Elemental Stitches

Vineyard Trip 2011 Photo Recap

I fought back tears as we drove away.  It was so much fun.  Tom is exhausted at night, but thanks his lucky stars every morning when he wakes up to this.

I think I could live in his working trailer for a long time if I got to live somewhere as beautiful as this.  My days were spent cleaning his work/living place, medicating a sick hawk, cooking for several hungry workers, and blaring my car horn at invading starlings while scaring the crap out of the occasional car full of half drunk wine tasters (not intentionally of course!).  We flew falcons, saved and released a wild Shrike from a sparrow trap, munched on table grapes fresh from the vine, chatted with another falconer about growing up in Ireland, learned to strum on an Irish Banjo, flew kites... need I go on.  One more month and Tom will be home.  All these pictures were taken with my iphone 4.  I didn't even take my dslr out of the bag.

 

This Vons has the largest canning section I have ever seen! My local store only has two types of jars and they are nearly impossible to find.

This was our favorite stop on the way home. Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California. Brae insisted, apparently Judy Moody has been here. Yes that is all chewed up gum, 2-4 inches thick down the entire length of both walls. Yes, it is nasty, but smells a lot better then you think.

*Due to naughty job poachers (yes, seriously) I cannot tell you exactly what vineyard that we are on or where, only that we are somewhere off the 101 freeway from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles. In August it's Paradise here.

Right Now

So I know I am totally ripping off Amanda from Soulemama, but I love this type of post.  What a perfect way to record little memories, those beautiful little moments that make my life complete. 

Right now, I am...

+ re-reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  It still sounds a bit preachy, but I'm loving the story.

+ wishing I got my chickens this weekend.  Yes, our new family members are three hens who will provide us with lovely eggs.  We had to postpone our Saturday trip to the coast to get them.  Next Saturday is the new chicken day.  Also reading Keeping Chickens by Ashley English, wishing I had Home Dairy, and the room to keep my own bees.  Melissa means honeybee so I kinda have a soft spot for the little buzzy creatures.

+ adoring the Blackrose socks I just finished.  Pictures coming.  As soon as I figure out how to take a decent picture of my feet.

+ loving the first week of summer break with my daughter.

+ listening to her first phone call with a friend from kindergarten.

+ planning for big changes in the next two years.

+ wanting to eat more loquats from my neighbor's tree, but knowing that the fifteen or so I ate last night were enough for this week.

+ planting a new bed of Ruby Red Swiss Chard in the new garden bed I built last week.

+ imagining just how heart-shaped the heart-shaped tomatoes are going to be.

+ thanking Tom for, how do I put this into words... everything he does to keep us going.

+ wondering if I should dye the beautiful wool yarn that Tanya sent me before or after I knit a pair of these socks (ravelry link)?

+ eating loads of baby greens, shallots, potatoes and peas from my garden.

+ enjoying the hot weather and the easily tanned skin my father passed down to me.

+ watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 for the first time and loving every minute.

+ attempting to convince myself to cancel cable tv for the summer.

+ wearing tank tops everyday because I can.

+ researching my family tree and getting lost for hours in the amazing stories of survival and hardship I am finding.

+ trying to find new books to read this summer.  Any suggestions?

Hard Times - Heading to So Cal

(This photo was taken during my last trip to visit my Mom. My mom's lab Bailey is patrolling her yard)

It's always my mother who calls with bad news. Saturday I was enjoying the afternoon with Tom, contemplating dinner options when the phone rang.

"Melissa," Mom said as if she was whispering a secret, "Something terrible has happened."

My heart drops, along with my stomach, and both turn into a pool of mush in my feet. Last time she called a young relative of ours had been killed in a fight. The time before that was the earthquake in Haiti. I will never forget when she woke me up early on the morning of Sept. 11th, 2001, with, "Melissa, something terrible has happened."

This time it was about my best friend from my hometown. Her husband tragically passed away on Saturday morning and she needed me. I canceled my plans for the week. Got my taxes done, woohoo! And now I am packing my bags and heading to southern California.

My friend, who looks and acts like an angel, is now a widow with four children ages 12, 9, 8, and 6. Please pray for them. Send them strength and courage. They have had a very difficult last few years and now this. They deserve a decade or two of peace.

Please wish us all some luck this weekend! Thank you!

Remembering Comet

It is always hard to let a beloved pet go.  Today my mom had to put one of our family dogs to sleep because he had developed an untreatable bone cancer.  We had him 11 years, since he was 6 months old.  I know he lived a wonderful happy and healthy life with us.  So many dogs are shuffled from home to home never finding a place where they can live out their lives loved and cared for.  Our home has never been one of those.  Once you are in, you are here to stay.

Things I always want to remember:

- I loved how Comet would hide under the big juniper bush next to the outer gate.  When people would come to visit no one would know he was there.  When they were halfway to the house they got the strange feeling something was watching them from behind.  Its a bit intimidating to turn around to see a big husky calmly watching you as he blocks off the only exit.  Even though he looked scary he was not aggressive in the least, he loved everyone he met instantly, but he was sure to let them know whose turf they were on.  I definitely got the impression he thought the whole situation was hilarious.

- He was the smartest dog I have ever met and understood a lot of English.  I swear he would respond with his facial expressions and "talk" back to me.

- My mom has a huge yard for a Californian.  When Comet was young he loved to catch sparrows.  He would bolt across the yard at top speed and leap into a flock of sparrows snatching one right out of the air.  It was incredible.  He escaped from the yard every once in a while to go exploring and would bring home a fair share of rabbits, squirrels, gophers and even a lamb.  He did let the lamb live.    He only herded it back to our house and into the backyard scaring the little critter half mad.

Thank you for being a loyal companion and friend.  Rest in peace buddy.

 

2010 - The Year of Beginnings

Sitting on the couch this morning with a cup of tea I thought about all that happened this year.  For us 2010 has been a year of beginnings.  Starting with Tom's new job, then we moved to a new city.  I finally started a food blog, a photo business on the side and my little one has started Kindergarten.  We have paid off some nagging debts, got another car, grew 100 pounds of food in our little backyard.  We have been blessed this year!

Looking forward to 2011...  I have no clue what to expect.  I feel like I am looking into a fog which has happily settled itself over my plans for the future obscuring them from my vision.  There are many things I would like to do this year, but the timing is not right.  Those dreams must wait a little longer.  For now I am going to take this as a sign that 2011 is a blank slate that I can color in as I wish.  It's in my hands. 

One thing I know for sure, 2011 will be a good year.  We will get through our rough patches with love, we will celebrate our happy times together and I will be here on my blog next Dec 31st wondering what craziness 2012 will bring. 

Happy New Year To You All!

Grateful

I adore Thanksgiving.  I love the food, I love the jovial spirit people are in now that they are on their first vacation since Summer.  In my family, Thanksgiving is not celebrated for the fact that we Europeans committed near genocide against millions of Native Americans (the Pilgrims, first Thanksgiving, yada yada).  Instead, our family celebrates all of the great things we have accomplished throughout the last year.  We think about how far we have come on our goals and recognise those accomplishments as a family. 

We also celebrate the closeness of family.  During hard times we rely on our family members to help us through.  Thanksgiving is a celebration of the love and dedication we have for our family and what we go through to spend time with them.  If you have any doubts about this just watch any of the comedic films on visiting the family for the holidays.  You don't want to go, but you love them so much you are going to go through the torture of holiday travel and sleeping on the couch next to cousin Margaret to visit.

So this year I am grateful for:

- a stable income, this is the first year I can say we are keeping our heads above water and even have been able to pay off some nagging debt.  Even though my computer is broken at least I have the money to fix it.  Couldn't say the same last year when I was a starving student.

- a roof over my head, because last year I barely had one myself.

- my country, we are truly lucky to live in a place where we can be free to be who we want to be (for the most part).

- my husband, who works like a superhero to put food on the table and is my best friend.  I couldnt have dreamed up a better partner.

- my daughter, who has taught me some of the greatest lessons about myself and about what is important in life. 

- my readers who give me boosts of confidence, inspire me to create more, and remind me that there are others like me in the world.

- those who taught me to knit, sew or craft, they have given me a great gift.  I always loved this saying "You can give a man a fish and it will feed him for a day, or you can teach that man to fish and feed him for life".  Making things feeds my soul.

- my Step Dad and Mom, who taught me to always try to see things from the other person's perspective.  When we can be empathetic and understanding toward one another then there can be a chance for peace in our world.

What are you grateful for this year?  And, if you are American, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Birthday Weekending

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  It was just us this weekend for our birthday.  Our only plan was to avoid leaving the house for as long as possible, eat yummy food whenever we wanted, and to have fun together.  We built a little table for the backyard out of scrap, fried chicken together at midnight, ate a cake of donuts (because neither of us like traditional cake), and otherwise enjoyed each others company.  A perfect way to greet 28 and 33.

It may not be pretty, but it sure was delicious!  Of course, we didn't eat them ALL!

The table we built, which still needs a coat of stain and varnish, was commandeered as a storefront.  What began as a firewood stand quickly turned into a full hardware store.

Look what I got to start on!  Guess who is already finished!  Hers is gorgeous too!

I fiddled with a new recipe for pumpkin muffins.  They came out moist and filled with Autumnal yumminess.  I will share it later this week.

Meet Jane, my second try on a giant pumpkin.  She is a little over a week old and about the size of a soccer ball!  And NO HOLES! We might carve our names into her side so that they will scar over and get huge but I am a little worried about hurting this one.  She is our backup in case James goes south.

James, the Giant Pumpkin, as he is now called, is still growing.  His hole has gotten bigger and I am a little worried about what is going on inside.  I am afraid when I open it up its going to look like the night of the living dead.  Which is why I named it James.  Like James and the Giant Peach.  I know I am just a little crazy, but it makes life more interesting.  The hole will be, with luck, used to our advantage.  His nose or maybe a tooth?  We will have to wait another couple weeks to see if he survives.

Halloween Costume Planning

My little fashion designer discovered that it will be Halloween soon and she is very excited about costumes this year.  I asked her what she was going to dress up as and she said she had to think about it.  About five minutes later she runs back into the room. 

"I know what I want to be for Halloween!  A Vampire Princess!!!"

Oh man, she is only five and she is just as obsessed with vampires and Halloween as her Dad. 

"Why don't you draw me your costume so I know what it should look like?"

Here is what I got back.

She tells me that the skirt is red because it is covered in blood.  That is blood dripping off the bottom and there are bats on her tiara and dress.  She also wanted to make sure we could get fangs with blood on them. 

My goodness!  When I was five I dressed up as Rainbow Bright.  Tom tells me that he was a witch for several years in a row and he still dresses up as a warlock to scare the kids who come trick or treating, actually so does my mother.  Still children at heart.  I try to dress up, but usually end up wearing my Renaissance faire wench costume at the last minute.

So I now need to design and sew a vampire princess dress.  Any ideas?

Autumn, Winter Planning, and Power Failure, Oh My...

The last weekend of Summer felt more like the first weekend of Fall.  The light was somehow changed, the wind blew longer and with a crisp bite.  In the high desert of Southern California, where I grew up, you will know Fall has arrived when you get the first scent of cold wetness in the wind.  Like there is snow someplace far away and you are only getting a whiff of it hundreds or thousands of miles away.  You know it as soon as it comes because you haven't felt a drop of moisture in the air since April.

Taken near Bakersfield on my trip to So. California.

My mom's Labrador Bailey enjoying the last days of Summer. Also taken on my trip.

This is my first San Jose Autumn and I am very very excited about it.  The last two weeks I have noticed a drop in tomato production and my pumpkin seems to be slowing down too, which is not cool since it is still only the size of a watermelon (I am going for Gigantor here!).  I planted a flat of lettuce only to have it knocked over by the dog, yet again.  I threw the dirt back in the flat and they are still growing so who knows...

I spent this weekend relaxing from a frightening week.  I wont get into a long story, but last Wednesday involved running for my life, calling the fire department, losing power for almost a day, waiting for the power company to remove the downed power lines from around my car and all over my street, then discovering that my cable box was fried, but thank god my computer was fine and my house did not catch on fire, and by some miracle no one was hurt.  By the way, never ever release Mylar balloons into the air (I did not do this, I was happily enjoying my backyard).  When they hit power poles things tend to go ka-boom.

Do you see the missing & broken lines?  They were surrounding my car.

To relax and enjoy the new Fall weather I made these Cocoa Bottom Banana Bars from one of my favorite food blogs How To: Simplify.  When temps start dropping I start baking.  They are were soooo yummy, we gave a few away and the rest... well they are gone.  Don't look at me!  Tom ate at least half.

Sunday I fell in love with Ana over at ana-white.com.  This beautiful woman designs and builds her own furniture and shows you how to do it too.  I have been wanting to learn to build furniture since I was a little girl, right along with designing my own clothes.  Every time I mention this to someone, particularly men, I get, "Uhhh, sure that's cool, good luck with that...".  I get the same line when it comes to learning about cars.  I would love to find someone willing to teach me to fix my own car or just change the oil.  If you think Tom would be the one to do this you would be wrong.  Tom can build a beautiful custom home, but he isn't going anywhere near my car.  Anyway, Ana's blog is a dream come true.  You can be sure you will see me build something from her site this coming Fall.

The holidays are around the corner!  I am super excited!  This is the first year that Tom and I are celebrating the holidays at our house.  Tom has to work the day before and after Christmas so we cannot go to visit relatives.  As much as I will miss spending the holidays with family, I cannot wait to celebrate here with just us.

Felted or knitted pumpkins might be a fun project.  Who doesn't love a knitted bowlful of acorns?  Or this awesome Halloween knitting.

Ghosts, bats, voodoo dolls, skulls, and eyeballs all await my needles.

What is planned for my week?

- Refinish the small table by the door.

- Find out what I need to make one of Ana's projects.

- Finish my swap goodies.

- Start on the sewing project for this month.

What are your crafty plans this week?

Boyfriends

I wasn't planning on another post today but I had to share.

This morning I took my munchkin to kindergarten and as we walked toward the line in front of her class she stopped suddenly and said,

"Mom, wait!"  She pulled me down and whispered in my ear.  "That's him Mom!  That's Armando."  She pointed discretely in the direction of the boy walking a few yards ahead of us.  "No DON'T look!"

I snuck a peak anyway.  How could I resist!  Armando, an adorable little boy with a mohawk, my daughters first crush.  Tom is going to love this. 

She came home last week and showed me a picture she drew of her and Armando with hearts over their heads "crushing" on each other.  The same day she got another boy in trouble because he chased her around the playground all recess.  Then the next day, she got in trouble for chasing him all around at recess.

It is an indescribable feeling, my heart surging with joy, almost seeming like it will burst out of my chest (or maybe my eyes).  To see her making friends, and kindergarten "boyfriends".  You can't understand it unless you are a parent yourself.  The joy of seeing your ultimate creation, the one you put the most time, effort and energy into, succeeding and happy.