This & That « mama urchin

Archive for the 'This & That' Category

Gone Visiting

Published July 14, 2010 This & That 1 Comment

Quite probably the best thing about having this blog is the friendships I’ve been able to make with some really wonderful women. I’ve been lucky to get to know some of them on and off screen and last weekend I met another such friend in real life. We loaded the urchins into the car and headed towards the ocean. We had a really fantastic time getting to know Eren and her boys a little bit better. Katie was nervous about all the boys but she loved the attention Eren gave her. I loved the piling into cars soaking wet when it downpoured at the beach, and staying up until 1:00 AM talking over mango iced tea, and the fish market, and helping with dinner like we were longtime friends, and sharing secrets. It really was a wonderful weekend.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Published July 9, 2010 This & That , Through The Lens Leave a Comment

We’ve had temps here in the 100s so we have been doing all we can to stay cool. That mostly means we move as little as possible. The power company has load balancing equipment on our air conditioner and I guess the load is great because it keeps getting turned off. What’s worse is we haven’t had rain in a really long time, I actually can’t remember, has it been three weeks? This weekend though, we’re off for a quick trip to the beach to see some friends. Until I return, here are some recent favorites from flickr:

1. quebec city, 2. shed, 3. cesky krumlov, czech republic, 4. scrappy hex crib quilt, 5. the magnifying glass photo challenge: nature in my pocket, 6. Untitled, 7. the cat is still quarantined, 8. in between music sheets, 9. Too Tweet, 10. Circus of Circles, 11. Jewel Squares, 12. Carla’s quilt, 13. this is making my morning, 14. naturally dyed eggs, 15. heart topper, 16. "It Takes A Village", 17. Egg Bunnies, 18. Mushrooms, 19. happy bees, 20. red letter day plus quilt, 21. ninety six, 22. A Year in Pictures: April 1, 23. stormy, 24. Porch Pillow, 25. clover, 26. Gnome, 27. Mushrooms, 28. Cat Door, 29. WAWAYA zozo#2, 30. Frosty Sugaring, 31. Doll Quilt Swap #8, 32. sixty four, 33. for my show in Chicago, 34. habit outtake: bringing the green in, 35. i’m not sure why i even bothered, 36. forty-seven

Hi There Friends

Published June 28, 2010 This & That 4 Comments

Hi there friends. I’ve been missing you all. School has been out for about a week and in that short time frame we went camping at the beach, I had some outpatient surgery, and we’ve had friends in from out-of-town. I also sent four quilts to the long-arm quilter and got them back in time for convalescent binding hand-sewing. Now, we’re getting into our summer groove and I have quite a backlog of stuff to show you. I really do hope to be in this space a little more regularly. How’s everybody’s summer going so far?

Knock, Knock, Anybody Home?

Published April 27, 2010 This & That 6 Comments

Seriously, what is up with this mama urchin lady? Sorry about disappearing again. I’ve been trying to think about excuses but really the truth is that I’ve just been enjoying being healthy. I didn’t really tell you guys too much about having my tonsils out but it was a long and sick road to getting them out. I had been sick pretty much constantly for almost 18 months. So once I got through the recovery and got my voice back I’ve just been enjoying living and I know you guys can understand that. So there it is.

It turns out I really miss being here so I want to try to get my groove back. What have you all been up to? I’m doing the kids clothes week challenge and looking for inspiration. I’m thinking shorts, pajamas, swingy tops, what else?

Recent Favorites

Published March 15, 2010 This & That , Through The Lens 2 Comments

1. felt starfish, 2. {film.592}, 3. narnia next door, 4. Haiti, 5. 24 more – final 2 rows (10 x 12), 6. my hearts, 7. pretty little hearts all in a row, 8. Color Play, 9. A tale of two cookie sheets, Part 1, 10. pointy, 11. "Love involves…, 12. yellow, 13. Big Gray Ball, 14. sweet hearts for my little love, 15. The babysitter, 16. rail, 17. a surprise, 18. swiss holiday, 19. quilts for india, 20. 23.sangamo!, 21. hearts for haiti, 22. DQS8 finished., 23. yellow milk pot, 24. fifteen, 25. fresh corners, 26. Untitled, 27. Nature From Annie, 28. Lion, 29. Cup O’ Sweets, 30. joy, 31. ‘on the line’ for ginny, 32. The Third Light of Advent, St. Lucia Day AND Giveaway Winner!, 33. Yeah, I’m going to go ahead and recommend that you make these., 34. felt garland, 35. ribbons, 36. cocon montgolfière

Snowed In, Snowed Under

Published February 15, 2010 This & That 11 Comments

Have you guys been missing me? Lots has happened since I last talked with you in this space. I think perhaps a list might be in order:

- we’ve gotten about four feet of snow in three storms. Yup, four feet.
- more snow — not too much though — is expected today

- Katie’s school has been open two days in the last two weeks
- Tristan has not had preschool since January 27
- Papa went to Santo Domingo twice

- I had my tonsils out
- I didn’t leave the house for 11 days

- I made 36 pink log cabin blocks
- 12 have been sewn into a quilt top
- I now have seven quilt tops ready for quilting
- I hate doing machine quilting
- I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth acquiring a big quilting machine, likely used and as part of my mother’s sewing business
- I started my olympic knitting – a tomten for my mom

- 42 valentines were made for school
- hopefully the urchins will have school to distribute said valentines
- did I mention we’re getting more snow?

365 Days a Year

Published January 31, 2010 This & That , Through The Lens 3 Comments

I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I decided do a 365 project this year. It seemed like a good year to do it, a new decade and all. Plus, this is a time I want to remember but often feel like I don’t have time to write it all down. My hope is that by taking a photo each day and writing a small bit will turn into a collection that reflects a year of our lives. If you are interested you can follow the project on flickr. This mosaic is the photos I took for the project in January. Click through if you’d like to see the individual shots.

The Most Important Job

Published January 15, 2010 This & That 5 Comments

Do you ever think about how just by chance you were born into prosperity? Do you ever think about how the mamas in Africa, the mamas in Southeast Asia, the mamas in Haiti all want the same things as you do for their children? I do. And this week I’ve been thinking about it even more. I’m sure you have too. There is a lot of giving going on out there and I really hope we all can give until it’s enough. But this week I’ve been thinking about how the most important thing we can do every day is to show these little ones to live with compassion and kindness in their hearts. Don’t get me wrong, I think that our financial support is incredibly important — not just when there is an urgent need but also when the need is continual — but I really believe that teaching our children to live with generous hearts in every moment will continue to make all the difference.

Looking Back

Published January 3, 2010 Cooking , Fiber Crafts , In the Kitchen , Knitting , Sewing , This & That 11 Comments

So 2009 is out the window and I am so glad. It was just a crummy year in the urchin household and from what I gather, a lot of other households too. So, rather than dwell on the yuck, let’s take a look at the good stuff I got accomplished while in the mire. First up, the knitting:

To be honest, I’m not too pleased about the knitting. I intended to knit through EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac and did not get very far. In fact the February Baby Sweater is the only completed project from the book. I’m hoping to change that in 2010. I think there was a lot of starting in 2009, not so much finishing, I’m hoping to improve in 2010. Dare I say that going into 2011 I’d like to have no WIPs in my knitting basket?

The sewing however, required two mosaics so that’s something. Katie alone got about a dozen new outfits made by her mama. That is something that makes me exceedingly happy. I also finished four quilts in 2009. I have a whole bunch of quilt tops ready too so just like the knitting, I need to finish what I start. This may be a theme. I made a lot more of the gifts the urchins give their friends so I would like to continue that trend in 2010. In fact, I’d like to try to get a stash together so I’m not always sewing at the last minute.

And then there’s the food. We ate mostly locally at almost every meal this summer and at many of our meals in the other seasons too. I canned so much — so so much — and looking at those jars makes me so happy. I remember one week in August where I canned something every day. We found a dehydrator on craigslist and expanded our repetoire to include dried food as well as canned and frozen. I canned jam and salsa, whole fruits and sauces, sweet and savory. We had to figure out a new system for storing it all. We’ll be eating well all winter I’m sure. In fact, on one of those stressful days before Christmas I realized I had gumbo in the freezer that I made back in the summer and it was so good.

But 2010, I have big plans for you. Plans that include expanding the garden and the pantry. Plans that include covering all the members of my house in their own quilt. But more on that later, for now I think I’ll just look at what was good in 2009.

Pirate Party

Published December 3, 2009 Crafting With the Urchins , This & That 3 Comments

Back before Thanksgiving someone in our house turned four. It might be hard to believe but it’s true. He asked that we celebrate with a pirate party so Captain Tristan invited his mateys aboard the dread ship Compass Rose for some looting and pillaging and all around treasure hunting. Every time his birthday rolls around Tristan requests the same fare — hotdogs, goldfish crackers, marshmallows, and candy — and I figure who am I to argue with the captain? So we taped butcher paper to the table and drew a great big treasure map. We had the pearl islands — where there were bowls of marshmallow — and the fish islands — bowls of goldfish crackers — and Frank’s place — hotdogs — and a spot in the ocean where there is good fishing — swedish fish — and most importantly Treasure Island where Captain Tristan is reported to have hidden his treasure — the cake was here. Somehow I didn’t get a photo of the table so use your imagination.

We played two games, toss the treasure and pin the treasure chest on the X. We made a treasure chest out of a wood crate and some cardboard. We used cheap plastic coins from the party store to toss — each child got 5 coins to toss — and also decorated the chest with dress-up necklaces and rings. For the pther game we made a treasure map from a photo paper cutoff and I burnt the edges. Each child was blindfolded and spun around three times before they attempted to put the treasure chest on the X. The urchins are notorious for cheating at all versions of pin the tail on the donkey and Tristan’s marker did end up right on the X. Pirate captains like to win you know.

For decorations the guests had to walk a plank onto our porch to get into the house — this was huge hit with the kids — and we had a ship’s wheel just inside the door cut from a sheet of cardboard — you can see a bit of it in the treasure toss. We hung pennant banners made from scrapbooking paper and ribbon. The maps and a few pirate toys rounded out the decor I put out. Katie thought we were missing something so she added this sign, quite possibly my favorite thing from the party.