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Well, friends. I, with the help of talented people, am getting ready to launch my new website! It will be happening this week and there could be some hiccups with the nearly six years of content and links changing locations. Thanks for your understanding and, why not go shopping while the kinks smooth out?

We have many new items listed our GEO shop. All of our items are custom made, featuring the place(s) you love. States, countries, continents, islands, provinces, rivers, lakes…Hot pads, trucker hats, hoodies, bibs, craft bags, onesies, dish linens…

In the past we also appliquéd dinosaurs, pies, boba fett, snowmen, guitars, squirrels, giraffes, hearts, etc. Now, we are focusing only on geographical appliqués. For the love of place.

With items starting at $15 and deeper discounts given on bulk orders, it is affordable to give handmade, custom items to your beloveds this holiday season. And! For the next week, you get 10% off your purchases and free worldwide shipping. No coupon code necessary. Click to shop.

:: :: ::

In today’s mamalode.com column, I wrote about last week’s road trip. About enjoying the journey. Click to read mama digs: unfolding.

At the last minute, Andy couldn’t join us to Red Lodge so it was just the girls and I who drove east to his mom’s house. We were a total junk show trying to get out the door but we did indeed get out the door and, once we cruised under the bright, clear day toward our family and friends, the junk show chaos evaporated as an unimportant memory.

The night before we left Andy asked me to secretly ready the girls to trick-or-treat at our house. He had a special something and wanted to see them in costume. We snuck around, painting faces and getting dressed. We slipped out the back door and excitedly knocked on the front door where papa was *so* surprised to find a princess and a pink cat on the front steps.

We stopped in Bozeman, the half way point. It was Halloween. The kids needed a break from the car seat confines and we talked about finding a park but it turned out that the gas station met our needs just fine. It was 65 degrees (!!) and we had the most fun at the Conoco where Margot and Ruby danced and waved at passers by. The cars slowed and honked. Smiles all around, it was absolutely wonderful. People are awesome.

I wrote earlier in the week about Margot’s shift in costume and my initial resistance. I am SO happy I got over myself. I took her to the fabric store where she picked a sparkly, velvety blue fabric that she hugged all the way home. She instructed how she wanted it to feel and it was my job to interpret her feelings into a pattern. I traced a general shape off of a shirt she really likes and added length so it would “go all the way down to the ground, stopping at my ankle in the front.” She also wanted it to be “straight down and not pouffy but just long and flowey.”

She hasn’t taken it off since Halloween eve. I flipping love how much she loves her dress.

Initially we bought supplies to make a headpiece but then Margot fell in love with this silk number at Walking Stick so we bought it! It’s made by Sarah’s Silks (both businesses are dig sponsors. Use coupon code DIGCHICK for 20% off at Walking Stick and code DIGTHIS to get 10% off your purchases at Sarah’s Silks).

Ruby chose a fluffy hot pink fabric for her cat costume. I made a simple a-line tank dress that she could wear over her puffy coat and pants (using a ‘pattern’ similar to the one I outlined here). Her tail is a covered coat hanger and her ears are sewn on two sides, turned and then slipped over a satin headband. She rather loves playing the part of a cat, meowing all over town.

Turns out we didn’t even need any of the coats, mittens, hats and long underwear I packed for Halloween night. Man, I was all prepared for chilly temps and it was downright balmy.

The rest of our trip has been about friends and shared meals. And, speaking of shared meals, my heart is racing right now because I just bought my first ever hunting tag. Yep, I’m heading out with my uncle and cousin in a few hours hoping to return with deer for my family and many shared meals. Yikes, I am excited and nervous. And very thankful to be doing this with my family. Rest assured you’ll be hearing more about this.

Raise the roof, friends.

First: sending warm, supportive thoughts to those in need on the east coast. xo

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I have Mondays all to myself.

I knew going into my new schedule that I’d seek to accomplish an astronomical amount of stuff on Mondays. I said the following out loud as much as possible: “I will not put freaky pressure on myself to work. I will also allow myself the freedom to enjoy the space and time.” It was like an affirmation chant that I desperately wanted to believe.

This is the first time in nearly three years — since Ruby was born — that I’ve had a regularly scheduled day to myself. And, really, there have only been two or three full days ever. So, it’s a change for us. A welcome shift that feels good to everyone involved.

We had a full day yesterday. By day’s end, both of my kids were cooked. We were finally home, with nothing to do but make dinner (have you seen this? so funny) and sit down. It was nearly 6pm. I hadn’t even slipped my purse from my shoulder. I picked up my phone to check in with my husband as he is usually home at 5:30. Ruby started screaming, a horrible shrill painful yell coming from the guest room.

I was there in two leaps to find her kicking on the floor with genuine, fat tears. What is it baby? I asked over and over. She couldn’t answer. I saw my scissors — my super sharp sewing scissors — on the floor. I felt hot. Did you cut yourself with the scissors? Let me see your hands. Where? What hurts? Show me. She finally managed to let me know it was her arm. I scooped her up and saw a stomach-flipping sight. My little girl’s arm, the super soft fleshy place on the inside bicep split clean open in two spots. There was no blood, just a gaping window to raw flesh. And then, right before my eyes, it gushed.

I bandaged her up, remembering Margot, at this same exact age, her forehead cut open. Shit we have to go to the doctor I said as I reconnected with my phone, this time getting through to Andy. My sequencing was all out of whack as I recounted the story and and asked questions, as Ruby sobbed into my shoulder, her little porcelain arm held up high, wrapped in gauze and tape and one heart purple bandaid. Andy raced home, Ruby and I drove into the pouring sleet that was quickly turning to snow.

In the car, Ruby was calm and chatty. She told me how it went down: “I cut carefully away from my fingers, mama. I so careful. I cut a big piece of paper to make cards to send to grandma Terri and grandma Joan because us need to send cards. And the paper go like this and I try to cut and I just cut my arm with the scissors.”

As we neared the clinic, it was a full on blizzard. The streets were busy with slow-driving cars. I ate a carrot. I was really hungry. I had forgotten my coat. “Mama,” she said through a cracking, nervous voice, “you stay wif me? I want to hold your hand.” My heart heaved while I assured her I’d be right where she needed me, now and always.

She didn’t want to lay on the white bed under the bright light. I curled next to her, cupping her sweet, trusting moon face in my hands. I told her it was going to be painful for a little bit and then it’d be over. The numbing medication injection hurt her so damn bad. I twisted my full upper body around her while she screamed my name directly in my ear. mama mama mama mama. Oh how I wanted to take that shot for her.

And then I sang goofy songs, played our unique version of this little piggie and rubbed noses with her while the doctor glued and stitched her arm.

We stopped for pizza on the way home and drove through silver dollar snowflakes careening toward my windshield like a ticker tape parade. “I fine mama,” she assured me when I said I felt badly.

Our home had transformed into a winter  wonderland while we were out. After a late dinner, Margot and Ruby fetched snow gear and headed out to make moon-lit snow angels. It was the best medicine, I do believe. That snow created a canvas of possibilities and shined light on Ruby’s effervescent, able body. What a relief it was to sit on the couch and watch my kids play.

Ruby fell fast asleep. Margot and I sledded across the pearly ocean, beneath the still sky and then joined our family under down and wool.

Today, we find thankfulness in so much: the awesome care Ruby received last night, blooming Christmas cactus, a slow-paced day with friends, the earnest and pure childhood love of new snow, my kids’ newfound respect of mama’s sewing shears and this warm, hearty family favorite meal I invented last week and will make again today.

:: peanut butter yammy coconut rice ::

2 cups white rice
1 can coconut milk
water
3 large carrots, chopped
3 large parsnips, chopped
curry powder
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 yams, chopped
4 tomatoes
vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter mixed with water (use a fork to ‘whisk’ it into uniform liquid)
salt

In a saucepan add rice and four cups liquid (coconut milk + water) and prepare as you would prepare rice. About 10 minutes before it’s done, add carrots and parsnips. When rice is done, add curry powder and fluff with fork. Set aside.

In a large stock pot over high heat, add a few swirls of olive oil. Add yams and onions and cook, stirring for a few savory minutes. Add several cups of vegetable stock and/or water, enough to cover yams and onions plus a a few more inches in the pot. I did about half and half. Grab tomatoes and squeeze them into pot, releasing juice and then drop the skin and pulp in pot. Add peanut butter-water mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, until yams are soft. Purée with an immersion blender (or in small batches in a blender).

To serve: scoop the coconut veggie rice in bowls and ladle peanut butter yam purée over rice.

wishing you all a warm and safe weekend.

xo,
dig

nuggets: bits of the season in photos and words

I love fall so much. Everything tucks in. Decayed plant matter into soil, birds into down, people into homes. We have a reserve of summer’s solar energy to last us through the chill, damp, fireside months. We don’t draw too much at a time because we’re wrapped up, hunkered down, gathered, snuggled and tucked in.

I’ve been feeling especially inspired and creative lately. I think much of it has to do with getting groovy in my home. I hadn’t really settled in, arranged bits, perfected corners. We moved in, did a ton of work texturing and painting walls, ripping out bathrooms, tearing up carpet and redoing electrical. Oh and building a fence, a chicken coop, a staircase off the deck, a painting studio for Andy, stone stairs up the back. In the midst of and around home reno extravaganza, summer beckoned us outside so the finessing and curating of our stuff never happened. We literally tossed and piled our belongings and went outside.

My not loving our interior composition is the reason I haven’t continued my home tour. Thanks so much for your curiosity and interest in our new space! I really do love your requests to see more. Our home is becoming more ours and I can promise with certainty (!) that I will do a series of posts over the next few months.

But today? Today, it’s nuggets. Of the electric fall variety.

:: Margot and Ruby have been playing sharks. Only they know the rules and when prompted to share, it is near impossible to understand. This leads to more questions and eventual frustration for Margot who feels like it is the most obviously easy thing to play on the planet. It usually involves bathing suits and lip gloss. Although it can also be played in puffy coats at the corn maze by the hay bales.

:: Ruby has started school one day a week. Mondays. I have so much I want to write about it and can’t quite get it out just yet. Soon, I think.

:: French Toast Fridays continue and are adored.

new customizable trucker hats (for grown ups and kids) in the shop 


:: We used to do a family walk every Sunday but haven’t for a while. Last weekend we ventured out and remember why we love the slow jaunt so much.

:: The girls and I biked to our neighborhood farm party which is this quintessential fall celebration. There’s fiddle playing, face painting, hayrides and pumpkin carving.

my awesome hat made by my friend, Piper & Paisley

And while on the hayride I took a self-portrait with the girls. A woman across from me took a photo of me taking a photo and, as these things go in Missoula, we have 72 mutual friends so she was able to email it to me! Which I love.

photo by Erika Peterman

:: We didn’t end up getting our pumpkins at the farm party because by the time we turned our attention to the patch, they were pretty picked over. Instead, we ventured to our beloved Benson’s where, out of hundreds of pumpkins in every shade, shape and size, Margot surprised me by selecting a lone, small, stemless dude.

And Ruby carefully selected her ‘little baby orange one’ that she carried around with a matching carrot between her teeth.

As we waiting in line at the farm counter, two women hauled in hundreds of dirt clad, neon orange carrots and began washing (including a two pound carrot that you may have seen on my instagram feed). We waited, chatting with sunny people over piles of beets, tomatillos, cabbage winter squash. And then the three of us sat on the sun-splashed grass and devoured their sweetness. I like these two so much.

There was a lot of talk about how those pumpkins would carve up. Ruby abandoned all of her plans and enthusiastically instructed Andy to carve a circle and more circles because she wanted a pretend house for birds. She is very proud of her pumpkin.

Margot elected to carve one ‘teeny, tiny, really small rectangle and that’s all’ but the candle wouldn’t stay lit. So we had a little oxygen-fire science lesson and carved a few more rectangles to make her pumpkin fairy hut.

:: I swear Sam has quiet moments where he sits and misses his feline sister.

:: “Mama, this feels nice.”

We’ve had a skiff of snow on the ground for more than a day now. I know it will melt, I know we’ll have a few more warmish snaps this month. At least I hope so because I have to get my garlic tucked in. Everything’s neon and pliable until it’s not so, perhaps today is the day. Also on the agenda: tucking into the sewing studio to make a few costumes: one ‘red baby turtle’ and one ‘unripe beet fairy’.

happy hump day out there

Today, round two of the heinous sickness rests in the body of my eldest. Again, we were up all night. Again, with the gentle forehead kisses, exhausted bed and pj changes. It is most likely the same funk Ruby had so I am very hopeful for tomorrow. Ruby was mostly her spirited self after 36 deflated hours.

The weather seems to be of our barometer our health. The days have been gray and chilly when we are relegated to horizontal, indoor surfaces. The days have been brilliant and sun-warmed when we are active.

The morning Ruby’s rosy cheeks returned, we decided to get lost. She remained weak, most comfortable in my arms so our adventure needed to be a mellow one. We piled in the car, unsure of where we were headed when I remembered Garnet Ghost Town. We’ve driven past the little directional sign on highway 200 many times but had never taken that right turn and traveled 11 miles to the abandoned mining town.

The day was bright, the highway welcoming. We took off.

We drove under cottony clouds, over yellow striped asphalt, through larch ablaze. The change of scene propelled our conversation and humor. Hands at ten-and-two, I had a smile-inducing image in my rearview mirror: two chatty kids, one excited dog, the illness as a blurry roadkill.

Those 11 miles travel up up up a winding dirt road. The moment we began the ascent, we entered another universe. We only passed two cars and one biker as we slowly travelled, the forest thick and tall, an effervescent tunnel directing our way. We parked and walked over a ridge and into a quaint valley that 100 years ago held 1000 people searching for gold.

In this week’s mamalode column, I wrote about a day I had when I felt like I failed at everything. One where I had broken promises to my kids and didn’t fulfill work obligations. One where Margot delivered some powerful insight. I posted a link to the essay to facebook this morning and a friend wrote this, which I love:

Click to read mama digs: perfectly boring.

Today, I happily welcome sponsor Sarah’s Silks! We first discovered this wonderful company’s products at Walking Stick in Missoula. Specifically, I fell in love with the streamers and their beautiful, simple, solid construction.

Santa brought our daughters each a streamer last year and they continue to be one of our home’s favorite toys. And, the one of our frequent go-to gifts for friends!

Mama and creator, Sarah, developed the company out of her son’s desire to play. She first grabbed a silk scarf and eventually found herself dying silk squares and now, 18 years later, a complete line silk play items are found in home and schools around the world.

A few of my kids’ favorites (Santa has been notified):

fairy wings :: silk scapes :: veils :: playsilks :: doll clothes :: princess hat

Sarah’s Silks is giving one of you lucky ducks a $50 gift certificate! Leave a comment for a chance to win.* For an additional entry, like her facebook page and leave another comment saying you did so. And! You all can have 10% off your purchase with coupon code DIG THIS.

Thank you, Sarah’s Silks!

Today, we heal. Our pace slow, our range minimal. Ruby’s been in and out of sleep, Margot and I canning the last of the tomatoes and tomatillos, watching movies, drawing and listening to the panicked aspen leaves, like yellow fingers snapping with the wind’s rhythm.

I was awake, newborn-baby-style, last night. Ruby started vomiting just before bed, right around when a certain someone mentioned the ‘binders full of women.’ And it continued until well past sunrise.

Oh my girl was sick, waking every half-hour or so, her little body heaving against mine. I sat on the bathroom floor, holding her most of the night. In my painfully tired state, I changed clothes, drew baths, mopped floors, stripped sheets. I cradled her limp limbs, stroked her forehead, promised her it’d be over soon.

I find myself feeling thankful for today. For our health, for this opportunity to be here in my warm, cozy home with my kids. It feels like we all needed this homeward day.

Today, a few things I noticed and appreciated:

:: My mama, who is the queen of motherly caregiving. She always turned sick days into cozy, cuddly, loving events with ice chips, dry toast, grape juice slushies, couch beds, cool washcloths and tender attention. Trying to do you proud, mom.

This is our guest room, where Ruby decided to sleep much of the day.

:: Our new rug that arrived just in time for a limp, feverish kid to set up a comfortable camp right in front of the stove.

:: This exchange I had with my nearly-five-year old daughter:

Margot: Mom, I need to tell you six things.
Me: OK. I’m ready.
Margot: One. Can you teach me how to climb a tree? Two. I need new tights. Three. I love you. Four. You are special. Five. I love you again. Six. That salad you made for dinner? It was yummy.

A while back I got a wild hair to hack some limbs from the pine trees that border our property. In our process of settling into our new stead, we’d moved the coop (again! oy) away from the pine tree canopy into the newly fenced in area. With the coop no longer there, I had an idea.

As these things go with me, it was completely spontaneous. I was on my way to the garden shed to put a tool away. I set down the rake and picked up a handsaw to cut one branch and didn’t stop until dark. I was wearing flip flops, a skirt and tank top. By the end I was barefoot, up in a tree, covered in sap, pine needles nested in every bodily nook possible. Man, it was fun. All got-get-em-Mowgli-style.

I had a hard time finding a good before shot but here you can see that the branches arched to the ground. Before:

And here, is when we first looked at this property last summer (tiny Ruby!). Before:

After:

I ended up raising the canopies of four trees by about ten feet. It has completely transformed our space and access to the public land we border. More light, more open to the hill (sledding soon!) and, as my husband’s keen eye noticed, the perfect place for a trapeze. Margot especially missed her trapeze.

At one time, our plastic baby swing hung from the crabapple tree until one day when it flew off with Ruby in it. It flew off with Ruby in it. This was one of my crazy-morbid-mom thoughts that I thought would never happen and it did. See, Margot and Ruby had this habit of twisting each other up as high as they could and letting themselves spin like mad. Well, there must have been a weak spot in the rope or something because, one summer afternoon I heard shrieking and raced out back to find Margot helping Ruby out of the baby swing like 12 feet from the tree. Homegirl was unwinding from one epic twistup, the rope snapped and she rocketed into the field like a rock out of a slingshot. She was totally fine.

So. My man built a sturdy little swing in it’s place.

view from my studio

The Swing. A simple, joyous toy made from scraps, a tree and a desire to soar.

:: :: ::

In this week’s column, I wrote about an uphill climb (literally) I waged with my daughters. It was boring perfection and perfect boredom all wrapped up in flat tires, determination and a hillside sprint. Click to read mama digs: right where we ought to be.