NYC, Picture Books, afternoon with Callan, just a few of my favorite things!

Saturday Callan & I went to the Housing Works Bookstore open air street fair in Soho where we both added to our childrens book collections. We each bought 5 books @ $1.00 each, mine were all picture books, Callan got a mix of picture books & art books so it was a really great deal! One of my books is in French (I think) but it's all about the illustrations for me. When my son was younger & he would have a Dr. appointment he would be a little embarrassed by the fact that I would sit there looking at the picture books instead of a ladies magazine like all the other moms!
For more info on Housing Works click here

Brooklyn Flea

Aren't these fishnet floats great! I think they would look great in the garden, maybe next time!


I've been wanting to get to this Flea market all summer & since this is the last weekend of the summer I decided to take a little break from working & enjoy the beautiful day. I only spent $4.00, the shelf was $1.00 & I found a great little book "My Father Can Fix Anything" illustrated by Bill & Bonnie Rutherford circa 1965 for $3.00. My dad was a guy who could fix anything & luckily enough so is Joe so once I hit the shelf with a couple of coats of black paint I'll have him hang it in my office. Click here to see more

The Feast of San Gennaro

As predicted we made it back to Little Italy tonight and to our delight Callan joined us for her first feast experience. Joe & I have been practicing taking photos of ourselves in preparation for our trip to Ireland, & believe it or not these are the best so far!

New Flickr - Old Projects!

I made this birdbath about 13 years ago. It's made of stacked terra cotta pots. The cat on the base was our cat Tinkerbell. Because it was so labor intensive to make I never put it outside in the garden for fear it would be ruined. This year I swore I'd put it out but once again it remained indoors, next year for sure it'll be in the garden! Click here to see more

Anything this GOOD can't be good for you!

Joe & I made our annual visit to the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy Sunday. It was a beautiful day for a festival & a walk in the city. The feast has events & carnival games but really it's all about the food! There are a ton of resturants if you want to sit for a meal but for the feast we prefer the festival food from the many venders with booths set up along all the streets. Lots to choose from. Traditionally we always get sausage & Pepper heros. This year I discovered fried oreos, talk about guilty pleasure! I'm just grateful I didn't know about these sooner! The feast is on until the 20th of September so if your in the area there is still time to go get some fried oreos, we will definately be there again before it ends!

BUILD IT & THEY WILL COME!

Truth be told when I started making birdhouses it was purely because I liked the way they added whimsy & color to the yard. I never expected how much I would enjoy watching the birds that took up residence in them. The fact that so many birds have used these houses for shelter & for nesting has given me such a great feeling. This little bird was born this summer. We watched as both parents spent all day flying back & forth feeding the baby, their work was endless. My dog actually alerted us that the baby was out of the nest because she was crying by the steps & there was the baby bird.

After the baby was born we cleaned out the house for the next resident. We remove the bottom of the house & this is what the nest looks like. As you can see they use a lot of different things to build the nest. Joe & I saw a squirrel run up the tree with one of Joe's socks for his nest, I suspect that nest probably looks like the floor of my sons room!