lulubeans

weekend plus

i feel like my weekend got a little extra added on to it because the girls and i got to meet and hang out with leah and her beautiful family on monday.  it was such a treat.  she and i were bad bloggers though, because the cameras never came out. thanks again for meeting up, leah!  

over the weekend proper, there was a little trip to gilsland farm, where the groundhogs (or at least one of them) are very friendly.  maybe a little too friendly?

 there was also so much green, and fields of peonies, frog sightings by the pond, way too much whining about bug bites, and more than one break to eat blueberries and cheese.  all in all, a very good time.

rainbow seal gargoyle

natasha made this little guy.

i like him a lot.

and also: 15% off in my shop with the code JUNEBATT is going on now through the end of june.  i added some more small batches of uncarded fiber over there yesterday.

hope you are having a great thursday!

kid friendly dyeing

 

kool-aid +  freshly washed wool fleece + fairly-independent-in-the-kitchen 9 yr old = rainy day fun.

i started dyeing wool by playing with kool aid and recycled sweater wool some 6 and 1/2 yrs ago, before moving on to acid dyes and spinning my own yarn.  i had forgotten how fun these colors are, and how yummy they smell while the wool is simmering.

natasha was able to do this dyeing pretty much all on her own.  she wanted a little bit of help with the oven, especially with taking the pots off the burners once dye baths had exhausted.  but she mixed the koolaid with water all on her own, and even improvised her own smoosh-the-wool into the dye method using old paintbrushes!  i had a good time hanging out with her while she worked.

i love the way her colors turned out! (clockwise from top right: black cherry, blue berry blast (or blue lemonade maybe?), pink lemonade and lemon-lime.)

dyeing is the extent of her fiber interest right now.  she has big plans for me to spin and knit her fiber though.  i spun up her first colorway, some border leicester which i believe she is calling, um, "bloody sheep".  it's so much fun to collaborate with her!

the first salad

this year's garden is going to rock. i can tell.

 

 

i think the greta girl agrees!

we will have some more garden shots to share tomorrow.  

and that salad?  i have to tell you, it was SO GOOD!!!

sleep

it's been an incredibly precious commodity around these parts lately.

we eastered

and it was good.

the easter bunny was nice enough to bring the girls some friends.  she (or he?  who knows?  it's a constant mystery of evolving proportions in our house!) used petite purl's anything animals pattern.  i love the group photo of the whole gang of them.  the pattern was fun, cute and quick (or so i am guessing the easter bunny would report.)

i am feeling so inspired by the tend collective. i can't wait to get out into the dirt.  it's been a cold, wet spring here in maine and i can't wait for some sun and seeds and sprouts.

 

today i labeled

 

and counted. and weighed. and sorted. and all that other organize-y stuff that i just have to be in the right mood to do.  i think that i am more or less all ready for the big thaw tomorrow. yay! (i just really need to get my fair knitting organized, and that means making sure i have something reasonably-mindless-but-still-fun to bring along.)

 

 

today i also entertained these three buddies.  or, more accurately, they entertained themselves, and i got to watch, which was very entertaining for me too.  greta was cracking up so hard that she had tears streaming down her face.  it was pretty awesome.

bring it on, 2. we're ready!

totoro birthday fun

my big girl turned 9 yesterday!  wow!

for her party, i made a bunch of soot sprites for the goodie bags, using heidi kinney's helpful tutorial as a rough guide.

 

and joe made a cat bus cake!  pretty awesome, huh?

 

 

i gave greta a jar of what she calls "pretties" (yarn scraps) today, hoping that it would hold her long enough so that i could update my etsy shop.

she spent a little bit of time decorating the dog and then whoosh! onto the next thing.  i love the non-stop energy and excitement of life with a toddler, but man! it can take some serious strategics to get anything done.

i managed to take a lot of photos of yarn, but the big update that i have planned is going to have to wait until tomorrow.  

i did get this one batt set listed though.  yay for that!  it took some definite willpower to not spin these up myself- they are soft and lush and eager for someone to make them into yarn, that's for sure!