cannon beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a little trip to the Oregon coast last week.  I really wanted to have a little last hurrah before baby boy comes and things get more complicated, and I'm so so sooo glad we made it happen!  We fit so much into our trip (including a three hour stop at ikea--poor Evan!), and I hope to be visiting again soon.

p.s.  This happened while we were gone.  Even though we hadn't known each other very long, I had grown rather fond of mr. tree limb and am sorry to see him go :(  

 

 

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch,you must first create the universe.

-- Carl Sagan

Well I did what I could.  And it was deeeeeeelicious! 

Fall has been making more of an effort lately, and it hasn't gone unappreciated around here. 

 Also, BATS!  In my HOUSE!  I got the idea from here.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

from Posie Gets Cozy

Topping:

3 T. unsalted butter, softened

1/4 c. plus 2 T. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

2 T. flour

Filling:

1 1/3 c. sour cream

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 t. vanilla

2 large eggs

3 T. all-purpose flour

4-5 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Pie crust (I used a pre-made one from the refrigerator section of the grocery store--it was just fine!), fitted into a 9" pie plate

To make the topping, in a bowl blend the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour until the mixture is combined well.  Cover and chill the topping.

To make the filling, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and flour until the mixture is smooth.  Add the apples and stir together.

Spoon the filling into the pie shell and crumble the topping evenly over it.  Bake the pie on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.  Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

sweet home :: a stoffice

Evan thinks it should be the studiffice, but I can never remember how to pronounce that.  So stoffice it is!  I feel so lucky to have this room--a little space to make things.  And I get to share it with Evan's 'man corner' (the computer desk...), which means that at night while Evan's doing man stuff (paying the bills...), we can still hang out together.  I know!  It's just a treasure of a room.

I was going to leave this wall blank, but as it turns out, I can't leave walls blank. So I dug through Evan's map box and picked out the *prettiest* maps to hang up instead.  Evan was concerned because according to him, I picked some really lame (but pretty!) map locations to hang up, but really, I don't think they'll be there forever.

I had one of Evan's pictures printed on a canvas last Christmas and I don't think I've ever showed it off before.  He took this with our crappy point-and-shoot-camera early one morning in the Wind River mountains.  No fancy equipment or anything.  I know!  Amazing!  We had another one made up of a different photo but it's hanging in our room.  

For my birthday this year I got a drafting table/drafting lamp/drafting chair.  It was Evan's idea and I thought it was such a good one!  Evan is kind of my number one fan--he is sooo supportive of my creative endeavors.  Whenever we have people over he insists on the complete Holly Art Tour (it can be rather exhausting!) because sometimes I can be a little bit shy about all the stuff I make.  And when I happen to be taking a painting break he kindly suggests that it might be time to go on an art store shopping spree.  It really is so sweet.  And finally having a *real* setup is super exciting.  Now I just need to use it haha!

And if you're wondering where all the supplies are hiding...

they are here.

aaaaaaand here.  I like it because some craft supplies just weren't meant to be organized.  So it's nice to hide them instead :)

This is my little sewing corner and so far I don't miss having a gigantic table to work on.  We found this awesome sewing table at a yard sale shortly after moving here.  There is a real live sewing machine living inside of it!  Proof:
(also, there is captured proof of my list problem above....)

I had to de-smellify it, but shoot, it cleaned up real nice!

Also, I've been told it still works but I haven't tried it out yet.  Probably because I'm kind of scared (the plug is a little bit wire-y).

My family left this morning after a very quick weekend visit.  It was really really really nice to have some company!  I took two pictures while they were here, and my sister captured the one of me and baby on a bike ride (a bicycle built for two!), so I have three whole pictures to share :)

You should know that I used 15 cups of flour on Sunday.  Cinnamon rolls and pizza dough--we are good at carbs over here, what can I say?!

little critters

I've been slowly gathering things for baby boy's room and these little critter prints make me so, so, so happy.  

Probably because they remind me of a certain not so little critter that lives in my house.  He loves to sleep curled up like a fox, and if it's cold, he burrows his face under his fluffy tail.  It's pretty adorable.  I ordered the prints during Heather Ross' studio sale, and when they arrived I realized that I can count on one hand the number of things hanging on our walls that aren't Holly-made (or Evan-captured).  That's pretty lame of me--I need to be better about supporting other artists!

 p.s. pumpkin cookies!  these are my very favorite ones (and not to brag, but I'm somewhat of a pumpkin cookie expert....)  They remind me of a macaroon, a little crusty on the outside and perfectly wonderful and soft on the inside.

Have a happy weekend!

weekending

 

 

There was some hiking, some pizza, and some bike riding.  Poor Gesso woke up with the weirdest eye infection and didn't come along.  We felt super guilty the whole hike--we haven't left him home since he was a little puppy!  He's all better now, thank goodness.

other thoughts:

::  I finally gave in and bought some maternity jeans... and let me tell you something: I think the world would be a much better place if everyone traded in their constricting waist bands for stretchy maternity pants.   So comfortable!

::  I found out yesterday that my family is coming for a surprise visit this weekend--yippee!

::  This has been the warmest fall I can remember and I am kind of over it.  Every morning is like groundhogs day--I wake up thinking it's going to feel like fall, but it's still 80 degrees and sunny.  I keep over-dressing because deep down I know it's supposed to be fall, but it's pretty much still summer.

practically sewing

I have been doing lots of practical sewing lately.  I love making functional things--it makes me feel really thrifty (even if it would cost less to just buy it!) and old fashioned.  I didn't anticipate how much I'd love sewing for my little baby.  I am pretty sentimental/emotional anyway, but pregnant me is kind of over-the-top sappy.  While I'm sewing I like to think about this little soul I will be meeting soon and my mind wanders all over the place, from wondering if he'll have hair, to if he'll love the mountains, to if he'll be a smarty-pants like his papa.  It's been very therapeutic, especially when I'm not feeling that great, to quietly sew and think about these things.



First I made a small tower of chenille burp cloths using Dana's tutorial (very soft!).  

And this is baby's lumberjack blanket.  I love flannel--so soft and homey!  And the fuzzy side feels just like Gesso's ears.

I have been quietly collecting baby flannel for a few years, knowing that it would eventually get made into a pile of receiving blankets--and it finally did!  I had already planned on keeping things gender neutral (no sense in having to start from scratch after each baby!), so I stuck to my favorites--lots of blue and green.

I thought these quick change diaper kits were such a swell idea that I whipped up a few (tutorial).  They contain a homemade changing pad, some wipes, a onesie, and some *tiny* diapers.  I plan on throwing one in my purse, one in the car, and maybe even one in the ski bag (wishful thinking??).

And I know that baby boy isn't really going to care what his toys look like, but I will.  And using the pattern in Handmade Beginnings, I made my own Henny Penny.  She was a labor of love (those baby birds were such a pain!), but I think she was worth it.

If you lift up her wing her babies are stuck with their velcro wings.  Can you even stand how cute that is??

 

 And some more weird little toys.  This sun ray toy (stuffed with that crinkly envelope-window stuff) made from this tutorial, and some ribbon-triangle-bells things (I lost the link to the tutorial--oops!).

 I also made a little bear out of some wool scraps (using this tutorial), and I even made him some corduroy pants with suspenders and a bow tie......and he turned out kind of creepy.  I still can't decide if it's good creepy or just creepy creepy.  So I didn't take his picture.

Whew.  Who's ready for a nap?

Monday Things

 

 

Monday things:

:: Gesso likes the new rug (me too).

::  We have grapes!  Thinking of starting a small grape juice company.

::  We live by the very best park ever.

::  The wildflowers are out of the box!  

Happy Monday to you!

weekending

After witnessing last weekend eaten up by home projects (again), I decided that it was time to make some changes.  Because you see, all work and no play not only makes Holly dull, but also pretty cranky.  So now there are some pretty serious rules in place that every other weekend is to be spent doing fun things.

So this weekend I tore my irrigation engineer away from the sprinkler system, and goshdarnit, we had ourselves some FUN.

 

 We went to dinner at a friends house and came home with an alarming amount of produce.  My favorite part would have to be all those juicy raspberries.  Don't worry, I sent that bucket back full of cookies--I'm secretly hoping to establish a symbiotic relationship.  

We also played in the mountains.  

And then there were milkshakes.

*burp*

the september scene

It's been a rough couple of weeks as I've been dealing with some kidney issues (is it hydronephrosis or kidney stones?? it seems no one can decide...).  I spent several days whimpering on the sofa, but that got old pretty fast.  So I came to the conclusion that as long as I was going to be uncomfortable anyway, I might as well be getting stuff done.  And wouldn't ya know, I'm starting to feel a little better.  As it turns out, sulking isn't good for anybody.  Plus I get to be pregnant, which is pretty cool.

I feel like I'm behind on a lot of things as I've been moving at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace these days, but don't worry, I've been taking a few pictures.

I took this picture from a helicopter!  Just kidding.  It's a picture of a mini car show I spotted last Saturday while walking around downtown.  I can seriously see myself getting into model trains once I'm old enough.  I love miniature anything!

I'm so glad to finally have my full kitchen back.  It was a weird few months of making do with just a little bit unpacked, but now that everything is finally out, I am very very happy.  And I can't stop baking--oops!

Here is a grainy picture of me in front of my new blue wall!  I blend right in.  I can't wait to show you more photos, but we are still getting everything settled.  Soon enough.

We have averaged a watermelon per week this summer.  I can't get enough of them!  We found these little yellow melons at the farmers market and they are fantastic.  

This picture makes me laugh so hard.  I had been up early sorting books (by color, of course), and Evan had to squeeze in to eat his cereal.  He looks annoyed, but in actuality, that's the face he make's whenever he's super impressed with my sorting skills.  haha.

Hope you are having a nice September!