By 9 am

I'm getting much better at squeezing in small amounts of food storage whenever I have a bit of time, rather than doing all of it in marathon sessions that keep me up until the wee hours (though lots of it does still happen that way). We had a half peck of peaches at peak ripeness, and a bag of apples given to us by a parent in my program ("can you use these? They're kind of spotty..."). So this morning, as the coffee perked, I cut up apples and put them on the stove to cook. After breakfast, Lucy and I ran them through the food mill and put the sauce into jars. As they processed, I peeled peaches, greeting the arriving children in my apron with peaches in my hands. They went into the canner just as the last child arrived, so I was able to begin my day with them with a bit more fruit for our shelves. (Then we sat down to a snack of toast with the crabapple-wild grape jelly we'd foraged and cooked up together...mmm! I'd made that yesterday when one of the kids came in asking "how's that jam coming?" Umm...not at all...I'd forgotten to finish it. It was just a bit, so we didn't can it, but popped it in the fridge for some immediate gratification.)

A peek

I'm not participating in this, but seeing others' work is clearly inspiring me to actually get around to some of the sewing I always fantasize about! This evening, I took a peek into my (overstuffed) sewing closet...

...and found further inspiration.

I hope I'll be able to show you more soon!

Garden Girl Dress

I sewed something! I can't quite believe it, since it feels like forever since I sat down at the sewing machine. But I saw this deal the other day, and I'd been feeling like Lucy needed a few more long-sleeved dresses, so it seemed too good to pass up. I bought this pattern right away*, and knew if I didn't get to it soon, it would join the giant projects-to-get-to-someday heap.

My first thought was to make it from an orange checked men's shirt I had on my to-refashion pile. I thought it would be cute with the buttons up the front. But that shirt was super-wrinkled, and I knew I would not be ironing Lucy's play dresses! But then I remembered some super-cute 30s-esque fabric I'd bought last summer (I googled it so you could see a close-up, and found some here), and decided the orange shirt would be great as an accent. Lucy loves to dig (any time we ask "what did you do today?" she answers "dig"), so the little gardening girls with shovels are a perfect choice for her right now. I re-used the shirt's pocket, but puckered the top for little-girl cuteness, and added a vintage button.

The dress went together easily (I especially loved the method of putting in the sleeves). If you make one, though, I'd advise two things. First, there was a 12-18 month size and then a 2T size. Lucy wears 12 or 18 month dresses, but I didn't want her to outgrow it too soon, so I made the 2T. You can see it fits just right (and she's short!) Second, I'm not quite sure why the pattern calls for you to make wider pieces for the back of the sash than for the front. I put a pucker in it as I sewed so the edges would line up, and that looks all right, I suppose, but I wonder what was intended. Otherwise, a great pattern, and well worth the price. I know I'll be making it again (it goes from 6 months to 5T). I've got a soft, fine-waled blue corduroy that I think would look great for the next one... (edited to add: turns out the sash difference was an error, and she's fixing it. Yay for responsive sellers!)

*I have no connection to this shop, just bought the pattern and liked it.

A-foraging we will go

Lucy adds acorns, gathered on a walk to the park, to clay in the studio.
Watching her, I realized we were nearly out of acorns, and asked if the kids wanted to gather some more.

We're back in the swing of things, here, and it's been a busy first week and a half with the kids! I was sitting back, observing the kids at play, watching for that beautiful moment that signals the beginning of a possible ongoing group investigation, when I realized that--of course--food preservation had taken center stage again. How could it be otherwise in the autumn, in a house where we're at the height of storing up for the winter? Naturally, the kids' play and interests reflect that which is going on all around them.

This year, we've been noticing the similarities between our work and that of the squirrels and other animals around us, all gathering, gathering, gathering. Here's a bit of the story, so far.


Everyone was game for an acorn-hunting walk. But setting off with our baskets reminded one of them that "we could pick crabapples" at another local park. That became the plan for the next day. In the meantime, I introduced them to the idea of acorns as food.

The acorns we gathered--plus a few other discoveries.

We used a hammer and a brick to break the acorns, and nutpicks to remove the meat.

Acorns to be processed, caps for the studio, shells for the compost.

This morning, this invitation to continue the work awaited them on the coffee table, along with a book which elicited many shouts of "we picked those!" (Oh, I had such fun pulling books to support this interest! I'll share a book list soon.)

The hunt for crabapples was disappointing (they were mostly gone), so we moved on to gathering wild grapes and goldenrod, instead.

Heading home after a successful foraging expedition.

At the moment, we've got acorns waiting to be cracked and processed into acorn meal (with the promise of acorn bread in our future--for the equinox, maybe?), wild grapes and crabapples dripping juice through a bag, to be made into jelly, and goldenrod waiting to be made into salve. And those are just the with-the-kids projects; never mind the tomatoes, beets, carrots, and more I plan to preserve this week!

Still in vacation mode

I said I'd be posting more soon, didn't I? Oops. My brain is functioning in vacation mode. Really, I'm mostly just cleaning the house and enjoying the slower pace of a week without work. But we did escape to the Cape for two days on the beach. Perfect for me, because there was treasure-hunting along the shore...

And perfect for Lucy, because there was another carousel!

I hope you're playing and soaking up the end of the summer, too.

The Fair!

Ah. Vacation at last (I have a week off before my new "school" year). We started it well, with a trip to the fair. Lucy loved it, as I'd hoped, and I loved it more than ever because sharing it with her was such fun.

Of course we watched and petted and fed the animals.

But then Lucy realized there was another lure at the fair: "Rides!"

She watched all the biggest, highest, scariest rides with fascination, saying "Rides! Rides! Me?"

"Me?"

And so we ended our day with rides on the carousel. Pure joy. She laughed in glee the whole time. And I felt much of the worry and anxiety I've been carrying around melting away.

In the studio: top secret

Oh, dear. I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. It's been a rough month here, and I needed to devote my time to my family for a while. I'm sorry for the unannounced disappearance. Thank you for checking back! (And welcome to Pink Picket Fence readers! I hope you'll stay and read a while!)

As a baby step to getting back in the swing of blogging, here's an easy one...what's been happening in the studio this week. Shhh...don't tell. It's a top secret project (hope none of the families in my program are checking this blog!)

We've got one more week left until the end of the school year. This is a super-big end-of-year for me. Four years ago, I started this program in my home with a group of children ranging from 2 months to 2 1/2 years. This year, four of those original children are leaving for kindergarten. They've been here 4 years: 80 percent of their life. And now they're scattering to four different schools, and most of my original group will be gone. As you can imagine, it's an emotional moment for me, and for their parents. We're working on gifts which will be presented at our "graduation" next Friday. For the first time, we're using "real artist canvases."
The kids drew self portraits in front of a mirror, and then copied their drawings onto the canvas. Now, we're in the process of adding color.

I can't wait to see the parents' reactions. But not the tears that will follow.

Please bear with me in this crazy last week; I'm up to my ears in work and food and family visits. But I'll be back!