Thing.

I was reading another soulful entry of Cousin Sarah's yesterday about all the fun little pet names she has picked out for her sweet kids to come. From Little Orc to Youngling I loved them all, which really is no surprise to other word nerds out there. Don't you get such a thrill when you come across the perfect word summation for a person/place/thing?
So, naturally, we have about 20 pet names for Greta.
-The Barley, Greter, Greta-Bear, Greta-Bug, Bug, Thing, Thing-a-Ling, Baby, Baby-girl, Greta-Girl...
Probably the most commonly used as of late are Greta-Girl, (because I have always been Kirstie-Girl to my mom and don't we always just turn into our moms without knowing it?)
And Thing. Kent and I always thought it was such a funny pet name from Adam's Rib. Well it stuck, and while it may raise an eyebrow in the grocery store it is one of our most loving pet names.
Here are a couple of photos of Thing doing her thing today. 

It's been tricky getting a good picture of her lately since the most unwelcome attitude has settled upon her the last week or two...or three. Call it molars, call it the terrible twos, call it 'has a cold' (I know I have been), but she has been one gusty little weather system and breaks of playful sunshine like this are so good for my soul.
Her Nana and Papa are arriving tonight from Virginia to spend some time with us, so here's to hoping for good weather this week!

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was my boy's birthday:)
And being a man who likes to keep things simple and unassuming, he wanted nothing more than a nice tromp in the woods for his birthday.
*Enter wife who makes a big deal about everything*
We started off the morning with a birthday treasure hunt! Each clue (in the shape of a hamburger element) that led him to another until it brought him to his birthday present stowed deep in the bowels of our garage. A charcoal Weber grill! (Girls say Ta-daaaa!)  (boys say Aaaargh!)
There will be meat this summer.

Then we had an explorer sort of party where some of the men folk went for a tromp in the woods and looked for geochaches while the ladies stayed home with their knitting until the adventurers returned for a chili feast and a cake that was supposed to look like a log.

It was such a nice day.
Kent came down with a little case of the After-Birthday-Blues. A condition I know oh  so well, and seem to contract after any sort of holiday/get together. But to me, it was a nice compliment. That his day wasn't like just any old day and that I got to help make him feel a little more of the special he is....was a gift to me.
I love me some of that boy.

Girl Crush-Doris Day

I was doing my thing at the gym today* where among the luxury of 45 minutes all to my own, I also get a glimpse into the world of television. (Picking up a few channels for free and by accident hardly qualifies as "having tv" at our house.)
Usually I indulge in a little HGTV or the occasional Extreme Home Makeover, but today I settled on a biography of fabulous Doris Day.
Something about her just says to me "You are home now, relax." Probably comes from growing up with all her movies and yes... listening to her albums. (I prefer old-soul to mega-nerd by the way.)
She is so clean, bubbly, and stylish. When I was a girl and my friends and I would play house my name was always Kate McKay, after her character in Please Don't Eat the Daisies.
And why not? Who as a girl doesn't want to grow up to be the chic, successful career woman she always plays, who's dragging around Rock Hudsons and James Garners?
I know her life was not nearly as happy-charming as her movies, but she is one of those girls who totally charms me.

*Yep, months later and I'm still going to the gym. Anyone lose any bets?

image by Leo Fuchs 1963

Dear Readers

The funny thing about blogging is that so much of what you do feels just like talking to yourself in the store parking lot. Private...but actually quite public.
I send out pictures and anecdotes to what most days feels like the Great Void Beyond. But then sometimes you are reminded that Hey! People actually read this stuff?
Like today. A sweet east coast reader sent me a lovely email that was so timely and encouraging. It is fun to know that there are people who are relating to you over their sandwich while I'm picking the bread crumbs out of my keyboard a couple time zones away.
So...


















We've got Barley news and the final tweaks to letter B coming up!

Happy Memorial Day

A to B

A is done! It took a little time to find the best way to scan and edit the original illustration, but I think I have landed on a pretty little copy.
I am going to do a couple more letters before I start putting them in the shop. Now it's time for B!
I love my ABCs...

Au Naturale

Kent and I have been talking lately about getting serious about choosing healthier meat options.  As it is becoming more and more apparent that the meat and eggs in our grocery stores are anything but natural (or good for you) we have decided to go ahead and make the jump to organic and natural meat for a one year trial.
Yay! and Ugh!
Yaaay, because we like to eat and care about what we eat. Ugh, because it will mean "so long" to that economy sized bag of Costco frozen chicken...you and your saline solution were such a good deal.
We have been hearing awesome things around town about Bill the Butcher so yesterday we kicked off the year with a field trip.
It was the first butcher shop I have been in and was quite impressed...it all felt very European.  Small, personal, and all the people there are chefs who really know their meat.
So we got some dry cured bacon for our cobb salads yesterday (sooo good), and two chicken breasts for tonight's dinner.

Spendy. We might be choosing the vegetarian option at home most nights. But we are excited for the challenge!
Now this doesn't mean we won't have our splurges now and then. Sometimes a couple needs a jumbo jack...don't ask questions just eat. And we won't be picketing for a chicken's right to vote either so just put that Hippie Hate sign away.
But for us, for this house we are ready to eat meat the way we were intended to, for a year at least.