free form friday: in which i welcome the fall

aaaautumn. it is whispering its way through the forest and into our home.



i feel it slipping through unsealed windows. i see it in the leaves beginning to change. i feel it like a cold hand, a warm shawl, murmurs from the grave, alchemical shifts in the fire.



it is a time of harvest stew, mugs of hearty drink and fresh baked delights.



my late august birthday is a personal shift in season. our wedding anniversary falls around equinox. it is time to face the years' renewal and to remind oneself of commitments.



there are so many things i love about autumn. it is sensory in such a different way than other seasons. spring is aural, summer is flesh. but autumn is wrapped up in the threads of memory, the urge to follow one's quest, the necessity of survival. it heightens the urge to work with yarn & fabric, pen & papyrus, a large pile of unread texts. and so i toast a steaming mug to autumn, pull my hat over my ears and hold my babies close. because the lasting warmth is that which we find in each other.

thing thursday: thrift

aside from a couple of great baby garments, my thrifting adventures brought in these odd items.

a stack of melamine plates. great for camping, me thinks.



i've been wanting a vinyl table cloth to use on occasion on our outdoor table or when we're having a rainy camping weekend (like last time). but i was hoping to find a unique one, or at least one that has a vintage quality. when i came across this i thought it pretty much fit the bill. and who could resist a table cover with a design of sewing notions! not me i guess. . .



but the plates and the table cloth together? i don't think so!

self portrait: tuesday

it was almost 10am and i hadn't eaten a thing yet. there were two peaches beginning to round the bend toward inedibility. chai was calling. so what could be better for breakfast than a slice (or two) of ginger peach cake with my chai? tristan snuggled in the sling comfortably while i put it all together. he was asleep when it was time to slide the cake into the oven. when a warm slice was on a plate next to my full mug of chai, he was awake. i had to apologize several times to him as i consumed cake and he scrutinized it with extreme interest.

lately, when tristan is having a peaceful moment of snuggles, he sucks his thumb, and presses his opposite hand to the back of his head. such sweet tiny fleeting gestures of babyhood.

homemade monday: the five month mobile

i thought i would make this baby mobile for tristan in my last weeks of pregnancy. but then he arrived five weeks early. so instead of making a mobile in five weeks, i made it in five months.



it's not that it was particularly difficult or even time consuming. though sewing cloth yo-yo's does take some focus. at least for me it does.



i would sometimes sew five in a day. and then not touch it for five days. i would sometimes sew three in a day. and then not touch it for three weeks. i would sometimes sew just one. and then not touch it for a month. so at that pace, you can imagine why it took me as long as it did to sew 48 yo-yo's.



but on saturday i finished the final yo-yo. and on sunday morning i assembled the whole thing.



though not captured on camera, tristan has gazed at it with unprecedented pleasure. and tashi seems to think it's pretty cool too. there is nothing more rewarding.



the project is in the book, sweet booties. now to move onto the next thing. will it be the soft rattle? or the soft blocks? or the quilted bib? or. . .

suitcase poem XXI

trying to push off resisting object. smothered by mumblings. calculations that are unequal to heart's pace. swatting at constant. opening clenched palm and watching several crescent moons fade. one glowing embrace pads brittle day. sitting moments force exfoliation. sway breaks stiff insistence. peeling back preconceptions to discover authentic grain. hot syllables fill ear. kicking away gathered uncertainties. primary focus sings.

work wednesday (a little late)

:: before::


(well, what i see as i enter my office: a piece tashi made when she was in 2nd grade)

::during::



::after::


(we hung out at rachel's house until her mom came home from work)

self portrait: tuesday

not that i think this a particularly good portrait. but i took it yesterday on a really nice labor day hike near white oak canyon, in the shenandoah national park. the earrings i am wearing were given to me by a college friend many years ago. i decided to wear them yesterday, and today, for the first time in at least 15 years, i heard from the friend who gave them to me!

it was a lovely hike, though, due to a late start, we didn't get as far as any of the waterfalls. but the trees spoke to us, and the big rocks mumbled. the flowers nodded at us, and the fungus babbled. and at the very end of our hike, a friendly doe approached us, and then followed us down the trail for a while. tashi snapped lots of photos with the small digital camera (yet to be uploaded) and tristan was blissed out the entire time. it was a great dose of chlorophyll for all.

here are some not self portraits from our day:

tristan's favorite position



and tashi's



checking out a leaf caught in a web



flora and fauna



the doe saw us off at the end of our hike

homemade monday (on tuesday): cilantro chutney

sunday evening we had an india night. liz, ted & rachel came over to feast and watch lagaan, a bollywood film with beautiful song and dance displays, and a little more substance than your typical four hour bollywood love story.

i made biryani, which i was told by someone in-the-know, really has no rules. i also made zucchini dal, a standard in our house. our friends brought fresh samosas from the store, and paratha, which we heated up on the iron skillet. on the side there was yogurt, and the all popular, coriander chutney.



coriander chutney is easy to make, and delicious. you can eat it with just about anything -- scrambled eggs, steak, tofu thai curry, and of course, indian food. the recipe i use comes from a great little cookbook i bought for like twenty five cents when we were in india, the ayurvedic cookbook, by amadea morningstar and urmila desai.

fresh coriander chutney

1 bunch (1/4 pound) fresh coriander leaves & stems (also known as cilantro)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated coconut
2 tablespoons fresh chopped ginger root
1 teaspoon honey or barley malt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

blend lemon juice, water and coriander until coriander is chopped. add remaining ingredients and blend until it is like a paste. can be stored in covered container in refrigerator for about a week.

indian clothing may intensify the flavor, but not required.

suitcase poem XX

which door leads to second chances. chasm of what may be. that which you thought not possible. within book. below structure. around bend. inside forest. flash of doubt followed by surprise. starlight dissolves to pain. bright idea folded up neatly, slipped into box. lifting one's heavy limbs from burnt out mattress. one foot follows another across thin ledge. whisps of old settle in piles. plunge into ashes.

free form friday: baby swings

it is friday morning and the baby is sleeping, after a two hour wakeful period in the middle of the night.

we have been spoiled by two months of ten hour sleeping-through-the-night stretches! we were shocked and amazed the first few nights he slept for ten hours straight, all by his own choice (we don't do cry it out or sleep training). i was even a little remorseful: what, my baby doesn't want to nurse in the middle of the night??? but ultimately the abundance of sleep has done us all a wealth of good (that is, when dan and i actually choose to go to bed before midnight).

i'm hoping this middle of the night wakeful period -- which he has undertaken two nights in a row -- is just a phase. i actually love middle of the night nursings, if sleep quickly follows! but wakefulness for a couple of hours just * hurts * ! even if it involves tristan's smile that makes us all melty, and his beautiful little breathy voice that fills the room with super-cute!

there is much to navigate ahead. teething (we think he's been teething for months now, what with all the drool and hand chewing). solid foods (he is extremely interested, and, we sense, perhaps a little jealous when we sit down to eat). sitting up. crawling. pulling up. toddling. his little personality is becoming more and more defined, yet each day i still find myself asking, who are you, little treasure?

in the mean time, tashi is a sixth grader. my mind is completely blown by that concept. i am so in love with my daughter, who has a heart as deep as the most ancient wells on earth. i hope that our friendship will hold strong through the rocky adolescent years. i hope those years are not so rocky for her. and i hope she knows that i may not always have the answer, but i will always listen.

this year is a big year for us all.

thing thursday

just a couple of things from the thrift store visit yesterday.

can you believe that i actually thought twice about purchasing this owl trivet? i can't. i'm so glad i gave in to the impulse.



and a splendid stripey romper for my boy. i love it when i find a piece of baby clothing that costs ten percent of its outrageous retail price (around $60! just to get pooped and spat on!).

homemade monday, on thursday

i had nothing to show for homemade monday this week, nor last week for that matter. but last night i made a ginger peach cake, so i thought that might qualify, a few days after the fact.

one day i was at whole foods and i picked up a ginger peach pound cake on sale in the bakery. the love affair commenced. moist, sweet, peachy (but not too), gingery and just right with a morning cup of (insert your preferred beverage here).

so i googled it, and though i didn't find a recipe for that specific whole foods variety, i found a very close proximity at this nice blog, my little kitchen.

after the offspring were in bed and i woke from my late evening nap slouched over on the couch, i baked a ginger peach cake, and ate a slice too. just perfect.

for breakfast too.



even if you don't like peaches (like tashi and dan don't!!!!), you will like this. the peaches lend moisture and sweetness and a peachy hue, but there is nothing fuzzy or slimy about the texture. personally, i love peaches. and this cake is a great bridge between my peach love and my family's peach aversion!

work wednesday

oh oh. i forgot my camera. so the before, during and after posts will have to be verbal this week. to give you an idea what my work wednesdays are like. hmmmmm, i guess i can use some extra photos from last week!

:: before ::

rise at 6:30am with the baby. nurse. pull on clothes and brush teeth while dan burps the baby. change the baby's diaper & damp clothing. make tashi's lunch while dan holds the baby. nurse. eat pbj on toast. change diaper again. drive to work with baby while listening to wtju, wnrn or 106.1 the corner. spend far too long looking for parking while the baby starts to whimper. walk half a mile once parking is found, wearing baby and carrying two big bags. observe the buildings, the trees, the students, the trash, the gardens, the businesses. kiss my baby's head. crave chai, but skip it.



:: during ::

put tristan in the bouncy seat while i turn on computer, get his sleeping area set up, fill my cup with water and wolf down a banana. nurse while checking email. change diaper. put tristan down on the lambswool for a nap. work like crazy while he naps. hope that he naps for three hours. if he doesn't, live with it. if he doesn't, bounce him on my knee, nurse, sway, kiss his cheeks -- while working all the while. sit on the floor with him if stuffing envelopes or reading documents. change diaper. bring him wide awake to a meeting but it's ok because he does nothing but smile. nurse some more. put him in the sling so that he falls asleep again. work. eat lunch. work. distract him when he wakes up again so i can continue to work. hand him off to eager arms. work. glance at facebook. work. prepare for departure as it's time to pick tashi up from school.



:: after ::

walk back to the car with lighter bags because lunch has been consumed and diapers have been used. observe the buildings, the trees, the students, the trash, the gardens, the businesses. sense tristan drifting into another nap. drive to tashi's school and hang out in pick up line way too long while baby gets restless and starts to whine. tashi jumps into car and makes both tristan and i smile. run errands, hang out at a cafe, visit a thrift store or drive straight home. if lucky, follow horses.

self portrait: tuesday

for lack of anything else, a picnik polaroid.

things that are new this week:

* tashi is a sixth grader. do you remember being a sixth grader? i do. i won't go into all the "new" things i tried as a sixth grader. suffice it to say my daughter is well adjusted and far wiser.

* i am 42. that is 31 years older than i was when in sixth grade.

* tristan has found his giggle. especially when i say, "kaboom!"

* suddenly, it is autumnal. sweaters in the morning. pj's with footies for the baby. leaves beginning to yellow. a certain crisp in the air that is unique only to autumn.

* dan gave me an external hard drive for my birthday. that means i can continue to download photos without being warned that i no longer have disk space. that means i can put music back on to my i-tunes. that means i can empty the contents of my flip camera onto my laptop. thank you awesome techno hubster.

* i have a new hair cut. i think it must be a foot shorter. i have layers for the first time since. . . i was a teenager.

happy new month to you!

sunday round up

while we have not reached autumn equinox, the beginning of tashi's school year tends to mark the end of summer. this year tashi's first day of school is august 31, my very own birthday. so it seemed appropriate to have an end of summer celebration this past weekend.

it was tristan's first party in his very own home. he had ever so many fans.



and there were music jams of the best kind. our house was blessed with the amazing sound of an indian sitar.



tashi said her goodbye to a dear friend who is moving.



and aside from the gazpacho, guacamole, beer, sangria, lemon rice, potato salad, pesto pasta, peach cobbler and etc, there was watermelon.



a perfect ending. and beginning. cheers!

suitcase poem XIX

tug the essence. single stitch nudged. keen acknowledgment. soul rearranges molecules. flesh by flesh she explores the deeping tale. aromatic drift rustles oatstraw. beyond the particulars, conclusion is embroidered. she trots toward opening thread. texture makes no uncertain announcement. tapestry is discovered where cloth she nuzzled. a quickening breeze ripples linen across line.

thing thursday

the hammock's the thing, finally hung at summer's end! it got some serious wear at our last residence, but is still strong. a new place for tristan to sway and tree gaze.

work wednesday

::before::


::during::


::after::

self portrait: tuesday

tomorrow, i'm getting a haircut~







goodbye butt length braid!