yellow for cheer

• golden beets, prepped for a salad with pistachios and tarragon, recipe here.
• one of four meyer lemons, our local citrus, growing on the windowsill.
• forsythia fabric, via golly bard's spoonflower collection, stitched up into a quilt top, ready for quilting. (sneak peek on the banner).

Just prodding spring a bit.

How are things looking where you live?

There's still time to enter the notecard giveaway...here.

dear readers, i snapped

It was 7 degrees Fahrenheit here when we woke up.

Even my winter-loving patience is wearing thin.

I 'm reposting a few of these pictures because I need 

them to remind me that Persephone 

really, really will return.

*sigh*

(There's still time to enter the giveaway, here). 

notecard giveaway

I haven't hosted a giveaway here in ages, and my etsy shop has been on vacation for ages too. I really don't see reopening it until next fall after the house rehab and Gretta's wedding. So I thought why not open the cupboard and offer a pack or two of my "celebrating the ordinary" notecards?

Printed on card stock credited by the Forest Stewardship Council, the cards are PH neutral. Coated with a satin finish on the front, the inside of the card is uncoated for ease in writing. There are six cards in each pack, with six different images.

If you would like to toss your name in for a chance to find one of these packets tucked in your mailbox, please leave a comment here, or send an e-mail to me at sewandsowlife(at)gmail(dot) com. Be sure to let me know how to find you if you win.

I will draw two winners at random on April first, in celebration of all the wonderful fools in this world. I'll announce the winners by 5PM, EST that day.

I will ship anywhere, because I love snail mail. Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed.

outgoing

it is a cold and grey day here in vermont.

(rain! for the first time in months, it is not snow!)

it's a perfect afternoon to grab a bit of time at the desk...

such comfort in a cup of fennel tea and a bit of correspondence.

a postcard headed to russia via postcrossing,

one to australia to a long time internet friend,

a letter to arizona to my best buddy from college days 

and an annual donation to my beloved earlham college.

the way a wee little stamp can transport sentiment is simply magical,
don't you think?

what a difference a zero makes!

when we woke up yesterday, the temperature was 4 degrees.

this afternoon it has risen to 40!

at long last,

the winter is loosening her grip on us.

the snow is receding from the edges...

of roads, fields and our garden boxes.

soon it will be time to tidy up the place,
including branches that batman pruned
from our apple trees last month.

rubber boots, gardening gloves and maybe a sweatshirt.
oh, what a delightful day that will be!

woolen yarn and storied yarns

It was only 5 degrees when we woke up this morning, so I am casting on some wool, in preparation for tonight's knitting group. It snowed on Saturday and a little on Sunday, and it really is hard to imagine spring arriving anytime soon. I'm knitting up a quick hat in black Peace Fleece, and I love supporting this company (we're all about multiple bottom lines around here). Now that my patient Batman is off at work, I use a director's chair to help me wind a skein of wool into a ball.

Sometimes when I try to be a well-informed citizen of the world, I can become overwhelmed by the negativity that's out there. Balancing "current events" with some carefully selected "human interest" stories can rescue my heart.  Here are a few worthwhile links you might enjoy...

• My brother Doug recommended this documentary to us. We hosted a movie night up here last night and really loved the film. We got it as a DVD from Netflix.
• Do you know of StoryCorps? I heard this one a few weeks ago and loved it. I heard this one last week and had tears in my eyes as I emptied the dish drainer. 
• The Moth Radio Hour is another wonderful place to hear first person stories. I listened to this episode twice I was so moved by it.

Let me know if you listen to any of these links and how you like them. And please, share any stories that you have enjoyed here in the comments. Thanks, friends! 

will this help or will this hinder?

lately i'm asking myself "will this help or will this hinder?"

i'm asking this about many of the choices i make during the day.

what i eat, how i use my time, how i engage in conversations...

will this help or will this hinder

a well lived life?

*recipe for forbidden black rice salad here

*recipe for roasted broccoli salad here

so good.