Ingridlavoie’s Weblog

That was our destination today. What a great day for it too! The sun was actually shining for the whole day. It really felt like a summer day. It was our first visit to the sanctuary. We visited the animals in the barn, which included 2 domestic rats (they were pretty cute, if you didn’t look at their tails) and took a hike. Our trail led to hanging rock which looks over the ocean. Andrew ran out of steam mid-hike and was not a happy camper, to say the least. On our way home we stopped in at Island Books, which is a terrific independent bookstore. We saw a ton of great titles, which we copied down and have requested from the library.

This is a close as we got to the ocean view

Our fridge gallery

Today we made our oil pastel/water color paintings, based on our fish sketches. They were fun to do and Sophia has a set of pastels that color like buttah. We also took 2 walks and swam for over an hour at the URI pool. I think at this rate I’ll be watching ‘My Shocking Story’s by the end of the week and feeding the kids devil dogs and easy cheese. Yesterday we took a ride to Narraganessett for a walk and an ice cream. Finky has been soaking up the sun and warm dry weather. He is such a good kitty always nearby when we are outdoors and making sure to give us a good greeting and rub.

I love that you can see Fi in the reflection

We took a trip to Mystic Aquarium to draw Penguins. Well, their environment is under repair, but we did draw lots of other great fish and creatures. Perhaps today we’ll try one of the many good penguin projects on the Crafty Crow website. I was showing the site to Andrew and he fell in love the ‘Wormery’ project.

Lifting the peeking sleeve

 A boy and worms, it doesn’t get much better than that. Apparently in a few days we will be able to see the tunnels in our bottle that our worms have made.

Today Doreen and I spent the day in Warren, Rhode Island. It is a cute and charming sea-side town, with terrific antique and consignment shops. We remarked how mostly every shop keeper was so personable and friendly. Maybe it is due to the aroma of clam chowder that filled the air from the Blount fisheries. We also agreed it is a more unique and quaint alternative to Newport. Here are some photos from our day.

The library

Town Hall

Do wetting her whistle

Good Junk!

Inside the Lady Next Door

More Lady

My future studio/shop/bakery! Can you see the heart cut-outs in the shutters?

Love the windows!

I'd like to have a show here!

We also met our dear friend Kathy for dinner and I was treated to a Thai birthday meal!

Hard up for decorations, I used banana bread for wings, peanut butter cookies for feathers and apricots for beak and feet.

Congratulations to our Fi! I can’t believe your elementary school days are over (on Friday) I want to slow time down, it’s going to fast for my taste. Stop this train, as John Mayer sings.

Good news, my ‘feature’ is in the current Rhode Island Monthly. Click here to see the virtual magazine and scroll to page 16. It is easy to enlarge the page and it even has a link to my shop, how cool is that? Many thanks to the kind folks at RI Monthly!!! http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=18311

I also updated my shop and you can see the new goods by clicking http://ingridlouise.etsy.com Let’s hope the RI Monthly blurb will get some interest my way!:)

Here are two more. The frames are growing on me. They feel ‘pottery barn-ish’ in person. I’ll need more if I want to frame all 26.

Yesterday we scrambled to put together some teacher gifts. I wish that I had some wrapped candies or had frosted the cookies to jazz up the boxes. Sophia so wisely said that the cookies taste good and that’s what really matters.

As we gave our bus aid her cookies she told me that my feature/mention was in Rhode Island Monthly! I do hope that I have pay-pal issues fixed, if anyone orders from etsy, due to the article. Well, I have a moving on ceremony this morning for Sophia’s class, goodbye Elementary school, hello Middle school. Ack, I’m not good with change, I’ll probably get mushy too!

*I hope I don’t have one this summer!

Here is the start of a new series. I don’t know if I’ll be able to cut all of the alphabet, but we’ll see how far I get. The concept is thanks to Rebecca! She and I caught up on the phone the other day and she generously shared some good ideas with me.

 Last night we went to Andrew’s ‘Musical Review’ with all the first graders. I got a little teary eyed seeing all those ernest performers on stage. Parades, fireworks and children singing usually turn me to mush!

Jo-Jo is front and center

In searching for summer ideas, I found this wonderful resource for fantastic projects and crafts to do with children. It is called the Crafty Crow and this should take you there http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

The ideas are so beautiful and inspiring. Here are a few that caught my eye. If you visit the site, credit is given to where the project originates from. Feast your eyes!

*I hope!

Last night it hit me. I have one more week of freedom to myself and then the kids are home for the summer. I/we a game plan.  Here’s what I came up with from google, other Mom’s blogs and Shari’s practical advice. It looks pretty anal, but I think it will help with everyone’s expectations. I need to get work done for my 2 shows, which are quickly approaching and the kids want to do/go places. Shari’s idea was a schedule for the day, so we can hopefully have a balance of quiet time and activity. I also included set snack times, mirroring their school schedule, hopefully to prevent the open fridge/pantry grazing that happens when bored. Yes the B-word, to combat it I found what I think is a brilliant idea, ‘the boredom buster jar’, with over 75 ideas in it. I chose activities that don’t require me, or driving. The rule for the jar is that if you are bored you can pick 1 slip and no exchanging it for another or not doing the activity.  Both kids filled out summer wish lists for what they would like to do, try or learn. Lego Land is at the top of Andrew’s and will remain a wish, but some of other ones are do-able. I made up two blank calendars and filled them in with free library activities and park concerts. So I feel I have somewhat of a game plan. We’ll see how it plays out in reality.

to celebrate my birthday week! Some of them are, spending my b-day with my Mom, getting great mail, including 2 packages from Shari & Kirsten, spending a day with Doreen, visiting Second Helpings and Carvel cake.

Mom's finds from the Corner Cuppard Consignors

Below is a link to information about the Tiverton 4 Corners show I will be participating in on July 18th. Thanks to my un-official manager Doreen, she discovered that I was one of the artists in it. I have yet to hear officially. Let’s hope we have a little sunshine for it. http://www.tivertonfourcorners.com/events/arts_artisan.htm