lulubeans

bring it on, 2. we're ready!

roasted carrot soup

we are big soup eaters in this house and pretty much always have at least one form of soup in the fridge or on the stove any given time. my girls are both big lentil eaters, so we do a lot of that.  lately i have been adding roasted squash to the broth. it sweetens up the soup and generally no one knows that it's there. i love being sneaky like that.  

for awesomely easy and economical and delicious veggie broth, i learned the best trick ever from f pea's blog.  i just keep all my clean veggie stems and peels and so on frozen in freezer bags until i have 4 or 5 bags and then i make a giant pot of stock.  i love the no waste feeling, and the broth always tastes fantastic. in the past, i have bought veggies specifically for the task of producing stock; never again!  

all of this about soup, and mostly i just wanted to share the soup that i made today, from these pretty purple carrots:

 

i chopped up two onions, 6 big carrots, and a few cloves of garlic. i mixed them in just olive oil to coat, and a little bit of honey, cumin, sea salt and pepper.

 

roasted, added to veggie stock, simmered, blended some in the blender, kind of mashed the rest with a potato masher. added a little fresh grated ginger. served with yogurt on top. yum.

the last picture doesn't show very well how pretty the purple color still is.  the baby gobbled it up, and the big girl agreed that she'll try some later, so i am saying it was a success!  

for the spinners

there are some new super deluxe batts in my shop! lots of alpaca this time around. so soft and lush!  i'm really loving carding and spinning alpaca right now and happy to share the loveliness.  softer than cashmere, warmer than wool, and fresh from animal friendly farms = ideal fiber in my book!

 

2010 in pictures (part two)

in july, i joined the big habit party, and had a good time taking a lot of pictures. super, super fun. and looking back on all the pictures i took that month makes me think that i ought to make a new year's resolution to take more pictures.  i can't decide if i want to make resolutions this year or not, but if i do, more picture taking will be one of them. 

in august, we hit the beach.

and we went to two weddings. one in maine, one in florida. august was a full, happy month.

in september, i had a hard time letting go of summer. hell, i'm still having a hard time.  summer is my favorite, by far.

in october, we had a magical visit to northeast harbor.

in november, i started to get really excited about carding fiber.  i felt reinvigorated.

and in december, we celebrated 9 fantastic years of natasha.

there was a lot of goodness over the past year, but i'm ready to look ahead.  thanks so much for sharing 2010 with me!   i have a feeling that 2011 is going to bring a lot of fun.

2010 in pictures (part one)

i loved sarah's 2010 picture post and felt inspired to make one of my own.  

things that made 2010 awesome:

 

in january, we celebrated one whole year of greta.

in february, we designed a lot of outfits for stuffed animals and walked them down our own runway.

in march we started what would become a long season of many barbecues.

in april, greta discovered seaweed.

in may, natasha delivered may baskets to the neighborhood girls.

in june, our nasturtiums went nuts, and greta went nuts picking as many as she could.

i'll have to come back to do the rest of the year!  it was really fun to look back.

i hope 2011 is off to a fantastic start for you!

another christmas barter

doll sweater (and little handspun scarf) traded for bread, sourdough starter, and tartine bread baking instructions. a great trade!

i had cosymakes style embellishing on the brain for this one and i love how it turned out.

i hope that your holiday season has been merry, bright, and full of love.  our christmas was pretty great- my mom and brother were here, there was lots of good food, and the kids had more fun than they knew what to do with.

we're nestled in this week,  taking sledding breaks, but mostly keeping cozy.  perfect spinning season, i think.  i spun up these  buddies earlier in the month, and they are just making it into the shop now.

more soon, including new batts, but for now, i'm hoping this time of year is treating you and yours wonderfully!

this holiday season

            

i'm saying no to stress and saying yes to tiny hand knit doll sweaters in place of currency. (the latter has yet to work with the oil company, or during any of our snacky trips to trader joe's, but a girl can dream.)

i am saying yes to the joy of this season, and yes to bartering for my family's gifts. a definite yes to the magic of the only christmas i'll get with my kids at 9 and almost two.   a big yes to twinkly lights and singing the same christmas carols over and over and over because the girls like them, and to sufjan stevens when the girls finally do take a break from caroling.  (and a yes to candy cane joe-joes, which i can't believe i did say yes to, but yum, i am pretty glad i did, and i will again before the holidays are out, i am sure.)

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also in the "yes" category:  today's the last day of my super holiday sale.   there are still skeins of handspun yarn, handpainted merino/silk top and hand carded batts, and learn-to-spin kits available at  25% off!   please stop by, get cozy, dream about fondling some wool, and enter the code "hello" at checkout. 

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?

 

 

learn to spin kits! and a coupon code!

 

 

                 

 

i am really pleased to have added a selection of learn to spin drop spindle kits to my etsy shop!

want to learn to make your very own handspun yarn? looking for a special gift for a creative person on your list?   take a peek at my learn to spin kits- each one includes a light weight, top whirl drop spindle, 4 ounces of gorgeously handpainted wool, and detailed, clear instructions.

i have added some merino/silk top to the shop as well. it's always such a treat to spin! i am partial to this one, myself:

 

                   

and!  i was really excited to learn that etsy is now offering a coupon option for sellers! as a thanks to you, my friendly blog readers, i am offering a 25% discount off all orders between now and 12/15 (the last day i'll guarantee shipping for a christmas arrival). just enter the code "hello" on check out!