{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

friends with fruit

This time of year is so bountiful. Fruit, veg and more fruit. The fruit season began in my own back yard this June with Olallieberries; a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry, each itself a cross between a blackberry and raspberry. Um, can you say YUM? Out of all the thorny things in my yard, these olallieberries are the only ones I would like to keep. Maybe that beautiful orange rose bush, too. But the rest of the thorny things can just go, go, go! I also have meyer lemons (they too have thorns, and they can stay also) just dropping from the tree at the moment. As if that were not enough, it has been warm enough recently to have some very delicious mission figs from my favorite tree in the yard. I love to share these fruits with my friends. And in turn they share theirs with us. This week I whipped up a little plum jam with the numerous plumbs my friend Kerith shared with us.

What's in your garden right now?

summer hair

First hair cut in over a year! He likes it, he likes it! This is Coleman's summer hair. I think he could go way shorter - look at that gorgeous face!

We're off on a little trip for the rest of the week. Catch you all next week!

Have a wonderful week and weekend.

eat: yummy brick of nuts and seeds

Every now and then I get a surge of energy to experiment in the kitchen. Recently I found a wonderful site called My New Roots. What a fount of healthy recipes and nutritional information! I have so many recipes to pluck from this site and make my own. I chose to start with her Life Changing Loaf of Bread. I have little hope my lovely children with find this appealing visually, but Max said it smelled delicious... It's a start.

I made this almost exactly as she wrote, but instead of 1 Tbs of maple syrup I used 2 Tbs. Also, I don't have a flexible silicon bread pan and really wish I had used parchment paper to assist in removing this from the pan. I was unable to remove it so I left it in the pan until I thought it was cooked. It wasn't and I had to yank it out - loosing a small chunk in the process - and put it back into the oven sans pan (as instructed).

A list of this breads virtues:
It's vegan
gluten free
protein rich
fiber rich
easy to tidy up after making - you make it right in the pan!
It's so pretty

Okay, now it's your turn to try making this bread, follow this link to get the recipe.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

learn: always

"Inspiration can be found in a pile of junk. Sometimes, you can put it together with a good imagination and invent something"
- Thomas Edison

This past Monday I was lucky enough to attend a free lecture by Ken Bova at the Jewelry Toolery in Santa Cruz. Ken is teaching a workshop on liquid enameling there - getting color from white enamel using a torch. Very exciting stuff. I really connected with his work, and especially his use of materials he's been collecting since he was a child. It seems his work began when he was a boy. He studied philosophy and theology as his second major, which, hello!, sounds like heaven to me. Ah, to know one's self so well. It has taken me years and distance from myself, so to speak, to understand and know myself so well. So glad to get where I am, however I got here. On top of the very interesting creative journey Ken has been on and his wonderful work he is a truly lovely person to speak with.

Max asked me why I'm always going to lectures. The answer I gave him was that I like them and I like to learn. But it's so much more than that. It's being a part of a vibrant community of artists and philosophers. It's about finding a current of creative energy and hopping into it, flowing with it. It's about the sparks that go off in your mind while you're listening and looking. And the smiles and warm hugs you get and give when you go. About meeting new people and finding your way and making your place. All of these things we do throughout our lives, whether we realize it or not. It's nice to be captain of that ship, though. Knowing where you want to go, who you are and how to create yourself or build yourself up.

I hope your journey takes you some place wonderful today.

grateful

I am grateful for:

Bonfires on the beach
Birds at the beach, and the fish that attract them
Finished and almost finished cuttlefish cast pieces
A moment to myself in front of a fire I built with the help of my boys
Memorable moments with friends
A warm and happy smile from my boy
Train tracks

eat: spicy thai salad

This recipe is from Raw Food Rehab. I made more dressing than was called for, added a splash of rice vinegar (not sure if that is healing or not) and added sesame oil. I'm sure I should have julienned the carrots and jicama more finely. I'll do that next time...it was enjoyed by many at our cuttlefish casting party last week. You'll have to go here for the recipe.

create: together

This summer is already a winner in my book. The boys actually like their swim lessons and various camp adventures, we have had wonderful weather and I've already had two great days with the metals community I am a part of. Wednesday, July 3rd I took my boys along for the creative journey. I'm so glad I did! We took part in a cuttlefish casting party and pot luck at a fellow metalsmith's home in Aptos. Along with the wonderful human company there were miniature donkeys to admire.

The boys and I each made a little silver piece. We prepared the cuttlefish bone and carved it with our own designs. I then wired the two sides of the bone together (carved side to flat side), melted some silver and poured it into the molds we made. All three were successful and now we've just got to clean them up! I'll post the final product in a couple weeks when we're all done. Meanwhile, enjoy a few pictures from our little art adventure.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com