staycation day one

so the wind took me east on saturday to a sleepover with my niece alaina. we giggled at my new goat brothers, ralphie and randy, prepared feasts for cody, lucas and suzy (it was raggedy andy lucas' birthday), and played in the pool, even though it was a cool 77 degrees (brr! said aunt kelli, who only went in and dunked her head because sweet little alaina asked so nicely). fun times!=)

lately

last weekend we had my niece alaina for a sleepover. here we are before one of aunt krista's celebration dinners.

my sister krista graduated with honors from thomas jefferson university. she received a bachelor's degree in nursing. krista is so smart, sweet and incredibly funny. patients will be very lucky to have nurse krista taking care of them!=)

despite the crazy spring weather, most things are growing nicely in our garden. last month some volunteers sprouted what looked like zucchini, so i left them.

now they're producing round fruit - can anyone help me identify this mystery plant?

the mint is growing beautifully and adds such a nice fragrance to the garden. people say i'll rue the day i planted that spearmint because it can get out of control, but for now i love it!

we've been harvesting broccoli, peas, lettuce, collard and kale.

i'm thinking of making kale chips for the june 25th food swap. it's the one year anniversary of the south jersey food swap being held at one flew over farm in may's landing. should be a lot of fun!

today was garlic harvest time. this year we grew about fifty bulbs! i may also swap garlic, if it dries in time.

tomorrow marks the start of muth family farm's organic csa. can't wait to see what they have for us this season!

 miss kati says bye for meow!=)

a tribute to my sunshine

this is an award-winning photo of my mom taken in 1963 by her talented neighbor. she must have been about five years old. i love to look at this photo of my little mommy. her smile is still so bright!

a few years after this photo was taken, my mother's world was changed when she lost her sixteen year old sister in a tragic car accident. then ten years later, her father suffered a fatal heart attack in their home. my heart aches when i think of the sorrow my mom had to endure as a young girl.

growing up, my mother would talk to us about her losses. this is one of my favorite qualities in my mom. she wears her heart on her sleeve, and she shares things with us that other mothers would try to shelter from their children. she taught me to believe in love and angels and to treat people as though it was the last time you may see them, because you just never know.

 my mom being silly with my free martha apron during a trip to visit my sister in california

despite (or because of) her dark times, my mother's light shines like the sun. she dedicated her life to being the most loving daughter, mom and grandmom. there is nothing she wouldn't do for her family. i've been a witness to her selflessness on so many occasions.

last year my mother cared for our grandmother so tenderly, it was like watching an angel. most people would not have been able to do what my mother did. it was too much for me at times, but never for my mom. she made my grandmother's passing such a peaceful one.

my brother and sister can tell you that our mother is a ray of sunshine on the darkest days. she is the one we go to when the world turns its back on us. she loves her children unconditionally and listens to us with an open mind and heart. we've made many mistakes and some of our choices would have scared other parents. i'm sure my mom was/is afraid for us, but she doesn't take her fears out on us. she trusts our decisions and supports us no matter what, which gives us the confidence to follow our hearts.

words cannot express how grateful i am for my mother and the lives she and my father created for us. life leads us in different directions, but with strong roots, our love continues to grow.

happy mother's day.

xoxoxo

lately

thank you for the sweet comments on my last post for john's grandmom, lena. i forgot to mention how funny she was, intentionally and unintentionally.=) my mom came over for my birthday and reminded me of the time i gave lena some yarn and a crochet hook.

lena made it a mission to make dish cloth sets for everyone (friends, family, friends' families...) john's mom said lena was all frazzled getting them finished and making sure the colors matched our kitchens. when i visited next, i couldn't believe she had piles of sets all over. she must have worked non-stop! (here i thought i was giving her something relaxing to do.=)

lena said something like "kelli my doll, you get the first pick." i didn't mind and said "whatever ones you want me to have, gram." "oh no kelli, you pick!" "ok, i'll take these." "oh no, not these, these are for rita. they'll match rita's kitchen best". "ok, then i'll have those". "god, no, those are fran's!"

that was the time lena told me she was done with crocheting.=)

my mom and sister came over for my birthday and we had a nice time hanging out in the kitchen. my sister brought a homemade dinner and my mom brought a pretty bouquet.

kati couldn't keep her face out of it so we had to keep it in the bathroom with the door shut. i've heard horror stories of cats getting sick from eating flowers and didn't want to take any chances.

kati got a new present recently. i wanted to try sunburst granny squares and made her a little cat mat. the cat mat is on top of a thermal mat that's on top of biggles' old mat on top of a crocheted blanket. she's like the princess and the pea.=)

our seeds are doing well, for the most part. after realizing the basement was too cold for some of them, john set up another shop light upstairs. broccoli, cabbage, collards and lettuce are growing downstairs and eggplant and pansies upstairs. i'll post pictures soon.

here's a collage of some yummy things i've been eating:

 

1 // a mix of cooked and raw vegetables with sicilian olives

2 // a crunchy curried cabbage salad with mint

3 // greens with mushrooms and heart-shaped cucumber slices

4 // raw zucchini pasta with roasted eggplant, red pepper and brussel sprouts

tomorrow i plan to make a sprouted cereal and some snack bars. if all goes well, i'll share some pictures and recipes. enjoy the rest of your weekend!=)

xoxoxo

sweet lena

on february 5th, john's grandmother lena passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones. she would have been 89 today. lena loved her family, dancing, chinese food, and the bachelor.=) she had a very difficult life, but you would never have known. she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. lena will live in the hearts of all who loved her.

today i turned 32. when i told lena how old i was going to be she said oh, you're just a baby! our perception of age is all relative, i guess. from the start, lena treated me like one of her own grand daughters. she was so happy to learn we shared a birthday and told everyone, more than once. it became a joke amongst the family - "do you know kelli and grandmom have the same birthday?"=)

lena was so generous and loving. she would sit for hours and watch her great-grandbabies with a smile on her face. she thought everything was amazing and 'beauty-ful' and truly knew how to enjoy the little things. when writing the eulogy for his beloved gram, john learned that lena's full name, angelina means 'little angel' in italian. the perfect name for such an angelic soul.

happy birthday, sweet lena. until next time...

xoxoxo

live each season as it passes

that's a quote from thoreau that i first came across last winter. as a reminder to embrace this time and to stop my incessant wishing for spring, i put the quote in my journal last year. i cannot help but to dream about the 2013 growing season. with my garden, i come alive in the spring.

but for now i will be grateful for the rest i am getting away from garden work. i will sip my hot tea and soak in the coziness of crocheting on a cold day. last week i finally started joining my granny squares to make a big ol' blanket. almost a year in the making, but i'm starting to see the light.

the blanket is uneven and i'm not crazy about all the colors together, but i still love it. it's my 2012 blanket. some of the squares were made while i was sitting with my grandmom. others were made with the kids i watch - they would dictate the colors and play with the finished squares. they'd even pretend to crochet with me. one day alaina and john laid all the squares out and chose their favorites. when kati first moved in, she loved to knead and sleep on the softness.

the yarn that started me off was donated by my aunt patti and john's mom. some skeins my mom bought me. it's a warm blanket in so many ways.=)

 (why does this picture remind me of the shining?)

homemade holiday recap:

i'm happy to report my homemade holiday crusade kept me from being cranky this christmas. in 2008, i stopped celebrating holidays after learning some things. i've decided to still participate in family gatherings and gift-giving, but a battle ensues inside me. a moral dilemma. i feel better making the gifts (though every year i do buy some stuff, though each year less and less).

so a month of crafting my ass off and some cute dolls/purses/potpourri jars got me through. whatever works, right? my homemade holiday inspired my blog-friend aimee to get crafty, too. (and my brother l-o-v-e-d his crochet beard!=)

pop-pop don and grandmom also got crafty and made alaina the art desk she's been asking for. isn't it amazing? they really poured their hearts into it. remember the sandboat?

john's dad made his granddaughter mia a desk/shelving unit/window bench. it's awesome, just like other things he's made.

my dad has made us things too, like a beautiful bassinet and a porch swing. my grandpop made a living creating pretty iron railings. my mom, mom-mom, aunts, sister and friend missy were always making cute stuff. all these creative people around me - no wonder i'm this way!

after the blanket, i'm going to start working on baby things - john's sister jena is expecting her fourth this summer! i'm looking forward to crocheting something small and sweet - maybe a little granny square blanket or these delicious sandals.

wishing you lots of love and creativity in the new year! xoxoxo

flowers for granny

on july 2nd my grandmom passed away after a hard battle with parkinson's disease and dementia. this is one of my most treasured pictures of granny.

i took it when i was a teen during one of our many sleepovers. my brother, sister and i absolutely loved spending time with our grandmom. we'd sleep at granny's house or she'd stay at ours. i'd get so excited for those sleepovers - i can remember running home from the bus stop to see her with such a thrill in me, i'd squeal!

my grandmom would sit with us for hours, telling us stories and listening to ours. she'd always have a song or show tune for everything we talked about. i loved it when she broke out into a song and dance. those happy memories will always be with me. i'm so grateful for all those times we had together. rarely a day goes by where i'm not reminded of my sweet granny.

on the day she passed, i went into my garden and saw two white butterflies playing. a rush of peace came over me as i imagined my grandmother reuniting with those who went before her.

my mother has some beautiful old photos of my grandmother that i wanted to share, but i'm having difficulties scanning them. instead i thought i'd share some photos from my flower garden, since my granny loved flowers and even had a garden of her own.

     

"each soul is a beautiful flower that passes from this earth, 

only to bloom again in heaven's garden..."

sweet cellular moments

// my niece alaina after climbing pulpit rock in pa with her dad

// my grandmom, smiling at my mom because jeopardy and the wheel were coming on=)

// kati in the plantain weeds, doing better each day with walks in her harness

// my lil pals evie and jt in all their muddy glory

just wanted to document and share these sweet moments captured via cell phone.
happy friday eve!
=)

family portrait cross-stitch

 

for the birth of my friend missy's second baby, abigail, i made the family a cross-stitch portrait. this customizable cross-stitch project from martha stewart's website was my guide. free printable grid paper may be found here. the project was a lot of fun, especially drawing the pixel family pattern.

this is the real family last spring, minus baby abbey...

and here's abigail rose, born friday, january 20th. i met abby today and she's a sweet lil muffin. best wishes to baby abbey and her family (and happy bday to her marvelous mama, missy!) xoxo

abigail rose

more photos from smithville

last fall when my mom and i went to smithville, we only walked around the shops. this time i was a little worried that alaina would quickly get bored. little did i know there was a carousel, spooky train ride, and a pet costume parade going on. the place was closing when we finally got alaina to leave!

 my niece alaina loving the carousel

 alaina and zelda

a socially conscious boutique

 cutesy fall crafts

  ♦Cracked... Earthquake=)

 the smithville express

 

choo chooo

 alaina with my mom (her g'amom) admiring the lake

a little bit about smithville:

smithville is a small community located in the new jersey pine barrens, about 15 miles from atlantic city. smithville remained rural until the 1960's when the town center (where we were) opened for tourists. the town center has a colonial feel with cobblestone streets. it's home to many roosters, geese and stray cats. my family has been enjoying visits to smithville since i was a child.