A Closer Look at Ottoman

Salad for Supper

I'm not entirely sure how appetizing this salad looks, but it's a current favorite of mine with many opportunities for variation.

It is: local salad mix...

...and clockwise from top: local hard boiled egg, green olives, can of ethical tuna, organic carrot, local beet, Annie's Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (a current favorite). All of the local produce is also organic.

Last time I made a salad like this, I omitted the olives (the vinegar-y-ness didn't work great with the dressing...they fought with each other) and subbed the carrots for cucumber which was also local.

I'm guessing that my salad variations may turn into soup variations when the weather cools off. It got into the 80s here today, which I'm enjoying tremendously...that rain will start soon enough. Oh, I do enjoy the rain, but I do know that once it starts, it doesn't stop much until...July!

I'm unsure what this weekend holds...probably some not-so-glamorous things like laundry and grocery shopping...but hopefully a few fun things too, especially if the weather holds and we can be outside.

All for now...happy weekend!

Fragment

Bits and pieces of the project I've been working on. Process...progress. Slow though. I'm pretty excited about finally using the reclaimed leather that I've been holding onto for about five years. And those are wee squares of plywood.

I've been thinking of gathering together some ladies that are local friends for a weekly afternoon creative time. Basically, just getting together once a week in the afternoon to make things...independent or collaborative...sewing, painting, cooking, whatever. I think sometimes I miss the camaraderie of being in college working in the print studio or the constructive criticism of a sculpture crit. This would be more relaxed and skill level would vary...but there is something to be said about chatting while making. And, maybe it'll get my nose out of the book a bit to make more things. Do you do anything like this? If so, what has been successful or unsuccessful?

We picked some apples today off the apple tree...the ones that the deer couldn't reach in their hind legs. It's an old tree that doesn't get watered, so the apples aren't so juicy...they'll be made into applesauce tomorrow. I can almost smell the cinnamon.

Ink Well

Awhile back, Jeff's mom gave Boo an old school desk (with wooden swivel chair and open-able top). Then, my parents happened to continually see little metal ink wells, some with glass inserts at antique stores. They decided to buy one for me. When I got it in the mail, I thought that since these wells seemed to be pleniful, they probably had a more commercial use. I decided to see if it would fit in the desk...and it did.

Funny, on a recent post, I mentioned that it hasn't felt like fall yet, and do you know...the very next day, the air had that autumnal smell? I'm going to miss all the fresh produce coming from local farms, but I do await the apple cider lady's return to the farmers' market. And, I picked-up a pumpkin-shaped and frosted sugar cookie for Boo at the market this past week, which made him very happy. Certainly, all is not lost. Seasonal change is a beautiful thing.

More soon. Maybe it's the change of seasons that has me curled up with a book of Edgar Allan Poe's works instead of making things and being online.

sword + fern

The last time I was in Portland (earlier this summer), I dropped off a small package to a wee shop that has the feel somewhere between a natural history museum and the squirreled-away collection (*treasure*) of a creature of the forest (therefore, either we shrink upon entrance, or the contents grow to our size). The shop is sword + fern, and the forest creature whose collection you will discover upon entrance is Emily Baker. Even though it's a small shop (and to it's benefit), one could spend hours pouring over the incredible contents.

What was inside the small package I dropped off is now on display (and for sale!) here...

(image from sword + fern)

(image from sword + fern)

Anything look familiar? If I've whet your appetite for more, here are the latest arrivals...better yet, if you are in the Portland area, or plan to visit soon...stop by and tell Emily "hi" for me.

 

Abstract

 

Hello hello! It's been awhile. We went on a quick trip to visit family...then school started for Boo. It's been a bit exhausting.

But, now that things are (sort of) settling down, I have a bit of time to myself to work. What you see above is a pattern I made from an image that exists in popular culture. It doesn't matter what the image is, and this is just a wee portion of it. What matters is that I wanted to make my own pattern...of what, it didn't matter. But, in order for me to make what I want to make, a pattern needed to be made. It therefore is an abstraction of the original (very much so) and gives me a basis for further abstraction. I've said it before, I need a method to the madness. I'll share more soon. Oh, but I must add that I've also mentioned in the past (maybe a few times) that I love working with grids...here it shows.

On a different note, I've been thinking that it's that odd, yet wonderful time of year when I can get both cantaloupe and apples from the farmers' market, and the blackberries are ripening while the acorns and leaves start to fall. I didn't see the apple cider I've been anticipating at the farmers' market yet, but I may have missed it...anytime now. It's the only time I buy something sweet to drink for the house....I just can't deny fresh-pressed apples...especially when the farmer has a pot of it warmed-up with whole spices mulling about at the market. Maybe it's because the weather is still hot. I bet when we get a cold snap that apple cider will be calling my name.

I usually smell autumn in the air in August...not this year. It's September now, but that familiar autumnal smell isn't in the air yet. I think that this year, I may actually be ready for the fall when it arrives.