sweet is the shade ...

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in the summer we are lucky to have mild weather. all around us the city bakes, yet it remains most of the time quite comfortable at ye olde belfry. it has to do with how far we are from the ocean, the valley that leads from the beach, to thebelfry, & the hill upon which it sits. that is about as much of an explanation i can offer. i am fine with not understanding completely, because i need not understand to be ever so happy that i am not sweltering. those new to kitb: i am a miserable wretch when it's hotter than 70f do not do so well in hot weather.

on monday we hosted a small birthday-party-masquerading-as-the-fourth-of-july bbq. manlyman, 2 friends, & 2 minis had either just had, or were this week having, birthdays. i am sure they would have all been happy in the sun, but elfling & i needed shade. no longer having a structure, we hastily rigged our own sanctuary. what you see in these photos is the result.

i had initially decided not to take photos to share with you, because of the hasty nature with which it was created. martha stewart would cringe. so i let the day pass. & yesterday as well. today though? today i decided to take photos. & yes, it is still up there. please don't tell me this surprises you. we both know what a lazy thing i am.

we have the type of garage that is set apart, & back, from the house. our neighbor does as well. strung between the garages are five clotheslines, hung not long after we moved in. i am embarrassed to say that i have not hung as much laundry as i should have. over these lines we laid 5 large cloths (tablecloth, bedding, fabric) from my collection. the outer edges were secured with clothespins, & the inner with safety pins. not the prettiest way, but we were short of on time.

it worked better than i'd imagined! the area was shady, & oh so comfortable. i wish i could leave it up always, but the elements would destroy the beautiful fabrics. perhaps manlyman will finally agree to buy a few roles of that mesh cloth, meant for this purpose. a gel can dream ;)

how do you create shade? i'd love to hear.

~peace.

happy days galore!

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image :: the graphics fairy

i wish you a happy canada day, a happy fourth of july, or a happy regular day!

~peace.

summer is here

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how did you spend the first day of summer (winter for you upside downers)? we were on day eleventy billion of pestilence, so there was much crabbiness & tissues involved in our solstice celebration.

a dear friend shared her summer bucket list with me. what a great idea! i think i'll create a list of my own. do you have a list of must-do summer fun?

~peace.

the calling of the stones

one of the eleventy billion things i love about going the beach is treasure hunting. for thehobbit & me, the most coveted treasures are smooth stones. i don't know what it is that gets us so swoony over them, but there you have it. we even have a few large apothecary jars filled with stones brought back from our family vacations over the years. if you write the date & place on the stones, in permanent marker, you'll never forget which was gotten where.

thehobbit & i differ in our hunting styles. his stones are the result of stumbling upon them in the middle of some adventure or another - oh. hey. look, a stone. i take the hunt more seriously; walking, head down, intently searching for the stones.

my most favorites are the flat ones, excellent for stacking.

& those which have holes in them.

we limit what we take home, & never take from state beaches. a hobbity heart has been broken more than once over the latter, but i could not give in. i knew that once i allowed him to break the rule, he would never take it seriously again. (in california, you are not allowed to take things from state beaches.)

i am flabbergasted that it is beach season already. how did it ever become june so quickly? i wonder what new stones will call to us this year...

~peace.

show & tell

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did you miss me? did you even notice i'd been away? let's pretend you answered yes to both questions, shall we? i've been freakybusy since my last post: creating things for theshop, deep cleaning thebelfry, homeschooling, & doing the mama-thing. ok, one of those bits of busyness may or may not have actually happened. can you guess which?

the above photo is of my new squeaky-tight needle case. i have unstained ones too, but they're not yet photographed. these cases are perfect for storing extra needles, or for an on-the-go sewing kit. i've kept the prototype for myself, & have already filled it. (i use a needle book, so am storing the machine needles in mine.)

there are also two new pagan people in theshop: summer & winter. please ignore the fact that the dolls are out of focus & the fence behind them is not.

my favorite new item?

love shacks! i love, love, love these. you have to click on the link, so you can see how big each shack is.

it feels good to be back in the swing of things. there shall be a few more heart-themed items for theshop, most of which will be made from fabric. hmm. maybe i should get sewlie serviced? a new year, a clean machine? i refuse to tell you how long it's been since sewlie's last servicing.

also keeping me busy: projects for thebelfry, others for my sweet boys, & still others for you! yes, the long ago promised tutorials!!

the main reason i've been so busy has just informed me that naptime has come to an end. i'm off to snuggle. you go off to have a lovely day.

~peace.

lazy summer

the gigantic belly is forcing allowing me to have a lazy summer.

unlike past summers, we've gone on no field trips, attended no events, & are even having a mellow 4th. after dinner we'll eat some celebratory watermelon, & toss some poppers at the ground - can't get much more mellow than that.




normally i would be feeling as though we were missing out on so many wonderful summer activities, but i have to say that i'm not. oh sure, occasionally i hear of something happening & wish we too could attend; but on the whole? i'm deep in the lazy.

won't you join me?
~peace.

summer

has finally made an appearance. those who've been reading for some time will remember that i don't do well when temperatures go higher than 70f soar to ridiculous heights. still, i do want my summer veggies to grow, so am content with the change in the weather. for now.

thehobbit is thrilled for the coming of warmer days. he loves playing in water, making ice cream & pops, bbqs, heaping bowls of melon, & the spirit of summer. in that way he is more like his daddy-o. not that i don't love those things as well, it's just that i'm more of a spring-gal.

to celebrate the season we bought a new kiddie pool last weekend, in which he spent most of his time. until he got his first nasty sunburn, that is. since then he's played at the pool, but hasn't gone in. this is a good thing really; because the water became foul rather quickly. we've begun emptying the pool; by the bucket-full; into the gardens, but it's slow-going.

i will say that one thing i do love about summer is the light. coming in through our many windows, the sunlight seems almost magical.

what do you like best about summer?

~peace.