Gehring Road

sewing... outside!

My car thermometer read 80 degrees at 10 am this morning... there was just something so lovely about today. After dropping Rob off for a short work trip (boo), I was able to stop at a quilt store for some fabric (yay). Kylie has a really, really difficult time when Rob is away she gets exceptionally clingy and just isn't herself... except when lounging on a wool blanket outside. I'm not sure what to say about wool blankets in 90 degree weather other than this dog likes to be warm... it makes me hot just looking at that photo of her... sigh.

Anyway, her pleading face at the door told me something sort of had to be done... I wanted to sew, she wanted Rob back and to take her depression outside where at least her optimal temperature could sooth her little soul. I dragged ironing board, cutting board, fabric and music outside and went to town. We're so lucky Rob's dad thought to put outlets outside on the patio.  I'm not sure why I haven't thought of cutting fabric outside before... the breeze was really lovely, the dog... mildly satiated (she's stops going to Rob's office to look for him after the first day or so) and I got in some crafty time. This will be a quilt for the couch (can you believe this is the first quilt I've made for our couch?) and entirely made from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line. This outdoor cutting and crafting is going to be my thing, I can feel it. For someone who hates cutting fabric as I do, it was a pleasant little surprise.

Though the deck and table that my fabric was on is in desperate need of a power washing, I thought better... wasting precious cutting time washing furniture... no thank you! My ironing board is also in desperate need of a new cover and my toes are in desperate need of a pedicure... desperate. Maybe time for that later in the week... happy Monday friends. 

scenes from around here

I've been away from this space for far too long, but to be honest, grad work and an inert sewing machine are not so interesting! It occurred to me today that I haven't sewn a single stitch in weeks... though the itch to pick up some new fabric (hello lovelies!) and dream of projects is providing some needed distractions. I'm loving Suzuko Koseki's new (and old prints) and that sweet little red and white print was purchased in bulk... I love it. I've also fallen for Lecien's line of stripes, I should have fallen for them before competing the quilt top of my strips and bricks quilt... which has yet to be backed. Ahem. Maybe I'm just waiting for some Flea Market Fancy to back it... ha! 

In other news, we've had our first fire, I've had my first sinus infection (which I ignored long enough for it to become an inner ear infection and seriously unpleasant) loaded hundreds of cut pieces of wood into a truck and brought it down to the wood shed. The front stoop is bedecked and very autumnal looking indeed. Kylie is spending much time in the sun and around her favorite loves. I'm loving fall, just hopeful that things will slow down and return to a pace more suitable for crafting and creating. 

So it's back to the book for me today, with little glimpses of fall color in between... with kleenex and a sweet little one curled up beside me, what more could a girl need? Happy Fall! 

seasoning

Just a little peek into what is happening outside... lots of planting, beautiful peonies emerging (the light pink ones for the first time since we planted them two years ago!) and the season really is in full bloom.  Which has activated my allergies for the first time in years... it hasn't been a pleasant experience... it has left me a little cranky, a bit wiped out and a wee bit desperate for some relief. But, that's the season... and there is so much to love about this season...

This season that my allergies hate but I love is also bringing us very close to the end of the school year, and I can't really describe my joy at having time to myself for a bit.  It feels like for a brief few months of the year, I'm myself. Lists are being made, books are being purchased for those days, and the anticipation is measured by the sheer amount that needs to get done in the meantime. The weekend seems to fly by while these final weeks are beginning to linger... exams, grading, cleaning all await me at school tomorrow. Instead of dwelling on what needs to be, today we plan to celebrate the opening season at our local Farmer's Market... ahh, it certainly is feeling like summer... Hope you are enjoying all that these seasons offer in your little neck of the woods. Back tomorrow! 

into the woods

We ventured up into the woods today, chopping and splitting and stacking for the coming cold months... it seems so strange yet so right to be preparing for one season while welcoming the start of another. Soon, we'll be planting things in the garden thinking of fall and the canning season ahead. And so it goes... So up we went to Stonewood Camp, home to Rob's mom Connie and her husband Chip. When looking through the photos from today (which are mostly of the goats... I love their eyes but not when their attempts to knock one over) I was struck at how few pictures of the actual work we did today I have... that pile of sawdust is really it. The stacks are there though, and the wind and the sun will do their work on them, drying them out and making them the very thing that will get us through the fall, winter and into next spring. My face (wind burned or sun burned, unclear as to which) tells me that we got quite a bit accomplished in our morning... Rob's back agrees which my face. I hope this Sunday finds you happily busy, energized from the weekend and ready (I'm trying!) for the week ahead. 

happy equinox

We had a 73 degree day on Friday... we opened the windows in the house and just allowed the air to be...it was delicious.  And just like that, Spring has finally arrived. Under that snow, things were beginning to peek out just as usual, just as they always do, just as they should.

I am doing my taxes (another sure sign of Spring), folding fabric and helping Kylie chase the sunlight (prime napping territory, you see) around the floor with her dog bed.  Rob on the other hand, is preparing for the coming winter... up to the woods he has gone to cut down fire wood for the coming cool months. The distinct change in season is something I love about our little home, and just as assuredly as the seasons begin anew, the seasons change. There is something decidedly lovely about that. To every season... a very happy Spring to you and I hope this weekend finds you loving what it brings. 

where i blog about the snow... again... i'm sorry.

One of the strangest occurrences that come with near constant snow is the absolute change in landscape that occurs right out the window... I simply have never seen this much snow.  Here in Connecticut we have about 4 feet of snow on the ground, more continues to fall and the snow piles are at about 6 feet on our deck (that was done to prevent the roof from collapsing... imagine the irony if the deck collapses... I've had those thoughts...). I'm not going to do a before and after because quite frankly, I might cry looking at pictures of grass and no snow.  So I'll just share the tundra that is our home in things disappearing...

 ...like the weathervane on the garage... I think it's pointing South... that might be a good suggestion...

 ...the chiminea... 

  ... the grill...

 ...the trees... and sort of the garage...

 ...the front hedge...

 ...the deck and the trellis...

All this should be covered with a lovely coating of ice coming during the day tomorrow... we're told to expect 1/2 to 3/4 inch of accumulation... sigh... frustrating I tell you, frustrating.  I hope that where you are, you are safe and out of the elements.  Good thing the groundhog will be unable to crawl out of his hole and see his shadow tomorrow, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.  Spring must be around the corner. Happy Tuesday. 

the one where I didn't blog about the snow...

The sun actually did come out after Wednesday's storm... and so did I, eventually.  Our school was actually open the next day, though I wasn't there... I was chipping and hauling the three foot bank of slush, ice and mud left at the bottom of our recently cleared driveway.  I have little recollection of where all that snow went... anywhere I could put it. I've discovered that I also have a block when it comes to writing about the events of those days... I took hundreds of pictures... some video... and they're here if you have a curiosity to see overwhelming piles and banks of snow. I have trouble summing it up... Rob away, using a snowblower to get through thirty plus inches of snow, starting the snowblower with the aid of said Rob who was across the country in Seattle, the unrelenting wind, the fear of the power lines coming down, the unbelievable cold, kind of sums it up.  I was outside to shovel/plow/clear at least ten times... that barely kept up with the snow.  We spent a few hours on Saturday cleaning up the lessons learned during my snow blowing.  I have bruises.  Tomorrow sounds like it might be another... accompanied by ice.  I will sew tomorrow, not (as I did on Wednesday read nervously, tend the fire and make a very bad batch of chili) glance out the window worried and incredulous. I will glance outside and wonder at this time of year, but the Rob is home and that truly does make it (and a lot of things) so much better.  I have reached my weather related posts quota my friends, let's hope Connecticut gets a breather!  Here are some images from that day...

comfort

New Year's Day Cherry Pie... it was as good as it looks...

Rob is away for work.  It is January in New England.  Yesterday we had the last of two different storms in twenty-four hours roll through.  This morning's (second solo) snow removal was accompanied by an angry North wind.  I couldn't help thinking, as I cleared the driveway and dodged that mean wind, that it would be impossibly wonderful to curl up in the house in front of the fire and forget the snow, forget the need to leave the house at all... with a piece of Rob's cherry pie.  Comfort. The cherry pie Rob made for New Year's day at my parents' is long gone, but apparently not forgotten... feast your eyes...

... that filling goodness was piping hot when the picture was snapped.  If I didn't need my fingers for work, I would have gladly suffered the third degree burns to taste it when it surfaced from the oven. So good.  What's not good... the weather. This is the punishing time of year when the wind blown snow that one is currently shoveling takes aim at the few inches of exposed skin and just pummels... that brings out the complainer in me.  I look to creature comforts... oh pie, how we miss you... to get through. Rob's Cherry Pie was a recipe from our favorite Cook's Illustrated. In the meantime, we wait patiently for our pie maker to make his way home, watch episodes of Pushing Daisies on Netflix (watching shows in part about pies might be torture, but so is shoveling so it's in season) while taking pictures of the most beautiful snow... from inside the house... 

... Kylie (who has been glued to my side since she saw Rob leave the house - suitcase in hand) and I wish you a very comfort filled weekend, and a lovely start to the week! I'm off to sew some, and rest my aching back... I'm lift-from-the-knees challenged. 

early fall outside

I'm just in love with this season... the changes happening just outside are stunning, exciting and oh, so welcome. Since my last busy and frenetic post, much has changed... celebrations happened, family visited, dinners were cooked, boxes of kleenex were consumed, harvests were canned, and now a lovely little calm has settled in our little world. A welcome change indeed. There's a crispness in the air today. We've taken down the garden, though the peppers continue to surprise us and one last eggplant waits to be picked.  The chimney was cleaned in anticipation of the fires that will be lit and enjoyed. While we feather this nest (the painting continues, a couch has been spotted and decided on) and the annual colds and sniffles arrive, I'm trying to take it all in and enjoy the process... of change, improvement and the familiarity of this most wonderful season. Happy fall to you, hope it finds you loving all that surrounds you. 

harvesting

  

  

    

    

    

    

    

We ventured off to Wright's Farm, a little orchard right down the road from us today (if you're lucky enough to live near this lovely little corner of New England, visit! The dried flowers are something to see...) picking the beginnings of our apple harvest.  A bit early indeed.  As were the pumpkins and gourds that we contemplated buying... soon.  Instead we're making tomato soup for dinner and possibly to can... and dreaming of the apple sauce, pie filling, and jam that will be made to keep us through the long winter. I've been thinking of doing a little post on our methods while canning.  I love your questions, thanks for asking how we go about things! Can't wait to share. The weather has taken a bit of a turn, just a bit... bright blue skies and just the hint of fall... I love this time of year.