wabi sabi moments...parkie's hearth

soaking up warmth 

from this hearth

built by a man

named parkie boop

who I am certain

is playing an accordian

in heaven

for any soul who will 

listen

:::

you can see the complete collection of wabi sabi moments over at flickr

:::

Lately, I've had few words and pictures to share of our wabi sabi life.  Illness last week and travel this week (we will be at the American Craft Council's Baltimore Show all week sharing our wares) will keep me away from this space (and yours) for a while, but you can get a double dose of pictures and words today, if you head over to threading light.   

love, blessings and gratitude~

homemade and homegrown intentions...one small change

A dream of mine is to grow a significant portion of my family's food.  I really wanted to grow more of our food this fall/winter, but I really got a late start on that.  I have some carrots and endive ready in a cold frame waiting for more sun and warmth to grow into early spring harvests, and we ate a lot of kale, celery, swiss chard from the garden this fall, but winter is tough.  I am in the planning stages now to grow a lot of root crops that will get us through next winter and more diversity to make our growing and eating more enticing. So this month's one small change is really the next step and a big change (for us) to rely on our land and our hands to meet our family's food needs.

There was a time in our life that we would stop at the grocery store on our way home from work each day to buy whatever we needed.  Slowly, over many years we have transitioned to relying on local sources for our food.   But we are not perfect, this winter I have reluctantly bought conventionally grown produce in our grocery store to get us by.  There is also the fact that neither one of us works outside of our home anymore.  We have a limited budget, and it is hard to justify driving into town to get stuff.  Often I have to weigh the choices of spending the money and time to drive to local markets that are 35-45 miles away, a large grocery store that has a decent selection of exotically grown organics 25 miles away, or our local grocery store that offers only organic carrots, celery, and broccoli which is 10 miles away.  Even in the heart of the growing season, I still have to drive 20 miles to pick up my CSA order and visit a closer local grower's market.  So it is time to step up and grow...our own food.

This month I've bought Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest, which I got through interlibrary loan this summer...too late to really get things going for this year...but oh so inspiring.  I also ordered his latest book, Winter Harvest Handbook.  Oddly enough, about 18 years ago, I read his book Organic Grower and was seriously interested in becoming one...seems I am finally coming full circle.

I also placed my seed order and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my seeds.  This week we are getting started with some cold weather crops like kale, mache, and other greens...yes, greens!  There is 2 feet of snow on the ground right now and another 6 inches on the way tonight...so we are still at the dreaming/planning phase.  I've been gardening for years, so that part isn't new.  It is just being more intentional about what and how much I grow and why I am growing it.  So it is an intention more than an actual change.  But that's what seeds are too...tiny intentions that can grow into big things.

Finally, to properly wrap up January's small change.  We did a really good job exploring the idea of different cultured foods.  The cultured veggies seemed to be the easiest to assimilate into our lives at this point.  Although, I struggled to get Jude to eat much.  Did anyone else have luck with their kiddos eating cultured veggies?  Kombucha brewing was a dismal failure...I think our house is too cold this time of year.  I'll try again in the summer.  And I am going to get kefir grains soon to begin making our own kefir from raw milk that we get from Erma.

Finally to share what turned out to be my favorite winter salad creation...so far:

Celebration Salad

what you need:

1/2 head savoy cabbage

2 carrots

3 T of cultured beets

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

what you need to do:

1. slice the savoy cabbage into thin slices

2. grate the carrot and mix in

3. mix in the cultured beets

4. drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over and toss

enjoy~

take a breath

I'm threading light today...

:::

I'll be back in this space tonight.

wabi sabi moments...framing our world with color

framing our view 

of the world

with color

love 

and 

light

:::

you can see the complete wabi sabi moment collection here

:::

also getting caught up in the swirling energy 

of

metal tigers 

and

spreading love 

(pdf of love mandala in photo above at threading light)

:::

have a blessed weekend!

handmade...alchemy cards

I had an hour before I left for a monthly gathering with a circle of women friends.  I really wanted to give each of them something special, something handmade.  I happened to have 6 small photos of the butternut heart on moss already printed out in a neat stack.  So I decided working small would actually work to my advantage.  I have done this in the past and it is much easier to work on a small scale like this.

I also decided to limit my materials to a small stack of cards, stickers, and an old calendar.  Having the need to have all 6 done within an hour required me to be focused and not waste time looking for something beyond the selection of materials I had in front of me.

I also decided up front that I wouldn't be overly concerned if they were not perfect.  I ended up making the first one upside down with the image on the other side. But I decided I liked that they were not perfect...they were so wabi sabi.

I gave each card a different theme: joy, heal, dream, peace, hope, shine.  And used various letters to place the word somewhere on the card.

Kelly's box of hope for the Wellness Tree Project.  

I have made several boxes like this out of altoid and other mint tins.

Since the backs all had the same image, I was able to place them in a small box similar to the one I made for Kelly (whose box also contained alchemy cards) for the Wellness Tree project.  When I got to our gathering, I shuffled the cards, and each person took the card on top.  I loved that I didn't know who I was making each card for, and each person seemed to genuinely connect with the card they received.  And now I am using those themes as prayers for my friends.

This was from Kelly's box of hope.

I forgot that dream was in there too and that I used birds flying...interesting.

I have a feeling you will be seeing more of these.  They are very satisfying to make and I love the idea of transmuting bits and pieces of things I probably could have thrown away into something more meaningful...that is powerful.

moment of mindfulness...quarters from heaven

Last week, I had a day of gifts.  It all started when I responded to a freecycle ad requesting baby items.  I had just days before washed up Jude's crib set and gathered up other baby blankets that I knew we needed to pass on to someone else.  

The problem was I also felt reluctant to give away these items, especially the crib set, because I originally picked it out for my first son, Bennett, and never got to use it for him.  When Jude was born, it was really important to me that these items got used.  I don't understand it.  Many people would have the exact opposite reaction, but this was mine.  I kept hanging on to them thinking it would be nice to pass them along to someone I knew.  

When I finally met the woman who placed the ad, I discovered that she made the request on behalf of her daughter who was a former student of mine.  And I was so grateful for that.  It turned out that her daughter was planning a home birth and so that was another connection that was made, as I birthed Jude at home.  

Right after giving the items away, I went into the Natural Food Store that I used to work at and when I went to the counter to purchase some items, I discovered that even after I emptied out all my change I was $1 short.  The owner and longtime friend graciously said to forget about it.

After that Jude and I went to the thrift store just to look...;)  Jude found a 3-D puzzle that we thought would be fun to put together.  You have to match up letters so I thought it would be good for letter recognition skills if he was into that.  It was only 25 cents so I said sure.  And then it dawned on me that I had just emptied out my purse of all change at the Natural Food Store.  Just as I was telling Jude that we would have to put the puzzle back, I looked on the shelf right in front of me and low and behold there was a shiny quarter...head's up.

That night, as is our usual custom, I asked Jude what his favorite part of the day was, and he said playing with the castle...and I had to agree with him.  With my deepest sincerity, I am incredibly grateful for this simple gift.  It reminded me that it is only by letting go that we receive.

over at threading light today....

I'm threading light today

..but

I should be back in this space later today or this evening with a moment of mindfulness.

wabi sabi moments...it broke her heart

a heart is a fragile thing

until you find

the real One

:::

  

You can find the entire wabi sabi moments collection over at flickr.

And if you want to see some unique valentine's day gifts, check out my post over here.

blessings~

homemade...vegetable broth

Soups are so nourishing in the winter, especially homemade soups.  I like to make my own broth whenever possible because there is almost always sugar added to commercially available broths even the "better" organic ones.  And I like to use local ingredients whenever possible.  So the other day, Jude and I made a big batch of vegetable broth to use in some recipes (but mostly to be consumed by me for breakfasts, lunch and dinner!).  This is what we used but use whatever vegetables (saved peels, broccoli stems, etc...) you have and see how the flavor changes subtly with each batch.  I was delighted that carrots, black radish, celery root, daikon, parsnips, fennel and peas created a very rich, flavorful broth.

Jude chopped up carrots into roughly inch sized pieces.

Mama cut up a black radish with the big knife into inch square chunks.  Black radishes are very purifying and really good to eat this time of year as a food tonic.  They are not strong once they are cooked and they help maintain your body's alkalinity (really, really important!!!!)

Celery root also proved to be too hard for the crinkle cutter.  It is loaded with fiber, minerals, and B6.

Jude gave the daikon a go, but it also proved to be too hard.  

We like to try though!

Daikon is another powerful purifying food.  

Parnips are great drumsticks...but we eventually chopped these up too.

We coated the bottom of a large stock pot with olive oil and threw in all the chopped root veggies.  I stirred them around quite a bit to make sure everything was coated with oil.  Turned the burner on medium low and continued to allow the to cook for 20 minutes or so until everything was tender.  Then we added water  to cover the vegetables and fill the pot 3/4 full and brought it to a boil. 

I froze these fennel stalks from this summer and added those along with some frozen snap peas to the boiling water.  I also added some sea salt. I let it return to a boil.

I reduced the heat to low, cover the pot, and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes...longer is better.

Strain the veggies...but don't compost them.  

Mash them up and add some butter and a bit of salt and you have a delicious treat!

Pour your broth in jars.  Refrigerate or freeze if you will not be using it within a few days.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Broth

what you need:

6 cups of cut up vegetables 

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2+ quarts of water

what you need to do:

1. Coat the bottom of a large stock pot with olive oil and warm up on medium low heat.

2.  Add hard chopped veggies and cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Add water to fill your pot 3/4 full and bring everything to a boil.

4. Add any tender green veggies and return to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to low, cover and continue to cook for at least 30 minutes.

6. Strain the veggies from the broth.

7. Store the broth in jars that can be frozen.  Freeze what you will not use in a few days.

Enjoy!!!

handmade...valentine gift inspiration

I am finding myself short on ideas for simple valentine's day gifts...so in hopes of getting my creative juices flowing, I'm going to share a couple from last year and ask you to share some of yours.... 

tissue holder (or even better hankie holder)

this tutorial got me started 

but I liked the look of combining different prints

if I were doing this again this year...

 I would put a few vintage hankies in each one

rosette pin

it ended up with three little pins in the center...

a fabric covered button works nice for the center too

this pomander tutorial shows the technique 

and the pomander is really sweet too!

do you have any sweet little gift ideas to share?  it doesn't have to be a tutorial, just a picture would be great or just a description!  I can't wait to be inspired;)

I love to give little gifts like this to the special women in my life...my mom, other women in my family, and special friends. I always seem to have someone in mind that I would love to make something special for even if it isn't valentine's day.

threading light

A few of you may remember this post from the winter solstice.  When I wrote this, I had a huge urge to do something more to thread light into this world.  You'll also notice that Earthmama (Lisa) was the first to comment on that post.  It was actually her first visit to so wabi sabi.  A series of communications between us guided us to share a vision and a direction for threading light into this world.  This is just the beginning...

I hope you'll take a look and even pick up the needle yourself!

::::
so much for a morning announcement!  there is obviously still a part of me that unconsciously wants to drag her feet;... I accidentally scheduled this for 8:30pm instead of 8:30am...thankfully, the Universe is not solely dependent upon me;)