” a single photo. No words. Capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.” – Joining Soulemama today! Have a lovely weekend. I’d love to see your moments too. Please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment section.
I know it’s only January and in other parts of the United States it’s snowing and freezing but lately, we’ve had beautiful weather and it’s feeling an awful lot like spring is here.
We’ve taken lots of walks partly because of this lovely weather and partly because we have a baby who is refusing to nap in or on anything but a carrier.
But this week has also been full of lots of outdoor time, open back doors, picnic lunches in the sun, beach visits, enjoying some good reads and a little bit of spring time inspired embroidery too.
All of this warm weather is making me think of planting and summer gardens and easter bunnies and flowers in the house and making sun tea. I’m excited for the year to unfold… but I know I really need to slow down …and take it season by season.
For such a low-key weekend it was certainly a busy one. It was rainy and wet off and on throughout the weekend so we were inside for a good part of it. Cloth diaper laundry was done, cookies were made for a cousin on bed rest and we got out for the occasional wet dog walk too. When it wasn’t raining it was foggy. There was a foggy but colorful trip to the farmers market and we went to lunch with the grandparents at a local spot with some nice live music and rice milk chai latte’s (yay!). We took a chilly and foggy beach walk before the rain came in again for the night. Sunday was wet in the morning but perfect weather for a visit to the antique market and a beautiful walk through Marina Park. We got our compost bin up and running too this weekend. Our worm bin was a fail last year on the balcony in Orange County, so we shall see how the compost bin goes. The wet weather is supposed to return this week. I know I’m being very Californian in saying this, but I’m ready for spring. What did you do this weekend?
*linking up with Habit this weekend
“A single photo. No words. Capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.” Joining Soulemama this Friday. Happy Weekend!
Home cooking dog food has been quite the adventure. We read several books, researched online and eventually worked with a holistic vet to come up with a proper diet for our dogs. Well, the trouble with high needs dogs is they never seem to be okay for long on anything. While we lived in Orange County, Linus was doing very well on a diet of potatoes, beef and cooked veggies. (Charlotte we have discovered seems to be just fine with any sort of home cooked meal- of course- the French Bulldog with no skin allergies). When we moved to our current home in Ventura County, Linus had a terrible allergic reaction to something, broke out in itchy hives and doggy diarrhea (sorry if that was TMI) and has not recovered since. So now we are back to square one. It could be environmental but our new vet thinks it also could be diet. We’ve tried switching him back to kibble which just made everything worse. Now we are working on a home cooked, no grain diet. (We had been switching back and forth between the cheaper, oats and beef and potatoes and beef).
We are using this book as a guide and now make both dogs potatoes and turkey. Here is our grain free/limited ingredient recipe:
10 lbs potatoes (washed, peeled and cut up into bite size pieces)
3 lbs ground turkey
bone meal powder
vitamin powder
extra virgin olive oil
bake the potatoes and cook the turkey and mix together. Add Bone meal and vitamin powder and mix together with 2 tblspoons of olive oil. Should last for about five days depending on the size and number of dogs. This recipe is for two dogs (one medium size and one large dog).
Anyone out there have high needs dogs? Dogs with allergies? What dog food have you had luck with?
It’s been a lovely weekend so far. It has warmed up and almost feels like early summer around here. We spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the sunshine and the warm breezes. Lots of sling dancing to The Beatles with the babe, dogs sunning themselves out on the deck, tea in the morning (because it’s still pretty chilly before nine, it is after all still winter). There have been visits from Gramma and Grandpa, the weekly farmers market visit, salads from farmers market produce (this week we tried some japanese dandelion greens that we’re amazingly tasty!), and picnic lunches and reading out in the grass. You can’t ask for a better weekend! How was your weekend?
“A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”
-joining Soulemama today! Happy Weekending!
Sometimes people show up at the perfect time, when they’re needed the most. An overly fussy baby and a tired mama make for dismal company but when the company is Gramma and Grandpa, the fussiness seems to subside and the tired mama is quickly woken up with a nice stroll downtown and a new area in the outskirts of town to explore.
What a beautiful day it turned out to be!
I wanted to share the most wonderful of handmade gifts from Ellie’s first Christmas. Ellie is very lucky to have a Gramma who sews. She sews mostly quilts but since Ellie has come along, her sewing is certainly branching out. She always amazes me with the things she can make! While we were away in Boston this year for the holidays, Gramma was sewing up a storm for her little grand daughter.
These wonderful fabric boxes were the highlight. Made from A Walk In The Woods fabric, the same fabric used in her Gramma made quilt before she was born. They are soft and squishable, and stackable in two ways.
And as you can see, Ellie loves her Gramma made boxes!
Gramma also made a set of lovely quilted bibs to catch all of that drool my little teether is producing.
And this last gift was not entirely made by Gramma. She put it together and then sent it off to be made. But, it was so darling to not include.
A little board book, just for Ellie with all the names and faces of the people she has come to know so far (on the west coast. East coast will need a book of their own too I think).
My Mom is such a wonderful presence in Ellie’s life. I hope Ellie learns a lot from this incredible person. I know I certainly have and I’m still learning every day from her. Thank you Gramma for all the lovely Christmas handmades! Ellie loves them and I will treasure them!
Five Months! My goodness you are growing fast! This was a whirlwind of a month. Another trip to the east coast, Christmas, a New year and all the little things you’ve been learning along the way (almost rolling over, teething, raspberries, screaming and growling at us)… fun, fun, fun and busy, tired mama and daddy. We are excited to see what this year will bring watching you grow and develop. We love you Miss Ellie Lou hoo!
summerplayshouse 