Birthday parties galore this weekend! Swimming lessons with Daddy at the community pool. Lots of friends, old and new. And a great evening dinner and walk with the grandparents.
How was your weekend?
*I’ll be in and out of this space depending on how my oral surgery goes on wednesday. Wish me luck!
Also, I have a peg doll tutorial <eek!> and a giveaway happening over on this fantastic blog. Check it out!
– Weekending with Pumpkin Sunrise.
“When summer time has come, and all
The world is in the magic thrall
Of perfumed airs that lull each sense
To fits of drowsy indolence;
When skies are deepest blue above,
And flow’rs aflush,—then most I love
To start, while early dews are damp,
And wend my way in woodland tramp
Where forests rustle, tree on tree,
And sing their silent songs to me;
Where pathways meet and pathways part,—
To walk with Nature heart by heart,
Till wearied out at last I lie
Where some sweet stream steals singing by
A mossy bank; where violets vie
In color with the summer sky,—
Or take my rod and line and hook,
And wander to some darkling brook,
Where all day long the willows dream,
And idly droop to kiss the stream,
And there to loll from morn till night—
Unheeding nibble, run, or bite—
Just for the joy of being there
And drinking in the summer air,
The summer sounds, and summer sights,
That set a restless mind to rights
When grief and pain and raging doubt
Of men and creeds have worn it out;
The birds’ song and the water’s drone,
The humming bee’s low monotone,
The murmur of the passing breeze,
And all the sounds akin to these,
That make a man in summer time
Feel only fit for rest and rhyme.
Joy springs all radiant in my breast;
Though pauper poor, than king more blest,
The tide beats in my soul so strong
That happiness breaks forth in song,
And rings aloud the welkin blue
With all the songs I ever knew.
O time of rapture! time of song!
How swiftly glide thy days along
Adown the current of the years,
Above the rocks of grief and tears!
‘Tis wealth enough of joy for me
In summer time to simply be.”
– In Summer Time by Paul Dunbar 1872-1906
We had one lovely Summer Solstice weekend! Full of new summer banners, strawberry/spinach smoothies in the morn, fresh fruit and veggies with a visit to the farmers market. Jeff cooked a solstice chicken on the grill for dinner Saturday and my parents came over to enjoy it with us. We had a beautiful sunday visit to the Natural History Museum where we caught the wonderful new butterfly house exhibit. I thought it was pretty magical being surrounded by all those butterflies. Ellie and Jeff weren’t so sure. They do make for some fantastic photos though. There was also a new “camping exhibit” perfect for the littlest of children. There were tree blocks to play with, dramatic play set ups and all sorts of buttons and nobs to push, pull and turn. Ellie had a blast! Then we finished the weekend up by planting flowers in our new box. Would you believe a man gave us this beautiful handmade flower box for free after I gave him a hearty helping of our kale?! A perfect weekend to ring in the summer! On to more crafting this week and lots of laundry (that didn’t get done this weekend) and then my birthday this Friday! Happy Summer to you!! Hope your weekend was a lovely one!
p.s. Thanks Jeff for capturing some sweet moments between Ellie and I this weekend!
-joining in with weekending over at Pumpkin Sunrise.
A fabulous Father’s Day Weekend with farmers markets, visits to the sea center and walks through the native garden, homemade potato salad and summer kale salad from the garden. Tee Pee tunnels, handprints by Ellie and paintings by Mama. Sun tea and local coffee, steaks and chicken on the grill. Dancing and bluegrass and after dinner walks and kite flying. A fun weekend to celebrate the joys of fatherhood with my Dad and with Jeff- Two amazing fathers! Hoping all of the fathers out there had a glorious day!
*joining in with Pumpkin Sunrise and Weekending.
Busy weekend. Stayed out too late both nights. Late afternoon visit to Santa Barbara with the Grandparents. Ellie got to ride the carousel while the sun was setting. (I got to see the tail end of this creative lady’s art fair booth too). Sunday was a bike ride to the butcher and a visit to the park. Then off to a dinner party with homegrown food and lovely company. A nice weekend that went by way too fast. How was yours?
It had been quite awhile since we had visited the zoo, so this weekend, we packed everything up before nap and headed up to the Santa Barbara Zoo for a morning of fun. The rest of the weekend was spent playing, catching up on laundry and lazing about outside, playing banjos, taking afternoon walks to the park and a little bit of painting and crafting here and there. Jeff cut up a large branch from our neighbors yard and I sanded and sealed them with beeswax for a little homemade set of tree blocks for Ellie (I’ll post more about that this week. I’m a bit giddy about our new tree blocks). It was a very nice weekend and a nice way to welcome in June. How was yours?
I don’t have very many photos from this long, memorial day weekend. I wasn’t feeling very well off and on throughout the weekend but we did have moments of fun. Lots of tea, some kite flying, some music and dancing and steaks on the grill and a visit from Gramma and Grandpa with a trolley ride. How was your Memorial Day?
-joining pumpkin sunrise for weekending!
It was such a beautiful weekend. The weather finally cooled back down to the beachy weather we all know and love (we, particularly my husband, but I’m finding my daughter as well, do not like the heat… at. all). I got out on a yard sailing bike ride on saturday morning and found some ceramic treasures. My Dad (Grandpa) joined us for our weekly farmers market trip (Gramma is visiting Germany this week and next- we miss you Gramma!). Jeff and Ellie spent a few hours enjoying each others company so I could get in some “making” and art time. I’m officially obsessed with making peg people as you can see. And, I signed up for this fantastic art class and although I am very behind; joining in almost half a year late, I’m already feeling more inspired by the lessons I got to partake in this weekend. We spent a lot of time outside. A lovely sunday afternoon at the beach and more time making and enjoying each others company. It was a wonderful weekend and I’m so very thankful for my little family.
* joining Pumpkin Sunrise, who is taking over for Amanda for weekending!
It was a really nice weekend. My mom is headed to Germany with my Grandmother for the week so we celebrated Mothers Day with her on Saturday. We visited the farmers market in the morning and headed over to my parents house that afternoon. I got to finish making the pinafore I had been working on, thanks to my Mom’s help and my mom got to enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with her favorite little person. Sunday we met up with a bunch of local Mama friends and their families for a little potluck Mothers Day picnic. The weather was lovely and so was the food and company. Jeff and Ellie made me a card and bought me flowers. It was a very nice weekend and a very nice Mothers Day.
Saturday morning was spent at the farmers market and then an Earth Fair down by the ocean side. We listened to a drum circle, hula hooped, bought Ellie an upcycled skirt and enjoyed some fresh pressed juices from a truck. A fun, crunchy morning. The afternoon was spent with Gramma and Grandpa downtown for dinner. (And we were quickly reminded why we don’t go out for dinners with our almost two-year-old).
It was my middle sister’s birthday on sunday, so we spent the day with her, in my hometown. A local production of Spring Awakening (my first musical outing since before Ellie was born), sloppy joes and birthday cake. Happy Birthday Katie!
-joining Amanda for weekending!
A surprise baby sprinkle for one of my oldest, dearest friends!
Dyeing eggs while watching The Wizard of Oz.
I actually tried dyeing with natural dyes (blueberries, red onion skins and an assortment of green things like avocado skins, asparagus leftovers and kale bits). The natural dyes didn’t go over too well (except for the lovely yellow the red onion skins produced) so we added some food coloring for the rest. Next year I will try and be more prepared for dyeing eggs.
Easter day was full of fun.
I hurried to finish up my Maggie bunny from this lovely blogger’s kit. I had bought it a year ago and never found the time to finish it (until now). My bunny turned out a bit haggard looking (in fact, I messed up so bad on the dress, I had to dip into my fabric stash and add some different fabric for the arms of the dress). Despite it’s appearance, Ellie didn’t seem to mind. She seemed to love it up! (Ellie’s basket also had a lovely spring green play silk from this lovely lady and a few Ostheimer animals as well as some wooden eggs from here).
We had many egg hunts. One at our home. One at Gramma and Grandpa’s house with the cousins.
I made carrot muffins, asparagus and avocado salad (one of my favorite spring recipe’s) and Jeff made his famous roasted potato salad (from here).
We ended the day with a walk and a bit of kite flying.
A very happy Easter indeed.
-joining Amanda for Weekending!
summerplayshouse 