Monarch Chrysalis

I’m finally feeling settled in the new house, and the buyers of our old house close on Friday! I’m looking forward to resuming my normal, boring life routine again once everything is finalized. Sweet, sweet routine. I didn’t realize how many months the whole moving/home selling process would take!

My parents gave me the coolest housewarming gift—a monarch butterfly chrysalis from their garden! The chrysalis started out seafoam green and became transparent right before the butterfly hatched. I missed the actual hatching process, but the butterfly crawled onto my hand before fluttering away, and I nearly died of happiness. Its sweet little butterfly toes were surprisingly prickly!

How can I train a butterfly to sit on my finger all day? So much better than jewelry!

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We’re Moving

It’s true, we’re moving! If you’ve hung around my blog long enough you might love our quirky A-frame house as much as I do. I spent years fixing this place up, I started Wit & Whistle here, and I’ve spent nearly every day living and working here for 9 years. I adore this house along with its various oddities (here’s looking at you, kitchen roof). Living in this wonderfully weird old 70’s A-frame has been part of my identity for so long. I’m sad to leave, but for many reasons it’s time for our family to move on and let someone new fall in love with this home.

The house will go on the market sometime in August, so if you know anyone in the Raleigh/Cary area that would love this place send them my way! (Especially if it’s someone who appreciates things like panoramic forest views, exposed brick, vintage hex tile, and sprawling rose bushes.) We’ll be moving to a beautiful newly built (but completely un-quirky) Raleigh home nearby. Once we get unpacked, quirk-i-fying will be top priority. I’m excited about the new decorating challenge—adding character and charm to new construction is not something I’ve tackled before. Give me tips please!

I’ve thoroughly documented my house here on the blog over the years, and I think a round-up of my favorite house pics is in order. I love you forever, house! <3

front yard, curb appeal, before after

a-frame great room

a-frame great room

subway tile kitchen backplash

bedroom makeover

white bathroom yellow vintage hex tile

world map wall sized

front yard, curb appeal, before after

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Chicken Birthday Party

Happy hatch-day to my hens! Margo, Millie, and Roberta are 3 years old today. I still love having backyard chickens. The composting coop my dad and mom helped me build works beautifully and is so easy to maintain. The girls don’t lay eggs every day like they used to, but we still get 8–10 eggs a week. Naturally I had to make a cake for the ladies. Yogurt, grapes, mealworms, oats, and weeds—the stuff chicken dreams are made of!

chicken birthday cake

Margo wasn’t shy about digging in. She has always been the bravest and most curious chicken, even when she was a fuzzy little hatchling. Margo is blind in one eye now. I have no idea how it happened, but she gets around fine and is my best layer.

chicken birthday party

Millie is always so cautious especially when the camera is out. She used to run and squawk when I reached for her, but now she will let me stroke her feathers occasionally. So… progress?

chicken birthday party

Roberta is so sweet! She loves to hop up on things including my lap if I make it available to her. She tends to pull out her butt feathers every summer, but they grow back beautifully in the fall. Maybe she likes feeling a breeze in her nether regions when it’s hot out?

chicken birthday party

Here they were as 2 week old fluff balls! Happy hatch-day chickies!

baby chicks

P.S. Remember the time I dressed them up like ballerinas?

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Latest Pottery Haul

I’m still making pottery and loving it! Here are some of my latest pieces. I’ve been trying all sorts of different things—marbling clay, carving patterns, making stamps to add texture, experimenting with glazes, Sgraffito, etc… All these pieces are hand-built with my trusty rolling pin and a few other tools—no wheel throwing for me. I can’t seem to make enough mugs and planters!

I’m starting to get a feel for my personal aesthetic when it comes to ceramics, and it’s really exciting! I definitely want to keep it as a hobby for now, but thank you SO much to those of you who’ve asked about buying my pots. You’re such an encouragement!

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

hand-built pottery

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