honeyflake

the advent of advent

brrrr! i went up in the attic this morning (where it is suddenly "see your breath" cold) to hunt for the advent calendar — a string of felt-pocketed flags i embroidered up a few christmases ago with some wool felt and the help of my good friend akzidenz-grotesk. luckily, and how often does this happen, it was right on top of the first box i opened. sweet. perhaps that was good planning by us when we packed everything up last year? or perhaps just good luck. well, anyway, its down, but not yet strung up. hopefully today it will find its way up along the windowsill, where the pockets will wait to be filled with a small something each day of advent, which begins tomorrow. yes, tomorrow. let the merriment begin. and happy weekend too!

w is for wednesday

w is for w.i.p. (work in progress).
just a glimpse of some projects i have going on. most of the ones here are of the doll-accessory variety. i'm thinking these will make great wee gifts for the advent flags (which will go up this weekend) or as gifts in the stocking. it is pretty hard to work on these and have them remain a secret. quite challenging actually to keep anything from the resident all-knowing four year old. the works in progress include two knitted doll hats, a doll sweater, a pair of felt doll shoes and two doll knapsacks. all do-able i think, it is the keeping them a surprise that i am worried about.

w is for without a net.
i pulled this classic double-disc album out off of our cd shelves today to import it into my itunes. i thought i should include it in this "w" post for sure. this was one of my very first cds. part of the *11 free* cds i received when my sister got me to join the columbia house music club (being 1990 i think my official first cd was the police?) right before i went off to college. i was transitioning from albums and tapes to the smaller, modern cds. yes, off to college i went with a dinosaur-sized 3-disc cd player and a small handful of new music. this one quickly rose to the top. 1. because, well, it is the grateful dead and 2. it was probably one of the few that my freshmen year roomate and i could agree upon. she was a huge follower of the band, and while i really liked them, at that time my feet were still pretty planted in all the new wave i knew and loved (the smiths, the cure, etc...). listening to this cd today, as it gets converted into mp3s, takes me back. i remember watching my roomate frantically calling the dead's hotline in california, long-distance, daily to see when mailorder would start for tickets. this was fascinating. and i had no idea that just a year or so later i too, along with my good friend and now-husband, would be blissfully sucked into the vortex of the grateful dead phenomenon. we ourselves soon were mail-ordering tickets. we were travelling. we were dancing. we were collecting and trading bootleged live shows on maxell tapes. (some of these traded audience taped live shows are already in my itunes like the 9.2.68 show at betty nelson's organic rapsberry farm.) goodness. but without a net was my first. the beginning of an extraordinary and wonderful musical adventure.

w is for wordy.
hmmm, apparently i have no problem going on and on about who knows what here today. i know some of you prefer the shorter, photo-based posts. i'm sure those posts will return soon. however, if you have taken the time to read through all these words today, thanks!

walk on!

a stick + a few very long continuous lines = a fun seaside path to follow today.

two days

saturday. 11.24.07

sunday. 11.25.07

hatching ideas

i'm thinking... i'm planning... i'm list-making... and while i don't have all my ideas for this year's holidays figured out (like the cards, the gift making, the minimal decorating that happens here, the cookie recipes, the family visits, etc... these details are all still up in the air, being thought out, and for me that's ok and pretty much right on schedule) i've happily enough gotten inspired and started some spontaneous christmas crafting. the kind that doesn't have to be done for any other reason than, well, just because 'tis the season. fun. i started on the bird ornament project from last minute patchwork and quilted gifts. thinking, you know, who couldn't use a little flock of bird ornaments to really say holiday cheer? i sat on the floor, without the pressure of any deadline, in the silence of the post-thanksgiving weekend and began mixing some linen, plaid and solid fabric i had in my fabric box. ah, its a start. a start to a happy season and to the fresh ideas that are inspired each year at this time. a start to a season filled with many moments — planned or spontaneous — to create and enjoy.

full

digging in

when to plant outside: early spring, a soon as soil can be worked or late fall when soil is too cold for seed to germinate (seed benefits from cold exposure)...

chamomile seeds sure are tiny. today, we ventured out into the backyard (which is filling up with falling leaves fast) and sprinkled a bunch into our garden, hoping to see an herbal flower or two in the spring of 08...

w is for wednesday

w is for we're feeling... thankful.
preparing for a day that will be spent gathered around the table (actually, by now, we need about three or four tables for this ever-enlarging-four-generation-family's traditional day of thanks). here's to gratitude, family, food and just plain good warm vibes all around. have a great one!

cloaked

who is that there, underneath the golden cloak? a lost baby-fairy stuck in a tree? a wee gnome on the look out? dandelion girl? just a girl sporting a newly finished mama-knitted creation? depending on which way the wind was blowing at
the park, it was any one of these at any given moment...
oh, the sweet new possibilities of a big, fun, drapey, hooded, woolen outer layer! a result more than i planned on when first cast on the yarn...

i picked this pattern up on my last trip to purl. i was looking for a new project. something somewhat simple but something not too advanced for me... something not too quick but something that wouldn't take me all winter... i asked the super skilled knitters there and right away they pulled this pattern for a child's poncho. it looked just right. perfect. just what i didn't know i was looking for. the hood could have been a challenge, but it was optional, as well as the drawstring.

as a knitting project, i loved this one. it felt like a great match for what i wanted to work on and i was really happy to be making something that i would get to see worn by my pint sized muse. simplicity. i didn't really expect anything much more, but margaret (and apparently all of her aliases) really has taken to this new cloak. part warm autumn wear, part play/dress-up. what more can there be? (maybe a little fringe perhaps but she's asked me to leave that off.) so i've put away the yarn, considered the knitting done and let the newly cloaked personas be...

just a few small things

• looking forward to actually reading, not just flipping through the pages, of a new magazine i was able to pick up. looks like they have some sweet, natural craft ideas — both old and new. has anyone else picked this up? felting, knitting, earthy-happy handcrafts., etc... simple crafty happiness.

• needing to gather up some recipes and check the pantry for all the ingredients for thursday. can't believe thanksgiving is almost here.

• finally thinking about this season's gift-making. and with the sudden increase of doll play that has been going on around the house, i've been thinking a lot about some homemade gift ideas for margaret this year that would add to this whole creative-mothery play... one idea, which i was quite excited about, was a little diaper kit - thought i could perhaps make a bag, some extra doll diapers, mini-washcloths, etc... and then today, i just learned this is already out there, already thought of and mass produced. and here i was thinking i was onto something. i still think a homemade version would be pretty sweet (and all around better for the most obvious hand-made-vs-store-bought gift giving reasons)- i'll just add it to the ever-growing crafting-for-christmas list and see what rises to the top to get done. first though, i need to think thanksgiving, see above.

• hoping that that this might be the weekend that the bathroom renovation project gets wrapped up. it is so close and chuck is working so very hard. if all goes well, the paintbrushes in there might soon be removed, put away and replaced with the much more appropriate toothbrushes.

• owl pennants. nice. really nice.

• have a great weekend!

w is for wednesday

w is for wool details.
i'm still carrying around my golden knitting project that i started a few weeks back. the main shape is there - now it is all about the details. the pattern calls for an i-cord. i needed to research this on some knitting sites to figure out what it is and how it is done... turns out it is a thin yarn tube created from repetitively knitting three little stitches row after row. after a few tries on several different sized needles i got it going and a drawstring is now underway, just a few inches to go. next up — fringe!

w is for washing and ironing.
little clothes. little clothes line. little wash board. little iron. wash-day never looked so sweet. and if you too have a wee pair of two inch mary-janes in need of ironing — today, this was your place.

cool, collected and calm

a little collaboration in aromatherapy between margaret and i. we went out on a cool day. collected up some lavender sprigs from the yard. then stitched up and filled up some new calming eyepillows for each of us. i hope to get a chance to use mine in my yoga practice, while in the savasna. margaret is using hers a lot to get her dolls to relax. i think they like it. i know i do.

pods

first, a little spikey seed pod. observed out in the garden on a regular autumn afternoon.

second, little pillowy dough pods. cooked up in the kitchen on a regular autumn afternoon. while they look nice and orderly on this tray awaiting to be cooked, the rest of the kitchen was lost under a sea of flour. (really, there was flour everywhere.) as a way to use up all the potatoes that we've been getting from our csa lately, i tried for the very first time to make some homemade gnocchi. maybe i'm not being completely honest, not only was there flour everywhere but dough, dishes, dishtowels, etc... this creation seemed to evolve with its own energy and just overtake the whole house for the afternoon. you know, in the best possible way. somehow all other activities and to-dos for the day faded away and it just became all about the dough kneeding and the dumpling making (after dumpling making, after dumpling making)... and i liked that. i love to be in the kitchen, with some good music playing, some good ingredients to play with and a good cookbook opened on the counter... the end result - (besides a very flourly, unorderly kitchen to embrace?) plenty of carb-loaded comfort food for the whole family, with enough to be stashed away in the freezer for another day.

imaginations at work

a few times in the last week, i've made a batch or two of popcorn on the stove for margaret. part homemade snack/part entertainment... she can't get over how quick it takes to make and she totally gets into the energy of the popping. usually it makes a great simple snack to sit around and enjoy at the table.

today, it was a little bit more. as we sat together, i'm not sure who saw what first, but different critters and objects started to emerge from each piece... like observing cloud formations in the sky, except saltier... so naturally i put aside the more intriguing finds and photographed them to share as a blog post (slow day)...

so do you see them too? can you see the bear head? princess leia? an alpaca? an octopus? a yawning hippo? alligator? or something else perhaps? kind of fun, isn't it? to look at the world a little differently every once and a while... let the ordinary be a little less ordinary... i think so, and i hope i can take this mini-popcorn inspired lesson with me away from the afternoon-snack table and into more of my daily activities...

w is for wednesday

w is for windy day.
the kind of wind that when it stops blowing has the sunshine feeling nice n' warm and you can enjoy watching your child collect up the falling leaves but when it briskly kicks in again has you zipping up your fleece, crossing your arms (trying to remember where you stashed last year's winter coat), and wanting to scurry back inside for a little more chamomile tea... (thanks to nonnie for the tea, backyard trees and
their leaves)

see figure 1-a

figure 1-a winter squash

the winter squash, as seen above in figure 1-a, appeared in our csa delivery last week. at first it appeared to be just right as an earthy seasonal halloween/autumn table-top decoration (like the more popular pumpkin). but as soon as the festive holiday passed, this orange organic seed-filled mass was just sitting on the table begging to be cooked. but how? i admit i was quite stumped at first, perhaps a little intimitaded even. "how do i cut it?," "will i really be able to peel it?" "is this for carving?" and just generally, "ok, seriously,what do i do with it?"... well it took a little thought but eventually it was decided that the squash in figure 1-a would soon be on it's way to being not a soup, not a stew but a dough-envelloped taste sensation, a savory zucca filled torta (zucca = itallian for winter squash). a squash torta is not one of the tortas that my family normally makes, but i remembered coming across it in one of nonnie's cookbooks a while back (and i was pretty sure i had copied it). once i located the photocopied page in my stash of cookbooks and checked the ingredients i was set. ready to tackle the soul-nourishing task of transforming this weighty, oversized produce into something delghtful and edible. basically there was some chopping, roasting, pureéing, some mixing-with-cheesing, dough rolling, and baking. until finally the squash took on a whole other existence, ready to appear on the table again, this time for eating.

it would be great to end this post with a nice figure 1-b, the finished product, but unfortunately i didn't get a chance to capture that. just figure 1-a, the gratitude i have for unexpectedly receiving it and the story of it's fate. on the one hand i'm pretty happy to have figured out a way to get this pumpkin look-a-like off of our table and into the oven, but on the other hand, we are keeping our fingers crossed that another farm raised zucca finds it's way to our table again...

golden opportunities

hello november. hello chilly days. hello spending a bit more time indoors and hello finding opportunities to enjoy a little warmth and comfort.

while picking up the needles and wool.

while having a cup of morning coffee.

while stirring up a pot of polenta for lunch (to be topped with parmesean cheese of course).