christmas tree decorations

 

Our pile of presents under the tree, mostly courtesy of our parents. Plaid tree skirt made by me.

 

Star ornament from Ten Thousand Villages

 

One of the Polish Star/Porcupine Ball/Sea Urchin ornaments. I made four of them. 

They are made from upcycled catalog pages.

Nestled.

Looking at all of it together, it looks like I have a rustic Christmas theme.

Peeking out.

These ornaments have been fun to make. I may continue to make them for gifts and continued use throughout the year.

nyc for thanksgiving

I will write a larger post another day, but I wanted to post that via train and bus we went to NYC for Thanksgiving weekend. We had a fabulous time with Ryan's mom Sue and family. In lieu of the typical thanksgiving dinner, we ate at an Italian restaurant, where the food listed was written in Italian and the food tasted just as authentic. A day of being tourists, we left the following day. I would love to go back another time to soak more culture in.

happy halloween!

Tater says, "Happy Halloween!" She is wearing a bandana from Ryan's mom.

last few events

 Kale and rainbow chard from the Lowell Farmer's Market. It is close to our house but we went for the first time last week where we purchased apples, apple cider, kale and rainbow chard.

 I am so proud of this shelf. I purchased the right size anchors and screws. I drilled the holes. I installed pieces one-by-one. And now I decorated it. I am not sure if I will keep it this way, but for now I like it.

 I redid my nails with a purple base and white dots. I have never done anything other than just paint my nails a solid color.

Tater is still adorable. This is her at the Cedar Lake Trail near Danvers, MA. Ryan had an engagement shoot scheduled but it rained. We walked on the trail for a while and then headed back home.

we adopted!

On the first of September, we adopted a new member of the family into our home from the local MSPCA. Meet Tater Tot, our two-year-old spunky beagle and bulldog (aka beabull) mix.

Even though she ran away a couple times and peed in our bedroom (once), she has already wriggled her way into our hearts and will no doubt stay there for sometime.

parents' visit

My parents came to visit the first week of August. I wasn't able to take any time off from work, but I was able to see them on the weekends and evenings. On the second day, we went to Boston. Unfortunately, it downpoured most of the time. We spent a good amount of time in the Aquarium. I love the jellyfish and sea turtles. My parents enjoyed it as well. One night we spent time on their patio at their hotel room. We had a nice view of the canal and brick buildings. We ate pizza and had some beer. Their last evening here, we headed to one of our favorite places, the Back Page. My dad greatly enjoyed the music, taking photos and tapping along. It was good to see them.

overnight in Boston

These photos are a bit out of order. I get sick of dragging them into the right order, so here you have it.

Ryan, at Wagamama's. I had the veggie dumplings and a curry. Ryan had chicken teriyaki.


We wandered over to Boston Harbor and walked along the boardwalk.


We spent some time in the Commons and the Gardens as well.

Friends of Ryan invited us over to stay in Boston with them. We went out for food and drinks and had a great time. We slept in, meandered for some breakfast and then headed into Boston for a few hours (see pictures above).

Blog for Etsy shop

I made a blog for the Etsy shop today, for those who would like to follow the happenings of it. http://turtandelephant.blogspot.com/

Tower Hill Botanical Gardens

Ryan had an engagement to shoot at Tower Hill Botanical Gardens in Boylston on Sunday and I went along.

more Etsy update

For those of you who like Ryan's photos, he is beginning to sell some hand-printed copies of his work. Check them out here. He is starting with Hoarfrost.

I also made another necklace. It is made of coral colored glass beads and turquoise colored howlite on a two-tiered necklace. Another piece that I would wear myself. The listing is here.



Nearly all packaging I use to send out the items is recycled and/or reused.

TurtandElephant

Last week I decided that I would open an Etsy shop. I love Etsy. I look on there almost every day and am inspired by the items that others make. I thought I could make some as well. I have been to the craft store at least three times this week. There are too many things I like to make, I discovered, so for now the shop will be a hodge podge of home decor, pillows, necklaces, bracelets and scarves. I would like to make a few more things, but have yet to procure a sewing machine. For now it is just something fun to do with extra time...and make a little extra money. Ryan is joining me in this endeavor and will be hand-printing some of his black and white photos for the shop. For those of you who have been waiting for this moment, click here. Below are a few photos of my wares so far:





Prints of Ryan's will be selected from this set on Flickr.

the Cape and 4th of July Weekend

We got up early on Saturday morning to drive to Chatham, Cape Cod to visit some friends. We had just invited ourselves over a couple of nights before, but travel went fairly smoothly. After preparing lunches and comforting a toddler, we drove to the slip to enjoy a boat ride, lunch and some Atlantic Ocean. In the above image, we are getting back onto the boat after enjoying a sandy walk to the Atlantic Side of Cape Cod.



Susan, being fabulous on the boat, while holding the Beedle.


When we arrived back to the boat, we were informed that the Beedle had let go of his kite when excited by the return of his parents. Luckily it could be found. Pops steered the boat near the shallow end and Susan got out and swam/walked to retrieve the kite. Beedle was cheered.

When we returned, Beedle showed me how to be a Jedi:


It's a very intense process.



Later on in the evening, we enjoyed some Old Fashioneds, made by Matt.


Father and son.



Before dinner, we took a walk down to the end of the street, snapping pictures of the view and ourselves.



Susan made a fabulous blackened tofu with salsa, and grilled squash and asparagus for dinner. Once stuffed, we set about to our own devices. Before bed, we walked down the street to view the "planetarium" (it was so dark we could see many stars and the Milky Way). We slept hard.

In the morning, we got ready for the day and packed. Ryan and I went into downtown Chatham to see the different stores and drive to the lighthouse. There were some great places to go into and later on you will see the mirror that I purchased. We drove to Provincetown, which seemed like a fabulous place, except that we could not find any parking. We stopped once at a natural foods store, but could not park there to wander into the town. Vowing to try to go again, we started our drive back home.



When we got there, we found the hallway repainted. Now will they replace the carpet?



This is the mosaic mirror I purchased at Yankee Ingenuity in Chatham.



Brunch I made this morning: tofu, edamamme, broccoli and a whole bunch of spices. Today is for relaxing and doing naught. We do not feel like fighting traffic or finding a parking spot for the fireworks in town, so we will stay put. Happy Fourth, people!