Winter Sewing/Crafting Pt II

Finally my poor sewing machine has made the journey to and from the Brother Repair centre in Tennessee and is home safe, sound and in great working order again. But the wonderful generosity of Tarah meant that I managed to get a few crafty projects off the ground over the winter – especially given how […]

Winter Sewing – Part I

Cushions are my latest obsession. I do go through phases. They are nice and easy to sew, and I can construct a couple while Kazuo is sitting at the table watching me sew if they are cut out the night before. Before Christmas, the only handmade Christmas presents I managed to construct were the two […]

Crafty Amazingness

Last year when I had a rare crafternoon with Julia (and my sewing machine jammed irretrievably), she was working on the most incredible paper cutting delights with some old Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedias. Imagine my joy when she presented us with our very own masterpiece for Christmas: Here is a side view, including the lovely […]

Not Working Seems To Be Working…

…for now anyway. After reading my lovely friend Mandy’s comment on yesterday’s post, I have spent some time today reflecting on things I have put out into the blogosphere in the past year, and musing on how not working feels now, after more than 18mths of the habit. I have been inspired by, and feel […]

Helmet Free!

Well, it has taken me a while to get round to this – but I wanted to give a FINAL update on the helmet – it is all over! We are still somewhat skeptical that it made any difference, or was really all that necessary. But the fact remains that in the three months or […]

Culmination of Craft Week

The sewing machine and all my craft materials have been taking over the dining room all week, so I thought I better get finished up for a few days so we can clear the clutter. Also, the holiday weekend has turned into a washout of St Louis-style monsoony thunderstorms, so indoors activities were the order […]

Crafty Sewing Week

After burbling on about how annoying it is that the pool closes this coming weekend while the sunny hot weather will probably go on and on (last year it went into late October) and bleating about how summer is NOT over etc etc… the weather took a turn on the weekend and the mornings and […]

…and Hand Picked

In our continued programme of finding lovely outdoor things to do on the weekends while the sun still shines, we set out early yesterday morning to pick the last of the summer blackberries and some Encore Peaches that have just come onstream at Wind Ridge Farm near Wentzville, about 45min drive away. It was the […]

Home Grown…

Last time I posted a recipe, I looked back later on the post and realised how lazy and contrary my cooking had become… In principle, I am all for food that is fresh, locally sourced, organic where possible (and this is not always possible on our reduced budget) and tasty. I am not a big […]