Finished and Frustrated

I went on a bit of a sewing frenzy and made my son some things that I'm really thrilled with.  He, however, is not so taken by them.  So far he has been refusing to wear anything new and just wants to wear his old, soft, stained, worn-out, familiar clothes.  I think I may have to take some desparate measures like hiding all his old clothes for a while.  Anyway, I wish I could show you some pics with a model, but my dining room table will have to do!  I will add more details on the patterns and fabric I used soon.

Spring Break ... Michigan Style

My granddaughters, Tempe (5) and Nora (6), are spending their Spring Break with me this week. We started out by making a couple of lists of things to cook and things to do which including falafel, glop, and robots:

It promises to be an interesting week.

We decided to start things out easy - mac and cheese for dinner and movie night. I also steamed some broccoli, and offered the girls a half lemon to squeeze on it. They both ended up dousing their macaroni and cheese with lemon juice as well. I had to laugh. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as they say (I put citrus on almost everything I eat).

Later we had popcorn and watched Turbo. All in all it was a great beginning to our week!

It looked like Monday might be our best chance for sunshine, so we decided to head to the beach:

Not exactly what comes to mind when you think of spring break, eh?

 

We found a little alcove where the dunes protected us from the chilly wind and the girls spent a couple of hours digging in the sand and looking for "sea shells."

 

 

Although it was only 50 degrees, the sun was wonderfully warm, and I kicked back and soaked in some rays for the first time in 6 months while the girls played contentedly nearby. It might not be Palm Beach, but that afternoon our little spot on the shores of Lake Michigan was bliss.







My Little Elf

Here is a photo of the hat and wool coat I made for Lee last winter.  The coat is from a Japanese pattern book and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  I lined it with organic cotton sherpa and it is really soft and warm on the inside.  A tutorial for the hat can be found here.  I made it from a thrifted cashmere sweater that I felted.