Singing the Praises of Eating Flowers

Last night prepping for a lovely combo dinner with my soul sister, I had a revelation-- the kale, producing vivaciously all through the winter is in bloom- let's add flowers to the salad. So, I sent the eldest daughter out (she volunteered with enthusiasm) and she brought in some beautiful yellow flowered stems. We washed, cut and threw them into the salad. What a delight it was to settle in and discover the sweet crunch of those flowers and stems. We ate like fairies last night!

Art, Art and More Art, Yo!!

I can't stop- we have an addiction here at Noisy Cottage- with Spring fever hitting hard, it isn't just cleaning it's ART. You bet!
We say "Okay, it's Down Time, let's all take a little lie down to rest and find some quiet space- you can read or write or just rest." And you know what happens? You guessed- someone smuggles some art supplies in and BOOM! The time is up and art comes flowing down the stairs.
This is from my eldest daughter this week, she said that the soul of the horse was flowing out but that did not mean it was dead, it just was:

Then, I find myself staying up until the wee hours making gnomes for the Gnome A Day Project and then, as if that isn't enough on my plate, new obsessions in art arise: Candle holders with gold piping (using glass paint) for a Moroccan look- and no, I couldn't wait to use them so there is wax (orange, white, you name it) spilled in there but at night (photos will follow with that when it is dark) they are so lovely and so FUN:

And then, as if these are not enough, Ukrainian Easter Eggs (I'll post about those with photos later!) and lace covered stones, or, as I like to call it "doiling" a stone (hee hee!)- all the way to the left was my first stone, the middle one is my mother's lovely handwork (she can follow a pattern, unlike her unruly daughter, wink, wink) and the last on the right, that was my "I-will-figure-this-out-and-make-it-look-lacier-even-though-I-don't-know-how-to-crochet-I-guess-this-will-do-hm-now-I-will-try-this-hm-how-about-this-hm-what-will-this-look-like" stone- ah, yeah, I am hooked (no pun intended!):

So that is what's going on at Noisy Cottage, the cottage that has been so silent on this blog for so many months. With the sun out, four children to chase after, teach and learn from, I can only hope I find the balance I always seek and spare the time I always want, to post a little here.