Claire is invited to a friend's bat mitzvah next month so she needs a party dress. After shopping around, we decided to make one based on a dress that she tried on at J. Crew. She wanted a green dress so I ordered some beautiful Robert Kaufman lawn and I modified a Simplicity Cynthia Rowley pattern.…

I proposed a Vermont vacation so that Brian could ride his bike on some nice mountainous roads. By the end of our trip I think we all ended up getting to know and loving Vermont. I took lots of photos. Other than eating some yummy food and swimming a bit we mostly hiked. The Vermont…

We got home from our Vermont vacation yesterday evening. This morning I puttered around my garden and then sent the girls off to their first day of school. Claire to 7th Grade, Bea to 10th grade. Both my girls had their game faces on. I rode my bike part way to school with Bea. On…

We went to Midland to help my mom after her back surgery and also to celebrate my mom-in-laws birthday. We had a great trip. Mom is doing great and we had so many fun days. We started off in downtown Midland at my Aunt Garlene's apartment. Mom stayed with her after her surgery and we…

The girls and I spent last week in Midland and then Brian joined us at the end. Now we're home and summer feels like it is wrapping up. I'm enjoying my garden and the girls and I went for a swim last night. And we're also getting ready for school to start in just a…

Yesterday, we celebrated Swiss National Day, a few days late, with a big feast of raclette. Seems like a very long time since we were in Switzerland. I expect we will go back next summer and it will feel nice to be at our other home.

I'm celebrating another window being done.  This window is upstairs in our hallway. I love how the light comes into the rounded dormer shapes up there. This is the first non-white window I've done. It's gray on the inside to match the trim color that I'm using throughout the house.  It's hard to tell in…

Over the weekend we visited Middlefork Savannah – it's a beautiful place not too far from home. It was a hot morning but the flowers and the oak trees were wonderful. The midwest landscape at its best! Connected to Middlefork Savannah is Elewa Farm. I was left thinking why haven't I been to this fascinating…