Lisa Leonard Designs

When I first saw this necklace on Lisa's site, Lisa Leonard Designs, I knew it was for me. After all, I am the woodcutter's wife. And though George and I have never carved our initials in a tree, we have spent many days bonding over the chainsaw, wood splitter, and wood pile.

I've seen Lisa's beautiful necklaces on many different blogs, but to see her designs in person is even better. The quality and craftsmanship of her jewelry is outstanding. Solidly constructed of sterling silver, I'm confident that my necklace will survive my lifestyle and my children.

Thanks to Lisa Leonard, George and I now have our initials forever immortalized. If you haven't already visited Lisa's site, go now. You're bound to find an inspired piece of finely crafted jewelry that is just right for you or someone you love.

Lisa has generously extended a 10% discount to readers of A Foothill Home Companion. Simply enter this code at checkout: 'findbeauty'. You will certainly find beauty in Lisa's creations.

I Should Have Known I Was In Trouble

when I walked in the front door of the library over the weekend and the librarian said, "Are you Molly Dunham?"

"Yes," I said, wondering how in the world I got so famous. Or if my name had been red flagged in the library's computer for overdue fines.

"I just put a book on the hold shelf for you. It looks like a really interesting book," she said.



And so it is. I am consumed by the concept of reverse applique. I've been loving my thread, cutting up t-shirts, and digging into my stash of felted wool the last few days. I really, really, really want to go buy some new t-shirts to make myself a swing skirt. My husband reminded me countless times over the weekend that I have a Thanksgiving feast to prepare for, but all I can think about is wearing a new skirt a week from Thursday, and how lovely it will swing while I bustle around the kitchen. Then I get really crazy and think maybe, just maybe, I can make a sweater to go with my new skirt.

There are baseboards to clean, ceilings to paint, menus to plan, groceries to buy, furniture to re-arrange, linens to clean and press, pumpkin tureens to find in the top of the closet, but all of that can wait. At least for a few more days. I'm busy stitching.

Who's going to notice the food stains on the kitchen ceiling anyway? (I'm still curious as to how they got there.)

Friday the 13th

Rose Hill hat pattern from Erin.
Yarn from Leslie.
Modeled by Avery

On the needles Tuesday,
off the needles Wednesday.
Photographed Thursday,
mailed Friday.

A surprise for someone who loves surprises and has made many hats for others.

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It's hard for me to believe, but this little blog was born three years ago today. Three years and more than 400 posts ago, I was a very different person. I was frustrated by the public school system, the influence of media on my children, my lack of creative time. As a family, we were not living the life I wanted us to live.

We've made a lot of changes in the last three years. We have shed many frustrations and time wasters, and of course added others along the way; but I can say with conviction that, in many ways, we are living the life I had hoped we would live. I credit many of these positive changes to recording the events of our life in this space, and reading the accounts of other families throughout the blogosphere pursuing similar lifestyles.

So thank you, dear readers, for accompanying me on this journey. When you visit this place, you are part of something very good in my life.

Boy Meets Rim

Boy brings rim home.

There are times when I allow my children to do things simply because I can't think of a reason why they shouldn't. I didn't like to hear "no" when I was a child, especially when it seemed there was no good reason to say no. I dislike it just as much now that I'm an adult when I hear parents say "no" just because. I wonder, why not? What would be the harm of saying yes, or better yet, saying nothing at all?

So when Aidan found various car parts down by the railroad tracks the other day and decided to roll a rim home, I thought, "Why not?", and I said nothing. To be quite honest, I was curious if he'd have the determination and stamina to bring it all the way home.

He did. And now we have a rim in the dining room. I'm just glad he didn't decide to bring the crankshaft home.

Curious About The New Header?

Between the ages of 1 and 3, Aidan had an appointment with the podiatrist every few months. Aidan became attached to Dr. Simmons during this time, and even though Dr. Simmons was a very nice man, he freaked me out with words like "surgery" and "casts".

Aidan's little feet turned inward, but thankfully over time, and with the help of daily stretching and special shoes, his feet corrected themselves. The special shoes, which came to be known in our house as Dr. Simmons' shoes, were ridiculously expensive and had to be replaced every few months as Aidan's feet grew. They were adorable, though. Brown leather high tops with soft brown laces. Hurt like a son-of-a-gun when he kicked us.

During the time we were seeing Dr. Simmons, Aidan also discovered persimmons. My son has always had an interesting palate, and I was delighted though not surprised that he liked persimmons. In Aidan's cute little toddler language, persimmons became known as Dr. Simmons.


For the month of November, in honor of Aidan's 7th birthday, my header features Dr. Simmons, the shoe, and Dr. Simmons, the fruit. I wonder what our podiatrist would think, though I'm quite relieved we no longer have to visit him.

I Should Have Told You I Was Leaving...

but I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Unbeknownst to our children, George and I planned a trip to Southern California. For months we sneaked around the internet, making reservations, printing out maps, plotting our vacation in secret. About two weeks before our trip, we told the kids we were going to our friend's cabin in Truckee, but really, "Truckee" became our secret code so we could discuss our trip around the kids.

"How's the weather supposed to be in Truckee?"
"How long will it take us to get to Truckee?"
"What should we pack for Truckee?"

The kids were quite excited to go to "Truckee", but when we got on the freeway heading west rather than east, Avery knew something was up. "Why are we going this way?", she asked.

George and I were smiling ear to ear as we passed a manila envelope to the kids, the envelope in which we'd been storing our reservations, tickets and maps. They were ecstatic.

We went to Disneyland last Monday, which happened to be Aidan's 7th birthday.



See? We're all holding up seven fingers. 7 is so big.

After Disneyland, we drove down the coast, visited several breweries, played at the beach, and went to Legoland. We had a great time, but we're glad to be home, and I'm glad to be back in this space. There's no place like our foothill home.

Tutorials

Acorn Necklace



Crochet a Metal Leaf



Mushroom Pincushion



Winter Berries



Fingerless Gloves



Stick Stars