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thrifting: the fabric post

Ok, there has been a LOT of good thrifting going on around here lately. I keep meaning to take it all home and take pictures of it and post it right away, but you know how it goes, there always something else to do. Lunch has to be made and consumed and promptly excreted. And somehow I just don't get around to it. Anyhow, after two good garage sale days and an impromptu visit to the V.V. I have more stuff to blog about then will comfortably fit in one post. So I'm going to do a fabric post, a book post and a other stuff post. Anyhow, yesterday I did a HUGE pile of laundry. The kind of laundry that I like: lots of lovely new/old bedsheets. We finally had a bit of sun, so I hastened to get them all out on the line. Isn't that the happiest little laundry hanger you've ever seen? Just look past the ridiculous long grass and dandelions every where and the gardens that look like their sole purpose is to grow weeds. Just ignore that. Focus on the lovely, bright, happy, clean sheets airing on the line. 

I had a feeling that day when I pulled into the parking lot of the V.V. that I might find something good. I was hoping it was Star Wars sheets, because you know, those are kind of my bread and butter. But I could not be happier when it turned out to be these Richard Scarry sheets instead. 

If you don't know who Richard Scarry is you should go and look him up right now. Because he's awesome. He is a children's book illustrator of course, whose forte is anthropomorphic animals who live in a delightful little place called Busytown. We love his books and read them over and over again. I just love the detail of his work. Seriously, a gas station that looks like a gas can? I mean, come on.

And there is actually Latin on the library. I know it makes me some sort of Ivory Tower snob for liking that, but so be it. Its just that usually kids stuff is so dumbed down. Its refreshing to see the opposite.

And its funny, someone just requested a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bib the other day and I had to say "sorry, I don't have any of that fabric." But now I do. I love it when that happens. 

And I could not pass up this bit of 70's text based awesomeness. You should see it. The repeat is HUGE so there is a lot of variety of density and waves. I kind of love it. 

At first glance this seemed not so special, so I just bought one pillowcase instead of two. But now that I see it in a photograph, I feel like I should have bought more. It's going to be awesome in quilts.

Standard pretty, soft blue floral. The best thing about it is the fabric texture though. Like freakin' butter.

And look! A pink one just like that blue set I got awhile back. Same nice heavy weight cotton. I love getting patterns in multiple colourways. 

Stripes. Because I can never pass up a good stripe. They just come in so handy. This is actually a duvet cover from Ikea and its HUGE. I'll probably use it for a quilt back.

And this nice little thing (though excuse the wrinkles) is some sort of tablecloth or lightweight throw. But I'm going to cut it in half and make a scarf out of it for myself. I love these colours and I totally want to wear them.

Also, I've been finding a lot of these lately. They're these souvenir type towels from Ireland. Always proudly marked 100% Irish Linen and almost never, ever used.
Seriously. Almost every time I find one its in pristine condition with the original out-of-the-package crease marks. I think every little old lady in the world has one of these in a drawer that she recieved as a gift and is 'just too nice to use'. Well screw that. Their day has come. I'm using 'em. 

Because really, they work SO WELL. I love a good linen dish towel. You wouldn't think they'd be that absorbent, but they totally are. And very cute to boot.

And look at this interesting thing. It was in the 'tablecloth' section, but I'm not sure it is a tablecloth. I know that its African, as I searched the text and it is in Swahili in fact. It says "Mother and her son does not envy". At least that's what Google Translator tells me. Since it is in Swahili it could be from Kenya, Tanzania or Mozambique, or possible Uganda, Malawi or Rwanda. I vaguely remember a presentation on these sort of textiles from my art school days, but I really need to go out and do some more research. Either way, its quite lovely. I'm so glad that I handwashed it though, and didn't just chuck it in with the brights, as it bled a ton of pink/red ink. Probably purchased as a souvenir and was never washed before. 

Anyhow, just as we were finishing lunch the day I washed these, it started to get very ominously dark. My Dad phoned to tell me to get my laundry off the line (as my Mom was also doing laundry too, and had run out to get hers in) So I quickly popped the Baby out of his high chair and went about getting him a little sweater and finding some shoes. And just as I walked out the door it started to rain. So I dashed out and started tearing things off the line. The Baby, having a bit of good sense apparently, stayed under the deck, watching me run about like a madwoman. I finally got it all in, turned around and ran back under the deck to see.... The Baby very much enjoying himself a little snack. I ran over to him, jammed my finger into his mouth...

..AND PULLED OUT A WORM!

Not much about parenting grosses me out, but that sure did. He thought it was quite funny. When I told hubs later he asked if it was a live worm or a dried up dead worm. I wasn't quite sure, but really, I'm don't think one was preferable to the other. 

Anyhow, they say you eat 8 spiders in your sleep over the course of a lifetime, and a pound of dirt over the course of your childhood, but they never said anything about worms. 

I'm so screwed

Because this is how we usually set up the layout during playtime. I clear off one end of my sewing table, and the Little Dude climbs up and sits on the back of the couch to that he can play with Lego, or Sio Montage, or Fisher Price Little People or whatever other little, swallowable dangerous-to-babies toys he wants to play with. And the Baby stands by the coffee table and plays with blocks or just roams about the room chirping and pointing at things, or maybe even hunkers down beside the bookshelf to page through some stories books (after he's pulled them ALL off the shelves of course). And that way all is peaceful, because no one steals anyone else's toys (or horror of horrors is forced to SHARE!) and all is safe because I know the Baby can't get ahold of a little lego bit and try to eat it for a snack. And maybe, just maybe I can get a little bit of sewing done. 

But just the other day, THIS happened. Aw crap.

Here's how it goes down. The Baby loudly voices his displeasure. He points and yammers and tells me he wants to go. up. THERE. And for some mysterious reason, I will not help him.

So he decides to give it a shot himself. The leg goes up.

Every muscle is put to use as he heroically pulls his entire body weight up to another level and....

...SUCCESS. I wish I could have caught the Baby's look of supreme self-satisfaction. He was so pleased with himself, it was adorable. And also, note that L.D. is as of yet oblivious at the intrusion into his world. It was only seconds later that the Baby made a grab for his wheels and nuts and bolts and the Little Dude was screaming "get him DOWN! Take him AWAY! Come get the BABY!" sigh. Of course he cannot yet get down by himself, which is dangerous. He's basically succeeded in getting himself up to a place where he can conveniently fall down from and hurt himself. It'd be funny if it weren't so tragic. So now I have to watch him like a hawk. 

He can also apply these couch climbing skills to the ottoman.

There he goes hauling that big cloth-diaper butt after him.

Did it! 

He does seem to be able to reverse slide his way down from the ottoman though, so that's good. And here he stands, happily examining his booty. A wheel and a stick. Totally worth the climb. And of course, I'm always pleased to see him acquire a new skill. Though in this instance I fear it means I will never sew again. Sigh. At least not when they are awake.  

 

 

not so relaxing

It was a beautiful day today, though we didn't get to spend much of it outside as we went to church this morning and then spent most of the afternoon.... in the emergency ward. 

And I thought we wouldn't be back there for awhile since croup season is over. Sigh.

Hubs and the Little Dude went to church without me this morning, as I was staying home with the napping Baby. A part of the 'church experience' that the Little Dude always looks forward to is the sacrament of the cookie. I'm being flippant of course, but after each service everyone gathers in the parish hall for refreshments and chatting. And the Little Dude, as soon as he is released from Sunday School, hightails it over to the snack table where there are plates full of cookies. We always supervise his choosing, and try to steer him towards something that looks a little less sugary than the others, and of course, to avoid anything that might have peanuts in it or something like that. Today he was excited about a brownie with m&m's on the top, and so Hubs (a soft touch) let him have it. (I usually root for an oatmeal raisen cookie or something like that).

They came home from church and LD was rashy around the mouth. In fact, he had a couple of hives. Hubs rightly assumed he was reacting to something in the baked goods, but that's not so unusual as to warrant panic, so we gave him a dose of kid's antihistamine and got on with lunch prep. But L.D. was really unhappy. "I don't like that medicine!" he wailed "it makes me feel spitty!" Sure enough, he was drooling quite a bit. Hubs and I exchanged worried looks, but still weren't to upset about it. "We should call the church and find out what was in that brownie after lunch." I suggested. As we were just sitting down to eat, L.D. who had not stopped whining and complaining about spittiness, started to cry again and jumped down from his seat to run to the bathroom. I went after him, and helped him with his snap, and tried to calm him down. I started to read him a book, when all of a sudden, he puked. And by 'puked' I mean, 'projectile vomited'. 

Let me just say that I have been an extremely lucky parent, because aside from baby spit ups, this is the first time that the Little Dude has thrown up. Ever. I have never had to clean up puke before today. Very lucky mom I am indeed.

So to say that I was surprised by the vomit was an understatement. But what I noticed most clearly after the initial shock was that it smelled distinctly of .... peanut butter. 

The Little Dude has never had peanuts before. He has a tendency to react to things, so we decided peanut butter could wait for its introduction into his life awhile longer. But today was the day I guess, and now we were getting to see how he was reacting, and let me just say, it was not good. 

But it was also not anaphylactic. My brother is allergic to bee stings, so I've seen anaphylaxis before and I was pretty sure this was not it. He was crying to beat the band, so I knew his airways were open. And he kept saying "how did I boke?" ('boke' being scottish slang for 'puke' that he picked up from a book we once got out of the libarary)

Anyhow, even though I knew it was not anaphylaxis I was still pretty worried so we went to def con five and I called my mom to come and stay with the baby and in about 8 minutes we were out the door and on the way to the emergency room. 

Long story short, they were very good at the hospital and fast tracked him, but during out short and monitored wait he got a bit worse (crazy hives, crazy sneezing with lots of mucous, another boke and er, intense irritability) so they did end up giving him a shot of epinephrine and more antihisitmine. And then we had to stay while they monitored him, of course. (So that was most of the afternoon by the time all was said and done) After the shot he calmed down and then finally fell asleep in Hubs arms. At which point I had a bit of a cry. It was all pretty stressful and as a parent you're working like crazy not to show that you are stressed out. You know, speeding (very carefully) all the way to the hospital all the while trying to talk in a calm tone of voice and pointing out tractors and construction vehicles in order to distract your child from pain. And then telling the triage nurse what happened, and trying to convey the seriousness of it to her, while trying to keep your tone light so as not to alarm your three year old. And of course, having to see your baby get shots for the first time is no picnic, nor is holding their poor little heaving body while they puke out everything they've eaten in the last couple of hours. So when he was finally asleep I sat down and stress cried on the floor beside the bed while Hubs rubbed my shoulders. He's a good man, I tell you what. 

Anyhow by 3:30 it was all over and we were discharged and headed for home. Though we did stop first at the pharmacy, and by 'pharmacy' I mean, the 'toy store', where we fortified the Little Dude with some medicinal Thomas the Tank Engine. I'm not the type to buy a toy for him every time we are out, but when you've spent the whole day watching your kid struggle, its just such a relief to see his face light up at the mention of a new toy. Totally worth it. 

And when we got home, he was happy to be back in familiar surroundings and hungry for dinner. And then we all went outside for a walk in the waning daylight, to savour what it is to be together as a family. To appreciate the fragile health that we take for granted every day, but we are so lucky to be given. The grass was greener that it had been before, and the trampoline was bouncier too.

It was such a joy to see him bouncing and digging in the dirt and picking up a whole handful of worms. "its a collection of worms mom!"

We picked some flowers and headed down to the creek.

And it filled my heart to see those three reddish-blonde heads bent down together to look at the small creatures they all love so much. (an ant colony in this instance)

The Baby had a chance to pick some little flowers (though we did have to stop him from trying to consume them, as per usual).

And we admired the honey bees at work everywhere.

It was a very eventful day. And I hope we all sleep like logs tonight. And I hope we don't have a day the 'eventful' again for awhile.

 

quiet

Sorry for the silence around the blog for the last couple of days. I'm in the middle of a big etsy push, and at the same time am involved in a bit of local community theatre, so between sewing and rehearsals and late night laundry (oh, and did I mention that the washing machine flooded our laundry room at 11:30 last night. yeah. that was fun) I've been just a wee bit busy. But the baby is doing new things, and growing new teeth and I plan to fill you all in on it very soon. Maybe tomorrow even. 

In the meantime, here are some links to some interesting things. 

I want to do this photo-a-day challenge on Elle Moss Photography. I think I might. It really looks like fun, and if I just put my mind to it I'm sure I can find the time. 

And this Diary of Mod Housewife looks like a really lovely blog.

Then, for something completely different, House Unseen has some very funny mom-related top ten lists. Like a list of things you should NOT buy when you're pregnant. And also these tips for new moms.

Read this birth story, and it has been on my mind all day. I love a good birth story.

sesame street quilt

Finished the Sesame Street quilt I've been working on for the last week or so today. It's made from a vintage bedsheet, natch, and one that I'd cut to smithereens already for bibs and such. It finally had no more good places to cut the aforementioned bibs out of, since they require a big-ish weird shape, with a good image in the middle, that often cuts into adjacent imagery. Its hard to explain. But there were lots of good little bits and pieces left that though not big enough for bibs, would make a lovely quilt if I cut it cleverly enough. 

It was very much a fussy-cutting project, which is, as you know, how I like them. Appeals to all my obsessive and crazy-hoarder tendencies in just the right way. Anyhow, here it is: I cut all these cute 'windows' out and then repieced them to look like windows within a wall. I found this awesome background fabric at my local sewing shop, and then just used some grey Kona for the sills.  As you can see in this photo, a good third of the cut outs were in need of some creative patching in order to fit in the 'window' area that I was sewing. Look along the left hand side there, and you can see where I've Frankensteined the image together along the black balcony railing. Its not perfect, but I had very limited fabric, so I just made the best of it. It was kind of fun too. Lots of puzzle piecing and hand sewing. 

Here's a shot of the backing fabric. Another old bedsheet. Though it looks like it was made to match practically. 

Here it is all folded in a pile. 

And here's a shot to show you the way I finished the edges. Its my quick and dirty sew, turn and topstitch. I'm growing quite fond of this method. 

Oh, and here's a lovely baby, showing us what little quilts are for. I'm sorry, but the rest of this post is just going to be a zillion pictures of my baby on the quilt. He was such a good and patient little model. He has this great trick, where he likes to lay his head down to cuddle soft things (pillows, teddy bears, blankets, etc.) So all I had to do was say "awww, saaaawft..." in a sing songy voice and he'd gamely lay his little head down and cuddle against the quilt. 

Seriously. I can't get enough of those big eyes of his. 

And that toothy little grin.

I was mostly taking these shots so that I could post this quilt on etsy. I always love a good 'product in use' shot, especially with baby stuff. 

These ones would work better for etsy, because they are less about a specific baby, and more about 'whatever baby you would like to imagine, using this quilt'.

Baby toes are always good too.

But I put it to a vote on facebook and this was the photo that most agreed would best sell the quilt. Along with four other straight up product shots on white backgrounds. And then after all that, one of my facebook friends went and spoke for it before it even went up on etsy. So it turns out that its good that my little product shoot turned into a 'document the Baby at this age' shoot. Totally worth it. 

oh, and my big-boy-baby got in on the act a bit too. Such a big kid by comparison, but you know what they say, you always still see your baby. 

ouch

You know how you hear about these weird accidents and then you think, really, how could that happen. How could someone get their hair caught in a car power window? or something like that. It just seems too appocryphal and it always happened to your friends cousin in shop class or something like that. Well, urban legend no more people because now you know someone WHO SEWED THROUGH THEIR FINGER!!!!! Because IT WAS ME!

oh. my. gosh. I totally sewed through my finger tonight. I don't even know how it happened. Ok, first of all, let me assure my mom and mother in law and all the lovely people I'm related to who read this that its alright, I'm fine, I didn't have to go to the hospital or anything. But this is what you get when you sew whilst tired. Its like riding a bike when you're drunk. You think to yourself "eh, what's the worst that can happen?" And then you end up in sprawled in some bushes with a bloody nose and torn tights and you're like "oh, THAT." Not that I speak from personal experience or anything. But I have a friend who's cousin... oh, never mind. 

Anyhow, tired. Sewing. Thinking about how I'm running out of flannel and why, for the love of Mike did I not pick some up when I was at the fabric store today and *BANG* I yank my hand away and snap my needle and think "what just happened? And why does my finger hurt?" So Iooking at my finger but its not bleeding or anything, but I think I must have sewn through it because its throbbing. And like a little kid, I need to go and confer with someone before I freak out, so I went to  where Hubs was in the garage and said "I think I just sewed through my finger." And then I look at it again and turn it over and there's a big blob of blood. And then I start to cry. Because I SEWED THROUGH MY FREAKIN' FINGER! The needle went it right beside my nail bed (which is so gross) which is why I did not see it at first. And nice Hubs hugs me an pats me and gets me a band-aid and some polysporin and I calm down and watch a bit of TV and eat a little medicinal chocolate. And then I'm fine again.

And then I get back to sewing. But much more carefully this time. Because I like my fingers. A lot. 

moody cupcakes

Alright, so if you've ever been off wheat and dairy you'll know that one of the biggest challenges is baking. And I so love to bake! Its really hard for me to NOT be able to whip up a quick batch of cinnamon rolls or cupcakes, as is my wont from time to time. But I am nothing if not persistent, so I got a book out of the library which I've been carrying about with me like a security blanket. Its called Allergy Free Desserts, by Elizabeth Gordon. So far, it has provided me with the most successful gluten and dairy free baking recipes yet. For behold!
Coconut Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting. These are some pretty darn good cupcakes. They were AMAZING warm out of the oven last night, and still very good today. The key ingredient is garbanzo bean flour (waaaaaay better than rice flour, which can be so gritty and does not hold a crumb together) Also, she has an amazing egg replacer trick which involves ground flax seed meal. Though after I made the cake part, I realized that, duh, Hubs is not off eggs, so next time I'll probably just try it with the real thing. And instead of mucking about with a vegan faux buttercream icing (for which there is a very nice sounding recipe in the book), I just went ahead and made a big ole' batch of meringue to top them with. I used the Italian Meringue recipe from Martha Stewart's Cooking School book, which is so far the best dollar I ever spent at a garage sale. Seriously, I was just going to try and re-sell it or give it away or something, but I have learned so much from that book. Its my new go-to for techniques I'm not sure about, beating out the Joy of Cooking in that regard. Its the good photos and step by steps with lots of minutiae. Martha will always go into details and I really like that about her. 

Anyhow, today we gave them to the boys to eat and they were a hit.  I know this is probably the darkest, moodiest image of a small, curly-haired child eating a cupcake you will ever see, but he was standing in a direct sunbeam and I was mucking about with the settings on my fancy camera and this is how it came out. 

Kind of dramatic and weird, but I really like them somehow. 

It makes me feel somehow that this cupcake is struggling to understand the deeper meanings of life as he contemplates his own mortality. He faces his own destruction and yet is filled with the ennui of existence. Right. That or I need to open change my F-stop.

Anyhow, I turned and took a shot in the other, not so heavily backlit direction and got a completely different feel. See, there's my little baby-bellied bird, swooping in to eat muffin out of his Daddy's hand. I'm telling you, this kid's main mode of conversation is chirping. Its the cutest darn thing. 

the Little Dude's day

Its funny, how information each one of us adults have and use and hold in our heads all the time. And its funny how often I just assume that my son, because he is a walking, speaking little person, has all that information too. Its hard not to over estimate him sometimes, just because in a way, it feels like he's been here forever and is practically a grown up. But of course, he's still just three and three-quarters, and there is much he does not know. And Hubs and I have noticed lately that he seems to have trouble figuring out what the time of day is. He can't read a clock yet after all, so he has to rely on contextual clues. Like, when he wakes up, if it is light out, he knows its morning. And when Daddy comes home, he knows its going to be dinner time soon. But what if one of those contextual clues is vague. Like on a recent over-cast day he kept asking me "is it gettin' to be night time soon?" No, I'd tell him, we're only at lunch time, its just kind of dark out today. Or when Hubs comes home early as he does every friday, if often confuses him as well. If Daddy just got home, why are we not having dinner yet? And he still has a hard time telling the difference between nap time and bed time.  

So together Hubs and I brainstormed up a little tool to help him navigate his way through the day. See there above the blue chair rail? I present to you, the Little Dude's picture clock. 

Now I know you'd expect it to be round, because I said "clock", but we decided that it was more intuitive to make it linear, because that's how we think he is learning to understand time. There is a picture for each chunk of his day, starting on the far left with waking up, eating breakfast, having a bathroom break, morning playtime, and then lunch time. 

Then, after lunch time comes outside play time, quiet time/nap time in his room, afternoon playtime and then dinner time.

Then, after dinner time comes bath time, story time with Daddy, and finally sleep. 

Then we gave the Little Dude a post it note with an arrow drawn on it, and he can stick it so that it points to whatever part of the day he is experiencing right now. The idea is this will provide him with an external indicator/tracking system for his activities and therefore, the passage of time. And that way he will get to know the difference between lunch and dinner nap time and night time. So far, he loves it, and enjoys hopping down from his seat to position the sticker just so when dinner time has come. 

Hubs quickly sketched these little pictures up with a Sharpie on some card, so they are not what he considers a 'good/finished' drawing. I'm supposed to say that, since I'm showing them to the world. They are just quick little doodles, and not what he would do if he was putting a lot of effort into them. He has standards you know, and says these are for home use only.

I however, with all the enthusiasm of a non-drawer think they are awesome. I love Hubs' quick sketchy style. I like the wonkieness and freshness of them. And I love the detail, even though they are roughly done. I love all the details of our furniture and familiar objects in the backgrounds of the pictures. And I love the satisfied little look on the Little Dude's face in this particular one. L.D. of course loves that there is a tractor in this one, and two Face Trains (as he calls his Thomas the Tank Engine toys)

Though this one of course, is my favourite. The eagerness of the little boy as he points to the pictures and the happiness of the daddy as he reads are pretty much as accurate as you can get. EVen if you are only using a Sharpie.

what's going on here?

Here is the scene that I came upon the other day. I can't help but wonder what the story is here. It looks so dramatic! Its one of my favourite things really, to find one of these little tableau set-ups that the Little Dude has created and try to figure out what he was seeing in his head.

So I asked him what it was about and here's what he said:

"The Mommy and Daddy are saying "What!" because they are surprised to see all the babies in the same bed together. The ones at the end are sick, but the ones at the top are not. And they are saying "What!" because they didn't notice that they were sick. And they are surprised that the babies are all sleeping in the big bed."

Ah. Mystery solved.

exploring

This weekend we had the lovely treat of a visit from an old friend. My undergrad art pal Stephen Altena came to visit us for the afternoon. Along with eating cookies and playing with the kids, I had plans to whisk him away to do some exploring in our neighborhood. 

You know how it is when there is some intriguing, interesting old building/place/store/bit of wilderness that you get to drive by all the time and never actually have time to stop and investigate? Because they are always on your way to some place, but are never the actual destination itself. Do you have one of those? Well, I have a couple around here, and they often seem to be barns. Lovely old barns that I always look at with interest as I drive by, but never actually stop at. Well, my friend Stephen is a photographer and a painter, (one of his pieces can be seen here, scroll down to the seventh image, that's his) and since I want him to come and visit us again sometime (hint, hint) I wanted to have interesting things to show him. Potential art fodder. And not just a tour of the Little Dude's Thomas the Tank Engine Collection (adorable as that may be). So I decided to drag Stephen out to see my barns. He was quite willingly dragged, and cameras in hand we hopped in the car to explore.  

Its a beautiful old falling down barn, this one. The kind with real field stone foundations which is one of my favourite things. 

Though parts of it are hardly functional any more, and are verging on the skeletal.

Despite the "No Tresspassing" signs, we did tiptoe inside. Though just into this relatively safe area, where I was pretty confident that there would be no snapping floorboards or falling debris. I have no idea what this little wall inset box dealy is or was for. A place to set milk bottles? Or your hat? Its right underneath a coat rack, so maybe that's a clue. Either way, I'm intrigued by it, and want to make art to fit in it or something. 

There were some broken beehive bits in there and honeycombs on the floor, so they must have kept bees at one point. 

The light was really great in there, though of course very hard to capture, because I'm quite the amateur as far as photography goes. But the sunlight was gorgeous streaming in through the broken walls and down through the roof. 

And it was so interesting to see nature creeping its fingers over the lintel, biding its time, reclaiming its own. 

The whole thing was just an amazing study in texture.

It was really fun to do this with someone else. Its so nice to share a discovery. Plus also, in case I did get pinned under a falling rafter or something, Stephen could go for help. He's like Lassie, only better.
Also, I got him to take pictures of me too. Which is self indulgent and narcissistic, but whatever. As a parent its important to take pictures of yourself, on your own once in awhile, so that when you look back over the years its not nothing but pictures of the kids. And Stephen does such a nice job, I can never resist. This is the only one I'm posting here, but we took a few more. I need new facebook profiles after all, and really, that's the appropriate venue for blatant narcissism, isn't it.

I love how crazy all the old hay looks.

And there was some beautiful rustiness lying around too.

I have no idea what "Glen Edra" means. Even google failed me here. But if you know why this'd be stenciled on the side of an old pickup truck bed, do let me know.

Don't know what this is, but I like the colours.

On our way out of the fields surrounding the barn, we noticed this funniness. I guess the seeder that worked this field had a leak and dripped wheat seed on its way out. I kind of love mistakes like this. They look like art.

Such a gorgeous day it was. So warm and windy and full of new things to see. We went to two other locations after this, but I'll spread those photos out over the next week or so, so you don't get bored of them all at once. 

But how about you? Do you have a place that, though nearby, is somewhere you've never been?Then go. Take your camera. Take your kids. Or bring a friend. And go exploring. You never know what you'll find.