Mistake I can't "erase".

The girls are allowed to spend a portion of the money they earn. Recently they have been infatuated with Japanese erasers, and ask to visit Sweet B's Candy Shop to buy them for $1.00 each. I have not objected, as they are recyclable and nontoxic. What's not to love? Colorful, crafty, collectible. . .

and also roughly the size of dog treat. Rosie ate one last week. We didn't know about it until Sunday when she started throwing up all of her food. . .undigested. Being a dog rookie, I immediately started googling. If your puppy throws up all of her food several hours after eating and it is undigested, she may have an obstruction in her GI tract. Like. . maybe. . .a small, rubber, bullet-shaped obstruction from Japan.

I decided to take her to the emergency vet hospital near us where the doctor immediately took some x-rays of her and determined that she did indeed have something lodged in her small intestine. It was Mrs. Penguin.

The fact that I am somewhat making light of the situation should tell you immediately that this story is on its way to a happy ending. But last Sunday, standing in the animal emergency room and listening to the veterinarian tell me that Rosie needed surgery immediately to remove the obstruction - we were a mess. The girls and I welled up with tears, and couldn't believe what we had inadvertently done to our sweet puppy. Damn that STUFF.

Rosie is home now, but has a 6-inch zipper worth of staples up her little belly where the incision was made for the exploratory surgery to remove the eraser. She has weasled her way out of the "lamp shade", so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will not play with the staples. And I'm using humor to cover my fear and guilt and vulnerability - fear that she won't heal properly, guilt that it was an incident we could have prevented, and the vulnerability that comes with admitting that you have utterly and completely lost your heart to a dog.

ERB

Picture #6. One Word.

It's been a long time since I played along with any blogosphere/e-mail techno-tag. But in the same day smoothpebble tagged me in the Picture #6 meme, and a good friend sent me the One Word e-mail, which I have always enjoyed. One word answers seem to reveal more about a person than an entire paragraph can.

Picture #6: Tell us about the sixth picture from your sixth picture folder. . .

An 8-year-old picking apples. From a September day in the orchard. . .I think those apples were destined to become Saucy Little Things.

One Word:
1. Where is your cell phone?........backpack
2. Your significant other?.............working
3. Your hair?..................................messy
4. Your mother?............................omnipresent
5. Your father?.............................Renaissance
6. Your favorite?..........................pandora
7. Your dream last night? ..........forgotten
8. Your favorite drink?...............coffee
9. Your dream/goal?..................travel
10. What room you are in?........kitchen
11. Your hobby? ........sewingreadingrunningjams (one word?)
12. Your fear? .............................unravelling
13. Where are you in 6 years.....teaching
14. Where were you last night?......tutoring
15. Something that you are not? ...calm
16. Muffins?......................................English
17. Wish list item? ...........................salad-spinner
18. Where you grew up? ................Washington
19. Last thing you did? ...................studying
20. What are you wearing? ...........Nike
21. Your TV? ...................................off
22. Your pets? ................................napping
23. Friends? ....................................essential
24. Your life? ..................................authentic
25. Your mood? ..............................optimistic
26. Missing someone? ...................[see #2]
27. Car? ..........................................depreciating
28. Not wearing? ..........................mascara
29. Your favorite store? .............Anthropologie
30. Your favorite color? .............Yellow
33. Last time you laughed?..........noon
34. Last time you cried? ..............2/21/09
35. Place you go to over and over? ....groceries
36. Person who texts you regularly? ...babysitter
37. My favorite place to eat?..................home
38. My favorite food?...............................toast!

That was fun! Have you played along recently? Well, why not? Post either Picture #6 or One Word, and leave me a comment or e-mail (did you notice the new "Contact Ellie" link?) so that I can visit you.

ERB

Cabin Style

I remember when I first read about Carrie & Danielle in the Domino (oh, how we will miss you) May 2007 issue. We were in the middle of our huge "stuff" liquidation, and getting ready to move into the Cabin. I was obsessed with having a style statement consultation with C&D, primarily because it supported one of my underlying truths about downsizing: just because you don't have stuff, it doesn't mean you don't have style. Because I have not yet had my professional session with the "style shrinks", I am addicted to online style quizzes. If you've checked in with Jessica Jones recently, you too may have followed her link to Sproost's.

For this iteration of the style quiz, you look at a series of finished rooms and indicate where your feelings lie on a scale of "Love It" to "Hate It". Based on your responses, Sproost will diagnose your personal two-word style statement, much like those of C&D. I took the quiz twice and the results are confirmed. (drumroll please) Cabin style is. . . .

50% Vintage Modern

33% Rustic Revival

17% Arts & Crafts

These were my top 3 "Love It" rooms from the quiz:

"Vintage" "Modern". My only concern is that the predominate theme of my personal style is. . . oxymoronical. What does this say about me? That's a rhetorical question, Summer.

ERB

More labels

Another entry, from sweetjessie:

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Art Illustrations marketing ebook

Ellie's belly's full o' jelly

Check out these two Label Jam entries from Coach Mardy. Yep. That's me on the lower label. This is the creative equivalent of insider trading. . .we wore diapers together.

ERB

Puppy Love

I have exercised great restraint in not posting daily puppy pictures. Rosie has stolen our heart. And doubled in size. Two very good friends also got puppies at Christmas. This was not a plan, but has been such a marvelous coincidence and the cause of much shared laughter and consternation. One girlfriend sent us a picture of the special . .ahem. . pet stain that her little Golden Doodle, Ginger, had left for her to find last week. This was the valentine that Rosie received from her puppy pal Ginger.

If this isn't puppy love, I don't know what is.

Happy Anniversary, Cabin Life

MEET THE AUTHOR.

I have been blogging here for exactly one year. My first post, "Beginning Again" I wrote on a whim while visiting my mom in Phoenix over President's Day weekend '08. In honor of this milestone, I will post a picture of myself. I have done this only once before. My sister, my husband, and at least two good friends told me the picture was scary, and so I have never featured my face again.

The picture was taken Saturday night at a good friend's Valentine's Day party. An anniversary is a good time to reflect on relationships. . .I have been blessed in the last year to have friendships with supportive and sincere women. I was lucky to spend time with them this past weekend. Of course, it was lucky for all of us that the hostess hung a disco ball in her living room. When was the last time you just cut out and had some pure, unadulterated fun?

Thanks to these ladies, friends near and far, and Cabin Life readers for fun, friendship, support, creative inspiration, and the kinds of relationships that make anniversaries worth celebrating!

ERB

Valentines

It's embarrassing to admit how many fantastic things posted here at Cabin Life come from my dear friend Jessie. We've been together for almost nine years. We don't live in the same town anymore, but there is no distance we can't conquer with telephones, blogs and priority mail. Just look at these valentines!

There was something unbelievable on a little piece of veneer from this artist and some marvelous pocket sized "no plastic" propaganda from another artist . I don't know what I did to deserve such Valentine love. The little Boxer on the dog bone valentine even looks like Rosie.

If she's trying to suck up in the Label Jam contest, it's working.

ERB

A piece of my heart

A piece of my heart cake; the heart cake that the girls made for me for an early Valentine.

They love Betty Crocker's CookBook for Boys and Girls. I love that they already Give Handmade/Homemade. Even if they added too much sugar, put crunchy sprinkles on top, and left the whole darn mess for me to clean up. Nothing says "Be Mine" like lumps of hot pink frosting in every crack and crevice of the kitchen.

ERB

It's a circus around here

Tonight is the zenith of the elementary experience at my girls' school. The 3rd Grade Circus. All primary students anticipate the 3rdgrade - so they can be in the circus. All 4th and 5th graders look back with fondness on their days as a third grader - when they were in the circus. It is an amazing evening when the students showcase their creativity and teamwork in various "acts". Which brings me to my topic: Stuff You Are Not Good At and Why It Is Good For You.

Emily really, I mean really, wanted to be in the tumbling act. But Emily cannot tumble further than a somersault. I remember the day last year when she came home from school in tears because the P.E. class was studying gymnastics, and she was embarrassed because she couldn't do a cartwheel. Apparently every other girl in the 2nd grade could do one perfectly. We moved the furniture and practiced "hand-hand-foot-foot" for two hours. She felt more confident, but the fact remains that she is not destined for gymnastics greatness. It was little consolation when I pointed out her special athletic skills which those in the cartwheel crowd do not have.

Not being good at tumbling has been really hard for Emily. But I could not have asked for more than a daughter who stinks at cartwheels. More than a lesson in "try, try again", it has been a lesson in humility and valuing her own talents. It is an early "choose less" life lesson in which she does not compare herself to others, but searches for long term satisfaction in the gifts she has been given and the talents she has cultivated, no matter how different they may be from her immediate or broader social circle. Emily will be cheering for her tumbling friends from the sidelines this evening, and will instead be showcasing her skill as a juggler and hula-hooper.

A few days ago I made the world's ugliest apple pie. I am so frustrated by my inability to turn out a photo-worthy double crust fruit pie. This particular pie looked like a diagram of plate tectonics. . .you know, what the earth looked like before all the continents broke apart. The upper crust was all overlapping and abutted pieces because I couldn't get the pastry dough to roll properly. Even G mentioned that it looked like I was having trouble, and G's culinary knowledge ends at the toaster. So, painful as it may be, (and following the lead of my third-grader) I am adding "ugly pies" to the list of Stuff I'm Not Good At, right below volleyball and just above watercolor painting. I am free to focus on making jam and appreciating other people's beautiful pie.

ERB

EllieRichellie Label Jam

Look at all this lovely marmalade. I made them yesterday morning - the inaugural preserves of the 2009 jam making season. Somethin's always in season somewhere! Like. . .organic citrus from U.S. lower latitudes. As I segmented oranges and lemons and grapefruits, I told the girls how I used to read stories about Paddington, the little English bear who liked marmalade.

At which point Emily said (and I quote): "Mom, sometimes you are a really cool mom and sometimes you are not a cool mom". I asked her to give me an example of each circumstance. "Well, when you take us out for Chinese food, you're a cool mom. When you talk about bears that eat marmalade, you're not cool".

So it's official: I'm uncool and I need a label. Given my unsophisticated label-making strategy (print on full sheet label paper, then cut them out), and my desire to reuse the jars and rings, I offer the following direction:

1. Propose a 2" round design which will be affixed to the lid.

AND/OR

2. Propose a 2" x 3" label which can be affixed to the side of jars which will be given as gifts, since I obviously cannot reuse these jars.

I have no other particular specifications. Let your conscious be your guide if you happen to have any pictures of me prior to - oh, let's say - 1999. I will post everyone's ideas here as I receieve them [ ellierichellie@yahoo.com ]. The Label Jam will remain open until February 28th, at which time G and the girls will choose the winning entry. I will use the label for the rest of the season - and let me tell you- I have big jam plans this year. The winner will receive a couple of jars and some lovely parting gifts, which will most likely not include a lifetime supply of anti-wrinkle cream.

I know what you're thinking: Who makes marmalade on a Monday morning?
ERB

The. Last. Sleepover.

My Collate journal from sweetjessie arrived last Friday. Let me show you some of my favorite pages. . .

Tomorrow I will announce the details of the EllieRichellie Label Jam. What a blessing to have so many people that I know and love express their willingness to help out with my 2009 season label, and thereby show they trust my preserves to be edible.

G and I tried to make this past Saturday night a special one for Em. Her BFF is moving to Atlanta in the coming weeks, and we planned a "last playdate" for the two of them. We saw a movie and all went out for a white tablecloth dinner. The girls wanted to rent another movie as well, and they spent the rest of the night snuggled into their usual spot in the Cabin. . sleeping bags side-by-side in an overstuffed chair in the family room. They always wake up early, request pancakes, and fix the dolls' hair. They have a very sweet friendship, and it is hard to see Emily learn these first early lessons about grief.

She will learn that faraway friends are often the ones you care about the most: they stand the test of distance and time. But I am preaching to the choir, as many of you are my most distant yet treasured friends.

ERB

The. Last. Jar.

The blueberry preserves are gone. All that remains of my summer discovery is one frozen pint of berries. So reluctant was I to let go of this last jar that I let it linger next to the kitchen sink until the traces of preserves had hardened like purple superglue. Screw the wildflowers and firefly lanterns - my summer memories will be of mason jars filled with homemade jam.

All in all, last season I made 10 pints of Blackberry Plum Jam, 5 pints of Peach Preserves, and 6 pints of blueberry. Like a pitcher reporting to spring training, I am already looking forward to the upcoming season. I now claim jam-and-jelly-making as an official hobby. As in, "I like to read history, run, sew, and make jams and jellies". I think my claim would be greatly substantiated if I had a label. One of my near term goals is to come up with an EllieRichellie label for this season's preserves. But this is tricky because I, of course, reuse the jars and rings, so I can only label the round lid (which is discarded after one use). I have considered sponsoring a label competition where the winning entry would receive a few 1/2 pints of homemade jam and other little gifties. Implicit in this idea is the assumption that more than one creative person is reading Cabin Life. What do you think? Would you like to participate in a Cabin Life Label Jam?

Anyway, today I feel a little like the mid-February pioneer whose larder was down to only a few potatoes, some cornmeal, and maybe a salted ham. You mean I have to subsist until spring on only one 1/2 pint of peach, and 4 of blackberry plum? It will be a meager winter.

ERB

G + E

I could not have dreamed a more perfect valentine for a Cabin couple, treehuggers that we are. Our initials, carved in a tree. Or at least they will be, when the handmade print I just ordered from SilhouetteBlue arrives here in time for Valentine's Day.

Awww. . .how cute: G+E= Luv and conservation 4Ever.

xoxoxo

Bags.

I would like to refer you back to a post I wrote last April. Because I finally have the ultimate grocery bag, and it was made by you know who. Plus.. .it has been awhile I since grandstanded on my Cabin soapbox about the evils of plastic shopping bags. Beware of that sneaky kin to the plastic grocery bag. . .the plastic produce bag. Instead, check out these reusable produce bags by fabrik.

ERB