Monkeyporkbun

Rolling Into Summer

Plenty of smiles to go around. Last week we were in Chicago. With Family. There is nothing like family to make you feel alright, at home, and excellent just for being you. The girls and I came home with a renewed sense of purpose and vitality and a bucket of tears due to missing cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I thought some good old fashioned fun, with cheesy lights and all, would be just the thing to stave off the blues. Since we returned last Thursday, we've reorganized two rooms, applied for Sonoma County Energy Improvement Program, and made several trips to Salvation Army. Make way for new windows and end of the summer birthday surprises. The original intent of this blog was to share craft stories and experiences from the trenches of parenthood. Somewhere along the line, being on the computer became less of a focus. Focus. I'll have more of that someday. ttfn, Gena

Maker Faire Inspiration

Miss B came home from Maker Faire today with a fire in her belly for sewing. From a very early age, like when we had money to burn on private school, the mantra around the house was "don't buy something if you can go home and make one better." And that might be true with a lot of things, if only there were more time in a day. There are always plenty of sewing machines, spools of thread, yarns, paints, glitters, papers, brushes, pens and pencils to do just that with. Apparently, she was quite smitten with these.

My first sewing lesson probably looked a lot like the photo below. Sewing machine whirring about ten feet away from the piano, with me asleep somewhere nearby with Gran and Mom stitching up goods. I have a feeling Little E didn't wanna miss out on the Making Action, especially when she knew what Miss was up to. No, she couldn't quite fall asleep up there. Not with Daddy , who ditched me for poker in Tiburon, and not with me either.

Even after a late night due to sleepover, followed by an early morning today to get out the door to be treated all day to Maker Faire, Miss B stayed up and made patterns and pinned and cut and sewed and turned body parts for 2 wouldbehoodwinks. One for her and one for Little E. She asked if I would detail the faces tonight, but I told her I would instead help her do them tomorrow and then we could stuff and sew 'em all up.

I guess I'm kind of a proud Mama. Who can blame me? They're so darned cute! I'll post photos when finished. G'night!

Kidspot Topped with Double Happiness

It began with Kidspot, where Miss E played and played and played some more. Danielle and I had some girl time. Afterward, E and I went home to make lunch and she napped while I cleaned. We went to school to pick up Sissy, aka Miss B. Then . . .

Daddy met us and treated them to ice cream at Screamin' Mimi's! B asked for a double cone and I'm in the mood to say yes. So, Miss E gets one too.

And later, at Bocce Fridays, ice cream AGAIN, with Little X and many friends.

 

 

Festivals, friends, and films!

When looking back I had to dig up a few photos. These are my beautiful blossoms at the recent Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival, adorned in shirts gocco printed by me and my beautiful blossom, Miss B.

This was either the weekend or the night before the Apple Blossom Festival, at Yoshi's on Fillmore with the Art & Copy crew. I really liked meeting this talented group at our festival and at San Francisco International Film Festival as well. Oh, btw - Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is tweeting. Check him out.

This is Philip Owens, editor of Art & Copy, chatting up our wonderful brunch host and loyal film festivalgoer, Doron Amiran.

 
Another excellent shot with the lovely hostess Cheryl, in her kitchen with filmmakers.

She's Baaaack!

Yes, here she is. The Gena with energy and light. Somewhere in 2006 I climbed down a rabbit hole and it took me awhile to resurface. When I did resurface, nothing looked the same.

Recently I'm simplifying my craft room, I have two quilting projects, we had a very successful film festival, and we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.

I'll be back soon with photos and details on projects.

xo. Gena

Keep It Short and Simple

In years past, Spring Break was a challenge to manage. The whining, the requests, the negotiation – does any of this sound familiar? It's day two of Spring Break and all is still going well, and according to plan. That's right, this year there was a plan that included clarity, down time, and even a little planned chaos. Here's what I planned:

Monday is Wash day, Tuesday is Folding day, Wednesday is Market day, Thursday is Sewing Day, Friday is Cleaning Day, Saturday is Baking Day, and Sunday is for Rest and Play. So there's the Keeping Simple part of it all.

Keeping Short was a little more tricky and required a lot more creativity. Keeping it short meant to balance tasks between what could be done with the girls and what could be done while the girls were entertained and feeling included. If you follow the idea of Rudolf Steiner or Kim John Payne, balancing in-breathing tasks with those that are out-breathing.

For instance, on Monday while they were still sleeping, I was able to put in a load (Monday is Wash Day), then corral sand toys, bike helmets, lunch and water bottles to have at the ready for later in the day. After the girls were awake, with breakfast in their tummies, and ready to roll around 9am, we went for a walk, a really long one. With a plan. Favorite walks here are taking photos of things to paint at a later point in the week; collecting twigs, moss, pine cones and pine needles to build a fairy house; or with a sack to collect stray trash around the neighborhood. After collecting fairy house supplies, we went home and made milkshakes, which is an activity they both love and a snack too! While they were chatting over milkshakes about what to build, I put another load in the wash, packed up the wagon and away we went to the park for lunch and play.

It's a snapshot I keep reminding myself, but Tuesday is mostly over and it's still working. Not much whining, requesting, or negotiation. Having a plan makes them pretty happy methinks. Even if it really looks like we have no plan. E's favorite milkshake instructions at the bottom.

Milkshakes

1 banana

1 ½ cups juice

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt

1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon honey

2 cups frozen berries

¼ cup protein powder

Put banana, yogurt, juice, peanut butter, and honey in blender. Attach lid and blend on high. While blending, add berries and powder and blend well. Makes about four 6oz. servings. Yum!

Blossom

Taken last week, this plum blossom against the blue sky reminded me of my wedding day. Even if the blooms that greeted everyone who entered our home for the event ten years ago were in fact cherry blossoms. These are plum blossoms in Sebastopol, just outside of Coffee Catz.
Tonight we celebrated by eating local at East West in Santa Rosa, California on Summerfield Road. In attendance with us was Little E, who is not so little anymore. She wore a favorite dress, she drew stars for us and used her very good manners. Miss B was invited to sleep over a friend's house. Tomorrow, if rain is at bay, we will be on our bikes to the Farmer's Market nice and early and the girls will get to sleep over at Grandma's house. Jason and I will probably get really dirty . . .painting. Yes, I am going to make him craft! And he's a good sport. And Sunday morning, again if the rain is at bay, we will ride our bikes for a very long time. I can hardly wait. For now, I'm off to sleep. Thank you, Jason for an excellent ten years.

What are you grateful for today?

First print. I'm doing handmade thank yous. With my gocco printer! And I thought I gooped a ton of ink on. Time for the squeegee! We have a ton of thanks to put out there. This was an awesome festival!

"Goodbyes should be called Badbyes." - Frances

Check out this great pillow project over at Mary Engelbreit. And this free Valentine desktop background. And this sad news which I learned about from Vicki over at Turkey Feathers. I rarely ever iterate this word, but "Ugh" is what I felt when I read the news. I have been poring through all of the periodicals shelves at every bookstore, both locally and big box owned, in hopes of spying the new issue. I know it isn't the end of the world, folks, but there are few things I look forward to. Getting up in the morning while it's still dark in hopes of sneaking a peck on the cheek from my sweetie, the first bike ride in Spring, Summer Solstice, Jason's birthday, Good mornings from my girls, telephone conversations with my Dad, Dinners with my in-laws, hugs from Nana. Okay, so there are a lot of things and they are simple rather than lofty. Still, if there is one thing I will kick and scream about, it is this. I love craft. And few good pubs exist that seem dedicated to many forms of craft that aren't intimidating. Now don't get me wrong, the Stampington pubs are fabu! Still I am intimidated by how much, to a point where I am nearly immobilized to do anything crafty until I can get the images out of my head and feel able to create something original and sweet. So even though, I pine the shelves for the latest issue of Where Women Create and a few others, there's a certain sweet tooth that is satisfied when poring through the pages of the latest MEHC. I hope they'll find a new publishing partner soon.

Quilts in Women's Lives - I am sew excited!

Excited about Quilts in Women's Lives. This film premiered in 1981 at the New York Film Festival. During this year's Sebastopol Documentary Film Fesitval, Quilts in Women's Lives will be shown on Sunday, March 8, along with The Life and Times of Rosie Riveter in celebration of International Women's Day.  Also in celebration, there will be an unveiling of a 20-foot long quilt. This will be the first public viewing of a panoramic multi-panel quilt depicting the diverse landscape of Sonoma County from its ocean beaches, verdant valleys and volcanic summits. Designed, pieced, and quilted by members of “The Pointless Sisters” mini-group from the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild, this beautiful example of fabric artistry is comprised of twenty panels and will cover one entire wall of the Screening Room in the Sebastopol Center for the Arts at 6780 Depot Street.