it's hard to can-can when your shoe's Toulouse

i've never canned.


Truth be told...i've never really wanted to can.


But with our big garden this year, it's going to be a necessity (if everything grows, that is)


So with all the raspberries we picked, we decided to jump right in with both feet.


(as usual)

Gotta learn somehow :0)

Homemade Raspberry-Cherry Jam

when you forget that you don't have a potato masher, a pastry cutter makes a fine substitute.

or maybe not.










is there anything more alluring than a man pitting cherries? wearing an apron?



















i wish you could taste it.
***curious about today's post title? click here

Friday I'm In Love

This past Friday night we visited a local farm.

It was full of Fun, Friends, Family, and....uhhh.... {frantically flipping through the 'f' section of the thesaurus}...ummm...


Yeah, so we went picking. .




(and maybe a little sampling...but I'm not sayin' either way...)

Raspberry picking to be precise.




Even though the berries were a little picked over...




We still managed to get a good amount...



(more than this, actually...)

And after?


On Friday nights this farm hosts a Wine & Music night.





A Fabulous wine & music night.


Where good friends gathered, listened, laughed, and had a relaxing time in the warm evening air...








and children played...




So what did we do later...with all our raspberry bounty?


Come back tomorrow and see.


Want a hint?


okay, okay...




OOH! Funky, Fantastic, Festive, Flawless.... :o)

i'm hot for teacher

Did you ever meet someone briefly or in an odd situation and think "In a different situation, I would totally be friends with you!"

No? Just me? :0)


That's how I feel about alot of the teachers at my kid's school.

I'm very close in age to some of them...they have kids of their own the same ages as my children~~or even younger.

But there's still that teacher dynamic. We're peers--age-wise, life-style wise...but as soon as I walk in that classroom, I'm an 8 year old student.

Maybe it's the tiny chairs they make you sit in.

Case in point: When I had LittleBear, Boy's teacher gave us an adorable little outfit for her. It was so sweet. And then I had to write a thank you note. What do I write? "Thanks Mrs. S____?" It seemed so weird!

I ended up overcomplicating it (as per my usual M.O.) and wrote "Thanks J___" with an asterisk leading to a long winded explanation of my confusion over whether to put her first name or Mrs. S_____, and how I hoped she wasn't offended by my use of her first name....like it's some kind of state secret.

They call me "Mrs. K____"...but I don't think of myself as "Mrs. K____". I'm Shannon. I want to tell them that. But then again, I'm only 8 when I'm with them. 

Oy.

So at the end of the year, the list of teachers and support people we want to give gifts too gets longer and longer (ya know, since we're besties and all)

I let each of my kids pick one additional teacher (besides their main teacher) to give a small gift to.

We ended up with the secretary, the art teacher (who was MY art teacher in elementary school and that just ADDS to the confusion!) and the librarian.

For those three I made small leather clutches. (You can read my post about the teacher's bags I made here)

In their honor, I present:

"The Secretary"

I LOVE this one. The soft black leather...the lining fabric...the ruffle...TOO cute.

"The Artist"

How awesome is this black & white fabric? I gave this one two straps--one to hold the bag, and one with a key ring on it.
(and apparently forgot to take a good photo of the whole bag. huh. sorry about that.)

"The Reader"

(sorry about the stinky lighting here...I made this one on a different day and couldn't get good shots because it was so overcast outside!!!)

This wouldn't have been my first choice of fabric. But I couldn't say no~~the kids were flipping over this because it says "Reading is toad'ally cool!" They NEEDED it for the library teacher. So I did a ruffled strap, so as not to...(ahem)overwhelmwith this print.

I have a feeling these may be showing up in the Etsy shop in the next few weeks!!!

Linking up to some of these fine parties!