warm and fuzzy

The very best news possible has me feeling warm and fuzzy today - two of my best friends have had healthy babies, within a few days of each other. Congratulations a million times over - there really is nothing on the planet as miraculous as a fresh little person to love.

breakfast

Clearly inspired (and not nearly as beautiful as) Simply Breakfast, I took this picture of an antioxidant-laden breakfast I enjoyed recently. The jam is blueberry-cranberry from Granite Town Farms in Saint George, New Brunswick. It is so delicious - the cranberry isn't obvious, but it complements the blueberries beautifully. In the bowl is my new favourite yougurt - Astro Balkan-style plain, with a heap of pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of Nova Scotia maple syrup. Yum.

housekeeping

Since getting our computer back, it's only now that I've organized some pictures. I found some that I haven't shared yet - these are the not-necessarily-beautiful-but-have-interesting-stories ones.
We have a large window in our dining room, and it happens to be near to our bird feeder. This morning, once again, a greasy, greasy bird crashed into it. It wasn't even terribly clean to begin with - maybe it's a visually impaired bird. Or just clumsy? No sign of him on the ground, so I'm assuming he's okay.These bulbs were $1.50 per box a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store. We've had a beautiful November, so Phillip and I picked some out, brought them home, and planted them together. He had the cutest quizzical look on his face when I was telling him that some of them will be blooming when his brother is born. He chose the Muscari (I've always called them grape hyacinths ) and I opted for the daffodils and those amazing double tulips - I can't wait to see what they look like in person. It was the last box of those, otherwise I would definitely have brought more home. They're planted in the little bed to the left of our back door, which I seem to have lost the lovely picture of which I took earlier this afternoon. Ah, well.

Look what I found at Frenchy's! Circa 1989, Martha Stewart's Christmas. Awesome. Full of ambitious recipes that I may never try, and lovely to look at. Especially because of the circa 1989 decor and clothing.

I bought a new Christmas wreath a few weeks ago - I love it. Next to the door is one of Adam's gorgeous prints on canvas. It doesn't usually live there, but a few months ago he was testing some velcro mounting things, and they've worked so well that it's still there.
Lastly for tonight, I made nine batches of soap this morning. A few of the usuals for selling, but the majority of which was fun playtime, making soaps for gifts for friends and family and using up lots of stuff that I had on hand and hadn't taken the time to try out. I had a lot of fun. I didn't get to the whipped soap, but decided that a few other things were more pressing, as the whipped soap wouldn't be ready in time for Christmas anyway. (And these ones are cutting it kind of close!) Those blue silicone molds were on clearance at the Superstore a long time ago, and I will sometimes use them if I have a wee bit of soap that won't fit in a regular mold. I've been using one of those bars in the shower lately, and I love the size and shape as it gets used up! So I made these monsters (they're at least a good 7 ounces each) to give to family - they would be a royal pain to ship.

I hope that you've had a fun and productive weekend, too!

homey

I cleaned out the wood box and the area around the wood stove after work today, and came up with a new way to use this nifty antique crock thing I picked up awhile ago. Without the lid on, it's perfect for holding kindling! I'm not quite sure what to do with the lid in the meantime, so it's kind of sitting there. Which looks nice in its own way, too.
Speaking of looking nice, check this out! (The soap dispenser - not so much the hilarious fake tile backsplash behind our bathroom sink. Enough said about that!) I came across this Etsy shop a little while ago, where the very friendly sellers modify original lids on vintage Ball jars to make them into soap dispensers! Since it's a glass jar, I had to get it. In fact, I bought two and am using one for hand sanitizer. You can see the other available ones they have here, and you can also buy just the lid, if you have a jar on hand already. I love the size of these jars, though - they're not too big and not too small.

I'm going to have a bit of time to myself this weekend (yay!) and I have some soapy experiments and secret Christmas concocting to work away on. One of my plans is to try making liquid soap with potassium hydroxide, which I have never done before. I'm also hoping to re-try felted soap and whipped soap, while I'm at it. Wish me luck!