The new sewing machine and I are making progress...maybe even a truce has happened.

I've probably just jinxed myself.

Above is a close up of the pocket on a dress that I just made for Ella. I'm in love with that fancy little scallop stitch.

It's a sweet little dirndl, but still a bit too big for her. The floral corduroy is soft, and I lined it in cotton brown with cream polka dots.

In my home if something stands still long enough I will paint it. It just happens... I get what my Mama calls "a crazy hair up my butt" (wow...when you type that it looks kind of crude, but it never fails to make me laugh!) and I have to paint. Hans has expressed the fear that he will one day wake up to find himself in the perfect shade of chartreuse.

Gads, I love chartreuse. The color...not the liqueur.

The lighting in this picture bites. Our weather is still gorgeous here in Georgia... my windows are open today, but the light is still dim enough that pictures suffer.

This is our dining room that I had made the mistake of painting in a flat sheen. At the time I had no idea that every child who enters this home would find it too hard to resist fondling these walls. What is that? What are they looking for?

But this time they will be thwarted! I'm putting up a fabulous semi gloss in the prettiest blue shade. I actually took in a bag from Restoration Hardware to the home improvement's paint department for a color match. The girl only looked at me like I was crazy for a few seconds.

Then she tried to tell me that if I did it in a flat sheen it would be washable. I looked at her like she was crazy for more than a few seconds and asked nicely if she had any children? No? Then do it in a semi gloss like I asked and I'll stop laughing at you.