Friday, April 17, 2009

nasturtiums in my kitchen


It just couldn't have been more perfect that these little guys started sprouting up in my kitchen. Granted, they didn't just appear all on their own....but I'm loving the fact that one of my roommates planted my favorite leaf shape (peltate) and I get to enjoy them everyday!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

sewing jones

>


I have to say that this course is coming to a close on a fine note.

I’ve been a CRAZY lady this past month holed up in my sweet little room churning out paper after paper, write-up after write-up, material descriptions, illustrations, dimensions, albums, reflections,

observations and essays.


But as of last Tuesday, we had our 50th and final lecture presenting new information.

Phew. Seriously. PHEW!

The gerbil wheel in my brain can stop taking in new gerbils for a minute

and now just find a pace that holds all of the little runners quite comfortably.

They can’t stop running yet, though, they’ve got to keep up a good steady pace until

April 28th, April 30th and May 12th....written and oral exams.


Now that we’ve reached this point, though, something amazing has happened:

I’ve cooked 2 meals.

Actual, proper, sit down at the table meals.

I was previously subsiding on instant oatmeal, cereal, almond butter and jelly sandwiches and the occasional scrambled ovum and toast. I just didn't feel like I could spare the hour it took to prep and cook. But now I feel like I can as things have begun to reach somewhat of a point of calm.

So tonight was quinoa, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, garlic and onion.

I even made enough to share with one of my roommates.


The best part of right now, I must admit, is that in the next 2 weeks

we’ll be operating on our own schedule

(no lectures – just making sure we accrue our final 20 hours of practicals at the training center).

The reason I feel so good now is that

I’m planning on doing some sewing and

I JUST CAN’T WAIT.

I’ve washed the fabric and it’s all folded up nice and tidy ready to become

lovely little items to one day be used by small hands.

The flannel is destined to become finger mitts for polishing.

The cotton and batting is to become quilted and then transform itself into dressing frames.

And the other cotton is going to be sewn into the perfect little knob for a leaf duster made of lambswool.

(Isn’t your leaf duster made of lambswool???)


We have to make several sets of materials as part of the course requirements,

so it's not like I'm going totally crafty just for the sake of it. I have to say, though...

I'm looking more forward to time in the studio than I was

toward writing a single paper thus far....


In honor of this feeling of craftiness, I thought it a good idea to spotlight my two trusty pals:


and

They're much more personable in person.


Thursday, April 2, 2009

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

happy birthday to me



Never had a snowy birthday before.
Quite nice.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Earth Hour Proper

There are not too many things I’m keen on

jumping on the bandwagon about,

but Earth Hour was one of them.

In fact, I was so keen that I did it last month too….

sort of on purpose, by accident.


I was so eager to participate in Earth Hour

that I convinced someone dear to me

to turn off our lights in honor of the event.

We somehow timed cooking our dinner so perfectly

that just as we sat down at the table it was time to turn off the lights.

It was a bit tricky to see what we were eating,

but thankfully all we needed was the steam of our

homemade chicken pot pies to show our forks the way.

That was a month ago.

(Seems being early runs in the family

…ahem, “I’ll see you at 6:30……It’s 6:20, I’m outside…”)

Better early than never?


Well, I did it again, properly, last night.

Better twice than never? I’d say so.

Kind of surprising how much light you can get from a candle.

Maybe in addition to sleeping 11 hours one night each week,

I’ll start flipping the switch a bit more often.

(Yes, I slept 11 hours this past Wednesday night.

Beyond exhausted, I put myself in bed at 6:00pm and

didn’t roll over until my alarm the next morning at 5:00am.)


Back to Earth Hour....

One of my roommates came home at 8:45 and

I heard her rummaging around downstairs through all the darkness I’d created.

So I brought a lit candle down for her to see if she was interested.

She was.

Seems the neighbors across the street weren’t aware of Earth Hour

or surely they’d have been lights out, too.

Word must have spread behind us though cause there wasn’t a light to be seen.

Wonder if we confused any wildlife?



Saturday, March 28, 2009

out with ye lights!



out with the candles, off with the lights -
Earth Hour is here
get on the band wagon tonight


Saturday, March 21, 2009

Frisky

she's always been a gardener.
digging around in the dirt
and over she'll pounce like she's never
seen anything more exciting in her life -

and it's a
serious,
immediate,
bounding across the yard,
crashing through the grass
ARRIVAL.
as if she were ecstatic to join the endeavor -
as if she were a little, well, insane.



last year she oversaw the meticulous staking off of the square foot plot...





and this year
she's taken to making sure
the hardening off of the new sprouts goes as planned....





but sometimes she just lazes about...





and sometimes she gets plain crazy and goes a swingin'...





so while I'm temporarily away from the growing garden,
it's nice to know somebody is looking our for things.
thanks, frisky.