warming

I'm having a hard time believing that this is indeed Alaska in January. Yesterday it warmed up to close to 40 and rained off nearly all of the fluffy white stuff that has adorned our yard since November.

I'm not complaining...really.  It feels downright balmy out, and on Thursday there was great fun to be had building snowmen, and yesterday the road was clear enough that I actually took the kids for a walk with the stroller.  It feels like spring time, but we all know just what kind of a trick that is.

It has the chickens fooled.  They are a happy bunch and have been steadily laying more and more eggs.  Today there were 7; even the first much anticipated blue one from "Sweety" our only Ameraucana hen.

The weather forecast is calling for at least another week of this. 

Stay asleep trees!  There are months of cold ahead yet. 

Speaking of sleep, I was able to make Sadie's new big girl bed a duvet cover this week.  

 

She calls it her patchwork fairy and butterfly garden. 

Can you tell that my soul just craves bright colors on these short winter days? 

I just loved this piece of fairy fabric from Hawethorne Threads, and I made the bright patchwork so it was reversible (per Sadie's request).  This turned out to be a quick project with the help of my trusty serger.  This is the second "quiltish" thing I've sewed with it, and I have to say that as long as you aren't sewing anything complex or small this thing makes the projects just fly.  The kids had lots of fun helping me with this, rearranging the entire contents of my sewing room, and also the arrangement of the patchwork squares so many times that I have no idea if the final product even closely resembles the one I thoughtfully put together during nap time. I also discovered that Eli really likes to lap sit and watch the sewing process. It's a little nerve racking at times because his curious little hands get waved closer and closer to the needles as he shouts "round and round!" with glee. 

 It made for some interesting seams, and one Amish style mistake that I left in rather than rip out a whole seam of serged stitches and re-adjust all my binding pieces.  

oh well.  No duvet covers are perfect.

But this one works just right to warm up Sadie's big girl room.  Now I just need to build her bed frame, finish painting her shelves and sew some curtains.  Oh, and figure out how to arrange everything with some groovy feng shui. It'll get there.  Eventually.