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Blossoms can be found everywhere now.
Starting to plant things.
Mostly I grow mint in containers but this one I'm letting loose on a corner of the garden.
Hoping it will spread.
I am spring cleaning. Going through things and working to take any found projects to the next step.
When I first started this I think I was thinking beast.
But turned another direction I saw something different...
I like it like this, where it could be either.
Liminal and in transition.
Just started reading Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. In chapter one he brings up specialized knowledge and generalized knowledge.
Specialization scares me a bit. I don't think it brings much to sustainability and resiliency. It's part of my motivation to...
Sew...mostly practical stuff. I've now made at least one item of every piece of clothing that I wear. Still adjusting fit on the last sewing project so not quite ready to put it all together in one outfit.
Make and work with yarn.
(Done with the increases, half way through this sweater!)
Garden...for food, medicinal plants, color/dye, wildlife and joy. Eventually for baskets too.
Cook and make other care-giving items from the garden hopefully, or locally and/or from small businesses.
And find joy and beauty where I can.
From today's winter market.
Also purchased bacon and bread.
On the menu this week:
A very simple soup with the last of the carrots I've been storing. Onions(about 1/2 cup) cooked in olive oil + carrots (about 2 1/2 cups sliced) + water (approximately 3-4 cups). Boiled until soft and then blended. Topped with preserved lemon cooked in butter and mashed with a fork plus a tiny bit of thyme from the garden. Bread cheese on the side.
Spring! There are signs...
One of the smaller and earliest of the daffodils,tete-a-tete; liverwort (Hepatica), lungwort (pulmonaria) and Kaufmania tulips.
"Wort" plants are generally ones that historically had medicinal uses. I have a few others and think it might be time to start a collection. I especially want asters again, "starwort."
The weather has swung from warm to cold (32 degrees the last two mornings), and from pouring rain to sunshine.
Magic happens when sunlight hits hard frost.
There are things to start nibbling on in the garden: sorrel, Swiss chard, sprouting broccoli, garlic and kale.
It won't be long before there is rhubarb.
It's later than I usually plant, but today I'll plant peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes and a few potatoes, just enough so I can have new potatoes from the garden.
It's a cycle that continues and I find that so very reassuring.
Last Thursday I hopped on the train heading to Portland to take a shoe making class (Laughingcrowe)!
I love my shoes so much and the class was fabulous! So much so that I brought home tools with me so I can do it again. I also have some other leather projects in mind. And well...thinking by the end of the week I'll use my pattern again to make wool slippers.
Making shoes was the last piece of a goal I set for myself, to make every item of clothing that I am wearing. More on this later.
I didn't take many pictures of Portland, too busy looking, soaking in some sunshine and worrying about finding the train station.
Sunset on the river:
A really cool fence on the way to class:
One of the very best parts of the trip was staying with a friend I've known since we were 10. Thank you Renee and Kevin for your hospitality and more good memories.
I did take quite a few pictures on the train...The trip was beautiful.
Almost to Portland.
Mt. Rainer
Sunset coming out of Seattle.
Spring is coming...
It takes time to find patterns.
This time of year I tend to be more tired than any other time of year and I finally understand why...tree pollen.
There has been sun. And pruning in the garden. And naps.
The cold snap has ended but snow is still low on the hills.
There is a small pond that I pass on the way to work. This past week I saw Mallards flying in and have noticed them every morning since. I'll have to go to work earlier one day so that I have time to walk down along the pond, or maybe on a lunch break....
Current bus project: a hat using up yarn from other projects.
Maybe I'll finish before winter is over?
Sunrise: 6:47
Sunset: 5:56
34 degrees F, 10% chance of rain, Wind N 4 MPH = garden time today, when it's a little warmer anyway.