. The fort was a sight to behold. I could not believe the planning and detail that went into it; Oregon Trail folks would have been proud to call it home. Its lumbered walls included shelves with found objects of glass, a window with a hub cap for closing, and a door with brass hinges. Right outside was a fire pit where they cooked potatoes and onions.
The unusual warmth of that sunny day in February as the three of us walked through the sage brush, truant will be remembered longer that any old grammar lesson. The countless hours spent at our little table will have its own reward but the blessedness of knowing my dubious effort is not the last word in smart children is total freedom. That is why I totally get it when Solomon says,
“Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.”
Solomon understood that when we think our work is the ultimate say in a matter we are doomed to a life of constant worry, hustle and defeat.
Mostly it is good to work, work hard and God will bless that. But we need to beware lest we think it is our working, our planning that matters most and makes things happen.
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the lord directs his steps.” Prov. 16:9
 This design idea came about as a result of The Blizzard of 2010. I was trapped at home for several days– nothing was open and there was no way to get anywhere even if the stores were up and running. I had been needing a baby gift for Justus and hadn’t found anything I really liked, so with nothing but time on my hands, I decided to makehim something. I don’t keep much sewing/crafting stuff around, but I do have one small bag of odds and ends to draw from. I also knew Tim had been wanting to get rid of some sweaters, so I had him go through his shelf and pull down what he didn’t need anymore– and Voila! the Baby Owl Sweater was born.
I used a blue crew-neck sweater with a small knit that was too large for Tim and started cutting down the middle of the front.
Then I cut the rest of the sweater down to size.
I wanted the inside seams to be finished looking so I first sewed the edges of the sweater with wrong sides together, flipped that inside out, and sewed with right sides together, creating a finished seam and making sure to leave space at the top as armholes.
Next I needed some finished looking “arms” so I cannibalized one of the original arms of the sweater, cutting off a length that looked about right for a baby’s arm….
….and then cutting that down the center, right in half, to form two “baby arms” out of one “adult arm.”
To get the arms ready to be sewn onto the body of the sweater, I cut their tops off in a half-moon shape so that they would hang from the body at an angle.
Using the same “finished edge” technique as I used to sew the body of the sweater together, I sewed the arm up the middle to create a tube.
I attached the arm tube to the sweater this way.
And here’s a closer look at how to do that.
Then the same thing on the other side.
To finish off the seams running up the center of the sweater, I sewed a piece of ribbon to the edge and turned it under (in other words, the ribbon is now on the inside of the sweater and doesn’t show on the outside.)
To finish the bottom edge, I first machine stitched a hem and then hand-sewed the base for looks.
The rest was the fun part– all the decorative work– making button holes and sewing on leather buttons, machine-stitching around an owl and branch for a whimsical touch, and hand-sewing the owls eyes.
Finished! This sweater was my first attempt and I kept it for Peabody. I made another one out of a yellow sweater of Tim’s (the more professional version) once I’d worked out the kinks in my original design, and that one went to Peabody’s cousin Justus.
 I think Fox might just have wavy hair.  He has always had a bit of a cowlick.
 Fox at six months
I was told by someone that I have not posted nearly enough pictures of Fox. So here they are.
 Anwyn kindly modeled my new branch necklace.  I'm thinking this will be perfect with a white tank or t-shirt. This is my bit of spring I can wear now without freezing. I’m excited for my spring wardrobe to come out. Usually what happens is that the weather teases me for about a week, and I think that winter is over so I pull out all my spring things just in time for the temperature to drop about ten degrees and I am left freezing cold and wishing for a thick wool sweater that has now been packed away. But boy I sure look like it should be spring!
So, I am making myself wait and to tide myself over until then I have magazine clippings all over my walls of tanks and cardigans in navy, red or buttery yellow stripes because more than anything I want to add stripes to my closet. The fault is all Coco’s.
This past weekend, my mom, sister and I watched Coco before Chanelwhich I thought was a perfectly delightful movie (though I think Caitlin thought it got to be a bit slow.) In one scene, Coco is dressed in fisherman’s stripes and that was it. I have been seeing and dreaming stripes ever since. Really, who wouldn’t want to be as classy as Coco?
terri, February 28th, 2010
“You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed. July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was also present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July’s mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides – far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse. Perhaps, my son suggests, I might write that it is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. All this he wishes me to pen so the reader can decide if this is a book they might care to consider. Cha, I tell my son, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just read it for themselves.”
Every now and then I review a book for Amazon (and go ahead and give me a “this review was helpful” vote while your there) that I just can’t put down.
Read this excerpt and be captivated.
The story is set on Jamaica during the Baptist War led by a slave, Samuel Sharpe, who was trusted to be a preacher to the slaves. And he did preach, preaching to them the “natural equality of man.”
But this is not Samuel Sharpe’s story, this is July’s story, a woman born of a white overseer and a black slave.
The author, Andrea Levy, was born in England to Jamaican parents. Her writing is captivating, the story is poignant. She won the Orange Prize in 2004 for her book, Small Island, and I think that will be my next read.
Reserve a copy You will not be disappointed.
terri, February 26th, 2010
This battle played out for days on the marble table in my bedroom when I finally decided I needed to document it. Obviously the archer is there to guard the rosary and the knight is determined to win it for himself while Aslan looks on indifferently.
terri, February 25th, 2010
What a lovely day, our grandchildren brought carefully crafted valentines and Taite and Matthias woke up early and made some for us too. It was Sunday, it was Valentine’s Day and it was the one year anniversary of being in our new home. We needed to have a special meal.
We bought salmon and normally we just fire up the grill, rub the salmon with wonderful spices and grill it but we wanted a feast to celebrate this day and wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary so we made Coulibiac from a book I reviewed and like (and you can be assured that I reduced the recipe to its most streamlined form for you) from the Essential Rice Cook Book:
Coulibiac
2 oz. butter 1 onion, finely chopped
6 1/2 oz. mushrooms, sliced 2 T. lemon juice
7 oz salmon filet, skin and bones removed, cut into 5/8″ chunks
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped 2 T. fresh dill & parsley, chopped
1 C cooked long grain rice 1/4 C thick cream
12 oz block puff pastry 1 egg, lightly beaten or 2 T butter
1. Melt half the butter in a frying pan, add onion and cook until soft. Then add the mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl
2. Melt remaining butter in same pan, add salmon and cook 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add choppped egg, dill & parsley. Gently combine.
3. In a small bowl mix rice and cream, season with salt and pepper.
4. (This is where I took a little turn as you will see from my photos and used phyllo dough instead of the puff pastry.) Puff pastry is the authentic way to make this dish. but either way, you need a base dough of 7″ X 12″ rectangle placed on a baking tray. Spread half the rice mixture leaving a 1″ border all around. Top with salmon mixture, then mushrooms and finally remaining rice.
5. Place another 7″ X 12″ layers of phyllo or puff pastry on top, crimp or fold to seal. If phyllo, brush with butter; for puff pastry, brush with egg.
6. Bake 15 minutes at 415º, then reduce heat to 350º and bake another 15 minutes.
erin, February 24th, 2010
This past Saturday a few friends hosted me the most beautiful shower ever! It was a dressed up event starting at 5 in the evening complete with low-lighting, cocktail attire, and hor d’ oeuvres. One of the girls dreamed up three completely different mock-tail recipes and even made personalized labels for the “champagne” (I sampled all of them:). Along with the twinkle lights and candle lanterns hanging from the ceiling, they had also hung a string of onesies that guests could decorate.
The evening would not have been complete without a round of Celebrity– in this case, Famous Babies-Celebrity
Some of the guests got pretty competitive with their cloth diaper/onesie decorating… and I mean the two women standing beside me
Elephants, Tiny Republican gear and American flags made a generous showing among the gifts
Me with one of the fabulous photographers of the event (Tim’s mom also took some pics).
The smallest hostest and her mom
terri, February 23rd, 2010
terri, February 22nd, 2010
Taite had piano adjudication on Friday at 8:30 A.M. in a new location for me! So, naturally I was up late Thursday night studying the google map to chart my course. I decided to play fast and loose and only allow myself twenty minutes to be lost. Naturally on Friday morning at 8:15 A.M I was heading east when I should have been heading west, and sweating. Yep, here I was again behind the wheel and lost. Well, not entirely lost; I knew if we could just leap over the school and baseball field and reach the road on the other side we would be in the general area, but I just couldn’t find a street to take me there.
It just isn’t enough for poor Taite to have to be thinking about doing well on her piano pieces, she has to wonder if we’ll ever even get there!
I called Meghan, and if you know anything about Meghan and her ability to navigate, you will know it was a call of absolute desperation. I had called Andrew but he had already left to go haul yard stuff to the dump at our other blessed house and because he feels that cell phones are a ball and chain around his ear, refuses to own one, so there I was calling Meghan.
When I told her where I was, she exclaimed, “Oh no, mom, you can’t get there that way! You have to go behind Safeway, do you see Safeway?” She carefully meandered me there and we arrived a full seven minutes early.
After adjudication Taite and I went to get a different birthday present for Canon. The day before, because I was going to be sooooo on top of things I had bought Canon a gift and when I walked into the house with the super sized Tonka truck, Matthias took one look and said, “Canon already has one of those.” Taite later confirmed it when she walked in and saw it laying there, “Canon already has one of those.” ”So I’ve heard.” So, Friday morning after adjudication, we were going for something else.
Friday was going to be a full day. Meghan and her four and Caitlin and her two would be spending Friday night at our house Matthias had basketball practice, Taite had dance, Zac, Eric, and Matt B. would showing up to leave for Caitlin and Zac’s big move, making a grand total of thirteen for dinner. So as soon as I got back from my little adjudication and gift exchange excursion, I changed the sheets on beds and made a plan for dinner.
As evening arrived I was feeling pretty much on top of the situation, Matthias ate early and ran off for basketball practice, the moving truck arrived and those guys were ready for dinner so they could get going to Seattle and Taite was finishing her dinner. In the midst of all that shuffle, Taite and I left for her dance.
Now in the driver’s seat, I noticed the other garage door was open and pushed the ‘close’ button. The door started down but soon started back up and the light above the opener started f-l-a-s-h-i-n-g. That’s odd, but I continued to back out and then in a split second glancing over, I realized I had crunched Matthias’s scooter in the door and continued backing out and then, B-A-M! I backed into Meghan and Eric’s car. DANG! Pulling forward just a bit and turning left I s-m-a-c-k hit a bike in front of me.
I continued down the road and then called Andrew to tell him of the havoc I had wrought and that I’d be back in an hour.
caitlin, February 20th, 2010
It’s always a good time of the year for little gifts; hostess gift, birthday, anniversary, get well soon . . . . The Spoon Sisters have you covered for just about any occasion.
Best of all, they are offering you lovely pinkpeppers readers 10% off anything on the website.
Just enter the promo code: Pinkspoons at checkout.
Here are a couple things we flipped for:
 Adorable. This would make a cheery comfort all winter long.  Send your loved one out the door with his java and a little message for the day.  Who can resist a linen tea towel with embroidery and mini pom poms?
 Nesting pink flower bowls, functional prettiness! (They also come in adorable orange and yellow)
 Add a little bling to someone's life. . . for 5 bucks! Happy gift giving!
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