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We went to visit my mom and dad today. It’s just over the hill, about five minutes away, so we see them pretty frequently. It’s home to me now, though we never lived there when I was in school here- they built their home and moved into it after I had graduated from high school.
Funnily enough, we *did* live there after my husband and I were married, when Birdie was about six months old, for around five or six months while the house we are now living in was being renovated. My parents have such beautiful, beautiful property, and it abuts a city park on one side, so the girls were able to ramble and roam and explore, pick apples and blackberries and daisies, throw rocks in streams. Of course, we can still do all of those things now, but it was something special to be able to go out the door and enjoy it on an everyday, intimate basis.
Anyway, today we were over so that the girls could see the new playhouse that my parents got for them, just look:
Peeking out the window
Ringing the doorbell
Snacktime
Still in the process of putting it together
And of course, lots of playing around Nana and Papa’s property, and in the park next door:
Throwing rocks into the creek along the lavender field
Trip-trapping over the bridge on the park side (that’s my parents’ fence in the upper left corner, there)
Looking for frogs (again, my parent’s place in the background, there- that’s the Harvest House, which is my mom’s art studio, and where we lived while we were staying with them. It overlooks the lavender field)
More rock throwing
Tromping through the soggy meadow- this will be covered in high grasses come summer!
The winding park path
My eternally muddy Bunny :) Do you recognize this dress? Also, in case you’re wondering? Nothing is easier to clean than 100% linen.
At the top of the ridge in the park- I have grand plans of siting a dream house here ;)
Little Birdie, jigging along home.
What makes home home for you? This place is home to me mostly because the people I love are there. We got married here, too, outdoors under a canopy of green, along a creek. Of course that adds to how special it is to me. And now I get to see my girls enjoying this space, and it feels more like home than ever.
p.s. Emily is hosting a week of GREEN beginning on Monday- I’m in! Are you?
One of our favorite spring rituals is going to see the lambs at the OSU Sheep Barns. Today was cold and rainy, but full of spring neverless, because it was full of baby lambs!
The view from the barns
There are always some who have climbed Mt. Mama
The girls love the ones who are nursing
They’re such sweet creatures
Their guard “dog”
Such sweet little faces
So many!
Honestly, isn’t this the cutest little face ever?
I love nothing more than embracing the season with my little ones- the rain, the new blossoms, the baby animals, rainboots and rainjackets, wooly shirts, warm tea, planting new plants- they all say spring to me. I hope that you’re embracing your season, wherever you are and whatever it means to you.
What we did today:
Sailing acorn cap boats down the “river”
A walk around the block on our favorite path
Enjoying the rainfall
Visiting the little house where the three-legged cat lives
And of course, pancakes for supper.
Happy Shrove Tuesday, everyone.
It feels like I’m really trying to rush spring this year, even more than usual. For once, the weather agrees with me- it’s been warm and sunny more days than not.
I think part of it is just eagerness for our little Bee’s birth, which will be in the Spring. Part of it is just feeling so full of life that it kind of spills out all over. A couple of days ago we planted sweet peas on the front trellises of our house- placeholders until I find the roses that I really want. Today we went to the nursery to pick up some bare root fruit.
I got two of these to put at either side of the front gate arbor. I’m very fond of this particular rose- it has loads and loads of sweet-smelling blossoms, and I’m a sucker for those double-petalled varieties. So much gorgeous rose to love.
Even at this time of year, when stock at the nursery is sparse, there is always something beautiful to look at.
We also picked up two raspberry canes, a blackberry cane (I know, I know), rhubarb, and popped over to my mom’s to take TWELVE blueberry bushes off her hands. They’ve never produced over there because they have a deer problem- lucky us!
Then we came home and started planting. I have eight raised beds on the south side of our home, amazing full-sun plots that can grow anything.
Did a bit of hand-tilling (why, hello, there, shovel! Nice to see you again!) and managed to get all twelve blueberries in before it began to rain.
OH! Can’t wait for those. It took up two beds, but will be well worth it, I think. There’s just never enough room for all the things you want to grow, is there? We’re focusing quite a bit on berries this year. There’s the strawberries that overwintered, the blueberries, raspberries, blackberries…candy on the vine. Mostly, this year, I’m thinking about things that the girls can pick and eat themselves, anytime.
My gardening help is a little short, but extremely eager. This one did quite a bit of digging of her own, and planted three blueberries by herself! I guess it helps to be closer to the ground. :)
After I get all those purchases in the ground I really want to get the first set of peas in. I realized yesterday that getting snap peas to maturation takes 6-8 weeks…just about the time it will take for our Bee to ripen. Seeing those vines grow and pods fatten is just the kind of encouragement I need to get through the end of this pregnancy. So glad to share my due date with peas and blossoms, strawberries and rhubarb. So happy to be doing a little fattening and ripening of my own in the spring.
Pussywillow, moving on to its next stage.
Yesterday we went to the beach. Speaking of yellow, the sun was glorious, just glorious.
We stopped by the sand first, then lunch, then off to walk the bayfront so we could see the sea lions (which Birdie insists are sea otters) and get a few pieces of taffy.
Because we can’t go to the beach without getting taffy, can you?
Then as the day was winding down we headed back to the beach to enjoy the sun and warmth while it lasted…
It was a day of pure, unbridled joy.
So much yellow yesterday, I couldn’t stop at just one.
We went out on errands- first stop, Soft Star Shoes to get Bunny a new pair- she’s suddenly growing out of everything!
Then, our favorite (gluten-free!) bakery for a snack.
A quick stop by the hardware store to pick up some mineral oil for the butcher block countertops (although no stop at the hardware store is really that quick- too much interesting stuff to see!).
We walked to all of them, seeing as they were all downtown within a 6 block radius. The sun was shining and the girls were happy to linger at every crosswalk.
Did you know that these are called truncated domes? My heavy road construction background is showing, I bet :)
As we walked around doing all the little things that needed doing (there was a stop at the bookstore and the library in there, too), I got all sentimental about our little town and how nice it was to be able to do all of our business locally- from shoes, to baked goods, to books, to a thing as little as mineral oil, it felt good to connect with our friends and neighbors, to support our local economy. I like to think that even the girls noticed the difference- they were able to play happily with the infant son of the owner of the shoe shop, chat it up with their favorite baker, fondle all of the interesting items in the hardware store under the charmed eyes of the salespeople there.
It’s a precious way of life and we feel so lucky to live here, where that life is still thriving.
An old favorite, once loved by Bunny, then Birdie, now put away by the girls for their little sister. Cross-posted here.
Happy Yellow Week! I’m playing along with Erin, are you?
We brought home some primroses to plant yesterday, but they’re nearly all headless now- the combination of color and scent was too intoxicating for the girls, I think!
First, a couple (better) photos of the little mice I needlefelted for Valentine’s Day-
Again, from this book. Finished them both in the evening before, just in the nick of time! Bunny and Birdie adore the Tiptoes Lightly books so much, and they are always pretending about Jeremy and Jemima mouse. They have had such fun with their “real” mice- they’ve been riding in pockets and getting nibbles of snacks and all sorts of great things (the mice, that is, not the girls).
My sweet husband had to work a twelve hour shift on Valentine’s Day, but we get to have a date today.
As for the rest of yesterday, the girls and I spent it with my sister, mostly wandering around on a “hike,” then going out to lunch and to the craft store. Fun! It was beautiful out today- cloudy but not too cold- and there were signs of spring everywhere.
They each found a tuft of grass and sat upon it.
Too funny.
Pussywillows! Just starting to come out.
Then someone thought they felt a raindrop, so we headed back.
Such a fun day. I hope yours was full of wonder and delight and love.
