waiting for warmth.

chico.

selva.

lettuce seedlings. 

future flower/squash patch.

day lilies.

easter lily.

creeping jenny.

mum.

hostas. one of my absolute favorites.

azalea bush. future herb & flower plot.

future vegetable & flower plot.

handmade branch fence.

luna.

how lovely it is to watch all the bulbs come breaking through the soil. because we rent our home, and one never knows what they will get from a renter's garden, i have been pleasantly surprised to see some lovely bulbs arise from our flower bed. hosta has been by far my favorite along with the jenny creeper. the azalea bush is so lovely to look at and is the only thing besides wild violets that is blooming in our yard. the easter lilies were a big surprise too. i hope, hope, hope they will bloom! and as far as the day lilies, i am so happy to see they are coming up since i planted them rather late in the year. i also happy to see the mums looking so lush. i finally decided to plant them when i saw new growth appearing. at the moment i also have a two beautiful pots of pansies and dusty miller. to my great joy, i planted sweet pea seeds and they are coming up in the pots as well. i also have a rosemary bush that i rescued from a dumpster and it is doing rather well! i also have a ton of kale seedlings. unfortunately i have not done too well with the lettuce seedlings but the kale ones are flourishing.

i have so many high hopes for my garden this year. this will be my first vegetable garden so i have decided not to get too crazy. i am not doing a traditional garden layout (rows) but am just letting everything grow together. that is why i have left all the flowers that are coming up in the beds now. i love the idea of the tomatoes growing beside the easter lilies and the basil growing alongside the hostas and so on.

here is what i ambitiously hope to grow...
tomatoes...lots & all different types.
beans...if i can get them planted soon.
yellow squash & zucchini....maybe butternut.
eggplant.
peppers.
swiss chard...possibly.
lettuce & kale.
basil...tons and tons and tons. i love this herb.
thyme.
oregano.
mint...but only in a pot!
chives.

living room.

some shots from around our living space. the little box was made and given to me by jeremiah for christmas. it is one of my most cherished items. the picture of Christ was painted by housemate's brother. the book on the mantle is Red Sings from Treetops. it was given to me by my dear friend joy for christmas (she also has it displayed on a shelf in her home) and it is by far one of my most favorite children's book. the illustrations are beautiful and quite inspiring. the family photos on the wall were made by gluing photos on pieces of plywood (we found on the side of the road) and lacquering over them. so easy! they border our marriage certificate that we had everyone present at our wedding sign. so many items in my home have a story & it is hard not to go into detail about each little thing. for the most part, i am a person who only uses items in her home that have a story/meaning behind them. 

scrapped/salvaged items: purple sofa (not an item we would usually even think to touch but we were familiar with the owners), wall bookshelf (my most favorite find), blue bookshelf, both floor lamps, chair in reading nook

many other items were thrifted or found at yard sales! 

via lena corwin

i love this picture so much. it makes me just want to sew and sew but not alone. with friends! i own lena corwin's book printing by hand  and was thrilled when i came upon her blog, a continued source of inspiration.

today has been slightly productive. i made a trip to library to get some gardening books but came away with a lot more sewing books. i picked up...

Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson...it is full of lovely pictures and beautiful things to make!

Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin...i have looked through this book before and wanted to get to spend a little more time with it.

Eco Craft by Susan Wasinger...always looking for new projects to try out.

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour...of course i had to get this when i saw it. here's to learning how to run a five acre farm.

also picked up a book called For Your Garden: Walls and Fences. i'm not in need of a wall or fence but the pictures looked so pretty and i thought jeremiah might get some ideas from it as well.

via wildflowers::pretty

this past weekend as i was raking leaves and shoveling them into a wheelbarrow while wearing a dress and tights, i made a decision to challenge myself. i decided to commit to wear only dresses for the rest of the year. no jeans. no shorts. just dresses and skirts. the only time i will allow myself to wear pants is for yoga and pilates and for sleeping. that's it. plan and simple.

i made this decision because i like the way i feel when i wear dress. i feel like a woman. a feminine woman. i feel pretty. and on occasion i feel like anne of green gables (the older version, not the young twelve-year-old version). i dream about living out on some land and tending to the goats and chickens all while wearing beautiful dresses with some lovely boots. i will say this idea was partly inspired by a friend of mine who has made a similar commit (a much more difficult one) for more noble reasons. she has committed to wear only one dress for the entire year in protest of the fashion industry and more. check out her wonderful blog for more details!

so far i have done well. my legs haven't touched a pair jeans since saturday. i am running a little low on the dress/skirt category but am working on replenishing my supply at the local salvation army and value village. i also need to replace the pair of black tights i ripped while raking. 

jeremiah is away in VA until sunday. i miss him terribly. this will be longest we have been apart since the second month of our marriage when he was gone for an entire week (it was bad!). this experience is very good for us. luckily i have a lot to get my mind preoccupied. besides finding new dresses, i have a baby shower to plan, decorate and clean for (it's at my house this coming sunday), a baby to continue waiting on to be born (her due date was monday so it could be any time now!), and plenty of sewing to do! also i have jeremiah's truck which i love. it means whatever i find interesting on the side of the road i can actually pick up. like for instance, i finally picked up a nice pile of wood that has been sitting on the side of the road for over a week now. it will be great for a burn barrel. 

via winterness

via anna emilia

wishing i lived in the above picture. loathing warm winter days like today. but at least it is sunny out. blinds and curtains are open throughout the house. sun is pouring into my sewing studio. it along with hot peppermint tea are waiting for me to come get lost in sewing. how blessed i am to have such a time before me.

may you feel loved today on st. valentine's day. 

january, february...

These photos are not very good but they get the point across...I made some fabric swatch cards for a friend's birthday. I enjoy making cards for gift and especially love putting a few added details on them with stamps. " The tag says "Gratulerer Med Dagen" which means "Happy Birthday" in Norwegian. My friend is from Norway and now lives in Charlotte with her American husband and they are expecting a baby boy in 4 weeks! 

I am also eagerly waiting for another friend of mine to have her baby. She is due on Valentine's Day and the baby has already descended to the correct position (his/her head is down at the pelvis) so it could be any day now! For their baby, I made my first real quilt. I used an assortment of colors and patterns for the patches since we don't know if it is a boy or girl. I hope to take some pictures of it one of these days. It has inspired me to experiment more with quilting. I don't really want to make stereotypical quilts (and want to escape the instant image we get when we think of quilting...i.e. grandmothers) but I do want to take the basic patchwork concept and apply it to not just blankets but an assortment of things, not just blankets. I especially love the log cabin block/square...

via quilt dad

I also think that this maybe something I want to pursue and eventually start selling on etsy, etc. I have yet to find something I really want to spend my time making and perfecting and trying to sell. There are plenty of things I enjoy making but there hasn't really been something I want to create into a product to sell. I may have just now stumbled upon something...

Also my friend who is about to have a baby any day lent me a lovely and very inspiring book...

Patchwork Style

Besides quilting and waiting on babies to be born, Jeremiah and I have finally picked out a camera to purchase. There are plenty of really nice cameras I would love to buy but we have a very limited budget so we have done our research and picked out a point and shoot that has gotten good reviews. We have a little more saving to do and then hopefully I will have a brand new camera to take as many photos as I want so this blog will be busting at the seams with them and not just words (or half blurry photos)! 

Nikon Coolpix S8100

It is time to start planning our garden for the spring! Also I want to make a braided rag rug for my living room. I found a rather easy video on how to make one.

happy valentine's day!

snowy days call for soup. 

this is a soup concocted from the few items in my fridge. 

poor man's veggie soup

a few garlic cloves

1-2 small red onions

2 large carrots

2 cups frozen corn

a couple handfuls of fresh spinach

6 cups water

salt, pepper, oregano, basil, chili powder 

mince garlic. chop red onion. cook over med-high heat with oil until translucent. chop carrots into large pieces. throw into the pot with onions. pour in water and bring to a boil. pour in corn. bring to a simmer. chop spinach and throw into pot. season. cover and simmer until all veggies tender and then a little more. tastes even better the next day.