scenes from the nest: stripes
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Happy Father’s Day weekend to all of you! What are you doing to celebrate all the father-figures in your lives?
Here are some links to keep you clicking on over the weekend. Enjoy!
- 101 Things To Do With Your Toddler. Need I say more?!
- I like the way they’ve organized this toddler-friendly AND baby-proof creativity corner.
- Looking for something new to do with radishes? Try this roasted radish & asparagus salad. Yum.
- Need a fresh new look on your desktop? Try one of these free Pantone desktop wallpapers – my new one is orange! Too bad you can hardly see it as it’s covered in chaos.
- Kate from Minieco has THE BEST ideas. A site filled with fun, beautiful opportunities for me to go “wow, why didn’t I think of that?!” These colored pencil necklaces are just so darn cute.
- Doesn’t rhubarb/rosemary jam sound good? I might have to make a batch this weekend…
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your Papas, Dads, Daddys, Fathers & Grandpas!
Win a trip to Paris!
Sorry, lovelies, I am not giving a trip away. But it’s true, Jordan IS giving away a trip for two to Paris. Enter to win here. Heck, someone has to win so why not you? Contest ends Monday, June 20 so click on over. It’s really so easy to enter – do you have 30 seconds? Thought so.
the iris farm
Did I tell you we now have a two year old living with us, who sometimes turns into the Tasmanian Devil when tired/hungry/over-stimulated/doesn’t get what she wants? Oof. We really needed to get out of the house yesterday for a change of attitude and perspective. And a trip to the iris farm worked. For about an hour of the day, yesssss! She decided to leave her grumpy pants at home and we had a great time. She had another melt-down in the garage when we got home, but then promptly slept for two hours after that, so that but-I-WANT-to-drive-the-car-NOW, Mama!!! meltdown can be forgiven. But obviously not yet forgotten. Sigh.
Yesterday, I wished that I too could’ve been 35″ tall so I could wade through a forest of irises. Then sit and pull them toward me, letting the smell fill up my entire face.
What did you do this weekend, lovelies? This is the first official week of summer vacation here in northern Michigan and it’s a near-perfect day. Looking forward to playing at the park this afternoon with my little birdie. And eating a popsicle. Or two.
{this moment} first beach day 2011
{this moment} inspired by Soule Mama. A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Earlier this week, we couldn’t take the mid-90s anymore and we headed to the beach for an evening swim. First beach day of 2011, woot woot! Hard to believe it even happened because–I kid you not–I am in wool, jeans and a scarf today. It dropped 45 degrees in about twelve hours after that steamy evening. Northern Michigan, you don’t fail to keep me on my toes.
Have a wonderful weekend, lovelies!
“but it’s only $5!”
Lovelies, are you like me? Do you often spend money on things that are “only $5!” ? Man, it adds up. If I did that every time I went into a store, which I often do, that would be about three times a week X 52 weeks. Geesh, that’s just about a plane ticket to get me the heck out of here in March. Ahem.
So I thought it would be fun to have a little reminder card to curb this kind of consumer spending. Remember that William Morris quote? “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Do you agree?
I mostly agree with it, but it’s also this sentiment that is a problem right now: girl, you really don’t have the money to spend on even the “but it’s only $5 items!” And where will I put it or who will clean it and what happens to it when it’s not wanted in our nest anymore? So here goes…
I designed it so it’s a simple business card sized card and can easily fit in front of my credit cards and cash. I might even stick one to my debit card…
Could you use one of these too? Well, you’re in luck. I made a (free!) printable download for you in PDF format. Simply print a sheet (cover stock would be best, but whatever paper will certainly do) and trim down using the crop marks. There are ten on a page. Too many? Pass a few out to friends or leave a few at the Starbuck’s counter…
Click here to download the PDF file: DoIReallyNeedItCards
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This is my first crack at printable downloads. What else would you like to see in this format, lovelies? Thanks to my dear friend, Kristen, for the great idea and the encouragement from my Facebook friends. Cheers!
have you seen Wren?
:: wordless wednesday with wren ::
it’s a…
thumb-sucker! Sorry, lovelies, we didn’t find out the sex of the baby yesterday, although truth be told, this Mama kind of wanted to know this time around. But Chris wanted to wait so we agreed not to find out. Plus the tech said that the baby had its legs crossed anyway, so it would’ve been difficult to find out. It was just meant to be. The surprise at delivery IS fun too, isn’t it?
More importantly, however, the baby looks healthy. All is well. Keep on, keepin’ on.
rhubarb gelato
Wow, what a weekend: sunny & 70s, lots of outdoor fun and projects, time with our family, no commitments. Yessssss. One of the highlights of our kick-off to summer weekend was taking a trip to our farmer’s market and loading up on rhubarb. I think rhubarb is one of those love/hate foods. Me? Love. In many forms I like to consume it, but I’m always looking to try something new with it.
Strange side story: we had a rhubarb plant growing here at 605 and harvested some of it last year, but this year, it’s completely gone. And in its place? About 6-8 fern plants. It’s almost like someone came and dug up the rhubarb and replaced it with a mini forest of ferns. I love the ferns so I’m not really complaining, but where-oh-where did our rhubarb go? The ferns marched on over from our neighbor’s ferny corner, so no real mystery there. Did you take my rhubarb, lovelies?
OK, back to our regularly scheduled program…
So my Mom bequeathed us with her ice cream maker last weekend (thank you!) and I loaded up on four pounds of local rhubarb. Things were beginning to come together… I decided to embark on this simple recipe for rhubarb gelato. It sounded perfect – easy and refreshing. Do you like Sweet Tarts? Yeah, me too. You’ll probably really enjoy this one then.
We all did. The little birdie kept saying, “sour,” but she continued to eat most of her cone. It has such an intense flavor that it’s very satisfying. Enjoy!
How do you like to eat rhubarb? Do you have a good strawberry/rhubarb pie recipe and if so, will you share it with me?
Happy Monday!
A large heirloom tomato
So *they* say that little birdie #2 is now roughly the size of a large heirloom tomato. I found this old photo of Wren with one of last year’s tomatoes from our garden. I’m hoping she doesn’t bite the baby when it arrives, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised…
We’ve got our ultrasound today – please send lots of good karma out into the world that all will be well. Given our history, I’m a tad nervous. And no, sorry, we won’t be finding out whether it’s a boy or a girl. We love the surprise when the baby is born. You’ll just have to wait for about twenty more weeks like the rest of us.