a new meme, have you been tagged?

Super talented Catherine Witherell tagged me for this meme, and yes...it's time for a new post and another new day....





Here are seven facts about me, random and weird:

1. I love my coffee and am very snobbish about it. Peet's Major Dickinson Decaf turkish grind is my daily coffee right now. However, usually it's Strictly Organic if I can get my head around ordering it.
2. I love to have a little heated bag at the foot of the bed at night in the winter. My feet get too hot in the night for socks, but I do love the extra toasty warmth of that heat to get to sleep.
3. I cannot fall asleep at night without reading for a bit.
4. My digital camera is a great joy to me. Taking photo after photo without worry about the cost of printing, film, etc. so freeing.
5. I brake for garage sales (estate sales, open air markets...)
6. I subscribe to 159 podcasts, though less than half seem to regularly post. I think a lot have "pod faded" though I keep subscribed in case they come back.
7. I want to pick up some sweaters from Goodwill to deconstruct and re-knit. I hesitate because the task seems a bit overwhelming right now.

Tag 7 people:
Binky
Gwen
Cordelia
Elinor
Nikki
Tara
Kristie

Took this a couple of weeks ago at the U district's Farmer's Market. They said a lot of people had taken photos for their blogs. :)
This is taken from my studio out to the front yard. I love this Japanese Maple, so gorgeous right now. And the driveway is full of beautiful red leaves too.

He loves his jumpy! He's so strong he just gets airborne and laughs and laughs.

We finally finished painting his room a couple of weeks ago too. And his crib is all ready for him. (You can see it in the background of the jumpy photo).

a new day.....

amen and amen.
a mandate.
yes we did.

for a beautiful, hope-filled video head here.

I've been saddened by the number of wild and outrageous comments from "the right" on friends blogs...and then it happened here too. Anonymous commenters spewing their hatred and fear on blogs when people are simply stating their excitement for this new day, this hope that our freedoms will be restored after 8 years of an administration who would take freedom away from United States citizens, who would torture and imprison thousands of people with no trial. Who would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out millionaires who made horrible business decisions in the name of more and more greed. Who would give their friends and the VP no bid contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars to fight a war that has nothing to do with 9/11 or freedom. Who took our country from a surplus budget under Clinton to the state of enormous economic chaos that we are in today (who will blame in on Obama, though this huge hole of debt is the Bush Administration's policies that will be inherited).

And what makes me the saddest about all of this? The majority of those "right" folks believe they are coming from a Christian perspective. Couldn't be farther from the way of Christ. Christ is centered upon Love and Grace and Hope. Not Fear and Greed and Shame. I say this here for the folks who have given up on church because of these people. Christ in not their way, they are following the path of their preacher, not Christ. There are good churches out there, if you'd like to find one you may have to shop around a bit, because even within denominations there are variations by church - but you could try a couple. The United Church of Christ, The United Methodists, The Unitarian Universalists . Each have searchable services to help you find a church near you. And of course, you can live a perfectable fabulous spiritual life without going to church at all. Peace be with you.

...and in unrelated news. the computer has been updated, soon, more photos.

go obama!

Waiting to update our computer so that it accepts more data. (Need new chip or something that gives it more memory), so unable to post new photos. These are "old" photos from the previous camera. Miss writing here. And getting comments.

the pull of the ocean

omg, did we want to go to the ocean before maternity leave was over.

what to do, what to do...it was high season (read: no hope due to budget).
one of the places we love has an email list and i said about two weeks ago, "gosh, we haven't gotten an email from them about any specials."
the next day
(no, i'm not kidding)
an email plops in.
super deals,
the final week of maternity leave is the first week of specials.
i called, our favorite room was available for the next three days, so i booked it.
we did a couple of chores on our to do list.
packed, went to an end of summer party at friends, came home early-ish to rest, sleep, begin loading the car...
and we went to Cannon Beach.

There was a negative low tide the first day we were there. I love low tides because I love me some tidepools, and I love *all* that wet sand to walk on....it makes the beach more private to me, because everyone isn't huddled walking along the smaller easy to walk section.

Little Man loved the beach. We talked all about everything we saw. And mentioned that we'd come back again and again whenever possible. And another time, when he was older, he'd get to put his feet and hands in the water. And touch the sea anenomes and starfish (if he was very, very gentle and never took anything from the sea).


I bundled LM up and took him each morning to a nearby bakery for journaling (and coffee, even though it was *bucks). Turns out, it's very difficult to journal with the cutest baby in the world. Everyone wants to meet him and ask all about him. (He slept through all of the gushing).Because I've been a bit scattered of late, I didn't get around to ordering my copies of the 1000 journal pages book (3 of my pages are in it). I bought it at my favorite store in Cannon Beach - the bookstore, and it was a staff favorite, when I went to the counter to buy it the clerk said she loved this book, to which I proudly replied, I have three pages in here. She whipped out a Post-It note pad to write down my information to tell everyone she met one of the artists. Yep, I floated the rest of the day, and did a lot more journaling too. I already love that store, but, you know, I'll go back again and again!




Oh, what a good time.

elmer fudd lives here

Is this not the cutest picture ever? OMG he melts my heart and makes me laugh outloud so many times a day. This is a gift from Auntie Gayle. She sent a big box of baby stuff she picked up at her new churchs big yard sale a couple of weeks ago. As he wears the stuff I have him model a bit and send her the photos. This should ensure more boxes of gently used items to keep on coming. I may put this in the little photo montage for Christmas cards this year. Oh he is *so* cute!

Getting more journal pages, and canvases too done! Such a thrill to finding some balance every day. I re-worked a tired, old piece and love it now. (Will post that later).

Really getting into shading and depth and letting the wise women (series name) sit out for awhile until the word/s needed for that image come to me. suggestions for this one?

Ta ta for now.

Growing Adventures

Weeks ago on a Saturday we went for a long walk on the Tolt Pipeline, it was a beautiful day. Later that evening we had an accident in our home. It was so incredibly horrible and frightening. He *is* wonderful (about two weeks later). Thank you to all of you who prayed and sent us so many good and powerful thoughts and prayers.

So, now, he's been himself again for more than a week. And he's smiling and giggling now. He smiles and laughs a little every time he's re-introduced to Francis the (ceiling) Fan, which he sees from the changing table. He looks so good in red that I'm planning two sweaters in his favorite deep, good red. Basic Crew and Geordie Stripe Yoke Jacket (Ravelry links).

The apple tree out front of church. I'm so excited to eat one of these this fall. Maybe enough to make a pie, or applesauce?

And this week. I made some art. A couple of pages in the journal. Got a couple more pieces of art on the wall of the studio. Need to keep doing this around the house, we have so much in boxes still.





I ran out of nails before I could finish adding the frame. Once I have this completed, I'll be posting to etsy.

Fell in love with hearts again after wandering through the Fresh Paint show at the Everett Marina on Saturday. Expect a series of these.

so in love....

...with this little man. He's awake a little more everyday. We're reading more and singing songs and following eyes and just drinking in his beauty.
Most of his collection of books thus far. (Many are on the nightstand for nightly reading). Oh my goodness the books he has received as gifts! So beautiful, I'll have to share a couple in the future. Amazing children's writers out there!
Most of his collection of clothes. my goodness there are some adorable clothes in this collection! Thank you thank you to all who have handed on such sweet items. Some fabulous new pieces and dozens and dozens of hand me downs.
A couple of photos of the vast array of wonderful meals that has been coordinated for us. The meal help has been such an important part of our developing a healthy rhythm in our house. Sleep has been so far from us so much (though we have really, finally begun to nap when he's sleeping), there has been a lot of dishwashing and laundry, and still the unpacking into the new home. Oh my goodness the meals....salmon, beef stroganoff, salads, chicken, mac & cheese, mexican casseroles, fruit desserts, a little bit of chocolate.
Thank you thank you all! The top photo is cool whip mixed with a bit of fruit yogurt, so good. The next food photo is of super good oatmeal! Makes me really sure that once little man is eating solid food, I'll be making batches of crockpot oatmeal for a quick warm breakfast on rainy winter mornings.

meme

Clearly the lack of sleep isn't helping me learn new computer tricks very quickly. I spent a few minutes yesterday trying to respond to this meme, only to have forgotten to cut and paste the actual picture mosiac. oh well, if you're interested, click on each link to see the corresponding Flickr photo to my answer to each question.

* Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
* Using only the first page, choose an image.
* Copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker over at FD's image maker.

The questions:
What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you attend?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your Flickr name

1. Celeste Yawning, 2. bbq corn, 3. IMG06, 4. Lime Green Window Shutter, Red Flowers and a Rail, 5. Brad Pitt's housing project in the Ninth Ward. New Orleans. Louisiana. USA. December 2007, 6. Caffé del Doge - Latte Macchiato, 7. Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy, 8. David Lebovitz at Ici, 9. GREAT MOM [GRE8 MOM], 10. just another fantastic evening at the oregon coast, 11. creative embroidery, 12. Celestial*

blissed out

our little man has arrived. we've been happily watching him for hours and hours -- for a couple of weeks now. he's perfect.

we're moving tomorrow!

A glimpse of our new house! Yippee. All is well. We get the keys this evening. We're having the carpets deep cleaned tonight, then tomorrow morning the movers come to haul all of our belongings from this rental house to our new home! We've had things in boxes for more than four years - from when we first left Bend. Since we began packing for our move to the Seattle area we've been living out of boxes for more than 10 months! I'm so thrilled about opening up every one of these boxes to put everything in its place. And nesting. We were blessed with the sweetest baby shower and handcrafted and very thoughtful gift items for our little baby who is getting ready to join us in our new family home. Wednesday is all about finding some of the final essential baby items - washer and dryer (we had been waiting to buy a dryer until we knew if we needed an electric or gas, then we discovered that as we are chosing to cloth diaper, our washer, which doesn't have a hot water or sanitizer feature, will not work for our purposes. We also need a crib (though not as pressing, since he'll be in his co-sleeper for a good couple of months). Dresser for his room. Cloth diapers. Stroller with carseat (the midwives have been pressing for this for a couple of visits now :)). Camera. Gotta capture those special moments from the get-go. It's real! All of this amazing grace is swirling all around us and it's such a thrill.
I love this little nook for cookbooks. I think I may have culled the number down far enough to fit in here, with a little space on there for a few soft toys too.
A glimpse of the studio. (Of course, both of these photos are filled with the previous owner's items...I'll re-post similar shots with our stuff within a week or so). I love the colour of this wall, though it's a bit dark for the studio space, so it'll be painted at some point. And need a lot of super great halogen lights to really lighten up the space whose windows are under the deck.

in which a BSJ is nearly complete

I've finally finished a Baby Surprise Jacket. And oh, how I *love* the BSJ! I'm so going to knit more and more of these. It was difficult to get through (I've started one three times), but I pushed through and did it! And then just to push my luck I knit the baby booties that match. Next I'm going to knit another BSJ and booties in fingering weight yarn.
I found the saw and framed two and a half of my paintings!
Went to a sketch crawl at Molbak's with a great group of artist friends. It's long been a goal of mine to do more sketching, and this day really got me jazzed about it. (I've even started sketching in pen! Next stop, washing colour in there). I took dozens of photos of the gorgeous plants and displays. This is my favourite cluster. Isn't it so artfull?
They had our favourite Alphabet cards, I took a picture to remember that they had them here, so we could go back somewhere closer for them (we registered for them at Merry Go Round in Bellevue).
Love this jolly Buddha. We still regret not having purchased two awesome Buddhas in Berkeley. We bought one for our friends housewarming gift and have never again seen such a great one. This one at Molbak's also doesn't compare to the beauty of the sitting Buddha we bought for J & B, the hunt continues.
My favourite planters in the place! I love the texture, the uniformity, the natural wonder of it. Love, love.

*And* my iPod and iTunes are talking again! Yeah! All in all a great day. (Oh, garage sales today - more baby clothes and toys, no crib still. However, we did find a push mower with basket for just $15, and we'd been just about to order one from Costco for $89 (plus tax)! Yeah us!

Whirlwind

View from the guest room of our soon to be home.

Oh my gosh. This is such a crazy time in our lives. Moving 5 miles is proving to be *much* harder than we thought. I think probably because we a bit focused on bigger things. Birth classes. Reading about birth (and being a mom). And, the re-packing the items we've had out of boxes for the past 9 months. I'm *so* excited about getting into this house, getting things unpacked and in their proper places and creating the great bedroom for Sparky and his birth (that's in chronological order - in order of significance Sparky's birth is way on the top of the exciting list).

I packed my little Japanese saw and really needed it out, so I'm actually opening a few boxes trying to find it, I know it's right near the top of one of them. I had to squish it down when I was squeezing the flaps of the box together to get the tape on. I really want to finish off a couple of the bigger paintings I've done lately. The lattice is so long, it would be much easier to move in smaller pieces.

My iPod is acting up. So not thrilled about that, because I love it, and really rely on it for listening to my various NPR and art podcasts in the morning while making my latte and other morning rituals. It's not "listening" to me when I want it to pause, or connect with iTunes on my computer.

Researching cameras, because my little camera has such lag time that I know it'll be really frustrating trying to capture our little man's adorable-ness. Great recommendation came for the Canon XTI. Found one at Costco, but think there might be one less expensive elsewhere. Anyone know of a great source for cameras?

i love them so...

gosh i hope i can grow these at our new house.

i do love a blurry image now and then.

a random meme (because i can't resist 'em)

A meme from cosymakes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
ten years ago we lived in a fabulous intentional community in Bend. I had the most perfect job for me and had two months off in the summer every year for tootling around and selling my art.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
start baby surprise jacket
library – return and pick up reserved books
call moving companies
food coop for goat’s yogurt, watermelon, strawberries & fresh ground peanut butter
finish felted box

3. Snacks I enjoy.
fresh fruit and veggies
popcorn – old-fashioned, stovetop with butter & salt
a bit of cheese (aged cheddar or goat) & wheat free crackers
dark chocolate
rice chips

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.
endow scholarships at PSR, WOU, and COCC
start edible gardens at every school yard I could.
buy handcrafted everything.
create an intentional community.
spend a week in an ocean front cabin in Cannon Beach (every year).
spend two months traveling in Europe -- Paris, various Italian, Greek & Spanish spots.

5. Places I have lived

Singapore, Australia, Alaska
Oregon, New York, Wisconsin, Washington
Berkeley, San Mateo, Seattle area

6. Jobs I’ve had.
baby sitter, house sitter
hostess at a couple of restaurants.
boutique clerk
Student Government executive
self employed artist with odd jobs to pay the bills
residence hall director
director of community education centers
bead show class coordinator
development office administrator

7. Peeps I want to know more about:
I love participating in memes, but don’t like to call others out…tell me if you participate though, I love to read memes too.

i heart garage sales

Still searching for a crib and dresser to go in the baby's room. Went to a big neighborhood garage sale this past Friday and then on Saturday went to a huge churchyard rummage sale. Scored all this stuff (from all of these photos) for about $30. Also got a sweet wooden stool I forgot to photograph. Lots of baby items, including a sling just like what we've been looking for - the sling alone would have been $40.
I ran out to this sale and had to get the car back within a half hour because C had a wedding in Seattle and needed to leave by 10:30. The church yard sale started at 10. So I rushed through and scanned the area for baby stuff - headed there. No crib, no dresser, no bookcase, not many baby clothes, but I picked through the toddler boy stuff grabbing everything that didn't have huge logos on them (no GAP, OLD NAVY - those are quite abundant) also, for now avoiding the cars, trucks, etc. Found a lot. Then toward the books, walked past the craft table. Nothing of interest there. Found piles and piles of books, noticed a woman with a Costco bag -- what a great idea! Wished I had one of those. I do keep about 6 canvas bags in the car, but didn't think to bring those with me to the sale. If I hadn't been on a tight timeframe I would have spent another 10 minutes or so in the books area, there were a lot of children's books.
So glad that I finally fixed the camera/computer connection issue. Totally by trial and error, but I'm finally able to use the camera again!
Hard to photograph a baby sling. I'm so thrilled about finding this. We haven't seen one like this in any of the stores we've been to, but I've seen them online from $40 - $80.
We also need a bookcase for the baby's room. Finding lots of great books and puzzles too. I even found a Babar book! (I loved them as a kid, because of Queen Celeste).