Archive for August, 2009

show & tell

08.31.09 at 12:11 pm · Filed under etsy, family, kids, life stuff, stitching

I’ll tell you about my weekend if you’ll tell me about yours!

On Saturday we had two family birthday parties – in opposite directions, naturally. So getting ready on Saturday morning was a little hectic … till Niek surprised me with a stunning bouquet of flowers!

flower collage 

We went out of our way to relax and unwind on Sunday. It seems like it’s just been a whirlwind since we returned from Maine a  mere 10 days ago, and we just needed to chill. Around Chateau Chaos on a day with iffy weather, that means lots of board games, Wii fun (kids large and small are fans of Mario Karts), afternoon cookies, and group hugs to name a few major activities. ;)

Bug captures
ladybug capture

Playing Mario Karts on the Wii
Wii fun

Group “hug” (aka pig pile!)
group 'hug'

Pause for refreshments and amusement
Sunday afternoon refreshments

Gratuitous cute-kid photo
adorble arden

And here and there I was able to put in a few stitches on my newest project. My little hedgie, purchased from this etsy shop, keeps me very good company when I’m playing with my needle and floss.
stitching pic

Monday, in contrast to the fun and relaxing weekend, began with a 9 am appointment at the dentist for fillings. Luckily, there are no pictures to subject you to! Wishing you a wonderful new week full of smiles and laughter!

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peeking

08.28.09 at 8:29 pm · Filed under kids, stitching

Today the kids’s school had an open hour for the parents to come and peek into the classrooms. The school was expanded and remodeled last year, so it was nice to see the new look as well as to see how the kids act at school when surrounded by their peers. I started with Max’s classroom and worked my way down to Rowen’s. Max was both surprised and slightly embarassed to have me there with his baby brother, so I didn’t stay too long. Nick was busy building things and wasn’t too interested in my presence, but did pose for a picture with a motorcycle he’d built. Rowen, however, was delighted to see Arden & I and didn’t want us to leave. She showed us various things and then settled down to do some drawing. Arden quickly joined in and a half hour flew by.

fun at school

For a different sort of peek, here’s the floss toss for my next design. I’m so in love with the colors that I can hardly wait to get started!

floss toss

Here’s hoping that your weekend will be joyous!

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who’s ready for autumn?

08.27.09 at 10:57 am · Filed under cooking, exchanges, stitching, weather

Growing up, autumn meant sunny days and chilly nights, bright fall foliage, newly-sharpened pencils, and a certain tang to the air that was just filled with promise. It was a time of new beginnings, just before winter set in and forced us all to cozy up for short days and long, cold nights. Where I now live, autumn means one thing: rain. After Niek and I bought our current house, September held a certain dread as we tried to keep ahead of the rain’s damage – it can rain so hard and so often that the ground around the house literally washes away. We’ve wakened to actual pits in the front and back yard where only the evening before there was dirt, sand, and paving stones, and have had to call in for partial truckloads of sand to replace what was lost. Just from rain! I know there are other parts of the world that suffer much worse from heavy seasonal rains, but I have to admit that I feel more than just a tad sorry for my loss of gorgeous foliage and crisp, sunny days. Here’s this week’s pictorial weather forecast. Sigh.

rain rain go away forecast 

But like cold Maine winters force everyone inside for cozy pastimes, so does this autumn rain. Arden’s recently become very interested in books and I snapped a few pictures of him going through one of his new magnetic board books. You can stick the magnet onto the illustration to make something new – it was very popular on the plane trip, and continues to be a favorite now that we are home.

arden reads a book

Of course this sort of weather also brings out the comfort foods. Tonight we’ll be enjoying garlic smashed potatoes with lemon-pepper fish and a salad. We had chili earlier in the week, to everyone’s satisfaction. What sort of recipes do you trot out for the change in season?

Most of all, the dreary weather means finding extra delight in cross stitching. Yesterday I completed my Prairie Schooler exchange and also worked a bit further on the new design shown in the previous post. The eyelet alphabet is soothing work to do. Today I’ll put the last stitches on my Blackbird Designs exchange so I can make a trip to the post office and get everything sent out at once.

prairie schooler exchange

Here’s hoping that you and yours are enjoying whatever Mother Nature is bringing your way!

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and other things irresistible

08.25.09 at 3:36 pm · Filed under (new) designs, Stash, stitching, weather

So there are some other sea-lovers out there – I’m glad to be in such good company. :) Luckily there are a lot of wonderful seaside designs to keep us all from feeling too homesick for the crash of surf. And for those who’ve asked me about Tanya’s freebie (shown in previous post), I’d suggest you contact The Sampler Girl herself.

In addition to soaking up lots of seaside air, sand, and salt, I indulged in a little pre-shopping before we headed to Maine. Taking advantage of some special sale offers and also picking up some things that I really needed and could save something on the shipping … well, you know how it goes, right? I don’t need to make too many excuses for myself, do I? Well, looking at this picture, maybe I do!

stash of summer 2009

Many thanks to Vikki Clayton for her wonderfulness in getting everything to my Mom’s address during the span of our vacation (despite an order that went on to two pages!), to The Sampler Girl for shipping not only my order but that of my friend Conny to my Mom’s address, to Mary Kathryn for getting orders filled even when distributors are a little slower than they should be ( ;) ), and to Tanya of  The Scarlett House for parting with some gently-used designs at wonderfully generous prices.

To show that my purchases really are justified, here’s some of that HDF linen and silk (Oil of Amber 4113, Examplar Dried Roses, and Knucker) already being worked up into a new design. ;)

NP Wip

Here in the Netherlands, autumn is descending – the rains have begun and the temperatures are dropping. It’s still August! But like it or not, Mother Nature’s following her own schedule and I may as well try to go along gracefully. Wishing you and yours a wonderful week!

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the siren call of the sea

08.24.09 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Maine, stitching

Thanks for your nice comments about the pictures of our trip home to Maine. :)

No story about Maine would be complete, however, without special attention paid to its gorgeous coastline and the lure of the ocean. My mom’s family were originally islanders, and I swear a love of the sea was bred into me generations ago. Is such a thing possible? Certainly not many of us have managed to move any great distance from the coast (even if some of us are near a coast in a different country, LOL). Here are a few pictures I snapped from Mount Desert Island and Beals Island. 

maine boats

When I opened my order from The Sampler Girl - always a great delight! – and I saw the freebie she’d enclosed, I immediately set to stitching it in my choice of Vikki Clayton’s silks on a piece of banding I’d just bought that day for a different project. Shown here with the backing fabric, the entire phrase reads, “May your joys be as deep as the ocean, your sorrows as light as its foam.” Thanks for another gorgeous design, Tanya!

SamplerGirl freebie with fabric

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it’s okay to play with your food

08.23.09 at 4:10 pm · Filed under Maine, friends, stitching, stitchy gifts

In keeping with the theme of vacation fun, I thought I’d share some pictures of fun with food. Being in Maine, it was mandatory that we enjoy some good Maine lobster. And boy, did we! The kids were fascinated with the creepy crustaceans and frankly enjoyed playing with them more than eating them. LOL. We had learned quite a bit about lobsters back in May, so the kids could show off their knowledge by accurately identifying the swimmerets rather than calling them ‘the little legs’ like everyone else was doing. ;) We had lobster rolls with my Mom and were treated to hardshell lobsters at my Dad’s. Yummo!

Lobster fun 

Of course there were also cookouts and picnics, mostly by the seaside. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for a few of these outings (shame on me!) but I’m sure it’s obvious that fun was had by all, all the time. This collage also includes a shot of the blueberry pie eating contest at the Blueberry Festival - the kids were utterly fascinated by the concept of “having” to eat as much pie as fast as possible! And for some reason, I neglected to take any photos at Sara & Ken’s, where we were treated to some heavenly catfish and grilled chicken.

picnic collage 

Several people have asked, “But did you do any stitching??” I had hoped to accomplish a great deal in that area – although I fell far short of my goal, I was happy with what I did get done. I stitched Tanya’s freebie on a lovely bit of banding and I finished a sampler of my own design. I also happened by a yard sale that included some lovely vintage linens and lace. But best of all by far was finally meeting Jenna! Niek and I abandoned the kids left the kids with their Grandma and made the drive up to Princeton, ME where Jenna & Terry were visiting family. It was such a wonderful treat to finally meet up IRL, and Jenna gifted me with some very special treasures (shown in the middle photo displayed on the yard sale finds).  Hugs to you, Jenna! :D

stitching related treasures Jenna and I meet in Princeton

And now I’ll bid you a fond farewell for the day. Though the laundry is nearly caught up, there’s plenty more to keep me busy here at Chateau Chaos. Best wishes, dear friends, for a lovely day!

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beginnings … but what IS the beginning?

08.22.09 at 5:55 pm · Filed under Maine

They say you should begin at the beginning and follow from there – but where’s the real beginning? I guess for Chateau Chaos, the beginning of whatever we’re doing is having fun. So that’s where I’ll start talking about our Maine adventures. Of course, there was a lot of fun had, so expect this to run longer than one post. ;)

Naturally, we had fun with family. Seeing my mom and dad again was just incredible – and watching the kids with their grandparents made my heart swell up so large that it hardly fit in my chest. What’s more magical than kids and their grandparents? I still miss mine, and I’m so glad our kids are building up a treasure chest of memories of their wonderful grandparents. (Of course they have wonderful grandparents here in the Netherlands, too! I don’t mean to make anyone feel left out!)

family fun collage

We had fun at the beaches, both ocean and fresh water. I even donned a bathing suit and joined in (I love swimming in the ocean!). Be glad – be very glad – there are no pictures of me, as I looked rather like an Orca whale impersonator. We went to beaches in Bar Harbor, Roques Bluff, and western Maine and although fresh water swimming is less of a shock to the system, we all liked the ocean better. Exploring tidal pools was every bit as much fun as actual swimming, too!

seaside collage

Naturally, we squeezed in a bit of culture. We went to the Blueberry Festival, a big happening up in Machias for one special weekend in August, and the kids loved the jokesy Blackfly Breeding Association booth where they posed with the huge blackfly. At a Bar Harbor seafood restaurant, Max demonstrated the fun of lemon wedges. And we visited the Burnham Tavern in Machias where I regretfully learned that inside pictures were not permitted. Sigh.

cultural fun

Naturally, there was much (much!) more, but the laundry machine must be fed now if the kids are to have clean clothes for Monday’s return to school. I’ll stop here, just adding that it was a most wonderful time and we are all quite sorry that it’s over. Thank you to wonderful family and friends for making time and space for us, and to many other friends for understanding why we were unable to visit due to the very short span of our vacation. Love to all!!

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the joys of jetlag

08.21.09 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Maine

Okay, there aren’t any  joys of jetlag that I’ve discovered, but I wanted an upbeat title and I wanted to let you know that I’m back in the Netherlands after three wonderful (if short) weeks in Maine. There simply was not enough time to do all that I would like to do – particularly meeting up with friends – but we had a wonderful time and the kids are completely hooked on American living and their family in that part of the world. I even got a mild sunburn from all our time at the beach. Pictures will, I promise, follow … just as soon as I track down that pesky uplink cable. :D

Hugs to everyone! I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to during these past three weeks!

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