Crystal Madrilejos

Well, yes, have some fruits & vegetables. (I just decided I like an ampersand in there instead of a long, boring “and”) is germinating – for a lack of a better analogy. Our first meeting went well. Having everyone present to share their thoughts and ideas was great. Like we’ve said, we’re no pros, we need help. And together, with all of us doing our research, I think we’re going to be just fine.

Our soil test came back and looks good! It’s 65°F today! I even opened a window to let the warm breeze in, which may have been a bit premature, I was freezing two minutes later and closed it. But, things are coming together!

Our soil, in not so layman’s terms.

–a.

Baby Layla has been the focus of yes, have some. lately, as is evident here, here and here. The latest gift for the little one is this Puzzle Box I made. At this point, six of her could fit into one of the small compartments, but she’ll grow into it. And until it’s filled with her toys, I’m sure Mama and Papa can use it for blankets, or clothes, or any of the other large amounts of “supplies” that little, tiny humans require.

–a.

This is my newest sewing project, a request from one of my co-workers for her new niece. Cat pillow! You can see ones we’ve made in the past here and this is the very first one I ever made years ago.

–c.

We’ve never done it before, but we’ve been reading and planning and organizing for weeks, and our very first garden is starting to come together (on paper, at least). This is the Spring/Summer/Fall where we work the land and reap the rewards, like we’ve wanted to for years. In total, we have nine gardeners who are going in on this project with us. Our first garden meeting is this Saturday and the agenda is chock full. Not to sound too much like city folk, but we had no idea how much consideration goes into a simple garden.

So far we’ve chosen the site (a perfect South-facing plot with sun-o-rama), made a gate for easy access, organized the participating parties, started a budget, picked out the fruits and veggies we want to grow, and our soil is being tested as I type. Next on the list is buying seeds, organizing our blocks with future crop-rotation considerations in mind, putting up a section of fence, tilling, planting and on and on and on.

It’s borderline overwhelming, but the day we’re laying on our backs in our overalls eating fresh, warm strawberries straight off the vine in the summer sun will be the day I happily forget all the planning and laboring.

The section of fence we chopped up and converted into a gate.

Our hopefully bountiful plot.

Stay tuned, sweet corn is on the way!

–a.

One of the many great things about living in Ohio is we finally have more room to make things. During the really cold months it’s a little more difficult because the barn is too cold to work in for extended periods of time. We have a basement where it is possible to do work as well, but the ceiling is really low and Andrew has to duck every time he goes down there.

Last summer we found this school desk at a junk shop for $18 and fixed it up for our niece. The whole thing was covered in layers of paint and was all around ugly.

We stripped all the paint off the wood, refinished it, repainted the metal parts and added my nieces last name across the top corner. Voila! Brand new desk.

–c.

I love this photo. It was originally published in the December 1955 issue of House & Garden. You can buy a print of this Richard Rutledge photo (and many others) directly from Condé Nast here.

–c.

If you’ve had a chance to see Coraline (and even if you haven’t) maybe you’ve become as crazy about it as I have. I went through the entire movie site and found amazing videos about the making of the movie. I couldn’t resist posting about them. Here are a few of my favorites, but you should explore the site on your own for more!

Enjoy!
–c.

Yesterday we went to see the new Henry Selick directed movie, Coraline. It’s an amazingly beautiful movie done in all stop-animation movie style. It took 3 years to make and involved some of the top talents of the field. And it shows. The details are intricate and spooky. The animation, seamless.

Not only is the look of the film fantastic, the story is great. It’s based on a book by author Neil Gaiman, who is extremely talented.

Despite some reports, Tim Burton did not have a hand in making this film.

Go see it! Also check out the website for the film here. And the website of Neil Gaiman here.

–c.

Edward Gorey is one of my all time favorites. His writing and his illustrations are fantastic. So, as you can imagine, I was delighted when a good friend of mine passed along this book. It’s been making its rounds of the blog circuit of late but I’ve only just seen it today. The Recently Deflowered Girl by Hyacinthe Phyppe, illustrated by Gorey, is both beautiful, disturbing AND funny. It gave me a weird feeling, but I still enjoyed it.

I’m only going to show my favorite page so I don’t get in trouble. I’m sure you can find the rest out there if you do a quick search.

• Thanks Toby •

–c.

I’ve started a new sewing project (a request from a co-worker) and it inspired me to re-list some items in our etsy store. You can buy 8″X10″ prints of these photos I took at my sisters old tailoring business.

Enjoy!

–c.