Amen, sister!
November 14, 2011 § 2 Comments
That’s what my roommate said when I read her this excerpt from farmer/writer Jenna Woginrich’s blog, Cold Antler Farm:
The morning started with a two-hour interview with a journalist from New York City. She was writing a book on the resurgence of domestic arts and DIY culture across America and the role of homemakers. We had a good talk, and I showed her around the farm. By the time she was packed up and waving out the driveway, I realized I had never thought about many of her questions before she asked them. She wanted to know about my thoughts on feminism and homesteading, about the role of women, about trend in suburban moms getting chickens and herb gardens. Some of the answers surprised me, and I realized how much of a traditionalist I am at heart. I might be a woman with her own empire, but at the end of the day I just want to be taken care of, and take care of things. I want this because I feel like it’s my biological right as a member of my sex, and because it makes me happy. I don’t think wanting to be a wife or mother makes me any less a feminist than wanting to be a welder or an Air force Pilot. Nor do I dare say my desires should be anyone else’s. But when it all comes down to it: I’m a simple gal. If I ever find the right man I’ll happily get hitched, take his last name, and stay home to take care of the kids and dinner. I got the 14th amendment and a mortgage with my name on it. I’m all set.
I think I smiled and repeated that Amen. You can read the rest of the post here.
Here’s a somewhat related magazine publication: Darling Magazine
And here’s a hardly related, but totally darling song: Amen by Eden's Edge
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play with two dogs, make a loaf of pumpkin bread, feed and water 34 horses, buy some paint, and craft a display to go over the fireplace.
Creative spaces, a pale blue pumpkin, & a giveaway!
November 13, 2011 § 4 Comments
Have you heard of the publication Where Women Create? It’s an entire magazine devoted to exploring the work spaces that women shape around their creative endeavors. Being a woman keenly aware of and influenced by her surroundings, I have found this publication to be at once surprising, unique, and inspiring.
I have yet to attain the dream home with its well-lit studio room or renovated loafing shed. And I rather wish I could be leasing a 100-year-old house or a flat in an old brick building where I might claim unique spots near windows with detailed trim. But I’m currently making the best of yet another cookie-cutter apartment. It’s not perfect, gorgeous, or quaint, but a girl does what she can. Lately I’ve been finding my creative spot on a quilt my sister gave me for Christmas, nestled with cushions in front of the fireplace. Add a cup of coffee and a handful of writing ideas, and I am set.
This is where I create.
Tucked in corners around where I create, I still have pumpkins! My favorite has been one I just had to take home from work, because it’s a very pale baby blue. See?
But, as you might also notice, the pumpkin was starting to get soft and brown near the stem today. This means Cook Me Now. So I cut into my blue pumpkin and set it on a baking sheet. Do you know what I found inside? Lots and lots of seeds. The seed cavity was huge, although there is still a good bit of flesh to eat. And no, the flesh is not blue (that would be weird, right?) but typical pumpkin orange. I can smell it baking right now. And I am feeling generous.
So here’s my giveaway offer this month, which is perhaps more of a trade: I’m curious to know about your creative spaces – even if they are just dreaming-of-creating spaces right now. Men and women are welcome to answer, by the way! So snap a shot or two, and send it to me at birchbark (dot) erica (at) gmail (dot) com. In exchange for your pictures, some of which I will post with credits on this blog, I’ll send you a packet of seeds from my pumpkin . . . until all the seeds are gone. (Be sure to provide me with your mailing address.) The sooner you submit, the more likely you are to have blue pumpkins growing in your garden next year! I’m looking forward to seeing your studios, workshops, wood tables, living rooms, attics, backyards, garages, barns, and wherever else you make things beautiful, make things messy, and make things up.
Wind and waves
November 12, 2011 § Leave a comment
The forecast called for 75 MPH winds. In town the morning seemed mild enough, but when T. and I ventured out to our pond-sized lake, we found it acting like an ocean.
And this book is just stunning
November 11, 2011 § 1 Comment
La Tartine Gourmande is one of my favorite food blogs. Author and food stylist Béa tells stories of her life in the U.S., her childhood in France, her friends and family – all framed around creative recipes and beautiful photographs. Because she eats gluten-free, her recipes are, too . . . yet the focus is less on being gluten-free and more towards being gorgeous and delicious.
And she just completed a book! While it’s not officially released, it is available for pre-order here.
I would page through it just for the prettiness.
Half the reason I want this book is because it has a chicken on the cover
November 11, 2011 § Leave a comment
Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
For those of us inclined to make most things from scratch, this seems a likely and lively tutorial. AND it turns out the author also has a blog. I should have known; doesn’t everyone these days? Check out The Tipsy Baker for stories, recipes, and more about her recently released cookbook.
A November poem
November 9, 2011 § Leave a comment
Here’s one I wrote a couple years ago, back home in Iowa.
early november
the corn tilts
in the garden.
the dog bites at
empty shucks,
pulls them toward
her until a light
crack breaks the stalk.
I glance over from
where I am digging
the last of the carrots,
the soil wet as clay,
the snappy orange and
purple roots still smelling
fresh as spring.
.
she tosses her head,
tears open those crisp
tawny husks to find
a crumbling white
core. noses and huffs
at the chaff. only
leftover failures.
all the sweet corn
has been savored.
all the colored popcorn
lines the windowsills.
.
and certainly, this is not
the fat golden field corn
that she and our other
dogs steal from
the neighbors, to sit
down with the bright
yellow between their
paws, to chew off each
dry, dented kernel with
a hunter’s satisfaction.
Walking that November shore
November 8, 2011 § 2 Comments
Who could not go outside on a day like today? Despite those two heavy snows, fall is stretching itself out. This a day of blue sky, a wind just cool enough for a scarf and sweater, and the earth in textures of all kinds, in shades of brown and gold. But still I didn’t go outside right away, found other things to do, and soon had two dogs tousling around on the floor, interrupting their play to coming over to me with whines and eager eyes, begging me to be sensible. How many more days will we have like this? And even if the answer is a million, why waste them, anyhow? I set down the computer, picked up the leashes, and off we drove to the lake.
Maple is my roommate’s new puppy, a German Shepherd mix with floppy ears and soft puppy fur. She has disrupted my 4-year-old golden retriever’s calm existence, but I am so glad to see T. playing, and I am quite sure that she loves it.
T. is always, always happy to be at the lake. Maple is curious about this strange new place, but tentative, and she would start to whine whenever T. would get too far from her. She kept standing between my feet to look around – a safer place to see the world from, seemingly. Now and then she’d scramble to be picked up. And then she started to venture out and come back. So many smells! Sticks and grasses to chew, mud to tromp through, water to feel on the paws. And eventually she threw herself into play, in spurts of running and stopping, until she got so tired I had to carry her part of the way back.
I had an eye on the dogs but kept getting distracted by the scenery. The mid-day light. The last leaves clinging to trees and shrubs, fallen on grasses and pathways and water.
Sleepy dogs mean well-exercised dogs, this afternoon, and a productive time for me. I’ve got writing and recipes on my mind. Things to tend to now that I took the time to look around, to see the world and record just a moment of it, to value what is here as well as what I might put into my own future.
Kinds of Honey 