SouleMama

a little bit better

So yeah, the couch remains. Despite many frequent and lovely emails from you all linking me to my 'dream sofa' on your local Craig's List (but giving me hope that they're out there!), I have yet to find one here. No worries...this one, still going strong, is growing on me again.

Last week, I had an 'aha!' moment about that couch. Settling in to read a story, I repeatedly 'fluffed' the cushions as I habitually do, trying to make room for, well, me. "It's the cushions!" I jumped up and announced to the kids who stared back at me blankly. But it's true! The big overstuffed, always falling over, getting in the way, and highly irritating cushions that sat along the back - they were the problem with the couch (well, one, anyway). With great happiness at the sudden realization, I ditched them. And swapped them out in favor of a few big pillows I had around the house. (And then I sat back down and read the book, much to their relief.)

I needed just two more - so, with the pillows from the recent Toast Home catalog fresh in my mind, I made this little set. From two old and thrifted wool blankets I had already cut into for another project. None of the buttons match, and I'm kind of liking that. They're all old. And brown. And the whole thing feels comfortably simple and easy. As does the couch...just a little bit more now.

gaming

We've happily entered a new phase here - one where everyone who wants to can be involved in some way in a family game, without the fear (albeit temporarily) of anyone actually eating the game pieces. With a season of maturity, our doors have opened up beyond Go Fish and Memory (though those still stick around too), and the family game range is happily being expanded. As the flurry has picked up in recent weeks, I've been cleaning out our game cabinet - rotating some things in and out, and taking stock to see what we might want to pick up for the winter months ahead. There's a healthy mix of the classics (this year we've happily entered the world of checkers and chess), and some more contemporary favorites, too. I compiled some of those in the SouleMama BookShop on Amazon so you can take a peek if you'd like.

I have to say though that some of the most entertaining of family games are the ones the kids make up. Sometimes I'll pick up a game at a yard sale when the 25cent price tag makes the possibility of missing pieces a risk I'm willing to take, only to find out that it's not complete when we get home. Instead of tossing the whole thing, I save out the best 'pieces' and gather them all in a tin together. Along with marbles, rocks, and other bits of things, these become the inspiration and tools of many a child-made game.

Rat-to-Cat is a new favorite, made by Ezra and based (very) loosely on Rat-a-Tat-Cat. An afternoon with some paper, pencils, acorns, a tea box, and some laminating paper, and voila - a new family game! Just watch out for that "Instructions" sheet...the rules seem to change each time we play the game. Hmn...

And Make-Your-Own-Memory, made this weekend. We ran out of laminating sheets (the horrors!), so I guess that's just what we'll be doing today. I have a feeling some Crazy 8's are going to be tossed into the agenda, too.

I'd love to hear what games your family is loving together these days!

feeling fall, in a red-ish way

Forgive me for not posting yesterday. I was in another state of mind - a red one, to be precise. I had a dream this week that I was swimming in tomato sauce and while that was a little strange, I must say that it wasn't as awful as one would think. I woke up to notice my orange-stained hands - from a solid week of putting up tomatoes. Ezra, too. He's been busy with me each day, dunking, peeling, slicing, and canning. Tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, salsa ("SouleSa" so named by Ez), and pizza sauce. Measuring, scooping, bagging, and talking and reading about tomatoes - all-consuming in a really wonderfully exhaustive way. I've sounded a little crazy this week (though that might be the fever that's brewing...) when I've tried to explain the feeling I've had - the feeling of being pulled so completely into a moment of the season by it's, well - by it's produce. Being pulled in ways gloriously abundant, blessed and overwhelming all at the same time by the seasons offerings. Marge Piercy says it well:

…ninety pounds
of luscious ripe tomatoes.
Eighteen quarts of tomato
juice on the evening of the
third day home, tomato seeds
in my hair, tomato skins
in my teeth, the surfaces
of the kitchen heaped with
tomatoes, tomatoes in buckets,
tomatoes lined up on the window
sills, my hands crisscrossed
with canning cuts, even
my dreams are acid,
running and red.

-Marge Piercy, The Engulfing Garden (The Little Magazine, Vol. 11, No.1, Spring 1977.)

Looking up and out from the kitchen, from morning till night, I notice now that it's not just the tomatoes. We're literally swimming in the reds of fall all around us now. In hues of red and orange - just like the tomatoes on our vines, in my dreams, and now on our pantry shelves.

before-dinner skirts...

...from "Mama's Funny Porch Room Studio." Yes, that's what my new little space has been so appropriately named by Adelaide. Oh...I do rather miss my studio, but... there have been so many good things to come of all that rearranging. Just one of those has been Adelaide's Before-Dinner-Skirts, as in "made in a moment of weakness when I really should be making dinner" skirts. The skirts are great of course, but even better has been the making of them - with her leading the way, and 'helping' me in some very special ways (that involve a lot of cutting scraps of fabric and moving pins from one cushion to another) - all in the midst of the play, food, and mess of the space and family around us. It really has been nice. (Trying to make anything more complicated than these skirts in such a surrounding? Well, that's another story...)

It started with that first skirt a few weeks back. Each day of the following week, she requested we make a new skirt. Pleading with me to use my sewing machine to make her a skirt? Um, okay, twist my arm. So the skirts were made - just a quick little elastic waist skirt, she choosing the fabric and ribbons, and helping me put it all together in the afternoon before starting dinner. By Thursday of that week, I tried explaining that maybe she had enough skirts. She paused for a moment, and said, "Maybe we could make some for my friends?" Now, really..how could a mama say no to that budding thoughtfulness? So we made more skirts.

The 'quick little elastic waist skirt', by the way, is actually the fabulous Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt Pattern, available as a free download. I've never really used a pattern to make a simple girls skirt before, but this pattern cleverly uses a ribbon encasing the hemline, making it not only adorable, but even one step easier. Perfect for those right before dinner 'must make' skirts that we all must have, I do think. (Oh, and that sweet, sweet little red riding hood ribbon you see one one skirt - the one in this photo, too? It can be found in Rosa Pomar's shop. I thought you might ask.)

And just so you know I'm not a total pushover, I did draw the line at her request for a skirt made for Banjo. I'm just thinking of the cat, you know.

NieNie Benefit Sale

I want to direct your attention elsewhere today, as today starts the NieNie Benefit Sale on Etsy, organized by the very generous Morgan Moore of One More Moore. You've likely heard the tragedy that's hit this beautiful blogging family, and you've probably seen some of the amazing outpouring of needed love and financial support that's being directed their way. The auction starting today will run for two days, and is so full of amazing, lovely, heartfelt and handmade goodness - with all proceeds going to directly to the care of Stephanie and Christian Nielson.

Among the many, many things you can find in this benefit sale, is this tiny little offering I put together of a Gratitude Wrap, together with a signed copy of The Creative Family. The direct link to that, for as long as it is available, is here.

Follow the button below to land yourself amidst some serious handmade goodness, with a whole lot of hope, and warm wishes wrapped up in it all too.

at the fair

Hello, Autumn!

It was such a great weekend at The Common Ground Country Fair. I've been going to that fair for as long as I could drive myself to get to it, each year it becoming more and more of a sign of autumn to me. This weekend I was thinking about how the time I spend at the fair has changed so much in those years. From the first years of sitting at the NOW table in the social and political action tent, to the year I sat in a rocking chair nursing my new baby in the Ballard House birthing center booth chatting with other new mamas, to now; when most of my time is spent either hanging out staring at the oxen (a family favorite, because they all want to be Almanzo in Farmer Boy days), waiting in line for food (because they're hungry...again), or in the beautiful, colorful and sometimes overwhelming busyness of the children's area.

While waiting in a very long line for face paint, I stared longingly at the varied Agricultural Demo titles that grabbed my eye, dreaming of the days when Steve and I could together sit at such a workshop and participate. Processing Acorns Into Flour, Grandmother Herbs Counsel the World - so much great stuff. Quickly though, with a tug on my shirt that it was his turn to be turned into a tiger, I was brought right back to the Now, remembering that those days will come once again. Later. For this year, there are rabbits (and their all-fascinating poop) to check out and admire, contradances to dance in (from the side where it's best for little ones and all their mimicked 'spinning'), and hills to slide down on cardboard. Oh yes, the fair is many beautiful things...and like our family, no two years will it ever look the same to us.

our tomato sauce

Since so many of you asked so nicely, I paid a little extra attention to what I was doing on Friday when I made what I think to be our last batch of tomato sauce. (And I'm grateful for the push to do so - now I won't have to reinvent my own wheel come next August.) Pasta is such an easy Winter stand-by for us, so I'm going to love having lots of this on hand to pull from.

This recipe makes for a chunky sauce, which is just how we like it. I use an assortment of what we have on hand for tomato varieties. This year, we've had a lot of Juliet's - seen in the basket in yesterday's photo (they grow so well!).

Tomato Sauce
(makes roughly 2-3 quarts, depending on the tomatoes you use)

4 lbs tomatoes, peeled and cored
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3-4 large cloves garlic
1.5 cups chopped red onion
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup firmly packed basil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Puree one half of the tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Coarsely dice the other half.
2. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot on med-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, and rosemary and cook until onions are soft, about five minutes.
3. Add all of the tomatoes and the sea salt. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 60 minutes. Stir ocassionally.
5. Stir basil and vinegar in. Continue to cook (uncovered) until of desired thickness (I usually go another 30 minutes or more).
6. Eat, Can, or Freeze!*

*If you're canning, I'd suggest using the methods in Putting Food By, or the basic handy Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. About half of mine have been canned, and on days where I haven't had the energy or time to do so, I've put them right in the freezer instead (in Wide Mouth Mason jars). A good Freezing FAQ can be found here. 

harvest season

The call for frost last night had me out in the garden first thing in the morning yesterday. Gathering the last of the tomatoes, the cucumbers that are still straggling in, and the rest of the basil.

Then I rushed to get a load of laundry on the line before the day got too far ahead of me. We've approached the time when the sun's warmth is only around long enough for one load to dry in a day, and it needs to get out there early.

The afternoon was spent 'putting the food by'. A few more jars of tomato sauce were added to the pantry shelves. Some more pesto was frozen. The freezer is nearing full, and the satisfaction I feel with each jar added is increasing.

And in the evening, firewood was the family task at hand. (Did you know that making funny faces is the key to a good chopping strategy? And that big sunglasses count for safety glasses? All true, I tell you. Though Calvin still kicks my butt in output.) We're approaching the end of the period of 'cut it, stack it, and give it enough time to dry' for the year. The point at which we need to just call it 'good' and hope it lasts.

This weekend we'll attend the much-anticipated by this family, tried and true annual mark of autumn for me - the Common Ground Country Fair. And we'll celebrate the harvest season with farmers and friends all over the state.

There's a little bit of a rush - an urgency, almost - in the air these days. Trying to get as much food prepared, as much wood ready, as many summer things 'done' as we can - before the days turn completely. It's a nice kind of rush, though. Full days - days full of hard work. The kind of 'home' and domestic work I didn't necessarily grow up doing, but the kind of work I'm grateful to choose some of for my family now. It's the kind of work that generations before me did without much thought. Age-old methods of winterizing and food preservation that I'm learning more and more about each year - happily alongside my kindred friends as we figure out each others' canning disasters, or identify the spots on each others' melon plants, and rejoice and share in each others successes.

All this preparing - it feels rhythmic and seasonal, and I can feel the pull towards home and hearth coming straight from the earth. But there's, of course, an extra pull of 'preparing' that we're experiencing this harvest season. And that's getting closer too.

The pumpkins will ripen and pass before this baby arrives. But soon after that, at the end of this harvest season, we'll have so much more to give thanks for.

remnants of a day

We're often asked what our days, as unschoolers, look like. I'm never able to answer that question well - truly each day is so very different - each full of smooth moments and bumpy ones alike. And even though two days are never exactly the same, each new season, month, and sometimes even week brings with it a new rhythm of some things that do stay the same. This week, with its mild and beautiful September weather, and our focus squarely at 'home,' I've found us - quite without planning - spending the latter half of the day on this blanket in the backyard. When I stood up to leave the cozy spot in the sun to start dinner yesterday, I looked down and saw these remnants of our day. The tools of living, playing and learning together...

a baseball glove and ball (always); Tin Tin; a comic book in the works inspired by Tin Tin; the Barefoot Book of Princesses; a notebook full of butterfly drawings; a deck of cards from the dozen card games played that afternoon; the Audubon Butterflies and Moths book, brought out by someone looking for a moth name after our walk in the woods; mama's knitting; iced tea the kids made in the morning; the basket waiting for someone to gather the dinner's tomatoes and basil.

It was a very good, ordinary kind of day.

the Jane Austen Dress

Here's the dress! The one I finished in the wee hours before Adelaide's birthday. The one that miraculously fit without trying it on her as I went along. And the one she promptly put on first thing that morning, and has worn many times since, much to my delight. Ah, yes. The aptly named Jane Austen dress.

The pattern is from the newly published Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. It's been a while since I've been so excited about a new knitting book, but I'm pretty jazzed about this one. On first flip through, I think I bookmarked half of the projects to make...and it had me jumping up to the knitting needles to get started on this dress a mere 30 minutes after it arrived on my doorstep. Not to mention the yarn I immediately ordered for the next project in the book I'm most excited about (a linen knit table runner. Oh, yes). With their characteristic fun and funny style (their first rule of knitting, 'knitting is spoze to be fun!'), it's a pleasure to read just as much as the patterns have me itching to knit. Huge congrats on another beautiful, fun book, Kay and Ann!

The dress came together so smoothly. They estimated it as a 'weekend project' - and had I had a few less interruptions, I think that might have been just about right. I knit it up in some cotton yarn (which, tangentally, I found at a local thrift shop - as overstock from Silk City Fibers - for a whopping $1.99 for a gigantic cone-full. Thanks for the tip, Aprill!), in a color that will remind us of the ocean long after we're romping about by it in sleeveless dresses. I used the tutorial found on Ysolda to create the button loop in the back. And the skirt fabric is linen. (For anyone interested in making it yourself, I went with the 2-3 sizing, which I think it generous enough that she'll still wear it next summer.)

I think this might be only the second knit dress I've made for her (the first one here), and while, realistically speaking, they may be a little on the impractical side, I still love making them. There's something about all the extra work that goes into a handknit dress for me that makes it extra special. Thank goodness - for now, at least - she agrees with me on that one. She loves it.

how it went

From a traditional Maine Lobster Bake - cooked in the seaweed - at my parents house (hosted by my dad and aunts and uncles, who learned it from their own father)....to a ballroom and black tie party the next night - and everything in between and following, it was such a wonderful weekend full of family celebration and love. I don't think I've ever seen a bride smile so much all day long. She, I must say, was gorgeous. I have very few photographs - for the most part, I left my camera behind and the photography to the wonderful professionals on hand (I do hope he doesn't mind his bum being published on the internet, but I do love that behind-the-scenes photo. Um, hi Chris!). (Oh, and for those curious - I did indeed make it all the way down the aisle in heels and stood for the whole ceremony without losing my balance once. I credit that to two things: the flip-flops I wore for every moment to and from the church; and the blessing of a 20 minute UU ceremony. Gifts from the bride and groom, indeed.)

Two birthdays, a new fall schedule, and a great big wedding - oh goodness, that was far more excitement than we're used to in one week. We haven't found 'normal' mode here yet, so hang in there while I get my bearings and catch up a bit this week.

In the meantime...I recently did an interview with babygooroo.com. Hop on over there to take a peek at the Q&A, and enter (by Wednesday morning) to win one of two copies of The Creative Family they're giving away. Thanks for a wonderful interview, Mary Jessica!

a whole lot of celebrating

Three is so magical. With some of the physical challenge of growing - walking, running, communicating, using the potty, etc - behind them, they seem so ready to just sink on into who they are. When she was first born, I used to worry about what it would be like for her - the youngest girl to two strong spirited older brothers. But that's laughable now, given the personality that quickly emerged from this little one. She's amazing, and yesterday was spent in true honor of who she is. Oh, my love. I feel so lucky to know her.

And now, with time for only a small breath...onto some other celebrating. This weekend our extended family grows by one very special guy as my little sister gets married. My little sister who clearly knows how to throw a party - the weekend's festivities are of epic and seriously fun proportions. Now if only I could apply my skills at late-night-birthday-crafting for a three year old...to...walking down an aisle balancing my very pregnant body on a very skinny pair of heels. Oh, do wish me luck.

And you...I hope you have a lovely weekend!

birthday crafting

This was the scene last night at about 9:00 pm. Ezra and I holed up alone on his bed - both 'inspired' by the crunch of a deadline - working away till the very last minute on our birthday gifts for Adelaide. The rest of the family? Waiting patiently for the delayed bedtime to begin. Long ago they had their presents finished, wrapped up, and tucked away. Oh, but we all do things so differently, don't we? Indeed we do. I love the flurry of activity that happens the day, the night before a family celebration. Much sneaking about in a hurry, lots of baking and cleaning, and plenty of anticipation by all ("It's almost my birthday!" she shouted all day in her sing-song voice).

Ezra's last-minute inspired project was - a book for his sister. And with no Bare Books in the house, and the latest of our staplers missing (how do you lose a stapler, I ask?), I had to improvise a bit to get the 'blank book' for him to create on. We found an old board book, used a bit of sandpaper to 'rough' up the glossy pages, and applied a layer of Gesso throughout the book, leaving it open (fan-like) overnight to dry. He then had a blank (and free!) slate on which to work his collage and storytelling magic.

Which is just what he did, in his wonderful way. Wrote a little story for his sister about some more adventures of Winnie The Pooh (a big favorite book of Adelaide's at the moment). He made up some of his own Pooh adventures - that A.A.Milne might just get a chuckle out of. And adventures that Adelaide will surely love.

More birthday crafting, and celebration-reporting coming up. For now, though, I have a tea party to prepare. For my three year old baby girl. Oh my.

The River Cottage Family Cookbook

We have a new cookbook love. The River Cottage Family Cookbook has quickly become a family favorite around here. Those of you across the pond are likely much more familiar with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and River Cottage than we are stateside. Just last winter, having coffee at a friends farm, I discovered the River Cottage Meat Book and couldn't peel my eyes from it - with the photography, the style, the recipes, and the overall message of food and our connection to it.

I was thrilled to hear of the release of a family-style cookbook this summer by the same author (joined on this project by Fizz Carr). At nearly 500 pages full, it's chock full of family, farm and foodie goodness. I think what I like most about this book is that it's more of a whole lifestyle book, rather than just exclusively recipes. The recipes are so great. But there are some really great basics, too - solid and clear instructions for making all the dairy basics - cheese, butter, yogurt. And bread, too (lots of great bread instruction). Intermingled through the recipes are projects, too. For example? Starting a Garden. Making Your Own Salt. Hosting a Pancake Race. Awesome. We need to have a pancake race.

We've tried out a lot of the recipes in the past few months since the book's arrival. One has already been committed to memory - I make the "Fragrant Rice" at least once a week now, the recipe is so perfect. (Okay, confession: The fried onion and cabbage? Not so much. Maybe cabbage is a regionally acquired taste, though? Do tell, because it's one of the only foods I can't get anyone in this house to eat!) This week, I remembered to photograph these recipes-in-progress. Summer Fruit Tart and Pick-Your-Own-Minestrone. Both equally delicious, and almost entirely kid-made.

I think our kids were pretty involved with our family meal preparation before, but this book - it's words and images combined - have fueled an even greater participation. One piece of advice in the book about involving the kids is to 'take it outside'. So simple, and yet it wasn't something we were in the habit of doing. So, I've been sending the boys out with a cutting board and the evening's vegetables to cut. I have less mess to worry about on the floor, and somehow by nature of being outside - it becomes louder, more boisterous, and more playful of a process. It's become such a habit now for them to be involved in this part of the meal, that I'm sure it will carry back inside with us as the season changes, and there will be lots more exploring of the recipes and projects in these pages.

ten things

Ten things I'm loving right now...

1. Yesterday. Thanks for all your sweet birthday wishes - you're so nice! The day wrapped up with a bit of time at the beach. A little bit chillier than a month ago (ha! okay...a lot!)...but I'll take it. Good friends, my family and the ocean. I'm happy.

2. The new Conor Oberst album. So. Good. The kids agree too, though I'm not sure how I feel about that fact when they begin belting out together anywhere and everywhere, "I don't wanna die in the hospital, you gotta take me back outside!" Ahem.

3. The thrill of deadline knitting. Two days until the next family birthday and I've got grand plans of this bit of yarn becoming a wearable gift by then. (The pattern is from the fabulous new Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book - due out next week. More about the book and the project, well, when it's done.)

4. The game the kids play each night as they dissect the meal by ingredient, explaining what came from our garden, what came from the farm, the farmers market, and on and on. An amazing and fun nightly lesson in where our food comes from. (Zucchini Fritatta with Blossoms from Epicurious. Yum.)

5. This sweet pile of Aunty Cookie fabric. I love it, keep staring at it, and thinking about what it should become. I'm thinking the start of a small lap quilt...yes, yes.

6. This Wendell Berry interview in a recent issue of The Sun. So much wisdom.

7. This kid's style. It always makes me smile.

8. The palpable family excitement as we begin a new season of learning. This week everyone happens to start a new class or lesson out and about in our community. The anticipation of the adventures to come is in the air!

9. This simple and perfect little note I found on the windowsill this weekend. I'm not sure if it's a request, or an explanation. But certainly a simple, sweet statement of truth.

10. This Lisa Leonard bird necklace that I am love, love, loving. It makes me incredibly happy to wear it. And guess what? You can too! Lisa is kindly offering 20% off this necklace to SouleMama readers. Just enter "soulemama" at checkout to get your very own. Yay! Birthday presents for everyone!

And you? What are you loving right now?

birthday wishes

For weeks now I've found myself answering the question, "Mama, what do you want for your birthday?" with something to the effect of "I want you to draw me a picture, I want someone to wash the floors, and I want a day without any fighting with your brother/sister." And each and every time I think - Did I just say that? - as I'm bombarded with the echo of my mother's own voice. I remember thinking surely she was just saying that - that there was something really big and special she wanted. But you know what, now that I'm here, I'm thinking that maybe she was telling the truth. That a handmade card of love by my favorite people - and a sign made out of grocery bags, a little bit of recognition by them of the work I do at home, and a few extra moments of peace - it's pretty much everything I want.

Of course, I'll still happily take the cinnamon rolls they made me. I'll take all those extra hugs and kisses and songs. And I'll so gladly join in this evening's beach picnic fun with friends and family. I might even let them steer me towards the direction of a yarn store on the way for a little splurge. And I will feel very very spoiled, indeed.

Have some chocolate for me today, would you?

days of summer :: 30

Driving down the camp road last week, this branch full of red leaves popped out in front of us. Fall! A shocking contrast against the greens and blues in the background that have made up the colors of summer. And yet - every day I'm finding more and more signs like this - sights becoming a little less shocking each time as the transition really gets underway. The leaves are changing color, the acorns are coming into the house in little fistfulls, the root vegetables are beginning to be harvested, the apples on the trees are ripening. Oh, fall is full of some wonderful things!

This wraps up my Days of Summer photo series. Thanks for walking along with me, and sharing in the joys of my favorite season. Looking at all of the photos together, I feel satisfied with how our summer was spent, and the little ways it was captured with my camera. A sharp contrast and balance to the 30 Days of the Everyday in winter - and yet - still full of many things that are important to us all year long.

It's been a very good summer.

days of summer :: 29

This has been the summer of:

• trying out Little League - and loving it
• late night Sea Dogs games and the day-after play-by-play report
• the daily search for a Red Sox baseball shirt, because nothing else will do
• and the precious baseball hat
• baseball trivia, baseball math, baseball history, baseball geography...oh, the homeschooling opportunities abound
• playoffs, world series, and home run derbys...in the backyard with two very obliging siblings
• the discovery of Mama's (yes, Mama's) pile of baseball cards from the late 80's. Hello, Wade Boggs.
• the hokey, funny and much-loved rentals of Home Run Derby from Netflix
• a daily game of pretend-figure baseball, and the day-long commentary as it progresses
• the promise and plan to be a catcher for the Red Sox as soon as possible (there's a shortage, you know)
• far more sports radio, and visits to ESPN.com than this Mama can take
• the unearthing of Papa's soft, worn, and loved glove from years ago
• a father-son shared loved of baseball as cliche and beautiful as it could possibly be.

There will be many little details of this summer that I forget with time, but there's no way I can forget the way that my little guys passion has woven baseball right on into our everyday lives. A summer of baseball, indeed.

days of summer :: 28

When this blanket is finally ready for warming a baby later this fall, I think it's going to have a bit of the summer season knit right into it. It's been everywhere with me - with it's soft, nubby organic cotton texture blending right into the environments around us. Beach sand, lake dock, and now - hammock.

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Now that it's September, I want to say hello to the new sponsors who have recently joined us here - all makers and sellers of beautiful things! good-ness, the Little Travelers, The Handmade Dress, and Bamboletta - Welcome and Thank You!

days of summer :: 27

There's so much I could say about the great time we just had - together with friends in the woods. But I think the best mark of how the weekend went is evident in how we arrived home - dirty, tired, and very, very happy. Ah, yes...just the right note on which to end the 2008 summer camp/camping season.

I hope your weekend was lovely too! Hello, September!