in which i swoon over a cake

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photo :: property of kiki la ru

gorgeous! there is no other way to describe this cake. she has a blog & a shop; both as swoony.

i had already decided to do a mini bunting on elfling's cake (inspired by this), but now i shall have to include some mushrooms! because, as you know, i am simply wallowing in idle hours.

~peace.

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know you what it is to be a child? it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear, it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, & mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, & nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul. ~ francis thompson

~peace.

thursday things :: fabulous toys

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i found this gorgeous set of nesting blocks when poking around lehmans. i love the vintage images, & that the colors aren't your typical primary hues. excited to find them, i shared on my personal fb page that elfling needed the blocks. his grandpa instantly replied with one word: done. grandpa rocks!

they arrived a few days later, & i must tell you they are even more fabulous in person. elfling loves grandpa's prezzie, as does thehobbit. ok, we all do. the birthday boy has had, on a few occasions, to remind us that they are his.

as people keep asking for prezzie ideas, i've been doing a lot of searching for things. the trouble is, he needs very little. still, people ask, so i look. of course, i am terrible at staying focused, so it is never long before i'm off baby items, & on toys for bigger kids. below are a few things that caught my eye. enjoy!

* this set of blocks is fabulous!! definitely not your mama's wooden blocks.

* truly, this must be mine. mine, mine, mine!

* a gnome in the box? i love it!

* my goal is to find a used dinky piano for elfling. or win the lottery, so i can afford a new one.

* look at this circus toy, by a fellow naturalkids gal! swoon-worthy, indeed.

sadly, that is all i have time for today. now it is your turn - what toys have caught your eye of late?
~peace.

one.

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today my sweet elfing is one. there is so much i should say about this past year, about this child & how he has changed who i am. i should tell you about the joy he's brought, the way my heart has expanded beyond what i believed possible, or a million other touching & profound things. the thing is, i cannot.


my emotions are playing me fiercely today, & i find i am unable to give voice to any of it. please understand, & forgive me my silence. thank you for being a part of my journey from family of three, to one of four. i am glad you are here.

to celebrate elflings birthday, i am offering all sorts of fabulousness in theshop!

* all mini buntings are half off their original prices!

* a free prezzie with every birthday crown & birthday tiara!

* free shipping on all purchases over $40.00!! (yes, even to your corner of the world!)

please spread the word about the celebratory fabulousness - no hogging the love! & please, please, please go eat some cake.

~peace.

the great reclaiming has begun

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our backyard & farm have suffered from neglect since elfling came along. for a few months i did try to keep things in shape, but eventually i gave in. it took no time at all for the wild to take over.

i cannot be without my farm any longer. fortunately, this late start to summer allows me to get the beds cleared, & things in the ground. i'll have to start most of it with plants from the nursery, but things like lettuce, chard, etc can begin with seeds.

that photo above is the first pile of wild to be cleared. thehobbit was shown how to use the lopper, & set loose. we had to stop him, because the pile will only just fit in the green bin. i don't know if i should be pleased that he enjoyed using the lopper, or afraid.



this is another photo of the pile. behind it you see how much is left to clear on that side. i was standing behind our backyard to take this photo. let me to explain to the newbies: we have a giant yard. from the back of the house, to the back of the garage, is what we call the backyard (grass, potted plants, where we play). from there, to the back fence is what we call the farm. the beds are to one side of this, the butterfly garden buried beneath overgrowth on the other. we use the center for sprawling veggies, but will be building new beds in the spring.

here is more to be cleared. those are not lilacs, they are evil nasties, & shall be cut down as well. it is hard to see in these photos, but those nasties are 6-8 feet deep!

this photo is shameful. my beautiful farm beds are filled with weeds, plants gone to seed, & plants that have died. there are four in need of clearing & amending. behind the beds is 8 feet of nasties needing to be cleared. (the future home of my chickens, shhh.)

i thought you'd like to see what an artichoke looks like if not cut from the plant. isn't it gorgeous!? sadly, i didn't like the taste of this plant's arties; which is why it has been left to flower. it takes up too much space in the beds, so is being cut back, & moved to the front yard. my plants in front are only drought-tolerant ones, so the artie will thrive there.

that brings us to the end of my embarrassing farm tour. we have a great deal of work ahead of us, but if we stay organized & do a little bit each day, we will get there. don't feel too badly for me, i did purchase a tomato plant the other day. it's a container variety that i've had success with in the past. i cannot eat it, but the menfolk can, & i can enjoy pampering it.

the great reclaiming has begun!

i want to live vicariously through you. what are you growing right now?

~peace.

i am over there today

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i was asked to take part in a weekly tour of artisan's studios. enjoy!

~peace.

thursday things - birthday madness

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this week's thursday things is about birthdays. actually, with the amount of friends & family who have july birthdays, it's what the entire month is about.

i am still in the planning stage of a certain wee elfling's first birthday party. all i know for sure is: small, bbq, bunting. buntings are popping up everywhere; have you noticed?

* i like this one, by my friend eve.

* mine are on sale right now, by the way.

a google search led me to find the following:

* this patriotic how-to is darn cute.

* wowie wow wow!

* i found elfling's cake topper. brilliant.

* another tutorial.

i found more, but i've no time - my wee bébé bunting is stirring. do you have a bunting you'd like to share?

~peace.

of bags & slings

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my spare shop is ever so slowly filling with my creations. i love making items for children, but i must say that it feels wonderful to work on the things that started me on this adventure.

currently in kat's belfry you can find market bags, patchie totes, giant zippered pouches, & drink slings!



i love making drink slings, they are my favorite. there will be more of these in the months to come; with smaller ones for sale in theshop.

speaking of kats in the belfry, there are new bags there as well.

mini market bags, for mini shoppers :)

this damask one is especially cute. like their larger sisters, these bags have mismatched handles.

if you purchase one of these; or another from my shops; please send me a photo. i love seeing my creations in action.

happy fourth to my american readers :)
~peace.

the return of hogwarts

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homeschool, that is. enjoy!

~peace.

a tisket, a tasket ...

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... look at my new basket. with wheels, even! isn't it fabulous? rubelin no longer needed them (yes, there is another just like it!), so now they belong to me. yay!

wait! what is that peeking over the top of my new basket?

why it's elfling's cheeky chicken little, blossom.




blossom was mortified to learn that the photo of her, that i shared the other day, did not show her best side. though i think her tush is mighty cute, i can, as a woman, understand.

her sisters are safely on their way to their new homes, by the way. elfling did try to get ahold of them, but i managed to thwart his thieving ways.

time for me to be off. i've much reading to get to before said thief wakes from his nap. have a lovely day (happy canada day to all you people up there!).

~peace.