january.2023.

ok. so here’s the stuff that happened in january, excluding spontaneous trips to western new york to watch the bills playoff game vs. the dolphins, isaac’s 16th birthday festivities, and the one cake i made.

spoiler alert. the rest is sort of boring. but here goes.

lets begin with some happenings while i was away in western new york. hazel attended yet another birthday party. there’s 20 kids in her class, so at least there’s an end in sight. anyways. this time, it was to a skate party and since i was gone, derek’s mom took her (along with anna and a friend who just did the open skate) and sent photo updates. it was rough going at first, since hazel has never roller skated, but she hung in there and had a good time. but. my favorite thing about the event was, a few nights before the party, hazel asked me “do you think my skate party is rollerskating or skateboarding?”.

now, let’s discuss the sad tale of what happened after the said trip to WNY. i gifted all of the bills themed items to their respective recipients. hazel’s potato buffalo was a big hit. unfortunately, she only got a solid five days to wear it with pride, because despite our valiant efforts to send good vibes to the bills the following weekend, they lost decidedly to the bengals, and our potential superbowl winning season went down the drain.

ok. i know no one really cares that much. but after a sketchy month or two of holiday influenced dietary decision making, i was determined to get very serious about eating and health and exercise and the like. so, a lot of protein and veggies. and big fat salads. i can’t help but photo them all, despite their similarities. they are so beautiful.

a commonly recurring theme in my life, i have once again found myself with no sewing motivation. i don’t know why this happens. in an effort to bust out of the slump, i pulled out a vintage strawberry shortcake panel i picked up at the thrift store a few months back. it was quick and easy and turned out so cute. i was a big strawberry shortcake fan in the 80s, so i’m definitely keeping this. if only it smelled like she did.

in another attempt to get the missing sew mojo back, i offered to take a couple of quilts home from the shop and put binding on them. i don’t do much machine binding at all, so this was a good opportunity to practice that skill and see if it got me going…

it did not pull me out of the sewing rut though. but, when i made my last anna maria horner quilt, i left the stack of ironed fabrics out for a future quilt. then derek bought me a fat quarter bundle of her newest collection for christmas, so it seemed like a good place to pick things up. then. i got the bright idea to make an english paper pieced (EPP) quilt. it’s all hand sewing. and so slow. but, i can do it here and there and on the couch at night and it was something different. derek ordered a cameo silhouette to make the pieces for me (there’s a lot of them) and i was off to the races. the slow. slow. races. each block takes about 6-7 hours.

in chicken related news, our girls are starting to lay again. during the short sunshine days of winter (about a month before the winter solstice until about a month after) there’s not much production. our new “babies” also came of age during this time, so we are getting eggs from all members of chicken society. which is a lot. so, if you’re local and reading this, we are selling them this year, because there’s no way we will eat 16-18 eggs a day. 🙂

now that everyone is in school all the time, it seems like there is less creativity and the like happening around the homestead. after homework and (very light) chores, the lidkids mostly just want to wind down and watch tv or game or text with friends. but every now and then, we see glimpses of what it was like during the homeschool days….

sometimes. we hang out with other people. and i have photographic evidence.
examples:
work friends. at the end of a crazy day. i made scrap headbands.
anna at a surprise birthday party dinner at a mexican restaurant. i’m very embarrassing.
me and my college pal/roomie/teammate mandy. at a w-s thunderbirds hockey game.

um. please take a moment to admire these epic thrift store finds. ummmmm. vintage flat sheets. sesame street and the smurfs. some of my absolute faves from childhood. i have no idea what to do with them. but i couldn’t pass them up.

and lastly. finally. ruby life. she’s the best. and a big fan of sunshine.