« December 2013 | Main | February 2014 »
Pruned the grape, cleared some dry grass, cleaned the chicken coop.
Considered the old apple tree,
it is time for it to come down.
Continued the planning of a guild for under the apple tree.
Noticed the chickens are almost done molting.
Tasted the sorrel;
Tart and lemony.
Didn't get the straw moved off the front porch.
Another day in the garden...
I started blogging as a way to participate and to encourage me to be more creative.
Because I am interested in a variety of things, I found that I wanted to blog about an abundance of things. And so (despite the tips that can be found about how to be a successful blogger) I blog about a variety of things and I've always done it in one place. Recently I've reached a point where I want to separate the topics I blog about.
I'll still write about making, mending, and being creative here
spinning and knitting, mostly linen stitch
spinning and knitting: playing with color
But I will be posting at least once a week about food and food related gardening at bee creative cooking (click here to come visit).
I will post a link here each week so that my grandmother doesn't get lost...rather like a trail of bread crumbs.
Tnank you to all that left reading suggestions on the last post. And thank you for being a part of my community. At it's best, that's what I believe blogging is about, creating community.
I read everyday. I can't imagine not doing so. But I haven't been reading much of a variety lately.
One of my goals for the next year is to read one book of fiction each month by an author I've never read anything by before. For January I want to read Tom Robbins Skinny Legs and All.
I haven't started it yet so I need to get busy. The pile above is what I want to work through by June.
A couple of them I've had in my collection for a long time but have never gotten to, some have been made into movies that I liked, others were books that friends passed along.
Anyone have a suggestion they want to add? Anybody read any of these and have an opinion?
Will I finish something if I start it and don't like it? No I won't. There are too many books out there that I can move on to.
I'm thinking about books I've started and not finished. Catcher in the Rye and She's Come Undone are two of them.
I've also been thinking about all of you who started Women Who Run with Wolves and didn't finish. About what draws us to a book and why we finish or don't finish. What is necessary to keep us moving through a book. I suspect Estes book is one that is started and stopped a lot. It's a lot like sitting at a lecture, not something we always want to do.
There are many books of non-fiction that I have taken over a year to read. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Anne Dillard is one of those. I love it, but only read five to ten pages at any time. I might be going on year two with this one.
Does anyone have a book that has taken them over a year to read but they still enjoyed?
"The doll is like the little bird in fairy tales who appears and whispers in the heroine's ear, the one who reveals the hidden enemy and what to do about it."
This is the wool that I washed in the salad spinner.
I am going to make this poncho with it.
"It is easy to imagine that the Yaga's marks of power and authority-her clothes-are made as she herself is fashioned psychologically: strong, enduring. To wash her laundry is a metaphor through which we learn to witness, examine, and take on this combination of qualities." Clarissa Pinklola Estes
These quotes are from the discussion of the story of "Vasalisa" in Women Who Run With the Wolves.
I've started to read it several times but kept getting stuck on not enjoying the small format of the copy that I have. This time I decided I really wanted to stick with it.
And I'm so glad that I have...
"Stories are medicine...They have such power; they do not require that we do, be, act anything-we need only listen."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Through thick and thin.
I was worried that I was spinning too thin.
Not the case.
Drop spindle used for the plying.
Past:
Grace asked about my blueberry patch. I had mentioned on her blog that I had created a swale to hold the water closer to the blueberries.
But really what I did was make a berm out of sod. Which makes the area where the blueberries are planted act as a swale. I'm sure it's not technically right, but it works. The blueberries have done fantastic. So have the creeping buttercups.
I took this picture last year, it's been too wet for me to want to go outside and take pictures.
Present:
The seed order arrived. Indigo on the top of the pile.
And since it's the best time of the year for planning...the books that are at the top of the garden reference pile.
I am keeping the salad spinner
small batches get the job done
(idea from The Compete Guide to Spinning Yarn by Brenda Gibson)
Hoping it will be dry so I can spin it tomorrow.
Inspired by a stormy winter day.
It's 46 F at the moment, it's been up to 53 degrees.
New growth.
Winds S 17 Gusts 29. During the night the winds picked up to 50 MPH.
And rain, plenty of that.
Something to share...