Homemade Sparkling Water

We drink a lot of sparkling water. A lot. Especially in the summer when it's hot. I had heard of some folks making their own sparkling water so in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic we bring into the house, I asked Chris to set us up to make our own. So he ordered a CO2 cylinder and regulator, a carbonator cap, and a gas line assembly; all readily available on the internet. The whole set up cost about $160. For now we are using the plastic bottles that we saved from store-bought sparkling water, but maybe eventually we'll move to some other type to avoid the whole leached plastic chemicals issue. It fits neatly under the sink and the CO2 should last a very long time. It's been great so far. Cheers!

Felt Projects

I'm working on two birthday rings and have finished the painting and felt cutting. Now just sewing and gluing left. I'm also tracing templates this time so I don't have to reinvent the wheel every time I make one. Plus now I can give the them to people who want to make their own birthday ring people with pointy hats, capes, collars, etc.


I always have this pile of scraps when I'm done with a felt project and I just can't bring myself to throw it out. I have this little voice in the back of my mind that says, "Packrat!" but ha! this is why I've been saving them...


I've been wanting to make a felt necklace since I first saw something similar in Petra Berger's Feltcraft. This was just a quick 10-minute necklace. I trimmed a couple pieces but mostly just grabbed what I had in the pile. I can see now that the possibilities for patterns and color combinations are endless. I already have several requests from Sofia and Maia.

Quail Family

Look at these lovelies!! I noticed a quail out the window this afternoon and then one baby, then two, then four, then eight, oh my, I couldn't count them all. They were parading around the yard, pecking around for food. So cute and so tiny. The babies mostly stayed under bushes and they spent quite a bit of time under the sage and lavender bushes by the bird feeder. Papa Quail always trailing and standing watch, Mama Quail in the lead. I have to admit I was so giddy I could barely contain myself and even though my girls were excited too, they kept looking at me like I was crazy. There were more than ten babies but I never did get a good count. They sure do move fast. I hope they keep visiting our yard. More pictures here.