Sunday, November 10, 2013

let's go to the pumpkin patch..


1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins - www.musicasparabaixar.org on Grooveshark






“I'd rather sit alone on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”  -Henry David Thoreau






Visiting the pumpkin patch is one of the little trips I looked forward to every year growing up, it still makes me feel all nostalgic. The colors, textures, and scents just scream fall. Caramel apples, cider, pumpkin pie..I want all the things. We went a few days before Halloween this year, just in time for carving and roasting pumpkin seeds.





When Luke and I first started dating we were at a thrift store and he spotted a little collapsible metal basket and brought it to me sing-songing, "lets go to the pumpkin patch, pick some squash, put it in this thing." He doesn't do a whole lot of silly/adorable things so it was sweet. Except sometimes he does an uncharacteristic high pitched "kitty!" squeal when he sees an extra cute one. haha! Love him.


zombie squash














 I hope you're having a fun fall, wherever you are!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

all hallows' eve..





starring Copper as my little scamp..


I'm watching classic vampire movies(bram stoker's Dracula is still my favorite) and eating way too much candy..hope everyone is having a fun Halloween!




Sunday, October 20, 2013

you picked me.

You Picked Me by A Fine Frenzy on Grooveshark





One of our favorite things to during the warmer weather months is fruit picking at the orchard. Its one of those little things we've done together our entire relationship and we recently celebrated our 5 yr wedding anniversary! Time flies. It's just outside of the city and all of the open space makes you feel like you're in the country. I remember coming here with my grandma Betty as a little girl.




google earth-always takin pics.



We always like to have little competitions or bet on who's right..the person with the best blackberry specimen got treated to lunch. I won. haha! I'm just shorter and closer to the earth, and better at hunting. It's the thrifting training I swear.


There really is nothing like picking fresh fruit, and making something sweet.
We still have apples and pumpkins to pick, my favorites!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

hark!




Rose Windows


♪adorn by miles and years
like paths carved in faces by tears
the sun in rear windows
and 60 while the wind blows♪


I was listening to one of my favorite local independent radio station programs, The Space Parlour, and heard this band doing a live in studio set.  Heavenly Days was the first song, instant love. Folk, indie, psychedelic. Eclectic ensemble of musicians and influence.

The Space Parlour presents an eccentric combination of art rock, psychedelia, folk, new wave and other inventive alternative sounds, with an additional focus on B-sides, rarities and live recordings. It's parlour music, space music and everything in between.


This perfectness, Rabia, has that low haunted voice. 

he sang this song to young olive eyes
and took her hand across the burning sands
from desert plains they moved, so young so wild and alive
they were raised to believe the sea would dry before they died

a stunning Botticelli angel.

I had a creepy movie fest for Friday the 13th, and today Picnic at Hanging Rock needs to be watched. It always makes me feel funny.

It's in the 60's and sunny, time for the hammock and that Jane Austen book I've been meaning to read. Last night it was actually cold sleeping with the windows open and I snuggled up in a blankie burrito. Hooray for fall!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

all the pretty flowers..


“We are like roses that have never bothered to bloom when we should have bloomed and it is as if the sun has become disgusted with waiting”
    ―  Bukowski


August already?
This spring and summer has seriously flown by, and produced some of the prettiest flowers I've seen in a long time! I'm thinking it's the milder heat, last summer was such a scorcher they even canceled fireworks because all of the grass was so dry.
 Here is a collection of some favorites this season, most are from my yard!

Luke's grandfather recently left him this old butcher block table that he made himself, along with some pretty gnarly antique butcher knives. The cleaver is horror movie material.
 Ferdinand, my vintage bull cookie jar, made his home amongst the flowers for a while.




We have rows of red orange tulips(pecan/maple syrup scented) in the front of our house, one of my favorite flowers. They always remind me of my grandpa O'Malley's old stone farm cottage. The smell is the most memorable part. I love things that can take me back to a moment in time. I think photographs and sensory memory are the closest to time travel I can get.



I can't believe how old Z's getting, we think she's around 10!



Another favorite, peonies!
The first time I saw a real life peony was in Portland, Oregon a few years ago. We visited the Chinese gardens at the very best time, peony fest! I was surrounded by so many different varieties and perfect specimens, heavenly. I took a million photos to remember but I knew I had to grow some for myself.
 (I'll never forget the pale purple roses at the international rose test garden either)
After being re rooted for a move and spending a few years reestablishing itself this is the very first year my plant's had more than one bloom.
 They were amazing!







Lumen is the most curious cat! 


Pretty purslane, it's edible too!



The multiple never ending blooms of irises and gladiolus amaze me.



I've been concentrating on the kitchen reno mostly, doing the things I've been putting off. There were a few days that I stayed up all night knocking four inches of unsalvageable masonry off one of the walls, exposing some pretty perfect old brick! These walls are triple brick, it's pretty interesting to see the inner workings..how does all of this stay together?!
It's a collection over 10 years in the making, finally getting a proper display! These are progress photos, I'm working out what I want where. I still need to finish and seal the exposed brick. And a million other little things, but it's coming together!


  I always slow down a bit when it gets really hot and it puts me a little behind in general. I can't complain though because my favorite season is just around the corner. I love when the weather cools down. We live in a 150+ yr old historic home with no central heat or air! In the Midwest. Only a few window units to get us through while we're renovating. It actually hasn't been unbearably hot this year, no 100 degree days lasting all week this time around! Yet. I'm working in the studio now trying to fix my broken fan..this old house.

Happy Wednesday!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Libation : blueberry lavender lemonade



We love lemonade around here, the fresher the better! Ever since I made it with vanilla a few years ago it's the only way we like it, the perfect summertime drink. Our favorite additions are blueberry vodka and lavender leaves, so amazing together. Bright, earthy, and refreshing!

lemonade makings:

6 lemons
6 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla



Juice the lemons into a bowl and heat up a cup of water, add the sugar and vanilla to the hot water and mix with the juice.  Add the remaining cold water and chill.


Anytime I get to use my little retro hand juicer I'm excited, it works great!



I used a bit of cheesecloth over a funnel to strain out any seeds when I added it to my glass bottle.
(perfect for water)


Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Cocktail

1 part blueberry vodka
2 parts vanilla lemonade
6 lavender leaves

Rub the leaves gently with your fingertips to bring out the oils before tossing them in.





Enjoy!