My mom is one of my favorite people in the entire world. She is kind, she is infinitely patient, she is goal-oriented, she is fiercely loving. She never missed an opportunity to make a day special for her four kids, and I still remember so vividly every minor holiday that we would wake up and she would have the table set with fun goodies and a celebration of the day (including the obvious minor holidays, and also like, Groundhogs Day and Veteran’s Day). She really made every moment so special.
My mom taught me to sew when I was in elementary school and we’d make all sorts of clothes together for my American Girl Dolls. She loved to match me and to match my sister and I together with both store-bought and homemade creations. She is always SO excited about the various things I have knitted, crocheted, or made for her over the years and is my number one fan in the projects I take on. She is only getting better and better with each year and I am so grateful for all that she has done as my mom. Happy Mother’s Day, mama!
This week was the first full week of Me Made May, and I think I managed to wear something handmade almost every day this week. The weather here has been unexpectedly cool, so I even got to put a few sweaters into the rotation before they get packed away for the summer, tucked into their bins and awaiting the fall and its golden days.
This week:
We switched up our eating habits a little bit and it felt pretty great not to eat sandwiches every day.
I took a chance on an old website and managed to find an embroidery kit out of stock most places in my hands by Friday and ready to be stitched into something amazing.
I committed to sewing some masks for students that I work with and braved the curbside pick up at two craft stores.
I slept really well.
I started a new project that’s been on my heart and mind for, oh, years! I can’t wait to share more.
I discovered a vine growing on my window made it to the inside and I’m temporarily counting it as a new plant baby.
I started sewing a dress.
We went on a walk near our neighborhood and picked some wildflowers.
I watched my cats continue to snooze their lives away.
I remembered the amazing excitement of stash diving.
We drank pour-over coffee almost every day.
I caught up with a dear friend.
All things considered, not a bad week at all. I hope you are doing well and have lots of wonderful things on deck. And happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing moms out there (especially mine)!
Demotivation and a crazy week do not a happy person make. But we made it!
This week I made some fun progress on my Things of Spring counted cross stitch. Still only about halfway done and trying to set some goals around this project so I’m done before summer arrives :)
This week I walked over 8 miles all thanks to the reminders of my trusty FitBit.
This week I made plans to celebrate a friend in a socially distant and responsible way.
This week we made progress on some personal financial goals which in the midst of all of this craziness felt really good.
This week is also the start of Me Made May! This is the first year that I think I’ve had enough wearable handmade garments to actually realistically participate in showcasing my handmade wardrobe and I’m excited to finish two other garments that have been on my list for a long time as well. More details on that this week with my sewing goals for May.
Happy weekend friends, and may it be a restful one.
Almost didn’t make today’s post happen, but I’m glad I did. I took another walk in the woods this weekend, and it was so good. I walked nearly four miles in the cool humidity (something I think only Southerners will understand), up and down hills, only stopping for particularly beautiful plants I needed to identify. There was a clearing in the middle with a large pond, and some ancient pipes held up by brick columns in the middle. There was also a golf course in there somewhere. All of the nicely wooded areas around where we live also seem to weirdly be near golf courses.
I saw a few ferns today amidst the beeches and oaks and maples, and it reminded me instantly of a hike I took by myself in October when we were visiting the Seattle area. I took our rental car outside of town by myself while B had an interview into the mountains and was completely captured by how different the forests were than the ones I was so familiar with here. The mountains seemed to rise up suddenly and out of nowhere on that highway and took your breath away. The trail was covered in pine needles and surrounded by squishy lichens and a few fall buds of flowers that were holding on despite the coming cold. It truly felt magical, even when I ran into other hikers on the trail. It was like another world.
Just like today, I wasn’t trying to prove anything to myself or to anyone else. I was just moving my body, in the woods, breathing the air and the smells of the forest, and yes, occasionally stopping to identify a particularly amazing plant. It was much cooler, I remember, and felt like maybe I hadn’t dressed warmly enough, but by the time I got into the hike it was perfect, even when I was panting to climb a particularly steep slope and feeling out of shape. It was where I wanted, and perhaps in the moment, needed, to be.
The waterfalls here are much smaller, more like little streams slowly trickling their way towards an unknown destination rather than majestic checkpoints along a steeply sloped path. In Seattle, there were no golf courses to be seen, only ferns on ferns and mosses and goodness. But the feeling was the same, and I am so grateful for the chance to get outside and do this the way that I am, particularly in a time such as this in the area where we live. (And I am grateful for the blog, to be able to process all these feeling this way on a weekend, too.)
This week I finally finished my Wool & Honey sweater (will be sharing early next week!).
This week I got a ton more practice with my new camera, and I am in love.
This week I tried really hard not to over-water my plants.
This week I was reminded that the more creativity you use, the more you have.
This week seven of my avocados turned ripe on the same day which meant I ate a lot of avocados on Wednesday and Thursday. And I looked up a lot of avocado recipes. This one and this one are at the top of my list.
This week I discovered that the Wiksten Shift is the perfect house dress and I want to make at least two more. (Maybe in double gauze? Dying to try this fabric.)
I am super excited to cast on some new projects this weekend now that my sweater is done, cook a big breakfast on Sunday, and deep clean our master bedroom. Hooray for the weekend.
A few weeks ago, my friend Mel surprised me by gifting me a tiny spider plant cutting from her “base” spider plant. To be honest, I had not ever thought to ask for it, or thought that I would have been into it, but y’all, it really sparked something in me. I would definitely not describe myself as an indoor house plants person before, oh, three weeks ago, preferring my plants to be productive and food focused, namely veggies and herbs. Maybe it’s the quarantine? Maybe it’s the daily activity looking out the window and looking for more green. Maybe it’s the desire for a puppy that’s manifesting in these little plants. Either way, I have fallen and fallen hard for my little plants!
My collection right now includes the aforementioned spider plant, which Nash has unfortunately tried to chew on three different times and is looking quite sad. I’m still holding out hope it will make a comeback but we’ll see. I also have a very sad aloe plant that with the right amount of water and some actual care is making a comeback! Pictured above are my three most recent additions: two varieties of elephant bush (those little tiny leaves with the thicker stems) and my beloved jade plant. I just think the jade is so pretty.
Because of the two cats and their intense interest on chewing on plants, these are all living in my office, but I’d love to find some hanging planters or window-mounted ledges to hang them off of for some additional light too, since the office is mostly northern facing and not the sunniest room all day long. I’m also trying the ice cube trick for watering them which I think is going pretty well. Will update later!
Recently, B has been re-discovering his love of disc golf as a way to stay active and also safely get out of the house. I am terrible at the game, but absolutely love the long walks in the woods that 18 holes of throwing a frisbee can bring.
I’ve also been using the Picture This app so much to learn more about botany and identifying different species of flowers, trees, and mosses while I’m running in my neighborhood or walking anywhere. It is so simple to use and I am learning so much taking in the scenery around me and snapping a quick picture.
