Laowai

Is there any moment happier than when you walk out of school and you have your whole summer ahead of you. Ahh, to be a kid. For this happiest moment I made the happiest cookies. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and I completely copied her when I took the photo below. A jar of sprinkles on my windowsill – it’s almost as happy as a vase of daisies.

Here are the happy people. I took the happiness to the next level and made the cookies into ice cream sandwiches too. Shall I say happy a few more times? Happy, happy, happy.

We are just a few short days away from the end of the school year. Claire will finish kindergarten and Bea will finish third grade. I think often of how my days will very soon be different because Claire will be in school for a full day. 

The girls seem particularly happy lately. They are enjoying lots of time playing with friends and the excitement of the last bit of school. All the time spent outside in the fresh air is helping them to be good and tired each night.

Up above the girls are trying on hats at an L.L. Bean store (Claire was trying to make a cowgirl face). And below they are riding their bikes through a big puddle at their school. Sadly, Claire fell off her bike and got all scraped up right after I took these photos. She’s my accident prone child. Her lip and her knee were bruised for a few days – she’s tough.

Another school picture – every four years Bea and Claire’s gym teacher makes a huge Olympics day for the whole school. Parents are invited to watch the tug of war and then the awarding of medals and popsicles at the end of the day. It was really fun to watch.

My garden is humming along and we’ve picked our first peas. I have spinach, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes (in pots) and several herbs squished in there. I think things are a little behind compared to last year and my peas seem really leggy (why???).

Mom and Jennifer and Jenna came to visit over the weekend. I just love that my mom and my sister come and it’s like show and tell for me. I showed them all the plans for my kitchen remodel. They are so sweet and encouraging when they share in my excitement. They let me go on and on about all the little details I’ve been pondering. 

Claire had her ballet recital and once again Jennifer made a beautiful little bun for her. I did a super bad job of getting photos – it was a combination of dark conditions and Claire not being into taking photos that day. Ugh – bad photo day!

Other than the big recital event we did some painting – Mom and Jennifer made some barn quilts and the girls painted some pictures on wood panels.

And we went to a church rummage sale. Jennifer got a pretty silver bowl and I go these four chairs for twenty bucks! I’m so glad Mom and Jennifer and Jenna came – it’s a long drive for a short weekend. Living far from them, I miss the little things most. Just standing around the kitchen talking and getting to cook for them always feels so good to my heart.

So as the season changes to summer we are getting ready for a change in our routine too. I’m looking forward to lazy mornings, some exciting vacations, lots of swimming and many picnics.

Oh what a perfect Memorial Day weekend! We had Beautiful weather, we watched our town’s little parade and we went to the pool.

I was feeling patriotic, appropriately, on Memorial Day and I wanted to do some painting. I remember seeing Barn quilts all around Tillamook, Oregon a couple summers ago. I love that they are modern and traditional and Americana all at the same time. Barn quilts are usually around 8 feet by 8 feet. My paintings are smaller – 16″ x 16″, but they are inspired by barn quilts. Now I’ve got one hanging on my door instead of a wreath. They were easy to make with premade wood panels and lots of painters tape.

I’ve finally finished our bedroom painting project. No more nightmares from this strange lady peering at us you from all around the room. I did want to preserve the interesting wallpaper so I had a bit of it framed. I researched the wallpaper company and found it was a popular company in the 50s and 60s and it was from a time when it was very popular to use matching wallpaper and fabric. Yup, that describes our whole house – lots of matching wallpaper and fabric. 

Here’s how our bedroom looked when we bought the house – I sort of wanted that matching bedspread… not really.

Here’s a more recent before photo:

And here it it today. What a change!

I put up new bedside lamps. And got out that sweet old white coverlet that my Mom-in-Law gave me ages ago.

I’m having so much fun with our house. I’m discovering my decorating style and I just love featuring my favorite items. I think I am pretty sentimental with my decor and I like to have lots of empty space to rest your eyes.

Painting in this old house is such a task – first the messy wallpaper removal and wiping down the walls to get the glue off then so much patching and sanding. The dust made such a mess! The kind of mess that I looked at and didn’t really know how to get started cleaning up. The walls are not perfect – I could go on patching and sanding for weeks and weeks and it still would not be perfect. But eventually I just have to move on and get it good enough. I didn’t paint the ceiling – it just made the project too big for right now. But it’s a huge improvement and I’m pleased.

When I was researching the wallpaper I read some quotes from the designer Billy Baldwin. He said, “Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is every out of style”.

I love, love, love those hand-me-down dressers. And that chair – I just claimed it from my Mom-in-Law’s basement. I love it too. I still need to hang those pictures from our honeymoon and put up our curtains.

Next up – I want to paint my closet. I want to paint it in a fun color and do some faux details on my cupboard doors. I want it to be a little jewel room that you get a glimpse into from the bedroom. I’d like to find some art or a photo to go above our bed but I’m in no hurry. Also, I’m sort of inspired to make a new quilt now that I have a white background and maybe new curtains…

I love the May Apples that come up between our house and the neighbor’s house. You have to get under them to see the flowers. 

In other news – I am getting close to being done with my bedroom painting project. Can’t wait to get the room put back together and make my bed and put up a few pictures. Brian predicts that it won’t stay white for too long. We’ll see? 

Over the weekend we went to The Grove. It’s a nature and history center in the city of Glenview – not too far from our house. We intended to mostly go for a picnic and a walk in the woods, but then we discovered their cool log interpretive center (log building, not interpreting logs). Somehow we missed this building the few times we visited before. It was full of animals – tons of turtles, snakes, a few birds, mice, salamanders and fish too. It was really a surprise so see all those animals as well as some cool taxidermy and other nature stuff. It was all housed inside a rustic log building with a big wrap around porch that felt like it could be out West in the mountains. So we got to see all those interesting animals and a lady came around with a tame skunk in her arms. That was the highlight for me – petting a skunk. I think her name was Cora – she had a petit face and she was quite soft. Now Bea wants a pet skunk.

I’ve declared that this is the summer of the picnic – I want a picnic each and every weekend! So far Brian has been taking charge of making and packing some yummy picnic food. We spread out this weekend’s picnic in front of the historical Dr. John Kennicott Gothic Revival House:

Brian was traveling last week – he brought back a new Swiss shirt for Bea and Claire got her hand-me-down.

Here’s the log building where all the animals and the rescued skunk live. I was too busy being silly excited about petting a skunk to stop and take a picture.

And we also did go for a short hike. Lots of big old oaks and fun boardwalks. And it was hot.

It’s the time of year that smells so good. I’ve been breathing deeply every time I pass these lily of the valley flowers on my window sill.

It’s also the time of year to start eating outside and going for after dinner walks.

For me, this year, it’s a dusty time of year. I’m still working on getting ready to paint our bedroom. So much work – so much sanding. I think I’ve finally gotten the walls smooth and the doors and trim are sanded enough. I’ll spend this afternoon trying to clean up all the dust. Yikes.

I’ve been thinking about how my days with my side-kick are numbered. No more half day kindergarten – she’ll be in first grade next year.

Every Monday I pick Claire up from Garden Club and all the little friends are decorated with mud. Then I call her dirt face.

And it’s the time of year to plant seeds. That’s what I’ll do this weekend plant seeds and paint walls.

Happy Spring!

The previous owners of our house just passed along these photos. 

They were taken in 1940 – I love seeing them.

A couple interior shots – this is the room that we use as our TV room now.

And here’s a little look at our living room through the ages. Interesting to see that the blue trim was NOT original. And isn’t it funny that the chairs and lamps. are pushed up so close to the fireplace in the photo below.

I wish there was a photo of every room. So interesting to me.

One more old image. A portrait I found at a church rummage sale the other day. It’s dated 1938. I had to have him – he looks like he belongs in my house doesn’t he?

 

I made some rhubarb vanilla jam the other day. The recipe reminds me of this town:

It’s town called Altdorf in Switzerland. When we took a little trip there a few years ago the hotel had rhubarb vanilla jam for breakfast. After the trip I searched for recipes and found one that tasted just like what we had at the hotel. It’s so yummy – the vanilla really makes it special. 

And here’s some of my little rhubarb – it’s only a couple years old.

I cut a few little stalks – maybe next year I’ll have enough of my home grown rhubarb to make the recipe.

Here’s the recipe if you want to try.

Rhubarb Vanilla Jam

• 2 to 3 cups rhubarb
• 1 cup sugar
• 2T water
• 1 vanilla bean

Finely chop rhubarb and place in saucepan with sugar and water. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds out. Add the seeds and the pod to the pan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking about 20 minutes. Jam will thicken as it cools. Remove vanilla a bean before spooning into jars.

And here’s what my little munchkins looked like when we first had Rhubarb Vanilla Jam in Altdorf.

Not to be a downer, but when I think of motherhood I think of the pure delight and happiness juxtaposed with the ache of it all. And I think of this quote.

“Through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way I did – that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that – a parent’s heart bared, beating forever outside its chest.”
-Debra Ginsberg