have a dreamy weekend

anything planned for the weekend?

not much planned here.

but i intend on having picnics and watching the clouds go by.

i'm feeling light and clean,

like a little whispy cloud happily soaring along.

i've had some real break-throughs lately.

life is feeling good these days.

happy, happy weekend.

my mantra this morning:

i've got an uncomfortable situation to confront that has been keeping me awake at nights and truly a bit painful. it involves another person. which always makes it much more difficult. been putting it off for way to long. i must take a big breath, and approach the situation with kindness, honesty, and simplicity. wish me luck.

outside in between time...

i love when that time comes when it is neither day nor night.

my ears perk up, and my skin settles in.

the best moment for walking, slowly, letting it all come and go.

i am well aware that summer is upon us, but...

i am knitting like the first frosts have already fallen on unharvested squash.

i tell people i am in a knitting class and loving it.

they want to know what i'm making.

"i've made gloves, a hat, and now i'm working on a sweater."

they look at me sideways,

"oh, just in time for summer?"

i'm feeling quite like the ant, and pittying those grasshoppers.

when the cold comes,

i'll be ready.

did you hear? i'm working on a sweater!!

it's that time of year : the life and colors of peonies

easy lunch

i'm having one of those
i-will-eat-anything-even dry bread with honey-just-to-avoid-cooking weeks.
do you ever feel that way?

usually when i get in one of these cooking ruts,
i try to have some bolani on hand.
i buy this delicious afghan traditional food at
my farmers' market.
they've got a yummy spinach filling and
we spread jalapeno jelly and lentil curry on top.
mmmmmm.

and we pair it with some tea.
it's the perfect little meal.

what do you eat when you're in a cooking rut?

a summer of poetry

these, these will give the world another heart,
and other pulses. hear ye not the hum
of mighty workings?
-john keats

my entire soul oozes over this excerpt from this keats poem.
he is a poet that makes it quite impossible
to avoid wonder, awe, and heart.
the same goes for his predecessor, william wordsworth.

and now,
announcing my summer class schedule:

{1} the english romantics: wordsworth and keats
{2} poetry workshop

we're only allowed to sign up for two courses
as they will eat up our entire six weeks.
i've already acquired my text books,
which are many and fabulously dense,
so that i can get a head start.

hear ye not the hum
of mighty workings?

manifesto monday: plan B

just as some of you predicted,
i was oh so blue about this: the seemingly end to a dream.
i was blue for a few days. very blue indeed.
but then,
as our hearts do for us humans,
my heart gathered all of its courage,
and i came up with a plan B
to get me on my way to the
Bread Loaf School of English this summer.
i'm going.
no matter what.
i'm finding ways.
and finding kind people all along the way.
plan A usually involved me, myself, and i.
plan B requires i ask for help
from so many good people...
good people at the school who so easily
reinstated my enrollment,
good people who want to point me in the right direction,
good people who are cheering me on
despite the size of this mountain.
thank you, dear readers,
for cheering me on.
i am climbing this mountain to the top:
asking for directions,
stopping to breathe and replenish when needed,
but always moving onward,
even if a giant boulder obstructs my way.
i will move around it, over it, under it.
whatever it takes.
plan B was always my best plan,
but i didn't know it.
plan B requires that i reach out,
admit my short-comings and mistakes,
and admit that i can do nothing on my own.

this i believe.

it seems impossible to fall in love with knitting any more than i already am...

this new hobby really does keep getting better and better.
i finished my first project,
and am on to the next
while making things for other people now.
i am in love with needles and yarn...oh the yarn!

a little tangent: two braids will most likely take over my summer. so easy.

getting back to my writing schedule...
with my new, hand-made, self-made gloves!!!
what do you think?

wondering what to make after i finish the hat...
any suggestions?

by the way,
have you seen tess's blog?
she shows you how to dye your own yarn,
and, now, how to use a spindle!!
love!

here's to a hopeful earth day

we have much to hope for.
we have much to do...and much not to do.
i hope we will take earth day seriously,
and resolve to care more deeply,
to act more often.

have you been watching the wondrous gathering of
15,000+ people in cochabamba, bolivia this week?
it's really inspiring.
so many good people coming together to motivate the rest of us...
let's not let them down.

"our kinship with Earth must be maintained; otherwise,
we will find ourselves trapped in the center of our own paved-over souls
with no way out."
-terry tempest williams, finding beauty in a broken world, page 75

"we can no longer say, 'let nature take care of itself.' our press on the planet is
heavy and relentless. a species in peril will most likely survive now only
if we allow it to, if our imaginations can enter into the soul of
the animal and we pull back on our own needs and desires to accommodate theirs.
what other species now require of us is our attention. otherwise,
we are entering a narrative of disappearing intelligences."
-terry tempest williams, finding beauty in a broken world, page 203

"this is what is wrong with us, we are bleeding at the roots."
-d.h. lawrence

i truly believe that THE most important and effective way we can
conserve the beauty of the earth is to put aside our own desires:
to buy less.
don't give in to smart and pretty advertising.
don't give up this earth for something you will throw out next year
when the newest fashion comes about.
make things yourself.
buy local and handmade if you have to buy at all.
bike. bike. bike.
get outside.
get informed.

write corporations/businesses/representative, and tell them

that you support real change {no "green"-washing},

tell them that you will no longer buy their products

if they are not sustainable.

they will listen...

because there is more of us than them.

take it one step at a time.
day by day
we will not only preserve this earth
but we will preserve our souls.

i am slowly, but surely, killing my car...driving only when it rains...
but even then, i am riding more in the rain too...
it's not so bad...it's quite refreshing.

what do you pledge to change for the earth today?

a day when we tried to squeeze everything in: point reyes and the ocean

after the crowds of the city,
we were more than ready for the solace of the sea...
and, of course, we brought food.

we began just by "looking" at the ocean...

and then we got closer...

and then we began to tempt the waves...

it tried to bring us in...
back to where we came from.

we laughed our bellies tired.

and we made sure to document the event in full.

we loved our wellies in the sand and in the waves...

i was happy to see my mom so full of life,
leaping and jumping everywhere.

have i mentioned how much we laughed?!

my pretty mother.

sister made some art.

mom loved throwing things back into the ocean.




we loved the ocean, its mist, and its waves.
it was a lovely way to end our day.

can't wait for their next visit...

{pssst...i'm over at la porte rouge}

come find out what i love today over at la porte rouge...so happy and honored to be there!!

thank you, nadia!

a day when we tried to squeeze everything in: san francisco

mom & sister arrived friday.
we walked along the river, met cj, ate pizza, drank hot cocoa,
watched the fantastic mr. fox...all in prep for our big saturday extravaganza.

saturday morning: davis farmers' market, ferry building in san fran, alta plaza park,
gelato, la boulangerie, lots of walking, lots of driving.

the ferry building.
this place was oh so crowded.
first things first: we found something to eat.
{by the way, this little trip was all about food}.

we ate at a little japanese place inside the ferry building.
we were all getting "hangry" from the traffic coming into town.
sister appropriately bought some yummy chocolate.



mom & sister posing in front of the bay bridge.

sister and me acting completely silly.
we're good at that.

sister's "this is it" pose.

sister had to stop and smell the flowers...face first.

sister claims she doesn't like camping,
but according to this photo she loves climbing trees...
i think there's a tree-hugger in her after all.

sister and me on our way to get more food.

mmmmm.
la boulangerie.

tomorrow,
photos from the ocean.
{and more food}.