House for all seasons

Wow, everything looks so glistening in these pictures. It doesn't feel like that most days, but I hope we never stop being thankful for this house. We painted the living room yellow because we spend the most time in it in the long drear winter, and wanted the cheeriest color possible for wintertime. As it turns out (we moved in and painted in the summer) the living room gets the most beautiful sunshine in the winter because the sun is so much lower, and the trees which shade the front of the house in summer are bare.
It's odd to me how open-plan houses are all the rage because people supposedly never use their dining rooms, because one of my favorite things about our house is having a nice ample dining room. It is such a joy and privilege to have a big crowd of people over for a meal, and that's just what dining rooms are for! or course that big table is also for drawing, and cutting and pasting, and play dough, and judging by this week, storing mail and newspapers, catalogs and laundry and stacks of library books. Or--this one's new for me--nothing at all except (hopefully, as the garden gets going here) a vase of flowers.

I'm learning about myself that though it used to feel like we couldn't possibly handle having lots of people over, having people over regularly helps our life be more sane. It helps us clean up. It helps us remember what we have. And it helps us remember what's important-- friends and neighbors, not the house.

Greenhouse Christmas and Kilts

This is a photo of a carol singalong at the rollicking rollicking Victorian Christmas party thrown by the house my sister Mary lived in. It was so much fun! The singing was boisterous and spirited, just as carolling should be, in my book.
Gibbie and Ezra wore the kilts I made them for our friend Pat's wedding. Alas, they outgrew them so quickly!

I just thought of these because I was telling a friend about the house's community potlucks, which are open to anyone--Monday nights, I think. It's a pretty neat place, and they have great parties.

Also missing our dear sister and auntie Mary, who is not at the greenhouse anymore, as she is travelling. Ezra made her a special letter this morning, so he's thinking about her too.

Backtrack to a Birthday

Back in August we had a birthday. We had a simple and very fun backyard party here in our very own backyard. As you can see, the birthday boy wore his superhero costume. Above, he has just opened what turned out to be the specialest present of all, a little paper mache box shaped like a cat, containing three guitar picks. Guitar picks are very special things to Ezra. He carries them around and benevolently dispenses them. He loves having this sweet box that looks like "his cat" to keep his picks in.
We had a puppet show, totally kid-run.
It was a costume party. I believe Gibbie was a pirate, Gabe a lion, Helen a queen, Natalie and Janine fairies, and Kaleb wore a dazzling white suit. Friends, neighbors, family, and cousin Fiona were also in attendance. Above we see the duck pond. Kids fished for plastic ducks with a net to win a cookie.

One of the real treats of Ezra's birthday was having our friend Kaleb with us. He knows Ezra well and gave him a special present which Ezra is opening in the last picture here. You can also see the hand-decorated birthday signage and wrapping paper.

Summer Rennaisance

Hello! Sorry for the big gaps in posts lately. Summer is just, well, summer; we've been busy living it instead of documenting it. I do hope that some of these snippets will turn into more complete posts, as we have more photos, stories, recipes, and such to go with each. Let us know if you want more details! We would also love to hear about all your summer adventures!
We've been having a bit of a musical renaissance in our home. The kids have a wonderful new drum and a resurgence in interest in the piano. All the excitement has inspired the adults in the house to revisit our love for music as well.The birthday house we made for Ezra has been continuing to see lots of play. I do hope I get a chance to show pictures of the beautiful artwork Gibbie has made all over it in the last week. It's pretty great. These things stick around until they fall apart, you know. We'll be taking bets on when the birthday house bites the big one and lands in the recycling bin.
A vignette from our kitchen table. Gibbie has begun to love picking flowers. Recently he told me, "You can't like flowers. Just me. I like to pick flowers." He makes lovely bouquets of uprooted plants, flowers, and weeds, as well as being a charming helper when picking tomatoes from the garden.

If anyone else is disappointed in their garden yields, we're in the same boat. I'm just not very experienced at the whole garden thing, and keep making very basic mistakes, like not planting tomatoes in full sunshine, or not pruning. Due to recent heavy rains, the bulk of the crop is finally ripening, and all bursting their skins from the excess water. Not to worry, we're picking and using them anyway!

We are supplementing with beautiful produce from our lovely farmers' markets, and have really actually overdosed on fresh fruits and vegetables recently.
This is a little garden fantasy of mine: a willow withe house. I read somewhere that willow is really easy to propagate; you just stick cut ends in the ground. Sounds too good to be true to me, but we found a fairytale-perfect willow house at the farm where we picked our blueberries, Rush River. The willow wands compose the frame, and the lovely leaves grow in thicker every year.

In our own garden, I have moonflower growing all over a big, rainbow-shaped frame. It's finally covered in lush greens! Maybe soon spread a quilt underneath and read a pile of books in our little bower. I'm still hoping for flowers before it gets too cold! Moonflowers are big, white, beautifully fragrant, and open up at night.

Ezra's Birthday

Ezra had is 1st birthday yesterday! We celebrated today with a small party in the yard with neighbors and some family. Libby made this blueberry cheesecake with a gram cracker crust, fresh grape juice (from wild grapes) and a great cardboard playhouse. Look at all of the photos here, including plenty of the traditional baby-devouring-cake coverage.