~phfr~

~pretty~

Kate and Emily over at Weave in the Ends sparked my creativity with their recent post on wearing Outlander style.  I recently joined an Outlander knitting forum, and have been avidly following the costuming on the show (at least in the stills), and now I need to KNIT. ALL. THE. THINGS!  Claire's costumes have been just lovely--I won't deny that I'm craving some 18th century fashion right now, and might even have to do a little Dressing Outlander series of my own.  I may or may not have bought an 18th century costume pattern off etsy this afternoon...

But lookie:  

(the top one is my favorite and is going into the knitting queue right.now)

This outfit gives me big thoughts about my lute fabric--I need to figure out a way to make a central contrast panel in a more modern looking blouse.  I have a 1950s blouse pattern that has similar lines; perhaps I can fiddle with it and figure out how to make that work...and then make a nice coordinating cowl to go with it!!

~happy~

My jewelry box has become sort of a no-fly zone lately, and I needed something to visually organize my bits and bobs, so I ordered this chicken-wire frame from an etsy seller, intending it for my necklaces, but in the end, I decided to put all my brooches on it instead, so I can see them all at a glance.  

I'm very pleased with the overall effect, and it freed up space in my jewelry box for my necklaces, so win-win.  You can see my cuckoo-clock necklace hanging on the left.

Some close ups, for anyone interested.  The round one just to the left of the "mother" brooch is a real WW2 brooch made in England from leftover wiring from factory floors.  Those types of brooches are fairly rare, I guess, although I bought mine from a vintage blogger who gave me a good deal.  It was one of my first 1940s-specific purchases.

The maracas pin was another bargain find at a flea market.  The telephone brooch is another favorite.

The ice-skating boots were a find from an etsy seller who didn't know what she had, I think.  I restrung them so they dangled as they were meant to originally.

The little Alpine hat with hiking boots was another early 1940s-specific purchase, from the same seller as the wire pin.  It is one of my favorites.  The little gold pin with the ceramic rose (to the immediate left of the horse) was a gift from my dad, who found it in an antique shop and thought of me.  He sent it with a lovely note during a time when I needed some remembering.

I hung a few necklaces to either side--a resin carrot necklace that has matching earrings, and a scissor charm necklace I made myself.

~funny~

These photos don't really capture it, but Ponchik spent about half an hour on Sunday sitting on the floor and rolling the watermelon around with her foot.  She was so intent on it, and was thoroughly perplexed when it rolled away from her.  It was hilarious.  Plus: babies in socks.

 

~real~

Sunday late afternoon was tough, so we broke out the classic Sesame Street for a little break.  It is one thing that all three of the older kids will do together without fighting or complaining (or much noise of any kind, really).

Nothing like a little Guy Smiley and Kermit the Frog to take your mind off things.

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter today for ~pretty,happy,funny,real~ 

~phfr~ Snow Days

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for pictures of everyday contentment.

~pretty~

We got 13 1/2" of snow on Tuesday afternoon starting around 9 a.m. and stopping around midnight.  Which means it was snowing about an inch an hour at some points.  

Made for a nail-biter of a day in terms of commutes, school pick up and travel, but it was pretty!

The Husband argued another case before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and my dad traveled down to see it, so they were both on Amtrak when the worst of the snow hit.  They were delayed in southern Delaware, but made it back only 30 minutes late, but then waited more than an hour for a cab!  At least everyone was safe and home by 6:00 p.m., however.

~happy~ 

I love winter, I love cold, I love snow.  I find shoveling somewhat cathartic.  We have several elderly neighbors on our side of the street, so I shoveled their sidewalks as well, since I was having a good time and the boys were occupied with 1970s-era Sesame Street (thank you Amazon Instant Watch!)

 

I am also happy to be making real progress on my Knit for Victory sweater!  I've shaped the arm holes and just started shaping the V-neck on the front.  I've been vacillating between a crew and v-neck since I started and I decided a v-neck looks better on me.

~funny~ 

We live in The City That Does Not Plow, which is super annoying during snow falls like this one, but one bonus is being able to sled down the Art Museum steps!  Who needs hills when you can make like Rocky on a sled? (Note: I did not take this photo; it was circulating on Facebook yesterday)

~real~

Unfortunately, this is the sad state of my entry way at the moment--salt crusted on the floor, a damp towel to catch the worst of the tracked in snow and wet, drippy boot trays, a floor broom.  

~phfr~ Of dolls, cards and scarves

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter this week for Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real!

~pretty~

I made some cards!  Granted, it took me two days to complete 12 cards (prior to Ponchik and her hungry afternoon ways, I would have gotten these done in an afternoon...), but at least I made them!  It feels good to do something "normal" again.  I made them for a friend at church who just had her second baby.  We were due within 2 weeks of each other, but because Ponchik came early and her little girl came two weeks late, the girls are six weeks apart in age.  Funny how that goes!  

Anyway, I love this hostess set from the new Stampin' Up! annual catalog!  I usually don't get that excited about hostess sets, but this one had my name on it.  I was particularly taken with the catalog sample, and used it as my inspiration for these cards.  I just changed the background paper to solid Bermuda Bay instead of the polka dot designer paper (mostly because I didn't have enough on hand and didn't want to change the color scheme!)  Cutting out 12 of the little flourish things was a bit pesky, but it didn't take very long.

~happy~

I've been reading Zero Waste Home in bits the last few weeks, and while I think a lot of what she suggests is pretty extreme and unreasonable if you live anywhere but temperate San Fransisco (I'm not making my own make up or going to one season's worth of wardrobe anytime soon!), she did have some good de-cluttering suggestions, especially in the kitchen.  I thought the most useful piece of advice was when you empty a drawer to evaluate the contents, really evaluate each piece--do I use it, is there something else in this drawer that serves the same function, how many do I really need?--and don't be afraid to let things go. I have two drawers in my tiny kitchen that make me crazy because they just overwhelm me.  After reading her chapter on decluttering, I emptied both drawers, took a look at what was really in there, and simplified both to a much more manageable state.  This is my miscellaneous kitchen tools drawer, after the clean out.  So.much.better.

The other thing that makes me happy?  Finally figuring out how to tie a headscarf 1940s style without looking like a goofus.  Retro Chick's excellent video tutorial gave me some nice tips.

~funny~

Birdie picked up some dolls out of the bin yesterday, and she and Boo were having a high time playing with two of my old dolls (Special Dolly and Grandma Ropps dolly, for those in my family who care about these things...).  But Birdie being Birdie, her play was more on the order of this:

She walked away for a few seconds, then came back, picked up the doll, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Yay! Good job!"

(Don't worry, the potty was clean)

 ~real~ 

This is the temperature inside my house.  For realz, ya'll.  

~phfr~

~phfr~

Doing a different link up this week--I am planning on a Bright Week Edition of Quick Takes tomorrow, but I thought I might give Pretty~Happy~Funny~Real over at Like Mother, Like Daughter a try for the first time.  I usually don't take enough photos of "regular life" to make a full blog post, so haven't participated up to now, even though I always enjoy reading their posts!

~Pretty~

I'm really not supposed to eat berries with a lot of seeds because of my gastroparesis, but lately I have been craving strawberries like crazy.  The organic ones from Driscoll have just shown up in the grocery store and they are delicious!  (I know it is technically too early for seasonal strawberries here on the East Coast, but I say pregnant girls get to have what they want in the third trimester).  I have to restrain myself or face the GI consequences.  I bought an angel food cake and some whipped cream (it is Bright Week, after all!) to make a nice dessert with them for the weekend.

~Happy~

It's the little things in life that can make such a difference.  I have two little boys and one big one who CONSTANTLY slam the toilet lids in this house.  It drives.me.bonkers.  The noise (on top of the normal kid-chaos noise) is just over the top, and I find my tolerance for unnecessary noise is pretty low right now.  Earlier this week, my husband stopped at Lowes to buy a toilet (more on that below) and bought toilet seat bumpers at the same time.  What a beautiful thing!  And so simple to install!  And so much quieter!!  Whoever thought them up deserves every penny he has made.

~Funny~

Birdie has turned into a two-paci girl lately.  She doesn't actually suck on a paci that much, but she likes to have them both clipped to her dress, and she always wants two.  The conversation goes something like this:

B: Paci! Paci!

Me: It is clipped to your dress.

B: (putting one in her mouth and the other in her hand) Two!! Two!!

Or alternatively, when I'm getting her dressed in the morning, she wants to hold both before I put her clothes on.  It is sort of weird and funny and cute all at the same time.  Sometimes she even puts both in her mouth.  Oddly, she doesn't appear to do it for soothing or comfort, at least not the way the boys did/do.  More like a comfort object like a stuffed animal.  Strange kid.

~Real~

We have a toilet in our living room right now.  Not a functional one, because that would make sense.  In our house one must climb stairs to do anything--get into the house, use the bathroom, go to another room, etc.  Those forty-seven stairs must be used every day, all day!  No, we have a toilet in the living room because the third floor toilet needs replacing, and my nine-months pregnant self couldn't help my husband carry the darn thing up three flights of stairs.  (I have to say, it really classes up the living room--not in quite the same way that the decorative toilet in our college Sonshine campsite did years ago, but still, it has its own charm).

So the plumber is going to do it sometime today.  Yay for that!  We've had to call Roto-Rooter twice in the last two months for that dumb thing, and it acts up a lot for no apparent reason.  There is a weird hook in the base in the toilet that I suspect is the problem, so hopefully this new one will be better.  As I said, it's the little things.