elsie marley

because it’s been a while.

1. Untitled, 2. clever drawers, 3. mountain goat, 4. a whale tower, 5. mugs & china cups, 6. Doughnuts and Coffee Cupcakes, 7. aithiopians, 8. banana-antlers, 9. Hope

Wednesday: Goldenrod (warm, deep yellow)
Thursday: Chestnut (dark, warm brown)
Friday: Plum (like a plum, duh)

melissa
jess
oona
freckled hen
katie
jessica
caitlin
annika
andrea
jenny
fiona
kim
stitches and tulips
juniper
ali
stephanie
mrs catbird
nath
melanie o
kelly
kim
anna
carol
mary grace
char
jessie
alexis

Tuesday:Burnt Siena (a reddy orange, like the rooftops of Siena)
Wednesday: Goldenrod (warm, deep yellow)
Thursday: Chesnut (dark, warm brown)
Friday: Plum (like a plum, duh)

melissa
jess
oona
freckled hen
katie
jessica
caitlin
annika
andrea
jenny
fiona
kim
stitches and tulips
juniper
ali
stephanie
mrs catbird
nath
melanie o
kelly
kim
anna
carol
mary grace
char
jessie
alexis

fall color week starts today and I’m so happy there are so many of you playing along. If you’d like to jump in, just leave a comment and I’ll put your blog on the list. Today is brick red, just like this little red riding hood cape. Stay tuned for burnt sienna tomorrow.

and for more fall color lovliness, look here:

melissa
jess
oona
freckled hen
katie
jessica
caitlin
annika
andrea
jenny
fiona
kim
stitches and tulips
juniper
ali
stephanie
mrs catbird
nath
melanie o
kelly
kim
anna
carol
mary grace
char
jessie
alexis

if there are any problems with the links just drop me a note in the comments and I’ll fix it.

sorry. This week just got away from me (for many reasons, but I won’t bore you with them). Kristin over at plush you wrote my blog up in a list of 15 lovely blogs. Thank you kristin! I am supposed to pass on the link love by listing 15 newly discovered blogs that I have found. And what the hell, here goes:

1. beci orpin
2. sparkle power
3. the brick house
4. violetta estacalda
5. quinn
6. on hand modern
7. sweet sweet life
8. this tiny house
9. dolls and things
10. clever girl
11. lea redmond
12. the story girl
13. misako mimoko
14. seed stitching
15. at swim two birds

whew! have a good weekend (and may some of it be spent outside and not on the computer). see you sometime next week.

the yellow load.

I put away my winter coat when we had that week of 40 degree weather, but they say there will be five inches of snow on the ground when I wake up tomorrow.  poo.

My Nana is 105 years old.  There is no way to sum up someone who is 105 years old, even if you have only been in their life for 30.  Nana was already really old when I was growing up, but still took care of me often.  She wasn’t one to complain about being old–it probably wasn’t until last year she even thought of herself as old and because of that attitude she takes no medications, isn’t wheelchair bound, has no arthritis, and just last month moved into assisted living.  But that is only the medical side of things.  She also writes a poem everyday, likes to stay up late, plays a mean hand of gin (she always beat me, but I was 9), believes you can heal yourself by the force of your will power and six vegetable on your dinner plate every night, gave her grandkids iceberg lettuce sprinkled with sugar for dessert, never learned how to drive (from the front seat), climbed trees when she was 80, calls a cell phone a “little phone,” and many other strange and wonderful things.  In the 1920’s she worked for the Real Silk hosiery company selling stockings (and other unmentionables I’m sure).  She worked her way up in the company until she was the secretary to the bossman, then, I think because of an ultimatum from my grandfather, came back to the midwest and got married.  This hosiery mending kit was a little treasure I found in her sewing tin my mom gave me.  You keep it in your purse and those little match-like things magically stop the run in your delicate silk stockings until you can get back home and mend them.  I think it is absolutely fantastic. I’m so excited to get to use this pretty tin and pass it on when I turn 100.

So we went to Morocco. It was our honeymoon–five years late, but our honeymoon nonetheless and now that we have two little kids I think the time to ourselves was much more appreciated. And thanks to my wonderful in-laws we were able to get away for a whole week.  We spent a few days in Marrakesh in a very simple riad, which was nice because Marrakesh is a crazy, frantic place.

We were dodging mopeds and surviving the hard sell, but also eating some damn fine food and drinking mint tea all over the place.

We took a bus to the coast to a town called Essaouria, where we had the best meal of all. Right on the ocean in a little shack, we pointed to fish we wanted and they slapped it on the grill.  I really have no business eating seafood in a land locked state, I now realize. I ate piles of shrimp and sardines and washed them all down with a fanta (why can’t I get an orange fanta in the US? what the hell? and why is it so good?).

We had an amazing time and there is too much to show here (but there are a few more pictures on flickr).  It made me realize I need a lot more color in my life and I need to get to the ocean more often.

One more picture, because who else is going to get excited about huge piles of yarn straight out of the dye vat?

If you don’t know about the two talented ladies from Sugar City Journal, now you do. They make ridiculously stylish and modern and cute and functional clothes for their kids. And I have been waiting patiently for their patterns to be published. Luckily, I was first in line when they came out and snatched up the pattern for the village frock dress. I’m hoping it will become my little girl’s chirstmas dress. And I was thinking about making it in velvet (or velvette) but the more I think about it the more expensive it sounds. And I’m guess velvet is hard. Any suggestions?

The picture is the packaging (duh). It’s made out of a paper bag and stitched at the sides. On the pattern itself it says, “you are a sewing genius.” Yeah! And here’s the back of the package because it’s as nice as the front.