This year, I want to do more for my home and garden. I expect that this is where we’ll be spending most of our time this year, and I want it to be even more beautiful, as this is what we see every day. With that in mind, I’m planning my goals accordingly. The last…
I wrapped Christmas presents using the reusable boxes that I invested in a few years ago. I bought an online gift card for my daughter at college for her birthday. She can find something she wants from a place she loves and I saved the cost of shipping, as the gift card was simply emailed…
I harvested lemons, carrots, and a pomegranate from the garden. We continued our work in the garden, removing the bad dirt, taking it to the dump, and sifting the roots and rocks from the good dirt that I am keeping from our old planter areas. The piles are getting smaller, but I am also aware…
I’m thankful for all of the clients that have entrusted me to photograph them this year. It’s been a delight to capture the love they have for one another. (You can see more of my work on Instagram here and book a session on my website here.) I’m also very thankful for all of you!…
I am making my new garden plans on some old graph paper that my husband had from long before we were married. I know a lot of people want to design things in a program. I find graph paper is faster and cheaper. I’ve drawn and erased and moved things around several times. The more…
I spent a lot of time working in the garden this past week. I spread manure and more garden soil out in the garden in the raised beds to fix areas that had fallen and to add new life to the garden. The next day, the temperature dropped from 113 to 80! It was very…
Countries around the world have officially declared their economies to be in a recession. The big debate between economists is how long this will last. The best thing any of us can do is to prepare for a long recession or a depression, making choices that will help us weather the storm for a long…
We celebrated my youngest’s birthday with homemade eggless chocolate cupcakes. I had ordered gifts for him months ago, which seemed way ahead of time at the time, but I’m glad I had them now. We threw him a Ben and Holly birthday party. I used my frog molds that I’ve previously used for Harry Potter…
I hosted an outdoor spring party for my daughter’s birthday. I used cloth banners I had sewn for previous birthdays to decorate for her party. I also cut flowering branches from my flowering plum trees (these are the only trees in my garden that do not give fruit). In addition, my daughters made a…
My one-word theme for this year is “achieve.” Over the years, I’ve had goals and plans to do things that never came to fruition. This year, I’d like to change that. I have a lot to do this month! It’s going to be a busy month. Garden: Finish pruning all of the fruit trees, rose…
I made several Christmas gifts. I sewed a pencil bag, a pair of mittens (from a felted wool thrift-store sweater), a dress, a scrunchie to match the dress, a skirt, a matching bow which I sewed to a barrette, and a second matching bow that I attached to a headband. Christmas dinner was a collaboration…
Using a yard of corduroy I’ve had for over a decade, I sewed my three-year-old a simple pair of elastic-waist pants (no pockets or zippers). The fabric was leftover fabric from a dress that I sewed for my eldest daughter. He loves that he can pull up the pants by himself and there are no…