Monday :: Link Love List

planning...on making these homemade cheater donuts for an upcoming coffee clutch

mildly...intrigued by this Swiss-Army-like bed for our postage-stamp-sized master bedroom

graduating...to the new iPhone 4 with Verizon (whether I wanted to or not!)

coveting...this new, lovely, artful iPhone case by Nikki McClure to house it in

digging...trenches to alleviate water encroachment on our house/garage during the storm

enjoying...the school closure last Thursday due to the pummeling rains and wind

discovering...the most needed office supply for my desk

scouring...the internet and local appliance stores for my 18" wide dream dishwasher

learning...our friend's dear mother has just released a new five-year garden journal now available at your local, independent bookstore

reading...this rare interview with the nature-loving poet, Mary Oliver

gathering...inspiration to make these herbal infusions for cocktail hour(s) this spring

loving...this creative bling and this one too!

trying...a totally raw, vegan meal last weekend with friends

looking...forward to dryer weather this week (70 degrees tomorrow...crossing my fingers!)

Happy Monday!  Please feel free to comment on what you're loving this week in the comment section.

Letterpress Love

The letterpress workshop I attended last week was really great.  Iota Press in Sebastopol is a hidden treasure and the owner/artist/poet/bookbinder extraordinaire, Eric Johnson, is one of the nicest guys in town.

You can read about Eric's sweet printing co-op here.

My love of fonts, typography, numbers could be fully realized and applied at this workshop.  I gathered a few friends and Eric taught us the basics and helped us each complete a small project.

He has three vintage presses and hundreds of fonts, type & artwork to choose from.

It was like I was in a dreamworld of the tools used to make the magical printed word, along with beautiful papers and the chance to create something with all of it.  Fantastic.

I've personally amassed a dozen or so vintage letterpress letters, which is nothing compared to Eric's collection.

I settled on creating two bookmarks and using my chartreuse-colored card stock from Paper Source.

Once the artwork was selected, fonts narrowed down and set - it was time to print.

We learned that inking a vintage press is an extremely cost-effective and sustainable way of using ink.  The small canister of printer's ink was over five years old and only half of it was used.  Just a little dab here and there and we were good to go.

We set up our projects individually on the Vandercook Proof Press and after a few tweaks, we were ready to print.

The process was extremely gratifying, yet time-consuming.  I think you must love the process, as well as the end result.  I really enjoyed both.

Of course, I forgot to bring my good camera and my iPhone died during the middle of the class.  My friend was kind enough to snap a few shots of the finished products with her iPhone.  

I have a newfound respect for the printed word and look forward to future workshops at this lovely establishment.  If you're interested in attending a workshop, please feel free to contact me or Eric at Iota Press directly.  

Rainy Day Musings

::  Today school was cancelled due to heavy rains and flooding, so we made the best of it.

:: G donned his baby blanket (holes and all) as a makeshift cape for convenient flights around the house, coupled with spirited karate moves

::  We had photo shoots with our new little chicks, Brownie & Kiki

::  Dolly was having none of this America's Next Top Model stuff

::  This one - yep, she's a flirt named Chocolate

::  The hailstorm was incredible and forced us outside to see what the heck was going on around our house

::  The guys put on their muck boots and assessed the damage

::  And started digging trenches to keep the water from inundating our garage and Steve's office.  A moat seems fancy when you're reading about them, but in actuality - not so much!

 ::  Molly kept watch from the water-logged garage

::  Chicken chores still needed to be done and they were a wet flock indeed

::  Grady loved the early-morning call notifying us that there was no school today.  He helped his dad with the outdoor chores and even relocated a soggy gecko back into the lower garden area.  French toast, art lessons, reading, movie time, made-to-order lunch, short-story writing on the typewriter and ice cream were easily checked off of our home-schooling list for the day.

::  Notice that Molly did not want to be photographed.  She was none to happy with all the outside-in-the-pouring-rain-business.  Just to show us who's boss, she slept and ignored us for the remainder of the day.  

Monday :: Link Love List

editing...my son's reading library and ridding it of the oh-so-sassy Captain Underpant's series

finishing...my December 2009 book club selection Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living: A Fresh Take on Scandinavian Style

regretting...the fact that I didn't nab this George Nelson-inspired bench while thrifting

attending...my first letterpress workshop at Iota Press today!

mothering...six new little chicks and my one very emotional boy this week

weathering...an incredible Saturday night storm and power outtage

wanting...to attend this National Stationary Show in New York (maybe next year!)

learning...about the Super Moon we had on Saturday night

sipping...a special bottle of Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut with friends and family

stumbling...upon this free monthly lecture series in San Francisco

coveting...this gorgeous ribbon on How About Orange's blog

planning...on making this easy-peasy t-shirt market bag

enjoying...the absolute quiet of this Monday morning and hope you are too!

Mother of a Week

This week was my mom's 60th birthday.  We celebrated with a lovely dinner party on a rainy Tuesday night.  Friends, laughter, good food and a few happy tears.

I have been mastering Julia's Boeuf Bourginone recipe for over a year and tonight it all came together and was really quite delicious.   We paired it with Fort Ross Pinot Noir and savored every morsel of food and every last drop of wine.

I also made Real Simple's Flourless Chocolate Cake for dessert.  This is the easiest recipe and the wow factor when you take a bite is off the charts.  Really rich and decadent.  Perfect for a big birthday celebration.

I made a list of 60 childhood memories that I was thankful for, grateful for or just wanted to share with my mom.  She cried, I cried...it was my gift to her, along with a box of her very favorite chocolates.  A really special evening and we were warm and cozy around the table, as it rained and rained outside.

My Aunt Glenda came down to help celebrate my mom's birthday.  This was my mom's first visitor since she moved here four years ago and we were all super happy to share the week with her.  As you can see, Grady was tickled just to be near her.  He instantly fell in love with his Great Aunt Glenda.

I love this picture!  She treated him like a prince and he loved the time he spent with her.  Me too!  She made us corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day and left us with little presents to remember her by.  Grady said he was going to wear the shirt she gave him for the rest of his life.

The remainder of the week was wet and we had major rain storms.  My zinnia seedlings are safely sprouting in my kitchen window box above the sink.  We've already had a few casualties, but more are alive than dead.

March 18th has been marked on the calendar for a few weeks now as "chick day."  Rivertown Feed in Petaluma was getting their shipment of chicks in and I was not going to miss it.  Well, until I got cold feet and panicked over picking up the day-old chicks.  It was storming and Highway One was about to flood and I just didn't think it was a good day to welcome them home.  Steve set me straight and convinced me they wouldn't die due to the cold weather, as we had this handy-dandy heat lamp for their homemade brooder we were going to set up.

So we went and picked up two of each:  Americauna (the blondes), Rhode Island Red (brownish-red) and Barred Rock (black).  I've already named one of the blonde chicks Dolly.  She's real fluffy and kept running into the cardboard wall.  Not real smart, but real cute.  I also pegged one of the black chicks as a rooster.  We'll see if I'm correct.  Kept pecking Dolly's eyes and pushing the others around.  God, I hope I didn't get another rooster.

I was so excited to actually have them and my morning freak out over thinking I was going to kill them quickly subsided.  However, last night we had a major storm during the super moon.  The tides were high, rain was pouring down, roads were flooded, we had gale force winds and the power went out in the middle of the night.  Well, this mama's mind was racing because the chicks have to be kept in an environment of 90 degrees in order to survive.  They were only two days old and on my watch!  Around 4 a.m. I got dressed and grabbed them from the garage and they were huddled together for warmth.  Steve suggested placing a hot water bottle in their brooder for them to huddle near and it worked.  We had to refill a few times, but the power was back by noon and they seemed no worse for the wear.  I really didn't want to have a chick funeral on the first day of spring.  Seriously.

The week was action-packed and full of friends, families, shared meals, lots of good wine, kids running around, laughter, crazy storms, special visitors, new life and the changing of a season.  The rains and wind have subsided (for now) and all the living creatures in my house are safe and sound.

And while most of this week centered around mothers, the week ended with Grady cuddling up in his father's lap.  Nice way to end this post and this week.  I love you Mr. Funny. 

Monday :: Link Love List

Hello Monday.  How did you get here so fast?  The weeks are flying by and so much needs to be done around here.  I hope you are enjoying my links and that they lead you to some new sites around the world wide web.  Let's get started, shall we?

listening...to the musical stylings of She & Him on this wet, cold, morning

working...in the garden pulling mounds of weeds & pruning our fruit trees

loving...the Saarinen Tulip Table knock-off Docksta Table at IKEA for only $179 vs. the original's $1,431 price tag

wanting...a little place like this to call my own

reading...An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

narrowing...down my dishwasher choices and this one is the front-runner

researching...cover crops to improve our soil and suppress our weed garden this year

visiting...the California Academy of Sciences with Grady yesterday and learning a bit more about sea turtles, fossils and global warming

signing...up for this year's Virgin Harvest.  You can sign-up, too.  Check it out.

musing...why didn't I think of this as a use for my ever-growing paint chip collection?


wishing...I lived in Brooklyn so that I could attend one of these fabulous workshops


thinking...a hula-hoop might be in order for this household

experiencing...a tsunami warning for Bodega Bay on Friday morning

planning...my mom's 60th birthday dinner

sipping...Siduri's Sonoma Coast 2009 Pinot Noir and loving it.  You can find it here.

March :: Garden Update

Yesterday we woke up bright and early, put Grady on a bus to school and went out to walk the property and prune our orchard.  Yes, orchard.  By definition, we have one!

orchard: noun: a place where fruit trees or nut trees are grown; also: the trees of such a place

The neglected persimmon trees were sprinkled with this gorgeous mustard-colored lichen pictured above.

lichen:  noun: any of various complex lower plants made up of an alga and a fungus growing as a unit on a solid surface

We took a little inventory and we have the following:  

2 persimmon trees

1 ornamental plum (my 40th birthday present last year from the guys)

1 asian pear (with two volunteers sprouting up nearby)

1 "some kind of a pear"

1 peach 

3 cherry

1 pink pearl apple

3 dwarf or semi-dwarf apple (unknown varieties)

1 fig

1 loquat tree...I think

I found out that weeding after it rains takes far less effort than waiting until the middle of summer to start this backbreaking work.  An ounce of prevention is my gardening motto this year.  I must get a jumpstart on the weeds.  I started by clearing out my herb bed which was overrun with mint and various weeds.  I uncovered the oregano and purple sage in the bed and yanked out all of the mint tentacles as best I could.  I don't mind it coming back and it doesn't mind being mostly removed.  It has that kind of personality.

mint: noun: 1. a place where coins are made: 2. a vast sum: 3. of a large family of square-stemmed herbs and shrubs; esp. one with fragrant aromatic foliage used in flavoring.

Calendula, chamomile and voodoo lily volunteers are sprouting up all around the garden.  

volunteer: noun: 1. a person who of his own free will offers himself for a service or duty: 2. a plant growing spontaneously esp. from seeds lost from a previous crop.

I like to use the calendula flowers in salads and for small cut arrangements.  I'm happy they have sprouted up and taken over where weeds once were thriving.  The voodoo lily, on the other hand, is a stinky, stinky bloom.  It has this amazing deep purple petal and almost black pistil.  Little bit phallic and a whole lot of dramatic.

Dracunculus vulgaris is a species of aroid in the genus Dracunculus and is known variously as the Dragon Arum, theBlack Arum, the Voodoo Lily, the Snake Lily, the Stink Lily, the Black Dragon, the Black Lily, Dragonwort, and Ragons. In Greece, part of its native range, the plant is called Drakondia, the long spadex being viewed as a small dragon hiding in the spathe.^[1]

The above shots are not so glamorous, but worth mentioning.  We have dozens of rotting orchard boxes that we unearthed when we moved here.  They have seen better days and I'm trying to figure out a use for them in the garden.  

Our handy-dandy galvanized trash can with the holes in it is where we dump our kitchen compost.  I've lived here four years and have yet to make compost and use it in my garden.  The books all claims its easy-peasy, but that hasn't been my experience.  Could it be that because I forget to water it, turn it and add paper or twigs to it - therein lies my problem?  Probably.  However, this batch feels like it could actually turn into usable soil.  I have big plans for it.

compost: noun: a fertilizing material consisting largely of decayed organic matter

We have been busy here and hopeful that this year will be the year of growth, bounty and lessons learned (preferably the easy way, but most likely the hard way).  I've signed up again for the Virgin Harvest and hope to learn how to plant a cover crop, prune our orchard and can some peaches.  I can check one thing off the list today!

flock: noun: 1. a group of birds or mammals assembled or herded together 2. a group of people under the guidance of a leader; esp: congregation 3. a large number

Next week we welcome 8 new chicks into our flock.  Oh, spring.  You are just around the corner.

Monday :: Link Love List

watching...the entire sixth season of Weeds in less than 24 hours

neglecting...my running routine

cooking...for my out-of-town guests last week

planting...inspired by this cute little site called Sprout Robot, I planted my seedlings this week

reading...The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

admiring...every single one of Erin Flett's textiles

wanting...this awesome area rug

discovering...The San Francisco Center for the Book and their workshops

witnessing...my son's elated expression when he hit two "headers" at his indoor soccer game

changing...my blog header all by myself (with a few pointers from here)

learning...to use the word apiary after completing my intro to beekeeping class

harvesting...a second round of butter lettuces from my garden plot at the office

scheduling...a workshop at Iota Press so that I can finally learn how to use a letterpress

pulling...hundreds of weeds after the rainy weekend

March :: Quest for Knowledge

After months (okay, years) of admiring blog headers from other bloggers, I finally figured out how to put together my very own.  Yes, a small feat, but a feat nonetheless for this not-so-tech-savvy gal.  In less than an hour I researched this project, signed up for an account at Picnik, re-sized my images on Seashore, downloaded selected images, auto-filled a template, rounded my corners (I have been wanting to round corners for months!), picked a pleasing font and actually uploaded to my blog.  Whew.  All before 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning and without coffee.  A feat indeed.

The daffodils are in bloom.  We have hundreds popping up around our property and they are not because of my handy work.  I wish I could actually thank the person who took the time to dig up some dirt and so thoughtfully plant them around our house.  Different varieties are blooming and have added such a nice pop of color to our late-winter landscape.   

Grady reading to his friend in 2nd Grade @ Tomales Elementary School

March 2nd was Dr. Seuss Day (aka - Read Across America). G's class earned the privilege to wear pajamas to school, eat popcorn in class and read ALL day long.  Second grade doesn't get much better than that, right?  Our good friend read poetry to his class and inspired an impromptu poetry reading session led by the students.  The children read about math and science, they read on top of their desks (yes, on top!) and underneath their desks, they read short stories, poems and graphic novels.  What a fantastic day for books and the highlight of our week!

Our fruit trees are starting to bloom.  Late-winter is still here with intermittent rains, but the trees are slowly coming to life.  I hope to focus on our trees a bit more this year.  We have about a dozen trees that need some serious love.  We need to clear around the base of the trees and add a protective mulch to hold in moisture.  It seems that the early warm weather has helped everything move along a little faster this season and it's too late to trim a few of the blooming trees - but we still can prune two or three that have yet to show their stuff.  

There is actually a bee in this picture, but it's hard to see.  I took this shot just prior to leaving for my Introduction to Beekeeping Class at Bee Kind in Sebastopol.  At this four-hour workshop, I learned a lot about beekeeping, the anatomy of bees and how to keep a healthy hive.  I left the workshop feeling intrigued, but still not ready to have a hive of my own.  Maybe next year.

We had friends here from Paris this week and had a blast cooking, playing games, eating a lot, drinking a fair bit, laughing and enjoying ourselves.  Once they left, I dug into my garden books and have read three books in less than one day!  There is something very optimistic about the beginning of March and I've been plotting and planning all afternoon, as well as making lists and I even planted some zinnia seedlings today.  If you get the chance, read these sweet, easy, inspirational books about gardening and - snails.  Yes, snails.

• Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail
• You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

I'll write a post later this week about my garden plans.  I have a fairly clear picture of what needs to be accomplished and I'm trying to be realistic in my goals.  What is it they say about the best laid plans?  Well, a girl can only try.

What a great week for learning and expanding my interests.  Reaping, sowing, finding out that Queen Bees and worker bees are pretty kick ass - much like the ladies I know, reading and applying knowledge, signing up for more workshops and starting the seeds for my future garden.  I can't wait to dig in and see what the spring and summer hold for us on our one acre plot of dirt.  Optimism is a plenty right now for this gardener-in-training and it's nice to know that each year I can learn something from the year before and try to improve upon it.

Just like life.