Just a moment please

I slammed my index finger in the car door today. It's my photo taking finger, its my "push the stitches to the other needle" while knitting finger, it's the finger that seems to know where all of the letters on the keyboard are the best. The rest of my hand seems to just follow it's lead.

It throbs still, it has the beginnings of deep purply stuff under the nail. My Mom wonders if I will have a nail on that finger to get gussied up with nail polish when I dress to impress. (I cringe when she begins this line of pondering).

It's like I am hobbling around, but just the top portion of my body is afflicted.

I don't know why my hand was so slow leaving the car today. No morning caffeine yet? Not excited about garage sale game plan? Feeling disassociated from the other extremities?

We'll talk - when things cool down and I can hold a rational, non judgemental conversation. Right now - I just don't feel very understanding.

blogger humor/ or humor me, i blog

A fellow local blogger noted that the oldest blogger in the world, weighing in at 97, recently passed (look here for the article). I began to think - yeah, blogging is great. Blogging connects us with the outside, and far reaching world. That 97 year old grandma finally really enjoyed her last couple of years on this planet after her stingy relative finally buys her the computer she has been dreaming of. But what would I be like if I was still blogging at the ripe age of 97?

So this is my tribute to blogging - in old age, at any age, behind closed doors - where we blog and don't change our underwear. Where we blog and leave anonymous comments even though we have a user profile. Where we spend w a y too much time reading up on other people's activities and preferences before realizing the day just passed without a glance and we haven't stepped out the front door yet. Or washed. Or eaten anything that wasn't within an arm's reach (except for you food bloggers, that is!)

I don't want to grow old with my computer - I would like to have a flesh and blood version of a companion instead. But in the meantime - here I am. Worrying about followers, looking at my blog stats and getting a big ole computer butt.

And the winners are ...

Oh my goodness! I have never recieved a blog award before, and I received two (2!) within 24 hours! I feel sooooo lurved - and blessed. Shout out to Umama (oh mama) for making this moment possible ( this is me at the podium, nervously looking for my notes scribbled in now running ink on my arm) and Girlichef, who so graciously presented me with the second one. And now it is my honor to pass the love forward. And I know you are gonna really enjoy the treats I have in store for you!!!!

I am eclectic - so this is not gonna be your average selection of recipients (he he) - oh, how I love the tension and element of surprise building here...

In my food blog arena, I present -

Love and the Licked Spoon - makes you just wanna go there for the title alone! This woman writes with a passion and humour about food, has some incredible recipes, takes you on vacation with her to handpicked spots that resonate with her because of ingredients and food she will find while there. She makes you wanna eat things you never dreamed of eating before.

Girlichef - this girl has a food palette that just matches mine to a tee (uhmm all the Tex Mex comes first to mind), makes it seem seamlessly easy, talks you through it, takes you through it with step by step photos (she got a new camera - no stoppin' her now!)and, I think, is just one big sweetie! (okay - you may have noticed she gave me this award too - but before I knew that, I had already determined to give her this award - so you see that I have the right away in the regifting of the award, right?)

Just Jenn Recipes - I discovered her when she received recognition for her doughnut/cupcakes. Yep, that's right. She has some entirely too cute and clever baking and cooking skills that she is willing to share with the rest of us mere mortals.

In the Lovely to be a Girl arena -

Rinse.Repeat - Bethany has an easy going way about her, gentle thoughts, heartwarming shared stories and insights. Cozy, comfy and caring. You always wanna drop by and say "hey"

Les Petites Fleurs - La Fee is a thrift minded girl that loves to dress cute - I love her garden shots and the incredible finds she cobbles together to make her cute weekly ensembles.

Chic & Green - this is a must stop for anyone interested in having the safest and best products for your face and body and is interested in DIY bath care/bodycare products. Karley is simple awesome, awe inspiring and I love her line of skincare as well.

In my photo/fiberlicious arena -

grrl + Dog - This is my current blog crush - she makes knitting roguishly fun and is presently preparing a huge art installation at a museum because of her fiber passion became recognized. You go girl!! She makes you wanna get out and create.

Snarky Stitching - a very new find, but irreverent and hilarious! This is stitchwork with lurid flair. Adult themes here - enter immediately!

Binky's Space - the best, the cutest photography and the most inventive lines of thought to pair them together.

The Rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. (oops - nine will just have to do!)

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Zombie Cupcakes

Well, in my cupcake craziness - I began to KNIT the damn baked goods, hoping that in some meager way, calories would be burned and I would not have to spurn the semifrequent protestations for my baked version of these little buddies.




A totally rockin' friend - who also happens to work in a cupcake shop - wanted some rather radical cupcakes for her very own. She requested the colors and that the eyes have "X's" and that they be wearing scarves. I was off! And they just created themselves after that - spawned on the knitting needles, they called their "Zombie" selves into being.

The little "cupcakes gone wrong" arrived on just the right day - catch the color of new Zombie Mistress's nails? Match made in heaven!

I am proud to say that the job was well done. The Zombies were very happily received. And immediately began trying to eat one another.

And then tried to eat some of the other occupants in the pastry case. Naughty little Zombie cupcakes!

Needless to say - they had to be separated from the crowd. The other more "vanilla" cupcakes were complaining of their less the neighborly behavior. One or two of said cupcakes had wounds and had to be put down. Oh, the horror!

I must say that I also received yet another blog award in less than 24 hours! From dear Ms. Girlichef right over here. Thanks to Ms. Umama (oh mama) again. He he - it was the same award, too! I will be catching up with my posting on this award and my recipients very soon - after I tame a few more Zombies. I am in a temporary sugar high - awards, cupcakes - gotta put this mojo to good use!

Reinvent your own wheel day!

So, I will let another cat out of the bag - I really am quite the metaphysical maven. I am into intuition, tarot, astrology and the like. So, in this particularly heavy and hard Mercury retrograde, I have been - well - rearranging. Feng Shuing the flat, if you like. Trying to get the mojo a flowin', but in keeping with the times - using just what I have got. One look in my quite large closet dedicated to my "crafts" I would say - that is a whole lot. This is how I basically spent the weekend. In between some very therapeutic bike rides, basking in the glow of the sun for my Vitamin D and eating incredible plates of food that my neighbors (read that, TWO!) gifted me ( Tex-Mex, and some New Orleans inspired Jambalaya and greens - hot damn!).

The house - and more importantly, the "creative corner" feels g o o d. I highly recommend this to anyone feeling particularly stagnant right now in their life. This is a period of reflection and reevaluation. Not the time to start anything new- just look at what you have got and whether or not it serves. Don't get over zealous though, you may find that you threw the baby out with the bath water -and we would soooo not want that right now.

Got some sun tea brewing on the counter right now and maybe another rhubarb creation coming out of the pantry later - maybe a Rhubarb Crunch or Rhubarb Custard Pie. Relatives are visiting - and the weather is nice. Brimming with all sorts of summer strewn wonders and energy for us to tap into. I will garden a wee bit to work it all off (she says, slightly winging).

Oh - and I am making a confession to, while I am at it. I am back to reading some chick books, and I am liking it. I used to turn my nose up at the romance section, and now I find that I sometimes need a little light fare to brighten my mood. Every genre has good writers, even romance. Mary Kay Andrews pairs gutsy,funny, impulsive lead characters with a little mystery on the side to be solved, a whole lot of genuine antique and thrift shopping for the decorator inclined and of course, a romance gurgling around in between. Mary wrote for the Atlantic Journal-Constitution, pens a great story - and was the fire beneath my feet as I was "redecorating" the living room this weekend. She made me want to just get up and go! I am now about to make 6 feet tall curtains (and maybe even sheers) for the new look - and we all know that is some effort to inspire.

BEST news for last - I got a blog award (entitled "One Lovely Blog") What?!!! Yes, from fresh and fun Ms. Umama. Here is the link, check her out and all of the other recipients - who are incredibly inspiring. I am honored, flattered - and I will be playing it forward real soon. Stay tuned.

Memorial weekend

Don't you love the extended weekend? You can feel it in the air- people are more casual, relaxation is a primary goal and the sunshine has drawn people and families outdoors together.
My knitting bag and my bike are easy friends as I pedal about looking for alternating sun and shade as I soak in the official beginning of the Summer season.

Gentle lilacs in the most powdery of lilac hues - turning slightly brown in the unfamiliar bright light but still a wonder to my eyes.

Could it be anymore lush? Almost decadent royal purple. It looks like velvet perfection.

The pioneer cemetery - full of visitors today, which made me smile and feel proud and touched. Flags for the veterans, tears and remembrances for loved ones gone but unforgotten. For some, just an extended furlough from work - for others, truly a holiday of substance and wistfulness.

Hello sunshine!

Sometimes I am kindly reminded that I matter - my dear friend gave this to me yesterday - the smallest flower arrangement is what she calls it. The watering can it is in measures 2 inches. She whipped it up and gave it to me when she saw my riot of spring color that I was wearing yesterday. She deserves a brownie. Oh my, I am just baking some right now (grin).

Can the view get any better than this? I took my bike, my bag of knitting, a jar of ice tea and this is the view from my bench. It was the best hour I have spent in awhile. Yeah.

Rhubarb compote, on the stove, made from freshly harvested rhubarb from a neighbor's field. I could live on this. Maybe this weekend I just will. Fruit and brownies - that is a balanced meal, right?

It is such a joy to see new visitors to the ole blog here - what a joy you all are - you know that, right? Have an ice tea today, or a good hot cuppa, if need be, and we will pretend to have a virtual tea party - just you, me and a handful of brownies...

Just musing aloud is all

I could not resist the play of light on the leaves of the flowers this a.m. It is a pom pom version of hydrangea, grows in abundance in a neighbor's yard who barely takes note of it. I do and pick copious amounts while able to and wake to see their fine whiteness glowing in the sun's rays.

I found this on my walk two days ago and knew that it was meant for me to pick up. I am like that - loving found objects and I tend to invest them with meanings, but I am an intuitive, so my mind just wanders in those directions, I suppose. Calm, clarity, sereneness is often associated with blue, but it can also be for communication. I am hoping for some help in that direction. I am struggling with my art, my craft, my direction, my focus. I need the calmness of certainty to fall soon. So, I put that stone in my purse, right next to the phone. Clever little stone.

I am growing baby cupcakes - but they take a lot of care and time. Like all of my endeavors that spawn in my head, they always take way too much time. You can't really hope to make them for any sort of valid return or financial remuneration. So, maybe that is just not my creative direction anymore. And if so, I think I can be okay with that. Won't give up the cupcakes, I will just give up toiling away to make things for sale like I was a hard laborer, and just enjoy. I really just want to enjoy right now.

This is a time of review and reassertion of old dreams. Don't despair - you will let go of what no longer suits you without a pained look back, and be given new dreams to hold and goals to fulfill. It will all be okay - but hold on tight, you have to shake loose what no longer fits - and sometimes we are stubborn about that process. Old boyfriend, old clothes - old you. Whew! Something is about to bloom - and I think its all of us - you too.

Thankful Thursday

In honor of the other blogs I have seen who post on Thursdays in this vein, I will toast today and be thankful. I am thankful for having the privilege to be a free woman, who may go where she wants (within the confines of my pocketbook, presently empty, sigh) and take photos of all the piques her interest. Which happens to be quite a lot.

.

I am thankful for the lovely blue skies that have come back around and the flurries of petalful color to be found on every street and yard and bush these Springminded days. Here be Azaleas.

I am thankful for green ( my major preference in nature's color scheme as of late) and the vintage vehicles of said hue that catch my amused little eye. I have dreams of owning one and driving out to beaches yet unvisited to dip my toes and heave heavy sighs.

I am thankful to friends and family upon whom I may indulge my baking whims. Today, Rhubarb Muffins in the sun, coffee in hand, friends gathered round with moist, still warm from the oven bites in filled with appreciative yummy noises mouths.

Recipe is right here - try it.

Cupcake Shennanigans

Which one is my treat for clearing up the closet and creative corner and which is the tiny morsel that I am working on instead of other projects screaming for attention?

The bounty of life - keep giving

Here are the amazing eggs my friend, Jessica gave to me from her chickens after showing me every little living, giving and green corner of her garden. Manna - gifts of the larder and of the heart. We could live so well on this - I could. Today I will make potato salad and feed my Mum and a dear friend or two. One gift and it moves through many.

My old customer remembered that I wanted rhubarb to grow - so he gave us starts to plant this year, but they won't bear fruit for three years (they like to get well settled before sharing of themselves). Worried that we might be tempted to pick it anyways, he brought pounds and pounds of rhubarb stalks. I shared some with a handy neighbor, who made jam and gave some to me and Mum. Now I will make some rhubarb compote and share some with her and Mum. This might never come to a close - may it never come to a close.

I still work on my photo cards while running between sink and stove and cupboards. Maybe today I will finally write some letters and send the cards to dear friends to share a little more of my everyday life with them. Maybe I will hear back from them, or not ( I am just blessed to have someone to send my nattering to) - and the giving keeps moving along. I find this time of the year, the shared bounty of the land and of our hearts and hands just
a m a z i n g.

Making the bed

I just purchased a new topsheet to complete my spring/summer bed ensemble - Wamsutta, 100% cotton, part of their superior lines of sheets - $2.99. Local thrift shop. Gorgeous against the skin. A perfect match for my rosy blossom bottom sheet I squirreled away last year. I was born to shop and thrift and create - which, I think, are somehow very much related.

I made my bed set, my curtains, my dust ruffle, my lovely edged pillow shams that fit to a tee - myself. Last year, three days of heavy sewing and primping I fixed up the entire room in goodies made from sheets and a trip to the local Joanne's fabric store, discount coupon in hand, for some special fancy material to lend some color and textural contrast to the small European pillows and other soft pillow shapes that I have come to believe a bed top should possess.

I am a little too private to show you the entire room - but, as a work in progress, this creation is slowly nearing the finish line. I wake up and feel like I am in one of the finer hotels I used to be privy to when leading tours in a previous segment of my life. Ahhh - it is pure heaven. Add a good book and a cup of tea and you wonder why you should ever leave.

But I have begun picking up the odd lovely and colorful new sheet and pillowcase at the thrift and garage sales that Mum and I love to wander off to. It won't be long before this finely balanced room is once again turned on it's head and a new creation of color on it's way.

PS - I am in a dynamic of struggle - what is the tone of the blog, she queries to herself? and why would anyone read it? I create every day - but not just knitting, or baking, or sewing, or collaging, or photography. Who am I in this process called blogging and, being perversely, sometimes a very private person, I am a bit surprised that I even feel inclined to do this at all. But I also love to write - and so, there in fact, may be my answer. If you read this - well, alright and thank you. And if you don't - I guess, this is just for me and that is really alright as well.