NaNoWriMo Begins

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I hadn't planned to share, but I am going to attempt to write my first novel. In one month. With the other crazy people at NaNoWriMo.



 I have not written fiction since college and I only took one semester of creative writing. But they say "No Plot! No Problem!" at the top of their blog, so I'm trying not to feel too scared.

This post has a question asking for tips for first-timers and it is suggested that you tell everyone you know that you are writing a novel. For accountability, aka shame, because now you can all shame me when I don't make it to 50,000 words in 30 days.


Click here to see the photo that inspired me to do this insane project!

Treasures

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My town had a city-wide garage sale this weekend and my goodness! It was bursting with goodies. I only had about two hours to hit it all and thank goodness for birthday parties or my wallet would have really been in trouble!

Here are a few of the treasures I found on Saturday morning: a vintage set of bar tools from a lovely older man selling his goodies partly from his actual garage, the brown and white transferware sugar bowl (the minor repairs make me love it more somehow), my fourth vintage camera (I think once you pass three, it's officially a collection), and two matching mid-century chairs.









I cannot choose a favorite treasure, but there is a big tie between the Yashica 44 or the red chairs. You can still get film for this camera and so I am eager to track some down and play with it. I already found a set of images from this camera on Flickr. I scored my Yashica for $10 and learned later that on eBay they sell for a range of $46-127.

The chairs thrill me to no end, I now have enough seating in the living room to have people over. Also they came from a very nice couple who got them from their parents. They told me they have many happy memories with these chairs and it was hard to part with them. I was almost out of time and out of cash, but my good friend spotted me the $35 asking price. Here's to Gene & Lucy! I promise to take very good care of your chairs.

Withered, A Short Story

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Unable to go on for another minute, our hero Dahlia allowed herself to weep on her neighbor Strong Rock's shoulder. The kids had just been so unruly all day. First they wanted sunshine, then they wanted shade, then they were thirsty and fighting over the watering can.


They didn't seem to understand that she had needs also, plus responsibilities. It was her roots that had nourished them since spring. Only she noticed the days getting shorter and understood it was time to prepare for winter. There was precious little time left to soak up every ray of the waning sun, breathe the fresh air and relish every drop of water from the nearby sprinkler. Soon, too soon, they would be yanked from their home in the precious soil and brought indoors for the winter.

She shuddered just thinking about it. In fact, that is what had forced her to seek comfort on Strong Rock a few moments ago. How could she explain to those young blossoms that indoors was for safety and protection? And how on earth was she going to manage them all winter long inside, with no fresh air, no sunshine, and no water? Indeed, the very thought is enough to bring any mother to tears!



Here it was only 2:30 in the afternoon, and Dahlia was spent. Yes, she was still sporting the glorious pinks of summer, but you could see the worry lines weighing heavily on all of her petals. Her stem was not bent or broken, but it wasn't strong enough to hold her upright anymore.

"Thank goodness for sturdy neighbors," she thought, "I will really miss Strong Rock while I'm in there and she's out here. She's always there for me with a kind word or a knowing smile. Surely she's seen it all after raising umpteen rocks and many boulders." Then Dahlia closed her eyes, tuned out the young folk's chatter and reminded herself that she was not inside yet. 

Unbeknownst to her, a local photographer had noticed her while driving by, and stopped to record her fading beauty with a camera. The photographer was a mother too and shared a weary moment of kinship with her.

Crochet 101

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When I was a young girl, I learned how to do basic crochet from a babysitter. I haven't crocheted in over 30 years, but with all the lovely crochet work I see on blogs and Etsy, I have really wanted to learn how again. So recently I picked up a children's crochet kit (type "crochet art" into their search box) at a local toy store.

Yesterday afternoon, I finally opened it, completely doubtful I'd be able to make heads or tails of the instructions (even though I am "8+").





The bright colors in the kit really sold me. 


But, by some miracle, I did make sense of it! First, I made a square out of the turquoise yarn, followed by a small circle from the orange yarn. Then, bolstered by my success I attempted a two-toned flower!



Here's to learning something new every day! Or at least, yesterday.

With These Hands

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Pardon the absence around here! I got a 'lil wrapped up in the household the past few days I guess. I am here now though to wrap up my posts about Pajaro Dunes. I'd like to share two things that I made while I was there.

First up, a sweet and tiny bunting. I like to call these fabric garlands "buntings" although most probably call them a pennant. Here is a little more reading about the term, if you're interested. I used Oma's pinking shears for this project which made it all the more special. I brought a stack of fabric from my stash and it doesn't match the room decor but who really cares? Not my six-year-old boy, that's for sure. This took about 15 minutes to make, I highly recommend it. Thanks to Green Bean for the idea.



Okay this one takes a bit more courage to share because while I have some luck behind the camera, being behind a paintbrush is a completely different story. But I brought my gouache from Mariss (see her comment on this post) and I had an oceanfront seat at the dining table, so how could I resist trying to capture some of the magic?



Yep, I pretty much throw everything into the Noodle's room when I'm done creating. He doesn't seem to mind though, or at least he doesn't say anything to me about minding. ;)

Soon (hopefully), I have some pumpkin projects that are wanting to be made with these hands. They are too cute! We have short days at school all week so maybe they will become mommy/little boy projects.

Phil's Fish Market

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After we checked out from the beach house on Monday, we were not quite ready to go straight home. So some of us hung around Moss Landing seeking an adventure or two, including a foghorn on the beach, a gravelly walk amongst cows and then, lunch at Phil's Fish Market.













We're not the only ones who have filled our tummies there! Satiated, we finally headed home.

Note: about 24 hours after we left Moss Landing, a large storm knocked out a transmission line at the big power plant, causing a power emergency. We had pretty big wind yesterday!

Pajaro Dunes

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We are home from our wonderful weekend away. This was the first year it was more cloudy than not, and the first year there was not enough wind for kiting. This was the first year I knit almost the entire time and the first year we watched movies as a family after dinner. This was also the year I reconnected with a dear old friend from high school and met her beautiful family, and she met mine, right there in beautiful Pajaro Dunes.












All of these photos are unprocessed, so the lighting was truly the way it appears here. Wasn't the blue amazing? And that photo of my boy jumping the tidepools at sunset is one of the highlights of my life! Seconds after I got that, I handed the camera over and joined him. I will remember it always.

Gone Acorn-ing

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We are off for our annual, fall, long weekend at the beach. We head down to the coast with all of my in-laws and it is a joyful, peaceful time to connect with family, breathe deeply and center myself.




Do you like my vintage jello cups?

There's been a bit of acorn collecting happening around here, and I am longing for even more nature time while I am gone.

Take care and I'll be back on Tuesday.

P.S. I'm going to keep the Friday Poems poll open until Monday at 5 p.m. Please vote, it means a lot to me to hear your opinions. Thanks!

Parallel Botany Fabric Swap

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Awhile ago, I mentioned that I had received a package in the mail from a fabric swap hosted by Lisa at Parallel Botany.

The crisp air has finally settled in, although I do not trust it 100% to stick around yet. But I have begun knitting again on my now three-year, two-color blanket. (It's only going to be banana and red now).

Although I haven't busted out my sewing machine yet, I am encouraged by Green Bean's success in making a simple bunting with her sons. If I can get my hands on some pinking shears that is, something I have long wanted to own. I wish I had my grandma's, and mostly I wish I had known when she died in 2002 that someday I would want to do handcrafts just like her. I would have kept her sewing basket, her vintage Singer and accompanying table, her crochet hooks and any yarn and fabric she had. Darn that hindsight!



But for now, I want to show you the fabric from the fabric swap. I am still not sure what I want to make with mine, but I know the idea will come to me with time and patience. My swap partner was Sarah in England who authors two blogs, Outside of Sarah and Circles of Rain. I can't tell you how fun it was to know the fabric I chose was going to make its way across the pond!

The ladies at Quilters Studio were so kind to teach me about fat quarters and I spent a long time wandering around choosing the above four fabrics for Sarah. I was duly impressed with the long arm quilting machine, especially because I haven't a clue what magic happens with it.




Here are the lovely fat quarters that I received from Sarah, packaged with vintage ribbons in that darling Orange Grove soap box I showed you last week.



You know, while composing this post, I found an inspiring link for myself over at Sew, Mama, Sew!. I have a hunch there is a new handbag in my future. Oooooh!!!

All this talk about handcrafting reminds me of some of my favorite lines in a well-known Jewel song: "My hands are small I know, but they are not yours, they are my own..." and her song is not about crafting but I do love to think about everyone using their hands to make things that only their hands can.

Treasures

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Good morning!

I was so excited to get up and share my treasures from Alameda. I had one main mission and that was to find a rotary phone. As much as I liked that yellow one I showed you here, I was not quite ready to fork over $40. I am glad I waited because I accomplished my mission for $20 in Alameda.





Check out my bat phone! I love it so very much. The best part was after I bought mine, I saw an identical red one for $28. It worked out even better that I found red and not yellow because look what I found a few more rows over --





-- a darling white bench with red toile fabric. In the end, I'm glad I didn't go for the yellow phone on Etsy because then I might have passed up this bench. I was so proud of myself for not automatically paying the price on the tag too, my normal shopping practice. It was $24 and I asked if they would take $20 and they quite happily agreed. I wasn't even confident the bench would fit under the desk but it surely does fit!

Finally I splurged on a children's book that is 73 years old. It is not in pristine condition or anything and at $15, it cost me almost as much as my bat phone or bench. But I adore the stories and illustrations.








I will take very good care of your book Violet. The stories are so charming and Little Bear's Ups and Downs include when he played with rough children, when he got rich and here is a page from the story of his ups and downs with porridge.





Little Bear wakes up one day and refuses to eat his porridge. Mother Bear is convinced he is quite ill even though his tongue is perfectly pink. So she gives him maple cakes and sugar and then all he wants to eat is sweet things. Father Bear is not too happy about that and puts Little Bear to work in the fresh air to build up his appetite.

Mother Bear is not too happy about that but she doesn't argue. Even though she wants to say something unpleasant, instead she says "Oh hum! Oh, hummy-hum-hum!" Do you think that might be the secret to a long, happy marriage? The bear family also laughs a lot together, even during frustrating moments. They are forgiving of mistakes and don't take life too seriously. I have a lot to learn from these three.

Peacock Blue from A Creative Mint

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Leslie from A Creative Mint is about the nicest person you could ever "meet" in blogland. We met in Blogging Your Way earlier this year and she is now a guest writer at decor8. Leslie is doing a regular feature called Color Me Pretty and every week she comes up with these amazing photo shoots and color combinations. This week she really floored me with her peacock blues.





photo credit: Leslie Shewring

Peacock blue is exactly the inspiration color for my entire living room. Last week I picked up a cute white desk on Craigslist and I immediately began styling it with some blue objects that I've been saving for this purpose. The desk sits right along this big white wall that I have begun filling with a gallery of white frames that feature lots of peacock blue, turquoise, red.

Now Leslie has inspired me with this photo to add a little yellow to the mix as well. I have had my eye on this darling phone but was on the fence about adding the splash of yellow to my desktop.




photo credit: Retro Reality

If I were you, I might be wanting to see a picture of the new desk but I really want to get more of the art framed and hung before I take the photos for sharing. Pazienza as my grandma would say!

Aflutter

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A birthday story.

I am handed a box to unwrap on Saturday evening. It is from my son. My husband, son and MIL are all watching me intently, waiting. It is obvious it is clothing of some kind by the shape of the box. I open it, half-expecting something from Anthro since recently my son told me I should be an Anthropologie tester when I grow up.

It is an Ann Taylor box I see though.
And inside that box?


The most perfect little black dress that ever lived.



The story according to Jeff -- weeks ago our son told him he wanted to get Mama a pretty dress for her birthday. So they hit the mall and went to Ann Taylor first. This little black dress was spied right away but Jeff encouraged him to see a few more stores to be sure. He obligingly looked but returned to Ann Taylor. Apparently he received stellar customer service and a full tour of all the dresses, but confidently he chose the original one he spied.

I cannot tell you what this dress means to me, but I'm guessing you can imagine. I will keep this dress as long as I live and feel like Audrey Hepburn every time I am lucky enough to wear it out somewhere fancy.

A Happy Mailbox

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Last night after I put the Noodle to bed, I realized I hadn't checked the mailbox yet. I haven't really gotten in the habit at the house because most of our mail still goes to the P.O. Box I set up temporarily for us last year. But goodness, am I glad I went for that little stroll in the dark!



Not one, not two, but three packages!
All for me!




Part of a birthday* treat from Amy & Sean: 
a totally rad kitchen timer from Anthropologie!



my new Moo cards


A couple of weeks ago I decided to make some business cards with a few of my favorite photos. I am really happy with how they turned out. I have wanted to profile a few of my favorite shops here on the blog, but feel a little more confident asking permission to take photos if I have a little something to explain myself. 


The third package is from a fabric swap I am participating in. So much fun! This is my first time doing a blog swap. I will reveal those contents when I put them to use for a project. I am waiting for consistently crisp air to settle in for some handcrafting like sewing and knitting again.

Last night, I also spent a good portion of my evening playing with a new feature on Flickr, the Galleries. This is where you can curate a collection of other people's photos according to any notion you might have. My first thought was to show off other people's views of my favorite color combination and what a fun way to spend a couple of hours! Take a look at my Cherry Blue gallery and let me know what you think. :)

* my birthday was Sunday and I plan to share more about that this week.



Dreamy Colors

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On Friday night, the sky was flush with colors at eventide. I don't remember where my boys were, but I know where my camera was...firmly ensconced in my little hands, grabbing as much light as it possibly could.




Even my difficult dog looks beautiful at dusk.




I wasn't ready to stop so the candle came in to assist that last sliver of light.
And my orchid whispered to me, "Thank you." In French. :)

A Revealing Glance

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This morning, Jeff informs me that he is doing some IT work on my laptop. I get a panicked look on my face.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Updates," he says.

"UPDATES?!!!" I practically screech. (I have a thing about updates, a dislike kind of thing).

"Yes updates. As the IT Dept. I not only take requests, but I MAKE DECISIONS."

Oh boy.

I have now been cleared to use my laptop, and I truly don't know what combination of keys or UPDATES gave me this screen, but I took a capture because I thought it was very revealing glance at my life.


It is a look at my top sites: my blog, Google, Facebook, Twitter, my Flickr, decor8 (along with a million other folks), bit.ly and three of my friends' blogs.

Anyway, then Jeff says, "I need you to spend some time today updating your phone too."

I whine, "I just updated it!"

With great skepticism, my loving spouse says, "Did you update it yesterday?"

No of course not, I updated it on Tuesday and that should last me months in my humble, non-IT opinion.

So, do you feel like sharing what your computer would say are YOUR top sites?

The Beckoning Of Lovely

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Amy and her team launched the website today! This is such an immensely heartwarming, soul-inspiring project* as to make me breathless and speechless.





Point Five under "Some Important Things" is just one of many lovely lovelies.

Plus the following Pueblo verse shared at the very, very bottom:

Hold on to what is good, even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe, even if it is a tree which stands alone.
Hold on to what you must do, even if it is a long way from here.


I believe the universe brought me these simple lines this morning on purpose, for my husband's grandma died yesterday. My heart is sad and blue for that (and other reasons) but this message is powerful and healing.

I know I have two bucks, how about you?

*I first mentioned the project as the "amazing video" in this post.

Moo Business Cards

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I've been wanting to have a business card since I relaunched this blog almost six months ago. I had one designed to match the new look around here but it didn't work out for me to use the design. So I've been stumped for months about what to do.

Last night I couldn't sleep and somehow in my insomnia I came up with a solution: use a business card made by Moo. Now I have had mini-Moos made before, but not for Sweet Eventide and not a business card.

Drumroll please...


screen shot of my order

This is one of my all-time favorite photos. (Is that weird to have favorites of your own photos?) I actually ordered my card with three different images altogether so when they arrive, I will share the other two that I chose. 

I also decided to order some new mini-Moos. That was a lot more complicated somehow because I forced myself to really simmer about what it is I am doing here at Sweet Eventide. In the end, I came up with a mission statement of sorts.

Sharing art, photography and daily inspiration 
so you can spend your favorite time of day in a delightful way.