Enhancements & Embellishments

I have a ceremony coming up in September that inspired me to spruce up my old smudge feather. The beads at the end were (and still are) loosening so I cut a piece of black leather and wrapped the handle segment with it, and laced it with some sinew embellished with a tiny tiger eye at one end and a rose quartz at the other. Now, when those old crystals, added some eight years ago come loose, balance and harmony will be maintained.

I visited a friend for a couple hours this afternoon and reunited with others that I had not seen in several years. More enhancements and embellishments. Ashe.

A Little Art on the Deck

MishMash of Pickles

Jalapeños, sweet peppers, green beans and Asian yard-long beans.

Plus two loaves of zucchini-walnut bread with cinnamon, ginger and clove, and two zucchini-sunflower seed breads about to hit the oven.

Oh . . . and I made this amazing garden-inspired celery and onion marinade/sauce for the pork ribs this evening. Yummylicious.

Tulips TeeTotes

I was poking around one of my Etsy communities and well, let's just say, "stumbled" onto this listing from TulipsTreasureBox. 

I immediately fell in love with these tote bags, so bright and cheerful and fun! Now, I've been upcycling for a long time, far-far longer than the name "upcycling" has existed, so these certainly held a special appeal to me. I love taking old things that have worn out their intended use and breathing new life into them . . . and that's exactly what TulipsTreasureBox is doing here.

See? Shameless promotion isn't always just for me. Enjoy!

Level Ground

Anyone who has ever spent time in my backyard, time around my fireside, knows that I have the gardeners dream of a backyard . . . the southern facing slope. It is wonderful yet a day comes when one realizes that one too many friends have flipped ass-over-tea-kettle while sitting  around a night fire.

Today was that day. The boy and I spent the better part of the afternoon moving earth and ancestors, planting seed and watering in, all so that we might have a bit more level ground in our lives . . . for ourselves and our friends, our loved ones . . . and if that ain't metaphor, I don't know what is. That's what we made today.

Ashe!

Win a Whimsy Wednesday!

We can all use a little peace in our lives . . . 

We can all use a little peace in our worlds . . .

You can win a little peace this week. Just leave a comment to this post and you'll be entered to win this little ACEO drawing I created. Maybe a comment about peace? But any comment will do.

I'll draw and post the winner tomorrow morning. Peace.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Congratulations Vin!

The comment you left made your winning especially sweet. :)

Thanks everyone for playing. 

My Way

Today I made an herbal balm with oils of calendula flower and comfrey leaf. I made time with stinging nettle in a way I never have before. I made delicious kale, broccoli, salad, potatoes and burgers. I made time for my mother. I made time for my spouse. I made time for myself. I made effort to communicate and negotiate with a very willful four-legged being of love. I made my way into shadow. I made my way into light. I made time and space with spirit.

A Promise Renewed

I bathe in the waters of my Systers' blessings. I feel their heartbeat, their passions and hear their cries of joy and grief, want and ecstasy. I am they and they are me, and we make our medicine together.

Ashe. Ashe. Ashe.

This -n- That

I leave tomorrow morning, bright and early to head north to the Women's Herbal Conference in New Hampshire. I'm meeting up with three other women of ranging ages for the ride from Connecticut. Once there I will meet up with a number of green friends and - no doubt - make some new ones. I love this conference and I'm really looking forward to it this year.

Yet, being away last week left me feeling short on time and capacity this week. The unplanned addition of my canine bundle of love served as another wonderful investment of effort this week. Today, with packing and chores, I somehow managed to freeze an assortment of zucchini and zephyr squash. 

I made summer squash with garden garlic, basil and the last of last year's garden tomatoes.
I made the first zucchini breads of the season.
I made cherry tomato salad, which was served on a bed of arugula with supper.

I finished the little pocket journal that will accompany me to the Women's Herbal Conference. It's collaged with a painting I clipped from a recent art magazine . . . 

. . . and an original little painting by The Boy.

It shall serve me well.

See you all on Monday!

Win a Whimsy Wednesday!

Yesterday I made time to make a little art. The first piece was this silly little honor to my new dog, Halley.

The next was a watercolor doodle to see how I liked my new red. I like it fine. And . . .  

. . . You can win this little ACEO today, just leave a comment - any comment - to this post and you'll be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced here tomorrow morning.

Congratulations to Sharon of Mana Moon Studios, this week's whimsy winner!

So Much

Here's just a taste of what was on my plate today . . . 

I'll post the artwork tomorrow. Maybe give some away.

Room for Love

I made room in my life for love today.

Love in the form of garden food, past present and future. For I enjoyed the delicious brined garlic dills started a couple-few weeks back, and started a new batch to enjoy at some space in that place we call the future.

Love in the form of creative expression, for I made time to nurture and love my creative being, to organize, title and list three new little works of art.

Stretch

Bend

Repose

And oh so last but not least, I made room in my life for canine love. A brand of love that I have missed since my Karma's departure. A brand of love issued to me by a very kind and loving medicine woman, and friend. A brand of love that cuts through darkness, that flies through the stars, that soars into your life like a comet from the heavens.

Halley

For these things that I made today and for the things still to make, I am grateful and I count every blessing that I am gracious enough to recognize. Ashe. Ashe.

Time to Remember

When I was a little girl I would sit under the big old oak tree in our front yard with my Daddy. We would sit together, he against the tree trunk, me against him, and he would make up stories about Ik or Bik, Bok or Boo, or some other entity we both understood without understanding.

I would gaze up into the leaves and sky as I listened to the nonsensical plot unfold . . . and the words would eventually slow . . . and soften . . . until they were replaced with the song of Daddy’s snoring. I would nudge him awake, “Daddy, you fell asleep. What happens next?” And the story would continue with no rhyme, no reason, but full of the silly sweet love that is shared between a Daddy and a Daddy’s Girl.

Myself at Home

I'm home again ... in my little hut on my little acre. I busy myself this morning with class preparations and for reiki later this afternoon. It feels good to wake in my own bed, in space that is familiar, comforting, healing and loving.

I spent this past week with my mother ...

... as she is now, not as she was then. This is a photo that my cousin Diane recently shared with my mother. Mom must have been in her early twenties here. 

I managed some time to doodle a bit while I was away ...

... and was simply delighted to return home to another Etsy sale. More later ...

A Crown for the Birthday Boy

Visit him HERE.

Or HERE.

And Yesterday and the Day Before

I made time for the garden ... 

... and time to rack three gallons of Blueberry Wine, and bottle a gallon of Melissa Ale (v.2) ...

... time to prepare garden-n-forest folk food to enjoy ...

... a batch of calendula tincture ...

... a fabulous garden salad ...

... pickled zephyr squash and (more) zucs, and beans and  jalapeños ... 

... a batch of bread -n- butter pickles ...
... time to play at Platt Hill with The Boy ...
... and to watch his little boy spirit take flight ...

... and soar.

That's what I made today, yesterday and the day before.

Pickled Zephyr, Pickled Zucchini

One half savory and spicy, the other sweet and savory.

Win a Whimsy Wednesday

Merry Wednesday to you! I'll be giving away two surprise bookmarks. Two, because I'm traveling next week and will have limited eAccess, so there will be no Win a Whimsy next Wednesday.

This week, you could win a bookmark. A surprise bookmark. It could be one of my scraps of inspiration or a bookmark that I've not yet created! Who doesn't love a surprise? 

It's raining down summer this morning, so that keeps me out of the gardens. But I have pickles to process and the opportunity to get out my paints and pens . . . and to listen to the rain fall. And who knows what else? I may make more art to add to my Etsy Shop. 

So . . . to enter this week's drawing just leave a comment - any comment - to this post and I'll announce the winners Thursday morning!

Thanks EVERYone for playing!

Congratulations to Annie and Michelle!!

Come back to play again n 8/20!

Clean Clothes & Preserves & Art, Oh My!

I made several trips down the stairs and back, out to the clothes line and back. One thing about camping is that it does facilitate the manifestation of laundry in degrees, rates and bulk beyond my usual grasp. I lost count of the loads and there's still a couple-few left for tomorrow.

Between loads of laundry I made trips to the garden. Trips to the garden led to time in the kitchen.

I started a gallon batch of dill sours, loaded with garlic and dressed with black pepper corns, cubebs, red chili flakes and bay leaf. A couple weeks will yield NY Deli-Style Sours à la rose. I love how these look as they sit in the brine and begin their transformation. Nature is so beautiful!

I then prepared some 16+ quarts of zucchini and zephyr squash (and one rogue yellow squash) for pickling tomorrow. They will soak in salt water 'til morning. I harvested and cooked some string beans for supper and will grill some zephyr squash as well. There is Russian kale and Italian broccoli to tend to tomorrow.

I made headway in first-of-month bookkeeping and prepared a few more little works of art for my Artfire shop. They'll be listed later. That's what I made today.

My Way Home Again

Five days with friends, camping in a primitive setting is - without doubt or question - a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Even so, I am pleased to be home on my little acre, in my little hut on the hill where I am able to indulge in the decadent luxuries of warm showers, flush toilets and sleeping on a mattress that doesn't deflate every night.

If you'd like to see pics of the weekend, check out the Forest Folk Two-Point-Two-Five slideshow on my Myspace page.