I hardly sew at all anymore... two beautiful daughters and their wonderful summer has taken over my life. Every now and then I get overwhelmed by the things I want to sew, but then I remember what I'm doing with Holly and Greta is a million times more important. There will be more time to sew when school starts. And then I'll be wishing I was at the beach or swimming with my two best girls rather than sewing. There are a few things that I really do truly want to get done - a swim cover-up for myself, a twirl skirt for my friend's daughter, and then I definitely have to sew up Holly's birthday dress.

So, finishing up these cargo duffles felt like a real triumph! Each time we travel with Holly and Greta, I have to empty my temple bag so that it may be used to pack the girls' clothing. No longer! Now they each have a duffle to use. I doubt these duffles will be used exclusively for Holly and Greta when traveling. They're a great size and I can see them being used for all sorts of things.

Making these was time consuming - that's a lot of quilting! The pattern is fairly straight forward and with the help of some tips and a sew-along, I managed just fine. I used fabrics from Leah Duncan and Andover Chambray, purchased from Lima Sews.

I'm happy with how they turned out. And maybe they weren't actually as much work as I think they are. I worked on them for over a month, so it felt like a long time, but some of my sewing spurts were only 30 minutes.

A time and a season.

Last week was a really busy one! The girls and I went to San Francisco, Wastsonville and south of Santa Cruz. Conor and I went to Oakland too.

We met some friends for Denver at Sunset Beach for the afternoon. It's always so good to see friends again! I'm lucky that I get to see Julie and her children about once every year or so. The kids got along really well and they had fun together. I enjoyed catching up with Julie and meeting her son. We had a great time!

So far, it has been a busy little summer for my girls and me. Today is purposefully a stay at home and catch up day. Yesterday, we went to Gizdich Ranch, and we picked a bear's worth of berries! First strawberries. They are so delicious and sweet and I couldn't stop myself from picking nearly every perfectly red one I saw, so we left with a pretty good haul - at least 6lbs. Next was boysenberries and ollalieberries. Again, any dark and juicy berry I saw had to be dropped in my bucket. I had to drag myself away with likely more than enough berries for our little family. Holly and Greta really enjoyed berry picking, despite the chilliness. And then as an added bonus, after lunch, they got to play hard with friends. Both daughters thanked me sincerely for taking them berry picking and then they mentioned it in their prayers last night too. My momma heart is full knowing that my girls had a great day.

We read Blueberries for Sal at bedtime last night. It felt appropriate even though we weren't picking blueberries and there were no bears. Holly and Greta quite enjoyed the story as did I and the illustrations truly are caldecot worthy.

So far, summer has been truly wonderful.

Last weekend, I put foam curlers in my daughters' hair. Holly and Greta were both very compliant, and excited for their curls. They went to sleep just fine. But, in the morning, Greta did not like her curls at all. One look in the mirror and her excitement turned to tears... for at least a half hour, until we put Greta in the tub and rinsed out her curls. I wonder if she didn't like how she looked with the curls or didn't recognize herself as much as she likes to. Holly loved her curls - she bobbed and shook her head as much as possible to get those curls bouncing.

On Sunday, Conor wore a bow tie that Holly had sewn for him - so awesome! Holly used a running stitch (in red thread) to sew together a few strips of fabric. She was so excited to present this treasure to Conor. Holly is really enthusiastic about sewing and I really need to do more of it with her but I'm not sure where to start. I've gotta figure that out!

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. - Audrey Hepburn

We planted our garden back in Mid-March and harvest time is coming up. I'm not much of a gardener - I have almost no experience. We seem to have a difficulty each time we plant a garden. This year was leaf miners. I think my chard and beets are going to make it though. Other than those 2 things, we planted carrots, green beans and peas. I also have some tomato plants and a pot of parsley and cilantro growing. I've really enjoyed watching over and caring for my garden. It definitely takes time and some work, even though it's small. I realized this year that because the outdoors brings me peace, I need to focus some effort on being there and connecting to the earth. Having a garden has been helpful. Hopefully I can learn more with each one I plant.