happy living Design

rent-a-goat

For years I've been talking about getting a goat to take care of our grass weeds.  We currently have someone cut our grass but we don't do anything about the weeds and they have pretty much taken over whatever lawn area we have, so in essence we have someone come bi-monthly to cut our weeds.  Now that we know how bad the pesticides used to kill weeds are both for us and the environment it seems even less likely that we'll ever have a decent looking lawn.  Except maybe if we got rented a goat to eat all the weeds!

photo by flickr user pixel_unikat

I ran across this post on the Seventh Generation blog and am convinced I need a goat for our .34 acres.  Plus they are so cute, aren't they?  I just have to find out from our local codes enforcement director if it's allowed in our Borough.  And if there is anyone around here that will rent me one.

last of summer

Finally the weather is half decent, just in time for all the kiddos to go back to school on Monday (at least around here).  I'm still craving some summer relaxation time though to make up for all the days Kheri and I were stuck inside in the A/C because of scorching weather.

I saw this BarberOsgerby deckchair in this month's issue of Livingetc and was craving some time on our screened-in-porch, in this chair of course.

Every year the Royal Parks Foundation has different artists design these gorgeous canvas deckchairs that you can purchase to benefit London's eight Royal Parks.  Lovely idea!

 

full

I feel blessed to live in a nice, dense, walkable town and then drive 5 minutes out into the country to see beautiful things like this.  Obviously the picture does no justice to the real thing.  We were on our way back from dinner Saturday night and turned around twice to take pictures of the moon and the mist that had fallen over the farm.  On the left, barely visible, is the sweetest barn in our county.

farmgirlz and the weekend

Have you seen The Hip Homemaker's chicks?  How about Beegirl's bees?  And dig this chick, she's collecting rain water.

I have no plans for the weekend.  None.  And I am not sure how to deal with this.  Seriously.  I started making a list and got as far as "get a pedicure'.  It is not like I don't have anything to do.  But isn't it nice once in awhile to not have a list or an agenda and just go with it? 

Thank you to Summer of Design is Mine for making me the blog of the week.  Although we don't know each other, I think there is a chance the she and I were separated at birth as far as design goes.  I love everything she blogs about.

 

flying by

Things fly by so quickly sometimes.  I feel like I have missed an entire week or month.  There is no doubt that I frequently have too much on my plate and that makes me feel like I can't keep up.  Most of the time I can find some clarity in life and realize that I am only 'not keeping up' in my head and wonder why am I rushing?  We are having a beautiful day here.  I am glad I went out for a walk during lunch and took time to notice a couple of little things.

I may get a fishing license this season and start going out with the boy.  I'm not too worried about having to bring dinner home.  I think it might provide some nice opportunities to slow down, get outside and take notice (and read and take pics too!).

Art Star Craft Bazaar #1

Despite the rain, the horrible thunderstorms they were calling for and the rumors about tornados, my friend and I took the El down to Penn's Landing yesterday for the 5th annual Art Star Craft Bazaar.  And despite the weather, it was amazing.  More wonderful artists this year, beautiful work.  I only wish I could have gone again today because the weather was perfect to be in the city, along the river, looking at amazing art and craft.

Here's one of my favorites.  These are photos of Eva Jorgensen's table and work.  She is the designer behind Sycamore Street Press.  Totally new to me, I was so happy to have been introduced to her work!

Sycamore Street Press | website | blog

the weekend

: manual labor (we finally got the rest of the bamboo floor put down) - see the before pic here.

: alfresco meals (in between Indy & Nascar)

: coffee drinking and magazine reading (and a few small gardening projects)

: and taking time to remember why we observe Memorial Day

Art Star Craft Bazaar

This has become my favorite Philly event.  I can't wait!

 

 

Saturday, May 31st from 11 to 7

Sunday, June 1st from 11 to 5

@ Penn's Landing Great Plaza

 

Go to Art Star Craft Bazaar website for more info.

 

Illustration by Julie West

still waiting for spring over here

Today in West Chester, PA it's been 60 degress, with torrential down pours, then sunny (with a rainbow), then we had some hail, snow flurries, 50 mph wind gusts and now it's heading down into the 20's tonight.  Quite a full day.  Where is spring? For some reason this year more than most I am waiting impatiently for those perfect spring days and for our last frost so that I can plant my caladium bulbs.  Friday I called out sick from work (had a multi-day headache) and the only thing I accomplished all day besides getting some much needed rest was starting a garden journal for the new-to-us garden.  There is only so much House of Babies, Bend it Like Beckham and MTV Cribs that one person can endure when not watching the inside of ones eyelids.

I had all this stuff in a binder (yea, I'm a binder freak like that) but it was too rigid.  I think this is more free and condusive to creativity.  I left some room around some of the clippings to make notes like where to plant some of the flowers.  I got this idea from the current issue of Country Home and also thinking about Victoria's inspiration journals.

Are you guys excited about gardening this season?  Planning on planting or growing anything new?  I am actually planning on doing quite a bit of container gardening this year since I would like to see what comes up in the planting beds first before I start tearing stuff up.  Container gardening is great if you have very little or no yard.  I actually enjoy it more because it can feel more manageable.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.  It's quiet here since the boy is in Utah on business.  Yesterday was such a bust with my quasi-migraine but today was better.  For breakfast I made scrambled eggs with cut up bits of tortilla that I sauteed in oil first.  I added a little salsa to the eggs and some seasonings.  I got the idea from Nigella Express but for the life of me I can't find the recipe.  It was yum.  I am going to try it out on the boy when he gets back.

a good Sunday

Saturday, on account of the rain, I spent almost the entire day in the house rearranging, shuffling, straightening.  I am still flattening boxes from our move in the beginning of September and I am just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The boy worked on our truck for most of the day.  Sunday rolled around and offered us a perfect fall day with cool and sunny weather so we packed the bikes on the truck and drove to Valley Forge National Park to do a part of the Schuylkill River Trail.

Next to skiing, I think biking is probably our favorite recreational activity to do together.  We're not hardcore mountain bikers.  We ride a lot of rail-trails and mostly moderate-activity type trails.  I highly recommend it, even for people who don't consider themselves athletic.  And there were lots of families out too.  Seems like a great activity for the little guys too.

Trails.com

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Trek

Yakima