....nesting....

Completed lots o' stuff for the baby....nesting is still happening but winding down. Finished burp cloths (top photo) and new Nappy Bag, which turned out pretty good. I did deviate from the original pattern but I like my changes. I did attempt this bag once before, adjusting to make it larger, and boy is it large. This one is more manageable indeed.

Also made a 2 new slings for Chris and I, but perhaps I will photograph them when the baby actually comes. Slings are much cuter with actual children in them.

But sadly, all this sewing sent my machine into slow mode. It may need a new motor. This morning I began stitching by hand.

Care to make a guess???

1.

2. 

While perusing photos lately I ran across these two similar photographs of the boys....they look so much alike it took me a minute to figure out who was who....
care to make a guess???
I have officially been gearing up for baby mode.  Nesting has set in.  I actually put the changing table together today, tomorrow perhaps the bassinet???  Who knows what motivation this nesting will bring!
In crafting news I have finished a whole new set of flannel diaper wipes and am working on a few new slings from the Handmade Home book.  Hoping they come out okay.  Also had an excellent Target moment the other night.  Found the exact Moby Wrap I wanted in their baby section!  Hurray....I wanted a variety of different carriers this time, I definitely need options.  And sad to report our good old ring sling may only have a few rides left.
Here is our ring sling on its maiden voyage through the West End of Portland on our way home from the hospital....

13413 Beach Ave, Long Beach Island, NJ

Took a ride today to Long Beach Island.  Got to thinking about an old friend of the family.  Mark Scott.  This is a photograph of him sitting on the steps of what was once his home.  

To our surprise, this home no longer stands.  

Its been replaced by a larger, newer home.  

But what I remember most of this house is Mark.  The inviting brick fire place.  The butter churn, the scratchy couch.  The lumpy cots in the back room where you could hear the ocean at night.  

 Laughter and wonder.  Fishing on the surf, on the boat.  Eating seafood.  Playing in the sand.

 Mark's kindness and willingness to talk with me and tell me interesting things about this long stretch of island.

Backyard Love

Going into my backyard this morning put me in a major funk.  I feel like I worked so hard this year getting everything together and working hard to make it look nice and keep the weeds down.  Did the vegetable garden with bush beans, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant.  The herb border garden was looking good and well tended.  The pool was up and functional.  We even acquired a sandbox from Philly Freecycle.
Then the pool got a whole.  It got extremely hot here in Philly.  The weeds threatened to overwhelm.  The neighbors soaked the sandbox with their sprinkler.  I lost all my clothes pins.  We haven't mowed.
So, when I got out there this morning, there were no pins to hang the laundry.....and my very pregnant self just cried.  All that work for naught.  The yard was strewn with toys, weeds and bugs.  It made me want to weep.
Chris was the first to take action.  He picked the ripe cucumbers and brought them inside.  I promptly began cutting.  He started to fill the pool.  I began making myself a clothes pin holder.  Then we weeded.  I cut back the creeping vines and later mowed.  And the kids are happy again.
There is still much to catch up on, but I am feeling the love again.

and yes, we do have a windmill in the backyard.  It squeeks.

Women with Children

I was going through photographs yesterday and felt inspired to put together some images of women with babies and children. Specifically mothers and grandmothers, but not limited too. Here are some that I choose. I am not quite sure what I want to do with them yet....but I felt really inspired....and realized how much these images made me happy....

                                                                         

                                    

                                                                                      
                                                  

                                                     

                                                

                                                          

                                                      

                                                                  

                          

                                                            

little pig, little pig

I had some much appreciated and greatly needed time off this weekend, where I did a whole lot of nothing...it was splendid. But, I did manage to paint this little piggy bank that has been with me forever. Nate has now claimed use of it, which makes me smile. My Mom received this as a gift for her baby shower when she was pregnant with me all those years ago.

Saturday morning I was feeling the itch to paint and I thought, what a great little muse. This piece will be included in the Keys' Family Art Show which will be taking place on Saturday, August 28th at our humble abode. More info to follow......
Also spent Saturday evening down by the Wissahickon Creek dining at the Valley Green Inn with my Mom, Aunt and Melanie.
It was a late dinner and dusk faded to night. A bit spooky but also wonderful...the food was great and the atmosphere just what I needed.

Photograph circa 2006

hats

So I have finally reached a knitting goal....after many years of knowing how to knit and purl....I faced my fears and went digging for a beginners knitting pattern for a hat. Using 4 needles (some useful online videos teaching me how to cast on to said needles) I managed to clumsily make my way through knitting a beanie hat for a toddler. In the photo my very sloppy first attempt hides behind my latest most colorful version of the same hat. I learned much from this dip into the unknown. First, just keep knitting. It doesn't have to be right the first time, but if you make your way through, you'll have a better handle on it the next time. Second, I hate while using the double ended needles stitches slide off and boom your dropping them....I need those cork things. Third, following a pattern wasn't as hard as I lead myself to believe.

So on with knitting. I think I have done 5 so far and am working on the sixth. Its quite relaxing....and I feel so accomplished.

Next attempt are mittens, only after I fill some hat orders for the winter. Nate and Milo have both requested this hat in black wool with green stripes.

corners

Found the camera again, the real one...

and then even charged the battery.

and without ado, corners of my home.

Long Beach Island, a poem for Old Sh*t Fridays

4 o'clock

high tide

lugging big while buckets to the beach

fishing's better off of the surf

smelling sea salt on the air

white dunes looming

beach becoming smaller, smaller

Daddy's fishes larger, larger

Mommy sits on the flowered sheet

rubbing Ban de Soliel on her fair skin

I sit

waiting for the ocean to come

& grab me

I walk to the surf

and feel the smooth sand pull on my feet

feel the ocean moving me in

feel the tides

shifting me out to sea...

Photo Picks of the Day

Milo and I choose some photos to share with you today. The first one is of an albino snake found in some crazy little animal park that we stumbled upon between Ellsworth and Mount Desert Island, Maine. Milo says he likes its colors.

The second two photos are snaps from 2004 when Milo was a wee one snuggled in the sling. We went to a music fest on the Western Promenade in Portland & met up with our friends Josh and Michael. We were fortunate enough that fine evening to make a new friend, Oakie, the Oakhurst Acorn. Oakhurst is a local Maine Dairy.

a poem, finished

So I had been working on this poem for quite a few years, since 2003, the fall before Milo was born. I was pregnant, living in Maine and had just formed this fantastic and vibrant writers group. We kept up through the winter and then a few of us ladies stayed in contact and kept on having writing group until I moved back here to Philly. But that time, while I was gestating, proved very fertile and I planted the seeds for this poem, Prague Flood August 2002.

This spring I was lucky enough to head back to Maine and attended a writers retreat sponsored by the Wife of Bath. It was fantastic and one of those lovely ladies who I wrote with all those years ago, attended the retreat. I workshopped that poem and finally feel like I have finished...I have never struggled with a poem like I have with this one.

The Wife of Bath was having a summer issue about travel and I submitted this poem. Chris even submitted a postcard he cooked up, that if I ask him nice maybe he will let me post here...

but this summer issue is not to be. The Wife has bigger fish to fry and hopefully will be back soon with the literary mag.

So without further hoopla, fanfare and the like, here it is.

Prague Flood, August 2007

3 nights, after the rain

the Vltava has not receeded

flooding its ancient banks

and low lying neighborhoods

houses unloose their bricks

elder trees, set free from the sodden ground

tumble into the river

the flooded Zoo has emancipated its animals,

seals rolling in the current

trying to hide beneath the shadowy walls

of the stone bridges

we creep cautiously

through the dark evacuated old town

roaming alleys

using our hands as guides

on the damp and crumbling walls

once familiar passages

have become blocked by hulking shadows

dark looming figures in our paths

I trip twice and stumble

feeling the wetness of the furniture

tossed out from the depths

of watery cellar graves

in the absence of light

sounds come louder and closer

the sloshing of water

a far off siren wailing

than quiet

the brush of a large body into stone

an elephant's feet crushing wood

a furl,

flute light on the air

than running footsteps

shouts I cannot understand

and my own breath

coming faster

seeking refuge

amongst the dark and steeped city

& in our hast

we are looking for that secret place

where we've heard the fiddle call

it is known for its beer

which miraculously still springs forth

from golden fonts

the smell of smoke and food is growing near

as we stumble & search & hope

& deep within Stare Mesto

lit by candles & propane the door beckons

here the people are among the broken chairs

but the floor is dry

& the music plays

& we have found asylum

for our rain weary souls.

The McMichael Park Flea Market

In early June, we are treated by the East Falls McMichael Park flea market....these are some snaps from that day. This year, as excited as ever I found some serious treasures that I haven't photographed, yet....but here are some from my wanderings that day. Plus a busking musician.

green gods

Raising the dead through traditional blogging, or what I like to refer to as "old shit fridays"

and without further ado,

a poem, circa 2004

We were once full of green, green grass

& we grew up into trees & clouds, iron gates

we belched mountains & tripped boulders

over our shoulder at high noon

& told the birds our names in

slow, soft whispers -- tweet, hush

when they perched on concrete fountains

& waded in still rain water

we dreamed yesterday

a 76 bus

the opened roads & unloosed us on the world

our little time machin

a tooth, a hair, a sugarcone

figuring out the tripod

I haven't taken any new photos today and thought perhaps I would be inspired by some old ones.....and these two popped up. In 2002, Chris and I were working on a video while living at Brezina in the Czech Republic. We had just gotten the tripod and were playing around, when this first shot was taken.

I am so worn out today and feel so old, but looking at my 25 yr. old self, pre-children, smiling....I felt a bit of whimsy and it made this tired old ma smile.

And this second photo....I don't know why I like it so. The placement, the odd look on my face, I know I am trying to figure out the tripod, perhaps Rina in the background ambling through the field, the sky and clouds....

the score

went to a house sale in lansdowne

 but by the time we got there, all they had was gone

but than I remembered I had seen a sign, for a church sale

 so we stopped and piled out, hoping for the best, and low and behold....

it was a splurge, hat boxes and dishes, aluminum sugar canasters

  vintage sweaters and dresses, books and ceramic wall ballerinas,

feathered hair bands and vintage kitchen contraptions galore....

the biggest score of all, a red bag complete with a shiny baton....