Local News

First off, the winners of the covered stones are:

Christina of A Homemaker's Journal and Jackie of Smoothpebble

Christina has a recipe up right now for mint bars, which I think my neighbor Marjorie (who is crazy for chocolate and mint) should definitely make and bring over to share (wink, wink). Jackie recently posted a tutorial for making a moss terrarium. Avery and I just started one this morning.

The rest of this post is dedicated to random tid-bits that I'd like to share with you all.



Do you like these daffodils? Me too. I really liked them when they were growing in the backyard - a little touch of natural beauty in an otherwise ugly backyard. Then Aidan and his cohorts decided to dig traps and bait them with daffodils. I don't know what they were trying to catch besides my wrath. But in the end, I took a deep breath, gathered up the flowers and put them in a jar. We probably enjoyed them more inside than outside. Aidan is forgiven.



Are you eating your winter greens? I highly recommend broccoli rabe. I bought a bunch at the farmer's market over the weekend and sauteed it with olive oil, garlic, and added a splash of soy sauce and lemon juice just before serving. 75% of our family loved it, while 25% made quite the funny face upon taking a bite. I'm too nice to share that photo, but I will share this self portrait by Avery.



She's been having fun using my tripod and camera. Avery returned to homeschooling after the holidays. It's great having her back at home, though I'm a little sad each morning when I send Aidan off to school. I've got one in bed and one on the bus. Avery is thrilled to have me to herself for hours each day, but I have a feeling she'll have to share me one of these days.

I escaped to the thrift store for a few hours over the weekend and found this little beauty.



I moved some pictures around and ended up patching some holes and touching up paint. Somebody asked about the wall color in my living room a few months back. The color is Topal from True Value.

Have you checked out Stefani of Blue Yonder's new flickr group, In Real Life? You probably know by now that I'm a big fan of keeping it real, so this group is right up my alley. I've got some real pictures and a big dose of truth to share tomorrow.

Speaking of Stefani, we're thoroughly enjoying our Book of Days. The "eggsperiment" was a big hit, and this morning Avery completed the "Remembering January" page. I love the concept of doing an exit interview at the end of each month. Avery's favorite time spent with family this month was "watching National Geographic" (Hulu has several full length documentaries you can watch online). If you haven't purchased your own Book of Days yet, hop over to the Crafty Crow for a chance to win a year's subscription.

In other book news, Dallas Clayton emailed to tell me about his children's book, An Awesome Book. If you're a big dreamer, or sleep under the same roof with big dreamers, check out the book. It's quite special.

If you dream of helping others in a big way, check out Craft Hope. Jade of Chik Austin is coordinating an effort to send handmade dresses and shorts to orphanages in Mexico and South America. I have several pillow cases that are begging to be transformed into dresses using maya*made's tutorial.

OK. That's all for local news. We're off to buy some coconut popsicles.