bee creative

finishing what's on the bookshelf

Locally made willow basket and a lei of marigolds. 

I'm slowly finishing reading Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams.  It is painful and beautiful. 

"We want to create.  We long to create.  We can transform a very bleak situation into a place of joy and color.  I am a painter who builds things.  That's all.  When your environment is beautiful it gives you dignity.  You feel more dignified and your sense of self-esteem grows.  All this is nurtured from working together.  Seeds.  Planting seeds of beauty helps the tree of community with all its branches to grow."

Lily Yeh quoted in Finding Beauty. 

first egg

Not what I'd planned my next post to be (something I'd finished rather than what the chickens had started), but I just had to share!  Found it this afternoon. 

distracted by the light

I was distracted from finishing things by  light and by the magic of dots.

 

 

An ornament made by a local artist.

 

The idea that glass that is often smooth and cold to the touch, is made from fire and is liquid at high temperatures never fails to be magical to me.  Today I saw reflections of the flames in the shadows...

this weekend

Been a very long week.  I took this picture at dawn one morning from my front porch. 

 

Apricot cookie bars that I made to eat for breakfast as I was going out the door to catch the bus.  What I harvested from the garden this morning (plus a handful of blueberries and a couple strawberries that went directly into my mouth).

Thinking about things that I love, things that I have bought or have been given. About what we buy and why (article at Grist, found from link at Green Phone Booth).  

 

Mermaid Green wall (which sometimes is quite blue) with a little something that I brought back from Italy.  

This weekend is about finishing things. 

 

dye pot results and some stitching

Not the best image but it's too dark to take a photo and I didn't want to wait. I don't think the colors are captured quite right, but close.  And yes, I suppose I could have ironed it, but I didn't.

The cabbage does make the most lovely blueish dye (with a piece of copper in the dye pot) and the darker blue in the cabbage/blackberry sample is from where the two colors ran together.  I think it may be okay if I can never get indigo or woad to grow in my garden. 

Even though I told myself I couldn't start anything new until I finished a few things, I started playing with some of the pieces tonight.  The creamy color is a piece I dyed with hazelnut leaves.  Another pillow in the making I suppose.  And I'm definitely going to keep playing with my food, even if it is bad manners. 

a cloth fruit roll

The blackberries unwrapped and rinsed:

 

Not sure if the dark blue is from the cabbage leaves in the stew pot with the berry fabric roll or the copper pipe?  So tonight I wrapped a cabbage leaf in fabric and then for something new to do wrapped that around my copper pipe.  If it's the cabbage I'm going to buy a whole lot of white something to dye and a lot of red cabbage!  Maybe some cotton velvet?  Might have to get some more blackberries too. 

living up to the namesake

If last Sunday was about being lazy, today was about being productive.  I made two batches of salsa, a batch of refrigerator pickles, mole, blackberry syrup (oh does that make a good soda).  The dehydrator has been running all day (tomatoes, broccoli, green beans, squash), I made a breakfast cookie, and dinner (that doesn't always happen on Sunday).  I've done lots of dishes.  Did laundry and hung it out on the line to dry.  Worked on feathering the nest. The dye experiment for this week is blackberries.  Even squeezed in a short nap of the porch swing. 

Amelia likes her nest feathered too.  She also likes tomatoes, berries, cauliflower, cucumbers and dandelions.   Not so fond of zucchini.  That's unfortunate.  No eggs yet.  That's unfortunate too. 

a bit about my childhood, a bit about my day

My mother, father and I went to see one of my grandmothers today.

 

I decided to try taking pictures out the car window as we drove through the valley (we took some side roads, my family's favorite kind).

 

We went for a picnic down at the harbor.  A lot of our lives were spent here.   It would be fair to say that a lot of my childhood summers were spent as a deck hand.

 

Sometimes when my parents were working on the boat and I wanted to escape my brothers I would take the row boat and a book and go drift under the docks reading.  The harbor has changed a lot since my childhood and this wouldn't be possible today. 

 

From the other side of the bay looking out into the islands. 

My childhood shaped and inspired who I am quite a bit.  I think, for good or bad, this is true for most of us.  Today, for me, it felt good. 

socks, pair number ?

Sometimes you just have to knit socks that will go with anything...for those laundry crisis days.  Made with a wool-hemp blend. 

about cottage gardens

"The so-called cottage garden, an English vernacular style that consists of a seemingly casual mixture of vegetables, flowering plants, fruit trees, and shrubs.  What might seem like the random nature of many cottage gardens...may seem chaotic but is usually organized according to deep love and knowledge of each plant...The cottage garden is not for everyone; just for those who delight in serendipity, spontaneity, and a certain level of delightful chaos."  Julie Moir Messervy