ummmm, oops?

i may have strayed from the challenge a wee bit. it wasn't a purposeful stray, i merely forgot. those of you new to the belfry will think i'm lying; but i am not. ask any of the oldies, they'll confirm my swiss-cheese-brain. well maybe not now that i've referred to them as oldies...

so what did i buy that was neither handmade, nor used? a subscription to this magazine. it was a buy one, get one type of dealio, so i had the gift subscription sent to a friend who also has a new drooler.

hmm. i wonder if i didn't stray were i to pretend i bought the subscription for her, & it came with a freebie subscription for me? no?

anyway, i promise to feel dreadful about straying each & every time i read my fabulous new magazine. i also promise to pay better attention to my spending, so i don't fail the challenge.

***

unrelated, but equally fabulous (sans guilt) is today's thrifting haul. oh my dearest one & only reader!!!!! the treasures - gorgeous vintagey tops that i can nurse in!! i get all swoony just thinking about it. sigh.

i have no pictures to share, as my treasures are in the wash, getting the stinky chemicals removed. do your thrift shops spray their fabric items with chemicals? i shall take photos tomorrow, & post them, so you can ooh & ahh along with me.

~peace.

thankful

i have much for which to be thankful this year.

so many blessings.

so much love.

i hope you do as well.

~peace.

through the eyes of a hobbit

i love his photography,


seeing what catches his eye,

& how he sees the world around him.

~peace.

room with a view

i am ever so bored. people haven't been coming by to entertain visit me. something about us being contagious with a nasty pestilence, blah, blah, blah. whatever.

i am also sick of being in my bedroom. i do venture into other parts of the belfry, but i tire so easily, so predominantly we're in here. it's just easier, what with the beds, the tv, the laptop - ya know?

we're fairly certain everyone is on the mend, so i'm giving thehobbit a bit more freedom. he was sick of having to stay in bed, & i don't blame him. today he celebrated his freedom by making a fort between/beneath the beds, & playing tetris on the floor. wild thing ;-)

one good thing about my bedroom is lying on the bed, & looking at this:



he's been very into his toys of late. at first it was just sammy, his monkey rattle from here, & his giraffe teether; but the other day he discovered his ball. ooooh how he loves it!


i wish you could see this ball in person, it is truly a work of art. his very talented auntie-b felted it. would you just look at the moon! (& the beautiful bebe.)


turn it around, & you find the sun! (& again the beautiful bebe.)

hidden deep within is a jingle bell; which delights my boy to no end.

so as bored as i am, (did i mention i am ever so bored?) at least i have beauty to feast my eyes upon. quite a view indeed.

what about you? what beauty has caught your eye lately?

~peace.

it's a blog, blog world

there isn't much to do when you have the piggie pestilence. other than nursing, i basically have been lying here, watching tv, blowing my nose, & reading blogs. that is, of course, when i haven't been scaring myself with swine flu articles.

i addition to my favorites over there <----------, here are some recently discovered blogs keeping me company in my sickbed:

* just something i made

* 5 orange potatoes

* centsational girl

* the long thread

enjoy :-)

~peace

piggies in the belfry

sorry i've not been posting -- the dreaded swine flu has hit the belfry. so far i've had it mild; so the doc tells me; i just hope it stays that way. it looks like the little belfries have it now --prayers/thoughts would be appreciated.

on a vastly more happy note:

image :: via craftzine

~ peace.

challenge katified (real word)

i gave it some thought, & figured out how strictly i'll be adhering to tif's rules for the challenge. i truly wish to succeed at this, so i've had to tweak things here & there.

* gift cards - i have a few gift cards, & didn't know if i would be able to use them during the challenge. it came to me that since the cards were gifts, i wouldn't be buying anything when using them; merely using my gifts. yup. that works for me.

* xmas - there is no way i can make things; what with the new bebe; there just isn't time. & whilst thehobbit would be happy, manlyman just doesn't love the world of vintage/used/antiques as i. there may be some things on etsy i can get them, but as thehobbit asked santa for legos, i'll need to shop amazon as well.

* underpinnings - i think we all agree on this exception.

* bebe items - i cannot think of anything we'll need (that we cannot get from a thrift or resale shop) but as a year is quite a long time, it's best to be safe. a bigger car seat! see? i have already realized a future need. clever me :-)

that about does it. i don't think i've tweaked too far from the original. now i just need to make sure i don't forget. or cheat. of course i could go insane from lack of shopping, & spend much too much money on something used.

photo :: found on ebay (lost the link to the owner's posting)

bebe does need a bath tub. i'm just sayin'.

~peace.

a show, a challenge, & a month

just a few things to chat about:

* a show -- ocean charter's annual winter faire is nearly here. come see me (& the rest of the dragonfly artisans) on saturday, the 12th of december. i haven't a flyer to share with you yet, but until i do, you can find some of the details over there --->

* a challenge -- the utterly charming tif of dottie angel has decided to purchase nothing new for neither herself, nor her home for an entire year! so as not to embark on this journey of madness alone, she's asking others to join her. madness? a challenge i'm sure to fail? sign me up! i have to figure out details for my own version of the challenge still. such as: am i allowed to use my gift cards? what about items for the bebe? & so on. i'll let you know when i have.


* a month -- sew mama sew is running their annual handmade holidays through the month of november. i kept meaning to write about it, then promptly kept forgetting. i poked through the days already posted, & like the past 2 years, the entries are fabulous. i just hope i can find the time to make some of them. hahahaha. no wait. no hahahahahahaha. ok, how about this? i just hope i can find the time to save some of them in my files to make next year.



& that brings this post to an end. it's been lovely chatting with you, but it's time to make dinner. for the menfolk. i am still on the dreadful elimination diet from hell, so shall be eating air. yum indeed.

~peace.

i don't want to shock you...

i actually put a smattering of new things in my shop!


you didn't hurt yourself when you fainted; did you?

woohoo, lookie me getting things done. i'm still in my jams with unbrushed hair, but it's not as though you can see me. wait! can you see me? maybe i should at least put on clean jams - just in case.

~peace.

she's got the whole world

on her wall! (that song will be in your head all day. you're welcome.)

that's right - after years of staring at the little, ugly, freebie map; the kind with the advertising cluttering the oceans; i finally treated myself to this beauty:




oooh. aaaah.

it's not nearly as gigantic as i'd like, but at 32 x 50 (inches), it suits the space well.

don't you just love the colors! yes, i know the ocean is actually blue; as regular maps show; but the beige ocean of my map is much prettier.

who knew france was lavender?

oh kat; you're saying to the computer screen; france again? why don't you just put up a map of france, & stop pretending you even acknowledge the rest of the world exists.

silly you! the map of france (paris actually) is on the wall in my bedroom.

~peace.

sleepless in los angeles

one of the problems that comes with thebebe's (supposed) allergy is sleep-related. during the day he takes catnaps, then wakes every 1-2 hours at night. before all the other symptoms arose, he was sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches; both days & nights. i'm told that once we fix the (supposed) allergy, his sleep will improve. in the meantime, we belfry people are utterly exhausted. especially the teeny elfling.

would you look at those sleepy eyes? poor thing. by the way: how is it a child can be even more beautiful when sleepy, but a mama just looks haggard? something is wrong in that.

daylight savings is exacerbating the whole shebang. no matter how early we go to bed; & we are going freakyearly; it's still painful to wake at 4. that would be 4 in the morning. for the day. whimper

manlyman keeps pestering me to take naps, but i've never been able. i do lie down with lemondrop though. actually i lie beneath him, as he sleeps on my chest. he hasn't been able to sleep on the bed, or in his moses basket in quite some time. my hope is that this too will change once the (supposed) allergies are seen to. it doesn't much help my sleep-deprivation, but i do get to poke around the internet whilst he naps. i consider that my therapy, which i find more valuable right now than catching up on lost sleep. so, yay :-)

& now i'm off. the sleepless elfling himself his screaming at me sweetly asking for milk. have a glorious day, & get some sleep, would ya?
~peace.

woe & reviews

something is messing with my wee boy! the doc suspects a food allergy, so currently i am on an elimination diet. also known as torturous hell. today is day 5 (of 21), & i'm ready to slit my wrists. seriously. well not actually seriously, but seriously.

as a vegetarian, there isn't much left to eat when i cannot have eggs, soy, wheat, corn, & dairy. at first i thought it wouldn't be too big a deal, but there is soy, wheat, & corn in nearly everything! basically i've been living on rice & veggies during the day, & dreaming of sammiches & milkshakes at night.

i bought a few things the other day to help me get through the next few weeks, & thought i'd share my thoughts with you.

* enjoy life's double chocolate brownie cookies - these cookies are ok.

i wouldn't choose them over regular cookies, but they weren't bad. i sort of ate the entire box in 3 days, so need to get more. i'll try the other varieties too. i know there was a chocolate chip, but can't recall what else.

*so delicious' coconut creamer (no photo or link) - this comes in vanilla, hazelnut, & regular. i tried the flavored ones & didn't like either. the creamer has a tang to it that doesn't taste good (to me) in coffee. it wasn't as bad in iced coffee, but i wouldn't buy it again. i have 4 containers, so am going to use the vanillas in fruit smoothies, & freeze the hazelnuts in ice cube trays. i'm not sure what to do with them yet.

that's all for now. as i try other products & recipes, i'll let you know.
~peace.

*edited to say :: i gave the vanilla coconut creamer another try, & decided it wasn't totally dreadful. i did have to make a stronger cup of decaf to do away with the tang of the creamer. i also added cinnamon to make certain.

new around the belfry

before we get to what's new, i want to thank everyone for the support from my last post. your comments & emails were much appreciated. i definitely have the kindest readers in all of blogland. probably the most intelligent & good looking as well :-)

***

i finally got around to photographing some of the new things i told you about. they aren't the best of photos, but considering i was balancing a squirmy bebe at the same time, i'm surprised they are even in focus.

this is lemondrop's freakytall dresser. it began its life as 2 dressers, but after grammie & thehobbit dragged them in off the street (a neighbor was getting rid of them), she suggested i remove the legs of 1, then stack them. well yeah!

it's much too contemporary for my taste, but i couldn't pass up free. plus it sits in their playroom, so it's not as though i need look at it constantly.

here we have the giant mirror - oh i cannot tell you how much i love this!



click on the photo to see it in all its shabby glory! i love, love love it. did i say that already? well i do. sadly the mirror is much too heavy to hang on our pathetic walls, so it needs to sit on the floor.

what is that reflected in my new mirror, mirror on the floor?! that would be the beautiful blanket that auntiepaper crocheted for my teeny bebe. i'm very picky about colors, preferring more dusty versions. i was thrilled to see that she chose the 1 shade of blue i actually like! it's like a dusty periwinkle. i'm not sure if i'm describing the color well, but there ya go. by the way; the blanket is so soft & cozy!

lastly we come to what is no longer around the belfry. at last thehobbit agreed to have his long hair cut off!


ok agreed may be the wrong word here. we actually did a bit of bartering: legos for hair. that's right, he got a new set of legos & i got a pile of hair. & yes, technically i bribed him. but! i phrased it in a way that didn't appear (to his 11yo self) as though he was being bribed. so far as he's concerned, we bartered. oh the cleverness of me ;-)

what's new with you?
~peace.