Getting Close...

  (Whitie taste-testing homemade pie and ice cream that I made for a photo shoot for a recipe in the magazine)

Carpal tunnel setting in?

CHECK.

Butt asleep?

CHECK.

House a mess?

CHECK.


Garden still NOT planted?

CHECK.

Eben eating Sun Chips right out of the bag (for breakfast) because I am locked away typing?

CHECK.

But we are oh so close!

Around midnight tonight Bernadette, Heather, and I will all take a collective deep breath and hit publish on page after page of goodness.  

And then we will collapse.

It is all going to feel so amazing.

So, thank you for still visiting me and my slacker-blogger ways.  I've missed you.

I will be back if full effect at the end of this week.

XOXO,

Jules

The gardens and an apology...

I know that I promised some shots of the garden progress.

(Like weeks ago)

I can hear you....

"Whatever Julia...You are hardly around anymore.  You don't visit me, and if you do swing by, you are just a Peeping Tom....you never leave a comment anymore.  You don't even snuggle me at night?"


I know.


I know.


Bad blogger, BAD.


I'm sorry.

You see, I have a good excuse. 

My internet time is pretty soaked up for the next week or so by the magazine and then I promise that I will be back.  I am just getting my footing over at Rhythm of the Home with the sweetheart duo, Heather and Bernadette. 

They are being super slow and kind to me.... the magazine virgin that I am.  But it is a lot and I don't want to mess up.  I am learning so much. 

In a big way.

So, anyway enough excuses....Here is the garden as promised.

This was over a month ago.  I spent an entire day getting rid of the tall dead growth to make a clean slate for the perennials to breath in.

And of course, I wore my gardening uniform.

And I use the word uniform lightly here...

Translation....The most unflattering clothes that I can get my hands on.

Crocs, hideous cropped pants, floppy straw hat, ripped gardening gloves....and my most favorite thing to wear when I am home with no risk of being seen by anyone....

My white Hanes t-shirt sans bra.

Note to you all...don't come over without calling first. 

I am NOT a pretty sight.

I was pretty happy with my progress, but I really am not a huge fan of brown.

Blah.

So, you can imagine my excitement when signs of life began sprouting from our perennial circle.

My peonies to remind me of my Gram.

Bachelor Buttons that remind me of pineapples.

Strawberry blossoms that intertwine with the mint that threatens to take over.

(I don't mind)

And when you nurture those signs with a bit of sun, a bit of snow, and a bit of water over the course of a month...you end up with something pretty darn green.

I can't wait until the flowers blossom, so that I can fill little vases with them to sniff in every room of the house.

Now, after that lovely story of progress in the outdoor growing season.  I must report that the indoor greenhouse did not fare as well.

Thanks to these two innocent looking scally-wags.

Don't let the peaceful faces fool you....They have been up to NO GOOD.

Do you remember how much Gracie LOVED that seed paper that I made?

Well, apparently she happens to REALLY like how those seeds taste once they turn into healthy green sturdy seedlings.

Who knew that cats had such sophisticated palates?

Seedlings that were just about ready to transplant into our freshly tilled and weeded vegetable garden that wehad just filled with two truck loads of compost.

Why cats?


WHY?


So, now I ask.  Won't you show me pictures of your garden?

And while you are at it.... why don't you regale me with your own stories of rotten kitties, or touchy-feely kids, or even deer who wrecked your own growing harvest.

I'm in the mood to commiserate.


Who's with me?

XO, Jules

This Moment...

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Soule Mama

See you on Monday.

From our fabric stash....to your's!

With the first local Farmer's Market happening this past week, Laura and I have been a bit reminiscent of the days of old.  The days FULL of sewing like whirling dervishes in anticipation of an upcoming Market.

Every day Laura and I stare at our stacks of fabric... willing it to magically begin to organize itself into neat stacks of calm.

NO SUCH LUCK

Well, we finally decided to take matters into out own hands.

We filled the floor of my living room with fabric scraps and sat down on pillows and organized it all. We snipped and folded every decent size scrap into nice piles of colorful goodness.

And then we had an idea.

Get RID of it!

So, since neither of us are quilters, we decided to just sell off the scraps and make room for larger cuts of fabric to make things with.

Organized into colors and a mix of all sorts of cuts of sizes there are three in total.

 The blues

The pinks

Kids prints

So, in celebration of having a summer to be with our kids instead of being slaves to our sewing machines, we are selling it off.

And in celebration of my Followers reaching 100!  (WOW, how fun is that?) we would like to offer our readers of our blogs, (either her's or mine) free shipping ( US ONLY) if you would like any of the stacks.

All you have to do is leave a note saying who you follow in the note to seller over on Etsy!

So stop on over to the store, the details on the stacks are there but in general there are all sorts of wonky cuts, but it is all a mix of cotton, some vintage, and a whole lot of pretty prints.
 

 PS, have you joined the SEWING CIRCLE yet?  I'm there, and so are a bunch of my friends.


My dreams were answered with it's creation!

XO, Jules

Now that's more like it...

Yesterday, my parents returned from a two week trip to Aruba and apparently they smuggled some sunshine in their carry on luggage.


I was surprised that they were able to get through Customs with it.

But, I AM thankful.

Today was heavenly.  

Eben went for his maiden fishing trip with his Daddy this morning and left me to my own devices at home.  Whatever will I do?  Well, I spent it by going for a walk down to the river and then I went to get groceries.  They returned a few hours later with reports of " a few nibbles, but no takers."  Oh well, there is always next time and he had fun at any rate and was in a terrific mood for the rest of the day. 

We went to a fundraiser pancake breakfast with my sister and our boys and filled my belly with syrupy waffles and sausage.  Yum.  While I was there Laura inspired me to start a new crochet project.  Something quick and handy.... a cotton wash cloth.

We went back home and went inside long enough to grab my thrifted picnic blanket and some other supplies.  With plans of staying out for the remainder of the day, I came prepared....my crocheting, a stack of sewing inspiration, and a Mason jar of water.

While Eben played knight and climbed trees with his sword.

 I continued on with my crocheting, less than an hour.... I was done.

With a ton of time left in the day, I scoured through my stack and found just the inspiration that I was looking for.

Sewing funk averted, Thank you Stitch!  

And just when I was ready to pack it all up, we were joined by my other boy. 

And so we laid down together under the last little bit of warming sun and let our souls absorb the happiness that the sky had to offer.

See you this week with some of that sewing goodness!

This Moment...

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Soule Mama

I found some blossoming trees.  

Yes, I may have had to travel to a different town to find them.....

But, find them....I did!

Sorry, I've been M.I.A.  I've been swamped with life.  Not bad swamped, just busy swamped.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Gifts...

 The snow is really taking it's toll on our gardens...and my psyche come to think of it.  

I swear, I don't remember a spring like this one...EVER.

Luckily, after a trying day with the boys, cooped up indoors, Fran came home and took over for a while, letting me do some things for me.


Ahhhh, so much better.

I was snuggled up in my big big bed listening to the wind whistle and watching the flurries coat every surface in sight, when a little boy suddenly appeared at my side, holding a bag full of goodness with a grin the size of a mountain plastered to his face.

" Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!  I made you something."

And so I opened my gifts one by one.

 First up was a beautiful portrait of me.   

The resemblance really is uncanny, don't you think?

 And then I opened my card.

Tear.

And then came the book of why he loves me and things that we do together.

Yes, he does.


and....

I guess our secret is out.

Oh, and I forgot, the entire time that I was opening things and reading them Eben was fanning me with this.

I felt like Cleopatra.

And as if all of that wasn't enough, there was more.

A pair of bejeweled flip flops, hand tied with fabric scraps...just my size.

 And my most favorite gift of all.

A Mother's Day candle made by my boy with love.


 I could just kiss his Kindergarten teachers.  

They are so obviously mothers.

I hope that you all had as happy a Mother's Day as I did.  You are all so special.

Happy Mother's Day...

On a day when the boys are driving me a little more than batty, and the snow is flying again....I needed a reminder.  

I found it.

Remember THAT moment.

Whether you lived it once or twenty times.  

Remember it always.


The moment that you became who you were meant to be.

Happy Mothers Day my friends.

This Moment...

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Soule Mama 

 

 

Guess what I'm doing today?

Aprons are where it's at....

I've had a hankering to sew myself an apron for a while now, but I just had no idea how to go about it.  I knew that I didn't want it to have a ton of frills and lace and poof, but going about making it was something that I just couldn't figure out.  Straps and ties and waist positioning, let alone getting the optimum length.  It was a little daunting.

But the other day, I just went for it. I set about making my first apron...I knew that I wanted it to be reminiscent of Meg's gorgeous Emmeline Apron, but you know me and patterns. I just can't follow them. So, I grabbed an empire waist dress that I liked the cut of and decided to model the apron after that.  Minus the sleeves and the back... Plus a waist strap.  Completely haphazard and un-patterned .... just the way I like it.

See....it is daunting!

I had some extra sheets left over from my adventures in rug making and a few packages of bias tape.  I knew that I wanted it to be reversible like Meg's and that I wanted the tie to be able to tie on either the front or the back.

Unfortunately, the first one that I made was a bit on the small tip.

I guess I misjudged my own girth.

You see, I am what you would call a "substantial" sized girl.  I am 5ft 8inches and weigh (as my husband puts it)...."A BUCK FORTY" (translation for those of you not versed in REDNECK-ese is 140lbs give or take).. Complete with a butt and hips, my torso is on the long side and I have a really small chest.

I am woman, hear me ROAR!

So, my first apron pattern was an exercise in learning my shape.

I didn't give myself enough length on the waist ties so I was not able to tie it in the front as I had hoped.

And the chest was too big and low cut.

 I wasn't too keen on the squared off bottom either.

But I LOVED the color combination and the length was perfect in the dress part.... It was a start, and at least I got the gist of what it all entailed.

So, the next day, I used the first apron as a template for the new one and tweaked what I needed to to get it just right.

And I did....almost.

I rounded out the dress curves and added a few inches to the width of the skirt to allow for my hips.

I really fell in love with the green sheet contrasted with the purple and the floral sheet on the other side.

I raised the empire waist to give myself more coverage for my ample barely-B-bosom.
(hee hee hee)!!!!

And, my most favorite part was the fact that I made the ties long enough this time, so that I could tie it in the front...OR the back.

I made one other one using a combination of the two patterns for my twinnie and I am working on a tutorial for yet another design using two pillowcases, but for now I am just happy to get out into the garden with my sweet apron now that all of that snow has finally left.

I'll show you more on the garden soon, It's changing day by day.

Lots of hugs, Julia.