the county fair

I love going to the fair. I was in bunny 4-H for many years, and got to go to the fair every year. I love the smells, sounds, tastes, I love it all. I was excited to start sharing the fair with Ava this year.
We decided to go on Sunday a 4pm, when the admission was free. It is a small fair, so we figured we would have plenty of time to see everything in 2 hours. We started with the rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs. Ava wasn't to interested in them, but did point at a few.
We the moved on to the cows. We saw these two mama cows lounging on each other-it was really cute. Ava was excited to see a red/brown and white Holstein calf that looked just like her favorite stuffed critter pal, Maybell.

Next we went in to see the goats. Ava thought the Nigerian Dwarf goats were just her size. It was the only animal that she attempted to pet. We also saw pigs, one of which startled Ava so that she screamed and cried. Those squealing pigs can be quite frightening!
We ended our day with a trip through the exhibit hall which housed giant cucumbers and Christmas quilts. On the way out, we couldn't resist stopping for ice cream. It was a perfect afternoon at the fair.

yard sale

I have no photos to show you, my friend, because I have been slaving away at a yard sale the past two days. I have no photos to show you because it was hot and dusty and sticky, and I just didn't feel like dealing with the camera. I know some of you must have had these days before.

It seems like an awful lot of work to have a yard sale. One couple that came through looked familiar from my husband and my Sunday yard sale treks. I asked them about it. The woman said they hadn't been for three weeks (she was so proud). She said they collected so many things that it was time for them to have a sale of their own.
I told her that was what had happened to us. She found a few things to buy, and her husband reluctantly pulled out his wallet. I'm sure he was thinking "what are we doing buying more stuff if we need to have our own sale?!".

She was into crafting and asked what I did with fabric(I had stacks of it for very cheap). I told her about my bags and clothing, and my addiction to putting it on shelves. She asked where I sold my stuff and I told her-she vowed to look me up.
Before she left, I told her we'd probably see them at their sale when they had one.

I seem to have a problem going to them. My sale started at nine Saturday morning, so at eight my daughter and I hit a few sales. This was after we had already sat out in the heat at our Friday sale, for the entire day. What was I thinking?!

My husband was at work today so when the sale ended, I packed all the leftovers up (in the afternoon heat) and carted them off to charity. I folded all the tables and threw the against a wall, with the boxes and sawhorse carcasses. Someone else can deal with them.

In the end, we didn't do to bad in the money department. We got enough to pay for gas and lodging for our upcoming vacation. After all that work I thought I had learned my lesson, not to collect too many things. Then I went to take down our signs at all the usual yard sale sign spots. There they were-signs for Sunday sales. I found myself jotting down a few.

I'm sure I will be a much more finical shopper now.

dresses galore!

Because of my nature to want to have simple things and embellished things, I have now created two lines of dresses.
Here is a blurb from my product info page~

"The *fern collection* is a great everyday dress. It can be dressed up, but is also perfect for a summer picnic. Dresses in the fern collection include one set of snaps, and one fabric on the outside of the dress, with coordinating inner top lining.
The *orchid collection* is the perfect dress for pictures or a party or event. Dresses in the orchid collection often include 2 sets of snaps(depending on size) , a band of coordinating fabric along the bottom of the dress, and/or some sort of ribbon embellishment, and coordinating lining on the top. They are often made from top of the line name brand fabric collections."

So now I have two collectios to choose from! Visit my hyena cart shop to see them.

As some of you know, I have been selling my large trillium mama bags at a local knitting shop called the Purl District for a while now. I have received very positive feedback, and nothing makes my day more than seeing one being toted around town.

I have decided to sell them in my shops, and just listed the first one on my hyena cart shop. These bags are multi purpose-they can store knitting projects, cloth diapers, beachwear, etc. I try to use fun fabrics, that will set the bags apart from the others out there. I hope to be listing some in my etsy shoppe soon as well.

an evening to remember

Yesterday was a scorcher here in the Willamette Valley. Temperatures soared to nearly 100 in my quaint little town. I’m sure people were down dipping their toes in the crystal clear creek that winds its way through downtown. Not Ava and I though, we were getting ready for our first official summer dinner party.
I started with the lasagna the night before. It was not as hard to make as I’d thought lasagna would be. Because of the pure cheesy nature of lasagna, I tend to stay away from it. This version was much lighter, vegetarian, and let the tasty summer tomatoes shine.

In the early afternoon, I worked on these cute little green bean and asparagus rafts. They took a bit of prep work, but they were delish and stayed on the grill without falling through the rack. Worth the extra time if you ask me! I also worked on a salmon rub, dressing for our salad, couscous, and watermelon.

Here is what our menu consisted of:

Fresh Wild Alaskan Copper River Salmon
with a Lemon Tarragon Rub

Farmer’s Market Tomato Lasagna
with Ricotta and Fresh Mozzarella

Couscous with Garlic and Olive Oil

Grilled Sesame Green Bean and Asparagus Rafts

Local Mixed Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Chilled Cubed Watermelon

It was still unbearably hot when our guests arrived, so we started out with some cool refreshing drinks. Included on our guest list were our friends Paul and Vanessa, and their two children Maya(9) and Mica(4). Ava had great fun watching Mica do big kid things!

The air cooled off by the time we sat down to eat. I made Maya her own little table, which she adored and artfully decorated with stones. The food was great and didn’t last long. We had a very peaceful dinner in our lovely backyard-can’t wait to do it again soon!

roger and theresa's 3rd of july extravaganza

rene lance and theo, originally uploaded by trillium~mama.

I was looking back over my blog post about the party I attended on the 3rd of July, and I decided that it was much to mundane and simple for such a superb event. So here it is, the newly revised blog titled “Roger and Theresa’s 3rd of July Extravaganza”.

Tuesday was a hot, humid day in the Willamette Valley. The weatherman said 85 degrees, but I was quite sure he meant 105 degrees(you know weathermen). My poor husband Andy was out slinging tires in the heat all day, had to skip lunch, and ended up working ten hours straight. When he got home, we relaxed ate dinner, and got ready to go to the local botanical gardens to watch the fireworks(which we have on the 3rd).

We drove across town, which never takes more than 10 minutes, even in traffic. We turned into the gardens, and as we did, noticed an angry looking man driving out. We soon found out why. The gardens were full, and we were told to look elsewhere for a spot to watch the show.

Just down the hill is a nice shady park. Across from that park is the annual Roger and Theresa’s 3rd of July Extravaganza. We had never been technically invited by anyone who counted, and Andy didn’t want to crash the party. So, we walked around the park with Ava, waiting for the show to begin.

I wanted to go in so badly. I saw carloads of all the cool cats in town pouring into Roger and Theresa’s secluded country farm. The final straw hit when I saw this super annoying guy that moved to town only a year ago, weasel his way in. I said to Andy “We have know most of these people forever, we deserve to be in there”! He said he knew that, but still felt uncomfortable going in without an invitation.

Suddenly I noticed a white van coming down the road-was it Maria?! Closer....closer...Yes, it is Maria! Finally one of my close friends has shown up! I tried to look cool and calm as I walked quite desperately and quickly to her van. She asked what we were doing, and I told her the whole story. She immediately said she was inviting us in, so in we went.

We walked through the blackberry lined gate, and under an orchard. I saw familiar faces everywhere. The older artsy community, the younger creative crowd, and tons of kiddlets. There were belly dancers, drummers, and everything in between. It was everything I’d always dreamt it would be. It was like a dream-all of my friends were there, happy, basking in the afternoon glow.

We ate good food, had good drinks, conversation, and laughs. We watched children play in the tall grass, and run in and out of the child sized yurt. I got to see my favorite people, and sat and chatted with my girlfriends while we nursed our babes.

Finally darkness came over the little farm, and we all settled down on our blankets, families reunited. The fireworks began, and were spectacular. There were all sorts of comments and noises coming from the crowd. My favorite moment was when I looked back over the crowd during a flash of light. The hillside was lit up, and I could see all of the smiling faces gazing up into the sky. It felt so incredibly special to be here with my large(100+ people) extended family.

When the fireworks ended, we gathered out things and headed home. The first thing we both said to each other in the car was that we can’t wait for next year.

Thank you Roger and Theresa for helping us make such an incredible, unforgettable memory.

(photo of friends Rene and Lance, and baby Theo)