I went a little crafty crazy last week. I was inspired by the collage artwork by Clare Youngs and the cut paper artwork by Loise Lockhart. I bough this felt Santa at Goodwill a long time ago. I love him but he's really beat up so I wanted to recreate him in a sturdier version.…

This year Thanksgiving was different. Because of the Covid pandemic we didn't get together with anyone. We still spent a fun day in the kitchen but I realized the best part of Thanksgiving is the way we get together to share a big job. I love that time of chatting and laughing and working with…

I harvested the last of my beet greens this week. How nice to have something to pick in November. I had never cooked beet greens before. I boiled them in a pot of water a couple minutes and then squeezed out the extra water and then chopped them. Then I sautéed them them with olive…

It's time for me to pretend I'm a home design blogger and reveal our basement renovation.  I started renovating our basement in September after we had an unfortunate mystery puddle on the floor. That seems like a really long time ago. Lately we've been using the basement so much that it almost feels like it…

Is there anything better than having someone bake a cake for you? Someone washing all the dirty dishes for you is a close second.

Quarantinewhile – that's what Stephen Colbert has named a segment on his show. Things are getting super bad again pandemic-wise so there is more hunkering down and less normal social life happening. I say this, not to you dear readers since you are aware, but more to my future self as a reminder of what…

I persuaded the fam. to go for a walk on this cold blustery morning. It's my birthday so they have to do what I ask. Ha. We went up to Fort Sheridan along the lake. It was beautiful and refreshing and everyone seemed to be in a good mood (amazing).  I wish there were more…

I think Switzerland is still very much on all of our minds here at the Chapman household. And even after we get over this repatriation period Switzerland will of course have a special place in our hearts. So when I was searching my mind for things to put up in our entranceway I thought of…

Oh I do love a jumble of kid art and snapshots and ephemera all mashed together on a wall. Today I updated our wall. It's the cork-covered wall in our TV room. It was a bit of a time capsule from when we moved away three years ago. So I took down a few old…

Halloween 2020 was a success. It's so good to have something to celebrate properly in this crazy year. We had a beautiful fall day and handing out candy was only a little different from normal. We sat outside and set a big basket of candy about 12 feet away so trick-or-treaters could safely help themselves.…