9flights

Closer to Black and White

(via The Marion House)

It's been several months since I've seen anything that quickened my design heart quite like this. 

Also, we've been coming to terms with the fact that our house needs major structural work before we can do anything cosmetic like changing floors or kitchens, or even painting.  Structural work will begin this summer.  It will probably be years before I can even dream of a kitchen like this. 

But oh, how clean and gleaming!  The red pattern in the hall shows nicely at the end of the long black and white lines.  Close up the print is a little fussy for me so I would change that out to be a bold modern graphic in orange.  But overall the effect is perfect.

Something Happened

via www.we-find-wildness.com

Blue bottles

I love using blue bottles at the table for water. I save empty Sake and expensive water bottles for reuse and remove the labels. I haven't removed the label on the sake bottle behind because I love the kanji characters.

The pale blue Fuji water bottle is 10 years old. It's from a project celebration dinner at Spago in Tokyo. Yes, I carried an empty still water bottle away from Spago, like a tourist, all the way home in my suitcase. I also carried a full bottle I bought at 7-11, intending to serve it at a dinner party, I guess. But my cat knocked it off the top of the fridge late one night and I awoke in the morning to find a miniature Lake Shoji on my kitchen floor. The cat was unapologetic.

Salt and Pepper

These are my favorite salt & pepper shakers.  I don't remember who made them, but I got them at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn about 4 or 5 years ago.  The seller also had sugar bowls and plates and things with this design.  We don't really use salt & pepper at the table, though, so they don't get put out much.  But I do keep them on a little shelf above my stove, for looking at.

Eclectic Seating

While I love my bent plywood chairs, I'd like to supplement them with some other kinds of chairs, maybe all in different colors.  An eclectic mix around my table.  I got this one yesterday for $4 at the end of a yard sale.  It needs some love and some paint.  But I like the black.  It will go great with my new old dining room table.

Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise 2010

This is the 3rd Annual Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise I have made with the small wild raspberries that grow at the edges of our woods.  The twins helped pour the ingredients into the bowls, stir, and also expertly sprinkle (smoosh) the raspberries into the layers of batter.

When we first moved here we were delighted to learn what the bramble of arching vines were once they bloomed and ripened. Today we picked the raspberries in the rain.  As I recall, we have picked them in the rain for the past three years, and I have never been able to get a really good sunlit shot of them on the vine, or us picking them.

Last year's cake was made for a neighborhood picnic (and it was a huge hit!) and I forgot how long it took to bake, so I didn't get a photo of it. This is a photo of the blueberry cake I made the next day with blueberries from our local orchard. I made this while watching "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." It was a very rainy summer last year.

This was the first gâteau, that first summer, when the twins were just learning to walk and I didn't yet know I was pregnant with Zoe.

Ever since that first cake, I had been thinking on how to make one and send it to my friend David. But he passed away in February and this year's cake was baked with a bittersweet memory of sharing my wild homegrown triumph with him.

But this year I am getting to share it with Isaac, who has taken to it like a kid to cake. Tomorrow we will take a walk to the other side of the woods, by the big empty house that stands on the hill above us, and we'll pick raspberries for a second and maybe even a third Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise.

This recipe is from Chocolate & Zucchini and you can find it here. The only change I've made is not to put in the crushed almonds. I am always in a big hurry to make the cake, so I haven't taken the time to crush any almonds. And I wanted it to be very baby friendly, so leaving out the nuts seemed a good choice.  Wild raspberry seeds are enough texture for the wees.

Princess Parade

When cleaning up the toys lately, I've taken to setting up little vignettes for the kids to find when they get up in the morning. It helps to engage them in something right off the bat, while I sit and enjoy coffee and email.

Pink Ride

Finley's Grandfather made her this pink convertible for Christmas.  That's Finley in the orange dress, driving.  Sam is wearing green, sitting in the passenger seat.  He thinks driving the pink convertible seems a little girlie. 

Sewing for Toddlers

My girl is just turned 3. Every day since, she gets up in the morning and says, "Momma, I want to sew!" We pull out her lacing cards and she sits sewing for a good long time.

Sewing teaches fine motor skills, focus, reasoning, and a sense of accomplishment and self-sufficiency.  All skills I want my children to have.  I'm sure she sees this more as "being like Momma" right now, and that makes me proud, too.  I can't wait to teach her how to use a sewing machine, but that is a few years away.

She is not the only one that can sew.  Her twin, my boy, can sew, too.  He likes to thread his "beads" more than using the lacing cards right now.  His favorite beads are the fish.  They come with a little wooden guide to put the thread on so they can get it through the beads, but they can now do it without the guide with some concentration, as you can see.

I'm sure if we had rockets and stars or dinosaurs he would spend even more time with the beads.  Must send a note to Grandfather to make some wooden rockets, stars, and dinosaur beads!

These beautiful lacing cards are by Eeboo and say they are for ages 5 and up, but with the proper supervision, my 3 year olds can do it just fine.  Not in a pattern around the picture, but through the holes any way they like.  I call it a stretch task.  I believe stretch tasks are important.

The threading beads are Bambini Beads Aqua Zoo and Bambini Beads Laundry Day by Haba for ages 3 and up.  I bought these for them when they were about 18 months old, and again a stretch task that we'd do sitting at the table.

Filling Daddy's Shoes

Sam is the man of the house this week.  These are some big shoes to fill.  Duties include spider removal, giving Momma hugs and kisses, and making everyone laugh.  

Tonight he flopped on his bed and said, "Momma I tired." I asked, "Too tired for a story?"  And he replied, "Nooooo, Momma I being silly."