bee creative

to be so many things (going big)

I used to worry (and every once and awhile still do) that I loved to do too many things.

The worry is/was driven, I think, by being part of a culture that values specialization. Success is often defined as becoming very good at one thing. 

That's just not who some of us are.

It's not who I am.

A few months ago (I know I should have paid more attention to where but I can't remember or find where) I discovered an artist that I wanted to know more about, Meryl McMaster.

So, I ordered her book. It arrived at the end of last week and it is full of wonder.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, in the foreword, writes about how it wasn't always that people were specialists.

We knew how to do many things. 

After some of the other reading/listening I've been doing recently (Nick Offerman/Wendell Berry in particular), it really clicked into place that we lose something really important when we specialize too much.  It's not just about not knowing where food comes from or how something is made, but how we might be and interact with the world around us.

There is a loss of faith in our ability to be something more than a consumer. It shows up every day in the news.

And as I go out into the garden every day right now and collect or harvest for projects or food, I am watch all the changes that are happening so quickly in this season. I am thinking about how much I learn from being curious about growth, about nurturing a garden. Thinking about how a garden is always a process. 

About how it influences me as someone who makes things; how I make them and why I make them.  A garden is abundant with possibilities. 

This is partly a response to Grace's and Jude's posts regarding making, but also something that I am almost always thinking about...

"Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"  Mary Oliver

 

making things, growing things

Salve making:

Olive oil (about 1 cup) that  calendula petals have been steeping in + beeswax (about 1 tablespoon).

I usually dry any plant matter before adding to the olive oil.  This keeps it from molding.

I have a dedicated jar that I use for melting the beeswax in and use a frying pan as a double boiler to heat the oil and the wax.  Once the wax is melted, it is poured into the heated oil and stirred (I usually use a wood skewer).  If you try this, be careful with this step and don't walk away. 

The salve will solidify as it cools. 

The proportion of wax to oil will impact how hard the salve is.  My proportion makes a fairly soft salve that can almost become a liquid on a really hot day. 

Sewing:  This was dress length.  I never really wore it much and it's been sitting in a "re-do" pile.  Today I cut it to just above knee length and am now hemming it.  I will probably make a bag with the fabric I cut off.

Growing: 

The ginger has sprouted! I will put it in a planter and give it a good dose of fish fertilizer (recommended by a local farmer who grew it to sell at the farmer's market for many years).

The cherry, plums, pears and one of the apple trees are blooming.  This cherry has never set fruit.  It's supposed to be self-pollinating but I don't think it is!

Eating:

Pasta + homemade ricotta + sorrel (garden) + oregano (garden) + asparagus (garden) + hazelnuts and hazelnut oil (local, farmer's market) + parmigiano reggiano (from far away Italy because I am not perfect and I love it so).

Listening to:  Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman.  Interesting, sometimes funny, political, and seriously concerned about the state of our world. He sometimes seems to go off on a tangent, which might drive some crazy, and he has what I would call a "potty mouth."

I am not quite done yet, but am pretty sure one of my favorite things he discusses is about how disconnected we become from our  environment and what it means to be a community, when we are only consumers... 

waste not

A new challenge has been on my mind and it is pure coincidence that I am posting about it on Earth Day.

This is what I am starting with: 50 projects that use up what would be commonly considered "waste," weeds or salvaged materials.  Depending on how long it takes me to get to 50, I may keep going.  I've already got ideas to start with such as making a rag rug, making paper with paper scraps, pieced clothing, baskets and...

Dandelion wine!

It will be a small batch as I really don't know whether I like it or not.  Two cups of petals are now soaking in water for the next week.

This could qualify as a project although it feels a bit like cheating.  All I did was gather some vines and put them in the tins.  Mom was the one that tended the fire.  The top piece of charcoal is from Mom and Dad's fireplace. 

Along with some other things, my aunt sent me this beautiful table runner that has tears in it.

So many possibilities!

This isn't a daily challenge, I am just going to take my time and see what I can do. 

 

 

#78 it rained all day and I probably spent too much time thinking

Thinking about "why's" today. 

Because it's fun is a good answer...sometimes.

Because we need multiple ways to communicate.  That always works for me.

Because it can heal.  That's good too.

There are more reasons, but what is really important here is...

the why is important to me.

I did some knitting and sewing while I watched the rain.

The fabric to the left are remnants from a past project. I am stitching them together to make a poncho sort of thing. The original project, a coat, didn't turn out well and is stashed away somewhere waiting for a re-do.  I kind of suspect that the remnant project is going to turn out better than the original. 

Interesting things to listen to:

-The On Being conversation with Janine Benyus 

“Nature runs on sunlight.
Nature uses only the energy it needs.
Nature fits form to function.
Nature recycles everything.
Nature rewards cooperation.
Nature banks on diversity.
Nature demands local expertise.
Nature curbs excesses from within.
Nature taps the power of limits.”

-Feedback Friday conversation with Brece Honeycutt and Anita Cazzola. They addressed "waste" products. 

Thinking about...what if we stop using the word waste?  What if everything is just material for another project, another something?  How does it change our perspective on making, on the things we bring into our homes and lives? 

#72 over the garden, from a garden, in the garden

It was a beautiful day...while puttering in the garden this morning I heard a flock of swans go over.

At the farmer's market there were a few yummy things to get...eggs, beets, Swiss chard, honey, and bread.

Gibson would have liked to have gone but I told him he had to stay home.

This afternoon I pruned blackberries and roses.

Using the rose hip ink seemed appropriate for tonight's marks.  Also a coffee ring and oak gall/iron.

If I get brave (it would require a wood fire), I might make charcoal from the blackberry vines. I also saved a few canes that seem about right for basket making. 

#43 try, try, try

Every morning I've been making a coffee ring print before settling in to drink my cup of coffee.

Every ring seems to be different.

This afternoon, after making a sailboat and not being happy with the sail, I added another layer of paper and then added more ink.

There was some cat assistance here too.

Something to consider...layers of paper.

And then digital layers.

Inspired by watching Jude making log cabin blocks, I decided to get back to making squares for my "Good enough" quilt. There has been a pause in this project.

I think it was meant to be that the first small blue square  found was a moon block.  This will be the second moon cabin for the quilt.  There will probably be more. A sign of time passing.

Strangely enough, someone I know is positive for Covid today.  It's been awhile since that's happened.

There were more connections while listening to the On Being conversation with Ada Limon while stitching...they talked about breath and Covid. 

But this was my favorite part, the part I want to hold on to:

"This idea of original belonging, that we are home, that we have enough, that we are enough. And the title comes from when you’re planting a tree and you’re looking for where the sun is the right space, you can draw where the circles are, and they’ll tell you to plant where the circles overlap. So it’s actually about fostering yourself in the sun, in the right place, creating the right habitat. And the right habitat for that, for all human flourishing, is for us to begin with a sense of belonging, with a sense of ease, with a sense that even though we are desirous and even though we want all of these things, right now, being alive, being human is enough. That’s really hard."

One of the strips in this square came from one of the masks worn during the first year. 

The year when there was so much we didn't know.

There is still so much we don't know.

connections hold us

I finished listening to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer today.  It's as beautiful as an audio book as when reading it page by page. 

Thinking about that...oral traditions and written.

As I listened I went back and forth between shelling beans, cleaning the kitchen and making ink.

This is the best crop of beans I've been able to grow.  I think because I was more careful to keep the soil moist as the seeds germinated.

I will eat some of them and save some to plant. 

I grow beans because it is a connection to one of my grandfathers.  Today I thought of watching him shell beans, of him sharing his collection of bean seeds with me and the stories that went with them. 

Also I grow beans because they are beautiful.

Two of the inks that I made today, one with onion skins and the other with coffee grounds.

The coffee sample on the right was made with coffee grounds still in the liquid.  I brushed them away once it was almost dry to have a better idea of the color.  The coffee sample on the left was diluted a bit. The coffee was roasted by Mom, another connection.

The onions came from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box.  I love these onions enough that I might need to grow some just be sure I have them. I love this ink because I know who grew the onions; I know where the onions were grown and that they are local.

The other ink I made was with indigo.  The indigo was purchased from a business I feel good supporting.  Not quite local, but not too far away either. 

Thinking about how a family tree of pigments could be created and about stories. 

About how stories and relationships lead to care...

 

with love

This one has a few special details.

Sometimes we need to find different ways to listen, different ways to speak.

Cat approved.

nourish

Reflecting back on the week...it was just what I needed.  Time to play, to reflect and be with family. 

Enchiladas made with leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and tomatillo (some from the farmer's market, some from my garden) salsa.

Food is one way we nourish ourselves, but not the only way.

I had a little accident with the turmeric ink...I am going to look at this as an opportunity.

Gibson sees opportunities too.

 

numbers

Yesterday morning I took this photo, more thinking about the colors of window sill and cup.  While playing a bit I found my reflection layered over the paper lantern hanging outside in the image and then decided I liked it better in black and white.

Sunrise: 7:44 AM   Sunset: 6:04

Last night's low was 34 degrees F.

A gift in the mail was perfectly timed, reminding me to play.

Keeping track of my rows.

Typepad is doing weird things right now.  I had to downsize photos so that the whole image would show.  Comments have been wonky.