Snoodle

Real men wear bacon

I am so fortunate that my family is all in the same state.  Actually, we're within an hour of each other.  It's a big family with the four of us children, spouses, our children, and an uncle Rob.  (everyone should have an uncle Rob).  For Christmas, each adult draws another adult's name and the cousins draw names.  This year, Nora drew Ben's name.  Ben is twenty-one so she wasn't as inspired as she may have been with her three-year-old cousin.  But I was.  Ben loves bacon, and Ben has a great sense of humor.  I knew he'd love, or even better *wear* a bacon scarf.

I forgot how easy it is to work with fleece.  Maybe the layer of grease helped it slide through my sewing machine.  In any case, I discovered the bridging stitch, and it worked perfectly.  It also made a reversible scarf so there was no special finishing needed.   My initial fleece purchase was the white, pink and some brown, but the brown wasn't right.  It looked like neopolitan ice cream with the other colors.  So, I ordered "dark burgundy" online from Joann's. I thought I would have used more of the pink, but I like just the little hint.  I did lots of research on bacon online and in the skillet.   I think it looks pretty realistic.  Ben makes it look delicious.

Pulling. It. Off.

 

 

All Aboard the MealTrain!

My neighbors are an eclectic mix. We've got a professional photographer, massage therapist, home schoolers, a folk music radio host, a landscaper, a math teacher, bakers, bikers, and a smattering of lawyers, dishwashers, and actors. A little of everything. They're an incredibly generous group of people who are active in many areas of the community. This is the 'hood where The Front Porch Forum started. It keeps us informed about events  going on in the neighborhood - from garage sales to school plays. We get updates from police and firefighters about how to keep our homes safe as well as anything else that might be specifically important to our area of town.  The forum helped me pass on my old quilting magazines to a new quilter, and it helped me to get many copies of the local newspaper when Nora was in it last December. There is some serious genius coming from this neighborhood (I hope it wafts over to my side of the street) because recently, my neighbor, Michael, came up with another great idea: the much needed MealTrain website.  It takes all the organizing, calling, and stress out of creating meals to give to family or friends in need of casseroles (or something perhaps more appetizing). In fact, the person launching the MealTrain can list the kinds of foods that the family enjoys along with any allergies or other notes.  I'm predicting this *free* website will soon be seen on many shower invitations. What a great site to help families with a new baby, a family member serving in the military, illness, a lost loved one, or new to the neighborhood.  The site is extremely well thought-out. It even includes points of etiquette reminding you to label your containers, include cooking directions, and how long to stay at drop-off! If you're on facebook, it would be easy to round up a lot of folks to start cooking. You can learn a little more about MealTrain there, too.   So, spread the word and make someone's life just a little easier.

My Punny Valentine

I like Valentine's day with it's glittery, lacy, fancy handmade cards heavy with glue, the flowers in the middle of February (which I only get to enjoy because my father delivers for a local florist) and the CORNY puns!

I will admit that I do like a little present... something special, but not necessarily expensive.  Thrifting gives me a bigger thrill than jewels.  Lucklily, my husband shares my frugal sensibilities.  I knew he would appreciate this thrift shop find by Copco from around 1969.  It went perfectly with the groovy tablecloth that I found.  We have a serious love of cheese so I thought it would make a fun gift.  Here's what I wrote in the card:

I'm so FONDofUE

CHEESY, I know...

But my heart MELTS for you.

I wasn't really expecting a gift from my husband, maybe a "Doggone It,  please be my Valentine!" card with puppies on it.  But David, got me something really wonderful - really, better than a fondue pot!  Nora knew about it before hand and couldn't help but to give me a clue: "It starts with a 'sh' blend and is a compound word."  (Kindergarten, seriously!)

It is oh so warm and cozy!  It's the one that I admired in the Mountain Vewe Coopworths' booth at the  wool and sheep festival.  I brought the information home... and forgot about it.  David kept the farm's card but "lost" it.  After tearing apart his office for weeks, (so that's what he was doing) he found it on Thursday (in his backpack of all places!) and ordered it right away.  It arrived on Saturday!  It was so nice to get it for Valentine's Day.  It's just perfect for a snoodle - Nora fell asleep on it minutes after it was out of the box!  I had to wait a couple of hours before I could really check it out.  If you're interested in supporting a great great Vermont farm, I would highly recommend them.  This skin is so thick and soft!  They also sell freezer lambs, roving and hand dyed yarn.  I'd be happy to share contact information if you're interested.  Sadly, this gift did not come with a punny card, but I'll share my thanks to my beloved:

Thank EWE for the gift

It's not BAAd

Wool you be mine?

I hope you all had a weekend full of love, doilies, and laughter!

A Weekend With Mr. Bear

 

Leaving the Nest

While August has just begun, yesterday we officially celebrated our farewell to the Preschoolers who are on their way to Kindergarten.  Eleanor has been at the center since she was only weeks old along side many of these graduates... and me.  When she started at the center at only a couple of months old, I was one of the Preschool teachers.  It has been a delight to be so close to her while working.  I've been available to nurse when she needed, kiss any necessary injuries, play while we're outside, receive still wet art projects.  There have been times when I've had to ignore tantrums that I've heard coming from her classroom or make sure that she tells one of her teachers if she's going to play in my classroom.  It's certainly a different way of parenting.  Balancing.  Letting go.  I'm so grateful to all of her teachers with their different personalities and interests for helping to nurture my daughter while appreciating my own parenting style. 

Wow, that's, um, some cake!  Yes, it does read "Congratulations Kindergartiners" with an i.  You may not be able to see because it's crawling over the edge piping.  I'm not sure if it's Cake Wreck worthy, but it made the grown-ups laugh.  Fortunately, none of the 'Kindergartiners' can read yet.

They were also too busy pelting each other with water balloons.

We wanted to give a little gift to the Preschool that would be useful and remind them of Eleanor.  So, we had to go with the sheep theme.  I made 'three bags full' of wool using this tutorial.  Before I sewed on the lining, I appliqued the sheep using lite steam-a-seam 2 and zig-zagged around the edges.  I was stuffing the wool: black, white, and colorful (hence the different colors of sheep) while we were heading out the door to go to the party.  So, I didn't get a chance to take a great photo.  Though, I think this is enough to give you an idea of what the bags look like.

We also gifted a copy of Pelle's New Suit, one of our very favorites.  If you look closely, you can see that Eleanor is sopping wet while sitting on her teacher's lap.  Now, that is the kind of devotion that I hope every young child has the opportunity to feel.

Bonsai BBQ

We had a lovely time cooking at the twelfth annual Green Mountain Bonsai Society BBQ at Mill Brook Bonsai in Jericho.  Okay, David had a lovely time cooking while I enjoyed the scenery and cut veggies and hamburger buns!  This is another one of those places in Vermont that makes me happy just being among the trees- both big and little!  David's mother is an amazing gardener and has been an active member of the bonsai club since her kids got her a bonsai years ago.  We've been at this event since before we were married.  Eleanor made it there when she was about a month old... I was of little use that year!   This event is a showing of the members' trees, and there are demonstrations of how to shape them.  Eleanor was fascinated with the wiring.  Some of the trees are being seriously trained and almost every branch has wire wrapped around to direct its growth.  Some of the larger trees can take weeks to wire.  You don't have to have a lot of patience to 'do' bonsai... it teaches you patience!

Guess who forgot her camera!  

Thankfully, my mother-in-law let me borrow hers and took some good photos, too.

 The borrowed Coleman 'Road Trip' grill was not what David's used to cooking on.  It's more like a double camp stove, but it worked well for the chicken.  It's red so I was totally digging it.  My shirt peeking out of my April Cornell apron (why haven't I made my own?) is a Built by Wendy that everyone seems to have in their wardrobe.  I changed to bottom hem to curve around my big ol' hips.  The fabric is a vintage sheet.  I'm loving old sheets right now.  Cool and crisp: just what I need as the weather heats up.

A big bonsai.  I'd tell you about it, but since I didn't take the picture...  Next year, really.  I'll take notes to go with my fancy photos.

 

Nora was really excited to see the 16 year-old coy.  Here she is with Sandy Anderson, the owner of Mill Brook Bonsai, feeding the fish.  They ring a big bell on the side of the greenhouse, and the coy come swimming over to be fed.  It amuses Nora to no end!

Nora's job is to butter the corn.  Is it any wonder that we put the tip jar next to her?  I made the hat and apron as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago  The hat band is adjustable so that she'll get lots of years out of it.

We found this little snake slithering under the trees.  When David moved to Vermont from Alaska when he was eleven, he had never seen a snake.  They moved into their grandparents' farm and there were snakes all over.  He would pick one up, and it would bite him.  He'd pick up another, and it would bite him, and on and on.  Don't let this photo fool you.  There is no quick-take-a-picture-I'm-holding-a-snake photo following this one.  This is as close as he got.  Some memories just stay with you!