n o d d y b o o m

happy monday + a few simple links :::

just a couple simple photos for you to start off your week.  a nutbutter + honey sandwich on sprouted bread for breakfast and coffee poured directly into the almost-empty honey jar.

and 

below that a view from (nearly) the top of temescal canyon.  the air has been so clear and the views so pretty lately.

i am in love with wrenhandmade's home.   have you seen it?  it is so tidy + organized so artistically.    

i feel like we've been working on our own home for years and years and it's certainly getting much better since we began simplifying recently, but we still have a way to go.  it's funny how, as you begin to clear clutter, you see more and more things that need to be gotten rid of or that just don't fit into the space or that need to be cared for.  it's really quite a process.  

we cleared out so much of the toys in griffin's room and suddenly he's re-discovered these beautiful, simple wooden "lego-esque" blocks we've had for years.  it's exciting.  i don't think he's so much as glanced at them in 5 years.  but now...

oh,

+ randomly,

look at this:

recipe for making bird cookies 

i'm definitely going to try this very soon!

and i'm just loving these paper mache illustrations.

what are you loving these days?

:)

:::

zuma beach :::

yep.  we're pretty much having the best weekend ever.

 

i kinda missed the boat on five-senses-friday for many fridays now, but i'm suddenly in the mood to participate now at this moment - even though it's not friday, so here goes:

 

seeing:  glossy, sparkling waters, dark - dark nights, swollen oranges and lemons weighing down the branches in the yard

hearing:  lots of strings concerts going on around here + drums and singing by the two youngsters,  that one windy night that kept me up for a while, my youngest's cough that just wants to hang around

tasting:  homemade paella + sangria with farm-stand fruit, homemade honey soda (made with local honey + natural mineral water mmmm),  school-bought pies + getting better at making my own granola 

smelling:  salty air, sweet peas growing in the front-yard-garden, freshly grated ginger for the ginger-brew we are brewing, eucalyptus sea salt in the bath

feeling:  hotter air than usual, soft sand beneath my feet, the fire-pit at night - warm on my cheeks

 

hope you're having a lovely long weekend as well.  :)

:::

i have no title for this post :::

i have a million photos to organize so naturally i started knitting a sweater instead.

:)

recipe for chai tea concentrate that i want to make:  here

and + does anyone know a good place to get ahold of a kombucha starter?  i'm going to ask the folks in this group.  they seem to know what they're doing.  i've made it before and it was delicious but then i got caught up in other things and just didn't. i think it just got easier to buy it for a while.  but it's $3.59 a bottle!!  so... now's looking like a good time to start making it again.  plus it's easy + tastes good + is good for you.  so many reasons to do it.

oh!  and this family dinners book and jamie oliver's family cookbook are now on my wish list.  i can't stop looking at cookbooks for some reason.

:::

++ oh wait, i just found exactly the kombucha store i wanted here.  unless i can get in touch with someone making organic kombucha at home that happens to have an extra "mushroom" available.  

 

recap part one :::

   

hi there!  happy new year!

:::

i hope you had a marvelous holiday and new year!

there is so much to share but it's a rather busy week getting settled back into our routines,  + i've been baking and just generally staying away from the computer!!  (i'm nervous, perhaps, about my resolution to organize my digital photos...?  gak!!)

but here's a quick photo of the bouche de noel we made for xmas dinner.  what a fun project!  the recipe was so intimidating and i had to re-do the frosting twice because i let the sugar syrup get too hot, but it was sooo worth it to watch the kids decorate the "log" with the meringue mushrooms and sprinkle powdered sugar on sprigs of rosemary and rasberries (to look like snow) and just add all their little touches that made it so magical.  and now i feel like i can cook ANYTHING!  well... almost. it was a long process, making the cake.  i mean, commitment.  and you really had to pay attention to the directions.  which was g r e a t because i had to set all other distractions aside and just focus on the cake and the experience of making the cake.  and the kids helped when they wanted and walked away when they wanted and i would just carry on making the cake.  and it was marvelous!  it cleared my mind and my soul like knitting or spinning yarn or working in the garden often does.  i can see this becoming a beautiful family tradition.  many, many thanks to my dear friend maud who encouraged me and stopped by to bring family recipes!!

:)

btw, i'm reading the happiness project (got it for xmas!) and i love it a n d i'm reading another great book:  simplicity parenting. have you seen it?  very, very inspiring.  it turns out the author is coming to speak at our school in march!  what luck! 

take care!

:::

oh virus, go away

happy sunday!  we are still fighting this clingy virus around here.  lots of elderberry syrup, colloidal silver, echinacea tea, broth, sleep, etc. going on.  everyone is on the mend but it is slow, slow going.  yuck.  the weather is crisp and gorgeous with sunny skies and puffy clouds, so we are going to enjoy the outside air, virus or no virus.

and we are going to make some more of this:

elderberry syrup (adapted from rosemary gladstar's family herbal)

1 cup dried organic elderberries (i get mine here or at our local coop in the bulk section)

3 cups water

1 cup honey (organic + local if you can find it)

place the berries in a saucepan and cover with water.  bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes.  smash the berries and then strain through a fine-mesh strainer and add the honey.

bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.  drink regularly during cold and flu season to boost your immune system.

:::

 

almost fall + random things ::: at home

aspen

blazing heat and cool drippy skies, billowing clouds, the large scoops of ice cream we get every time we visit, moths the size of small birds, hikes that make our lungs burn and our hearts glow, music in the streets, groves of aspen trees with bleached out trunks and the brightest green leaves that dance in the wind, smiling eyes and peals of laughter...

hope you are enjoying your week too.

:::

random things i sometimes do at night

 
 

 

hi there.  we are currently in aspen having a family holiday, but i thought i'd post a couple of shots from my studio, taken last week.  things i do sometimes at night:   fiddle with small scraps of fabric and mend broken dolls.

my daughter plays with blythe and taeyang dolls instead of barbie and we've learned their fragile bodies can be replaced with obitsu bodies when/if they break, which is pretty cool + fun.  

also we are sewing/quilting.  thus the fiddling with the small bits of fabric. 

hope you are well and enjoying summer.  i'll post photos of aspen soon, but our internet connection out here is random, so we'll see when that gets to happen.  in the meantime, enjoy the fresh air outside.

take care,

:::

more mt. tam luv

a little more from the journeying we did at mt. tam on our recent trip.  i keep indulging myself in glimpses of our brief time there.  so beautiful. 

:::

corners of my + studio

new labels + an unorganized mess that somehow pleases me.

have a nice day.

:::