weekend

good morning dears. 

i must say, i had a pretty good weekend.  aside from the fact that the chickens decimated my kale and i need to get some wattle fence up this week before i let them free-range again.  who wants to come over and help?!?

we went to the fleamarket on sunday and i found some things pictured above:

materials for a couple bags for the shop, a large picture of a large woman, that leather hat which i am so in love with i had to stop myself from making out with it (peter says all i need is a few less teeth and a banjo in order to wear it.  we have the banjo but i'm not willing to give up any teeth),  plus a small primitive coat-rack (child-sized) for craft fair display.

i also went over to my mum's and picked some berries.  then i made some crock pot steel cut oats to put the berries in.  this is good stuff.  i recommend you try it.  i first found a recipe on amy's blog here.  i don't add any sweetener or anything to cook it in though.  i do, however, add copious amounts of maple syrup to it once it's done.

here's the recipe i use:

1 cup steel cut oats (find these in the bulk bin aisle of your natural foods store)

4 1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

cook in crockpot for 8 hours-ish on low setting

....

and later today i will scan in some of my favorite images from the 70s classic book "woodstock handmade homes."  i found a copy this weekend at my local used book store.

love luv lurve,

me

backyard dusk

what i'm thinking about right now:

i don't really like the word dusk

however i do like that time of day/night

i wish i had a funny person here with me b/c i feel like laughing

i need to wear shoes in the backyard b/c i keep stepping on chicken poo

ewan mcgregor is cute except when he had that  growth on his forehead in motorcycle diaries

i like to roll my eyes

i also like gossip

except sometimes i feel guilty after

i am a good person and a bad person 

probably more good except i'm not really an objective judge

it smells real nice when i go for walks at night in summer

and it's that kind of thing that is best about life

around these parts

here's what's going on around here:

we celebrated dad

we're hanging laundry

i moved that vintage sofa into the studio

ethan stacked 2 cords of wood

we're eating outdoors

we're sitting by the fire outdoors

the chickens are enjoying the outdoors

jazz is hunting up in the trees.  can you see her?

i love my new compost bins

we're gardening

we're bringing flowers inside

happy summer solstice!

porch update and the nature shack

last week i got some flowers to put in the wire baskets on my porch.  i'm liking begonias lately and will bring those inside in the fall.  also have a couple zinc pots out and the morning glories are climbing the wire i hung but i'm not sure if they will bloom and be productive. 

and i'm still planning to make my table of little houses made of tree bark etc. to put on the porch.  remember me saying that?  you probably have no idea what i mean and are all like, "what the hey does she mean?" 

my daughter is a pro at making these little nature shacks and i just called up to her room and said "liv let's go down to the river and get the stuff to make our little glue gun bark shacks!"  and she called back "no i'm busy"  and i made a little whining noise and stomped away.  and on that note i shall see you later.

luv,

me

get the look

well, i'll be!  my house is featured in etsy's "get the look" series. 

and here's the link.

chaos ensues

here's what's happening in my backyard:

the baptiste is going to bloom soon.

the mock orange as well.  if you don't have yourself a mock orange well get your flip flops on and go down to the garden store and get one.  it's one of my favorites because of the scent.  on a warm spring night when you walk by and the sweet smell wafts about you on the breeze you will stop and you will smile and you will  thank me.

flower beds are really getting cleaned up. not perfect but so much better.

does anyone know what this is called?  i forget but it's another of my favorites.

the retaining wall in my backyard is annoying to me but i like the way moss grows on it.

ethan is digging up this scourge of a flower.  it was taking over.  it was way ugly.

do you know what it is?  i know the picture is rather crummy but it's the pink ones.

and this is what some of the flower beds looked like before the big clean up.  i know.  it was really bad.  call the flower police.  i wouldn't blame you.

and here are some vegetable beds.  are you getting bored yet?  well go refill your wine glass and get back here.  we're almost done.  you're not a quitter are you?

and here, finally, is the chaos that ensues inside my house when i spend all my time outside my house.

front porch

last night when it was finally cool enough to work outdoors i cleaned up the front porch.  rebekah and i did a little trade awhile back and i got these wire flower baskets. so i bought some stuff of which i can't remember the name at the garden and feed store to line them but i still need to put the flowers in.  any flowers suggestions for these babies?

i also put some morning glories and sweet potato vine in the black planter and nailed up some chicken wire behind.  i'm hoping they'll grow up the thing.  it was kind of a spur of the moment idea so fingers crossed it works.

there was all manner of stuff accumulating on the porch before: rubber boots, dog leashes, flats of plants, outdoor craft projects, yada yada.  now it looks so bare.  i'd love to find some large candle holders (like floor ones) and interesting outdoor art to put up.  olivia, the daughter, used to make these awesome small cottages with all materials from nature...bark and branches and the like.  i can see the giant candle holders and a big old table with an assortment of these houses on the porch.  oh, yeahhhh...i'm liking that vision.

news from these parts

in that top picture you can sort of see that i put an old rag rug on my dining room table. hey. it's my house.  i washed it first.   i don't know if i like it yet.  which brings me to my first burning topic.  when you do stuff around your house like hang a picture of move furniture or even the smallest thing like put a candle on one table rather than the other do you go through a transition period where you aren't sure if it's the right spot or change and each time you walk by it you assess whether it's right or not and sometimes you know it's wrong because you have a gut feeling about it but then you still have to walk by it for a week or two before realizing it's driving you crazy and moving it somewhere else?

phew.

that was a long sentence.

and now you know that i am a complete lunatic and perhaps in need of OCD drugs.

and please please please let me clarify. there is nothing perfect about my house or my wall decor or my furniture arrangement.  this is no decorator's museum.  BE-LIEVE ME.  and yet, i am guilty of the behavior outlined above.  the other thought occuring to me just now is that maybe i need to find something more meaningful to do with my life like focus on homelessness and hunger and such.  quickly moving on.

second picture: making pillows for renegade (those are buckwheat hulls on the pillows).  although yesterday i felt like total doodoo and had a headache like a dagger through my right eyeball and got next to nothing done.  i think it's because i ate such a load of crap the day prior like too much pizza and grocery store birthday cake.  so yesterday i tried to eat better.  this involved that veg/pasta thing above plus homemade bread and hummus and fruit. 

and just in case you missed it here's a picture of one of our baby chicks.  we moved them out of their box in the laundry room and into their coop yesterday.  they love their new place.

xo,

me

around my house + renegade peek

hello smiley faces.  i spent my morning trying to book a last minute flight and hotel for my husband to dallas for a wind power convention and it made me ornery and discombobulated.  every hotel around was booked.  i had about 10 internet windows open comparing and contrasting rates and locations and shuttle access to the convention site.  totally ridic.  and then after a couple hours i get an email from the husband telling me he was having "annette in the vermont office" take care of arrangements.  grr.

so, just some random pics. around the homestead above.  ethan came home this weekend to attend  his cousin's wedding with us.  he still needs to get back to boston and pack up his stuff but then he's done with his first year of art school and home for the summer.  i snuck a picture of him on the front step through this entirely filthy window.  he's a pretty cool dude.

also, take a look at this (scroll down to where it shows peg and awl and black spot books display)!!  margaux and walter are sharing a booth with me at brooklyn renegade this year which you may alreay know.  and this is what our (their) booth is looking like.  i'm so into it.  and can't wait.