summer projects

This summer I've been working on a few little things.

JAM- Went ollallieberry picking with Dan and Emily at Swanton Berry Farm in Pescadero. They're berries are always plentiful, pesticide free and delicious. Rian and I picked somewhere around 30 pounds of berries... whew! Emily came over on Tuesday and I taught her how to make jam. At the end of the day I'd made 7 batches of jam and felt completely sugar coated.

Emily and I also made our own labels using the end of a cork (which I carved out a bit) as the berry. I think they turned out really cute.



SEWING- I've been wanting to sew a bit but don't feel real confident with real-big-girl patterns. I found the patterns for this dress and skirt for free on Oliver+S. For all three I used fabric I'd collected over recent years and I think they came out really cute. I hope Sophia likes them! If you'd like me to sew something for you, I'll take your orders!


























GARDEN- Our summer garden is coming in nicely. I planted 4 artichokes in the yard this year and they've absolutely taken off. I love the richer, greener taste of homegrown artichokes. Soon we'll be swimming in tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, pole beans, carrots, peppers, and herbs. yum.

What's next....?

determined cyclist

These pictures are of Sophia on a two wheeler bike for the first time WITHOUT training wheels. She was so proud and wanted me to take a picture of her.

While we were in Tahoe, Nona was great and took her on a practice bike ride every day.

4th of july in tahoe

For the Fourth of July long weekend this year, we joined my parents and Sophia in Tahoe. The incredible snow pack hasn't much melted and we got to have a second spring with snow fields, wild flowers and over flowing rivers and streams.

These pictures are from a hike we all took around Echo Lake and then gratefully were able to take the boat taxi back to where we started from. Sophia wasn't too sure about the boat taxi but by the time we were done, she'd forgotten all about the hike and jabbered on, and on, and on about the boat trip.

Tahoe as always is just beautiful.