My Little Model

Still to pre-occupied to write more so here are some photos of Clem in the goodies i've been making him. Good thing i brought the booties to the hospital, they just fit him! I actually started embroidering onesies while in labour. But, as you can imagine, i didn't get very far and i still have some more to do - clearly not a priority right now.

If only i had the energy and time and focus to make some Li'l Squirt Covers (aka pee pee tee pees) as i need some! Maybe if i make them in baby steps, no pun intended

Our Little One

So our newest family member has joined us - just one day after his due date!

Please allow me to introduce you to Clem Baldwin S. He was born on Sunday, June 28 at 1:43pm and weighed 8.8 lbs. He's a little gem but we're still recovering from the birth and trying to get on top of breast feeding and sleeping. I will write more later, when energy returns or when i can take my hands off him, whichever comes first.

One thing i can share is that i love my little boy was born on Toronto's big annual Pride festival. About hours before his birth, we even witnessed a rainbow outside our window!

Not Your Everyday Dress

I wanted to spend some time doing things that weren't focused on the baby. So, i set out to make a long overdue project for our clothespins. We have a clothesline that i can't wait to hang our cloth diapers from, but the container that holds the pins gets gunk in it every time it rains. Real gunk that leaves marks on our freshly washed clothes. Defeats the whole purpose, right?
So, i went to my favourite local Value Village in search of the perfect dress to hold them. Yes, i said dress and i went shopping in the baby section not for my baby but for clothespins! I was inspired by other similar projects i've seen in craft and design books, as well as at various blogs - these pin holders were especially popular during the 1930s and 40s, and have such a lovely whimsical feel.

Instead of making one from scratch, i found the perfect dress - one with buttons on the back, so that our hands can reach inside. I just love restructuring things! I then sewed a small pouch to fit inside and hold the pins. I inserted it into the dress, careful to not sew the dress closed or distort its shape. The pouch turned out looking like bloomers - an even cuter addition! I reinforced the stitches to make sure they hold the weight of the pins.

Now i just have to store it inside so that this cute number never gets dirty and weight. Good thing it looks so cute in my kitchen with all my aprons, as the back door to the laundry line is just outside the kitchen!

Tofu Burgers

After our recent garden party, i had quite a bit of extra firm tofu left over. Since we didn't just want to make scrambled tofu all the time, i looked at creating some other tasty dishes. Here's one i loosely based from the cookbook Everyday Vegan. I made it my own mainly because i didn't have all their ingredients, but also because it was fun to experiment!

The burgers came out nice and plump, and quite light - not as dense as i expected. I'm happy to report that a tofu-based burger, one that is pureed even, is quite nice!

Tofu Burgers

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp Braggs
1 package extra firm tofu
1/2 cup beans in tomatoes
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp Braggs
2 tsp stone ground Mustard
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp chili powder

1) Saute onions in oil, over medium heat. Season with s/p and add carrots. Saute both until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, pepper and Braggs. Continue to cook until all softened and combined well. Remove from heat.
2) Break tofu into chunks, and then place in food processor. Puree until mashed.
3) Place all above ingredients into large bowl, and stir to combine with spatula. Then add remaining ingredients, making sure to mix well.
4) If not moist and/or sticking together well, add more breadcrumbs and/or sauce from beans.
5) Scoop mixture into hand, or alternatively a ice cream scoop, and form patties. Using the same pan, coat with more oil. Fry patties over medium for about 5-6 minutes, or until browned.

We made these into sandwiches, and since it made a lot, also over salad as leftovers!

Crafting Up the Baby Room

We've been working on making our own art for the baby's room. I think i'm done now, after making stuff for the last 3 months! Some projects were extra fun as J and i did them together - not something that we do often enough! Here's a photo gallery for you to check out. I've posted some more photos on my Flickr page as well. Stay tuned for photos of the actual room too!Can you tell i have a bit of a theme? Wait till you see more photos of the room, but i am definitely going for a certain feel! I found some of the projects in books and on-line and others we just created ourselves. For instance, i'm sure you've seen the cloth birds around - they've definitely made their way around blogland! But, they are so simple and quick to make, so they make the perfect wall art/mobile! The green leaf pillow (of which i made 2 in different sizes) comes from Simple Gifts to Stitch - i just love that vibrant green.

Thing i made from scratch - 1) the fun storybook blocks. I found images (agan in the same theme) and modge podged them onto blocks of wood. I then added some fun details, to make a simple collage of sorts. To see the details, click here and here. 2) J also has been really into crafting these days, and is especially into screen work and stenciling. So, we decided to work together on making these lovely fabric art pieces, complete with the appropriate black and white art that newborns can actually see. We placed the 5 pieces above the crib, but as babe will be co-sleeping with us most of the time, this will be something to be enjoyed a bit later on. 3) J and i also collaborated on the birdhouse. Growing up, this was a project my parents did together, so it is only fitting that now J and i are - my dad would build the house and my mom would paint it in her folk art glory! We changed it up a bit - J made an alpine-inspired house, and i decorated in some of my favourite vintage green fabrics.

I guess you can call making crafts for the baby's room my take on this whole 'nesting' phase. I have 2 weeks to go today, and am very excited. The room and our home is pretty much ready, and i'm now focusing on preparing myself physically for the birth and mentally for the labour and what comes after!

It's Raining Baby Showers!

I'm 37 weeks now, which is very exciting as the midwife said that means the baby is term. Not that i should expect to give birth this week or anything, but at least i can be reassured that Gumball is ready enough inside to come out without too much complication. Very exciting indeed!

I just have a couple of days left of work and my body is starting to resent the added pressure of leaving the comforts of my home, and more specifically, my bed. I'm getting tired easily and my poor feet are unrecognizable at times! Thankfully, it's summer so i can wear flip flops and sandals that fit.We had a lovely baby party yesterday with friends. The weather cooperated so we were able to to have it in our backyard as we hoped. We decided to make it an 'open house' potluck so that it was easier to chat with folks instead of having everyone come at once. It also allowed me to have a mellow energy. Friends organized this for us, for the most part, and it reminded me how much we're loved and how wonderful of a community Gumball has already. We also didn't really want too much of traditional shower so the only things that reminded us all (besides my ever-present belly!) were a few decorations i placed around the backyard.I wanted to make my all-time favourite appetizer treat, the Devilled Tofu dish that i think is perfect for a summer backyard party/shower. I also created a lovely drink that had goodies fresh from our garden. Here's the recipe, as requested by some friends present at the party:
Rhubarb Mint Lemonade

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
3 lemons, organic preferrable
4 cups water, or to taste

1) Place rhubarb, sugar, and water in pot and boil. Turn to simmer and cook for 15-20 more minutes or so, or until bright red in colour. Add mint in last 5 minutes or so. Let cool.
2) Strain rhubarb and mint with a fine sieve into pitcher.
3) Squeeze juice of 2 1/2 lemons and pour into pitcher. Add water to taste - this can be quite a sweet drink otherwise! With 1/2 lemon left, slice and place into pitcher for added flair.Our amazing friends also brought some great dishes and gifts - very generous indeed. We received some lovely things, and some precious handmade goodies, both by our friends themselves and by local artists (see photo above of the wonderful quilt by our friend Suzanne, the retro cloth wet bag, wooden box puzzle, and a month-long dinner service by our friends Mo and Ben! Of course, we got some other amazing, practical, and exciting other gifts too. I wish i had the space to feature them all. But, for some more photos, go to the Flickr set here. Not only did the gifts but also the energy yesterday solidify how much our friends know us, quirks and all! We had a lovely time and having the party this weekend really helped me jump over the hurdle that in only a few weeks time, we'll have Gumball in our arms! Wow! Thank you everyone.

Our Own Community Garden

We decided this year to extend our backyard space to friends who live close by, don't have an outdoor area, and who love gardening and fresh food like us. Though it's stretching the concept of community garden a wee bit, it's our own personal interpretation of it.

We all have met and discussed what veggies, fruit, and flowers we'd like to grow, as well as where and how to grow them. It's been great learning both from our friends' knowledge of gardening as well as they good books we now have in our ever-growing library.

Here are some great books that helped us get started:
* Garden Anywhere by Alys Fowler
* All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
* You Grow Girl by Gayle Trail
* A Year on the Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot
* Compost by the publishers of Rodale Organic Gardening Basics magazine

This past weekend, we made a huge dent in the garden. A beautiful day perfect for gardening allowed us to fill container boxes with soil and some actual goods! J and a wonderful friend made the boxes a couple of weeks ago - and we made one especially for Gumball! (our baby to be, not our lovely cat, who also loves the outdoors!)Now we just have to stay on top of watering the little lovelies. Already, there are some great things growing in the garden (from last year) like Laurel, Chives, Mint, Raspberries, Marigolds, Currants, Sorel, Rhubarb, Green Onions, Garlic, and more. This past weekend, we planted veggies like zucchini, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, more herbs (basil, lavendar thyme), as well as some great flowers like sweet peas, zinnias, cosmos, coneflowers, and hollyhock.

We're on a tight budget as well as trying to stay organic. Not always things that work together well. We also have to cover the lovely work so that the stray cats and other outdoor critters don't just jump in. When we can, we'll take away the barricade, and put cayenne pepper done - humans 1, stray cats 0! I also love how none of us have a car, but we managed just fine carting stuff around - with quite the handy contraption, i'd say. Speaking of handiness, don't you just love the reused NDP sign used as a wall for Gumball's garden?

We have a lot more to do, but after this week and the great teamwork with our friends, we're pretty optimistic. We're all already dreaming about community dinners focused around our bounty - dishes made solely from our garden like Tomato and Basil Tarts, gazpacho soup, garlic salads, zucchini fries...mmm! Thanks for all the great teamwork everyone!

A Quiet Long Weekend

We're having our first long weekend of the summer here - okay, not quite summer but i always associate Victoria Day long weekend with summer. Maybe because in years past, it was spent going camping with friends, and now it's a perfect weekend to start real gardening work.

Not that i'm doing much gardening myself. I feel like the foreman or executive chef these days, commanding my honey to do stuff that i think needs to get done. Key part of that last sentence what 'i think' needs to get done, but really i know i run a tight ship and have high expectations. Even that i'm can't fulfill myself. Getting pregnant has been a wonderful lesson of learning to let go of needing stuff done (and now!), as well as always being on top of things that really aren't that important.Anyway, enough soul talk. We've had a lovely and quiet long weekend here. Went to a craft fair full of local Etsy sellers and bought these lovely vintage tin cupcake holders for $5 total from the lovely woman at Nesting Emily who makes the sweetest pottery pieces.Our little honey is also enjoying the long weekend. I caught him snoring in bed when i went up to change the sheets on our bed. I couldn't disturb him, now could i? Don't you just love to catch a cat snoring and being so relaxed he couldn't have cared i was there? Lovely!