dear little water

happy holidays!

2011-10-26T08:22:00.002-04:00

This made me laugh this morning.

window shopping

2011-10-24T19:17:00.006-04:00

some Etsy things that caught my eye lately

orange and gold necklace

dala horse necklace

black pyramid ring

clan bear

Also: this ring, this bag, this tank

2011-10-16T09:28:00.006-04:00

We were married.

I finally understand what the fuss is all about with this whole wedding thing. It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Even the ceremony part, which I was kind of dreading. And, after all the planning and making and cooking and fretting, the evening was over in the blink of an eye. It's now just a blur of flowers and family and Jackie being the cutest dog ever, firelight twinkling through the woods, raw oysters and wine, dancing to my favorite band and laughing with friends. Big sigh.

Back soon.

Memorial Day weekend 2011

2011-05-30T20:07:00.005-04:00

("vintage" Gourtmet reading on the porch and a mix of blood orange and grapefruit juice)

(finally getting around to making my Wiksten Tova top)

(Jackie's helping)

(Receiving lots of guests-- one of the best parts of his day)

look at this dog

2011-05-23T15:15:00.000-04:00

....have you ever seen a happier One?

The Grand Canyon of the South

2011-05-19T18:05:00.008-04:00

For R's birthday I took the day off work and we went hiking at Providence Canyon. The weather here has been strangely cool (usually we're exercising extreme will power not to turn the air conditioner on in May) and I just couldn't resist playing hooky and getting out into the gorgeousness.

purple canyon sand

Jackie is a natural climber

It was a long drive home-- we unintentionally took the scenic route-- so we stopped in Thomasville for some supper. Since we had Jackie with us we ate at the only outdoor cafe we could find, which turned out to be some kind of religious joint that didn't even serve beer. Ouch. Was really looking forward to that beer. But we were consoled by delicious chocolate cake when we got home. Happy Birthday-- it's gonna be a great year!

bits and pieces of spring

2011-05-15T08:44:00.003-04:00

Amazingly, we're still having some spring weather. In the garden, early tomatoes are ready (we had the first ones on our pizza last night) and the pepper plants are slowly getting bigger. We just had some much-needed rain and the beloved herbs are looking vibrant.

I've been listening to this awesome album.

Enjoying poking around on this site.

New neighbors like to set off fireworks (like, serious fireworks) at around 10:30 PM, which just thrills our dog.

Planning a fall wedding, and feeling totally refreshed by this book.

Happy spring out there!

what's up

2011-04-08T18:13:00.007-04:00

went to Suwanee Springfest, had fun in the sun (and moon)

the roses are blooming!

we've taken some naps in the sun

my fat, happy chickens are doing some chicken yoga

made these yummy waffles from Good to the Grain.

that is all.

where i use the word fancy possibly too much

2011-02-05T10:03:00.002-05:00

I've had an inexplicably rough few weeks, and now I'm finally making my way back to my studio. It feels so good to make things.

R & I had a date night last night and I stayed up wayyyyy too late and it was totally worth it. I was ready to get in my pajamas at about 6 pm and almost cancelled the evening, but then decided to go put on my fancy underthings-- and I'm so glad I did. That almost never fails. We laughed with a very nice runner from England at our favorite fancy bar and danced to a friend's reggae band in a total dive. Today I'm making chai, picking out paint colors for the bedroom (so hard!!), making cookies for a potluck, and driving to Sopchoppy to meet a new babe.

I really enjoyed watching this beautiful thing, which reminded me to be happy. Always a good thing.

2011: the year of the oyster

2011-01-01T09:58:00.004-05:00

I have no idea where the past few months have gone.

For the record, though....2010 highlights:

- Remodeled our storage room (cedar walls! pine floors!) and now it's a real part of the house, instead of a wreck that we hurried through on the way to the laundry room

- Got engaged

- Got an awesome new job

- Finally finished that quilt (my dad loves it)

- Traveled in California, North Carolina and the Virgin Islands

- Joined a wonderful women's circle

- Spent a lot of time with the special people in my life

What I hope for 2011:

- Learn to enjoy a raw oyster

- Practice NVC
- Have a blast at our wedding (and keep my sense of humor while planning it with my family)

- Make cream cheese

- Do my Sugar Loom project

- Be joyful, creative and accepting

Happy New Year.

let the holiday crafting begin!

2010-11-14T11:04:00.008-05:00

Tote for KATE, from Simple Sewing With a French Twist

Origami bag for MANDY, from this tutorial, via Maggie Makes.

My go-to clutch bag, from Bend The Rules Sewing.

aji dulce

2010-11-02T17:47:00.004-04:00

This is the aji dulce pepper. It's also known as the sweet habanero, and it's delicious! It's not at all hot, and it's very crispy, sweet and firm. It's my current favorite pepper, and next year I am going to plant at least 10! Here in Florida, they are still growing and ripening for us.

My favorite way to enjoy these peppers is sauteed with shiitake mushrooms. I cook the mushrooms down a lot before adding the peppers, because I like my mushrooms crispy, and the peppers are best when they are mostly still raw, just scorched in a few places. Tonight we're having them on a pizza, which is in the oven right now! We have pizza night once a week, on our busiest night, and it's something I look forward to on the other six days.

2010-10-25T17:51:00.004-04:00

We are just settling back in after a long weekend of camping at MagFest. Ruben's band played twice, and the rest of the time we walked and biked and heard tons of good music and hung out around the camp fire eating chili and brownies. Even though I should be doing loads of laundry and unpacking, I wanted to show off the sparkling new greenhouse, complete with ledges for my vintage planter collection. Just as I'm sitting down to type this we are getting our first drops of rain this month!

Also, please notice the photo of my gorgeous grandma in that first photo-- she was sixteen and soooo lovely.

Fall!

2010-10-10T09:07:00.005-04:00

Fall.
Bonfires. Chai. Greens and sweet potatoes. Using the oven again! Socks. Leaving the windows open. Smoke in the air. Pumpkins. Shedding layers on my walk to work. Festivity on the horizon. New beginnings.

Whew. What a week! I am so happy that it's Sunday. I've finally shaken off that schoolgirl homework dread that Sundays always brought when I was growing up, and now Sundays are my favorite. And so is fall. A fall Sunday just about can't be beat.

Things I'm looking forward to:

hakurai turnips

making smores with homemade marshmallows & graham crackers

experimenting with ferments and pastry dough

building a new table

a tropical vacation in December

spending more time in my sewing room

sitting by the fire at my mom's house

eggnog

working on a family tree with my grandma

getting to know the amazing ladies in my women's circle

planning a wedding*

pumpkins

crunching leaves

the day when we gain an hour on our clocks! I look forward to it all year.

Happy fall!

*That's right...I said Yes!

fine jewels

2010-09-13T12:59:00.002-04:00

I had my first experience with jewelry making this week. I was inspired to try it out when I came across this tutorial. It was surprisingly easy! Fun, too. I want to come up with my own design and try again.

promise sink

2010-09-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

Today I turned 29.

We went swimming at Promise sink, snacked on wild grapes, and walked 2 miles barefoot in a light rain on the way back to car. It was so cool to stop and really listen to the rain, and watch the leaves dance under the drops. I was happy for the chance to be out in the elements-- I've been hiding out indoors a lot lately to get away from the heat.

Ruben dug up some sassafras root so we can make tea tonight. Also, my family is taking us out to a fancy dinner! I can't wait to put on some earrings and a dress. It's been all yoga pants all the time around here lately.

what a lovely

2010-09-06T17:12:00.004-04:00

What a lovely long weekend.

I didn't do all the things I had planned, but I did:

work on linen squares for a pillow inspired by this project

juice limes for limeade

make goat milk kefir

soak in one long mineral bath

read some of this book

take two naps

make pizza with my granny

process muscadine grapes into pie filling

watch this funny movie

visit Thomasville GA for Saturday brunch

rescue a baby squirrel from our cat, and take it to St. Francis

wash many, many dishes and loads of laundry

make a menu plan for the week, primarily from this cookbook

think about making curtains for my sewing room

There has been the tiniest bit of fall in the air in the mornings! Autumn is my favorite season and I feel as if I'm buzzing with excitement when I think about hot chai and pumpkins and red leaves and wearing my sweaters and socks again.

Tonight I'm going to raise my glass to the short work week. Cheers!

purely lovely

2010-09-01T21:27:00.004-04:00

My mama (and dad, in the first photo), in the late 70's and early 80's. In North Carolina. I especially love that last shot-- she looks like pure love to me!

It struck me that all those clothes are so stylish now.

do fun stuff

2010-08-30T19:35:00.006-04:00

I came across Pacing The Panic Room last year via a link to this awesome maternity photography series. And then this awesome series came along, and okay, just go ahead and treat yourself to this amazing video real quick. Alrighty then!

So, now that you know what a genius this guy is, I hope you will take a minute to check out this kids music album that is his brainchild: Do Fun Stuff. It's a fundraiser to benefit research on Smith-Magenis Syndrome, which his son has.

Sorry, your browser does not support iframes.

So take a look, take a listen, and buy this thing for your favorite kid, or kid-at-heart. I know I'm gonna. My favorite song so far is track number 9, "Nothing."

P.S. One more awesome link. Please scroll down and watch this sweet music video from the band Rabbit. I have watched it over and over and over and over!

mmmmangoes

2010-08-20T19:42:00.000-04:00

We got our annual order of mangoes from pine island!!! 30 pounds came to us 3 days ago and they're already half gone. We had planned to freeze them for smoothies, but they are just so delicious that I've been eating mango and avocado salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If we DID have enough to spare, I'd like to make these and these. I have popsicles on the brain.

the building.

2010-08-19T18:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally finished my dad's quilt. I LOVE how it turned out, and even though it took me 2 years, I still want to make another one. I am trying to decide on a pattern from the Denyse Schmidt book I have.

Anyway, the point of the story is that I am finally allowed to start NEW PROJECTS and the first thing I did was help Ruben build us a bar out of a piece of bowling alley. Okay, that's a lie. I just watched. Okay, even that is a lie. He did it while I was at work. But whatever, it's great!

A few years ago the bowling alley in our town burned down. We went by when they were putting the alleys in giant dumpsters and hauled a few pieces home. We still have several huge chunks left that Ruben wants to use as flooring somewhere, but this is the first time we've used them in a project. He sanded them a lot to get off the smokey varnish and that really lightened them up. I think the bar turned out just stellar (definitely an improvement over the former formica!), and it inspired us to do a new paint job on the dining room walls. Oh, AND I think I've just about convinced him that we really need this table.

the clearing.

2010-08-11T07:15:00.004-04:00

We've been doing some cleaning.

Cleaning out the cabinets, dusting off the shelves, trying to part with more and more of our beloved stuff.

I come from a long line of hoarders. For me, clearing out is hard and serious work. I have to keep reminding myself of those pretty magazine pictures that show the spaces I'd really love to inhabit (like pretty much everything on this website!)

yummmm.

2010-08-09T17:42:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to making these cookies. The dough gave me fits when I rolled it out and there may have been some cursing involved-- but it's Florida in the hottest summer I can remember, what did I expect? The end result is decidedly worth it. These are very very good. It was my first time using quinoa flour, and I love the nutty-wholesomeness it lends to the flavor of the cookies. I'll be making these again.

mysterious waters

2010-08-07T14:58:00.007-04:00

A local favorite. Wakulla Springs State Park

2010-07-22T13:24:00.003-04:00

Treasures from an antique store in Hayesville NC. I just got back from a bliss-full week in the mountains. It was so cool at night and I slept like a rock. I swam, I ate delicious food, drank some nice cold beer and went on a very fun train ride with my nephew. Now I am shuttling off again to the coast for a science experiment. Can't wait to feel that salty breeze.

first ever special order from my Etsy shop! woot.

2010-06-29T19:21:00.003-04:00

back yard scenes and a recipe

2010-06-28T10:04:00.001-04:00

Those are our chickens up there-- Honey and Petunia. We've been thinking about getting a couple more, but I'm not sure about disrupting the order these girls have in the yard right now. They seem pretty happy to be the only girls out there. We got these as adult birds and so they are most definitely not pets. As in, they don't want us to touch them. They do come running when we go in the back yard, though, because we like to bring them treats. One day I wouldn't mind raising some from chicks so that I could hold them....There's something really nice about petting those feathers.

The last photo is Ruben's smoker. He's been smoking cookie ingredients lately, with good results. At first he was smoking the butter, which involved freezing it first and keeping it on a bed of ice in the smoker, so as not to melt it. That worked pretty well, but the resulting cookies had only a very faint smokiness. Our chef friend suggested smoking the flour instead, and that has been great. MUCH more smoky and delicious! Ruben usually uses some cherry charcoal that his friend makes, but you could try it with other wood types and I bet it would be fun to do a taste test and compare them.

To smoke the flour you just immerse a bowl of flour in a smoky environment for a while -- you could make a homemade smoker like ours (just an overturned metal tub on the grill, over smoldering coals) or use a real smoker. You may want to stir the flour a few times, to increase the smokiness.

Here's the recipe we've been using and loving. Our families request these cookies pretty often.

Smoky and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe slightly adapted from this recipe from Not Without Salt.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

1 3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs, room temp

2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups smoked all purpose flour

1 lb high quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2" chunks

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

fluer de sel, for sprinkling

Cream butter and sugars until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue mixing while adding the eggs, one at time, being sure to mix well between each egg. Add vanilla. Scrape down the bowl again. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. With mixer on low, slowly add the flour, mixing just until combined-- take care not to over-mix. Fold in the chocolate with the rubber spatula.

Place spoonfuls of dough on parchment-lined cookie sheets, sprinkle each with fluer de sel, and bake at 360 degrees for about 12 minutes. They should be lightly golden but still look a bit wet. Cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, and then move to cooling racks. Enjoy!

escape to the sand

2010-06-24T07:50:00.005-04:00

We took off for the beach on Monday afternoon and spent a night and day with some family who rented a house for the week. It was pure heaven. I made my favorite chocolate chip cookies (can't remember where I got the recipe, but they involve a whole pound of dark chocolate and a lot of fleur de sel) and we cooked fish and roasted asparagus and drank beers and laid in the surf. Ahhhh. My nephews loved Ruben and they all made a giant crab out of sand and shells. There really is nothing quite like a mid-week vacation, when you just know everyone else is at work and you are thankfully, happily, joyfully NOT. Also, I got to sleep out on the screened in porch and fell asleep listening to the waves and watching the moon shine on the water. It wasn't even hot, because there was an awesome breeze. I wanted to stay all week.

There was definitely a bittersweet-ness to our time there, though.....considering the giant mass of oil and tar that is rapidly heading our way. It's kind of mind-blowing. I saw so many dolphins and periwinkles and fish and crabs, and Ruben saw a sea turtle, and it was really sad to think that they will all probably be dead soon. Huh. Yeah. Mind-blowing. Definitely still in the denial stage of this grief.

Olive Oil Cake from Good to the Grain

2010-06-13T13:42:00.002-04:00

When I read about this cake a few weeks ago on The Wednesday Chef I knew I had to make it. Olive oil, rosemary, dark chocolate and CAKE? Yes please. I finally got around to it this weekend and was not disappointed! Next time I might cook it a tad longer, but I like my baked goods moist. When I first tasted it-- straight of the oven because I couldn't wait-- I thought I should use a less robust (read: expensive) olive oil (I used this one). But this morning it has mellowed out a lot. I will be making it again, even though R is not a huge fan and that means I will be eating the whole thing. Oh well.

Gettin' the weekend started off right!

2010-06-12T16:18:00.007-04:00

Up early, canoeing on the Wacissa River, swimming at Blue Hole, picked two gallons of blueberries, and home by lunchtime.

summer lovin'

2010-06-09T07:46:00.002-04:00

Oh happy day--a little bit of sewing happened this weekend. I made two linen dish towels for friends. One has already been mailed off to California, and the other one, above, is a birthday gift for a happy, summer-loving gal. I really like working with linen, and hope these girls like drying their dishes with it too!

bozia.

2010-06-08T12:17:00.004-04:00

I got this beautiful reverse-painting-on-glass necklace at Folk Arts of Poland in Santa Fe when I was there for a conference a few years ago. I wandered into the shop and just fell in love with all the beautiful polish pottery and religious icons. I bought this particular pendant because I have a thing for St. Isidor, the patron saint of farmers....and, strangely, of dead children. (I didn't know that at the time.) There was another pendant of St. Francis that was incredible, but the girl who came in the shop ahead of me snapped it up. Drat! I wish they were available online. Actually, it's probably best that they're not. Anyways, I do love this one. It turns out that the Jesus-and-Mary side is actually my favorite, though. Those colors!

projects.

2010-06-01T14:00:00.001-04:00

I've been working on this quilt for my dad for...oh....about two years. Not actively working the whole time, but still it's been weighing on my mind for quite a while. It's time for me to finish it.

I worked really hard on it at first, cutting out all the hundreds of rectangles and sewing them into strips. But then I realized that I'd made a large error-- I'd forgotten to add seam allowance to the pieces, so every block was a good half-inch smaller than it should have been. Suddenly my dad's queen-size quilt was more twin-size. So that took some of the wind out of my sails. Also, I bought all the fabric at JoAnn's, so it's really not good quality, and I'm noticing more and more that if I don't use good fabric, I quickly lose interest in my sewing project. So I put this one away for a long time. It wasn't until last October when I started really thinking about finishing it, and I've been working on the hand-quilting since then. I would say that I'm nearly halfway done (!).

The main thing pushing me through the tedious hand-quilting (I'm quilting an X through each block, and it is taking a really really long time) is that I have decided not to start any other project until I finish this one. Also, I really can't wait to see my dad's face when I give it to him (it's a surprise)! I love surprises.

Some of my motivation? These fun projects:

relabeling my kitchen bottles
a doily print bag
furoshiki
a camera strap for my mom
undies
something from the stylish dress book
pajama pants
for the kitchen
necklaces!

face wash and other treasures

2010-05-31T11:22:00.006-04:00

On this fine Memorial Day I'm forgoing all the barbecues and swimming pool parties and getting some stuff done around the house-- and feeling very satisfied with myself. I made a batch of deodorant for a friend, and a batch of my favorite face wash-- the Miracle Grains in Rosemary Gladstar's book, which I do not own. It must be out of print. Luckily, my library has it. This is such a great face wash! It is the closest I've found to my favorite Dr. Hauschka face wash, and so much more affordable.

While cleaning out boxes of stuff in my sewing room, I've come across lots of little treasures. For example, a thrifted dish, a cross-stitch dollhouse pillow my mom made, and a tag for a dog named FANCY.

2010-05-26T08:07:00.003-04:00

This week I've enjoyed reading through the archives of this new-to-me blog: Fields and Fire. The family runs a bakery in Amherst and does a grain CSA, on top of hand-washing all their clothes and dishes at home, using a work horse for farm and garden work, and growing most of their food. Amazing and inspiring. This photo really made my day! They might just be living my dream life.

scenes from Farm Friday

2010-05-23T08:28:00.002-04:00

American Buff gosling

the squashes are in!

beach baby, beach baby there on the sand...

2010-05-06T20:31:00.010-04:00

California was....awesome! It was my first visit and I kind of fell in love. I was a) surprised at how cold it was, b) in awe of the foreign (to me) plants and wildlife, and c) seriously impressed with the food and beverage selection. We went to Santa Monica first, where we stayed with a friend who works at Rawesome (a raw meat and dairy market) making raw chicken salad (I tried it! It was good!), raw coconut concoctions, raw bison burgers, and nut milks. We did lots of biking around and walking on the pier. Here I am playing on the rings at the beach:

Our friend took us to lots of gorgeous and tantalizing farmer's markets. One of them spanned about 5 blocks and had hundreds of vendors! This is so very unlike anything where I live... These herbs are from one of my favorite booths.

Ruben ate strawberries and raw avocado honey for breakfast the next day:

We also ate at the Library Ale House and though I don't remember a whole lot about the food, I had the best beer of my life (this one). Seriously, I don't even like beer, but I am STILL craving this one. Of course no one in our entire bioregion sells this. I've already checked.

Then we said our goodbyes, rented a hybrid, and headed up the coast. Here I am in an herb garden in Cambria:
We took the scenic Hwy 1 all the way up to San Francisco. It was so beautiful, and our camera broke on the first day of the drive. Torture!! So, no more pictures of the trip. We tried to burn everything into our memories, though.

We spent a night in Big Sur and ate twice at the amazing Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant. I highly recommend that you stop here should you ever find yourself in the area! I had a wood fired pizza and snacked on delicious olives while sipping wine and staring out at the green mountains. This was a PREMIER EXPERIENCE of my life...not sure if I can convey my contentedness and joy that evening. Something about the view, the food, the weather and the company. Anyway, we came back for breakfast, which was a very good decision. We had pop tarts, chocolate croissants, and a delicious banana strudel. We hiked around the state park, carved a heart into a bench, and gawked at Pfeiffer Beach.

Next, we went to Santa Cruz where I had an appointment with a homeopath, and we met up with one of my oldest friends for a snack at River Cafe, which I totally loved. This place is seriously cute, with delicious food (we had sweet peas with spicy tofu skins, and lavender sugar cookies...not at the same time) and only two kegs on tap (one beer, one kombucha)! I loved it and wish we had stayed longer so I could have eaten there again.

In San Francisco, the highlights for me were eating at Sushi Ran (actually in Sausalito) and Magnolia. There were lots of places that I wanted to eat (hello Zuni Cafe, Boulette's Larder, Tartine, Chez Panisse, Greens, and Ubuntu) but that just weren't in the cards for us this time. I may have been a bit overzealous (nice way of saying obsessive) in the planning of the food aspect of our trip. What can I say? I like to eat.

I was kind of overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the City, but our friends showed us around and we had fun walking around the parks and shops. Also, I finally get what the big deal is about the golden gate bridge!

We stayed our last couple of nights at Cavallo Point, where a childhood friend of Ruben's is a chef. It was crazy nice, and we got to do a spa treatment, and I remember saying to Ruben, "Why don't we do this ALL THE TIME?!?" We got to experience a 10 course meal with wine pairings one night, and a 3 hour brunch out on the porch that looks out over the bay the next day. Really incredible and totally not our normal style of staying/dining. Thanks Tim for hooking us up!

And, finally, the Heath Factory Store. Yes please. We have $200 worth of gorgeous ceramics heading our way. Happy Birthday/Christmas to us!

Ruben lost his wallet at the airport on the way home and we almost weren't able to get on the plane. Now I'm wondering...would that have been such a bad thing? Bye for now Cali, and thanks for the hospitality. We're already saving for vacation #2.

2010-05-05T21:18:00.002-04:00

Whew. I just got home from a California vacation! We flew to LA and then drove up Highway 1 and flew home from San Francisco. So fun! I am so sad to go back to work in the morning...

chicken feed

2010-04-20T06:14:00.009-04:00

A few weeks ago I started thinking about what we feed our chickens. They are free-roaming in our (fenced) yard during the day, and we give them a good amount of kitchen scraps and leftovers, but they also love to eat their feed that we get from the hardware store. We really haven't found a good, organic brand of chicken feed locally. For a while we were buying organic feed from a farm that was ordering it from Virginia, but they stopped ordering it after a few months of using it, because of the cost of shipping it down here. So we've been using Layena, which they like just fine, but I'm pretty sure is full of factory-farmed animal parts and GMO corn and soy. Not exactly what I want to be supporting, or putting into my eggs. So. Enter my awesome friend Monica, who kindly showed me how much fun it is to make your own chicken feed! And that's just what I did.

Here's the recipe she gave me. It's modified from here based on the grains we can find easily in our area.
2 or 3-4 cups corn (grind or use grits) (use the larger quantity in the winter)
4 cups winter wheat (grind)
3 cups spring wheat (grind)
1 cup barley (grind)
1 cup oats (grind if whole)
1-2 cups sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups millet
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup lentils (grind)
1 cup split peas (grind)
1/2 cup flax
1/2 cup Fertrell Nutribalancer (per 10 lbs feed, depending on quantities you use)
1 1/2 cup fish meal (per 10 lbs feed)

You can substitute amaranth for the quinoa or millet sometimes, or give other grains like kamut, if you can find it in your area.

Here's a post on Wild Roots Homestead with the chicken feed recipe that they use for their large flock. They also have some great ideas on foods to supplement your chickens' diets (sprouts and kombucha!). I could use some more of those in my diet, too....

2010-04-18T19:11:00.004-04:00

Ruben's band played at a local music fest this weekend and we took Jackie and had fun dancing, relaxing with some great people, and drinking malted milkshakes.

mama's south of france salad dressing

2010-04-10T22:16:00.002-04:00

This dressing is light, easy, and perfectly compliments fresh, tender lettuce. To make a complete lunch, add a boiled egg, some slivered radishes, and a handful of sugar snap peas to your salad. My mom picked up this recipe when we visited the south of france years ago, and she still makes it nearly weekly!

mama's favorite salad dressing

4 tbsp oil (hazelnut or sunflower…something light)

1 tbsp white wine

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Mix white wine and mustard together well. Mix oil in slowly, whisking constantly. Season and serve.

2010-04-01T20:25:00.002-04:00

We are having an honest-to-goodness spring. This never happens here! I have tomatoes in the ground, and we ate our first ripe strawberry when my nephew was visiting last week.

I walked to work this morning (which I don't do as much as I should because it's a 40 minute walk and I have a seriously hard time getting myself out of the house these days) and the air was heavy with flowery smells. It was a lovely morning--cool, clear, and sunny. It's spring break, too, so there were no kids yelling at me as I walked past the high school! Perfection.

The spring clock change kills me every year (I think I might finally be almost adjusted. Maybe.) but it is just so so nice to have more evening. I am getting stuff done!

weekend projects

2010-03-15T13:01:00.004-04:00

Fabric bucket pattern here. For an artist friend. I have one that I keep my paint tubes in.
Baby kimono pattern from Weekend Sewing. It was a bright windy weekend here and I loved spending time at my sewing desk with the windows open. This little kimono is for a sweet girl who's due to arrive in June. It was fun to sew, but I was confused a bit by the tie placement and ended up not following the pattern exactly. Also, the underarms are kind of wonky. Oh well. I have some of this beautiful Lecien fabric in the blue colorway too, so I'm starting on a boy version of this tonight. Three cheers for getting my sewing mood back!

oh my.

2010-03-10T20:50:00.001-05:00

via bigBANG studio

I am so in love with Kay Tuttle's Cover Stories series. Swoon. I can't even decide which one I would get. I do have a thing for foxes, though. I love that charismatic little fox in the top painting. Crows are pretty amazing too. I wonder what my spirit animal is... And how do I find out?

ready for spring!

2010-03-09T17:13:00.000-05:00

These poor tomato seedlings are so ready to be outside. We bought seeds this year from Baker Creek. Their catalog is just luscious. We are trying Dr. Walter, Nature's Riddle, Japanese Black Triefle, Southern Night and Violet Jasper for the first time. Our old stand-bys are Stupice, Black Cherry, Cosmonaut Volkov, Ciudad de Victoria, Cherokee Purple, Striped Roman and Aunt Ruby's German Green-- not necessarily from Baker Creek.

Also coming up: peppers! I am newly infatuated with hot peppers. We are trying Black Hungarian, Tunisian Baklouti, and Odessa Market.

deodorant.

2010-03-08T17:31:00.007-05:00

I've been really into making stuff lately. Not so much sewing or knitting going on, but our kitchen has been humming. A few weeks ago I tried this homemade deodorant recipe from the Angry Chicken blog. It is AWESOME. (The deodorant. And the blog.) I have been using Weleda and Dr. Hauschka for a long time. I love both of them-- I mean, I love the way they smell-- but I would find myself needing to re-apply several times a day. With this homemade stuff, I only apply it once, and I'm good to go for the whole day! Seriously life-changing. I'm impressed.

I also recently tried making spoon oil (recipe and lovely pictures and description found here). I hope to start a regular practice of oiling my wooden kitchen pieces, and I'd like to try this on my bamboo countertops.

2010-03-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

Creepy angel matchbox.

i love tea.

2010-02-24T21:15:00.001-05:00

But not necessarily this kind.

I helped my mom clean out her tea cabinet and we found these bags that I think may have been around since the late 1980's. I've really been liking teas from Homegrown Herb & Tea. Especially this kind. R is loving this kind.

GO conference 2010

2010-02-23T20:30:00.011-05:00

Last weekend was the annual Georgia Organics conference in Athens and I headed up there feeling very meh about going, but returned with rejuvenated inspiration. A large part of that came from an excellent lecture I heard by Marshall Duke of the Center for the Study of Myth and Ritual in Family Life at Emory University. His talk was called “Family Dinner-- The Real Happy Meal.” It was about the importance of rituals for children and families, and especially the importance of the ritual of sitting down to dinner together each day. And it was great. Very, very. I nearly cried. He has written several papers, but he also recommended this book, which I am going to check out. During the trip, I spent some of my down time reading Nutureshock, which is a really fascinating read—even for folks like me with no kids. I’m just trying to absorb it all, and taking it slow. It's one of those books, though, where you want to tell someone about the crazy statistic you just read....on every page. My copy is from the library and I'm seriously considering breaking my February spending hiatus to one that I can write notes in.

One of the farms we toured was Woodland Gardens, which was possibly the cleanest organic farm I’ve ever witnessed! It was lovely and they had lots of delicious-looking food packed into several high tunnels. Another one, Roots Farm, had the cutest little 3-legged dog and a gorgeous passive solar log house. Swoon.

Upon returning from this conference last year, I changed my work schedule to work 4 10-hr days so I could spend 1 day working on a farm each week. That was my first baby-step towards my dream of farming. It has been fun and wonderful, and this year has flown by! Now….I’m trying to figure out my next step.

you can't make good coffee by reading a book

2010-02-17T08:27:00.001-05:00

I love this card I found in my granny's things. It says:

Although you've been married for just three weeks,

One lesson you've learned as happiness you seek;

That meals are important to grow big and strong,

Good food and good coffee in all homes belong.

Good food you can get by learning to cook, but

You can't make good coffee by reading a book;

So here is some aid we're offering to you,

As that aromatic drink you're trying to brew;

Throw away your container for boiling caffeine,

Here's a new percolator, the best that we've seen;

(We're sorry we can't present it tonight,

For Santa misplaced it in his southerly flight;

Don't fret and don't wail -- you'll get it post haste,

And we're wishing you the best in good

coffee taste!)

for their sock drawer

2010-02-16T08:08:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I found this needlepoint my aunt did for my brother back in 1983. It was stuffed back in a wooden chest, which could be where this stain came from. I couldn't bear to just toss it out, so I made a few lavender sachets, out of the non-stained parts, to send to my brother and his wife. It's so nice to to a quick project every once in a while! It seems like it's been a long time since I've completed something-- I needed this!

valentines.

2010-02-12T17:02:00.005-05:00

Valentine's day has always been a special holiday in my family. My parents still give us gifts, and I still make my cards from bits of old papers and vintage book covers I've torn off of hardbacks heading for the recycling bin. (That actually was one of my jobs one summer-- removing the covers and bindings on old books so the pages could be recycled. I found some gems.)

I love this simple valentine card design by Rifle Paper Co.

warming my heart and hands

2010-01-28T07:27:00.003-05:00

Ever since reading about how to make chai on the Small Measure blog (delicious recipe here) I have been making it almost daily. Well, I make a big pot and then sip off of it for a couple of days. I added turmeric to the mix (about 1-2 teaspoons, fresh) because we have a lot of it growing around here right now. I add extra ginger because we have lots of that too! Plus, it's warming, helps with stomach troubles and headaches, and is delicious of course!

I've also been putting grated turmeric in things like stir fry and chili. I've read that it has anti-inflamatory properties, and speeds healing. How do you use turmeric?

a few favorite things (and one really dirty window)

2010-01-07T21:27:00.003-05:00

Terrarium from here.
My dad gave me this anvil that he fixed up for me, and even stamped my name in the side. Love that. The cow came out of my grandma's attic. I remember it used to be in her kitchen when I was a kid, and the tail moves up and down.

2010-01-02T09:14:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

I rang in the new year cuddled in bed with my favorite dog, listening to the fireworks around town, after a fun family potluck/bonfire celebration. January 1st brought lots of hand-quilting and movie-watching, a little bit of cooking, reading the latest issue of Acres, and taking a nice hot soak in the tub. Here's to more of all of those things in 2010!

Today I plan to take down the holiday decorations, including those sweet angels that were on my grandmother's tree when she was little. Taking everything down is not nearly as fun as putting it up, but I'm ready for a clean house and clean slate.

scenes from a florida winter at the farm

2009-12-19T11:10:00.007-05:00

scallions

kaleards and pac choi

ginger (which we dig and replant at the same time)

arugula, red lettuce, a lone japanese turnip

So far our winter has been quite mild and very wet. A lot of things have been loving the moderate temps (ahem, bugs, I'm looking at you).

christmasy

2009-12-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

My favorite time of the year.

found.

2009-12-07T22:46:00.004-05:00

My dad is the best trash-picker you'll ever meet. I'm such a lucky girl! I love coming home to find a bag of treasures he's left for me to go through. My favorite is the "old lady trash." I have really good dreams about this kind of thing...

found tile

2009-12-03T13:16:00.003-05:00

Pretty little tiles I dug out of our dusty storage room

i spent my holiday...

2009-12-01T22:08:00.008-05:00

...drinking dubonnet in honor of my great grandpa
...loving this painting
...sitting on this lovely sofa
...sticking my feet in the very cold pool
...taking self portraits in the bathroom
...setting the table with the good glasses
...admiring all my uncles' nice things

full.

2009-11-26T06:05:00.004-05:00

I am thankful for so very many things. I'll just make a quick list to remind myself, while I wait for my family to pick me up and whisk me away to central florida this morning:

my health. Jackie & Ruben. the beautiful and delicious food i'm surrounded by, and being able to afford to buy it from local farmers. our chickens. the love and support of my family, especially my parents. my nephew. my brother. deep roots. the wisdom and generosity of my granny. my eyesight (as poor as it is, I'm so happy to be able to see). great music. my jobs. getting to spend time with my dad. silver linings. knowing how to make great pie crust. having a whole room for my sewing and art supplies. freedom. my home.

This list is not complete, but i'll leave it at that because my family is here to get me. I've gotta grab my pear pie and get myself in the car...Adorable nephew, here I come!

canoe and camp

2009-11-16T20:42:00.011-05:00

We just got back from a music-filled camping trip to Bear Creek, where R's band played on Saturday. I cooked up a big batch of stir-fried greens, radishes and turnips, and roasted a bunch of sweet potatoes ahead of time, and we ate off those (plus a whole lot of eggs and english muffins) all weekend. My favorite part was getting up early (when, frankly, a lot of folks were just hitting the sack) and taking a walk to get a cup of coffee from one of the food vendors and then sitting in the sun knitting or reading for a while. I sure do need my quiet time.

our conestoga wagon

Transitioning back to work on Monday was a bit rough. Ever since the time change it is dark when I leave for work, and dark when I get home-- and I've always been a dark-means-sleep type of girl, so it's a real struggle for me to be productive. To counteract the frustration this brings, I've definitely been taking lots of mini breaks during my work day to do fun things like plan the dishes I'm going to make at our family's meal next week: Flageolet gratin (from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook--amazing!), these biscuits, and Aunt Harriet's sweet potatoes (involving lots of cream and chipotle peppers). And I've already been making (and eating) cranberry sauce for weeks now. I love fall!

This is one of my favorite fungi.

2009-11-02T11:38:00.005-05:00

Cyanthus striatus

I remember finding these as a kid and believing in fairies. This is really a terrible photo-- they are so much more charming in person. You can find them growing on wood chips or bark mulch. I just read that the little "eggs" contain the spores for the mushroom, and that when rain drops hit the nest-like shape, the little eggs are splashed out, and this is one way for the mycelium to spread.

Speaking of mycelium, have you read Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets? His platform is that mycelium can save the world! Even if you don't share his complete enthusiasm for fungi, this book is a wonderful resource and an interesting read too.

the weekend was full of breeze

2009-10-26T21:16:00.005-04:00

Jackie Boy at the farm

Apples for cider

Shiitake, fresh off the logs

Quoteable Sunday: Bob Marley

2009-10-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I tossed one way, turned another, and finally got up. I wanted to burn some Myrrh resin and just sit on the floor and think, but I couldn’t get the charcoal tablet to light, and went through a whole matchbook trying. A precious loved one is having a major surgery today and I feel so uneasy about it, like there’s something more in the mix, something I can’t see or understand yet. Waiting now.

Oh and I know how I hate to wait..... Not even for a bus or something.... An important phone call.

Extra points if you can tell me what song that’s from.

Anyhow. It’s a beautiful rainy day here, and the conditions are reminding me of a research trip I took once to British Columbia. Feeling thankful for nice memories.

"One good thing about music...when it hits you feel no pain." - bob marley

susun weed is my hero

2009-10-08T08:42:00.011-04:00

This past weekend I traveled to Asheville to visit friends and go to the Southeast Women's Herbal Conference. The weather was cool, the air was clean, the moon was full, and the food was delicious and restorative. Most of the meals were based around recipes and techniques from Nourishing Traditions. I couldn't get enough of the three-sisters chili, the cornbread, the beet salad, or the yummy nettle and oatstraw infusions.

The classes were really fun, too. Susun Weed was a guest speaker, and she told stories after dinner on Saturday night. She is a beautiful storyteller, and enthralled us with a tale about Baba Yaga, a witch-type character from Russian folklore who rides a mortar that she rows with her pestle, and another tale about how the sassafras tree came to look the way it does. I took several of the herb/edible plant walks, and classes on Fostering Women's Wellness and Ceremonial Herb Baths. Yoga was at 7:00 each morning, when it was still dark, and the old gym where the classes were held was gently lit by flickering candles and full of women on their mats, listening to beautiful music. Ahhhhhhh. I can tell that's going to be my 'happy place' for a bit.

It also happened to be Homecoming at my wonderful, beautiful, eternally inspiring Alma Mater, WWC. I just wish I would have taken more than one photo.

book love and a trip to north carolina

2009-09-29T13:54:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and totally loved it. I wasn't sure about it until about the 5th page, but after that it was heaven. I'm so sad that it's over! I should have read slower. More please!

I'm packing my camping stuff for a weekend trip to North Carolina for a conference. I bought a new pair of hiking boots and aired out my sleeping bag. Cool weather, here I come...

Quoteable Sunday: Bob Dylan

2009-09-27T08:18:00.001-04:00

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."

-Bob Dylan

28 things to do before I turn 29

2009-09-26T14:06:00.003-04:00

1. knit myself a sweater

2. have a fancy dinner party

3. take more pictures

4. buy an organic mattress

5. try printing techniques from Lena Corwin's book

6. enhance morning yoga practice

7. take evening walks

8. abolish negativity

9. try more recipes and techniques from Nourishing Traditions, Wild Fermentation, and Full Moon Feast

10. spend time with my family (more focus on quality over quantity)

11. learn to bake bread

12. drink herbal infusions daily

13. practice patience

14. practice being present

15. go camping

16. paint the bathroom

17. organize a food/supplies drive for the animal shelter

18. sew R a cover for his amplifier

19. light candles and set the table for dinner

20. sew myself a dress

21. help dad clean out his workshop and garage

22. start a women's circle

23. complete my Sugar Loom project

24. make a quilt

25. use my bike/feet more regularly to get where i'm going

26. do the dishes before going to bed

27. react less, respond more

28. have a picnic

Scuppernong Pie

2009-09-25T06:55:00.003-04:00

Muscadines are one of my favorite parts of summer. Growing up, though, I never appreciated them. I was spoiled on grocery store grapes, the seedless kind, and wasn't too sure about these tough-skinned, robust, seed-bearing scuppernongs. These days, I've changed my tune a bit and look forward to picking (and eating) them each year-- and here's why: Muscadine Pie. If you have muscadines (or scuppernongs, same thing) where you live too, please do everyone a favor and make. this. pie.

4 C purple scuppernongs
2/3 C sugar*
Pastry for 2-crust pie (9")
2 T cornstarch
3 T butter
Cinnamon or Apple Pie Spice

*Adjust to your taste.

Preheat oven 300 degrees F.
Wash grapes. Using two medium sized enamel pans, squeeze grape pulp into one and use the other for the hulls. Cover hulls with water and cook until tender. Drain.
Cook pulp until soft enough to run through a sieve to remove seeds. Add to hulls. Mix sugar, cornstarch and spice. Add to grapes. Pour into bottom pie shell, dot with butter, cover with strips of pastry (I use the cookie cutter method usually, and roll out the top pie crust, then cut out little shapes with a cookie cutter-- to mimic a lattice without the extra effort). Bake until filling bubbles and pastry browns. Try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting.

28 at the beach

2009-09-22T20:14:00.006-04:00

We're not out of the woods yet, but our computer seems to be back in business. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and backing up the hard drive (finally). While I was gone I turned 28 at the beach with friends, music, and plenty of knitting. We ended up in Grayton Beach on Sunday, just in time to hear Dread Clampitt play at the awesome Red Bar. Then we swam for a while in the blue/green water and I got a sunburn. I think it was worth it though.

This past weekend we got to see The Avett Brothers (swoon) and I fell in love with some of the songs from their new album -- especially January Wedding. Can't get it out of my head!

so long sweet summer

2009-09-06T15:23:00.003-04:00

This is a very old picture, but I'm just so happy that it's nearly fall that I don't care. I'm using my mom's computer to write this, because our computer has died an untimely death, and we have been sans-technology for a while now. Not sure how long that will last, but we're hanging in there. Hopefully I'll be back in this space soon.
Until then, take care & enjoy the end of summer!
P.S. I saw (okay bought) the first pumpkin at the farmer's market this week. It's a new variety that was crossed with a Brazilian gourd, which means it can grow in the south in the summer, so we can finally have local pumpkins for Halloween! Hot dog.

a bit of cool

2009-08-19T17:05:00.002-04:00

We rigged up a shower in the greenhouse. Perfect for August, but REALLY exciting in December.

extra sleep

2009-08-16T21:05:00.004-04:00

Indian food, yum. Spontaneous date, yum.

This weekend was busy with cooking, eating, visiting a brand-new baby, lots of rain, girl time, knitting, weeding, walking, picking chanterelles in the park, and some extra sleep. Reading too. Picked up copies of Weekend Sewing and Handmade Home, and am fully immersed. Tonight: dreaming of sewing projects.

Quotable Sunday

2009-08-09T08:13:00.003-04:00

(scene from our kitchen renovation....a bar where we used to have a wall)

Ring the bells that can still ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in.

-Leonard Cohen

Quotable Sunday

2009-08-02T18:49:00.003-04:00

"Ah but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now"

- Bob Dylan "My Back Pages"

I'm back from a lovely mountain vacation, but wholly encompassed by a kitchen remodel, and it's back to work for me in the morning. We are about 75% done (i hope). Before/after shots, and vacation pictures to follow!

2009-07-22T08:27:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I'm hoping in the car with my mama, granny, nephew & stepdad, and we're going on vacation! Whew. We're headed for our family's cabin in the mountains. I'm looking forward to peach ice cream, blackberry cobbler, swimming in the creek, browsing the flea markets, and picking Queen Anne's Lace for the dinner table. I'll report back next week-- hopefully with pictures. Be well!

granny colors

2009-07-14T20:10:00.004-04:00

When my granny moved out of her house last year (after breaking her hip-- so traumatic for our family!), I was so fortunate to be the recipient of most of her fabric stash. I inherited several very large pieces of wonderful linen (including this pumpkin colored one here), as well as some old doilies and beautiful pieces of antique lace. She is so pleased that someone wanted her stuff, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Win-win!

Another thing I love is this old cookbook. The pictures are so amazingly gross! I am drawn to this color palette lately, though. I would love to do something with it, a la Katie Did .

more fun with the moon theme.

2009-07-13T07:31:00.003-04:00

I had so much fun working on this, but then I cut it too small to be the pillow top it was intended for. Any ideas for what I could make with it now?

Quotable Sunday, Ed Brown

2009-07-12T07:31:00.003-04:00

"Each of us is who we are largely because of others. My life manifests itself as it does because others have believed in me, which has allowed me to believe in myself."

- Ed Brown

Quotable Sunday, a short poem i like

2009-07-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

What day are we?

We are every day

My friend

We are the whole life

My love

We love and we live

We live and we love

And we don't really know

What life is

And we don't really know

What a day is

And we don't really know

What love is

- Jacques Prevert

another freezer paper stencil

2009-07-04T14:25:00.002-04:00

I just love the moon, don't you?

Gnomes.

2009-07-02T17:04:00.007-04:00

I found this wonderful book about gnomes at the library.

Too bad there aren't any gnomes in Florida.

freezer paper, i will always keep you in stock

2009-07-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

Freezer-paper stenciling is my new favorite easiest craft in the world. I tried it a few years ago, but I have no idea why I didn't stick with it. It is so fun! And easy! My weekly art night friends and I gave it a go last week and we've all been scouring our homes for boring clothes, linens, or anything that will hold still that could use just a little something.

I also made this little bag, from one of my other favorite easiest projects ever, a pattern in Bend the Rules Sewing. I love the little pleats I sewed on one side of the bag-- I cut them off a half-made (and way too small for me) vintage shirt I found in the trash a while back. The fabric is gold-embossed and so pretty.

Quotable Sunday, on Wednesday

2009-07-01T06:44:00.005-04:00

Our internet has been out for the past few days, following an incredible, lightening-filled storm on Sunday. We sat out on the back (screened) porch and just took it in. Other than the exciting storm, the weekend was a low-key kind of wonderful. Lots of napping, some sewing, some knitting, and plenty of cold beverages.

"A human being is essentially

a spirit eye.

Whatever you really see,

you are that."

-Rumi

saturday morning at the market

2009-06-27T15:05:00.010-04:00

I don't work at the farmer's market very often, but when I do it is a fun time. I like setting up, and even taking down, and I like weighing tomatoes and squash, and ringing people up on the little black calculator, and counting out change. I also like people-watching, and shopping around at the end of the morning, after I've had a chance to decide on where to spend my money (the flower lady is usually a destination, and if there are any berries left, they will be coming home with me).

The farm I work at specializes in tomatoes in the summer and we grow a huge variety. It's already gotten too hot for some of them (the Cherokee Purple variety, for example, is an annual favorite and it's season sadly ended at the beginning of this heat snap we're having). Down here in Florida, the summer is the quietest time on the farm. After the tomatoes peter out, the squash and peppers and okra will keep on kicking for quite some time, and then the muscadine & scuppernong grapes come in for a few weeks, and so do the figs. There's always basil until the first frost. But that's really about it...the heat brings on this serene quality here, where it seems like even the normally raucous birds are still, and nothing moves during the afternoon.

staying up late and being very hot

2009-06-22T09:05:00.009-04:00

This weekend I happily discovered the secret (for me) to staying up late and enjoying it when R's band plays. Normally, I am asleep by 10:30, and when Saturday night rolls around, I don't easily transition to night-owl mode. But this time I took a short afternoon nap, and when I got to the bar, I sipped 2 glasses of iced tea, and zero beers, and then I was good to go. I hardly even noticed when 2:30 AM rolled around. The bands sounded great and I got to catch up with some very lovely ladies.

The Tomato Feastival on Sunday was super fun, and super, super hot. I met lots of friendly new people, R won a lemon pound cake in the cake walk (a large portion is in my lunch box today!), and we helped raise a good chunk of change for Slow Food, and the Damayan Garden Project. Not a bad weekend, looking forward to the next.

Quotable Sunday: on self

2009-06-21T11:18:00.004-04:00

When I first read this quote a few years ago, it kind of blew my mind.

i love how jackie is creeping through the dog door in this picture...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?"

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of god.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that others won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us: it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fears,

our presence automatically liberates others.

- Nelson Mandela

2009-06-20T10:55:00.005-04:00

I was in my pajamas and ready to curl up with some knitting (I'm such a novice, but I'm starting easy, with this baby sweater pattern) when we had some unexpected, and totally welcome guests. A lot of great music ensued. Also: baked beans, making plans to visit Canada, and a healthy amount of red wine. My friend K has a beautiful voice, and I got really into her rendition of Red Clay Halo (a Gillian Welch tune).

Tonight: R's band is playing at a local oyster shack.

Tomorrow: A tomato feastival (involving a cake walk, tomato tasting, tomato contest, potluck, and a giant amount of paella) and then more music at an irish bar.

Today: I'm off to the park for a walk, and then home again to make a cake....perhaps this one?

Quotable Sunday-- very late

2009-06-15T19:40:00.002-04:00

People need very little to live, and actually it would enhance their lives if they had less. We camouflage our lives so much.

- George Suyama, architect

little blue gems

2009-06-11T16:20:00.006-04:00

R and I picked four gallons of blueberries at our favorite u-pick place this week. He's off to Bonnaroo this weekend, so I have the house to myself and I fully intend to fill my time with:

blueberry jam
making butter (the article in the latest Mother Earth News got me excited to try this)

cleaning

and hopefully some sewing. I've had a whole string of unsuccessful projects lately-- I figure I'm just about due for a smashing success!

I'm just a bit disappointed that I won't get to hear The Boss or any of the other great bands at the music festival, but not disappointed enough to travel all that way and brave those incredible crowds. Luckily, there's lots of fun to be had here too.

Quotable Sunday

2009-06-06T22:11:00.005-04:00

We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

- Joseph Campbell

house sitting in central state

2009-06-03T08:27:00.005-04:00

I got to spend Memorial Day weekend house-and-child-sitting for my Uncles in Central Florida. My granny and I drove down and had a blast cooking, eating, swimming, painting, and teaching my 8-year old cousin to embroider. It rained most of the weekend, but we kept busy on the screened porch.

Their house is so lovely, and their view is so nice, that it was a hard transition back to my dark, crowded home. Once I was back in my own kitchen (which is approximately the same size as our bathroom closet), I had a mini-meltdown (tantrum?) about the cramped quarters and the abundant clutter (okay, and the lack of lake view-- but that can't be helped). Meltdowns are always unsettling at first, but this one led to the brainstorming of storage solutions and potential wall removal. Let the house remodeling juices start to flow!

Quotable Sunday

2009-05-31T08:00:00.004-04:00

Change is Inevitable

Growth is Optional

(from a bumper sticker I saw the other day. It opened my mind a bit.)

Lines & Shapes

2009-05-27T08:06:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I won (!!!) a giveaway from this fantastic blog. The first 6 editions of Lines & Shapes. Sweet! What an enormous gift. I've wanted to look at these books ever since I first heard about them, and they have been such a treat to pour over, and were a big hit with the birthday party crowd. Also shown above-- our first ripe tomato! A Stupice (pronounced stoo-peach-ka).

happy birthday to you

2009-05-27T07:55:00.005-04:00

We had a birthday party for R last weekend and of course I didn't take pictures, but here are a few from the next morning. I was so pleased with how the fabric bunting came out (although this picture is dark and you can't see it)-- I will be making more of those, they made our living room feel perfectly festive.

I have a hard time staying up late, and I fell asleep a good 4 or 5 hours before everyone else went home to bed. Oops. I woke up to a Michael Bolton poster hanging in my room, so I'm wondering what all I missed.

Quotable Sunday

2009-05-24T08:23:00.004-04:00

And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free / As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.

-Dr. Suess

(Thanks to Kyrie for starting Quoteable Sunday-- I love it!)

trying real hard...

2009-05-13T07:36:00.006-04:00

...not to spend my money on:

this bag

these undies

this cute tote

and this beautiful skirt

Self control is not my strong suit. My work week has been a little bit on the miserable side, and I could easily drown my sorrows in Etsy purchases.....BUT I'm trying to save more these days, so maybe I'll start posting about things that I have the urge to buy, and see if that relieves some of my crazies.

scenes from a weekend

2009-05-12T07:25:00.004-04:00

A bit of solitude. Spent some time focusing on my new mantra, in the form of a quote by Audre Lorde:

"I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to

act,

write,

speak,

be,

I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side."

sea plan(t)s

2009-05-05T08:35:00.009-04:00

Sunday was a much-needed day with my boys at the coast. We went for a walk in the marsh and then headed a few miles inland to swim (okay, skinnydip) all afternoon at a sinkhole. There was some guitar playing, some good food (um, cream cheese stuffed french toast with fresh berries, anyone?), a sauna, and a nap (for me) on the deck. These weekends, they go by so fast.

And then, this:

Jackie is the MOST cute.