Above the couch.

Yesterday I decided a little living room love was needed so I re-worked my 'above the couch' space.

Before:

I love that elephant foot more than words can say, but I have more walls than wall art so it will find another place to adorn.  The photos in the tri-frame on the left are FIVE years old!  I put them in that frame in one of my first apartments so maybe it's time for a change?

After gathering frames and art from the rest of my house, this is the after:

Much better!  And this wall is full of memories and love.  You can visit the flickr page to find out where the art came from and what special memories are attached to the photos.

What's above your couch?

At the Farmer's Market

There is a florist named Maria who often complains of her back hurting, but she continues to lug around gallon buckets full of spring.  Fresh flowers in every color.

When she sees me coming she gives me a knowing look and says "What color this week?" and I respond with the color I'm craving.  This week, orange.

She points to an amazing bundle of whatever color I want to surround myself in and says (every week) "These safe for Marvin kitty."

I just don't have the heart to tell her.

But she makes my day every time I visit her.  I'm touched by her caring and remembrance.

where we live...

My front door.  Welcome.

Where we live, we love to have visitors in feline form.  And sometimes in person form, too.

We have the most impressive tea stash you've ever seen outside an actual tea shop.

We move things around a lot.

We have a book you'd like to read.

We have fresh basil, rosemary, chives, parsley, and cilantro.
It's often cold and if you require a sweatshirt to be comfortable, we have one that will fit you.
We also have a wood burning stove... Although I might make you start the fire because even after 3 years I haven't been able to get the hang of it.
We're having heirloom tomatoes for every meal this week.
We like it here.

P.S.  Part of a new series for the blog.

Saturday Afternoons are made of this...

Well, wordy Friday got away from me there, didn't it?  Oh well, today is a new day... With puppies and tea and yarn, oh my!

It's been a busy week for me.  Between the shop update on Monday, taking my dog to urgent care (he got something stuck in his soft pallet... I swear that dog will be the end of me.  Or at least drive me to financial ruin.), then new foster puppies who are a whole giant mess of cuteness and work, seeing Alice in Wonderland (go see it, it was great.), and more errands than I can count, I have no idea where the time went.

I'm still trying to get some stitches in now and then... What are you all working on these days?  I'm knitting up a gorgeous orchids and fairy lights (rav link) hat in a super soft cotton blend.  It's a little slow going and it's my first time making bobbles!  They're kind of annoying, but I think the end result will be worth it.  And again, I thank the knit goddess that is grumperina for her awesome tutorial on cabling without a cable needle.


I'm sitting here with my third cup of tea (late night last night in the world of Underland) and there are two little puppies bouncing about with unspun superwash corriedale bits hanging out of their mouths.   This morning I spent finishing up an English essay and dyeing up some lovely roving for the update next week.  And I took pictures of my process so that I may share it with you!  I still need to edit the photos, but keep an eye out for a dyeing tutorial soon.

I've also been doing lots and lots of research and brainstorming for my etsy shop (and eventually the lys I hope to open).  There are some exciting new things happening this year!  I can't believe how much time and effort goes into having your own business...  I'm passionately loving every little hiccup.  Because what could be better than sleeping in every day, playing with puppies while photos upload, and watching Mad Men while packing up orders?  (Speaking of Mad Men, omg I am SO glad Joanie didn't leave for good and thank goodness Betty is marrying someone else, and when the heck does season 4 start?)

Tonight I'm off to the in-laws for dinner and tomorrow is a housework day.  I'll be back next week with a dye tutorial and a shop update on Wednesday at 1:00p PST.

Happiness is a huge basketful of puppy toys, is it not?

Blue

Lately I've been wanting to turn everything blue.  I'm craving blue yarn, blue flowers, blue drinks, blue fish, blue curtains... And blue walls.

When we moved into our little mountain house the walls were white, usual for rentals. 

 Luckily, we have amazing landlords who are not afraid of color (remember the highlighter green bathroom and the super teal bedroom (which is now sage green... I may have a problem.)?).  So my very dear and understanding bff and I painted it yellow. 

Then, the very handy and handsome lobster put up some trim and a shelf for me....

And then I was tired of yellow.

So Super Bowl Sunday was spent paint brush in hand, blue paint in hair, and sitting on top of the refrigerator to get to those pesky corners of yellow.

And now my kitchen looks like this.

I have a few more finishing touches to do, but I was excited to show you!  Once I finish up I'll give you a good overall picture.  Somehow the blue and the little touches of red lend the house such a finished feel.... Quite a difference from our first few months here!

In other news, I'm dyeing today... Which means a long awaited fibery update in the shop tomorrow!  Stay tuned!