A soup that looked better than it tasted. Carrots, beets and parsnips. The parsnips made it too bitter, I think. I don't think I like parsnips at all, in fact. The beets were so pretty raw, but when they were cooked, their color completely faded to a dull yellow. Next time, I'll just make the soup with carrots and follow the actual recipe rather than improvising. Oh, well, just a good lesson that not every experiment can be successful!

Hi! Kind of obsessing about the colors yellow, pink, coral. Sort of washed out forms of these colors.

My calendar arrived from Flora Douville. It's so cheerful!

Tulips...I've been buying a different color every week at the grocery store. I think I do this every January. Kind of boring and predictable, but I'm not much of a flower arranger.

Little watercolor of San Francisco painted by a very sweet and talented artist who has a table set up across the street from the Ferry Building. He paints all day at his table, all different scenes of the Bay Area. I should have bought, like 20 more. If you are in SF check him out!

Plant I almost killed this summer, but seems to be happy now that I've been remembering to water it.

Kilim pillow from Turkey. Again with the yellow, pink and coral colors here. I think I'm going to repaint my front door a coral color this spring.

Working on finishing up some projects this week.

1. Sweater is done. I'm wearing it today and it turned out just like the photo from the original pattern, so I'm happy. It's not perfect, there are plenty of little mistakes, but I still love it. I learned a lot from this project.

2. Pillows for a friend.

3. Kantha pillows for Pod. Nice springy colors.

I just got a shipment of pillow forms in, so I'm going to be working on some new spring pillows for my shop for next week.

From a beautiful sunset the other evening. It's been cold and crisp this week, the kind of weather I love in the winter. January has been a month for catching up on everything...work, friends, things around the house that never got done in November and December. We've gone ice skating and cross country skiing. I'm finally knitting the sleeves on this sweater I abandoned in the Christmas rush. I've been making soup and stews and all sorts of wintery food, trying out new recipes. This recipe with spinach, leeks, and eggs is my favorite so far.

Stay warm!

3 fun links if you have time this weekend.

Honey Kennedy

Miss Moss

Nearness of Distance

Last part of our trip to California was a day spent with Mark, Shara and Charlie in Point Reyes, eating oysters and hiking out to the beach. It happened to be really warm and sunny that day. Good times!

San Francisco's Chinatown. Touristy and so colorful. I could not stop taking pictures of the crazy color combinations and the beautiful lanterns.

More happy times from California. Monopoly is the game of the year. The kids are obsessed with it and fathers and grandfathers are willing to play along.

I just saw that Flora Douville has a few of her lovely calendars left. I don't think I can resist this one.

Sunny California morning at my brother's house. It's 9 degrees here in Cambridge this morning. And sunny.

Happy New Year! We spent the holidays with family in Oakland, CA. My brother and sister-in-law have an orange tree in their backyard and a delightfully sunny kitchen. California in December is balm for the East coast soul and we spent some time wondering why we don't live there as well! I'll be sharing some more Bay area photos this week. Good luck to all returning to normal after the holidays. For me, it was almost impossible to wake up and get the kids off to school on time!