A Late Summer Offering

I can't believe it's already been three weeks since the lovely impromptu tea party at Hazel's House that she's been meaning to blog about and has finally gotten around to doing it. What a horrible sentence that was. On with the post.

I love an excuse to bring out the good china, and I love having nice people over. Ergo, I love a tea party!


My guests generously provided the fabulous food.

My friend Lucy* brought both of her daughters, which was a treat because I usually don't get to see her oldest because Lucy often pops over with the baby while the toddler is at day care. They will both be tea connoisseurs by the age of 8.



My friend Kate** was in town, stopping for a few days in Minnesota during her and her husband's move from Santa Cruz, CA to New Haven, CT. Last year she helped me host my first tea party ever, and threw a tea-party themed baby shower for me as well. Kate is my tea connection. She's my Teafather. What? Stop!



While we sipped and munched, the babies gnawed...



...and kissed...

...and bottlecaps were proffered and sorted.

My friend Cora*, another guest at the tea party, recycles bottlecaps to make jewelry and other art objects, and Kate brought her some caps all the way from CA. I have several necklaces and magnets from Cora that I LOVE! She takes requests! Check out her work! Click here!

The following weekend, we went camping, and a badger came up through the ground in the middle of the night and ate all the campers.

And yesterday was the last day of this year's state fair. Last night Stanley and I watched the fireworks from our deck for the last time and felt the mixture of joy and sorrow that another 12 days of fun has come to an end until next year. It was great to have a visit from Janis* and Grover*, my sister and brother-in-law, which coincided with the fair, and we stopped by the fair a couple of times. Here's one of my favorite photos of our adventures. I can't remember what Janis has on a stick, but Grover and Stanley each have a Cheeseburger on a Stick (TM). It was pretty good.

I'm still sewing! It's getting colder and Blueberry tends to kick out of her blanket swaddle at night, and she's grown out of her sleep sacks, so I decided to make her a new one. If you aren't familiar with sleep sacks, here's an example:

I decided to try making it from a fleece pullover that I've had for years and never wear.

Here's the finished product:

Instead of a zipper (Difficulty level: too hard for Hazel), I used 4 pieces of velcro, which I may change up if needed, and since it came together so fast and Blueberry was napping, I added the pinwheel fabric trim and appliqued a patch as well, not because there was a hole there, but because I fancy myself whimsical.

Blueberry was happy to model it for you.

I don't want to jinx it, but she slept great the two nights I put it on her, and she didn't seem too warm or too cold in the morning. Now it's in the laundry, so keep your fingers crossed that it comes out okay. If it does, I'm going to make more.

Guess who got her upper lateral incisors last Thursday! Yeah, that's right. Now she has six: four on top and two on the bottom. Click photo to enlarge and fully appreciate the tiny pearly whites.

Her canines also appear to be in, but they haven't poked through yet.

*Names changed.

**Originally "Tori"; fake name changed to a name she really likes upon her request. Did you know that you can request a fake name? Oh yes, you can.