in appreciation of autumn leaves

This weekend's wind and rain brought the last of the glorious firey leaves to the ground.

As we've been walking through the neighborhood these last few weeks, I keep pondering to myself what words I can use to describe the trees at this time of year.

A phrase from a Wallace Stevens poem came to mind the other day.
We had the poem read at our wedding--"The Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour."  "...a warmth,

a light...

 a power,

the miraculous influence..."

That seemed to capture perfectly what I feel as I walk under the sheltering canopy of these luminous trees,

on the brightly colored carpet of their leaves. 

"But outside my window all day a maple has stepped from her
          leaves like a woman in love with winter, dropping the
          colored silks." 

--from Jane Hirshfield's "Three Times My Life Has Opened"

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama today...
In her words: "{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

heirloom garden, heirloom knits

With the completion of anniversary knitting last week, I'm on to sweet baby knits for several babes due to arrive by Christmas. These are the Stay-On Baby Booties from Knitting for Baby. I've heard they really do stay on...we shall put them to the test! I love knitting a pattern that has been around for generations, to feel connected to all the mothers and grandmothers and aunties who made these for there special babes years ago. Heirloom indeed!

Also heirloom--my reading of late--The Heirloom Life Gardener, by Jere and Emilee Gettle. I'm actually stealing this book from my husband (I gave it to him as a birthday gift and couldn't keep my hands off it). It's written by the founders of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and besides being beautiful and inspiring, is full of useful information about growing, preparing, and saving seed from all kinds of lovely heirloom vegetable varieties. I have to say I'm in awe of the accomplishments of these seed-saving prodigies--Jere was born a year after me, and by the time he was seventeen, had already started his seed company. And what have I done in that time? Ah well, we do the best we can with what we're given, right? I do so love stories about people who find success and make a difference by following their passions.

If you're a gardener and would like some heirloom flower seeds of your own, be sure to enter my little give-away!

 Hop on over to Small Things for more yarn along inspiration!

the wonders of seed saving, and a little give-away

It all started with a few marigold seeds I saved several autumns ago. The next spring, I tried planting them, just to see what would happen. Miraculously, they sprouted, grew, thrived, and became that summer's marigolds.

The next year, I gathered some of the dried sweet peas clinging to our fence. They, too produced fragrant flowers when planted the next year.

The year after that, I added seeds from this striking red salvia.

Again, the seeds produced beautiful plants the next spring, and more seeds to save that autumn.

Each year, as I've witnessed the magical cycle of seeds sprouting, growing into hearty plants, flowering, and producing seed again, my enthusiasm for seed saving has grown.

My experience has mostly been with saving flower seed, but this season I added pole beans...

 

 

...and some herbs--cilantro, parsley, and chives are all very easy to save. 

The sunflowers, calendula, chamomile, and lemon balm have always reseeded themselves with no help from me.

Saving seed requires just a bit of knowledge, time, and care, and the effort is so worth the reward.

Before choosing a plant from which to save seed, make sure it is open-pollinated, and not hybrid. A hybrid plant is created by crossing parents of two different varieties, and it's seed will either be sterile, or will revert to one of the parent varieties. An open-pollinated variety will produce seed that stays true to the plant you harvest from. There is much to learn about plant pollination and reproduction, and the best source I've found is Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. The Seed Savers Exchange is a wonderful resource for finding heirloom seeds, and sharing your own seed with others.

 

All the plants I've saved seed from can be harvested after allowing the seed pod to dry fully on the plant. Once you have harvested the seed, you will need to store it in a sealed container in a cool, dry place. Moisture and fluctuating temperatures will compromise the quality of your seed and it's ability to germinate next season. I have had great luck with placing the seed in small paper envelopes, then storing them in a sealed plastic Nancy's yogurt container in the fridge. I've had great germination rates with this method. 

And now for the give-away! I'd love to share the wealth of my generous little plants by giving away a small packet of french marigold and red salvia seed (both pictured above).  A gift from my garden to yours. If you think you could use them, just leave a comment below by 8pm Pacific time Sunday 11/20. I'll choose a random winner or two and post them here shortly after. Because I am not familiar enough with regulations regarding shipping seeds internationally, I will only be able to ship these seeds within the USA.

Happy seed saving!

And the give-away winner is...Ellen!

handmade holidays: a totebag, a star, and some plans

Now that we're approaching the second half of November, I'm beginning to feel the elving bug in earnest! This weekend proved fruitful for gift-making, with lots of planning and even a few completed projects.

 
I used some cotton-linen scraps, along with help from Randi's fresh-squeezed tote bag tutorial to make this sturdy little bag:

The interior is made from a pink carnation clad vintage pillow case.

It's a wonderful tutorial and I'll try to make at least one more of these totes for gift-giving. Next time I think I'll use flannel instead of batting for the lining, to cut down on seam bulkiness. And I'll make the pocket smaller. This one tends to flop open.

And this is my wonky little patchwork star ornament:

I went through my tiny fabric scraps and found all the red and green bits, made a diamond template and sewed this prototype together. But I'm most excited about what's inside this plump little star--pure, clean, fluffy, magical, local wool! I've been looking for affordable and ethically produced wool batting and found the perfect source in the Wool Gatherer Carding Mill. If you're interested in crafting with wool (or just learning about the wool industry), I recommend this article. The batting is available from A Shepherd's Dream, but if you know you'll use a lot, you can contact Wool Gatherer directly for bulk craft wool at half the price of retail. I'm planning to make some bed pillows with my giant stash of wool...if they work out I'll post about them soon!

Next on the gift-making list are a few little handmade notebooks like these ones. I'm thinking we could use old calendar pages for the covers, or nature prints like the ones in The Rhythm of Family, or some of my daughter's watercolor masterpieces. This could be a fun project to do as a family.

What about you? Have you been inspired to get creative with gift-making/giving this season?

twining trees, twining lives

We had a big anniversary and a big birthday here last weekend, so lots of warmth and celebration to revel in. A month or so ago I came upon this lovely post by Heidi with her own beautiful twining trees panel and fell in love with the design. (Original pattern here.)  I couldn't have found a more perfect anniversary gift. It's a pattern that requires full attention, which is difficult with a toddler in the house. But it was a good challenge for me--felt like a puzzle, and exercised parts of my brain that have been neglected of late.

I actually ended up making two, as the yarn I chose for the first one turned out to mask the design. The yarn I used in the second piece was in the form of several tiny bits left over from my mom's spinning days. Every time I use my mom's yarn, I feel such a connection to her. I heard an interview recently (can't remember who it was now) in which it was said that creating something by hand is one of the best gifts you can give your children. I've found that to be so true in my life. Holding an object created by my late mother's hands somehow gives a tangible heft to my memories of her. Bridges the "then" with the "now."

On the reading front, we've been drowning in books lately. Too many good ones to choose from. Simplicity Parenting finally came available for me at the library, and I definitely agree with all the positive reviews. Kathy recently wrote a post on the author's concept of "soul fever" that I really appreciated. But my favorite bedtime reading is still James Herriot (on to All things Bright and Beautiful now). My husband has been enamored with the book Teaming with Microbes  (mumbling words like actinomycetes and mycorrhizae under his breath as he reads). It truly is fascinating to learn about the incredible life and synergy and activity taking place in the soil (when that soil is not rendered lifeless with pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and tilling). And my daughter is enjoying a random library find--Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin. It does a fabulous job of capturing the personality of different instruments, and the writing itself has a musical quality to it. Lots of counting, rhyming, and tongue twisting, too ("the flute, that slender silver sliver").

I also discovered an interesting series on our public broadcasting station called Craft in America. The first episode, with a profile of woodworker Sam Maloof, was particularly inspiring. It articulates so well the value that crafts-people find in doing their craft, in creating objects of beauty to use in daily life. I believe art is valuable for art's sake, but the concept of craft--of combining beauty with usefulness--has always resonated with the pragmatist in me.

Do visit Ginny at Small Things for more reading and stitching inspiration!

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama today...
In her words: "{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."