my pheasant and her pie

Be proud of her,  she did it all by herself (be a little proud of me too for letting her do it-- there were moments when I literally had to put my hands in my pockets.  I worked hard at letting go of how I thought it should look.  And, like her mother, she made a terrible mess.  Flour everywhere!  This is Emma's Blackberry Pie that she submitted to the baking contest at school today.  They were celebrating Reformation Day and honoring Martin Luther.  We did not win...but participating was the emphasis- we were beat out by Strawberry Rhubarb.

Her costume was fun and fairly easy to make. The goal was a 15th century peasant.  Or as Hannah would say "she is a pheasant". Emma was trying to look poor in this picture...thus the somber face. (Red eyes again!  Anyone know how to adjust this in photoshop? I don't think that my camera has that option.  I hate using my flash...but there is so little daylight anymore.) At 1:00am this morning as I was finishing off her apron, I wasn't sure it would all be worth it.  Funny enough, she won 3rd place for "Best Period Representation" in the Elementary Division. That sweetened the deal to some extent.

Lots of lovely gowns like these.  The children also took part in a lavish feast featuring medieval-ish food.

 

Check out these girl's archery skills.

 

Also some action packed sword fighting!

All in all a glorious day, remembering important and courageous people.

No more holes!

When it comes to decorating, I am the idea girl- not the execute it girl.  I hate measuring. I dislike very much being exact.  I tend to jerry-rig to save time.  I am a "hurry-up-and-get-it-done" kind of person.  I come from a breed of (on my mother's side) of slap-it-together impatient Irish folk.  Thankfully, my brother- the finish carpenter- got the picky German genes.

So, when it comes hanging pictures I procrastinate.  We have lived in our house for 1.5 years now, and I haven't been able to bring myself to poke holes in many of our walls.  Mostly, they have remained bare.  Well, not anymore my friends.

TA-DA...

My newest friend!  Have you seen these?  It's like plastic Velcro for your pictures and wall.  No nailing, no leveling (you can easily adjust), no holes in the wall, no more getting yelled at for not returning your husbands drill/screwdriver/hammer to the tool bench!

Just slap the little tabs on the picture, peel off the adhesive and stick it to your wall.  I have used these on some pretty good sized frames.  They hold up marvelously! If you don't have it straight, just pull the picture off adjust and stick it back on!

The result:

Framed fabric in 5 minutes! (black pillowcases are a bad deal if you drool!!)

Now, I am off to enjoy some wool chocolate with a little one.

 

Some Sewing

Amidst all the grumpiness, I have managed to get some sewing done (at 1:00am mind you- hmmm not great for the grumpiness I guess.)  First off, I just love the pattern for the "Twirly Skirt" found over on houseonhillroad . It is so easy, no buttons, no zippers- just straight line sewing.  My kind of project.

This little set is for Laurel.  She loves the fabric because the beagle looks just like my Grandma's dog Suzi.  I know, it is a bit summery- but hey it is still summer right?

Today is my friend Camille's birthday.  She is having surgery next week and I wanted to send her on her way with a cute bag.  One always needs a new bag when venturing into the city.

It is the "All Day Bag" from Lotta Jansdotter's book- Simple Sewing.

On a side note- I have an infected tonsil.  I am pretty sure that there is some kind of food object making it's home there.  I have spent the greater part of the morning trying to dislodge it.  Gargling, gagging (lots of gagging) and poking it with a knitting needle of all things- nothing seems to work.  So, any advice is welcome.

Just thought you all might enjoy that last little tidbit.  Cheers!