Sometimes I’m amazed at what shows up at thrift stores. The other day when we were in Wisconsin, I ran to the thrift store hoping to find a pair of pants for my oldest boy. I of course got sidetracked by the girls dresses and found this beauty. It is a Marks and Spencer’s school uniform dress from the 90’s. It is almost identical to the one I wore when I went to school in England, except for mine was brown and white. As it was a size 5 (just like my daughter) and in pink (her favourite colour), how could I resist. 
It goes perfectly with the little hand sewn vintage slip I also found her in a different thrift store in town. I just love when I find things that bring back such wonderful childhood memories for me, and to see the joy a new pink dress and pretty slip brings to my daughter is great.
thrift store finds, travelling • Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 • 12 Comments »
Hubby and the kids surprised me on Mother’s Day with a new 35mm lens for my camera. I am loving it, and having lots of fun playing around with it. I am not often completely surprised, but they completely floored me with this gift. I plan on getting out here in the next few days and really giving it a go. We are now on the second leg of our journey, and after a day of driving, we are at Hubby’s parents’ house. The weather is much warmer, so I am looking forward to not having to wear a sweater, plus it will mean getting the kids out of the house more as well. Well, it’s late, and I am bushed. The babe is pretty tired too, so it’s time to go to bed. Things will be calmer here than they were last week for the wedding, fewer people, more bathrooms (one for 15 people at one point), and some more outdoor space to play. Hope you are all having a great week, with some cheery spring weather as well.
gifts • Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 • 8 Comments »
I am so very excited about a project I have been working on, but shhhh, it’s a secret. I do hope to unveil it all after we get back from our trip, around the first week in June. Hope all the mamas out there had a wonderful day yesterday!
crochet, green • Monday, May 10th, 2010 • 4 Comments »
After we had two boys, I was very excited about having a girl, so I took every opportunity to gussy up her clothes. The babe is now old enough to wear some of her old clothes, so after a quick rummage through some rubbermaid containers, I had some summery clothes for our trip. These started out as a pair of plain overalls that were just a tad too small. I chopped off the bottoms of the legs, and shortened them to capri length and added some pretty ruffles…. 
and to the front I added a pretty little faux dress. I love the way it turned out, especially as I had been winging it. The babe loves it as well and kept walking around saying “pretty”. Well, today is the wedding, and it is pretty dreary and unfortunately rainy. We’re hoping that the weather will perk up as the wedding is outdoors. Regardless, it should be a beautiful wedding and we’ll have some hot coffee to keep us warm. To all the mama’s out there, Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll see you next week.
sewing • Saturday, May 8th, 2010 • 5 Comments »
While we were driving through Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin, I saw many, many patchwork quilts. Some were wavy, some solid, some stripey, and some full of patches. Only this time, they were all fields instead of fabric. They sure were pretty.
nature, travelling • Thursday, May 6th, 2010 • 4 Comments »
Well, I was hoping to post this morning, but time got away from me, so let me fill you in on our next month. We are off on a month long trip, with our first stop being my sister-in-law’s wedding. We’re headed back to Wisconsin to the town where Hubby and I spent our first several years of marriage, and the same town where both of our boys were born. I haven’t been back in 6 years, so I am looking forward to it. After spending a week there, we are going to head down to Hubby’s parents house to visit with them for another week. When we leave them, we will be headed out to the East coast to spend two weeks at the shore visiting my dad. We haven’t been on a trip this long ever, I think. It should be lots and lots of fun. For the first two weeks we will have regular internet access so I do plan to keep posting regularly, but I’m not sure about the last two weeks. We’ll have to see what we can figure out for the internet. At the moment I am typing in a pitch black hotel room as all the kiddos are sleeping after being stuck in the car for eight hours, then promptly getting all of the wiggles out while swimming for a long time at the hotel pool. Though I don’t really love being in the car for that long, the further east we move, the weather is getting warmer, the wind is dying down, and there are more and more trees and green signs of spring. Even some gorgeous roadside flowers along the way. Well, I’m pretty bushed as well, so I’ll say goodnight. Have a great day, and I’ll fill you in on our adventures here soon. Be forewarned though, you’ll be seeing quite a few pictures of animals, clouds and scenery here for the next few days.
family, travelling • Monday, May 3rd, 2010 • 6 Comments »
Have a great weekend, everybody! Do try and get out and enjoy some of the natural world around you. Now only if this snow and wind would stop…..
nature • Saturday, May 1st, 2010 • 2 Comments »
I believe there is beauty in aging. Natural beauty that is considerably more valuable than eternal youth. Years of working hard and taking care of families weathers hands, but oh the stories they tell. Decades of laughter and smiles etch laugh lines into faces telling memories without saying a word. 
I think it is so sad that so much of our society values youthful looks (even if they are fake and look completely plastic) over what is a natural process. There is wisdom and beauty in aging that you just don’t get with youth, and I for one do not fear getting older. 
That being said, I am going grey, and pretty quickly. I am 32 years old. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet. To be honest, it doesn’t really bother me yet, but at the rate it’s going I could be completely grey within the next year or so. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I think that older women with grey hair look beautiful, but I don’t quite think I’m old enough to be completely grey. Perhaps that is hypocritical, I’m not sure. Either way, I’ll deal with it as it happens, but the thought of dying my hair with a bunch of chemicals just makes me shudder. Who knows, maybe it’ll stop changing, and then I won’t have to deal with it. I guess we’ll just wait and see.
family • Friday, April 30th, 2010 • 21 Comments »
Here’s another one, Jamie’s pot roast meatloaf, and boy was it good. I promise, I do cook from other cookbooks and other recipes, but this is another one in my streak of excellent recipes from Jamie’s Food Revolution. 
What can I say, the man loves chickpeas, which makes me a huge fan of his food. They are my all time favourite bean, and I really do love them in this meatloaf sauce. The meatloaf was truly delicious with the chunky sauce and bacon, served up over mashed potatoes with some peas on the side. Yum, another scrumptious dinner. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough leftover to have meatloaf sandwiches with. I know meatloaf can be a heated debate. Do you love it or hate it?
books, food • Thursday, April 29th, 2010 • 7 Comments »
Sometimes I’m amazed at what shows up at thrift stores. The other day when we were in Wisconsin, I ran to the thrift store hoping to find a pair of pants for my oldest boy. I of course got sidetracked by the girls dresses and found this beauty. It is a Marks and Spencer’s school uniform dress from the 90’s. It is almost identical to the one I wore when I went to school in England, except for mine was brown and white. As it was a size 5 (just like my daughter) and in pink (her favourite colour), how could I resist. 
It goes perfectly with the little hand sewn vintage slip I also found her in a different thrift store in town. I just love when I find things that bring back such wonderful childhood memories for me, and to see the joy a new pink dress and pretty slip brings to my daughter is great. 
