Insta-sista

A Washington-ing we shall go! Last weekend Ben and I headed up to Washington to visit Peanut… among other things...

Made & Found: Fall Footsteps

At the end of October I went home to Washington to visit the fam. Having lived in Southern California for the past three autumns I have not been able to enjoy a colorful wonderland in a while. So many of the pictures I took while I was home ended up being of fallen leaves on the ground, so here is my visit in groundscapes...

Best of mom...

Most people think their mom is pretty darn special, and the Nicolai sisters are no different. Today's "Best of" post is dedicated to our mom who's 14-year cancer-free anniversary is tomorrow. 

Malibu-ya

Okay so this really isn't a "Handmade Home" post but I didn't have much time this weekend to make since I was lucky enough to have my mom visiting...

Previously, in Catherine's life...

A lot has happened since the sisters three went on hiatus. Let me try to catch you up a bit...

blue as can be

I finally finished the other set of curtains I forced Mom to sew for me. And by finished I mean that I dip-dyed them with Dylon Ocean Blue fabric dye. Remember that other set? The one Mom made while I was napping? Well, she made this one, too. I basically just shoved fabric at her and went to sleep for a couple hours. When I finally awoke, it was because she was standing over me saying my name. Apparently, she wasn't aware how terrified I'd be to awake with someone looming over me. I yelped and about fell out of bed. Man, afternoon naps are so disorienting. As for these curtains, with the underwatery light they spread about my bedroom...well, they're dreamy, not disorienting...

centennial

Our grandparents on their wedding day. 

Received an email from Mom tonight. 

Hello,  Just thought I'd pass on to you that today is my Dad's Birthday and he would have been 100 years old. 
I remember when Mom told me it was her Dad's 100th Birthday.  Now her own 100th is coming up soon too. Love, Mom

new old curtains

I found this vintage fabric at an estate sale for 25 cents. I was attracted by the pattern and the bold primary colors, all in spite of the icky polyester-ness. Unlike my grandmothers, who (Mom has informed me) were pretty excited by the introduction of the first polyester fabrics--What do you mean, it doesn't wrinkle?--I had no plans to put this near my skin.

But curtains, well that's a different story. Unfortunately, my lack of sewing skills stood in the way of new curtains. Stood in the way of them big time. But lucky for me, Mom had stopped by for a visit and seemed game to break out her mother's vintage sewing machine, which I own and can sort of use...if you don't count that ongoing battle between myself and the bobbin. As for that, we are total jerks to each other. So, I put Mom to work and went to take a nap. True story...

The wind smelled of wildflowers...

I went up to Mt. Rainier on a week ago with my mom. The wildflowers were all in bloom, and being neither of us
 had been hiking at this particular time, we decided to go for it. We hiked all around Paradise. Every breath you
 took smelled of sweet wild flowers. It was truly magical...

fresh from the field

Well, fresh from Mom's anyway...that is, they were last week. 

Still, these puppies are going strong on my desk and coffee table. I can't wait to pick more. 

Presenting another knit lace thing.

You may remember (let's be honest, I'm sure you don't) that I have been working away at a lace scarf pattern from Vogue knits. This project took a long time and made me very bored. I really like lace, but I think I'm over the whole leaf-lace pattern. I find myself getting really annoyed with it.

Mom was pleased though, so that's good. It's a nice enough drop-stitch scarf. I think it would look pretty in white. 

Are you a knitter and want to check out the Ravelry project? Of course you are/do. Here's the link.
Let's be Ravlery friends!

Visiting Mother

I made a quick trip to Tacoma this weekend. I'll give you a moment to roll your eyes and think, Awesome, now I get to hear all about that. Pssh. Other people's weekends. Sometimes you just need to go home, right? Well, I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that we didn't do too much--Mom and I ran errands and puttered around the old homestead and went to a hoarder's estate sale. Uhh, yeah we did. We also visited Catherine and Nick in Olympia, ate pizza and carrot cake, and went to see The Hunger Games. (Oh, Hunger Games...why are you such a disappointment? Actually, I know why. I have a mental list, which I compiled during my drive back across the state, but let's not get into that now.) 

Part of the errands was to get Mom a new camera--her old camera stopped working after getting hit with too much sea spray on a whale watching excursion--and even though we had to go from Puyallap to Federal Way to Tacoma, we accomplished that mission. Here she is delighting herself while conducting a bit of a test run. 

Poppies are my favorite. They used to grow on the hillside across from our house in Bad Kreusnach, Germany. Monika and I
used to find baby snails amidst the poppies and let those little snailies crawl on our arms. True story.
Mom's poppies were closed when I arrived, but a couple opened Monday morning! 

I'm fascinated by the poppies' bud casings. They're like little animals! I petted this shed casing for quite a while. 

That's a C-17 Globemaster flying over the house. 

Mom spotted several robins while searching for a subject on which to test her 20x optical zoom. Dang.

A pair of woodpeckers is working away at one of Mom's trees. Doesn't this one look annoyed? I see it in his beady bird eye. 

I look forward to pictures of cats, birds, and flowers, as well as terribly unflattering shots of me and my sisters. I can only assume it's a mother's duty. Don't worry, Catherine, I took it upon myself to erase those pictures from Sunday. You're welcome, sister. 

homeward bound

I was super-homesick, so I made a quick trip to Tacoma after work on Saturday to see mother dear and sister Catherine. And Peanut and Nicholas. Catherine and I had a craft summit in the basement. Peanut was the moderator. 

Here's to weekends!

Peanut is the best morning assistant. 

One of Monika's knitted ball mobiles. 

 A worm found me while we waited for Nick to finish his half-marathon. 

Manta ray on the wall of The Clipper in Olympia. 

Catherine and I had dueling fro-yo from LIMEberry.

Good night, embroidered pillowcases!

zoobilee zoo

We went to Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium tonight. It was so much more awesome than the last time I went to Zoolights, which was probably in the 8th grade. Kudos to you, Point Defiance Zoo, for the stellar display.

If you're in the Tacoma area before 1 January, we definitely recommend it. Magical!

tiramisu

Here's Mom's surprise birthday tiramisu from Trinacria in Olympia. Lovely!

Meeker Mansion

Mom's birthday is today (61, son!), so Monika and I took her to the historic Meeker Mansion in Puyallup. The Meeker Mansion is a 17-room Italianate Victorian mansion, which was owned by Eliza Jane Meeker, wife of Ezra Meeker, a pioneer and the first mayor of Puyallup, WA. 

The house was decorated for a Victorian Christmas, with cider and cookies. And a bar! If you're from the midwest, you're definitely familiar with the charms of bars. Anyway, the house is really cool--chock full of swell fixtures and moldings and period details, and Monika and I were particularly obsessed with all the old braided rugs. 

Other things we were a little obsessed with:

Mom & Monika in front of Ezra Meeker's desk.

And here's an interesting tidbit on Ezra Meeker from the history portion of the Meeker Mansion website:


"Ezra Meeker became the self-appointed champion of the Oregon Trail in 1906, when at the age of 75, accompanied by two oxen, a wagon, a driver and a dog, he made his way from his front yard to Washington D.C., by way of New York City.  His purpose was to preserve and re-mark the Oregon Trail, which was being obliterated by civilization.  He thought he could make his trip once before he died, but this remarkable man lived to 98 and made this journey by ox team once more, then by automobile in 1916, and by airplane in 1924.  The fact that you can see actual traces of the Oregon Trail is due almost entirely to Ezra Meeker."


Totally rad.

Tacoma treasures

Frosty finds from Mom's.