mercury direct

January is coming to an end. I will forever enjoy my cousin's birthday (31st) because it marks the end of one of the most difficult months for me. January is full of cold winter days, sagging desires...and saggy guts...all that holiday feasting just wears me out! January is my month to reflect and manifest greatness for the whole year to come...i dream about spring summer and fall more in january than any other time of year. Today, we hiked for 2 1/2 hours in the redwoods...it was amazing and supernatural. Surrounded by giants, mushrooms and sharpened senses. Trailing in and out of the shady fungus covered nitches and basking in the sunny, clover covered bends. While India slept, Scarlett and I shared unspoken gazes and giggles. I love it when i feel face to face with her soul...we stare at eachother and laugh. We celebrated mercury turning direct- in our own way...and blessed our year with grandure, grace and satisfaction!

orange you glad i love chocolate?

winter citrus...oh thank you! When its cold, and rainy, and you've got no place to go, or friends to call on...a beautiful ball of sunshine is at its peak of perfection and the market is overflowing with every variety of citrus right now...a sphere of bliss awaits us in these cold dark months. The satsuma, or seedless mandarin, is my favorite. Easy to peel fleshy, oily, beautiful smelling skin, with large aroma popping pores...mmmmm so perfect! I was inspired to eat the skin, loaded with bioflavonoids...to ward off that common cold, right? and truth be told, it was really tasty! So, to celebrate this bit of heaven in winter, i sliced up the peel and dipped it in melted dark chocolate, and ate it up...yum.

ode to joy

aaaaaahh sisters!

how sweet and cute they are together, playing. Now India is beginning to crawl (o dear me!) and what fun, thinks scarlett...who is enjoying her permanent playmate. some of you may already know...but in case you dont...scarlett has been at odds the past few months...wondering why this baby is hanging around for so long...she has finally accepted the fact that India is here to stay, and is ultimately happy about that.

meanwhile...mommy is frantically clearing lowland clutter and tossing "chokables" into shoeboxes and stuffing closets! mopping floors, carpet cleaning, rearranging pantry...mental note: shallow garbage pails and root baskets are no longer acceptable. shes roaming...brave and open mouthed, ready to "test" anything in hand...sigh

and also....thinking about starting another blog...just for yarns...so will have that update soon, until then i will post them here. only one more week until mercury corrects itself, lifting this invisible burden, and relaxing the flow of communication. hooray

new yarn: meloncolony...hand dyed and carded merino, polypay and hampshire lamb cross...some sparkle...55 yeards of peachypink, candystriped combos of pinks, blues, browns, greys, etc....greens with lavenders...some big poofy puffs, too.

crazy batt channel

love this batt...its merino, sparkle and this crazy kinky super gold wool that we got in the fall at the fiber festival in redway...some new sheep or something...but the kink is off the hook...and it looks like dolly hair, lovely!

we still love pizza...and the greatest thing is...scarlett eats more veggies now...i have been putting spinach, chard, squash, onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, even beans (yeah i know sounds weird, but twas good) and im still crazy about the pizza...the crust, really, its a charmer!
4 cups flour (unbleached white and wheat mixed is my fav)

1 1/2 cups warm water
yeast packet

pinch salt

2 TBS olive oil

throw the salt in with the flour, add yeast to water, when yeast bubbles add olive oil then add to flour and salt mixture....wooden spoon in bowl or food process...knead a bit on floured board...split in two...make pretty balls...place each ball into a Ziploc for 45 min or an hour...then roll as thin as possible...viola! (thank you ellie for recipe and tips)

AND....i have been washing, dying, drying, teasing, blending and carding a fleece of lovely merino and a polypay blend....oh boy it smells like sheep in here...but its been so fun, and scarlett has been helping me "tease, not break" (her words....my little spinner in training) the locks and crank the drum carder....such a great introduction to color theory! we have created every color of the rainbow and then some...about 20 batts down, 20 to go...then we'll dye some roving and get to spinning...cant wait! Scarlett also gets to help with the dying because i let her dye with kool-aid and vinegar...super fun.......and she agrees that kool-aid is pretty weird because it dyes fiber. she finally quit asking me for a taste.

India started eating food this week...avocados...yum! (thank you jessie for the yummiest avocados ever!)

we have also tripped to the beach with our friends...and have enjoyed all things sand and surf.

with mercury still in retrograde we are focusing on appreciation and fortune, of which both we seem to have in abundance....a photo montage for you:

digging a tunnel to china

the babies, dylan and india

india so happy to get that stick by herself

yummy avocado...exciting first food!

playing in scarletts kitchen...sushi and peaches!

eating plastic sushi

blending the perfect peachy pink...with sparkle!!!

helping to card wool...of course she is without any clothes!until its time to go outside she refuses to dress....and as soon as we come home, the clothes come off. "i love naked, mama"

grocery outlet...20 for a buck...really pretty!

dye pot...kool-aid colors

i love pizza

now that scarlett is 3...she is changing...here come the wild and wonderful years. it seems like shes so much older now and a totally free thinking person..we have full blown conversations. i am loving it. im witnessing her spirit define itself and grow increasingly more detailed as her vocabulary and personality explode.
India is growing so fast. she sits up on her own and rolls over, scoots and gets all around! She laughs and squeals at her sister...and they love entertaining eachother...they are a sweet match.

ohhhkay. so, the sun is still a shinin' and were out in it everyday (its been in the 70's)...riding bikes, playgrounds, grass splashing (something new to me...its warm like june, but the grass is soggy...no puddles but lots of grass to get the job done) which keeps me busy. winter = the pile. the huge pile of stuff by the front door. I have baskets, bins, bags, hooks...tried it all...cant keep that pile from creeping up...whats in it you ask? muddy boots, the shoes we need when the boots get muddy. and still more shoes. longsleeves, hoodies...more hoodies we need when first hoodies get wet and muddy. extra socks. more socks when cant find pair. extra pants, yup you guessed it, MUD. bike helmet, knee pads, hats hats and more hats, jackets, scarves, bags...water bottles, popcorn (hmmm still tastes good after a week hmm)

nevermind...onto more interesting things. Ive been staying up late dying wool...start massive carding of wool after weekend. sweet accomplishments.

pizza by scarlett

i love pizza. one thing i love about being me is my predictability for phases. im now in pizza phase. last night good friends made pizza from scratch...cant recall when i even ate pizza last, but im hooked. got recipe for crust, made some...well actually let scarlett roll it out and top it...it was delish. am making more on sunday. will most likley make about 5 more pizzas until im so sick of pizza i wont eat it for a year. phases im currently enrolled in: mate no coffee, stevia no sugar, baskets not bags, library books not movies, and in staying up late with yarn phase, awhile ago was in quiche phase, that was fun.


today after scarlett was ordering around all the wild pony pirates at the park with her big stick we stopped off for frozen yogurt. such a treat. i dug up the 1.50 from my center console and she got a huge cone. i love redwood yogurt...i love that its a buck an 4 bits. i love that they have couches and a piano. scarlett played piano and rattled through her repertoire...the traditional nursery rhymes...about 10 of them. people clapped...i tried to make like i wasnt laughing myself into a stomach cramp. mental note: bring video camera next time.

i still dont have a calendar for january...and lately ive been feeling stuck...apprehensive and slooooow...i know the moon is waning...but feel disconnected with out knowing all the phases and sure enough mercury is retrograde...could have guessed that. mental note: get calendar by new moon!!!

mini-mantle and zoo-poo

I haven't even made the time to organize MY photo album to include the memories of this past year...but I sure-have-made-sure that the new dollhouse makes good use of its mantle with photos of aunties and sisters! I don't know about you, but i adore index prints...those little itsy bitsy pictures of your pictures...so cute. but really, what to do with them...clutter much? S likes to cut them out...so I put them in her dollhouse, real cute like!

and this week we went to the zoo...dollar Wednesdays make me feel obligated to go, come on...a buck? its always a lot of fun...and s likes to brush the goat, who wants to eat my camera. its a great day as long as I don't have to go into the petting zoo (where all the poo is) and we "forget" to go to the gift shop, ha! on a side note: the tiny one is getting big...not even 6 months old and a whopping 18.3 pounds, no wonder my arms are aching...she gets around just fine, scooting and rolling and sometimes getting a "ride" from her sister, who likes to pull her around on the blanket. This makes everyone laugh outloud for a few minutes, especially India...so we add years to our lives daily!

presto...pasta

we love to make our own pasta...every once in awhile...its super easy, clean up is a breeze, especially since the instructions literally say...wait until morning to clean it up...haha my kind of machine! so its really super fun now that the three yr old can pretty much do it all by herself, but the machine is so loud...(and I'm serious, i think the neighbors hate pasta night) that she wont really do much except pour and cut...but she loves calling it "worms" or "look mom its growing...aah!" yum..organic, tastes great, costs pennies...equals about 6 hours of school learning, if anyone wants to borrow this for a week, please do so!

hidden wonders

what a great Friday we had! after story time at the library we met some good friends and shared a picnic in the back of her Volvo while enjoying the blue sky view above the turbulent coastline in Trinidad...we even enjoyed some delish hot cocoa. ya know, living here makes me feel like a suncatcher: someone who chases the sun, and when it warms my skin i feel like a million bucks. soon the littles created some sort of game and began to trek out to the sand...some sun, driftwood sword sparring, letter writing and all this in January?!? how lucky! we were about as far as we could have been from the car when a few sprinkles of rain tickled my nose...oh sure, lets head back before it starts to rain...or hail! hail bounced up at us as hard as it was falling on out back...laughing, the girls and I slowly trudged back to the car and peeled off the soaked clothing, turned on the heater, and read library books. Then we drove a little south to a beautiful trail walk that led straight to the sea. lots of running and fairy spotting, for it was sunny the whole way... and I truly love these adventures because when the children are busy expanding in nature the mamas get to share great uninterrupted (well mostly) conversation. weather forecast today was rain all day... we went out anyway and were pleasantly surprised!


fairy bedding and cushion discovery

a long and winding trail

bluuuuue sky sunshine

hard to see...but she is wielding a Japanese long sword, invisible of course

i love rock n roll

i used to collect colored vinyl records...god help me, i still have a few left...but they have been with me through thick and thin...i cant bring myself to chuck 'em...not only that but i dont think the thrift store would take them coverless and scratched (what to do!?) make a beautiful bowl! impress your friends! fill it up with cuties and save it from the landfill! makes a great gift (next holiday) and works with plain ole black vinyl as well.

heat up the oven about 275 or 300, you pick!

on a cookie sheet place an oven proof glass object (bowl, pyrex measuring cup, etc.)

put record on top..dont walk away..open windows and turn a fan on, would ya?

in a few minutes, or so, you will have a cool bowl shape...um with an oven mitt or tongs put it outside to cool...stinks. have fun! dont fill it up with water for a cool way to display your floating candles, as there is still a hole in it!

new year

dreams and wishes....wishes and dreams...we got cracked out on sugar one last time before 2009 and talked about our dreams for the new year. positive and magical.

sugar bog

ya know how olive oil thickens when you saute with it? well that is how my blood feels after the holidays...thick with residue of sugar, caffeine, wheat, yeast...well you get the picture. So my solution? mate all day...shots of apple cider vinegar, doses of rescue remedy and grapefruit seed extract, extra rest, dark leafy greens and stevia. Although immediately successful, in a few weeks i wont feel like sugar is seeping out of my pores.

double christmas

...and just when we thought that christmas was over...santa claus came back via grandma and grandpa who drove all the way from Arizona on their way back home to the northernmost tip of Washington...whew...makes me nervous just thinking about that long drive. but they ride in style, comfortable and warm in their cozy RV. The kids think santa comes on a weekly basis now...hmmm I wonder how long that will last. we had a fun visit and the girls couldnt get enough of grandpa! maybe they thought he was santa claus with that beard.