Boo!

I couldn't help but come in today to show you my spooky little pumpkins!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Chirp Chirp Chirp

Yesterday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of photographing three adorable baby chicks. A friend built a coop in her backyard and these are the first little ones to come home.

Introducing Fluffy, Serena and Butterscotch (L-R)

Next week there will be a part two to this photoshoot, I can't hardly wait! I'm in love. Chirp chirp chirp!

Jamie's Minestrone

It is very windy today! I have a cold and am still in my jammies. Although not for long, I have to get ready now for our parent/teacher conference this afternoon.

Luckily I made a big pot of Jamie's Minestrone the other night when I still had a little bit of energy.

I think I have just enough time for a small bowl before I dash out the door!

Treasures

My town had a city-wide garage sale this weekend and my goodness! It was bursting with goodies. I only had about two hours to hit it all and thank goodness for birthday parties or my wallet would have really been in trouble!

Here are a few of the treasures I found on Saturday morning: a vintage set of bar tools from a lovely older man selling his goodies partly from his actual garage, the brown and white transferware sugar bowl (the minor repairs make me love it more somehow), my fourth vintage camera (I think once you pass three, it's officially a collection), and two matching mid-century chairs.

I cannot choose a favorite treasure, but there is a big tie between the Yashica 44 or the red chairs. You can still get film for this camera and so I am eager to track some down and play with it. I already found a set of images from this camera on Flickr. I scored my Yashica for $10 and learned later that on eBay they sell for a range of $46-127.

The chairs thrill me to no end, I now have enough seating in the living room to have people over. Also they came from a very nice couple who got them from their parents. They told me they have many happy memories with these chairs and it was hard to part with them. I was almost out of time and out of cash, but my good friend spotted me the $35 asking price. Here's to Gene & Lucy! I promise to take very good care of your chairs.

Artist Profile: Noemi Manalang

I am not normally a follower of fashion so I was surprised this morning when I had a sudden urge to search Flickr for fashion illustrations. Even though I don't subscribe to Vogue (or any other fashion mag), I have always had a fondness for fashion illustrations.

Autumn

Still, fashion illustrations are not on the front burner of my art stove or anything. But Flickr never fails to provide eye candy and I became smitten with Noemi Manalang's stream.

Must be cold outside

Especially the girls looking away from me.

Those really catch my eye, heart and imagination.

20s lace nightgown

Girl in the red dress

My mind cannot help but start to fill in the back stories here. And clearly, I am in a red mood. Plus I cannot resist anything camera related, that is a known fact.

Holga girl

You can enjoy more of Noemi on her blog, Noomie Doodles Fashion.

(All images belong to Noemi. Isn't her name lyrical?)

Withered, A Short Story

Unable to go on for another minute, our hero Dahlia allowed herself to weep on her neighbor Strong Rock's shoulder. The kids had just been so unruly all day. First they wanted sunshine, then they wanted shade, then they were thirsty and fighting over the watering can.

They didn't seem to understand that she had needs also, plus responsibilities. It was her roots that had nourished them since spring. Only she noticed the days getting shorter and understood it was time to prepare for winter. There was precious little time left to soak up every ray of the waning sun, breathe the fresh air and relish every drop of water from the nearby sprinkler. Soon, too soon, they would be yanked from their home in the precious soil and brought indoors for the winter.

She shuddered just thinking about it. In fact, that is what had forced her to seek comfort on Strong Rock a few moments ago. How could she explain to those young blossoms that indoors was for safety and protection? And how on earth was she going to manage them all winter long inside, with no fresh air, no sunshine, and no water? Indeed, the very thought is enough to bring any mother to tears!

Here it was only 2:30 in the afternoon, and Dahlia was spent. Yes, she was still sporting the glorious pinks of summer, but you could see the worry lines weighing heavily on all of her petals. Her stem was not bent or broken, but it wasn't strong enough to hold her upright anymore.

"Thank goodness for sturdy neighbors," she thought, "I will really miss Strong Rock while I'm in there and she's out here. She's always there for me with a kind word or a knowing smile. Surely she's seen it all after raising umpteen rocks and many boulders." Then Dahlia closed her eyes, tuned out the young folk's chatter and reminded herself that she was not inside yet. 

Unbeknownst to her, a local photographer had noticed her while driving by, and stopped to record her fading beauty with a camera. The photographer was a mother too and shared a weary moment of kinship with her.

Crochet 101

When I was a young girl, I learned how to do basic crochet from a babysitter. I haven't crocheted in over 30 years, but with all the lovely crochet work I see on blogs and Etsy, I have really wanted to learn how again. So recently I picked up a children's crochet kit (type "crochet art" into their search box) at a local toy store.

Yesterday afternoon, I finally opened it, completely doubtful I'd be able to make heads or tails of the instructions (even though I am "8+").

The bright colors in the kit really sold me. 

But, by some miracle, I did make sense of it! First, I made a square out of the turquoise yarn, followed by a small circle from the orange yarn. Then, bolstered by my success I attempted a two-toned flower!

Here's to learning something new every day! Or at least, yesterday.

With These Hands

Pardon the absence around here! I got a 'lil wrapped up in the household the past few days I guess. I am here now though to wrap up my posts about Pajaro Dunes. I'd like to share two things that I made while I was there.

First up, a sweet and tiny bunting. I like to call these fabric garlands "buntings" although most probably call them a pennant. Here is a little more reading about the term, if you're interested. I used Oma's pinking shears for this project which made it all the more special. I brought a stack of fabric from my stash and it doesn't match the room decor but who really cares? Not my six-year-old boy, that's for sure. This took about 15 minutes to make, I highly recommend it. Thanks to Green Bean for the idea.

Okay this one takes a bit more courage to share because while I have some luck behind the camera, being behind a paintbrush is a completely different story. But I brought my gouache from Mariss (see her comment on this post) and I had an oceanfront seat at the dining table, so how could I resist trying to capture some of the magic?

Yep, I pretty much throw everything into the Noodle's room when I'm done creating. He doesn't seem to mind though, or at least he doesn't say anything to me about minding. ;)

Soon (hopefully), I have some pumpkin projects that are wanting to be made with these hands. They are too cute! We have short days at school all week so maybe they will become mommy/little boy projects.

Phil's Fish Market

After we checked out from the beach house on Monday, we were not quite ready to go straight home. So some of us hung around Moss Landing seeking an adventure or two, including a foghorn on the beach, a gravelly walk amongst cows and then, lunch at Phil's Fish Market.

We're not the only ones who have filled our tummies there! Satiated, we finally headed home.

Note: about 24 hours after we left Moss Landing, a large storm knocked out a transmission line at the big power plant, causing a power emergency. We had pretty big wind yesterday!

Pajaro Dunes

We are home from our wonderful weekend away. This was the first year it was more cloudy than not, and the first year there was not enough wind for kiting. This was the first year I knit almost the entire time and the first year we watched movies as a family after dinner. This was also the year I reconnected with a dear old friend from high school and met her beautiful family, and she met mine, right there in beautiful Pajaro Dunes.

All of these photos are unprocessed, so the lighting was truly the way it appears here. Wasn't the blue amazing? And that photo of my boy jumping the tidepools at sunset is one of the highlights of my life! Seconds after I got that, I handed the camera over and joined him. I will remember it always.

Gone Acorn-ing

We are off for our annual, fall, long weekend at the beach. We head down to the coast with all of my in-laws and it is a joyful, peaceful time to connect with family, breathe deeply and center myself.

Do you like my vintage jello cups?

There's been a bit of acorn collecting happening around here, and I am longing for even more nature time while I am gone.

Take care and I'll be back on Tuesday.

P.S. I'm going to keep the Friday Poems poll open until Monday at 5 p.m. Please vote, it means a lot to me to hear your opinions. Thanks!

Please Take My Poll

I created this poll because I am wondering how my readers feel about my regular feature, Friday Poems. The poll will close tomorrow at noon. It is very important to me that you enjoy the time you spend on my blog and I appreciate you spending your time with me.

Parallel Botany Fabric Swap

Awhile ago, I mentioned that I had received a package in the mail from a fabric swap hosted by Lisa at Parallel Botany.

The crisp air has finally settled in, although I do not trust it 100% to stick around yet. But I have begun knitting again on my now three-year, two-color blanket. (It's only going to be banana and red now).

Although I haven't busted out my sewing machine yet, I am encouraged by Green Bean's success in making a simple bunting with her sons. If I can get my hands on some pinking shears that is, something I have long wanted to own. I wish I had my grandma's, and mostly I wish I had known when she died in 2002 that someday I would want to do handcrafts just like her. I would have kept her sewing basket, her vintage Singer and accompanying table, her crochet hooks and any yarn and fabric she had. Darn that hindsight!

But for now, I want to show you the fabric from the fabric swap. I am still not sure what I want to make with mine, but I know the idea will come to me with time and patience. My swap partner was Sarah in England who authors two blogs, Outside of Sarah and Circles of Rain. I can't tell you how fun it was to know the fabric I chose was going to make its way across the pond!

The ladies at Quilters Studio were so kind to teach me about fat quarters and I spent a long time wandering around choosing the above four fabrics for Sarah. I was duly impressed with the long arm quilting machine, especially because I haven't a clue what magic happens with it.

Here are the lovely fat quarters that I received from Sarah, packaged with vintage ribbons in that darling Orange Grove soap box I showed you last week.

You know, while composing this post, I found an inspiring link for myself over at Sew, Mama, Sew!. I have a hunch there is a new handbag in my future. Oooooh!!!

All this talk about handcrafting reminds me of some of my favorite lines in a well-known Jewel song: "My hands are small I know, but they are not yours, they are my own..." and her song is not about crafting but I do love to think about everyone using their hands to make things that only their hands can.

Treasures

Good morning!

I was so excited to get up and share my treasures from Alameda. I had one main mission and that was to find a rotary phone. As much as I liked that yellow one I showed you here, I was not quite ready to fork over $40. I am glad I waited because I accomplished my mission for $20 in Alameda.

Check out my bat phone! I love it so very much. The best part was after I bought mine, I saw an identical red one for $28. It worked out even better that I found red and not yellow because look what I found a few more rows over --

-- a darling white bench with red toile fabric. In the end, I'm glad I didn't go for the yellow phone on Etsy because then I might have passed up this bench. I was so proud of myself for not automatically paying the price on the tag too, my normal shopping practice. It was $24 and I asked if they would take $20 and they quite happily agreed. I wasn't even confident the bench would fit under the desk but it surely does fit!

Finally I splurged on a children's book that is 73 years old. It is not in pristine condition or anything and at $15, it cost me almost as much as my bat phone or bench. But I adore the stories and illustrations.

I will take very good care of your book Violet. The stories are so charming and Little Bear's Ups and Downs include when he played with rough children, when he got rich and here is a page from the story of his ups and downs with porridge.

Little Bear wakes up one day and refuses to eat his porridge. Mother Bear is convinced he is quite ill even though his tongue is perfectly pink. So she gives him maple cakes and sugar and then all he wants to eat is sweet things. Father Bear is not too happy about that and puts Little Bear to work in the fresh air to build up his appetite.

Mother Bear is not too happy about that but she doesn't argue. Even though she wants to say something unpleasant, instead she says "Oh hum! Oh, hummy-hum-hum!" Do you think that might be the secret to a long, happy marriage? The bear family also laughs a lot together, even during frustrating moments. They are forgiving of mistakes and don't take life too seriously. I have a lot to learn from these three.

Alameda Antique Fair

I had the most wonderful day in Alameda yesterday with two great friends. We left bright and early and slowly made our way from the back to the front of the antique fair. The weather was perfect: blue skies, not too cold and not too hot. I got some treasures which I will share with you tomorrow. Mean blogger!

Here are some of the treasures I did not take home.

The Alameda Antique Fair is overwhelming in the most delicious way! This is but a scant half-percent of all that we saw. I can't wait to show you my goodies tomorrow.

How was your weekend friends?

Autumn Colour Week, Friday :: Red

I had an errand to run in San Francisco this morning, so I brought my camera along in search of red. I found a lot of it around, although nothing is particularly referring to autumn. But it is San Francisco on an autumn day so there you go.

This is some of what I saw all around Chestnut Street in the Marina. It was a very warm day in the City, I was sweltering in a sweater and jeans. Parking and traffic were a challenge today but in the end, I landed a spot across the street from my beloved Kara's.

Don't forget to check out Poppytalk's daily entry and their pool of colour. Look at this upcycled train case -- I have one so similar!

Autumn Colour Week, Thursday :: Brown

I take these color weeks a bit literally and go out and shoot the day's color on that day. Yet each day, I've had a goal of posting by 9 a.m. Hmm. Yet another example of unrealistic expectations for myself! So I'm publishing after 5 p.m. today, by far the latest this week, but there was stick collecting to be done and that takes time when done properly.

I love this simple fence that looks so different from other fences.

Spied on the walk home this morning while jamming to Lifehouse.

A precious gift from precious friends on a precious day (our wedding).

Found inside the above box where I keep all manner of special things,

including Italian coins from my two trips now 10+ years ago.

Brown is one of my favorite colors and you can get lost in more of its beauty over in Poppytalk's collection of the day. I am especially into these twig pencils they featured.

You can also find me over at the Green Phone Booth today, talking about something edible and golden brown.