an evening walk





The other night was so beautiful, warm, and still.  So, my girls and I took an evening walk through the neighborhood.  Yes, this is our neighborhood, and we are thankful. every. day. 


Looking back at these photos I see traces of a little girl.  A little girl who won't be little too much longer.  Her legs are getting longer and skinnier.  She can do so many things on her own.


But she is still my baby, and always will be.  
And I will always be her mama.

when a surfer likes wood too

 I spent some time taking some photos of Mark in his second favorite place this afternoon. 
 He's been so crafty lately, in such a manly way, of course!

  His work space is so different than mine.  But so the same, too.  He has sawdust all over the floor, I have threads.  He has stacks of lumber, I have stacks of fabric.

 
His perfect weekend day starts off with an early morning surf, spending time with the family, 
and then into the wood shop.

He's busy making some surf toys I will tell you more about as they progress, 
and perfecting his bowl making on the lathe.

I love to see the notes he leaves for himself on scraps of wood.  
He brings these home all the time from work, too.  
My favorite was when he forgot his fork, 
and I found a stick of wood in his lunch bag that he used to eat his spaghetti with!

a mother's day story

I had a great mother's day last weekend!
  My family brought me home a Starbucks and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Then we decided to make our way up the coast with surfboards and hiking shoes packed.

 
The wave were too small for surfing, but I always love looking at all my favorite beaches.
We decided to keep driving a bit more, to get to the Salmon Creek Trail, on the south end of the Big Sur coastline, which is really just over an hour from our house!

The Salmon Creek Falls were just magnificent.  
Do you see my girls' little heads down there?  
After living close to 20 years either 
just north (Santa Cruz) or just south (Los Osos) of Big Sur, 
I have spent many many fun times there.  
It's so fun to start my girls' memories in this amazing place so early.
 
The hike to the falls is actually more like a rock hopping stroll.  It probably only took 15 minutes to get the waterfall.   Then we took more time walking down the stream, jumping rocks.  Daddy also gave little Ginger an impromptu boulder climbing lesson.  Lot's of big dark grey boulders, in this lush coastal forest.  My favorite part of the whole walk was listening to Ginger hum.  Her humming song would change as the hike got easier/harder.  She didn't even know she was doing it, but I was giggling the whole way!

On the way home there was only one thing left to do!  
Pull the car over for a little nap in the sun.

happy feet

 Yesterday was one of those days.  The girls knew exactly what to do with themselves.  What girl doesn't?  
The sun was shining in the afternoon sky.  The air was still and warm.  They all ran inside from the car ride home, grabbed the beach blanket, a snack, and headed for the backyard to soak up the day.

 The natural progression from sun soaking to pedicures is a phenomenon.  

 It can take quite some time picking just the right shade.
  Especially when you're relaxed.


These are some happy feet.

hello monday


hello back to work (or is that good bye spring break?)


 hello front porch flower garden showing it's spring colors.

hello spring cleaning!  I just love to purge.  This weekend I took 5 bags to the goodwill.

hello cassie from pop pilates.  These quick little ab workouts on YouTube are a must!

hello mint green toenails.  I borrowed this polish from my 7 year old.

hello my new favorite smoothie.  Mango, almond milk, plain yogurt, protein powder and spinach!

I'm linking up with Lisa Leonard today.  She posts a "hello monday" every monday and invites others to join her.  Lisa is a genuinely lovely lady from her head to her toes.  Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!




keeping a nature journal


 We just started today, keeping a nature journal.  I am so excited about this.  We did it for a little while when Ruby was in kindergarten, but it's time to start again, all of us.

 
 The idea is so simple.  To sit and observe nature, and to capture some bit of it, record a slice of time, a feeling, a new bud, a bird family...

We will grow and learn.  We will learn how to see, how to draw, how to hear, how to be quiet.  We will also learn to love nature and all the things it contains, to make life long friends with the birds, the plants, the water.

I am enjoying thumbing through Keeping a Nature Journal by Claire Walker Leslie and Charles Roth.  I am also reading Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola, to myself (and excerpts out loud to the girls).  It is a fictional account of a homeschooling mother and how they incorporate the art of nature study into their schedule.

weekending


We had such a nice, relaxing, rainy weekend.  Lots of inside time, with little hints of outside time.  I spent hours on the couch crocheting.  Perfecting some new crochet rosettes, and almost finishing the sweater I'm making for Ruby.  I had a great date with Ginger at the kitchen table, playing UNO while our lemon bars cooked.  We tooked a refreshing walk at the beach with some good friends, and met some new friends (missionaries from Ethiopia!).

Blue Corduroy's etsy shop is now stocked with some new girl's spring dresses.  Crochet Rosettes will be available soon.

I hope the new week goes well for you!

a quote to pause on {mark twain}

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
 

I feel very comfortable in saying that my husband and I are most often NOT on the side of the majority.  We tend to dance to the beat of our own drums (in what we do as a family, and what we do for ourselves).  I find that it can be both easy and hard to find yourself NOT on the side of the majority.  The easy part, is that you are doing what is right for you, what you were made for, and what suits you (and your family) best.  The hard part is that you have the majority looking at you, often even telling you, that you're going the wrong way.  It can be hard to not second guess who you are and what you do.  Thanks Mark Twain, for helping me feel that we're doing something right.

a yellow sweater for ginger

The last time I knitted a sweater was for my 13 year old neice when she was 3!  I had made a couple for myself before that.  And then I swore to myself, and made a pact with my mom that if we ever talked about knitting a sweater again we would hope the other would talk some sense into us so that we wouldn't actually try that again. 

So I didn't tell her this time.  And I found myself a good old vintage crochet sweater pattern for kids on etsy.  And I took it one peice at a time.  Enjoying the fact that I was making a sweater for my own daughter, one stitch at a time.

And she loves it!  And I love it!  And it fit just right!

Next one is for Ruby.  I'll keep you posted.

just a few things...

Here's just a few things that have already happened around here, are happening around here, or will be happening around here soon...



1) Already happened: Over our winter holiday, I upgraded our front porch chairs to these plastic adirondack loungers. (A big improvement, trust me). And I made them more comfy and inviting with these super duper easy envelope style closure pillows. This is one of my favorite places to "be" at home.

2) Happening today: We will be making these cute heart garlands in sewing class today. I just love watching the busy little fingers at work!

3) Already happened: I've recently finished a crochet lap blanket inspired by this one. I started it over a year ago. This is not normal for me. I am the kind of person who very diligently finishes every project I start, whether it's a good idea to or not.

4) Will be happening soon: I'm looking forward to playing at least one scrabble game with my good buddy, while our husbands watch the super bowl while our kids quietly play in the back ground. (this may be a bit of exaggerated bliss, but my rose colored spectacles are usually not far out of reach)

Have a good weekend!

point buchon

We took a family hike this weekend at Point Buchon. A very easy, family friendly hike. It was a beautiful day.



I so enjoyed watching Ginger giggle into her new walkie talkie, with Ruby at the other end. Some sweet friends just passed these on to us. So fun!



It was about 3 miles round trip, and basically hugged the coastline. The sparkles in the water were like diamonds! And to think, it's only 15 minutes away from home. Who's coming to visit?

i use cloth napkins because they're pretty




I like the way they look. They make all our meals feel special. They feel good on our hands and faces. And it's just what we're used to.

Because I use them for their beauty, I was very sensitive to the fact that ours weren't beautiful anymore. After many years of service they had become faded, stained, and worn. It was time to make some new ones.




Along with the vintage linen white napkins (still in their package) my neighbor gave me, I also made about a dozen or so colorful napkins. They are so easy to make. If you start with a fat quarter of fabric (18" x 18") all you have to do is hem the edges 1". They are also equally easy to buy premade!




I keep a small basket in the kitchen where we throw our used napkins (after they're actually dirty). Then I wash them about once a week. The girls fold them and put them away. We have a large stack (about 30) so there are always clean ones ready.

Do you use cloth napkins? What's your reason?

happy thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving we are spending the day with good friends. I'm thankful for this.
We'll hang out, relax, play some games. Thankful.
The sun is shining. Thankful.
We'll eat some really good food. Thankful.
I'm thankful that tomorrow will bring a whole new list of thankfulness.
Thankful.

finding a light in the darkness

Sometimes it just feels like the darkness is creeping in closer and closer. It's out there, it always is. But sometimes it feels a world away, and sometimes it's right outside your door. We have had lots of bad news lately. A bad diagnosis for a loved family member, friends in pain, children suffering, and just today, news of a death. My heart hurts for all my loved ones going through such dark times.

Sometimes, when the times are too dark, it's hard to see the light. The joy giving, hope producing light. I saw some today. When I watched out the window at the kids selling bouquets at the edge of the driveway. The light just poured into the window, and into my heart.

The darkness is still out there. But I can feel so much more prepared to battle it, when my heart is filled with light.

busy week #1




Busy week #1 is done and gone. We had a super fun time with lots of different family members coming for visits throughout the week. This mixed in with me getting ready for the Queen Bee Market made for a busy week indeed. I made a concious effort to enjoy the little outings we shared with our guests. Walks at the beach, sitting in coffee shops, enjoying meals together, playing scrabble, being silly.

We had a blast with our first visitors of the week, my cousins Megan and Shawna. Megan is one of my photo taking mentors. She has been playing around with making movies lately. She made one while they were visiting that made me smile the whole way through. You can see it here. Thanks for a fun weekend girls!

I am now starting busy week #2. I will be totally ready for a week of vacation and feasting next!

what are we busy about?

It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?

- Henry David Thoreau






I feel like I've been so busy lately, but when I think over the last few days, I wonder what's been keeping me so busy. Some good stuff, some bad stuff. Some productive, some time wasting. Some work some play. Some for me, some for other people. A whole bunch, and not a lot, all at the same time.


happy birthday mark!


Here he is in one of his favorite places. Shading his light aqua blue eyes from the bright fog. Deciding if these are the waves he's gonna surf, or if there's something better down the road.

I often think of him as a brave knight. Protecting his castle, his queen, and his princesses. He has the highest of virtues. The noblest of causes.

He is also a big teddy bear. The cuddliest. The warmest.

And perhaps above them all, a playful sea otter. Making sure to make his life, our lives, as fun as they can be.

Happy Birthday Marky ! I love you!!