recommended eating

I don't know...we are just emerging from our winter hibernation. Maybe you don't want a cookie recommendation?

Just in case you do...

May I suggest Chocolate Toffee Cookies from Louisa over at The Wednesday Chef. I left out the nuts, as that is what my children prefer. These cookies have so much chocolate in them that they satisfy the cookie urge and the chocolate urge simultaneously. Little marvels, they are.

Leslie over at a Friend to Knit with bakes a weekly cookie, usually something new every week. I love that idea. I get into my rut of oatmeal chocolate chip or brownies, occasionally some short bread. And a package of Fig Newmans if I don't get any baking done.

I'm also very inspired by Heather at Beauty that Moves, whose new teaching gig encouraged her to have a Sunday food prep day--baking and cooking in one marathon for the week. Very smart. I'm going to try it.

Little Dress on the Prairie

Finished today: a prairie dress for a little girl who loves all things Laura Ingalls. It turned out a bit more costume than dress, but I don't mind and the little girl in question certainly doesn't.


The embroidered buttons are my favorite part.


In the news this morning: a new study has shown that we can change our brains into our 40s, 50s, and 60s--much later than the rest of our bodies. I am glad to hear this, because I noticed afresh while sewing this dress how laughably poor my spacial reasoning abilities are. Took a few tries to sew in the bodice lining, and which way it would turn...well, apparently, the more I practice this, the better I'll get at it, even at 39. Isn't that good news?

creative reading

"There is creative reading as well as creative writing."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

(This photo's an oldie, but a great favorite of mine.)

Sign of Spring

On our hike Sunday, we yelled out "sign of spring!" when any of the four of us saw a white flower, a budding tree, or a determined green shoot. Such a relief to see them.

Here is another sign--what says spring more than a bright yellow Easter dress for a little girl? I've been meaning to make my little girl a dress since she was two--she's now six. I even bought patterns and fabric in the past, but this is the first dress to cross that boundary from plan to execution.

I won't be entering this into any county fairs, and let's all agree not to check whether the seams line up....perhaps a zipper, pleats, and a lined bodice weren't the best choices for a first dress. But all that said, I'm pleased with it.

And you should see Leah's reaction. She twirled and twirled, asked if she could wear it to school, asked if she could wear it to bed. What took me so long? Definitely a sign of spring.