strawberries and cream cake board for work

TURTLE! laying eggs @ candie and al's. don't worry, i got this photo with the awesome zoom on my camera.

i took this photo on my first trip up to the farm misha's friend erik's family owns.  they grow their hops up there.  it's about 30 minutes away, almost in pennsylvania.  when i took this photo, spring hadn't quite taken hold yet.  the photos below are from when we went up recently to check out the damage to the hop structure.  a neighbor mowing the high grass on the hill accidentally ran over one of the stucture's stays (a concrete block) with the back hoe and it exploded, causing one side of the structure to snap from too much pressure.  luckily the neighbor jerry-rigged it for the time being and the hops are fine, and soon misha and erik will be fixing and re-doing the whole structure.

they're already about 10 feet tall, and you can already see little hop buds!

i learned how to make buttercream roses! 

the steak cake!  it's cooked rare... :)

these are the two bowls i made in my potter's wheel class i took at clayworks.  it was a christmas present from misha, and i still have one more to take.  eventually i want to take a 6 week course- it was so much fun, and it was a peaceful and satisfying art experience unlike any i've had recently.  plus, i am so happy with the outcome! 

new prints i'm working on....

this is the last picture i got of the birds.  look how big they are!  since this photo was taken, they have flown the coop.  in fact, one day i accidentally scared them, and they went flying from the nest, and i felt so bad until i realized- they really know how to fly!  they were fine, and in the next week or two would be flying back and forth from the nest to the great wilderness constantly, making non-stop noise.  now they're gone for good and the nest is empty, which is a little sad but it's so nice to have some peace and quiet again!  i really enjoyed watching them hatch and grow, it was a crazy experience- people see people and cats and dogs grow from babies to adults all the time, but watching birds do it close-up is more unusual!

these hearty streusel muffins were delicious!  they were full of berries, whole wheat flour, spelt flour, oats, honey, and more with a delicious brown sugar and pecan streusel on top.  i got the recipe from a book i recently read (and loved) by barbara o'neal (i read all her books after i read this one).  it's called "how to bake a perfect life".  i certainly think her recipes help you do that!

misha bought me a beautiful glass pendant and then made me this AMAZING hemp necklace to go with it!  i am so lucky to have such a talented and thoughtful boyfriend! i love the necklace and wear it everyday :) *update: my good friend sam fidler, who is 6 (or 7?), loves snakes, and pointed out to me that it looks like there are snakes in my glass pendant.  pretty sweet, huh? thanks, sam! :)

these are some headbands i made for mother's day.  super easy and fun, i spent a whole afternoon happily working on these.  i sent my mom one and made two for myself- we'll have to take a matching photo this summer!  you can easily make one too! 

mother's day board i did at work for the whole body team.  and two photos (below) that i  took just for my mom!

mom- i told you the azaleas up here were amazing! love you!

rosemary boule board i did for work

before- old dresser

after- new dresser!

wow do i have a lot of catch-up posts to make!  we got this dresser a long time ago, because we needed more drawer space and a nicer piece of furniture.  my old dresser had a beautiful shape figure but was in terrible shape- the drawers didn't slide and the top was cracked and destroyed.  i was never going to get around to putting work into it, so my good friend jane and i went to the goodwill in timonium and found this beauty.  the shape is not quite as alluring as the old dresser, but it has much more space, gorgeous wood with a beautiful finish and inlaid carving, and even better- the drawers slide! only problem- i can barely see in the mirror now haha