New Cousin in Town!

Jeff's sister very efficently birthed a baby boy yesterday! We went to go see him right away, and Amelia is still talking about him. He goes by Rhue and is so so sweet. About a month ago, Amelia saw me holding a newborn baby (and I couldn't hold her at the same time) and suddenly lost all interest in babies. But she did really well yesterday and didn't seem to mind me holding Rhue. She touched his velvety little head and keeps saying "Rhue... soft." I tried to get a picture of her kissing him, but she just kept looking at the camera with sad little pleading eyes saying "Hungry. Hungry." We had just eaten lunch, but it was still quite moving. I know it's past wool- wearing season here, but I couldn't resist making him this little hat.

Confession: I love, love, love making money.
Not for the sake of having money, really, but just the ability to profit in an unorthodox way, especially as someone without a job. This week, I have been selling lilac starts on Craigslist. I dig them up from around our many many lilac hedges, put them in a leftover nursery pot, and get paid five bucks each. There has been so much interest, and on Saturday I made $50 from just two people. I have more orders for this weekend, and of course there is that large margin of flaky orders that I dug up for people that just didn't show. I expect to be able to make at least $100 more dollars in the next couple of weeks, and we'll pour that money back into our yard. So far, we have been able to buy a whole lot of starts for our late-to-start garden, plus some landscaping plants. I think that this will be an annual fund raiser for our yard! I love the feeling of taking money for something that is really of no value to me, and it's even better when the buyer feels like it's their lucky day too!

Thank you, everyone, for all of your encouraging comments about our house.  Sometimes I feel sad that there are few people to share this exciting home-owning event with us in person, but putting up pictures for people to see and enjoy and comment on makes me feel supported and less far away from dear ones we'd love to have over for dinner.  Thank you for that!

I celebrated motherhood be evading my motherly responsibilities-- it was bliss!

This morning I came down the stairs and was greeted by my "relaxation kit" that Jeff put together: wine, Moonstruck chocolate truffles, a fashion magazine and a gorgeous bouquet.

 (This reminds me of the event that sealed the deal for my future with him:  he put together an evening for my benefit that entailed him setting me up with a nice dinner and wine at my house watching a DVD of a TV series I was hooked on, while he CLEANED MY APARTMENT for me.  No talking-- me just eating, drinking and watching while my environment was repaired, and then he drew me a bath before he left.  Sold.)  Anyway, back to today.  We had breakfast at a neighborhood place that does all the local, seasonal, organic etc. stuff and it was very nice, even though for some out-of-touch-with-the-demographic reason they don't have highchairs.  We made a huge effort to get to church, since we'd been unable to attend for about a month-- only to find that the church had gone on a retreat and no one was there.  So we walked around the neighborhood, found a guy selling some ceramics (we had a bought a couple of pieces from him before.) We bought another piece that I had seen a couple of months ago when it hadn't been fired yet, and had been hoping I'd be the lucky owner!  The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I love that it's an acorn squash.

 When we got home, Jeff and Amelia took naps while I put lots of plants in the garden and yard.  Other than that, I have done very little today.  In particular, I have not cooked, cleaned or changed any diapers!  I thoroughly enjoyed Amelia who was in rare, manic, form all day.  I don't know if she could sense there was something special about the day, but she was happy, exuberant, loud and hilarious all day long.  Most notable phrases: "Home, James!" and "Oh, YEAH!" repeated over and over again.

Right now she is in bed and Jeff is out picking up a free BBQ Grill I found on CL.  Very nice.  I feel appreciated, taken care of and happy that I get to be a mother.

Sewing Room/ Amelia's Playroom

Sorry the picture quality isn't great. I am so excited about all the chromotherapy this room provides. It used to be a really drab pinkish- brown color, and felt so small and dreary. I am keeping most of Amelia's stuff in here, and it's nice to have a little station to park it all. I probably make a sweep through the house about six times a day, putting everything back in there, since our small living space can be overwhelmed with clutter so quickly.

Hurray! I finally have a space to sew in that I don't have to pack up and shove into a closet with in a few hours of starting on a project (I used to work at our dining room table.) I have so much fabric that I haven't unpacked yet, so I am still working those logisitics out.

Here is Amelia's little corner. I have several layers of paper on the table so I can just remove one every week and not have to re- cover it more than once a month, hopefully! On the left is one of the only two closets in the whole house, mostly taken up by the water heater... and the vacuum cleaner. Maybe if we can get rid of the carpet in this room and upstairs, we can also get rid of the vacuum cleaner! As a side note, we will probably take the carpet up in this room pretty soon, since it looks like it's pretty straight forward hardwoods under there!
We now have all of our books shelved and don't need bulky bookcases taking up precious floorspace! The bottom shelf is Amelia's, and she can't reach the other ones (another big "hurray!") You can also see all of the light flooding into the kitchen from the glass back door here-- such an improvement and definitely a mood lifter.

Dining Room Work Space

I'm still looking for a the right desk chair, but in the meantime there is a whole table full I can borrow from two feet away! I'd like to add a hanging light right over the desk since it is pretty dark in the evening. This calligraphy desk was an item that was being stored for us. I was looking all over for a desk, and when I found out the measurements were PERFECT for this small space I was doubly glad, since we would have had to let the desk go otherwise.

Living Room

Yahoo! Our new glass door lets in so much light!


Our fireplace is the first thing you see when you come in. The cow is pretty much in there all the time, since it looks so empty otherwise. We're still trying to figure out something a bit more interesting and grown up for its "off season."


Our little living room area, finally complete (for now.) You may have noticed that we have LOTS of mirrors-- trust me, it's not so much about vanity as it is about maximizing the little light we have!


We have a really nice, big maple tree to look at out this window, and the lilacs that hedge the yard are such a gift!