A Bookish Life

Who are those masked men?

We have two new raccoon baby friends that showed up yesterday. They can be seen playing on our porch under the paternal gaze of our cat most days.

Relaxing

We were bound and determined to have a relaxing weekend full of long walks, good conversations, naps, and fun books.

I finished reading Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (liked it, but still prefer Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) and caught up on time spent wandering lovingly through my garden. The actual weeding too closely resembled work, so I saved that for another day.

Today I'm loving the slow pace, the rainy downpour, and the dark, dark sky.

Cate in the blogosphere

Some pictures of "Baby Cake" playing with Abby. She really doesn't mind being petted and kissed. Abby seemed to love her immediately. She was fascinated by her tiny baby toes and her pacifier. And here is one hanging out with her cousins at the ranch.

3 1/2 weeks in

I promise that one of these days soon I'll be posting something other than pictures of my beautiful daughter. But, look here! Sometimes she opens her eyes and plays before settling back into a nap.

The last few weeks have brought a steep learning curve, but it already feels like she's been with us for a long time. She has had the pleasure of meeting three of her great-grandparents, getting licked on the foot by her dog, Amos, and going to church twice. She has also met her new friends, the twin Jackson boys (I made her a new dress for the occasion) and been to the Roden house and her Nanny's ranch-- where we exclaimed over the baby goats hopping about next door.

She doesn't read quite yet, but she does listen to readings from The Ambassadors, by Henry James and we watched Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn, among others, on one of many sleepless nights. Today will be our second attempt at delivering coffee together, we have a lunch date, and a wedding to attend in a week. It's a busy, busy life, but we're definitely having fun.

Making Time

The last couple days have passed in a bit of a blur. Taking care of a terribly sick husband, visiting a new baby (!), spending time with several important people, and trying to get my work done and my house clean on the side, has left little room for swimming (ah, disappointment- but at least its gotten cold and I don't have the same desperate desire), reading, resting, or creative endeavors.

I picked up five small kale plants, five blueberry plants, and a rose bush from the plant nursery today, so hopefully tomorrow I will be creating a little in the garden.

Tonight I'm passing the time watching Planet Earth past my bedtime, trying to finish a couple resumes before their deadlines (my day job is resume writing), and taking the occasional, procrastinator blog break.

Cinnamon spice and everything nice.

This week we found out our tiny 20-week old baby is a girl! My mind is racing with girlness- onesies with liberty of london patches, a pink and cream quilt, girl names, and just how sure I am that she's going to be a daddy's girl.

I've been scouring the internet to find cool baby things that support artists and artisans. I know at some point we will buy our daughter a paper airplane onesie from Freelisa. This giraffe onesie at Mahar Drygoods is completely precious too.

We bought an antique dresser yesterday to fit everything in. The work continues on fixing up the nursery. I'm still feeling great- lots of energy and tip top health. Now I just need to find endless time for sewing cute little outfits myself. And rereading all of Jane Austen's books.

Cold snap

I am loving Ann Patchett's new book this week. I started reading yesterday morning in bed on the back porch of a Texas Century old farmhouse. The windows were all open, the winds were cool, and all my people were sleeping. It seemed that even the tiny one inside was. I am 18 weeks, but already I've felt some flutters out of that one, and it's a nice companionship we're creating.

I made a dress to wear to an Austin wedding this weekend. I hope to show you tomorrow. It's lavender silk with lace and I am awfully proud of it.

Today the weather turned cold and I got to pull out a sweater I bought in Paris for the first time. My mind, like Manda's, also returned to quilting, since I have been cold throughout my pregnancy too.

With some time set aside to think about Christmas presents and a bloodhound standing on the picnic table, just waiting for me to come outside and play with him, I think it's shaping up to be another fine morning.

Gifts

One thing I have to say for this baby I'm having: I'm pretty sure that it's just about the luckiest kid in the world when it comes to grandparents. Not even 5 months old, and already it has a gift from each grandma waiting for it. I'm pretty sure our baby is going to be swamped in love; I'm fairly certain it already is.

Already this little button has a stuffed sheep from Paris and a fuzzy pair of puppy slippers. These things are politely sitting in their tiny corner of "nursery", waiting for their owner to appear! (of course right now the "nursery" is still a sewing room, but I'm waiting for the piles of fabric to magically fold and organize themselves so there's room for baby things to move in).

Thinking in lists

If I ever get another free minute, I'm definately making dress 3745 from the new Fall Simplicity collection. It's a long shot, but I've heard miracles do still happen.

Until then:
- finishing up the art quilt commission.
- weeding the garden, because my mom said she'd help and the neighbors have been antsy about it for weeks.
- altering a mother of the bride dress.
- groceries, because I think we still sit down to eat around here.
- finishing a writing assignment.
- sewing lessons #2!
- celebrating my gentle, handsome, smart, and talented husband's birthday. I got him the new Annie Dillard book and a bottle of Scotch. He already opened it. Who can wait until the actual day to open presents?!?!

And that's the way it goes.

Whew, it's a little bumpy still, but here I am again. At the end of May we found out that Brian lost his job. Since then, life has been a roller coaster of options- we were screaming mostly for the adventure of it. Thus begins a new chapter where he will be writing and creating from his own little home office, surrounded by raw coffee beans.

Bookish coffee is shipping weekly subscriptions this month and the website will be finished as soon as our web designer returns from vacation.

Bookish quilts and all its crafting permutations have been slightly on hold. It's difficult for me to create when energy is flying out in other directions. The art quilts generally form out of an overflow of love, beauty, and gratitude but all of that has been better directed elsewhere for the last month. I know you understand.

So here I am, showing you a skirt I made out of floral green and white cotton. It's so pretty with a green shirt and white ballerina shoes. I can't promise to be here with 100%, but I'm giving it all I've got.