The good people at Craft passed along news of this lovely sale at Chronicle Books. Get 35% off all books with free shipping to boot! Use the promo code FRIENDS at checkout from now until Dec 4th.

The bad news is that it only works for US type folks. Makes me sad, as I had a bunch of gift shopping picked out before I figured that out. So, if you live in the US and like craft books (as well as a whole range of really great gift + cookbooks), take advantage of this great deal.

Sunday | Cooking

Poor, poor neglected blog :( Shall we try this again?

For the last while, I've tried to do my shopping and cooking for the week on Sundays. When I don't have a week's worth of food prepared, the results are pretty disasterous. Lots of junk food. Lots of crap. Not good. Also very, very expensive. Eeek. So, in hopes of eating better and spending much less, a little organization. Also, I don't mind eating the same thing all week, so this shouldn't be this hard.

So, for this week...

Breakfasts: homemade chunky apple sauce (made this afternoon) and plain yogurt, topped with toasted oatmeal flakes, chopped walnuts and unsweetened coconut (toasted in a dry frying pan while the apple sauce heats in the microwave). I like this a lot.

Lunches: Black Bean Chili with orange and cumin, with a cornmeal muffin. Very unusual chili recipe courtesy of the Epicurious website, cornmeal muffin recipe from the Harrowsmith Cookbook Vol. 1 (printed in 1981). Except for the muffins which are still in the oven, everything else is finished portioned and in the fridge.

Suppers: Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew from Martha Stewart herself, I'm sure. I have several kinds of squash here from a friend's garden, so I substituted a hard squash instead of the sweet potato. This was also made this afternoon, portioned and in the fridge.

Betweens: raw carrots + green beans with hummus in the morning, pear in the afternoon.

I think I'll be eating very well this week, for a third of the cost of last week. Yay!

"I wander if any of the painters rave on about their gear or debate about which paint or brush is better, as photographers often do?"

-Mitchell Kanashkevich, as an aside on a post about chiaroscuro.

Rhubarb Love

So, I didn't think I liked rhubarb. I certainly don't like the texture of most cooked rhubarb. Turns out though that I like pretty much anything baked with brown sugar. This is a recipe from Canadian Living's web site. Made a couple modifications... used an egg substitute for baking instead of an egg (1 tsp. baking powder + 1 tbsp. vinegar + 1 tbsp. water), and left out the butter in the topping and added about 2/3 C. walnuts. Baked in mini-loaf pans. Made 8. Oh, they're really good.

It was so hard to leave this morning. Just feet from the registration desk, I turned and walked away. A local antique mall is shutting its doors, and today two auctioneers are going head-to-head, ushering out goods from a well-filled building.

And I managed to walk away.

Like so many bloggers I follow, I have a love for beauty. And beauty, being infinately varied in expression, can reveal itself in myriad ways. A particular shade of colour. The graceful way a pitcher handle curves before touching the vessel's bowl. Perhaps the way flaked paint, gentle brown foxing or worn patches reveal the complexity of story in a seemingly simple object.

Auctions are dangerous for me. I have always been the protective sort, lover of the underdog, and able to see a beautiful story others quicky dismiss. And as the hours while away, and the crowds at a big auction disperse, I inevitable feel the need to bid on the misunderstood, homely/beautiful items left languishing. I want to gather them all and bring them home. But I am moving in a different direction in life, and am trying as much as possible to lighten my footprint, and give away or sell things I do not need.



*this has been hiding out in draft form since Nov 2006. Funny how I'm still trying to lighten my footprint.

This Is Where We Live

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

Super cool little stop-animation piece. Via Loobylu.

Illustrated

How cool is this... Glaucia made a drawing of one of my bags.

Strap Make-over

This was the perfect Boxing Day project. Something simple in my exhausted state + something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

I've been looking at several blog posts and etsy listings with camera strap covers. I loved the idea, but didn't want the extra bulk. I know that some people want professional-looking, logo-bearing straps... but I'm not one of those people. I wanted something beautiful, but not too showy. When I saw this ribbon last week, I bought a yard knowing I'd use it soon (probably for a messenger bag). But as soon as I got it home, I realized that it was the exact width of my camera strap. Bingo.

Folded the cut ends in, stitched down in a dark grey thread. That's it. My machine didn't exactly love sewing through the thick strap, but did a fine job. Five minutes, start to finish. Yay!!

Courageous Sucking

"...Nobody likes feeling like a noob, especially when you’re getting constant pressure on all sides to never stick out in an unflattering way. And, in this godforsaken just-add-Wikipedia era of make-believe insight and instant expertise, it’s natural to start believing you must never suck at anything or admit to knowing less than everything — even when you’re just starting out. Clarinets should never squawk, sketch lines should never be visible, and dictionaries are just big, dumb books of words for cheaters and fancy people. Right?
I think finding your own comfort with the process (whatever that process ends up being) might just be the whole game here — being willing to put in your time, learn the craft, and never lose the courageousness to be caught in the middle of making something you care about, even when it might be shit and you might look like an idiot fumbling to make it. What’s the worst thing that could happen?..."

-from Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous Sucking. Fabulous article, applies equally to knitting, sewing... whatever.

Advent :: Reverse Advent Calendar

Reverse Advent Calendar
Originally uploaded by wilsonian

This morning I put together this year's Advent Calendar. It's a reverse calendar actually. Instead of getting a treat each day, I get to give one.

I've been wanting to participate in the Hope Revolution for ages, and this seemed like a great chance to do that.

Started with mini-cards from Moo I'd had printed using some of my photos (because I am totally vein, and thought my pictures would look cute on little cards... and I was totally right, but am now fighting the urge to hoard their cuteness). I glued heavy paper to the back of each card (to conceal my contact info printed on the back), cut out when dry, and wrote a different message on the back of each card. They say things like "You are loved", "You are beautiful", "You are not alone", etc. Each night I'll walk through my neighbourhood/city and leave a message to be found. (If anyone local sees this post... you're hereby sworn to secrecy!)