-:- making and doing

My first trimester wasn't a ton of fun. They usually aren't, from what I understand, and mine was no exception. I was suddenly a very picky eater and foods that I usually loved were making me feel sick - this made me sadder than anything - I hated having food aversions.

But soon after I started my second trimester, a lot of that went away. I've just reintroduced spinach into my diet (and only in small amounts or ways that make it nearly invisible, like adding it to smoothies) and Mexican food and I are still not friends - but other than that, I'm happy to eat most anything that I encounter.

Best of all, my hands have started making and doing things again. I broke out my butters and oils and made an experimental belly balm for my tummy. (I really love it for nighttime, but am working on a formula that will be better for morning or daytime use.)

I started cutting cloth to make bibs, hooded towels, baby washcloths, and burp cloths. Mr. and I have grand plans for making some custom (potato) printed swaddling blankets sometime this December. And I'm back to knitting whenever my feet aren't touching the ground. Thanks to my amazing husband, this happens quite a bit.

We're moving through these colder days slowly, enjoying every minute of this amazing season we're in. Making and doing - and happily experiencing all of these new moments.

xox

-:- updates and news

It has been quite awhile since we last met in this space - thank you for sticking around despite my absence! Here are a few updates, in numbers.

# of cavities filled:

Four. Since I've never had a cavity filled before in my life, that was altogether an intriguing and terrifying experience. You can bet I have regular dentist appointments back on my calendar.

# of rocks found for a border in our front yard:

500 million. A few weeks back, we gave our yard some much-needed TLC in the form of some newspaper, mulch, a trip to our city's compost site, and rocks that we used to make a border between a bed in our front yard and the yard itself. Our neighbor liked our rocks so much that she asked if she could copy us! Everything is looking so much better and now we are prepped for some wonderful gardening next year.

# of garlic bulbs planted:

63. Or something like that. We got together with a few fellow community gardeners to plant some garlic off-site. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until next year when we get to eat all of it up. It also eventually led to Mr. becoming part of the garden steering committee for next year! He's leading his first meeting next week and where I would be a bundle of nerves, he is as cool as a cucumber.

# of visitors:

Two. We had my parents here for two weekends in a row, which was such a wonderful treat. I don't have any pictures of our visit, but I do have a skein of yarn that I purchased while they were here - I think it's destined to become a pair of souvenir house socks.

# of knitting projects completed:

Two. Both hats, one for me, one for a dear friend's cat. Several other projects have been started, but up until recently, progress has been slow.

# of books read:

Zero. I don't think I've ever gone this long without finishing a book, but I'm remedying that now. I picked up an Agatha Christie book at the library last weekend, without knowing much about the author or her work, and have discovered my perfect mystery book - complete with gorgeous pre-war British language. Love.

# of good reasons I have for not knitting, reading, or blogging in the last few months:

One. And it's such a special, exciting excuse to have. We are thrilled.

xox

-:- what we've been doing lately

 // yoga

Last weekend, I started my official yoga practice at a studio near our house and loved every minute of it - I went to a beginner's workshop on Saturday and my first hatha class on Sunday. I loved my little at-home practice, but I love taking classes even more.

// finding sprouted bulbs...or the lack thereof

Last October, I planted several bulbs in our front yard and have looked forward to their blooms during these long winter months. As the snow started to melt (and fall, and melt again, and fall again...) I kept a watchful eye on our front yard, looking for those first true signs of spring. What I found instead were several deep holes and the papery remnants of those beautiful bulbs. Only three tulips survived.

I was mad at the squirrels responsible for the destruction until I watched a pair of them on a tree, acting especially twitterpated, and realized that I love fat squirrels that make healthy babies as much as I loved my bulbs.

// eating subs

Mr. has become an expert at building vegetarian subs. This one has arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, hummus, avocado, and a bit of goat cheese. We rounded everything out with carrot sticks, salt and vinegar chips, sparkling water, and a melon for dessert.

While we ate, we smelled burning charcoal from every grill in the neighborhood and listened to kids laughing outside until their parents called them in.

// basking in front of open windows

This weekend was the first time in a long time that we've opened our windows and we all loved it - especially those boy cats. Wilbur has also started shooting outside every time the door opens - he never goes very far, but he loves darting into hard-to-reach places, like under the patio stairs.

On an unrelated note, a series of photographs I took inspired me to learn how to make animated gifs - this is my first one, featuring our Claude watching a bird. It was really fun to put together - but I will have to be more mindful of my camera position from now on so the next one isn't so dizzying.

xox

-:- coat rack by mr.

Mr. loves working with his hands - he is big on doing things. I love that about him, especially when he channels that energy into making wonderful things for our home.

Like this new coat rack that he whipped up last weekend.

It has two tiers of hooks, specially designed to hang more coats without too much bulk,
and includes a special, built-in, secret mail nook that only you and I know about.

And it's perfect for those members of this household who carry a general aversion to closets. I'm looking at you, Claude.

It was built with a piece of wood (walnut or black walnut, says Mr.) that the previous homeowners left in our garage. It was hung on our plaster wall with heavy duty screws and some kind of plastic anchor - which was all very encouraging since we have a few other things we'd like to hang in this plaster.

The hooks are pieces of a dowel and the moose (which was previously brown and installed on the side of one of our bookcases) was a wedding gift from my sister. We'd eventually like to get a little bench or something to put underneath it so we'll have someplace to sit when we take off our boots.

But we already love it - finding Lou's leash has been a breeze and our mail isn't cluttering up our surfaces anymore. That husband of mine is pretty wonderful.

xox


P.S. I wasn't really looking at Claude. I was looking at myself. Claude happens to love closets.

-:- the neverending scarf has ended

Well, the neverending scarf has officially ended.
I finished it over the weekend in a rush of crazed morning knitting,
convinced that it would never get done unless it was done by the end of that morning.

I blocked it yesterday (which really softened this wool - it turned out to be really nice)
and by the time Mr. got home today, it was ready for him to wear. Which is good, because we definitely woke up to scarf weather this morning.

He loves it, by the way.

 xox

-:- comfort food

For most of the week, I have been without my husband. He went on a work-related camping trip way up north and while he was away, I was nothing less than insane.

Every noise after 8PM sounded like someone trying to break in.
I shook poor Louie awake each time to see whether he was concerned about any of them.

He wasn't.

I needed to do laundry, but our washer is in the basement and...
well, that's just out of the question.

What else was there to do but eat comfort food all week?

I started by making some Thai red curry from here.

Then I made a batch of Mexican stuffed shells inspired by this. I didn't plan so well for the vegan version and ended up making my own (just vegetarian) version with beans, corn, cream cheese, taco sauce, and homemade taco seasoning. Fresh tomatoes would have also been really good.

I somehow managed not to eat the entire baking dish in one night.

Then, since I didn't have anything better to do while the shells were baking, I made these.



If you're considering making them, please do. Don't let the garbanzos scare you.
They are delicious.

I also ate my own body weight in chocolate pudding.

It's a good thing Mr. comes home today. I have missed him terribly.
We're going to take it easy tonight with a Burrito Dinner and some Seinfeld.

Reunions and reruns. There's nothing better.

xox

-:- weekending

This weekend we ignored any housekeeping that needed to be done
and prioritized a few other things instead.

Like being with our dog.

And a special furniture refinishing project.
(More about both of those things later this week.)

And making good food.

On Saturday, I made a vegan fettucini alfredo with shitake mushrooms, capers, and baked tofu.

It was pretty amazing.

Then I made up for all that healthy eating with a blueberry cream pie.

Which actually wasn't horribly unhealthy for us - it was, after all, made mostly of blueberries.

So despite Mr.'s sawdust-covered legs,
my paint-covered hands,
our messy house,
and Louie's boundless energy,
we ate very well this weekend.

I think we had our priorities straight all along.

xox

-:- saturday morning

Things I love on this saturday morning:

-:- waking up after a full night of sleep

-:- sunny windows with Cat TV and a cool, almost autumnal breeze

-:- the cutest, sweetest, best puppy

-:- my wonderful husband

-:- thinking about what to do this weekend...maybe this? maybe that? maybe both?


xox