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With the exception of putting a few herbs, flowers, and berry bushes in the ground, I’m not really gardening this year. Some years something has to give, and I am too busy to mourn over it. Larkspur, on the other hand, couldn’t accept a year without a garden, so she turned over the soil in a tiny plot on the hillside, fenced it from the chickens, and planted radishes, peas, zinnias, and cucumbers. A pot got dragged over in which she placed a single tomato plant. Then the tiniest of beds got tacked onto the side, and now there’s a row of lettuce. It’s a sweet little spot, with a bit of a Roxaboxen feel to it. It’s making Larkspur happy, and I’m glad she insisted on it.
Last weekend was the big annual children’s market at our farmer’s market. Larkspur and Beatrix plan and make for it all year long. It’s a very. big. deal. Trouble sleeping the night before because of all the excitement. Awake at the crack of dawn. Butterflies in their stomachs on our way there. Then all the setting up their things and sharing with their friends and the other children who are participating. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for them all. My girls had a successful day, and I am so pleased with how everything turned out. It made the frantic last minute preparations of the day before worth it. Exhausting, but definitely worth it.
I’ve been slowly preparing for Mabel’s first birthday that is fast approaching. I dyed some wool felt with avocado stones and skins to get my favorite pink and I’m working a little every night to sew her a birthday crown from it. (Inspiration for the “M” I stitched in it came from this book.) I finished a little knitted tunic, also dyed with avocado stones, and I hope to sew at the very least a birthday dress in the coming week, though in a world full of endless crafting hours, I would sew a quilt as well. Maybe I’ll find time for a simple one.
Mabel is walking now! It happened suddenly, as it always does. Those first tentative steps while we all shout to each other to watch, and then before we know it, she’s walking most of the time. While she’s starting to say more, the main word that we can make out is, “Yeah.” She is my first child to say, “Yes” before “No,” and it certainly fits her happy little personality. You can ask her most any question, and she will tell you, “Yeah!” My favorite is when she spots me walking into a room and she starts pointing at me, bobbing up and down, saying, “Yeah, yeah!” She’s the sweetest baby girl and makes friends everywhere we go. It may be too soon to tell, but I’m calling this one an extrovert!
p.s. Thank you for all the orders last week! Most orders have already shipped out, and I will get the last few (with the exception of the sticker pre-orders) out tomorrow. I ordered enough sets of my flower stickers to be able to keep the pre-order listing up, and hope to have them ready to ship in about ten days.
p.p.s. I followed Alicia’s tutorial to make Mabel’s hair barrette.
