That photo isn't even close to being current. All up-to-date photos feature mud.

Did you know that when you have your daily spoonful of flax oil (you are having a spoonful a day, right?), you are supposed to keep that stuff in your mouth for a minute before swallowing. Wow! Do that for a few days and you'll learn how to totally turn off your sensory perception.

Things that DO taste good: Maple Cream from Deep Mountain Valley (makes even flax/whole wheat waffles taste like heaven) and my personal crutch - raw honey from Tassot Apiaries.

Got any artisanal food secrets you want to share? I'm listening.

Oh, one other thing in the disgusting-tasting-but-virtuous food category: blue-green algae in powder form can be a little hard to get down mixed into water. (You're not taking it in the capsule form are you? That's for wimps.) But mixed into a blueberry banana smoothie it actually tastes good! And if you are blending your algae-enhanced smoothie at home you can get an extra little bit of joy reminding yourself how much health food stores charge for the same thing.

Also, if you have a pre-teen it is really fun to turn on the blender just when they start talking. I can entertain myself for a long time that way.

(And obviously I deserve everything the teen years are about to dish out.)

This is just a blot from a stamp I made but I really like how the ink has a lot of different colors. If you ever get a chance to take one of Lotta Jansdotter's print making workshops, jump at it. I went this weekend and it was so much fun AND her studio was absolutely gorgeous AND she has a little shop set up where you can look at lots of her work AND see samples and buy, buy, buy. (Obama SAID not to put our money under our mattresses.) Her site is here. Her shop is open only on Saturdays.

Spring quiz

Does everyone remember what type of leaves these are?


Excellent! Everyone who said foxglove is correct. Whoever said black-eyed susan needs to study more, but nice try, and I know why you thought that would be a good guess.

These are tiny immature pine cones. Cool. (Well, I thought so anyway.)


I didn't put those tiny rocks on the big rock, they were just there. If I was going to style the photo I like to thing I could have done a better job than that.

But maybe I'm kidding myself.

Good news! The snow melted.


We don't live in Siberia after all.

Close one.

Snowy window box

Daffodil leaves pretending they aren't surrounded by snow:


Spring, where are you?

I know you already saw this picture...

but it's really appropriate:

Did you see the cover of the first issue of the new Jamie Oliver magazine? Uh huh.

It's the hands.

I couldn't run to the kitchen fast enough to turn on my oven.

Ethan (12 years old) said that my last post was bragging. I told him that just my arm was bragging. He said it was OK then.

Tomorrow there is going to be a really beautiful photo on my other blog by a photographer who doesn't sell her work (yet). Do take a look. She doesn't even have an Etsy shop, but if we all nag her enough I think we can change that.

Try to guess whose ARM was on the front page of Etsy AGAIN!

That's right!


(middle of the third row)

My arm was psyched. However it is starting to get an obnoxious ego. Last night it was taunting other less fortunate body parts (like my legs which will never make the front page and they know it.) There was some name calling and pushing and shoving, so I did my favorite Angelina Jolie imitation: apparently she tells her children, "I don't know who started it, but I'm here to finish it."

Then everybody settled down. And I got back to sorting seeds for all those nice people who requested them LAST SUMMER and I NEVER sent them out. Nice of me, huh?

(That quote was something she told a W magazine reporter and W magazine never lies so it must be true. Try it today; it's a lot of fun. Practice on your arms first. And wear heels. Of course. And get really long hair extensions. Gee, you're going to be busy today. But it will be totally worth it.)

Frozen Coneflower

Look, regular readers, I found a seasonally-appropriate black-eyed susan photo on Etsy last night!

Gorgeous photo by Deborah Brackenbury. I posted another Brackenbury photo here.

P.S. Be sure to read Stephanie today. Have the tissues ready.

My computer has a virus so for a while I'll be administering chicken soup rather than posting but in the meantime go over to Stephanie Nielson's blog. You'll need nerves of steel to read Tuesday's post without sending at least a small donation.

Concordia Eco-Tent, St. John

Notice the view through the screened windows. That's Ram's Head in the distance.

Highly recommended. Not exactly roughing it, huh? (Who knew that an eco-tent and plastic chairs could co-exist so peacefully? OK, they didn't really fit in.)

We also stayed at the (more rustic) Maho Bay eco-tents. We were really glad to upgrade to Concordia, but if you missed out on the seventies and long to live in a commune, Maho has your name written all over it. Bring bleach.

View on the way out to Ram's Head, St. John

I

have

writer's

block.

Someday soon (like Wednesday) the kids will finally be back in school and I suspect I'll be magically cured.

If my sister Hilary had a blog - and fortunately she doesn't - she'd probably tell you I made her go on an excessive number of hikes - to prove this is not true (just in case she is in fact working on a blog) I'd like to point out the faint trail visible in this photo. We did not go on that one.


(We couldn't get down the hill to it; the winds were too intense. Darn.)

We also did not stop to see EVERY ruin. Really. (Whatever crazy story she might tell you.) She even admitted this one on Peace Hill was worth stopping at. (Or maybe it was a different one....)


If it was up to her (which it wasn't) we would have only gone to beaches. And just to show that I don't always have to get my way, we spent time on this beach (Trunk Bay):


which meant skipping a second hike out to Ram's Head (two hours round trip). Double darn. Next time.

And next time I'm going to insist that she bring hiking boots and not those two-inch high flip-flops.

It really was that great

I have so many bug bites it looks like the plague and we couldn't sleep at night because of the wind and rain but the trip was AWESOME! My favorite point was right after we slid backwards down a steep rain-soaked hill because we didn't know how to use the four wheel drive yet and my sister said, "I knew I'd be miserable on this trip, I just didn't realize I'd also be frightened out of my mind." Like I said it was AWESOME! More tomorrow.

My sister knows about the bugs on St. John.

I'll let you know if she is still speaking to me when I get back on Thursday.

behind the scenes at capebags

Look! It's my new exotic location for photographing bags! Setting up the tripod(followed by running in front of the camera) was taking forever, so yesterday I got lazy and decided to just use a mirror. People aren't kidding when they say the light in bathrooms is great for photos! It must be all that sunlight bouncing off the tile. It is a little tricky to hold the camera and guess where to point it but well worth the time saved. The blue bedroom wall where I usually photograph EVERYTHING is fifteen steps further away from my sewing room, so I save that exertion as well. (The really great thing is that all these little calorie savers have allowed me to gain ten pounds since starting Etsy only one year ago! My glasses are off in the photo because I was actually trying to take a new avatar photo - like I said it's hard to know where to point the camera. Nice job cutting off half my head.)

On Sunday, my sister Hilary and I are going to St. John to bake in the warm sun for a few days. The kids are staying home and going to school: it REALLY is great to be an adult! Hilary doesn't like to come in close contact with nature. She asked me (after we booked everything) if there would be bugs. I told her "no." (We are staying in open air eco-tents.) Should be a blast! And she might even still be talking to me when we leave!

No snow on those beaches:


Need something new to listen to? Try Matt Ward. I found him through the Satsuma Press blog (where you'll never see Lady Ga Ga recommended).

Ever since my oldest son was two I knew that once I lost the height advantage I'd be in big trouble. He is twelve now and any day he'll wake up and be taller than me.

So I bought these shoes.



The photo is dark, so if you can't see them well I'll tell you, the heel is 4 inches high. I laughed my way right out of the store.

Next year, stilts.

(BCBG for $7! The sales right now are insane. Or possibly, there is a limited market for red patent leather 4 inch heels. Yes, possibly. But did you see the new J. Crew catalogue with the girl wearing rolled jeans and high heels? That's how I'm wearing these! That is, unless I snap my neck first.)

Testing your patience

OK this is really it with the ice. I just can't get over how it is just sitting there. How did it end up sitting alone on the beach? Where did it come from? Why didn't it just go back out with the tide in the morning, as happened at the next high tide, then disappear?

Lucky you, I took 49 pictures. I won't post anymore. Promise. Pretty much.

More snow/ice blocks on Chapin Beach. I wish I was back there. Freezing wind and all.

Blocks of ice on Chapin Beach

Photographed Friday. I'd never seen anything quite like this before. Gone on Saturday.

Bass River on Friday

Love those Cape houses.

Chapin Beach, Yesterday

Back. Ever so reluctantly.

Unrelated photo alert

I'm not back from Cape Cod yet but I needed to tell you something. You know that Lady Ga Ga song, "Poker Face"? The one with the annoying "pa pa pa" lyric that makes you want to scream every time you hear the album advertised?

I like that song.

I heard it for the first time yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it. Part of the way through is a totally addictive section where she actually manages to complete the whole word "poker".

I feel a lot better having told you.

I bet you don't.

I don't expect that you'll ever again click on my youtube music suggestion links.

I understand. I'm not sure I'll be clicking on them in the future either.

(P.S. I just watched part of the video when I verified the youtube address. Don't watch the video. Seriously. Mom.)

Because Stephanie Likes Red...

In case you forgot, Stephanie Nielson is blogging again! If you haven't made a donation to Stephanie Nielson's recovery fund yet...wait a minute, OF COURSE you've already made a donation...what I meant to say was, if you haven't made a donation THIS WEEK, there's a new reason to do so: "Something Cleverish, A Blogger Book for NieNie" is a collection of extremely funny blog posts by 43(!) writers. You can preview the book here.

When I read the first post I laughed so hard I cried which, for me, justifies the purchase right away. This also gives me a source of 43 new blogs to check out each day! I can feel productive grinding to a halt as I type. Awesome!

(See you next week when I get back from Cape Cod.)

Let's Pretend it is Summer...

That was fun.

(Photo from my garden last summer.)

I'm going to Cape Cod this weekend so hopefully I'll have lots of wintry beach scenes to share when I get back. For now, I suppose it would be nice if I worked on my taxes. Or maybe not.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Beyonce's "Halo" is totally safe to play on endless repeat; you don't feel IQ points slipping away at all. (Still trying to recover from the ABBA "Take a Chance on Me" debacle. In retrospect 121 times in a row was a few too many.)

Snow

It was very Currier and Ives this morning.

It would be good if I spent a little more time on one of these machines and less on the other...

A BIG thank you to Jill Bent who gave my blogs and shop a wonderful mention on her lovely blog. If you covet clean simple lines, and enjoy beautiful photos, hustle over to her blog and her shop (which, conveniently, is having a sale).
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Guess what? I made my very own Rube Goldberg device! I can turn on water at a first floor sink and cause water to come through the ceiling in the next room! Cool, huh?! Want to entertain your friends with this neato party trick? Here's the secret:

1) Buy a tie-dyed t-shirt at Target. Notice it says to hand wash. Your normal instinct to ignore this direction is bypassed because you have a little time on your hands and end up being very glad you did because BOY does the pretty dye come flying out of it.

2) Hang up the shirt to dry on the head of your shower in a second floor bathroom. This is critical. Don't skip this step.

3) Go to sleep. This is the easiest step and the only one you won't regret.

4) During the night elves will knock the shirt off the shower head and it will land (heavily, apparently) on the shower dial and turn on the water.

5) Wake up all refreshed.

6) Go downstairs in the dark and notice something is different about the floor.

7) Take a minute for yourself. You don't want to rush the "discovery."

8) We're going to skip describing the next step: the actual moment of discovery,

9) and go straight to the moral of our story: don't hand washing clothing. You'll end up having to repaint your ceiling.

Have a fun weekend.

What I'm about to write has nothing to do with the t-shirt. I don't know this from personal experience. OK, fine, I do. The next time you open a Pillsbury refrigerated "dough" product make sure that the silver lining doesn't spray all over the "dough." I can't imagine it is edible. But I sure hope it is. No particular reason.

I'm running out of room for art on my walls, so I'm switching to wearing it. This is my new favorite t-shirt from ugmonk. If you see me at one of Ethan's (15 million) ball games this summer, I'll probably have it on. In tiny print it says, (and) "then I woke up."

Rudebeckia Seed Head

Beyonce's new single is out! You can hear "Halo" here. (Don't you always dream about swimming underwater in a white dress?)

Has anyone watched the movie "Little Children," with Kate Winslet as a bored suburban housewife? I fast forwarded through the last half and sent it back to netflix, but I keep wondering what was going on with that guy on the swing at the end. What happened? Does anyone know? (P.S. Pick something else on netflix if you haven't seen it; it's not so great. (Sorry Kate.) (Jennifer Connelly WAS amazing in it, however.))

One of my sisters (Hilary) thinks that blog writers are too self-involved. I'm going to prove her right by telling you the following and thinking you might actually be interested:

I found two more boxes of Kashi U cereal at the back of my cupboard!

Happy day!

(Regular readers can take a minute to rejoice before returning to their regular lives.)

Karen Faulkner "tagged" me which in the blog world means you are supposed to reveal a few fascinating tidbits about yourself and then tag some more people. I'm fresh out of fascinating, so I'm going to reveal a couple things about my shop instead. Want to know what I'm cropping out of my close-up photos?

Sure you do.

Shop version: (detail of an apron)



Uncropped version:



Ultra-neat and organized work space, huh? I should probably work on that. Next year. (Note to regular readers: No sedum in the pot yet. Working on it.)

Second, want to see the location of the blue wall in the background of most of my photos? Affirmative, I'm sure.


The ocean painting is by my Grandmother. She grew up in Newport, RI. (Many waves available for painting.) The blue wall is in my bedroom. I got the color from a bedroom makeover featured in a design magazine. It's a Martha Stewart paint and it is fading. (Martha, can we talk about that?)

Future Foxgloves (currently covered with snow)

I've gotten really addicted to Kashi's U cereal, so I decided that once I finished the 18 boxes I bought in December (it was on sale for goodness sake), I would stop eating it. You DO remember when I wrote about their new U cereal, don't you? Please say yes. So anyway, today I opened the final box, and caught myself thinking, "If I just have one spoonful each day I can make this last for a month." Sad, huh?

(Yes, I ate 17 boxes in six weeks. I said I was addicted.)

If, from across the room, you see a copy of Domino: The Book of Decorating at your local library it is totally OK to run straight to it and grab it off the shelf. However, it is not OK, once you have it in your hands, to jump up and down and let out happy little yells.

Trust me.

The lady behind the counter told me so.

I'd like to photograph some of the pages to show you how gorgeous it is, but that would be violating copyright law. And I don't do that.

Any more.

The photo above is the one I'd like domino magazine to use when they come to document my kitchen remodel. (They do that type of thing, after you put in all the effort, right?)

The top photo on the distant wall is by Jennifer Causey of photobird. (Jennifer recently stopped her simplybreakfast blog which is a real loss to the blogosphere - please Jennifer - just a few more....) The bottom photo is by my good friend and faithful blog reader, Brandi Berry (who was so smart in picking a husband, as to go with a screen-ready alliterative last name.) Brandi doesn't have photos in her shop right now. She's focusing on a soon-to-be new baby in her house. (It will be a little girl, Brandi, right? Just like I requested.)

Future Foxgloves (currently covered with snow)

I've gotten really addicted to Kashi's U cereal, so I decided that once I finished the 18 boxes I bought in December (it was on sale for goodness sake), I would stop eating it. You DO remember when I wrote about their new U cereal, don't you? Please say yes. So anyway, today I opened the final box, and caught myself thinking, "If I just have one spoonful each day I can make this last for a month." Sad, huh?

(Yes, I ate 17 boxes in one month. I said I was addicted.)

Oh happy day! On January 16 Stephanie Nielson will return to her blog!

This is my NieNie-style photo of Zack. (Craft project + Cherub + Colorful surrounding = NieNie.) It's an old photo, (before I redid the kitchen), Ethan and Zack aren't really into posing for cute photos anymore.

I should speak to them about that.

I heart IKEA and their massive prints.

The photo is from last month (when an open window was still an occasional possibility.)

Just take a second and look at the photo by Ann Wilkinson that I posted on my other blog this morning. (Wow! Huh? And she's a super nice person as a bonus.)

Now that you're back, did anyone else notice the recipe for Chicken and Israeli Couscous with Tomato and Lemon on page 118 in the January issue of Martha Stewart Living and think, "Looks good, but my family will never eat it?" Well, good news, (and no, they won't eat it) turn to page 135 to the Campbell's soup ad and, "Gee, Look at that! It's an identical recipe in kid form!" (Campbell's Quick and Easy Chicken, Broccoli and Brown Rice). I wonder if anyone on Martha's staff squirmed when they saw the resemblance in the accompanying photos and recipe. (But really, how many ways can you cook chicken?)

When I take the train into NYC I usually walk to where I'm going from Penn Station. One day I turned a corner by the station and saw Martha's building, (did you notice that we're on a first name basis?) and thought to myself, "I could work here!" (Logistically. Not realistically.)

When I saw the picture of the magazine's craft room (same issue, pages 104-105) I wished I DID work there. One other thing about that issue (and this is a tiny bit petty), but you know how on page 19 Martha mentions in an elitist tone that she keeps a pitcher of water next to her computer instead of water bottles? Well if you look at the photo of her office on page 100, you can clearly see three water bottles in a neat little row next to the computer.

"Martha, where's the pitcher in the picture?" (Nice word choice, huh?)

(Martha, if you are reading this feel free to fire back about my hypocritical use of a microwave in previous posts. I can take it.)

*****************
By the way, Shari from port2port press has ended her amazing blog but do go over for a look at all the beautiful images from her final posts. Well worth your time.

You came back! Even though I hadn't posted in ages! You're the best.

It's Spring here!

(No it's not.) (We went skiing yesterday.)

But it MUST be Spring because I've been told that Ethan's baseball practices start next weekend.

He's 12. He's not doing pre-Spring Training warmups for the majors.

The photo above is for a book I made for Mark of off-season baseball scenes. If you've ever wanted to make your own book, blurb is the way to go.

Totally different topic: Last Friday one of my bags was on the front page. It isn't a great photo of the bag so I wasn't jumping up and down with excitement but this morning I looked at the screen shot again (Etsy-Front-Pagers kindly uploads them to flickr) to figure out who compiled the treasury so I could send a thank you note, when I realized it had been compiled by Etsy Admin! Now I AM jumping up and down! You can see it here.

(Thanks for spotting it Karen!)

Happy New Year! May your garden overflow with rudbeckia.

2pm today

One reason there's nothing new in my Esty shop this week.

It was an unseasonable 60 degrees today, which is a little scary and wonderful at the same time, but mostly wonderful because it reminds me that seashell hunting beckons! (Those are shells on the windowsill.)