Handmade

NaBloPoMo (bless you!), vintage rickrack, and yarn

this month, i’m joining a lot of other bloggers in national blog post month — that is, trying to blog at least once a day throughout november.  apparently, the cringe-worthy abbreviation for this event is NaBloPoMo.  this is not to be confused with NaNoWriMo, the novel-writing event.  let’s just say…i hope the folks who came up with that are better at crafting sentences than they are at inventing acronyms.

speaking of crafting, here’s a little snapshot of a current project involving yarn scraps and vintage rickrack.

crochet patchwork yarn and vintage ribbon - work in progress - boho, bohemian, hippy, hippie

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Poetry & Words

for now, i want to stay

just a little preview of an upcoming project… (remember the pendant inspiration i blogged about last month?)

pendant flags

now back to the laundry and the dishes. (why do these two things multiply so quickly? and it’s only the dirty piles that grow. the clean piles never, ever do.)  but, it’s ok. the dog is snoozing, my husband is working on an art test, and the music of josh rouse fills the house. a rather peaceful november night.

I know somewhere there is a party going down.
Interesting people; conversation to be found.
I’ve lived in cities where there is no solitude
Made some friends there that I hope I’ll never lose.
But, for now, I want to stay in this quiet town. -Josh Rouse

Poetry & Words

of cedarwood, acorns, and being 30 weeks

it smells sweetly of cedarwood inside these walls, cedarwood intermingled with the invigorating scents of eucalyptus and tea tree oil. such is the unintended result of a having discovered a few jumpy fleas on the little dog. it was doggie spa, last night, with freshly laundered dog beds and toys and blankets, and a long soapy doggie scrubdown in the tub. he’s a pile of fluffiness today, a little walking diffuser of cedarwood oil.

outside, there are various engine rumbles and engine stalls, alternating between a sputtering and a roar without any sort of pattern or rythmn. little dog reacts with a muffled cross between a bark and a sigh. the oak trees stubbornly cling to their leaves, hesitant to drop even one aged and crumbling leaf. the acorns, on the other hand, eagerly leap down, one after another, until the patio rings with their staccato descent to freedom.

the sample ballot lies open beside me.  tiny little ovals ask for my yes or no, and i get lost in the pros and cons.

inside my womb, our little girl stretches and turns and kicks. she pushes up against my hand resting across my stomach, as if to say hello.  i smile. it’s hard to believe it has already been 30 weeks.  only 10 weeks to go.

i can’t wait to meet you, little girl!!

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Poetry & Words

A Brief History of Cinco de Mayo

Does anyone find it mildly amusing that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of  the Mexican militia’s victory over the French?

Apparently the French were peeved that Mexico had stopped repaying a loan they owed France  and took it upon themselves to invade Mexico. (You know, they say Abraham Lincoln took Mexico’s side, but he didn’t exactly do anything about it — he was kind of preoccupied fighting a war of his own).

Oaxaca, Mexico, gringo toddler with spanish man playing guitar

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Poetry & Words

smashing chocolate

i needed chocolate chip cookies today.

anima causa chocolate

we didn’t have any chips, but i did have a stack of 100% dark chocolate bars in the cupboard. (don’t judge. when it comes to sweets, i am allergic to pretty much everything except the raw-vegan fruit-nut bars, so i get 100% cacao dark chocolate bars for gifts. for every holiday. from everyone.)  i reached to the bottom of the stack, counting backwards from easter…valentine’s day, birthday, christmas. yes, christmas.  that would be the oldest one.

i held the chocolate bar hard, pressing my fingers down through the foil, letting my finger tips feel the outline of the words ghirardelli on every square, letting my fingers trace the outline of the ridges between each rectangle of bitterness.

then i reached for the rolling pin.

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