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Evening light

There is a certain point in the late afternoon where the light in yard is just magical looking. Long shadows across the lawn and a certain luminosity that makes everything look good.

Last weekend I dragged out all the patio furniture cushions and scrubbed them down and let them dry in the sun. Then we were forcast to have seven days out of ten of rain. So back into the garage they went. Of course we haven’t seen a drop. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow I’m bringing them back out.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Hopefully the next post will have pretty pictures of our newly tiled kitchen.

Reading

I didn’t mean to take a blogging hiatus – I just don’t know where the days went.

My niece has been asking me to do a book post. We’ve lived here for almost seven years and I just discovered our local library. Now that I have found it I’ve made it my habit to stop in once a week for a new book and I’ve read a couple of interesting ones.

I love books with a mystical food bent – like Joanne Harris’ Chocolat or Laura Esquival’s Like Water for Chocolate. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen has a similar theme, although it is a little fluffier than the first two mentioned. It is the story of two estranged sisters that come from an eccentric family – one of them infuses her food with different herbs and spices that affect the eaters in different ways.

I just finished Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis – the story of a young woman, living in her family home, that decides to clone her deceased Grandmother when she discovers that she cannot have children of her own. Instead of creating a baby, like she anticipates, her ‘grandmother’ is born a 22 year old with her memories intact. She can’t understand why her house has fallen into such disrepair and who all these people are living in it.

The subject (cloning) may not appeal to everyone and it might seem, on the surface, to be kind of science fiction-y but really it’s a love story.

If you are more of a mystery fan – I highly recommend Deanna Rayburn. I read Silent in the Grave last year and the author has come up with a sequel – Silent in the Sanctuary (which is on my ‘to read’ list). The protagonist is a young widow (widowed in the first novel) that hooks up with a mysterious, Victorian era ‘private eye’ (they probably didn’t call them that back then…). Very engaging characters and the descriptions are so vivid you almost feel like you are there.

I just picked up Stephen King’s latest – Duma Key, this week. 20 years ago I loved Stephen King but my interest kind of waned around the time the Dark Tower series started. I read a review that this latest novel is more in keeping with his The Stand days so I checked it out. Only problem is as soon as I pick it up I start to nod off. I’m going to give it a 100 pages and if it doesn’t totally capture my attention I’m going to send it back to the library.

I really should get my nose out of a book and start posting more. As I write I have two lovely Russian gentlemen installing tile in my kitchen. They are going to finish up tomorrow and I’ll take pictures and do a proper ‘before and after’ post of our kitchen remodel. It only took us two and half years to decide on a backsplash….

Paperie

Since I petered out on the Christmas cards I thought I might try my hand at Easter cards. I’ve mentioned the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville, CA ~ fabulous selection of stamps and so many great inspiring pieces on display. I can spend HOURS in there just browsing. I saw a small card that was similar to the one I tried to recreate above.

I’m just never satisfied with my renditions. I don’t know if it’s because I’m looking at too long or if it really is just crap but instead of looking whimsical or creative or artistic they end up looking like low-rent versions of what I had in mind. Grrr.

I think it’s a matter of proportion. I think I need a focal layer and then smaller embellishments to enhance it.

Those bunnies should be bigger. And seriously – the inspiration piece was so cute and vintage looking and mine just looks like a six year old’s paper and glue project. Inspiration piece had a pale blue check background. Check. Inspiration piece had lined school paper. Check. Inspiration piece had vintage image. Check. Inspiration piece had floral details in some of the corners. Check. Inspiration piece had salutation in cheerful, loopy font. Check. Inspiration piece had small stamped image. Check. Inspiration piece had little pink bow embellishment. Check. Sigh.

I am loving German die cut paper (the roses in the image above). Intricate little pieces in vivid colors that glue on like a dream. And best of all they are mostly cut out so there isn’t too much cutting that needed (just little tabs that need to be snipped off) so my kitchen floor isn’t littered with itty bitty pieces of paper.

If anyone has any recommendations for books on collage art or collage type cards feel free to send them my way.

Morning light

I have had this vague notion, way back in the musty recesses of my mind, that I would like to be a little more organized about this blog. My normal modus operandi is to get up – ask my sleepy self if I have anything of interest I want to share with the world and go from there.

Or – more likely – panic because I haven’t posted in four days and my life has taken on a routine boringness that NO ONE wants to read about.

Part of this was inspired by Posy’s post yesterday on taking pictures of her world each day, for the rest of the month. I was thinking it would be nice to have that as a regular feature – only do it once a week. I think one of my favorite things about reading other’s blogs is when I get to peak into their home or gardens (and please someone, anyone, tell me that I’m not alone with my voyeuristic tendencies).

Another idea I really liked came from my niece Sara and her original blog. She had started a tabletop of the month entry showcasing her pretty table setting – lovely dishes, fresh flowers, flickering candles. I was thinking of incorporating that into a cooking post. I generally try to put extra effort into one of our weekend meals (rather than just fling a grilled cheese sandwich in the direction of my husband, like I did last night…) so I may start showcasing one of them a month and include the table setting. From soup to nuts, if you will.

I haven’t quite got all the details sorted out but was thinking along the lines of these categories; around the house, the table, projects in progress, inspiration, out and about. I’m just not sure of the schedule yet and if I want to be TOO rigid about it.

While I sort it out here is a picture looking out my kitchen window. We just recently cut down a big deck covering and I wish we had done it when we first moved here. The light is so pretty in the morning. And would you look at that: for the first time in history I actually got an African Violet to bloom. Generally they just give up the ghost when they come to my house.

Blogger Craft Challenge

Time for another one of Beachy’s Cape Cod Cupboard craft challenges! I had so much fun with the last one she hosted. And what a perfectly beachy picture to use.

I instantly knew what direction I want to go with this challenge. I’ve started collecting bits and pieces for it already. I don’t know if I am going to be able to wait until March 31st to reveal it.

Here’s a teaser:

and another:

The rest will be unveiled at the end of the month.

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