Balancing meals through plates...

I LOVE segmented plates. Love them. I have ever since I was serving my babies rice cereal and pureed vegetables. There's just something about them that lends itself to evening things out. Balancing them. Covering all bases. I always feel like a segmented dish forces me to come up with at least three different things to give my children to cover more food groups. (The sad lacking of fruit on this lunch plate is due to a very fruit intensive breakfast this morning!) The segmented plates make me think. They make me balance. And they work for me!

Totally free needlework...

Completely inspired after reading about Crystal's redwork project, I really wanted to get back into handwork. It had been years since I picked up needle and floss and indulged that part of myself! One afternoon, I started scavenging my house and came up with: a plain white muslin sheet, a skein of deep red floss, my embroidery hoop, and a needle. A quick web search yielded a cute pattern by Barbara Parrish.

I'm very pleased with the result! More than that, I am utterly delighted to have spent no money out of pocket and been able to enjoy several quiet evenings of stitching and talking with my husband. He loved watching me work and, though he insisted on calling it "Redline", thought it was a wonderful project. He has now asked me to complete one for his mother, a project I will be happily beginning later today.

My first redwork (or redline, for my hubby) project-- my apologies that I hadn't pressed it yet in this photo-- appears above. I am so thankful to have rediscovered this hobby... and to have been able to do so for free!

Edited to add link to pattern.