bee creative

fieldnote #40

Warm enough to take the mending outside.  I'm making a patch for a tank top that has a rip.

After days of warm sunshine the rain returned.  I recently found a pair of socks I'd knit but hadn't stitched the toes together.  Toes stitched, a nice toasty choice for a rainy cool day.

Today's dinner, risotto. 

Rice + sprouting broccoli + first of the year asparagus + cheese. 

Last week I forgot to document that the bees are back.  There has been a very busy bumble bee keeping me company in the garden.

I've also been watching crows fly by with a mouthful of twigs.  One industrious crow was tugging on a tree branch trying to break it free. 

Everyone needs a home...

from the freezer: grapes

Last September there were a few too many grapes in the garden so into the freezer they went.

They taste excellent in April added to clafoutis. 

(This recipe is close to the one I use.)

 

 

Note to self: freeze more grapes.

 

Cat approved. 

fieldnote #39

Transition time. 

There have been nights down below 40 and I'm still turning the heat on about once a day.  And there is a forecast of 70 degrees by the end of next week.

The pears are in full bloom and the cherries and a few of the apples will be by the end of the week.

Hoping that I'll have some time to wear my sweater before consistent hot weather arrives...4 inches to go plus the sleeves.

Harvesting rhubarb.

I made a rhubarb jam with chia seeds (a bit like this).  My rhubarb is green and I was craving that red color so I grated a bit of beet in with the rhubarb.  Worked great to get a bit of red in the mix but the chia seeds make it a gray-pink. The beet wasn't detectable as a flavor. 

I've been eating it on soaked oats and yogurt...yum!

 

 

fieldnote #38, the comfort edition

 

The fabric the heart was cut from was dyed with shallot skins

 

Mostly rain this week.

From freezer and farmer's market (well mostly): 2 small onions + olive oil + 2 cups cubed winter squash + one apple + 4 cups water and a sprinkle of salt.  Cooked until everything was soft and then blended. 

Topped with blue cheese and kale raab cooked with local bacon.

continued

What was added...purple stripes. 

IF you need a good laugh listen to this story by Tim Fizhigham on The Moth.

It's about his adventure crossing the English Channel in a bathtub. 

farmer's market salad

Opening day for the farmer's market today.

100% local salad/salad dressing, although not everything was purchased today or at the farmer's market.

Chicory + radishes + kale + albacore (local fisher/processing anyway).

Salad dressing: hazelnut oil + honey + vodka. 

The vodka takes a little explanation.  I needed a acid to balance my dressing and wanted it to be local.  I didn't have any local vinegar so I used local vodka (just a tiny bit, about 1/2 tea).  The same company, Bellewood acres actually makes both vinegar and vodka, among other things.   

Sprinkled with a bit of locally produced salt. 

fieldnote #37

Sometimes it's enough to just watch, to witness, to be in the moment. 

1. The bald eagle circling over the neighborhood last Sunday, hunting until he/she was chased away by a crow. 
2. The humming bird feeding in the wild currant that is now in full bloom.  And then later in the day zooming up high above my head and then pausing to look down before rocketing off to sit in a near by tree. 
3. Dandelions blooming. 

Sometimes it's enough to capture a moment as it is, to pause to say this is beautiful or interesting and I want to share it.

 

An abalone shell full of rain water.

But there are a lot of times when I feel the need to alter. 

Altering something allows a different perspective. 

 

Sometimes it is repetition that gets us there. If we come back and repeat a thought, try to say it again, perhaps something can be learned in the process?

When I've made a pattern for the 10th time, what do I know that I didn't before?

When I make stitch 39,000 on my sweater what have I leaned that I didn't know when I cast on?

Each season is a repeat, part of a cycle and yet different each time it comes round again...

Current temp: 60 F! 

Sunrise: 6:34 AM

Sunset: 7:48 PM

Regarding rain fall:  Put a shower curtain over the top of the chicken run.  Don't think I've ever seen the two chickens as bedraggled as they were Thursday night. 

Frost/ice on Monday, last one?

Planted: nasturiums, sweet peas, sunflowers.

 

 

 

 

leaning in

Another piece that I've pulled out of the pile.  It makes me think of being windblown but also about leaning in. 

I'm picking out scraps to build up the edges. 

My goals is to make it long and narrow and then make a pillow.

...

Considering the words intention and accountability.  

...

One of my coworkers asked me what I was going to work on next now that I've accomplished my goal of making every item of clothing possible (Although, yes, I'm still perfecting fit on that last item.)  I told her I think it's truly time to get serious about following William Morris's advice:

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."