Coffea arabica - for Mix It Monthly

Coffee. Organic and fair trade. It is my favored morning beverage, though I do alternate with a nice organic, fair trade Irish breakfast tea. But today we focus on the glorious beverage born of the beloved Coffea arabica, grown in the traditional way, under the protection of tree cover, lovingly fermented, roasted fresh, and ground and brewed in my little hut, because that's the theme of this month's Mix It Monthly. So that's what I sipped this morning and that's what landed in my art journal.

And that's what I made today.

Peace.

Garlic Mustard Love

Wild foods are most often in their prime for only a short window of time and springtime greens of the second-year Alliaria petiolata, commonly called garlic mustard, are no exception. The ones on my little acre are just preparing to bloom, so harvest I must. Rain or no rain, in the only hours available to me. I pluck this "wild invasive" by the roots to manage its vivacious spreading and do my best to waste nothing.

The greens were rinsed and gently sauteed in olive oil with some fresh cracked black pepper, fresh grated nutmeg, fresh copped egyptian onion tops, and then covered to simmer-n-steam in its own juices until tender. Mere minutes. I spooned a bit liquid love off the top of the still-macerating garlic vinegar to add just before serving (for breakfast, no less). And this dish is equally tasty served cold, so a generous harvest is always worthwhile ~ in more ways than one.

I've really grown to appreciate this plant over the years.

As for the second year roots, I rinsed them well, brought them into the kitchen, dried them a bit, added them to my blender with some living apple cider vinegar, chopped it all together and poured it into a canning jar to (like the garlic vinegar) macerate for 6-8 weeks before straining and bottling. I'll be harvesting roots again in the autumn, of the first year growth, to make more delicious, nutritious vinegar and who knows what else?

And if you're wondering, the roots of this plant taste like a subtle horseradish. Yeah. Very tasty!

That's what I made today.

Peace.

Love with Fiber

Between studio and garden work I finished up and listed three Spirit Pouches. Making these little mojo bags has been my latest creative obsession. And I'm having loads of fun choosing the buttons for them from my vintage button stash. I have more that I'll be listing in the days ahead, so keep an eye out, and of you're local, stop by my studio to experience them in person!

I spun some Spirit Cords today, too, since the fibers were out and around me. This cord, called "Harmony" is a blend of lovely coral wool and acrylic boa yarn in shades of turquoise with a hint of green throughout, and is one of a limited edition of six cords. I spun others too, and they'll make their way to my ArtFire shop and studio soon.

In addition to these creative delights I picked up the winnings from our Open Studios at Whiting Mills raffle (which I foolishly neglected to blog about last week) and contacted the winners. That's always fun ~ saying "you won!" I also transplanted some of my greenhouse babes, watered my garden seedlings and perused my little acre for the next wild harvests, and discovered some that will get my attention tomorrow.

So, yeah, that's what I made today.

Peace.

Garlic Infused Vinegar

Last season's garlic is feeling the pull of the this season. The cores have been greening for some time and wee rootlets have been reaching, and this past week the sprouts have been making themselves known. So today I kept a few heads aside for kitchen use, and separated the rest of their outer-most paper and chopped them, loaded up a half-gallon jar and covered them with living apple cider vinegar. Now they'll sit and macerate for a several weeks before straining and bottling.

It's a delight to grow enough garlic to keep me through the winter.  And it's a delight to have excess for making this delicious vinegar brew to see me through to the next harvest in summer. But even with a seasonal break in fresh garlic supply, I have dried versions and this upcoming vinegar (which I can start dipping into tomorrow, for surely it will quickly become pungent and flavorful). I also have the wild ramps ready for harvest, and egyptian onions and garlic chives, so there's no shortage of Alium verve while garlic takes a break.

And while today is our collective day to honor the living, breathing entity with which we partner to enjoy this life … nourish, sustain and honor her every day, with as many choices and actions that you can, for surely she reciprocates in kind. Peace.

Crocheted Amulet Bags

Today I created two little amulet bags with spun Spirit Cord straps and vintage buttons. What a joy! I'll be making more to add to my creations-for-sale.

That's what I made today.

Peace.

Artful and Ameliorated Medicine

Short story shorter, today I painted away pain. It's amazing what standing at an easel with a large sheet of watercolor paper and paints can do for aches and pains. I may be sitting with a heat pad to my back as I type, but my body feels appreciably better than before this artful Medicine. 

That's what I made today.

And as serendipity would have it, it fit nicely with this month's Mix it Monthly theme.

Peace.

Charming Efforts of Worth

This past week I made time to go through my studio shelves … shelves of works-in-process as well as my shelves of materials and supplies. Things were organized and tidied. Over the weekend I was compelled to use some of my new materials, yet chose to do so while leveraging some of the works-in-process, as well as some older works to breathe new life into them. Know what I mean? I settled on creating note cards because I needed some and I figured it would keep me working small while trying my hand at products I've never used before. You know, a way to control potential waste.

It was fun. I made some hot messes that no one will ever see as well as some cards that actually delighted me. I even made use of some of my spouse's little works that had been hanging around. As a result of this effort I have some new note cards that I'm listing in my ArtFire shop as well as some two-dimensional experience with new materials that I'll be expanding on in the weeks to come … to add some three-dimensional delight to my work. That's the plan, anyway. And plans change in my world.

I invested time in developing and fine-tuning some healing art workshops, including the creation of some personal Spirit Cards. I'm looking forward to sharing this process with folks in my community! I also revamped a three-day heART workshop into a one-day workshop and am working on another one-day heART workshop penciled in for May.

Today I'm making time for bills and paperwork, tax-ish half-efforts, and listing some new items. I have three new non-fiction books to read and new things to learn to nurture this charmed life of mine. Charm takes effort and dedication. And collaboration. And lots of LoVe. And it's worth it.

That's what I made. Peace.

Compliant Collaboration

These past two weeks have been a bit of an experiment. Or a series of experiments. But whatever the label, my trials are guiding me to new realms of realization and utility.

For so many years I've allowed so much of my life to be "scheduled" by external forces. I like to think that I made those choices from a place of compassion, but that's another story all together. As I've mentioned before, too many times perhaps, "I have my life back," and I bounded into it, like a sprinter across the starting line … like the "girl" I once was … only to realize that  … "it" doesn't work like it used to.

But what is "it?"

And there's The Rub.

The Rub I've been getting to know these past couple of weeks. We're not intimate yet, but here's where The Rub has led me:

Yesterday, after consulting with The Rub (an intuitive conversation, for those wondering), I took my ToDo list and prioritized it, as is my habit. But rather than scheduling every item (as I typically do), she invited me to work the list and document my actions in the schedule portion of my planner as I accomplished them.

I didn't understand this guidance, it made no sense, and was ~ in fact ~ counter-intuitive to me. At one point I muttered out loud to my guidance, "you're rubbin' me up the wrong way," which (at the risk of sounding flakey) resulted in shared laughter. All the same, I went to bed setting the intention that some clarity by morning would be my incentive to continue this seemingly silly exercise.

I woke this morning to a whisper … "know your Crone's pace." And I understood. This experiment will allow me to discover, acknowledge, honor and adapt to a pace that is suited to me in my current state of evolution. Damn. That Rub, she's a brilliant wench. And today I join her in compliant collaboration.

That's what I'm making today.