A Perfect Day

Sigh. Today was perfect.

I woke up, drank coffee and munched on leftover doughnuts from Mum's visit.

Then I listened to Craftypod Episode #103 with Rachel from One Pretty Thing. As I did that I began cutting up some fabric scraps to make a new garland.

I've been so inspired by garlands for a long while now, popping up all over blogs and Flickr, but this one by Pam Garrison put me over the edge. I had to have a leaf garland and I had to have it NOW! I was on a crafty mission.

So after all the snipping and cutting, came the stitching and sewing. I put the new garland up...it looked okay...but it needed something.

Then I remembered that I had an entire bag of felted beads in my stash from an old swap.

The results are kind of spiffy don't you think?





(Garlands are hard to photograph...it looks a bit cooler in person)

I think this garland will stay up from now all the way into Christmas. I am smitten by it!

Matt and I got to have some "us" time today, which was nice. We watched old Simpsons re-runs and kept toasty on the couch. We did some light chores, putting away laundry and such, but mostly it was just a totally relaxing day.

Hobbes and Cassie were really helpful with the laundry bit.







I've had Perfect Day by Lou Reed stuck in my head all day. Yes indeed.

Hope you all had a perfect Sunday!

Gifts from Mexico

Matt returned in the wee hours of this morning from a business trip to Mexico - lucky ducky! He came home with gifts for the house.

First, he sweetly says, "I saw this, and I instantly thought of you." Aww, what a schmoopie!

A beautiful 3-D shadowbox with Frida Kahlo



When I was in high school, I did a major project on Diego Rivera, and thusly became interested in Frida Kahlo. I love the movie "Frida" with Salma Hayek, and if you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. Lots of interesting crafty elements!

Then, Matt followed up with, "Aaaaaaand this is a gift for me, well, I guess it could be a gift for the both of us..."



Meet Mr. Calaca.

I think this might be my husband's form of payback for all of the girly goodness I've been dragging into the house lately, HA!

He's not so bad though, this dude knows how to party down!



Hobbes is not quite sure what she thinks of all this though!



Oh. My.

***

My other highlight of the day was a visit from Mum. She came with DOUGHNUTS, mmm, and we had a grand old time. I introduced Mum to SUPER BURRITO, an amazing burrito place down the street from me, and we chatted and blog surfed and listened to music. (Now, Mum likes Andrew Bird too!) I absolutely miss living so close to my parents, so our less frequent visits are extra special bright spots. Thanks for driving down Mum!

Now...off to knit!

Meeting Amanda (and Jean, and Brandie)

One of the very first blogs to earn a permanent place on my blog roll was SouleMama. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that I've been reading SouleMama, for almost as long as Geek+Nerd has been around, maybe since late 2005? Anyways, in internet years, that's EONS!



During all of that time, Amanda has been raising her little family only about an hour away from me. Once she had a show at Edith and Edna (which is gone, sniff, sniffle), that I missed, and there were book-signing events that passed by, but each occasion the timing was never right for me to drive up and have a chat.



So when Amanda came out with her second book, Handmade Home, I made sure my calendar was clear to attend one of the book-signings.

Guess what people - She's every bit as lovely as one would expect!

Amanda, I admire you for the beautiful art and crafts that come from your hands, for the imaginative way that you raise your family and for your obvious zest for life. But - most importantly I admire you for taking all of those things, bundling them together and sharing them with the world via SouleMama. Your writings and photographs have inspired me to go do something with that scrap bag in my closet, to take a breath when I need it and to find happiness in the everyday, the little things. Not only do you lead an inspiring life, but in your quiet, gentle way, you have encouraged me to go live one too. Thank you for taking time out of your days to give me, (and thousands of others) such a generous gift!

And if I was a less nervous fan girl, I might have articulated some of that in person. I think it came out as "You're so inspiring...uhhh...I love your blog drool."



An added bonus to the day I met one of my Flickr contacts, Jean aka Beetgreen and super awesome Brandie. It was so lovely and to chat and knit with you both!

Here's a little bit of happy for all three of you -this is one of my favorite Gene clips - good luck with your tap lessons!

Mike and Sylvie

"L" is for the way you look at me,



"O" is for the only one I see,



"V" is very, very, extraordinary,



"E" is even more than anyone that you adore can



Love is all that I can give to you.



Love is more than just a game for two.



Two in love can make it!



Take my heart and please dont break it.



LOVE was made for me and you!



Congratulations to my brother Mike and my new sister-in-law Sylvie. I love you both SO SO MUCH and I hope that you have a long and happy life together!!!

Small Town 4th of July

Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow American folk! I wish that I had more pictures to share with you, but alas, Matt still has the nice camera on tour in California, so this photo will have to suffice! Do you like my 4th get up? It's missing the red cowboy hat that I was sporting this morning, but I'm still feeling festive in my white country girl dress.

Today my dad and I left the house early to go visit my brother Thom and his girlfriend Michelle's family up in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire. Michelle's family owns a sweet little breakfast place called the Iron Kettle. I put away three blueberry pancakes with crispy bacon, YUM! Sadly they did not have real maple syrup, but leave it to my dad to come to the rescue. He had a single serving syrup bottle in his car! Have syrup, will travel. The Duclos family doesn't mess around!

After eating, we settled in lawn chairs in front of the restaurant to view the Main Street, 4th of July parade. Believe it or not, this was the first 4th of July parade I had ever been to in my life! I had a blast watching the little ones closer to the sidewalk scramble for bits of candy thrown by the people on the floats. It was too fun.

My 10 month old baby nephew Aaron was taking in his first parade too! (Pictures from Thom's camera to come later). We danced and sang and had a grand old time.

On the way home with my dad, we jammed out to Johnny Cash: Live at San Quentin all the way down Route 16. The sun was shining for the first time in weeks, and even though we're supposed to get scattered thunder showers later, I wasn't about to dwell on it. It's moments like these that make life great. Small Town U.S.A at its very best.

Five Senses

Hello friends! I have so missed blogging regularly, but life has just been so busy lately. To sum it up there have been some amazing developments in the dream job arena. In addition to Taking Steps, Citydance and administrative work, now I've been approved to substitute teach for the children's program and I'm going to be trained as an Adaptive Dance instructor. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure this is all real.

Aside from all of that big stuff, I've had scarcely any time for myself! So, I thought I would dedicate this blog post to the little things that are making me happy these days.

see

New treasures in my home...and that's not all! There is much more to be shown soon!



smell

A nice lemon grass candle my dancers bought for me

Open windows. Yes.

taste

Orange date bars that I made with my mum. These are ridiculous!



touch

The feel of my super cozy new jersey dress which you'll be seeing many pictures of in the future, I'm sure.

yarn through my fingertips


hear

I Don't Know by Lisa Hannigan - The video is amazing, and makes me smile.

Soul of a Man (Live) by the Legendary JC's - This diva-tastic song popped up on one of my Pandora stations. Love it.

Eye Spy...a rediscovery

This weeks "Eye Spy" theme was provided by The Byron Life. Play along weekly over at Bug and Pop

This week's Eye Spy theme happily coincided with my first ever Naked Lady Party! If you've never heard of a NLP, here are the basics:

1. Ask your friends to clean out their closets and invite them over.
2. Sort the clothing into categories; shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, etc.
3. Dive in and search for new clothes.
4. Donate the leftovers.
5. Oh yeah, and appetizers and bevvies help too!

Having an NLP is great for so many reasons; The economy has tanked, but you can get new cute clothes for free, NLPs keep clothing out of a landfill and this is a great motivator to clean house for the change in season. Not to mention it's pretty fun!

My tiny living room was FULL of clothes - you literally had to dive in to piles to pick stuff out...(my photos came out funky because my camera was on a weird setting unbeknownst to me)...



This is my "Eddy" outfit a la Absolutely Fabulous. The denim mini vest was definitely the star of the evening.





Jess made out like a bandit. That mini skirt has BUILT IN SHORTS! Man I wish I was a size 8 - so cute!



Here are the leftovers, which will be heading off to Goodwill later this week. I can't believe how much clothing is packed into those boxes!

Here are some of my favorite "rediscoveries."

Cute ruffly brown shirt and JEANS THAT FIT aka Unicorn aka Mythical Creature that I did not think existed...



Awesome plaid high waisted secretary skirt and knee high boots



And the "boobylicious" dress



The dress is a little over the top in the cleavage department, but it was so silky and swingy and pretty I couldn't resist. If I'm feeling demure I think I might wear this with a lacy slip underneath that covers up the girls a bit, or if I'm feeling bold I might rock it out with a big necklace to distract from the "fanny front" as my sister calls it.

Have I convinced you to have a Naked Lady Party yet? Go on! Re-discover what is hiding in your friends closets!

Prizes from Back 40 Books!

Back in December I was won a blog giveaway over at Farmgirl Fare. The prize was a $100 shopping spree at Back 40 Books. Back 40 Books is an excellent resource for any one interested in self-sufficient living and sustainability. I highly recommend that you pay their website a visit!

After reading countless book descriptions and swooning over nearly every one, these are the titles that I chose:



Root Cellaring - I've started reading this one, and already I'm intrigued. I had one of those duh moments when I read that root cellaring is not only great for putting food away for the winter, it also saves energy by not relying on electricity to can or freeze.

Making and Using Dried Foods - Another duh, AHA moment, you can re-hydrate almost anything with boiling water. Like eggplant for casseroles, and apples for pies.

The Forager's Harvest - I'm still scared that I'm going to poison myself foraging, but I thought that this book was a good place to start.

Making Wild Wines and Meads - I can't wait to have adventures in wine-making with my sister! I'm already saving bottles!

Home Cheesemaking - I bought Ricki Carroll's cheesemaking kit after I took a class on the topic. The kit comes with a small booklet outlining how to make mozzarella and ricotta. Home Cheesemaking is a more comprehensive book, by Carroll, on how to make a slew of different cheeses. A good pick for the future.

The Whole Grain Cookbook - Diet, meet grains. Enough said.

Keeping the Harvest - This is a nice general preservation book.

(not pictured) Pickles and Relishes - I let my mum pick a title, so this has gone to live at her house for the moment. However, I'll have to borrow it back! There is a recipe for mint flavored freezer pickles that looks too good not to try!

I have so much reading to do!

Many thanks go to the generous people at Back 40 Books and Susan at Farmgirl Fare. I definitely have not been able to splurge on myself as of late, so receiving this prize was a bit like Christmas. Thank you so much!

A hat for a little babe named Sage

My friend, Cyndle, just gave birth to her first baby, a little boy, two weeks ago. Cyndle and I worked together at the Ogunquit Playhouse for two summers in a row. She's crafty and talented, and we always got along famously. We rarely see each other anymore, due to our busy lives, but we've always kept in touch via the magic of the internet.

She and her hubby named their little boy Sage, so I thought it only appropriate that he have a little sage adorned hat.



Cyndle, Tom, I'm sending lots of love and luck to you as you navigate marriage and parenthood! I hope that I get to snuggle little Sage, in person, soon!

Matt's Skull Cuff :: A Love Story

About three years ago I knit "The Bead Goes On Cuff" (rav) from Stitch n' Bitch Nation for Matt's birthday. I made it to protect his wrist. You see, Mr. G+N is a punk bassist. He strums so fast when he plays, that without some kind of protective garment, he gets horrible blisters on his wrist.

He loved it, and proceeded to wear it every. single. day.

Three years later, this is what it looks like:





The skull's poor face is mangled beyond recognition, the shine on the beads is worn completely away, and it is little more than a tangled ball of yarn that hangs from my hubby's wrist every day...

A week before Valentine's Day, Mr. G+N started recording a new album with his band, and he said to me "I wore another cuff at practice yesterday to make sure I could play with something else in the studio, but I'm bringing the old one just in case." His voice was mildly frantic like that of a child who has lost a favorite stuffed animal or security blanket, but still trying to play it cool!

I knew immediately what Matt was getting for Valentine's Day. Not original, but I knew that he would love it.

Shiny and new, here's cuff #2:



For comparison, old vs. new:



He loved it! However, do you think he's throwing out the old one? Absolutely not. The new one is only going to be worn for shows and special occasions, the raggy old one is still going to be draping off of his wrist like a crusty pirate bracelet!

Sigh. I can't lie, I think that his attachment to knitwear is a little cute.

<3

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I'm at home, safe and sound, with power and heat! I'm so happy and thankful. Now I can set up hotel Geek+Nerd for my friends and family who are still without power.

Thanks for your well wishes everybody. It's been a bit of a whirlwind!

Ice Storm :: Thus Far

12/12, 2:00am - Power goes out

12/12, 7:30am - We wake up to this in our back yard, and everywhere else in southern New Hampshire:





12/12, 10:30am - I drive to work early hoping to eat some breakfast, find out that work is closed. No electricity.

12/12, 10:45am - Wait over half an hour at a Dunkin' Donuts with about 200 other people for breakfast. Amazed at how swiftly anarchy can happen if electricity is taken away.

12/12, 6:00pm - We arrive at the Outback where we made call ahead reservations. We wait over an hour and a half to be seated.

12/12, 9:00pm - We leave the Outback and hear on the radio that 500,000 NH residents are without electricity and heat.

12/13, 10:00am - I receive a call from Citizen's Bank saying that my debit card has been shut off. I call them to find out that someone has taken advantage of the fact that I'm an NH resident without access to technology and compromised my account. Citizen's activates my account long enough so that I can drain my account of cash so that I can buy food. Fun. People are real nice.

12/13, 8:30pm - We drive to Portland, ME with Matt's band (who had come up from Boston - two hour trip) only to find out that the venue has double-booked their regular, monthly gig. Nice. We go out for an awesome meal elsewhere.

12/13, 11:30ish - Back home to find that we're still without power. It was too cold to stay - so off to Boston with the band and our kitties we went.

12/14

So...here I sit. Now we're wondering if the pipes have burst back at home. My family and friends are scattered to the wind. This has been craziness!

Obviously Advent posts will have to wait until we get the basics back. Sigh.

Advent :: Day 8 / Oh Christmas Tree!

Something for you to read: On the topic of real vs. artificial trees, Sheherazade Goldsmith, author of A Greener Christmas, has this to say: "An artificial Christmas tree may be reusable, but it will probably have been made from a petroleum-based product and may well have been flown in from China. The materials commonly used in the manufacture of artificial trees are PVC, polyurethane foam and steel. Although you may reuse it for several years, if your tree is not recyclable it will eventually linger for centuries in a landfill site." If you purchase a real tree, locally grown is best and be sure to seek out a place to properly recycle it after the holidays!

Something for you to listen to: Is Christmas Only a Tree? - Bing Crosby. It wouldn't be Christmas without Bing Crosby on my playlists!

Something for you to make: Soft Tree Pattern via Little Birds

:::

It was a tiny struggle, but I did manage to get M. out of bed yesterday...





Matt and I went to go pick up our Christmas tree at Tuttle's Red Barn, which is our annual tradition. Little G. Tuttle, the youngest boy in the family, hoisted our tree into the back of our Jeep all by himself. I was quite impressed!



There was a perfect amount of gentle snow falling during our trip, it was so picturesque! And of course it afforded lots of opportunity for this:





Can you see why I love him so? He's still a gigantic kid :)

:::

Bazaar Bizarre was great...a little overwhelmingly crowded, but great. I didn't see as many things that really *WOWED* me this year. M. and I were talking about it, and I think that we've both come to a point of art print/t-shirt/jewelry saturation in our home. We see things that we think, YES! That is cool!, but we're less quick to buy things like that for lack of space to put them! The event was not a disappointment, I just think that we've become more mindful about what we purchase, which is a good thing!

I did buy a few gifts and a few little things for myself. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I hope that everyone is enjoying these Advent posts, because I'm having a blast writing them!

Remembering Memere Duclos

My last remaining grandparent, my Memere Duclos, passed away last night. She lived out many of her last years in a nursing home struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

I only visited her a few times in the past couple of years. This may be selfish to admit, but those visits were often more painful for me than I could bear. Matt and I visited her the Christmas after we got married, because I wanted her to meet him. We sat down with my wedding album and I pointed to her children, to my cousins, to myself. I said, "Memere, these are your sons and your grandchildren," and she would just reply, "Really? Is that so!"

I cried when we left. Memere remembered so little of everything. The home she at was filled with sadness and full of seemingly forgotten people. I went back there with my father for Mother's Day where I thought I saw a glimmer of recognition behind Mem's mischievous little smile. I'm glad that that was my last memory of her. It is enough.

Memere looking on as I blow out the candles on my third birthday



In better days you could always count on two things during a visit to Memere and Pepere Duclos' apartment. A can of Coke or Gingerale while you stayed, and a bag of M&M's when you left. They kept the M&M's on the such a high shelf that my tiny Memere had to stand on a step stool to reach them. Predictable. Always the same. Soda and M&M's. What child wouldn't love that?

Pepere and I circa 1984



My Pepere died of stroke-related complications when I was just twelve. He was the first person that I ever knew that died, and it was just devastating for me. My grandmother was not an independent woman, and I don't think that she ever recovered from the loss of my grandfather. She said to me once when I was a teenager, "I'm just waiting to go - I don't understand why God's taking such a long time."

Swan Lake, 1998: My dad, me, my sister Renee and Memere



It took God fourteen years to take her back, but I know that somewhere she's settling in with Pepere to watch the Canadiens play hockey, serving up soda and M&M's.

Today, amidst this current sadness, I've gotten the opportunity to interview as an outreach teacher with a huge dance organization. Probably top five largest in the country kind of huge. Memere's pulling strings from heaven already! I'm very thankful for this. Keep your fingers crossed for me! What are you thankful for today?