jane's apron

salve regina

• In the weeks before my dad died, he talked several times about how everyone was waiting for him in the yard.  It is no surprise to any of us that my dad's version of heaven was a beautiful green lawn.  
• I feel incredibly thankful that my mom, my three sisters, and I were with my dad on his last day.  In true Irish form, we laughed as much as we cried.
• My dad died peacefully at dusk on a beautiful Earth Day.
• The Sisters that had cared for my dad all gathered around his bed and sang Salve Regina.  It was selfless and tear-filled and beautiful.  
• My oldest sister Mary performed random acts of kindness the next day in honor of my dad. The kindness my family received in memory of my dad was more than I could have ever imagined.
• I returned to school the next day and had a stack of handwritten notes from my students; three of the boys had also lost their dads and their words of comfort and encouragement were wise beyond their years. 
• On the day of my dad's funeral, we rememberd him well, held his stack of prayer cards, drank a Guiness or two, and walked back and forth across the green lawns from my sister's house to mine. 

auction for catherine

I don't usually jump in to something without really thinking about it.  But when I saw that Jenn (noodleandlou) was organizing an art auction for Catherine Thursby (redshoes), I couldn't respond fast enough.  Catherine is one of my first and oldest blog friends and a crazy-talented artist.  She has always supported and encouraged me (and made me laugh).  

I have a stash of items that I could contribute but I was more like the girl with a closet full of clothes but nothing was good enough.  I needed something new.  I'll leave out the messy details but I wanted the art to be red and black, with paper and paint, with dots and hearts.  The two-piece heart was from a stash of magazine pages and I think it's a perfect reflection of friendship and love.  

So...the auction.  It's on instagram and happens on Saturday, April 26 here.

And, Catherine, I have to include the next photos for you.  Hope they make you smile (as you attempt to see my artwork in the background).

tiny portraits

The front bench of our school sometimes has a box or two of school supplies that someone has donated; generally just dated stuff (but sometimes very cool vintage stuff).  A couple of weeks ago someone donated several boxes of art supplies. Like really good art supplies.  All kinds of art papers and a big bundle of prismacolor pencils.  I grabbed an armful of stuff and knew exactly what I wanted to make.  

I needed to donate something to our school auction and always wanted to create something using artwork from my students.  I cut 2x2 squares and asked each kid to draw a self-portrait.  I got some resistance with "I'm not good at drawing".  I told them it didn't matter...just sketch yourself and I'll take care of the rest.  It is amazing how some of the kids got their personalities and features exactly right.  

I took their sketches and outlined them in Sharpie Markers (thin for the facial features and thicker for the outlines).  I colored everything and distressed all of the edges with a little ink.  The idea was to create a stained glass window so that's why each portrait has four colors around it.  I glued every square in place and then stitched a cross onto my "window" of students.  

If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw a few too many pictures of the steps I took to create this but it was so fun (and so fun to share).

my trunk

Yes, I've shared lots of pictures of my living room here.  When the light comes in at the end of the day I just can't resist trying to capture it.  But this time I am writing about my trunk.

It's from my dad's family (nothing with a family history or anything...just discarded trunks from my grandpa's time as a night watchmen at a charity hospital in the 1930s).  My mom painted this for me when I was in high school.  It traveled with me to college, to my first job in Detroit, and back to St. Louis.  I used it as a night stand for all of those years and finally moved it to my living room a few years ago.  I am not a "blue" girl and this may be the only blue thing I have in my house.  But I love it and it was made just for me.  

mad hungry

We are ending our Spring Break here.  It has been a great week of cleaning and refreshing.  I could seriously use another week of it.  Jack came home from school last night to begin his Spring Break and the mom in me thought I should make a nice "Sunday" meal while he's here.  A recipe for Chicken in Milk popped up on my Pinterest.  I love Jamie Oliver recipes and found a regular measurement version of it here.  There was a general uprising along the lines of "we always have chicken" (which is completely untrue).  It was crazy delicious and crazy easy.  There was no complaining; and not a scrap of chicken left.  And then I made chocolate pudding.  My work is done here.

etsy jewelry

 

I think shopping for jewelry on etsy is like a needle in a haystack (I just checked...there are over 2 million listings for "necklace").  Technically, I can make my own jewelry.  Buy chain, attach pendant, done.  But I really can't do it nearly as well as someone that meticulously crafts jewelry.  Julie at Puffluna makes beautiful pieces using handmade elements, vintage findings, sterling and oxidized silver; even the clasps are pretty and sturdy.  The hand-hammered silver circle is my new "wear it everyday" necklace.  I haven't worn the green one yet but I've learned to buy what I like when I see it.  

blueberry avocado muffins

My teacher-friend Denise made Blueberry Avocado Muffins for us a few times this year.  They are a different kind of muffin but so moist, so dense, so good.  I got the recipe from her pinterest board but the original source has a ridiculous number of pictures of the muffins and much too wordy instructions (they are just muffins people).

 

I made these on what must be our last snow day this year.  They are best on the day you make them (nice and crispy-chewy) but still good later (or even frozen for later).  This is a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe.  As Denise would say, "Holla!".  

 

Blueberry Avocado Muffins

 

1 ripe avocado, mashed 

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsps vanilla extract
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen); tossed in a little flour

Wisk mashed avocado, sugar, oil, yogurt, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  

Add flour and baking powder and stir to combine.  

Fold in blueberries.  

Scoop batter into greased and floured 12-cup muffin pan.

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes and then lower the temp to 350 and bake about 15 minutes more until edges are golden.  Cool and remove carefully from the pan. 

family jade plant

I've never been a fan of house plants; like they were something from the 70s that just didn't fit in my house or with my neglectful nature.  I think I'm changing my mind and it's probably related to my Aldi orchid from last year that rebloomed last week.  How did that happen?  I tried to give her 3 ice cubes a week but am sure I wasn't perfect.  Maybe it's all about location.  So now that I'm all "look at me" with my orchid, I've branched out a bit.  I snagged a few stems of a jade plant from my sister.  

It's not just any jade plant.  It's a jade that has been propagated from my Aunt Faye since before I was born.  The original plant is such a legend that she has a name.  She is Mitzico (and this from a family that doesn't name anything inanimate).  My new little stem is tiny.  Tea cup tiny.  I hope she is as happy here as my orchid.  

butter dish

 

I realized a few days ago that I had not changed my blog design since 2009.  One cute picture of a favorite dish inspired me to make a few small changes. A new banner and bigger space for pictures; easier to do than I remember.

 

plank wall and other sources

A plank wall.  Trendy yes, but also a good cover for an old plaster wall.  I kind of used this tutorial.  Except I used masonite (the guy at Home Depot cut all of the boards for me for free; for real).  And lots of liquid nails.  And lots of perseverance.  It is not perfect but it gives the room a nice texture and is way better than the chippy plaster wall (still needs some artwork or something).  

The sign over the TV is part of a vintage sign from our garage (I know the EV. 5 is Evergreen 5...an old-school phone number).  It fit the black and white theme and gave some interest to the back wall.  

The monster sectional was a Craig's List buy.  We drove to Chicago to pick it up and stopped at Ikea and bought the TV stand (Besta), side table (LACK), bar stools (GLEN) and pillows (Stockholm).  The other pillows and the ottomans (outdoor!) are from Target super clearance.  

It's not a total guy spot; I can clear out the room for myself when I start watching Downton Abbey.