My Own Personal Bokeh

Here's a set of Alice in Wonderland cookie cutters that I made for my sister many years ago. I consider these a crafty personal best. My favorite is the Walrus (top left) — those tusks were tough, I tell you. I like how he turned out. These were all done about the same time as the gnome cutters — that's why my wrists got so wrecked!

This year, I had wanted to make and decorate the Alice cookies for an Easter tea party like we used to do — but, kid-wise, I'm still a year or two away from that. I'm OK with them making messy kid versions, but, I want to have the freedom to be perfectionistic and spend *lots* of time getting all detailey. With kid interruptions clocking in every one-to-two minutes, it's just not going to happen anytime soon. That's been one of my parenting lessons — to be looser, to let things go, to not get caught up in the details.

Some who know me may laugh at that idea — that big ol' sloppy Michelle needs to loosen up. I'm not really known for being neat and tidy. I once got fired by my dad for not mowing the lawn correctly (I liked spiral, he liked straight lines). I do tend to let *a lot* of things go. For instance, just the other day I had to choose whether or not to take my shoes off when stepping onto our white-ish carpet. I thought, "Which are dirtier: my feet or my shoes?" I kept my shoes on. When I told my sister that story, she said, "That's *so* you."

Dirty feet just aren't something I focus on. Creating — even if it's just cookie decoration — will always take precedent over hygiene, or, any cleaning, really. Perhaps I'm set on macro? My personal bokeh is large — it's big enough to artistically blur my dirty, size 10.5 US feet; or, the twenty-odd loads of dirty laundry; or, two days worth of dishes. I'm OK with that. And, kids definitely have a macro way of seeing the world. Now, if I could just set my husband to have a narrow depth of field when viewing the house. ;)



More cookie cutter pics over at flickr.

Thanks to Emily at Five Flowers for teaching me about bokeh.

P.S. The title is set to this tune.

Two Small Farms

goat
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


puppy
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Today is the first day of the veggie box from our CSA. If you've never connected yourself to a local food grower, I highly recommend it. It's good for your tummy, the land, the farmer, the kids — and, sometimes you get to bottle feed a baby goat.

On a different vegetable note:
One of my goals this summer is to make home-canned vegetable soup. I've had a pressure canner for years and I've always been afraid of it. I've lost the directions, so it's even scarier. It's like these.

And, thanks to Julia for the photos. I don't get many photos of me with the kids, goat or otherwise.

H is for Hat

He always wears his best when we go out to the fancy neighborhood restaurant. This time it was three plaids and a vintage fedora, white pants, and suede oxfords — all on his own.

More photos at flickr.

What's that on your butt?

While walking around in a bottom-half girdle today, my older son said, "What's that on your butt?" Thinking something was stuck to my bottom, I brushed away — but, nothing was there. Then, I realized he was talking about the black girdle I was wearing. I don't usually wear girdles with my ancient maternity yoga pants and such, but today I was wearing a dress! And, it was sticking to my regular undergarments because I didn't have a slip, hence the smooth girdle. Quickly I came up with a white lie, "It's like bike shorts." His response, "It's a butt holder."

Ain't it the truth, man. Ain't it the truth.

How do they get so smart?

I promise some crafty photos soon. I'm close to finishing my first sweater! My goal is to take an Anthropologie-worthy photo of it that doesn't make me look feel like a wurst.

P.S. Thanks for the bra info. In the pre-internets days I would have only had a few friends to get quality info from. Who would have thought a b**b song and bra question could garner 21 comments. I love it. :)