hello may

images from the garden



hello may!

the sun is shining today, thank goodness!
it has been raining all week and this one has been a doozy. i am so tired.
i am more then happy to start the weekend today and mick is home to help with the kiddos.
this afternoon we will be heading to the plant sale to get more veggies, herbs and flowers.
soon all will be planted and we can sit back and relax and enjoy it. oh, there will still be work but, you know what i mean.
there are teeny tiny currants now and next month we will be drowning in strawberries.
i really want to put in a patio in the backyard and get some amazing lawn chairs and a grill but we will see.
first we really need to get a new income coming in since mick's job is ending at the end of the month. goodness!

have a great weekend and for all the mom's a happy mother's day!

flower girl dress

This is the Flower Girl Dress from Weekend Sewing.

I am very happy I went with Eloise from Liberty of London. I am no longer afraid of cutting into gorgeous fabric now.

The dress has errata which I noticed too late so a dress I was thinking would work a bit down the road will work this spring/summer. There are always lots of summer gatherings and events to attend so that's fine by me.

And, my girl just looks so pretty and well a little more toddler like these days. Don't you think?
She is close to walking and is a very fun, determined and sweet little one.

lilac tree

oh, hello!
i am heading out now to sit beside this tree and hand sew
a hem on a pretty liberty of london dress you shall hopefully see soon.
bye bye!

baby kimono

I completed my first project from Weekend Sewing last week.
It is the baby kimono and is a gift for a soon to be new baby. The baby shower is this upcoming weekend.
The gender of the baby is a surprise and I thought this light gingham was a nice soft choice.
I've made a few kimonos before and the patterns are very similar and pretty easy to make.

I am planning to also gift her a pair of my organic cotton hand knit baby booties and some other items as well.

red top

The red top.

I wasn't going to bother to try it on her for a while since the blue one was a bit big but by some miracle of gauge or one weeks growth this one fits her.


Have a nice weekend.

xx

button it up

Recently, I won a copy of Button it Up on Shim + Sons.
I decided to make the napkin rings which was a project designed by Melissa. The luncheon napkins were stitched a year or so ago.



This was so easy and Matty enjoyed working on it with me. These are the buttons he chose to string which I may try to incorporate in another project. I love his color choices.

And, some other button'y things I've made recently.

my birthday

*Me on my 1st Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I celebrated with a quiet day at home, some gardening, a dinner out with family and of course a cake- lemon with cream cheese frosting made by my Mom. Yum!

My celebration started Friday night after a very tough parenting day due to the boy being sick. Ugh!

I got dressed up in this skirt. I love to use any opportunity to get fancy. In fact, I often get somewhat fancy even when I am just staying home all day with the kids. That is just my way.

We had hoped to go to a Italian restaurant but, once we arrived there we discovered they were on vacation so we headed to a Turkish restaurant instead. Normally, I eat early with the kids as Mick gets home too late for us to eat together so I was starving! It was around 9 PM at this time. We had a mezze of all kinds of hot and cold appetizers and baklava for dessert. There was a belly dancer when we first got there sword dancing on the floor but, it was the tail end of her performance. I actually used to belly dance myself (haha!).

Saturday we went to see the Cherry Blossoms at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. The day was incredible. So sunny and warm it was like summer. Sweet photo of Daddy and Ms. S. I kept thinking I would see an ice cream truck to get a popsicle but, it didn't happen. Oh well! My husband used to drive a Mr. Softee truck in his early 20's before I met him. I like to envision him still doing this (part time though- someone has to pay the bills) because come on that is super cute, no?

I got a lot of great presents many of which go in the dirt:

Azaleas, Rose Bushes, Hydrangea, Mountain Laurel,Tomato Plants, Impatiens, Dianthus.

I also got a cute travel jewelry wallet from Carrie Girl that I love. My husband went into my Etsy favorites (smart) and this beautiful necklace from White Apple. A pair of FSNY shoes because I wouldn't throw out the ones I had with holes on the bottom that I had already resoled after a trip to Scotland 3 years ago. (the tops are too ruined to bother repairing now.) And, from the kids a pair of sunglasses and an IOU for a bicycle basket- presents that my Matty Gray decided on. He also wanted to get me a kitty but, we will wait on another pet for a while. And, Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross which looks amazing. So many great patterns in there. Also, some money to spend which is always exciting. Now to decide what to get...

Mick did a lot of work in the front garden and it's so exciting to see it coming back to life. We put some grass down where there was a big area of mulch. We still have a ways to go with the planters but we have some herbs, chives, lettuces, chard, rhubarb and cauliflower plants going right now. And all the berries got their leaves and the fruit trees are blossoming. I hope to edge out the back flower garden next weekend because the one side was never edged properly.

I picked daffodils and lilacs from our lilac tree and my Mom brought flowers for the table too. I had fun decorating the table and gave myself a fancy dessert plate in which to eat my cake from. I dressed Scarlet in one of my baby dresses for fun.

I also finished up knitting the red top last night.

Are you still with me? I know I don't usually write this much.
Oh well! I felt like blabbing on and on.
Hope you had good weekend too.