"In the Edo period...recycling was very common among people.  Then after the economic growth that followed the war, the era of mass consumption began.  However now we realize we wasted so much and we should cherish things.  Every person has their own culture, history and aesthetic...so it would make for an interesting world...if people express and exchange those things with each other.  It would not be items mingled but also stories...and that creates a new culture."


via http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/no-place-like-here-pass-the-baton/

laundry day.
since i have been hanging my laundry on the line to dry, the need has arisen to use fabric softener. i have managed to not use it until now. i decided to try out a homemade fabric softener. when i searched online to find a recipe, i found one that sounded good on at home with the farmer's wife. so today i whipped up a batch and now i am waiting for my laundry to dry to see how well it did. hopefully i will not have to deal with scratchy towels any longer!

jeremiah trimmed up last night.
it's kind of nice when he does this.
it makes me notice features about him that i forgot seeing or have never seen.

some photos from our trip to amelia this past weekend. 

jeremiah took me to a bamboo forest. we found a nest with baby birds on the front porch. 

the puppy went on his first trip. on the drive up, we decided to name him "wake" after our favorite college team.

jeremiah and i are in amelia for the weekend. summer has captivated me here. 

these are some photos from my sewing room.

the "merrow" machine is my serger which was a gift from my husband for christmas. i have loved having a serger!!!

in an effort to focus more on self-sufficiency and less consumerism, i have made my own ladies' products.

simple as pie to make. i used all recycled fabric (cotton t-shirts and wool sweaters) and serged the edges. 

the wedding present i made for a friend to give to a friend.
used the log cabin pattern to make place mats and a potholder (not pictured) out of mostly recycled and vintage fabrics.
all wrapped up. labels say "for the table" and "for the stove".

baby hazel came to visit us from jersey (along with mom and dad)!
selva and "doody" (as i am calling him for now) have enjoyed having company to sniff.
i collected my first harvest today! kale (that i started from seeds) went into the quiche i made for dinner this evening!

in the garden.

the garden has not been the hit i imagined in my mind at the beginning of the season but it is slowly growing.
almost everyday i go out to check its progress and have been rather surprised by some of the very obvious changes i have noticed over the past few days. tomato plants shooting up what seems a few feet over night. the pepper has doubled its size in days. the basil is growing thicker. the tomatoes are turning golden. the kale is producing more and more leaves. plants that i thought were just not going to budge are starting to change shape and produce buds. i am learning the problem is not them but my patience.

in the kitchen.

in the kitchen tonight. rediscovering my old Nikon D1 with 50mm lens.
baked a couple loaves of banana bread. added coconut flakes to the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. jeremiah and i finished a whole loaf to ourselves.
i love the new japanese lantern over our table in the kitchen. i have been wanting one for quite a while and was very excited to find one (lantern & wiring) at a yard sale for $1.
pup loves to nap. then pee on the rug. then chase chico. then nap.

around here.

luna (the cat) has been extra homebody-ish lately.
sailor, plus tj & sheena, came to visit.
one of the kids across the street drew us a rather awesome picture. it is now hanging in the living room.
i finished some placemats for a friend to give to friends for their wedding. always love these kind of projects.
of course a puppy wandered into our yard the other night. he is literally skin & bones with a swollen belly. we are looking for an extra good home for him. at the moment his name is "boxcar".

garden update: a handful of cherry tomatoes, one good-looking pepper and lots of kale!

[p.s. please excuse the crappy photos. our new camera is in the shop and we are "patiently" waiting for a replacement.]

we had friends over for dinner the other night.
it was so nice to be able to sit outside.
we had greens & beans tacos with tomatillo salsa and jalapeno-cheddar cornbread. for dessert, silje made a fantastic blackberry-peach pie.
i picked the flowers down the street from our home at the entrance to the greenway. they are still going strong on my dining table. i have loved finding flowers this year throughout the "common" places of the city. sweet peas growing uptown were my best find by far.

today we have spent time in the yard tidying up the messes we have made over the past few weeks.
i especially focused on the flower bed where all sorts of unwanted green things were popping up.
i am happy to report i have a handful of tomatoes growing. there is one pepper growing steadily and i think another one is on his way. the kale is still growing despite the heat.

i am beginning to really savor the seasons and to learn to live my life by them.
winter was good this year with its snow and cold, cold temperatures.
spring was faithful once again with its rebirth.
now summer has arrived and the harvest is growing.

today is heavy with summer.
cicadas in the trees. a thunderstorm rolling up. heat weighing you down.
there is something slightly exciting about this time of year.
i think it is the lingering feeling from childhood of school being out and the whole summer being before you.

out of order.

life has been out of order recently.
having your main source of information taken away can be a bit debilitating.
on the other hand, it can be freeing.

i want to push myself so far away from technology but i seem to find myself falling only further into its grasp.

due to my mother's generosity, we are "connected" to the rest of the world.
this is a photo i found in her picture library.