dough & dress

Last week, the temperature actually began to remind me that it is fall.

We've had such a beautiful season so far- days that feel more like summer than June did -
flip-flops & tank-top type weather...which we've been drinking in because if anything is certain, it is that tomorrow it may all change.

So it's still gorgeous, only a little cooler in the mornings, when we start up the kitchen wood stove and take our time getting dressed and out into the day. Lots of coffee, NPR, and...dough...


very serious business, this purple playdough

Purple dough, pink with silver sparkles, tortilla dough, bread dough, some zucchini muffins...there is a perpetual crusty/gooey bowl and wooden spoon soaking in my sink. We are loving the recipe for Epic Play Dough from Dig This Chick - if you've never tried it - DO IT!



And my old garden in the Bitterroot, which we planted before moving, because we're crazy like that...is raining down late season goodness on us; carrots, beets, potatoes, winter squash...


these lovelies (veggies, not my toes) almost make up for the fact that I was near tomato-less this year...(big sigh)

In other domestic news, I sewed an entire article of clothing...from a pattern...that I pretty much followed! First time! My grandmother, Eileen, taught my sister and I how to sew when we'd visit our grandparents in the blazing hot desert in the middle of summer. She would take us to her very cool, air-conditioned guest house/sewing studio for the day and we'd sew dolls and t-shirts, and more dolls. She was also a gardener. I think about her when I sew or garden - although she is gone now, I feel such a connection to her through these small shared things.

My other grandmother, Betty, taught me many things, but I don't remember ever sewing with her. Somehow, though, I ended up with her sewing cupboard full of thread, pins, and tons of buttons. The buttons are great to sift through because my grandmother had fabulous clothes, and you can see it all reflected in these jars of buttons.

So, with the sewing knowledge from one grandmother, and the thread and buttons from another, I made Aven a dress.





Her favorite thing to do is fill this bucket with horse treats then wander out to Jack's pen, pointing and saying 'Jack!' 'Jack!' the whole way.

She is also mastering the dress-up trunk and the stairs to her bedroom...









And just like that, Shorty McShoo is outa here...!