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Boss Hog and I did a collaborative project this year. It went really well. It's not often we can work together and still end up happy with each other and pleased with the results. This project was perfect in its division of skills and labour. He took a stained glass course and knows how it all goes together. I have a fine arts degree and large paper. This was Boss Hog's second piece of stained glass ever, and it's about 2feet by 3 feet. Yup, 'go big or go home' is often our motto around here.
He said he wanted a tree in this window.
I obligingly sketched one out.
He took it away and thought about it.
He said it would work and took me to the glass supply shop to pick colours.
Then he, the sheets of glass and the sketch paper disappeared.
Boss Hog returned one night with a roll of copper foil and stacks of labeled rectangles of glass. I was allowed the menial chore of rolling the foil around the edges of the rectangles and squares while we watched a movie.
Then the squares and BH disappeared again.
When they finally reappeared, the window was finished and framed with a lovely and ingenious frame that hangs IN FRONT of the actual window (so we can take it with us if we move!).
So, by working alone on parts of a collaborative project where we never had to be working together AT ALL we managed to complete this window and stay married.
Here we are harvesting our first crop of potatoes. We are not farmers. We have no idea what we are doing and planted them WAY too late. I think we may have just tripled what we actually planted. Not a wildly successful harvest. But we learned a lot and got our hands dirty and promise to do better next time. Arlo wanted to pick potatoes in her pj's because they have farm animals on them and she thinks she is a farmer like grandpa K.
Grandpa K (who is a certified organic farmer) hooked us up with some seed catalogues. Apparently we're meant to plan our yard just after we clear up from the chaos of Christmas, not in spring, who knew? Not I.
Next years garden will be as many purple and pink veggies as we can cram in to our wee plot. The princess veggies rein supreme around here, obviously.
***Editors note: I crassly forgot to mention that the stunning hat I am wearing in this photo was made for me by the lovely Postmodern Hausfrau. A thousand appologies. It is knitted and, while I didn't ask, I wouldn't put it past her to have invented the pattern for it as well. Delightful as always.
I know, really, does it get any funnier. I just had to post and get it over with. No more puns, at least not in this post, I promise.
We are back from a wild August of super fun. We went camping with two other couples and all our kids in Rock Creek. We came home for 12 hours and drove to Vancouver to renovate my parents guest bathroom. From there we went to stay in a hotel for four days while Boss Hog was at a conference. Then on to Sechelt to visit Grandpa N and back to my parents for one more night before coming home and getting back in the regular school year groove.
Whew. It is tiring just to type all that. It was actually a lot of fun and we did see so many people that we don't get to spend regular time with anymore that the craziness was worth it. But man am I glad to have my bed back.
Since we've been home I have dyed, and felted and sewn and am currently working on some new posters for our Friends of the Library Society. I haven't even stopped to photograph anything. I think it's because when we were packing up for our marathon vacation I made sure I packed a clear tote full of little traveling projects to work on when the kids napped and in the evenings. I checked and re-checked to be sure I had a bit of everything for any crafting whim that swept me up.
And then I forgot the box. Seriously. Even Boss Hog looked a little worried that I might rip the curtains down at the hotel and sew them into a dress with dental floss. I made it through nearly a whole four weeks without making anything. I think it was good for me to be a bit more still, but I have been in a bit of a making frenzy since we got back.
This wool I dyed with CIBA acid dye to make felted chair pads for our new kitchen chairs. I love the colour but have only made one chair pad so far and think that it kind of sucks design wise. I am waiting to get a bit farther back into the making groove so that the rest of the chair pads are more interesting. Wish me luck.
Dearest PH and kidlets came to visit for a week two weeks ago and I am still missing them. The thing about our visits is that we spend so much time talking that we didn't take any photos. We had a lot of fun and so did the kids but it will all be lost to our fading memories. This photo was the best I got of all our kids, Fritz, Arlo, Eden and Liesel, and it was taken as Boss Hog loaded their luggage back into the car to drive them to the airport to leave. I did get two pictures of PH and I right after this, but I refuse to post them as both of us look like boiled hell. The price of a week packing in as much kid fun in the day and way too much chit-chat into the dark of night for the mommies. Next year it is our turn to make our way east to visit them and I will spend the whole time with my camera in my hand.
Oooh baby, it's time to carb-load! We are having this again. Thanks to my auntie and uncle for the flour mill they got us when we got married. Thanks to my in-laws for growing organic spelt for us to grind into flour. Thanks to our egg man, John, and his perky lady hens for laying such nice eggs. Thanks to the girls for getting flour everywhere and enthusiastically cranking out the spelt-ghetti.
Eden thought she died and went to heaven. She HATES tomato sauce and was filled with joy when I presented a bowl of fresh pasta tossed with butter and freshly grated pecorino cheese. She even requested a sprinkling of parsley (she's so sophisticated).
Here's Arlo riding a pony named Muffin. Boss Hog insists that even though Christmas crafting is in overdrive trying to complete 10,000,000 projects in time for the big day, I should participate in family activities. I am simultaneously full of holiday cheer and a total drag. I am cheerful only when the sewing machine is whirring towards the big festive deadline.
Anyway, since there are so many great things to do and see here at Christmas we headed out for some family fun at Predator Ridge. It's a fancy local golf course that had it's first WinterWonderland event and it was a lot of fun. The kids can't stop talking about riding the ponies. Apparently three minutes on a tiny horse trumps any craft project I have ever devised for them. Go figure. Next up we are looking forward to Caravan Farm Theatre's winter sleigh ride performance. I think the girls will go bonkers when they see the size of their horses.
Boss Hog and I did a collaborative project this year. It went really well. It's not often we can work together and still end up happy with each other and pleased with the results. This project was perfect in its division of skills and labour. He took a stained glass course and knows how it all goes together. I have a fine arts degree and large paper. This was Boss Hog's second piece of stained glass ever, and it's about 2feet by 3 feet. Yup, 'go big or go home' is often our motto around here.
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