52 Lists

Have I mentioned I love list-making?
I'm starting a new project on my blog: 52 Lists. Look for it every Monday.

handmade gifts

Handmade gifts carry intrinsic value.

I am touched by all my friends and family who put themselves into
the many creative and beautiful gifts Eden has recently received.

A baby bonnet knitted by my good friend Eva

Pants knitted by my cousin Leya


Onesies decorated by Eden's Aunt Deb and Tettah Samia

A felted mobile made by Eden's Aunt Rae

Booties crocheted by Eden's Aunt Megan


A quilt sewn by Eden's Great Great Great Grandmother,
restored by her Grammy.

granola!

I'm starting her young. At 16 days old I
strapped Eden in for her first day of baking.
We made two kinds of granola today, both super easy and very delicious.

Maple Almond Granola
4 cups rolled oats
2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
6 T dark brown sugar
6 T pure maple syrup
4 T canola oil
4 T agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a second mixing bowl combine the remaining wet ingredients. Toss together until the oats are completely coated. Spread on baking sheet and bake about 30 minutes, stirring often.

While the Maple Almond Granola was in the oven
we started on our second variety.

Cherry Coconut Almond Granola
4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 cups chopped almonds
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups dried cherries

In a large mixing bowl combine first four ingredients.

On the stove heat the oil, maple syrup, almond extract, and brown sugar until sugar is melted and mixture is simmering. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until oat mixture is completely coated. Spread out on baking sheets and bake at 300 degrees F for 30-45 minutes, mixing frequently.

Eden got tired and decided to let me finish while she watched from her chair.

Once the granola is out of the oven stir in the dried cherries.
Let sit for ten minutes then stir again to break up chunks.
When both granolas had completely cooled I filled four
quart-sized mason jars, storing three of the in the freezer.

9 things to do once off couch-rest

Today is (hopefully) my last day of couch-rest and I eagerly anticipate what is to come.

1. Morning walks with Swede. A routine I'm very ready to pick up, especially during these beautiful February days.

2. Stock up the freezer. The week before Eden's birth I went to Bob's Red Mill with my mom and bought all the necessary ingredients to stock up on granola, seitan, and chili.

3. Stock up the pantry. While friends and family have been graciously bringing us meals, we know that will soon end and we will realize how empty-cupboarded we are. Filling up the pantry shelves is one of life's great satisfactions.

4. Prepare the ground for my garden. I found out I was pregnant at the end of May and by June I was couch-ridden sick. Last year's garden, therefore, was quite unfruitful (to say the least) and in the months that followed I've allowed the space to become carpeted in weeds. Fortunately I don't need to overwhelm myself with a garden this year because after two years of disappointing gardening, I wised up and signed up for a share of my parents CSA at Fern Creek Farm.

5. Finish the nursery. At some point after Eden came home her room because our storage space for things with which we were too busy to deal. Along with the mess there is unfinished craft projects, unframed art, unhung mobiles, and unwrapped gifts.

6. Finish the deep clean. I spent the two weeks leading up to Eden's birth deeply and thoroughly cleaning the house, room by room and closet by closet. At the time I was huge and nearly immobile so I was unable to finish .

7. Take Eden around town. Spring starts early in the Pacific Northwest and although there are many days of rain ahead of us, I want to take advantage of these warm sunny days and show Eden the great city in which she lives. She might be too young to appreciate it, but I know I will look at things in a new way.

8. Work on my cookbook. A revival of a project
I started back in 2010, my cookbook is a fusion of several of my interests: cooking, photography, and writing. Keep an eye out for recipes on the blog

9. Go out to breakfast with Jason. We have a saturday morning tradition of going to Vita Cafe for breakfast. They have a huge selection of vegan breakfasts and everything I've tried is wonderful.

due date

Today was Eden's due date. Right now I am holding her in my arms rather than my uterus and I have a hard time imagining life before her.

The first ten days were quite emotional as I worried about time going too fast and counting the months between now and college. I felt nostalgic for the passing moments and sometimes wished I could shove her back in because she was already becoming too independent.

I'm finding my way out of the emotional postpardum maze. Two hundred and sixteen months is quite a long time. I'm learning to live with the moment rather than missing the moment before. And I accept now that in the instant Eden entered the world, that instant I met her and fell madly in love, began my incredible gift and responsibility of teaching my child independence.

crafting in the nursery - part 2

From a previous curtain fiasco I found myself with two yards of fantastic fabric from Bolt on Alberta street (www.boltfabricboutique.com). Trying to figure out how to put it to the nearly unusable fabric to use I began googling nursery room projects leading me to this image from spool (www.spoolsewing.com). The tutorial is amazing. It includes a downloadable bird pattern and a demonstration for assembly.

I realize now that this image is all over the web as many people have created similar bird mobiles for their nurserys, craft rooms, general pleasure. People are quite obsessed with birds these days, and despite last years Portlandia's sketch "Put a Bird on it" I shamelessly admit that I am one of them.

Following the pattern, I put together nine birds out of my salvaged fabric. I started off by sewing them on the machine, but found it too difficult to maneuver because of the small size and sharp curves. I moved on to handsewing and despite the work, found it a very enjoyable activity during my then very limited mobility. They look a little more ragged than those on spool's website, but I've been recently encouraged to embrace the handmade, ragged, and imperfect look of so many of my projects.




Of course this is one of my many unfinished projects that I was hoping to complete in the two weeks of pre-baby maternity leave, but my babe had other plans and arrived early so she will be getting her finished mobile late.

crafting in the nursery - part 1

I have a fairly bad reputation among...well my husband of consistently finding myself in the middle of a curtain crisis. I admit I have wasted a surprising amount of time, money, and energy on what ultimately results in a curtain massacre, victim to bad dye jobs, bad sewing jobs, or bad choices at goodwill. Rather than giving in and determined to overcome my curtain fate I attempted once again, this time for baby Eden. The fabric is from Etsy as part of Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 collection.
And without too many tears I completed my project. Of course I see a hundred flaws, but they add great color to the nursery and I am proud to say everyone got out of this one alive.