Friday, February 28, 2014

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}
A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Roses on ice

The roses I got for Valentine's day have been looking sadder and sadder but I didn't want to toss them just yet. Naturmama Caro to the rescue - in her wonderful book, she describes how to make ice sculptures with embedded treasures from nature. Oh, and here is a link to her blog for it, if you want to see. I sprayed a Bundt pan with oil and showed the kids the picture, that was all the action needed on my part - didn't it come out nice?



Now we can see the ice sculpture through the window when we sit at our dining table, for as long as it stays cold. Happily ever after :-)

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Bread Box! Finally!

I'm really in a good groove now with baking most of our bread, and I do so almost daily. I made 3 small baguettes at a time, and found a tupper bin that just about houses them. But it takes up so much room on my very limited counter!


Then inspiration struck - I need the top to be a cutting board. And instantly, I gain back my counterspace! The husband was uncharacteristically excited and swift in the execution - turns out he had a salvaged piece of mahogany sitting around that he was itching to use up. He planed it down to remove all previous stains, polish and dents, then oiled it with food-safe walnut oil. Isn't it pretty? He fit it perfectly into the little lip on the outside of the tupper lid, so that it stays in place, but comes out for cleaning really easily at the same time.


This bread box is now one of the little things that make me happy when I use it every day.



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Hats


Somehow we own about 24,497 hats in this house, yet on those mornings when I'm trying to get the kids ready, the 'just right' ones could never be found. Of course the solution is to knit two more hats, doesn't that make perfect sense? 

 

I followed these directions and then modified them a bit for size. I knitted the bottom half in a double strand of grey wool from our local farm and a multicolored alpaca that adds a bit of softness, plus it brings the wool up to about bulky weight, which is what I used to knit the top half.
Crochet around the outside to create a more finished look, then lined the inside with fleece. The lining doesn't do all the way up, just around the head and is about 3 inches tall (plus the earflaps). I handstitched that in, then applique'd the flower leaves with the sewing machine. The flower petals are held in simply with a button that I attached using strong embroidery floss.

So far the hats are enjoying favorite status, and I do hope it stays that way til winter's end... that must be close now, yes? 



 http://www.creadienstag.de/2014/02/112.html 


Monday, February 24, 2014

Cherry Pit Warming Pillow

In my family, I'm notorious for starting projects and then never finishing them. I disagree! I just sometimes have a bit of a 'maturing' phase built in. Yeah, so sometimes, that's years. I have that in common with good scotch.
One of those projects needed to be finished today - I woke up with a massive kink in my neck that is so painful and did not respond well to exercise. Then I remembered the bag of cherry pits that was sitting around since our enormous cherry jamming session last summer. I had washed, boiled, washed some more, and then dried those pits. And then put them in a paper bag and forgot all about them....


Today, the pain in my neck reminded me, and I found a piece of my favorite flannel, and said brown paper bag. As so often, finishing this particular project took only a few minutes (you can see I machine stitched the pillow closed, I wasn't going to rely on hand-stitching to keep the cherry pits in place reliably) and now I'm sitting on the sofa with warm cherry pits soothing my sore spot. Aaahhh.


Back to the Basics  Wildcrafting Wednesday

Friday, February 21, 2014

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}
A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
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Thursday, February 20, 2014

Bee Refueled


We started this week with a little bee action - participating in a friendly nationwide campaign to get Lowe's and Home Depot to stop selling neonicotinoid pesticides and plants treated with them. Didn't have a ton of turn-out in person, but we delivered valentines to the local Home Depot that were signed by ~50 people in total. The campaign has reached a lot of people and already made a difference - Home Depot has announced they are working on making positive changes. 

Just in time, too, the weather turned warmer and I saw activity in both hives today. I decided to offer sugar syrup, it being 'Love your Pet' day today, and all. I put a ball jar with a quart of syrup upsidown on a milk crate. The metal lid has a few small holes, so the bees can drink a drop at a time of syrup. I am hopeful that they'll make it through that last stretch of winter, but it's really a hunger game at this point: They either do have enough food (and can reach it inside the hive) or they don't, depending how long and how cold this winter decides to turn out....


Friday, February 7, 2014

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}
A Friday SouleMama ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
. . . . . . . . . .


Monday, February 3, 2014

A banner day!

This will  be the oddest mix of crafty and activisty blogging, I promise. Today was a banner day in many ways: I set out to sew two banners, for the local climate activist group I work with. We're part of a larger network, and today I could really feel it. People came together from different perspectives, as the proposed Keystone XL pipeline is hurtful to many. I met a woman from Texas who wanted to stand with the land owners who had their land taken by eminent domain, on behalf of a foreign for-profit enterprise. I spoke to a friend, a college professor, who told me that many of her students are activists for a multitude of causes that move them. I met people who are slowly becoming new friends through 350MA. So hopeful.

I spent the afternoon intermittently working on two banners: They measure 3 x 6 feet and are made of heavy canvas. I think it's painter's canvas, runs 72in wide at the local fabric store... so each banner cost me only $8 or so. I put in reinforced corners, to hold grommets in case the banner would need fastening to something later. One of them will be a more permanent one for our whole group to use at all our actions. A second banner just had ribbon handles to be held more easily, this is the one that I put the lettering on for tonight's vigil and also Saturday's action.



I painted the lettering on in acrylic paints I had lying around, see the last picture.

And then the best part of the day began: My oldest daughter and I headed out to the vigil to protest the Keystone XL pipeline - sadly we got stuck in really bad local traffic and missed the bulk of the vigil but behold the turn out for our small street corner:


Since we formed the 'late shift', it had gotten darker, colder and the crowd thinned a bit but I didn't mind so much: great conversation happens when you're holding two corners of the same banner, and my daughter impressed me with her air of conviction and courage.


She wasn't going to admit she was cold and make me go home. Nope. On the way there, we discussed the potential turnout. I said 'maybe 20'. She didn't think that was very much. But then we recited a whole list of individuals who made a difference, some pretty much on their own. She contributed quite a few names I didn't even know or think to mention. I hope she will remember tonight and feel we've made a tiny dent of a difference.