I can now be found blogging here... sea+prairie the new-ish blog has all of the old vintage chica blog posts and several new ones. Im still working on getting a few of the links switched over, but I do hope you join me there. wishing you love and light, eren Continue reading

Or the other title I was considering for this post was "I love using my husband's power tools when he is gone." Some of you asked for a little more explanation about the photo from Friday. On a whim Friday afternoon, the boys and I made a few birdhouses from last year's penguin gourds. The gourds have been drying on the fence for a year now and they have been begging for that long to be used in some creative way. And this gave me the perfect excuse to use the husband's power tools. I love using S's pretty green drill and the bit that cuts circles in things. (Please don't tell him I called his drill pretty...or that I noticed that it is the perfect color of kelly green...ssshhhh!) After doing a little research, we found a great chart with the correct size holes for the birds we are wanting to attract. We made holes sized for chickadees, nuthatches and robins. We also used a super small bit to make a few drainage holes in the bottom to keep the inside dry. Next we cleaned out the seeds and dried flesh from inside the gourds, then sanded them down good using extra fine sandpaper. Lastly, using eco-friendly paint left over from a previous project, we coated the gourds with two coats of white, green and blue paint and tied them near the stem with gardener's twine. I think they turned out pretty sweet. Love a modern twist to an old craft. Hope our little birdie friends like them too. Continue reading

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Amanda. Continue reading

After a very difficult and crazy summer, I am welcoming Fall with open arms. Welcome! I'm glad you're here! A few weeks ago, on a drive out to the farm to pick up our CSA and I spied the first yellow leaf clinging to a birch branch. I almost broke into tears at the promise of a shift in the season - both the natural season, and our season of grief. When things have gotten tough around here, in true "me" fashion, I've retreated to the garden. And good for me I have done so, because the garden is beautiful right now. The fullness of the garden right now seems to be in equal proportion to the heaviness I've been feeling. *note* when you are surrounded by things you can not change, its good to focus on things you can, like gardening. **another note, I think I need to repaint the large pots on either side of the front door...hmmm....now what color? The backyard vegetable garden took a beating thanks to Hurricane Irene, but the front beds are absolutely gorgeous in all their Fall bounty right now. This time last year, a good friend and I began tearing out the large boxwood bushes that covered the front of our house. They were gangly and not getting enough sun now that the trees are beginning to mature. It was time, and I needed a project on which to focus my energies. The front beds sat there bare and frozen all winter leaving the neighbors to wonder what the heck I was thinking. I planned those beds all winter long. And when Spring poked its little head out the very first time, I began digging in again. I knew I wanted to stick with more texture and a simple color pallet. Purples,... Continue reading

Hello peeps! Its been all about the chickens around here lately. Since getting our girls back in April, we've built a coop, fed and watered and cared for our three Dominiques (which weren't Black stars after all) and three Buff Orpingtons. After the girls started trying to roost in the backyard neighbor's tree at night, we learned how to clip wings. And the neighbors haven't fussed too much so far. But I think we have earned the reputation of the crazy, hippy people who have chickens in the city. Oh well... This past Monday, just about the time we were starting to get antsy and my husband started threatening them of becoming fried chicken, the girls started earning their keep. Eggs! Stars, one of our Dominiques laid the first egg and you would of thought she really was a star the way the boys oohhed and aaahhhed over her and her new ability. "Oh, Stars! You are such a good girl! You did it!" Then yesterday we discovered a little nest of 6 more eggs behind the air conditioning unit...those sneaky girls. We should be up to our ears in eggs within days. Anyone for a spinach and cheese omelet? Continue reading

Whew! What a few weeks we've had. Thank you for all of your tweets, emails and facebook posts. We survived Irene with very, very minimal damage. The summer garden was pretty much destroyed. But other than that we escaped with little more. Which leaves me thinking about those up the coast a bit more who are still experiencing power outages and flood waters. Our thoughts are with all of you. Today is a busy, busy day... haircuts, first soccer practices of the season, teacher meet n' greets, etc. As with so many themes in my life, it was the little things that amazed me during the hurricane...a little hummingbird visiting the window in the middle of some of the strongest winds of the three days, looking for the feeder in its usual spot...wings just humming right along as if nothing was any different. I want to be the hummingbird in the middle of the strong winds. The garden spider that went right back to building a new web even before the rains had ceased...while we were still hunkered down indoors with the power off. I want to be like the garden spider, so focused on the work at hand and not the dramas in life. And the morning glories that continued to open and close in perfect timing even without the sun shining brightly. As always, thank you for the lessons little creatures. Continue reading

3 mamas and 11n kids between us... that's 22 flip flops to keep track of, 4 silly stories about glitter and unicorns, 0 husbands, 1 black dog, 18 hornets killed, 8 boat rides, 3 people swimming the boat back to shore after running out of gas, 111 icey pops eaten and 31 sandwiches, 0 fish caught, 1 earthquake, 6 conked heads on the tube, 2 bags of marshmallows, 1 night out in the tent... and at least a million smiles. ------------------- I could not have asked for a better way to hit the reset button and prepare to head into another season. Time spent in the outdoors and nature always seem to do that for me. And the icing on the cake, was it was time spent with two of my bestest girl friends and their kids. A few things I realized... :: nature really is the great equalizer, where else can eleven kiddos from the ages of 17 to 5 have so much fun together :: I want to hold on to how blessed I feel right now for a little while longer...maybe all the way to Christmas :: next time, bring more chocolate...and more wine :: mamas rock...seriously :: I need to get away more often :: watching Shannon's kids tell such great stories makes me want to tell more stories to my kids Also of note... :: Yes, we felt the earthquake. At least those of us not on the boat at the time. My first. Never thought I'd experience a quake on the East Coast. :: And yes, now we're preparing for Irene's arrival on Saturday. What a summer! Continue reading

This year, we have not spent *near* as much time at the beach as I had hoped. And now with 2 weeks left until school begins, we're squeezing in as much as we can. I love this time of the year. The tourists are gone...mostly. The water is still warm from the heat of summer. And the pre-autumn sun seems to make everything glow. Here's a little video to make you smile. Continue reading

It is early here this morning and I am up before the boys - the first time in several weeks. Most mornings it is them waking me up, crawling into bed with me, prying my eyes open with their little fingers, asking "is it time for breakfast yet". I feel like I've been a bit of a downer the past several weeks...maybe even a bit longer than that if I stop to think about it. Friends call and ask in a quiet, serious tone..."how are you?". I want so much to answer with a cheerful "Im great, how are you"? But they know. And that has kept me from being here in this space too. You see, many of you have become such good friends. And Im afraid if I tell you all about the pillow I sewed, the colors I chose, the stash busting that is going on around here, that you will know Im putting up a front. There has been so much loss and sadness all around us. I do not want to pretend that sadness and grief does not exist. And I know I am not the only one. Several of you are feeling losses of your own. You have been so brave and generous sharing your own stories with me. And I am comforted knowing there is hope and grace on the other side. I am ready to be happy again. Because really there is still such beauty and goodness in the world. I am learning that loss and love CAN happen simultaneously in the same story. It does not have to be one or the other. They are not mutually exclusive. Like so many things in life, there is a great irony in that. So for awhile, I have decided to post about happy... Continue reading