the scariest costume of the night

Do you know which actress she’s supposed to be?





I do love costumes that can be put together mostly with things we already have. I’ve collected a few retro pieces (and saved some too) over the years, in hopes that one day my daughter would enjoy dressing up in them.

Scary.

Happy Halloween!

a young girl’s journey from Milan to Minsk

Time for a room makeover.

Iz does not consider herself a girlie girl, but one might assume from her style choices that she has less of a tomboy personality than she lets on. Her tastes are very specific, but not at all predictable. That is to say I cannot just go out and pick something up without her approval. But that doesn't keep me from trying.

This transition from childhood to teen room started several weeks ago when Iz was digging around in the dark depths of the basement and ran across my old iron bed. “Would that fit in my room?” I got out the measuring tape and discovered that YES, it would fit. Tight. But yes.

What better time for a makeover than the transition from girl to teen?

This is what her room looked like before we took out the twin sized bed and moved everything else to her playroom, or into the hallway where we could stumble over them in the dark of night.



We began by putting a white primer on the walls to help our final color cover up that bright yellow.



We tried out several shades of pink...



Yes. Pink. For my non-girlie girl daughter.

More to come...

collections | Italian pottery

Many years ago I received a stoneware pottery casserole dish as a high school graduation gift. That dish is still used regularly in our kitchen. Through the years I've sought out pottery at local pottery shows, flea markets, antique stores, garage sales, Goodwill, and ebay for all sorts of handmade pottery. Raku, Native American, Mexican, McCoy, Shawnee, and Italian pottery have all been collected at different times. For several years I even traveled all the way to Florida to rummage through weekend garage sales for kitschy things.

These days are more about simplifying and less about acquiring. Oh don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE rooting around a good sale.

Have you ever been to a designer Goodwill store? We happen to have one here in downtown Portland. This is the premium Goodwill store that receives slightly used designer discards. It’s here that you’ll find racks of designer jeans, dresses, jackets, jewelry, handbags, shoes, and a few home decorating pieces too. I stopped in a while back and picked up a cute pair of Michael Kors jeans and a tweed Anne Klein jacket.

If you’re lucky enough to be in the store when boxes full of goodies come through the door, you might find something you must have even before it’s unpacked.

Trinkets like this...



Or this...



This urn was on display in the front window.

Imagine my surprise.

I have the perfect corner for it!

a trip to the pumpkin patch...

... means hot, crispy, sugary, delicious apple cider doughnuts. Yum.

Do you spell it doughnut or donut?

At Fir Point Farms in Aurora, Oregon, doughnuts/donuts are made to order during the month of October. They make pumpkin ones too, but I’m too in love with the apple cider version to allow my taste buds to stray.



Hot, fresh out-of-the-fryer, just like my Grandmother used to make, doughnuts... Oh my!

meet Moltin’ Nelly...

No worries, her feathers came back in beautifully.

Lucy and Ethel

I love these girls... they’re everything I wanted in chickens and more. They’re mischievous, friendly, easy going, and great egg layers too.

As soon as we returned from the Galapagos, Lucy and Ethel started acting very strangely. I received a call from my neighbor on Sunday morning. “I have a chicken in my backyard, and I don’t remember having any of those.” I threw on some clothes, went out the front door, only to find Lucy wandering around the front walkway squawking her head off.

My husband spotted both Lucy and Ethel two houses down terrorizing the neighbors cat who was crouched under a bush shaking in his boots. It took both of us to herd them safely back home.

The next morning I found this in the nest box...



Isn’t it a beauty?

I found Ethel sitting under a tomato plant in one of our raised beds a few mornings later. She was possessively sitting on half a dozen eggs. I explained to her how those were actually our eggs. We rightfully bought them. She reluctantly allowed me to take them.

I left one in the nest box, hoping she’d get the subtle hint, and low and behold the next day she actually laid an egg in that same box.

One of these eggs is not like the others.



Ouch, that must have hurt.



A very tasty double yolker...







Happy hens lay the best eggs!