embroidered beginnings

tea hee!

wednesday wind down

dan called me from tashi's school to let me know they were going to stick around for a talent show, an unexpected evening of solitude for me.

so i puttered around.

i am falling more and more in love with our yard. it is so lush and green and full of tall trees.



it has a fire ring.



and with each little addition of plant and whimsy, it becomes more and more our own.



this is what i did after work.




and then i had some dinner.



i buy this organic greens mix from the farmer's market on saturdays and it is just awesome. here i've added some red onions, toasted pine nuts and goat cheese.



even luna likes greens (she likes popcorn too)



months ago i found this embroidery kit for 40% off. i've never embroidered.



but i think now i'll give it a try.




happy evening!

hotel california roll

it's a lunchblog update. today's lunch:



dan and i went to sakura. mmmmmm. we had miso soup too.

end of holiday

we scored a pair of speakers from freecycle. our last set of speakers blew and so we've been using computer speakers to listen to all of our music. these speakers work well and make a nice support for plants!



and tashi added some nice props to her tent. prayer flags, some fire in the hearth, carpet and jugs.





now we're ready for the week ahead.

beautiful bargains

this is not meant to be an ad for bed bath and beyond, but i am so stunned by a bargain that i must brag.

i stopped in there today before going to the grocery store. the wamsutta 100% cotton sheets were on sale for $31.99, that's 30% off of $49.99. i decided to pick a set up. at first i was going to get a sage green color but for some strange reason changed my mind and grabbed yellow.

at the cash register my sheets rang up at $1.99, and then 30% off of that, about $1.40.

a brand new 100% cotton king sized sheet set with two pillow cases for $1.40?

the manager confirmed that was indeed the correct price.

i ran back and grabbed my original choice of sage green and also white, but they rang up at $31.99 each. "just yellow," the cashier said. so i ran back and grabbed the last two yellow sets.

that makes three brand new cotton sheet sets for less than $5 (instead of $150).

i'll sleep on yellow for the rest of my life at that price!



maybe the same crazy bargain can be found in your town too?

nomad tent

(picture by Raul Gutierrez. check out his really excellent photo site)

i think we succeeded in building a slightly convincing black yak hair tibetan nomad tent!



burlap was used instead of actual yak wool. traditionally the tents are made with yak hair that has been woven by the women.



yak bones are sometimes used to secure the tent and/or bind it.



there is a central ridge pole, and flaps for doors. the hearth is the heart of the tent. women claim one side of the tent, and men, the other. meat is handled on the men's side only.



there is a smoke hole on the top. this hole also a window to the sky. it is said that some tibetan nomads fear a solid roof because it blocks the view of the sky.



the tent is usually comprised of two huge pieces of yak fiber, bound together in the center.



our little tent was created through improvisation. i was happy that we were able to pull off of the rectangular aspect by folding the corners in. tashi will make some adornments, including a miniature set of prayer flags.



tashi delek! please come in for some yak butter tea warmed on the hearth.

so saturday

it is a steamy saturday in charlottesville. my nasturtiums are blooming.



tashi asked that i put her hair in a bun.



a friend gave her some cool shades. here she is on the downtown mall.
it was a farmer's market morning, followed by a fairly unsuccessful salvation army stop.

for the rest of the day we must help tashi build a mini yak wool nomad tent. each member of her class has to build a shelter and the nomad tent was her choice.



i think we're all feeling a little nervous about it.

in praise of fridays

today was one of those hot humid days that is a merely a hint of the summer intensity to come. it was one of those days shrouded by a kind of heat fog, followed by a night of wide open windows. there is a part of me that loves this sort of tropical weather, though a seashore within walking distance would be helpful.

charlottesville's downtown mall on a hot friday evening always reminds me of what i love about this town. while i'm not a big fan of crowds, there is something comforting in a sea of humanity on one's own main street. the heart of the city is alive and well with a strong pulsating beat.

we ate burritos. we went to fridays after five. i was blown away by the hat tashi's third grade friend made.



we lay in the grass and looked at the rising moon.



we marveled at how sometimes, in very rare and fleeting moments, the ostentatious pavilion tent blends with the sky.



then we watched the nameless band dan is in busk on the mall.



anyone can play music on the downtown mall, no permit necessary. there is the harmonica player with dreadlocks down to his knees, the young violin players in black, the occasional bluegrass trio, the percussionists pounding plastic pickle tubs and exotic african drums, the folkies, the punks, the classic rockers. and tonight there was a surf a band.

bird bomb

hats off to handmade nation

my friend britt sent me this link a long time ago. i'm a little behind. thanks britt!

1967

i was born in the summer of love.

tasty days

i've been getting lots of thank you presents at work, all chocolate. this summer may be a bad one for the bathing suit.

there is so much to do. the black hole that is our coffee table is threatening to swallow my family. i think i will go banish it.

we have wireless

that means i can lounge around upstairs on the bed while checking my email. what a luxury. luna agrees.

we also got rid of our land line telephone. so if you're a friend, email me for my cell phone number! i feel a little uneasy about this, given the recent talk about cell phones and bees, and given that the verdict is still out on cell phones and brain cancer. but we've been wanting to say goodbye to embarque, the local phone company, for some time now. they stink!

so i guess this is a little experiment. i rarely talk on the phone anyway. i'm too busy blogging!

i video that i'm in (& tashi too)!

this is music video of a song called "fuck it" from a film by justin brewer called "death". justin is an old pal from ann arbor who asked me to make a motherly cameo in the film, summer of 2005. the piece is a wee bit raunchy, but in a fun, rather hilarious, sort of way. and the music is pure genious! my appearance is near the end. i'm the one with the stroller. tashi is in it too, but she won't get to watch until, oh, after she graduates from college!

you can view some of justin's films, including other bits of "death" as well as a very silly series of shorts about "mike and dave" here!

shelters

today i was one of the volunteer drivers for a school field trip. one of the learning blocks in the waldorf third grade focuses on shelters: their history and construction across cultures. we visited an intentional community called shannon farms where the children viewed a variety of homes.

there was the geodesic dome,




the straw bale house,




the solar house,





the teepee,



the wigwam,



and the salamander.



oh, well, anyway.

personally, i'm a straw bale kind of gal. i love the exposed beams, the thick walls, the curves and cracks. i love the warmth and the earthiness.




someday, perhaps, we will get off the grid, grow our own everything, and live in a an earth friendly home built with our own hands. it's a nice fantasy anyway.