Mayfly

I stared at these tomatoes on the sill and then looked out the window at a few newly picked ones on a patio table. Just for a moment I saw the simple beauty of it all- red against green, spider leg stems and imperfect shiny roundness.

Then someone little came storming through the kitchen hollering about a lost crayon and the spell was broken. I ran for the camera.

More beauty:

Emily's shop is open! I love all of her work. Every single bit is thoughtful and deliberate. I love that about her.

Today is the big day for The Cup and Saucer Collective. It will be grand, I'm sure.

The webs that Shari saw. Oh my.

La Dulce Luce on sale.

The little barn that Martha wants. And her printed fabric too.

I am loving these blues. I have gone back to that post of his a lot. Actually, I could fave every photo in Brian's flickr stream.

I could go on and on.

Posted by Alicia at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

It has been a long summer of very little time to create, but for my own mental health, I think it's time. I'm giving myself a few little assignments to hopefully spark something.

So today instead of cooking and freezing the corn I bought, or folding the laundry, or priming the trim outside, I will be here in my studio working on a little painting. And then perhaps making a birthday gift for a friend. (Hi, friend. How are you?)

Happy Friday everyone. It came right in the nick of time, didn't it?

Posted by Alicia at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I am not a gardener. Brian has forced me to say these words aloud this year. But every year I have grand plans and every year I try and every year something goes awry- my seedlings drown (last year), or I forget to build a little fence and my plants become gourmet salad for the neighborhood bunnies (this year). This summer I gave up on everything except for my tomato plants and they actually, knock on wood, are good.

But guess what?! I'll be damned if a few things didn't survive and aren't growing out there! So far we're watching one bell pepper, a few tiny little jalapenos and a bunch of baby cucumbers. There were even a couple green beans. And I mean two beans. Not two bean plants. But it's a start, right?!

I don't really have a black thumb! It's sort of greyish-green!

I have a couple questions:

Can I pick my pink tomatoes a little early and let them ripen on the counter so they don't get swiped by squirrels like they usually do? Will it affect the flavor?
And does anyone local know if we've got much late blight around here?

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Oh, and I have one unrelated question for you. Is there such thing as a custom die punch? I've seen cute little punches at the hobby store in the scrapbooking section, but I want one made of something very specific. I can't find it online. Any ideas?

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Thanks!

Posted by Alicia at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Recently two things made me happy, and even though it feels sort of odd, I thought I'd toot my horn a little bit.

My car organizer tutorial is in this calendar! Thank you, Megan, for asking me. I'm tickled pink and honored to be included in this group of bloggers/contributors. There's some really great stuff in there!

Also, awhile back a band from Australia contacted me to see if they could use this photo on the cover of their new album.

I bet you can guess who else is excited about this one.

Posted by Alicia at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

So these babies go up so fast. So fast. Off he goes, off to the third grade.

Ok, cut him some slack on the yawn. It was early. It started storming (again) as soon as they drove off for school. Fairly fitting I thought.

Yesterday should have been jam-packed with sports activities, but everything was rained out. We took the opportunity to eat a leisurely breakfast and then get to work. We cleaned and sorted and put some stuff up on Craigslist and took stuff to Goodwill. And this morning I am just so glad we did it. It feels darn good to start off on the right foot.

My studio is clean too, which is great. I am making big plans (and long lists.)

Happy Monday!

Posted by Alicia at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Hi, everyone. Unfortunately school starts next week. Boo hoo. The upside is I'll be back here with (a little) more regularity.

Until then, have a great weekend!

xo.

Posted by Alicia at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

with about 28,000 other people, thousands more than last year.

The signs on the walkers' backs were so moving. There were two kinds- In Memory Of and In Celebration Of. Some of the lists of names were impossibly long. {Sigh.}

I love you, Mom.

Posted by Alicia at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Tended to an injury. That's nine stitches if you're counting. Well, Maw Maw (Brian's mom) did lots of the tending- I mostly marveled at how fast kids heal.

Hung out with friends and ate their yummy food and ice cream made by my sweetie.

Went to the lake with just grown-ups. Drank some beers. Played in the water.

Picked peaches. TONS of peaches. (Note to self: if you let your children pick over a bushel and a half of peaches, it will be expensive.)

Ate peaches. TONS of peaches. Baked two cobblers and a pie for a guest.

Said goodbye to habit. Realized what a wonderful place those ladies have created. Felt thankful to be a part of it.

Hosted lots of out-of-town family for a weekend, and then the girl and I headed to St. Louis with them. Did lots of fun St. Louis-y things.

Rode the train home and found ALL of the laundry done. (Thanks again, sweetie.)

Bought school supplies, ordered a new backpack, got the teacher letter. Listened to the boy call everyone he knows to figure out who got who. Dried a few tears. (His two best friends are in another class.)

Spent a long afternoon at the pool. Slathered on sunscreen but realized they are still getting awfully tan. Came home and made smoothies. Added rum to the second batch for the grown-ups.

Decided wrap-up posts like this make me really think about all of the good things in my life and forget all the mundane and frustrating things. Hooray!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Posted by Alicia at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)