SouleMama

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BloesemKids has a great new feature, 'Open House,' of which I am honored to be a guest today. There, you'll find some photographs and an interview about home and work that I did with Irene. It was lovely to spend some time thinking about these things, and to share a space with the other interviewed women and their beautiful homes. Thank you, Irene!

I wanted to take a few new photographs for that interview, and found myself uninspired at best. How many times have you seen my wood floors? A lot. Our house is small, our furniture is old and worn, and sometimes - just sometimes - I get a little tired of the looking at the same thing - and trying to find inspiration for photographs of it amidst the mess and the dust and the worn-out everything. Most of the time, I'm happy with all of this, of course. I love all the 'old' in our home, for so very many reasons. But sometimes, well...you know how it is.

So I asked the kids. What's your favorite spot in the house? And each of them - in turn - led me without a moment's hesitation to their 'favorite spots'. They weren't the spots I expected, and I guarantee that if I asked them the same question again today, it would be three different spots. But still - they had their spots, and oh, they do love them dearly. I took a photograph of each spot, printed them, and with a note on the back of each, popped them in their journals (otherwise known as a big box full of random things - some day I'll organize that) for them for later.

And with new eyes - as they give me so many times - I looked around and saw things just a little bit differently. It isn't just about the things or the space, of course, it's about what we do with those things and that space. And what we do in our home, is lots and lots of living. Like anything full of 'life,' it's always changing and moving to fit the kind of living we do in it at any given time. And while there may be little 'new' that comes into it, and it may not ooze of a magazine photo shoot, there is all that vibrant life that embraces me each time I walk in the door. And hopefully the same thing happens for my children - a deep and true knowledge that they are 'home'. I couldn't ask for anything more.

decking the studio

I'm sorry, I should have warned you before posting a scary sight like that. Isn't my studio looking fabulous these days? Ha. To be fair - it doesn't generally stay like this for more than a day. It's too small of a space for me to keep it in this state for too long - I start knocking over jars of buttons and tripping over iron cords - and well, that's no good. Rather counterproductive in fact.

So it got a little tidying yesterday, and then a little sprucing up for the holidays. I'm spending many wee hours of the night in here these days, so I figured it might as well look like the holidays in here.  (The socks - I have a feeling you'll ask -  are a pair my great grandmother knit for one of her sons in the war, but he came home before he could use them. Though, I'm not entirely sure how accurate that story is - my grandmother had a wonderful imagination. Regardless, I've always pulled them out at holiday time - you can't see the pretty red striped trim from this angle, but they're very lovely.)

I've been greatly inspired by all the lovely wreaths out there. Just a few - Alicia's, Manda's, Betz's, Aprill's and  Jen's (which I saw in person last night at Shop-a-do - they are lovely, indeed). So this is my little version - strips of fabric, rickrack, buttons, felt and ribbon wrapped and pinned around a foam wreath base. The bird ornament in the middle is from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I'm loving that book this season - I've been making lots of these birds to attach to gifts (oops - secret's out).

And now - back to the holiday crafting!

keeping warm

While we've also had some warm days, we've definitely felt the first real chills in the air this week. Slowly, I'm noticing the signs of the season happening inside too: the firing up of the wood stove; friends gathered round the fire for cozy visiting; rice pudding; wool slippers; soup nearly every night; hot cocoa; down comforters and flannel sheets; and lots of fireside knitting.

Keeping home. keeping warm.

yellow, in my studio

I hope you're having a lovely Sunday!

fresh corners

 
As we leave a season in which so much of our time is spent out - with our selves and our things scattered and in the open - we enter a new one in which we are quite literally closer together, our space tighter and our things nearer. We've been feeling the pull inside for a bit, and last week, there was a bit of rearranging to reflect that. The kind of living - play and work - that we do changes so very much from year to year and season to season at this point in our family life, and so, therefore, does our space.   

I carved out a little space for the playthings that are just now coming off the summer porch, where it's far too chilly now to play. The baskets will be pulled aside off the hearth once the wood stove really gets going for the season. Soon, I imagine.

So much watching and daydreaming happens right in front of those windows. Waiting for the birds, watching the leaves fall, and being surprised by visitors. With two little guys on the edge of reading by themselves (and one little girl who THINKS she can read All.By.Herself.) there's a lot more cozy, on the floor, snuggled up, solo reading happening here than we've ever had before.

And with the new nook came a new blanket. My sewing-for-pleasure time is limited at the moment, so this simple tied quilt was perfect. One little evening project for what will hopefully be a winter of cozy reading.

fall :: coming inside

from them to me :: pockets-full of inspiration and beauty in the form of nature bits - eagerly brought home from an afternoon walk in the woods.

from me to them :: bowls of comfort and sustenance in the form of homemade applesauce - warm and ready for arriving home from an afternoon walk in the woods.

Autumn...outside and in.

interruptions

Now you all know how it is that I get so very much done. I have a lot of help. He's good, isn't he? He's an amazing Papa, fabulous creative thinker and sounding board, perfect morning bed-peeler, and so very much more. Thanks for hosting him for the week - I think he liked it (enough that he's promised me he'll return in a month for my final deadline push). In the meantime, while I continue to work away on this manuscript, how about some back to normal crafts and a lot of photos around here for the month? Good, good.

The Creative Family was written almost entirely out and about - coffee shops, libraries, and anywhere else I could bum free wifi. But this second book - being primarily a craft book - has me running from cutting table, to sewing machine to computer constantly. And so home is where I'm writing, a couple of days a week. It is a lovely place to work, I will say. Home is good, but home is not without it's interruptions. Bless the man outside the door who creatively engages, plays, feeds and acts as goalie. But sometimes - one slips by him. Three, actually:

Calvin's interruptions usually involve sitting down quietly with me for a minute (they each have an ongoing project in my room for just such visits). And then...in the quietness of the studio and with the handwork of his embroidery, we have some really amazing chats about, well, life. Six year olds know a lot about life. Oh, yes they do. But then...sometimes he's also the bearer of the 'staff-splitting' questions (as we call them), such as, "Can I ride my bike without my helmet if I'm just going on the grass? I think Papa said I could." Uh-huh. Right.

Ezra - in the perfectly middle child way - first peeks through the keyhole of the door, then sneaks in (not so sneakily), standing in this little corner with a grin on his face until I acknowledge that he's there. At that point I'm usually met with a wonderful Ezra story, or a puzzle, or a question to ponder with much debate. Such as, "Mama. Would you rather be a pirate, or have a really really really big foot" Hmn...I'll think on that one.

Adelaide's specialty is a strong and fast push of the door open, a thundering of her usually naked body across the room to me, followed by a sweet, coy and hopeful (I swear those eyelashes are batting at me), "Milkey, Mama? Milkey? Now?" O-kay. If that doesn't work for her, she usually settles for a swipe on her way out the door of the size 50 knitting needles (really), chanting the pirate 'arghhh!' all the way.

Sometimes, I will admit, these little interruptions are frustrating, and working at home can be really, really hard on all of us. And I am eternally grateful for those moments when everyone is whisked away to the skate park, the woods, or to visit the grandparents and I can work in solitude. But sometimes? Working at home and all of it's many interruptions - is amazing. Amazing and full of good little unexpected moments that inspire me, make me laugh, and give me energy to keep going.

It's true. I've got a lot of help.

from my studio...

Thanks for your nice words about yesterday's shop things! I'm so pleased to see my quilts and smocks headed to their new homes. Friday afternoon, I'll be taking down whatever is left in the shop at that point, so that I may focus on other things. I appreciate all of your support!

{letterpress beauty from Yes Press}

{tote by Good on Paper, from Edith & Edna}

Above are some random scenes from my studio this morning. The studio in which I now need to hole myself up in. I'm nearing my manuscript deadline - yes, I'll be done writing the second book before the first is published. (So goes the book world, I'm told.) After a summer of dedicated work on it, and a generally confident feeling of being 'right on track' up until this point, I've now hit the inevitable six-weeks-till-deadline freakout. (I remember this from last time. And I'm told it's normal. Hmnn...) Yesterday, I read Stephanie (a role model for me in so many ways) talk of her own very close manuscript deadline as thus: "I am alternately cackling that I am so close to the end, and sobbing that I still have so far to go". Yes, oh, yes. Though I could use a little more cackling. Let's hope for more cackling.

So, diving in, I now go and focus much of my attention and energy, allowing myself tunnel vision for a short period of time (Family, Book. family, book. Everything else must wait). Mostly I'll be plopped in this spot above, laptop on the lap (yellow shoes nearby. Equidistant to the Green & Blacks. Necessities, you know), finishing things up and writing a book that I am most excited about. When not in that spot, I'll be trying my best to keep our family life as close to normal as possible, and soaking up as much as fall has to offer us -all while cleaning out our freezer of stocked-up, frozen meals; ignoring the laundry piling up around me; and giving daily thanks to my Mama and Saint Stephen (a.k.a. SoulePapa). Oh, and trying to keep my wits about me. Oh my. Lofty goals.

I won't be gone from here the whole time, but I will, for a short time, now turn over the blog to my very favorite guest blogger (and if we're lucky, guest 'bloggers'). Yay!!!!

Be well!!

autumn light & rhythm

Oh, that autumn evening light. Am I the only one who finds herself following it around her home? It's bittersweet, this fall light and the changes it brings, but there's comfort to be found in it, too. And so I follow it, and photograph it, and bask in it when I can.

With the changes in light, I feel the change in our rhythm too - the rhythm of home, work, play, and just 'being'. I'm in need of a little blog break as we transition seasons and all that comes with that. For the next couple of days, I'll be sharing photographs and few words. And next week, I'm happy to be turning over the reigns to my favorite guest blogger.

Be well, friends!

packing up, heading out

I spent a bit of time in my studio tidying up and playing with my camera yesterday. Even though my work time has been only occasional this month, I still spend at least a few minutes here at the end of the day - writing a blog post, straightening, staring at fabric (no, really), or checking in on the works-in-progress piles that aren't making much progress. No worries - the season will change soon, and I'll be cozied up in there getting lots done. For now, though, there are beaches to visit, and woods to play in.

Which is just what we're going to do for the next week. We'll be in the woods, by the campfire, and in the boat as much as we can. The kids have been counting down the days till this vacation for so long, and I'm right there with them (they packed their bags last Monday). Last night, I gathered my embroidery suitcase (still as jumbled as ever, it's just moved to a bigger case!), and pile of books - and have every intention of abandoning them if that's the way things go. Though, I do think a little embroidery at the end of the dock sounds quite nice. Or a book in the hammock. Oh, I can't wait.

I'll be back in this space on the 20th. Be well, friends!