Pillowcase Dress #2

The most recent trip to our favorite thrift store yielded a super-soft vintage cotton pillowcase (did I mention it was 49 cents?), and a really sweet light green sweater (99 cents... yes!) that, while piled on top of each other in our shopping cart, looked like they belonged together. How does one pair a pillowcase with a toddler sweater? Why, make a second attempt at a pillowcase dress, of course! So I did.

 

 

I took a few tips from this site, but after the first few cuts, went off on my own tangent, and then ended up sewing skinny elastic into the neckline and eliminating buttons and ribbons and the like all together. Then I started feeling saucy, and made my very first attempt at pockets, too!

Finally, with the leftovers, a little dress for her AbbeyBaby, and voila! Pillowcase dress #2, plus thrifted sweater = Audrey's new outfit for $1.50!

Maybe some day I'll try making her something from real, plain fabric and a pattern... what a novel, intimidating thought... but at least until then I have thrifted pillowcases! *sigh*

Heart Day

 

Hoping everyone found something loved to celebrate today, and that the celebrations linger for you through your days. Happy St. Valentine's Feast Day (to figure out exactly where our romantic traditions for this seemingly arbitrary holiday come from, check out this web site, or do your own search for the history of why we do what we do!).

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

Suddenly noticing how much my babies are growing

Baby games...

...blended seamlessly with toddler games

 

Another chance to use the fireplace

With a sudden, chilly blast of winter weather, we are enjoying a more intense focus on the home, and a chance to give some neglected spaces and projects the attention they deserve. Stay warm on this Monday the Thirteenth!

Henny Spaghetti

Hoping everyone is having a great weekend... we are... a great, messy weekend!

Chocolate for Dinner

A growing tradition for me and the kiddos is to have breakfast for dinner when Daddy's not home to eat with us. More specifically, pancakes for dinner. If it were up to me, quite frankly, pancakes would have their own food group. They are one of my all-time favorite foods. I have a master recipe I follow most of the time, but tonight we went a little wild and made chocolate pancakes. I didn't use much of a recipe, so I wanted to jump on here and jot it all down before I forgot... we'll be wanting these again real soon!

Chocolate Pancakes

1/2 C rye flour

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 C buckwheat flour

1/4 C coconut flour*

~1/4 C cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 C fat-free milk

1 C light sour cream

2 generous TBS honey

2 large eggs

2 TBS melted coconut oil*

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat pan/griddle to 350 degrees (medium heat). Mix dry in large bowl, wet in smaller bowl, and add wet to dry, stirring just until combined (lumps are OK). Lightly spray hot griddle with non-stick spray, then *carefully* wipe it off with a clean, dry wash cloth. Pour batter in 1/4-C scoops onto griddle, cook until bubbles form, pop, and remain (they don't get filled in immediately), and flip. Cook about 60 more seconds, then remove to a plate and cover til all batter used. Serve warm with butter! (if I weren't serving these to my Littles, I would have added dark chocolate chips, too, because that would have been AWESOME)

These turn out very light, with a soft, cake-like center that is almost creamy, but not in a gross under-cooked sense of the word. They're amazing. I hope you try them... we will certainly be trying them again! This recipe made about 16 or 18 pancakes.

*Note: if you don't have coconut flour, or you're not interested in trying it, you can just leave it out and reduce the milk to 1 cup. Also, if you don't have coconut oil or want to avoid it because of it's strong flavor, you can sub any other oil- veg, canola, melted butter... just don't do olive oil!

So Far This Week...

 

So far this week, we have...

...made homemade chicken stock twice, once in a dish with tasty results, and the second time with a dish that will definitely need tweaking for next time.

...cooked and baked even more with coconut oil (easily my newest culinary obsession... seriously, this stuff is amazing).

...played outside, despite the chill (because we all know the chill in these parts is a fickle thing).

...schemed even more about the other, more neglected flower bed between the porch and the house (hello, fruit-bearing landscaping!).

...taken a trip to the thrift store with fruitful and frugal results, including a couple new books, some discarded hand-made wooden toys, and an adorable vintage pillowcase that has already become Audrey's latest- and best so far, I do declare- pillowcase dress (details coming!).

...given in to the spring cleaning urge, just a tiny little bit, and started reorganizing a few things here and there.

...cast off long-overdue projects, and cast on projects even more overdue (I really hope I can finish this hat before Henny outgrows it!).

...made a little more progress in shaping up the garden beds for a few more of the earliest seeds and bulbs.

...finally caught Baby Bubba on video jamming out to some Gillian Welch!

It has been a full week, and it's still just Thursday! We also find ourselves, amidst the simultaneous projects and play, looking forward to what the weekend holds. Hoping your days have been full and fulfilling so far this week, too.

Time Spent in the Garden Space

I am so thankful that Henry's naps still span a substantial amount of time.

Despite the return of quasi-normal weather for this time and these parts, I'm still feeling that getup and go when I look out on our garden beds... honestly, not all of them are sleeping like they should be, and because our seasons were so willy-nilly, I didn't winter any of the beds in the hopes that I could squeeze just one more carrot, bunch of chard, or head of lettuce out of 'em. Knowing that they were denied the attention they deserved brings up a little guilt with my longing glances out the kitchen windows, too.

SO, bright and early, we wrapped up in grubby layers and dug in!

 

Over the weekend, I had procured a half-yard of compost from our most lovely local nursery (our compost bin only produces about enough compost for 1/4 of the garden every six months or so, so we supplement). 

There's nothing better than looking out on the dull grayish-brown of a winter garden and seeing rich black piles of compost resting tantalizingly on top. Well, it might be second to the look of a garden that's actually full of growing things... but it's a close second. 

Now... what to do with all this good stuff? Why, mix it in and plant stuff in it, of course! In our area, we can start planting things like onion bulbs, beets, and carrots as early as February. I know it seems early, but we moved quickly last year, too, and didn't regret it for a second with how fiercely and intensely summer set upon us! 

Aaaaaand that's where the morning found us yesterday- before Henny's early nap was even half over, we were shoveling, hoeing, and poking "littletiny baby onions (as Audrey says)" and beet seeds into the ground. We were also-

- learning about the seasons

- learning about the life cycles of grub worms (sigh)

- listening to and identifying bird calls

- working on following directions and cooperation

- talking about the difference between morning, afternoon, and evening as we watched the sun come up over the hills around our house

Oh, how we love our garden space, and the time spent together in it!