Her courtyard looks exactly the same as it looked when I was a kid and the house belonged to my granny. And it looked exactly the same when my dad was a kid.
We picked currants in their orchard and my mom made a cake.
And I made this pouch or clutch. I had this pretty model, pity that she lives far away. The pouch is on etsy now.
Sculptural rain 
I though that my baby would play peacefully and I would sit near and read some nice book. This is how I imagined moments of rest on maternity leave. It doesn't work that way, I don't have to tell you. Kid wants your attention all the time. Reading a book is an incomprehensible activity for him. If I wash dishes or clean, it is something else, he sits near patiently and plays. But staring in a book is a strange concept for him. Why do I stare in a book and not at him?
First I would knit. It worked only for some time. Then he got older and I had to go down on the floor and start playing. And, to my surprise, I enjoyed it. First, painting with brush, doodling like crazy, without any clear idea. Very relaxing. Building blocks. This is a special one, we build odd buildings, towns and spaces. He can feel that I like it and likes it too. Pulls out a box with blocks right after he gets up in the morning.
Slowly, our activities get more demanding. I had to learn how to draw (and paint) "krtek" which is a character of a little mole, and also all of his friends. I had to learn how to conceive them in sculpture media (snail, hedgehog and a squirrel on the picture above). Cut-outs and collages follow.
He picked up how to kick the ball and has become quite good in it. Now I have to run around the playground and pretend the interest in football.
This is all fine as long as he doesn't start to ask me questions as how computer works and such. My husband has been saving an old notebook for him as a play tool. Its time might come sooner then we think.
P.S. We are still at the granny's. He picked up new habits from his older cousins and I learned new things that he likes (running, screaming, ordering - which spans the both categories).
For me, it used to be strolling the streets in the town, wandering aimlessly. Now, that I have a kid I cannot afford such a luxury. Now, it may sound strange for those who live in this busy touristy city but I still like Malá Strana (picture). There are few kind of hidden places, side from the main routes, where locals don't need to feel like tourists themselves. It is strange about tourists that they hold on the main stream and don't explore very much. Which is good. I may behave completely the same when I travel. Such is the satisfactory feeling that I am a discreet tourist myself.
New goods on the counter. And I will add other things soon.
Encouraged by my short success at Etsy, my husband got into the sashiko thing for a while. He found this interesting website. It is a gallery in Brooklyn that exhibits and sells old Japanese textiles dyed and decorated in one of their traditional techniques (pictures bellow). There is lot of sashiko going on there. Apparently, the owners hunt for the stuff straight in Japan. The most worn out, the most mended and sewn over with patches, the better. I understand their passion. Basically, the more it looks like the Japanese would throw it away, the more it is likely to appear in their gallery. It is interesting how we think of these things as being very artsy whereas their owners (and creators) want to get rid off them.
Finally, I have also learned what sashiko actually is. They would use it on fishermen clothes, they were made of two layers, stitches would hold it together and also strengthen the fabric. It is almost unbelievable that they would go into so much trouble sewing it. And they were making art pieces without knowing it. How many people on Etsy know that what they create is NOT art?
