This spring is so different from any that I’ve known for the past 20-plus years.

I haven’t been working in the garden at all, save for one day in March, when it was technically winter but felt like summer. I’m glad that I have a good many perennials, be it herbs or [...]]]>  

This spring is so different from any that I’ve known for the past 20-plus years.

I haven’t been working in the garden at all, save for one day in March, when it was technically winter but felt like summer. I’m glad that I have a good many perennials, be it herbs or flowers or asparagus and rhubarb, to provide sustenance and beauty during this downtime. My tomato plugs arrive late next week. I have ordered many of the varieties from last year, as well as a few new-to-me heirlooms. Otherwise, I haven’t planted a thing and it sort of haunts me. I shall be sure to toss some seeds in the soil while establishing the tomato plants.

I haven’t completed (or started) too many projects around here. I made a beach tote. I like it better for linens.

The shawl is coming along slowly. I’m at over 60 motifs and I’m thinking that I might need 150 or so. I try not to think about that and just focus on one stitch at a time, as I did with the rainbow granny stripe afghan that I finished last spring. I finally took a somewhat proper photo of it, and I also snapped it with a granny stripe pillow that I fashioned this winter.

I hope to be back on track with gardening and basket weaving and crocheting and cooking and other household projects soon. There won’t be a lot of quantity with regards to activity, so I will be, as always, focusing on the quality.

My friend, Jen, made these antler baskets, although they were snapped at my house on a very cloudy day. These are just a smidgen of what she has weaved.

I’m not doing so great on the health front, with even more pain and less energy than usual. It’s been digressing this way [...]]]>

My friend, Jen, made these antler baskets, although they were snapped at my house on a very cloudy day. These are just a smidgen of what she has weaved.

I’m not doing so great on the health front, with even more pain and less energy than usual. It’s been digressing this way for about eight months. I still plug away at my part, taking care of what things that I can, and that always includes balance. So, I do a little less of almost everything, a lot less of some things, and let unnecessary parts go completely.

In the past, life has always come back around and caught me for a bit. Granted, I have never fully gotten back any health that I’ve lost. Still I trust that my body will allow me some freedom and energy in the future, maybe tomorrow, to swing back into capturing what still exists, even grows, and preserving it here.

Each Saturday morning, I’ve been going to the Sauk-Prairie Historical Society and working with fellow archivists to scan and analyze local glass negatives from the early 20th century.

I feel like the person in the movies who sits in a dimly-lit library at night, only it’s morning, paging through thick volumes of [...]]]>

Each Saturday morning, I’ve been going to the Sauk-Prairie Historical Society and working with fellow archivists to scan and analyze local glass negatives from the early 20th century.

I feel like the person in the movies who sits in a dimly-lit library at night, only it’s morning, paging through thick volumes of material and looking for that obscure clue. I’m Lisbeth Salandar tap-tapping into online databases. Last week, I signed an email “Sherlock Holmes”. Next time, maybe, Encyclopedia Brown or Inspector Clouseau.

I was sharing with my daughter some of the subject matter. In the very first image, there was a man crouching in the bushes with a child while his wife posed in the foreground with a bicycle. Yesterday, in what looks like a graduating class of six young women, way over on the edge, there is a man peeking from behind the skirt of a girl. Silas joked that this must have been the photo meme of that generation, the 1910′s version of planking. Glass negative bombing, if you will.

When I get home in the early afternoon, I sit down with a stack of books at my desk and my favorite online databases open on the computer, and I take out the notes from that day’s scans. I generally find a few hits and I get sidetracked by a lot of misses. By Sunday, my desk is covered in papers, they are my tracks in the snow. Arrows. Lists of names and places. Initials instead of whatever RMV means.

Next month, I hope to share the project on PortalWisconsin’s blog, where I am a new contributor. Jody Kapp wrote a nice introduction to the glass slide project HERE.

[The daguerreotype above was found behind another photo when I bought a vintage frame several years ago. More here.]

Spring has been buzzing in at a dizzying pace. Suddenly, almost everything is coming up or coming out. I made peace with summer last year, but I really didn’t think that it would attack the last few weeks of winter. Basically, it has been hot all over so I won’t lay out [...]]]>

Spring has been buzzing in at a dizzying pace. Suddenly, almost everything is coming up or coming out. I made peace with summer last year, but I really didn’t think that it would attack the last few weeks of winter. Basically, it has been hot all over so I won’t lay out the record-breaking way that things are specifically here, except this:

In recorded history, Wisconsin has never had an April without frost. Heck, the average low temperature is below 32 degrees this time of year. That said, the apple trees are budding. If it freezes, it’s going to significantly impact this year’s apple harvest and, even more sadly, the apple farmers.

The green and quickly-becoming-lush yard makes it tempting to get an early start on planting, but I am holding myself back and remembering my priorities, like spring cleaning and garden planning and seed starting and yard tidying. We did a lot of the latter on Friday, when my husband was off of work. Things that were safe to move, like ferns and ugly bushes, did a little switch-a-roo to make a twiggy hangout by the bird feeders on the north side. Some trellises have been pulled and will be relocated to allow for crop rotation.

Some of my spring activities include starting these two groups on Flickr…

• Crafting in Community — I got a bee in my bonnet to start a community crafting photo group on Flickr. Indeed, I am an introvert by nature. Yet, in a classroom environment or with the company of a good friend, I feel something blossoming while learning and teaching and just working together.
• Craft Wisconsin — After that, I felt I had another row to hoe, so I looked for some kind of Flickr group about crafting in Wisconsin. If it’s there, I didn’t find it. I’m not sure about how to find people to invite to these groups, so I guess that I’ll start by inviting the few that I know and hope that others discover (and are interested in!) these groups.

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I’m a happy girl, dabbling a little in everything lately and finding such a nice balance. There is a lot of rest in that mix too, but I’m learning that as long as I do something enjoyable during my downtime and keep from making any additional messes, I come out of it [...]]]>

I’m a happy girl, dabbling a little in everything lately and finding such a nice balance. There is a lot of rest in that mix too, but I’m learning that as long as I do something enjoyable during my downtime and keep from making any additional messes, I come out of it just fine on the other side.

During my quiet moments this week, I’ll be inching toward getting my grandma’s sewing machine CONQUERED. It’s a Japanese Fleetwood and it is called a “Light Weight De Luxe”, but weighs in at 40-ish pounds. It is probably from the late 50s or early 60s. I am fortunate to have the original owner’s manual. However, the Fleetwood company itself long ago disintegrated and there is little information available on these machines otherwise, save for the models that used a Singer patent in the 40s. It is my understanding that the Fleetwoods were generally superior to those Singers, for reasons which are unknown to me. That said, I don’t know that this machine is a Singer patent.

It deserves a photo shoot of its own.

[If you've arrived here looking for a Fleetwood manual, send an email or leave a comment, so that we can talk about scanning the pages that you need.]

Some things going on or about to happen: putting in a few mini hoop houses, making a good garden draft, starting seeds in my studio under a temporary light set-up, learning to scan glass negatives at the local historical society, more weaving, obsessing over fabrics, and reorganizing all of my craft supplies in the furthest room from my studio because it just has to be that way for now (yet still glad to reorganize it all).

• Ham and Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits — I haven’t tried these yet, but I just can’t imagine them being bad.
• Over 80 Things You Can Compost — It seems like we already produce a lot of  compost. I’m always up for more, and so is my garden.
• My Friend Maia — This is a lovely video on Vimeo.
• Kinfolk Dinner — I enjoyed this simple and beautiful short film of a dinner gathering.

Type I Diabetes. Lupus. Sjögren’s Syndrome. Hypothyroidism. Arthritis. I can’t work. I don’t receive disability. I will probably always be dependent upon others.

There they are roaming around now, let out of their cages, leaving muddy footprints everywhere and chewing on my plants.

Sometimes, life seems easier when I keep these truths [...]]]>

Type I Diabetes. Lupus. Sjögren’s Syndrome. Hypothyroidism. Arthritis. I can’t work. I don’t receive disability. I will probably always be dependent upon others.

There they are roaming around now, let out of their cages, leaving muddy footprints everywhere and chewing on my plants.

Sometimes, life seems easier when I keep these truths hidden because of the responses that they evoke. I understand questions and concern, even if it sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know how to deal with sympathy, yet I get that it has good intention. There are other responses too, some of them really ignorant, but I don’t give that any energy at all. The most wonderful thing lately has been the friendships that I am developing where, honestly, my health is so effortlessly not an issue. This is empowering and it carries over into other parts of my life.

Without getting too wordy, because when you spend months and years thinking about things, you just want to keep it simple, I believe that I’m at a point where I can begin to accommodate a little less for these beasts, let them be themselves.

The mess that they leave? That’s not me. It’s them. It is the disease. Can you see me looking out of the window and waving? I’m still here.

[Edited to add: I want to emphasize that I’m doing great emotionally. I feel like there’s been a bit of a transcendence in my life, and that is what I’m trying to convey, clumsy as it may be. xo)

I started a class yesterday. I’m trying to take lots of photos so that I can share the whole story when I am done, but I get so caught up in working (playing?) that I forget more often than not. I guess that I’ll just have to weave another basket or two. [...]]]>

I started a class yesterday. I’m trying to take lots of photos so that I can share the whole story when I am done, but I get so caught up in working (playing?) that I forget more often than not. I guess that I’ll just have to weave another basket or two. Oh, boo hoo, me!

• Evolution of an antler basket
• Meg’s Pinterest — She is a local girl with a great blog too.
• Coffee Bacon Sandwiches

It’s a snow day here and, oh boy, I sure did need this. I made a grocery list and my husband ran the errands. I’m balling some yarn now (Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wool) because I have daydreams about some unknown spring shawl that I’m going to crochet. Today, I want something super [...]]]>

It’s a snow day here and, oh boy, I sure did need this. I made a grocery list and my husband ran the errands. I’m balling some yarn now (Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wool) because I have daydreams about some unknown spring shawl that I’m going to crochet. Today, I want something super comforting for dinner, so I’m making the meatballs and pasta sauce from Jamie’s Food Revolution. I don’t know why, even though I don’t eat much meat, but I go back to those meatballs time and again. Most of them go in my mouth without sauce (or pasta; I don’t eat much pasta).

I need to do a little baking tonight so that I have something to take along to a class tomorrow. And then, I’m just going to cozy in for the evening with a little crochet.

I am a bit buried in unfinished projects, mentally-drafted essays, garden lists, boxes of goods for charity, overflowing kitchen counters, and piles of laundry. This is why I post peaceful photos in my journal. *deep breath* I just noticed that half of the stuff is mental and the other half physical. Interesting.

On Thursday, I went on a little tour with my daughter, visiting a few state parks and the rural neighborhood where I grew up. The house that my family lived in is on the market again. As a child, there was an attached 175 acres. Now, the house sits on a 0.92-acre [...]]]>

On Thursday, I went on a little tour with my daughter, visiting a few state parks and the rural neighborhood where I grew up. The house that my family lived in is on the market again. As a child, there was an attached 175 acres. Now, the house sits on a 0.92-acre plot. How sad.

Still, I tromped about at the creek and found that I’m still creeped out by the little building that sits near the bridge.

• Hawaiian Flowers — I’m a little taken with this crochet pattern. I have not tried it yet, but I would definitely like to in the future. So much good stuff to crochet, but only so much time… and moola to buy yarn.
• Ojo de dios — Translated as “God’s Eye”, I find this simple yet lovely wall hanging to be perfect. For my space, I can’t hang a lot on the walls or it looks cluttered, and not in the good cluttered way, but in the “Is your house on drugs or just white trash?” way. So, when I get a bit more renovation work done, I may revisit this idea and make one for myself. (Edited to add: I am taking an antler basket weaving class next month, and I just realized that this is probably the basic weave for that ribbed style. Win, win.)
• Lasagna Bolognese — I don’t know why I do this to myself… create these linkage posts when I’m hungry. So, I’m not talking about this recipe and how although I’m not a big lasagna fan, I’ve been thinking about this version for nearly a week.
• A Whiter Shade of Pale — I don’t have anything to say because this palette leaves me speechless.
• What Size Am I? — I haven’t tested out the interactive formula by shopping from any of the suggested stores (for my measurements), but this is still fun, regardless of whether it lends to my clothes shopping experience. (It probably won’t.) The calculator is HERE.

Through my blog reader, most especially, I have noticed the discernible lack of winter throughout the US this year. I don’t know about other countries and continents, although curious, and whether they too experienced the winter of less-than. It has never been a secret that the coldest season is my favorite and [...]]]>

Through my blog reader, most especially, I have noticed the discernible lack of winter throughout the US this year. I don’t know about other countries and continents, although curious, and whether they too experienced the winter of less-than. It has never been a secret that the coldest season is my favorite and I rarely pick a favorite of anything. I’m too much of the mind that variety is the spice of life and I’ve spent my life trying not to ever have to select just one. That said, winter trumps the heck out of nearly everything else for me.

So, this lack of that we’ve experienced in most of the states has been rather confusing, for plant and beast alike. I mean, of all things, I find myself ready for spring. That completely shocks me. Of course, last year I was determined to find a place in my heart for summer, and I did. I am finding a balance in the seasons again, not that I don’t wish we’d had a proper winter. It’s certainly not too late, by any means.

One of my favorite variables in gardening is the structure of the cold-season garden. You can’t completely plan that. Solid structures can be counted upon to some degree, as well as trees and other plants with some heft or strong stems. The birds and bunnies might peck and pat. After that, the biggest influence upon the architecture is the weather itself. So far this season, I have been unimpressed with the display until I realized that it is nearly March and not only does the Red Russian kale grow, but the Five Color Silverbeet Swiss chard too.

I am so used to a gray scale winter garden that this shock of color nearly threw me off of my gait and onto the wet, muddy path. This isn’t the winter of my Scandinavian-heart dreams, but, oh, I will certainly take it.

Last week, during an outing with a friend and my daughter, we stopped by a favorite toy store. While there I spotted a sheet of mini puffy monkey stickers, and my husband just happens to love monkeys.

When I got home, I began putting them on his things, but in obscure places.

Whew. I got back on my horse with the picture project, A Month of Craft Photos. I’m almost caught up again. It is weird how day eight with the word prompt “challenging” proved, indeed, to be quite a challenge. Just a few more snaps… tomorrow.

It has been snowing and it’s so [...]]]>

Whew. I got back on my horse with the picture project, A Month of Craft Photos. I’m almost caught up again. It is weird how day eight with the word prompt “challenging” proved, indeed, to be quite a challenge. Just a few more snaps… tomorrow.

It has been snowing and it’s so lovely outside. The sky and the ground have been the same color most of the day. Additionally, and sweetest, I have not a place in the world to go except for my favorite chair with its just-right foot stool. My husband is out of town for the week, and when that happens, on this first night I make a super-quick supper for myself so that I can crochet and watch something fluffy on television, with little action and no loud sounds.

I don’t think that I have written in my hardcover journal in almost a month. I certainly haven’t been working out my thoughts on home, food, craft, or life here. That said, mentally, I’ve been journaling harder than ever. Or, I guess that would be more accurately stated as planning, working out [...]]]>

I don’t think that I have written in my hardcover journal in almost a month. I certainly haven’t been working out my thoughts on home, food, craft, or life here. That said, mentally, I’ve been journaling harder than ever. Or, I guess that would be more accurately stated as planning, working out the details, making mental notes. Also, buying new markers for garden plotting because … just because.

I am in the process of getting one of my grandmums into a senior nursing facility. She is there now, but a quarantine due to virus/flu has kept the place on lock down and I’ve not seen her since she left home, which has been more than two weeks. I stopped by her place today and started to pull things together.

I feel like a lot of this leaves me with few words these days, at least for now. Oh, how typically February!

Here are the things that I don’t want to forget about right now…

• Paper Dolls — Breaking Bad. Arrested Development. Parks and Rec. There’s more.
• Egg in Avocado — I love eggs and I love avocados, but I’m a little scared of cooking avocados. I don’t know why. Maybe I am afraid that the flesh will be mushy. Still, I’m intrigued.
• Top 10 Maggie Moments — This little video is helping me get through until season three of Downton Abbey. In September. Oh, and last week’s SNL bit, “Spike TV Downton Abbey”, it was so funny. I don’t yet have a link.
• Random Tutorial Generator — This is kind of a fun way to come upon tutorials. It feels a bit like Roulette, but with less losing!