yeah colts!

yes i like the colts because when i was a little girl, i liked the pencil with the horseshoe on it. (collecting nfl pencils was big in the seventies, am i dating myself?)

changes in the air

this post is bittersweet for me.



it is about a wonderful place i have mentioned before many times, the shop bananaberry. the owner, kelli, has become a great friend of mine and i am not sure if she REALLY knows how special she is and how special her store was. unfortunately bananaberry is closing.



i stumbled onto bananberry when i had an hour to kill while emily was in ballet class next door, it was love at first site. kelli had the most gorgeous and unique toys and handmade kids clothes, tons of stuff made by local crafters. there was a photo studio focused on family and kids, guitar and piano lesson studios, kids were coming in and out with instruments, really unique. this was all new to me, this marketplace type shop, i had just had elizabeth and was in a post baby fog, not sure if i was coming or going. week after week i found myself hanging out shopping and chatting and just soaking up the atmosphere. kelli is so fun and enthusiastic, she really loves unique things and i found myself looking forward to ballet class so i could talk with her. sometimes there were half a dozen people trying to talk with her, she is just that cool!

somewhere along the line she expanded the store, adding a yarn shop and kids art classes, always increasing handmade things from local artists. my mom and i learned to knit at a beginning knit class and emily spent last summer taking art classes. her toy section always had the neatest stuff, often retro or modern in design. i loved buying gifts there because it was always well received and different.

when i finally had the nerve to sell some of my own creations, it was all because of kelli, she made me feel good and confident to try something new. she put my owls in her shop and enthusiastically promoted them, emailing me whenever one sold. it was soooo exciting and it meant a lot to me. it felt like a collaborative effort and fun too.

unfortunately the store has to close, but the essence of bananaberry will live on in me and all the people who loved going there. i hope to be a part of kelli's next project and i can't wait to see what she comes up with!

all clean

still feeling a bit sick and now lizzie has the stomach flu, at least the cabin is clean, thanks maryann!

cabin cleaning time

i left work sick yesterday, man i almost passed out on a patient, it just came on so fast. fever, chills, body aches...sorry pat! i was really wacked out, slept from 2pm to 6pm when chris came home with the crew of kids. i felt so much better so fast after that nap. that was one wierd flu bug. today i still feel congested but better, i have plans to clean and declutter the cabin (takes months to plan these things with friends and everyone's hectic schedules) so i popped two sudafed and plan on heading up with my good buddy maryann. we have plans to scrub the hell out of the place and then relax with movies, wine and chit chat. not sure if i am up to the wine, but i will give it a go.

working on our patches

vitamin c

orange, banana, mango, ice...have a nice day!

gvl game

here is the game we made to sell (5 bucks a pop)...for the artisan tour last november. we had so much fun making it and sold two. the cost to make and the time involved far surpassed what we sold them for....but everyone in the famly put their two cents in on the gvl theme cards. the cards were designed to move you through the game and they were specific to the green valley lake community. examples: "spring clean around your cabin, find a buried treasure, you're rich! move ahead two" and "uh oh, forgot your gloves, back one space" and " watch the local band at the pizza restaurant, up too late, back a space" and "spot a bear, freeze! miss one turn" stuff like that. it was a blast to put together. we painted rocks for the space markers. i actually had ten games total completed, we gave away two to our favorite gvl neighbors. thanks kiddley for the idea. still have a few for the next artisan tour for anyone who wants one, come check us out!