Monday, October 31, 2011

flash mob


if this flash mob performance of ravel's bolero by the copenhagen philharmonic at copenhagen's central station last may doesn't get your blood flowing on a monday, nothing will. i love the occasional train station sounds and how sad everyone looks that it's over.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

these are the things we will remember





building a trampoline in the waning hours of sunshine on an autumn day.
carving awesome pumpkins.
the first jump on the new trampoline.
a basket of baby bunnies.

annual halloween parties.
scary (in a good way - for halloween) uncles.
treasure hunts.
broken pinkies.
chasing the chickens away from the cat food.

life. lived. every day.

what are you going to remember?

Thursday, October 27, 2011

perfect pumpkin


not a perfect photo of it, but i had to share. this is my favorite pumpkin. ever. and now there're only 9 to go....

an excuse for bunny photos

we don't have a black cat for halloween, but we do have a black bunny
is it just me or is this week FLYING by? we've got our big (and i mean big! 30+ kids!!) annual halloween party on saturday, so i've been running around trying to secure enough pumpkins and now we've got to get carving. i'm so glad that pumpkins are readily available in denmark now. i remember my first year here, they were impossible to find and i paid an amount that still makes me feel a little bit faint for a single, oddly pale pumpkin in a florist shop. now they're at roadside stands for $5 apiece.

despite living in the countryside, it's been quite an ordeal getting our hands on a whole small pig to roast for the party. i kind of thought it would be a matter of asking the neighbor, who would spread the word and then one would magically appear on our doorstep, but it's been a bit more difficult than that. we did, however succeed and we will pick up our pig tomorrow afternoon and slow-grill it all day saturday. a whole pig serves the double purpose of being a bit scary for the halloween party and also delicious.

yesterday, as we embarked on our pumpkin mission, sabin managed to slam her left pinkie in the car door and we ended up spending the better part of the evening at the emergency room, waiting to have it looked at. tho' it was 4.5 hours we'll never have back, it did turn out to be broken, so we were glad in the end that we had gone to the ER. the worst part of the waiting was when my iPhone ran out of battery (sabin didn't have hers along) while we were playing chuzzle and then we didn't have anything to do but sit around missing our baby bunnies. when husband tried to saw off his finger a couple of months ago, there was almost no waiting - we were in and out in under and hour and he even had stitches.  the lesson in that? if you're going to get hurt, do it on a friday, not a wednesday.

gratuitous cute bunny photo - smilla is very photogenic.

* * *

i'm really excited (and grateful) about the positive response to our handmade holiday eCourse.
there are still a few spots left, so please join us!
sabin and i are having so much fun preparing it.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

announcing a handmade holiday: an eCourse for beating the holiday rat race



every year, i declare that this will be the year when i don't succumb to last-minute gift buying panic and angst and the whole holiday rat race. this year we mean it and so, sabin and i are very excited to offer our very first eCourse, to share some ideas and a sense of community in our quest for a handmade holiday.

for $30, you'll get access to an exclusive blog, where ten step-by-step projects will be posted. projects you can make with things you already have around the house, your existing stash, those boxes of old baby clothes, ordinary craft supplies or things you find in second-hand stores. some of them are holiday decor, some are gift ideas and some are treats for yourself, so you don't lose yourself in the holiday rush.

at least three projects will be specifically aimed at kids and sabin will lead the way on those.

we'll also have weekly exercises in noticing our immediate surroundings, so we can all keep this whole holiday thing in perspective.

ten creative projects for you and your kids (tho' you don't need kids to do this) - all of the patterns and lots of photo how-tos (and maybe even a video or two), so you can have a handmade holiday this year.

that's only $3 per project - a great investment in making this holiday a mindful one.

when you place your order, you'll get an access code to the closed blog. the first project will be posted november 1, with the others and some other fun little extras to follow throughout november. you do the projects as they inspire, no deadlines (except the approach of the holidays!). we'll have a flickr group to share your creations with the other course participants and there will be at least one opportunity for some "live" chat via the comments on the blog.

we're going to have a limited number of participants, to keep it manageable and hyggeligt (as the danes say) this first time around. we hope you'll join us. please go to MPC: the shop on big cartel to secure your spot. sabin and i are really excited to get creating for the holidays with you!  the access code will be sent out on friday to all who sign up, tho' you can join in anytime and after friday, the code will be sent upon receipt of your order.

Monday, October 24, 2011

inspiration is as close as the library


i've been perusing jan messent's designing for embroidery from ancient and primitive sources, which i just picked up from the library. it's so fascinating i even let my coffee get cold! it was published in 1976 and tho' some of the embroideries and crochet look very 70s, i'm mesmerized anyway. we're a bit enamored of the 70s around here anyway, so it kind of fits.


for a person who thinks almost constantly about inspiration, it's an absolute goldmine - full of ideas on sources of inspiration and how to use them. i scanned a few pages, just of the parts in which messent uses the white horse of uffington, an ancient ground mark in berkshire, england, still visible from the air. 


she shows various ways of using the basic graphic outline of the horse to create very different things....a circle, a repeat, reverses, blocks, color, texture. it has opened my eyes to a whole host of new possibilities.


i'll be on the lookout for this book as i comb the flea markets, but for now, i'm grateful for well-stocked libraries and a service that delivers whatever i want to my local library for pickup, just within a couple of days.


where will your inspiration take you today?

Sunday, October 23, 2011

the detritus of creativity


there was a two-day flea market in our little town this weekend. apparently they do it every year. it seemed less like a flea market, actually, and more like a garage sale to which the whole town was invited. it was well-organized - with couches in one row, coffee tables in another, old computers and ancient VCRs over in one corner, odd appliances grouped, books stacked and dishes sorted into glasses, plates, cups and vases. there was even a massive table of old flowerpots. much of it had that air of sadness about it that flea markets and antique stores sometimes have...unloved, unstylish dishes and chairs, stained cushions that had seen better days, dusty cross-stitch pictures of some obscure church somewhere, but here and there, there were a few treasures.

i tried to buy just the little lino cutter above (i loved that it was in its original box), but the guy in charge of that area (those working the market were strangely clad in white doctor's coats, which is especially odd since i've never seen a doctor in this country wearing one) insisted that i take the entire box it was in. as you can see, there are a number of linocuts (and even a couple of woodcuts) with a 70s feel. there is also a collection of old bottles of paint and dyes - all dried up and not usable, but fetching nonetheless (photos in the near future). it ended up being quite a treasure for 50DKK ($10).

as regular readers well know, i think a lot about the evidence of creativity, but digging through the box of lino-cut goodies makes me feel a little bit sad somehow. looking at the stamps someone spent so much time carving, seeing the dusty bottles of dried inks and fabric dyes, long forgotten - like so much detritus washed up on a beach. i wonder what was made with these? fabrics? cards? prints? gifts? when did they get put on some shelf in a garage? how did they become forgotten? someone once spent time and care and imagination, only for it to end in a dusty box in a room full of other things someone no longer wanted.

but the bright side is that it's true what they say, that one person's trash is another's treasure. i'll have to see if i can do something fun with these stamps, to bring them back to life again. i'm pretty happy that doctor coat-clad guy made me take the whole box.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

sense of place: randbøldal museum


a bright, crisp autumn day. highly volatile, changeable weather. sunshine one minute and rain the next. wind racing clouds across the sky. you have to capture those moments of light when they happen, because they'll be gone in the next second.


there's something about a little museum that's so personal and accessible. something in the very air at randbøldal that whispers of the weavers who came before, even if the looms aren't the same ones - the sounds of the tramping pedals are the same, the voices talking together echo of the voices that came before. the shelves filled with naturally-dyed yarns, mushrooms ready for dyeing the next batch. as true a copy of the clothing worn by the egtved pige as can be woven today. in a little museum you can come close to all of these things.


you can go on a guided walk in the woods, looking for mushrooms and then you can see for yourself the changes wrought to the yarn by their steamy mushroom bath, maybe even be allowed to stir it a bit yourself. at a small museum, the experience is something you can fully appreciate. it doesn't try to do too much, it is what it is and isn't pretending to be more.


in these times when everything has to be an event of sorts, an experience, sometimes the best experience is the one that happens inside of you when you encounter a place where it's still and calm and relaxed. where there's time for people to tell you stories. and there's time for you to try things for yourself. to become part of the tradition in a sense, take part in the history. to weave your own meaning.


it's definitely the volunteers that make such a place so special - with their stories and their philosophies and all of the knowledge they have to give. i am happy to be a volunteer in training (truth be told, i'm mostly the photographer), learning from these lovely women (and men). hearing their stories and soaking in the history in this beautiful little hidden spot.

*  *  *

if you want to know a bit more, i have written previously about the magical little bitty museum tucked away in randbøldal. it's where i first encountered weaving, which still speaks to some deep part of my soul.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

on reading crap novels. and then not.


i have a problem. it seems pretty insurmountable. i've lived with it for years and i doubt i'll ever overcome it. once i start a novel, i am compelled to finish it, no matter how crappy it is. recent cases in point: iain banks' dead air. jennifer egan's a visit from the good squad. anything by hanne vibeke holst (i've recently read dronningeofret and kongemordet (HVH has her finger on the pulse of danish politics, but as a writer is somewhere between dan brown and steig larsson - in other words - mediocre at best).

it's actually rather strange, since what i studied for rather longer than most was literature. so what is it about a crappy novel that makes me unable to stop reading it when i discover it's crap?  why is it that a conscious awareness that life is too short doesn't even make me stop. in fact, i'll stay up late, frantically reading, rushing towards the finish. just to get it over with. why, oh why do i do this when there are so many good books in the world that warrant my attention?

when i think about authors that have truly captured my attention and deserved to be read to the end and then read again with a kind of manic attention, only two come to mind. only two authors have written stories and created worlds so compelling that i felt quite literally sucked into them...a part of the book and the universe it described. books i looked up from and was surprised to find myself in my own home (or on a plane or in a hotel room or in the car or the bathtub). worlds so deep that i felt i lost a little bit of myself there. and i mourned quietly when i was finished with the book and found that i wasn't inhabiting that world at all, except in the pieces of it i indelibly carry with me, because it was so well-written.

so why is it that when books don't do that, don't even come close to that, i still can't put them aside?

maybe it's because it's so seldom it happens.

there's only one dostoevsky and only one murakami. the rest don't even come close.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

a thrifty swap

do you love combing antique stores, flea markets and second-hand shops for treasures? if so, the op shop swap just might be for you. check it out! jody from reinventing fashion is hosting. you'll swap some thrifted goodies with a like-minded thrifter, just in time for christmas!  you sign up on flickr, but you can read a bit more about it on jody's blog.

and a note for those of us not versed in down under english, op shop is a charity shop (i admit i had to look it up).

sign up and then get out there and start thrifting! now you have an excuse.

Monday, October 17, 2011

the epitome of cute


i think sweetpea (who is under the impression it's spelled sweetpee) may be even cuter than the baby hedgehog. especially when she scratches her ear with her back leg (i shall get a photo of that as well).

new stitched-up photos now available!

the latest batch - stitched-up photos


just listed in MPC - the shop - a batch of stitched-up photos - get them while they're hot!

and now you can even "like" MPC - the Shop on Facebook
(yes, i finally broke down and made a page.)

oh, and if you're looking to secure a christmas present, i just put my whirlygig snuggle quilt on sale.
just making room for more fun stuff in the near future.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

evidence of creativity so far in 2011





after getting that little saddle thing off my chest (which incidentally made me feel much better (and that's actually what this whole blogging thing is about)), i decided to turn to something more positive...so i went through my flickr and made some mosaics featuring all of the acts of creativity i've been involved in so far in 2011. some overall themes...quilts (7 of them! which surprised me a little bit) and food feature heavily. plus i counted eggs and honey and baby bunnies, because although i didn't lay the eggs or make the honey or have the bunnies myself, they are definitely acts of creativity to which i have been party. and i have been making a lot of yummy things with those eggs and that honey.

it all makes me want to finish 2011 even stronger than i started it. so standby, i've got something fun up my sleeve and you can be a part of it.

saddle up

no idea why that twine is tied on there, but it doesn't appear to be holding the saddle together.
if i had a dollar (or even just a kroner) for every minute of energy i've wasted trying to figure out other people's motives, i'd never have to work again. there's pretty much nothing i waste more time on...wondering about why people do the things they do and trying to put it into some sort of logical framework that enables me to deal with it, if only in my own head. many times, this energy is completely wasted because ultimately, it's really hard to tell why people do the things they do. and sometimes even asking them (which would, i admit, save me a lot of wasted energy if i did it a bit more often) doesn't help.

case in point:  some months ago, when our horse was still stabled over at our neighbors' place, they offered that we could have a look at some of their old saddles and try them out and see if one would fit matilde. so recently, i went over and took a couple of the saddles to try. they were up on the highest pegs in the tack room, dusty and obviously unused for years, even a little bit musty-smelling. they're good brands and were very nice saddles when they were new, but both are, shall we say...well broken-in and probably at least 20 years old. i actually didn't mind, as they still have a lot of good left in them and i figured that it would mean that they would be in an affordable price range.

then, we went to a lot of trouble to have a saddle fitter come out and help us decide whether either of the saddles would work on matilde. she actually came out twice (the first time, she was called away halfway through because her own horse was colicking and she had to go home) and we tried the saddles, finally settling on one of them. it's not perfect, but the tree fits (that's difficult to change, so it's important) and with some extra padding and moving the cinch straps, it would be a good match for both sabin and matilde and we could use it for several years to come. thankfully, i had the wherewithal to ask the saddle fitter how much she thought the saddle should cost. i had a figure in my head of what i had seen similar saddles for in my research online and what i thought they would ask for it. the saddle fitter, who knows the market well and can tell by looking roughly how old a saddle is, told me not to pay more than a certain amount for such an old saddle - that amount was well below the amount in my head, so i was glad to have asked her.

then, i went back to the neighbor to report on how it had gone and what the saddle fitter had said and i asked them if they'd thought about a price. and the price they came back with was TWICE the price the saddle fitter said should be the most we should pay. and i have to admit that i feel really badly about this. first, i'm mad at myself for not asking them to name a price when i picked up the saddles (actually, i did, but they said they needed to think about it).  if i'd known what they wanted, i wouldn't have gone through the whole process with the saddle fitter - wasting her time and ours (not to mention her fee).

what's bothering me about it is that i can't figure out the neighbors' motives. did they not want to sell the saddle in the first place? (if so, why offer it? it wasn't as if this whole thing was my idea.) do they think we're stupid and would just blindly pay the price of a new saddle without looking into what the saddle might be worth? do they need money? or did they simply not know what their saddle was worth in the current market? if that was the case, why not come back with another price, when i thanked them for letting us try the saddles and expressed with some shock that it was double what the saddle fitter had advised we should pay - especially in light of having to spend another considerable sum making the changes necessary so it fits our horse?  i just can't make it make sense.

i actually saw a saddle online that's the same model but which was only 2 years old instead of 20, and in perfect shape - looking pretty much completely new, for which they wanted 1000DKK ($200) less than the neighbor was asking for their old saddle. i do realize that this just a WTF? moment and i should move on, but i have to admit that i'm having trouble with that. it has changed my whole perception of our neighbors and i'm not sure that i can get back to a place where i like them again. not that they were our best friends, but i liked them and thought they were really nice. now i'm not so sure. mistrust has definitely replaced the warm feelings i previously had.

is there some angle on this that i haven't considered in all of my obsessive turning it over in my mind? something which might make it ok?  (i should note that the saddle has never been to the olympics or been, to my knowledge, ridden in by a princess, so that can't be it.)  how can i wash this bad taste out of my mouth?

*  *  *

if you'd like something more inspiring than my long and petty story, watch this.
or read this little magical vignette.



Friday, October 14, 2011

sunrise - sunset

sunrise 
sunset
sunrise, sunset
sunrise, sunset
swiftly fly the years
one season following another
laden with happiness and tears.

(from fiddler on the roof)
(photos from my day)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

all i really needed to know about motherhood i learned from a bunny

a nest of bunnies (both white ones still alive at this point)
when i went out to take my daily photo of baby bunny progress, there were only four bunnies in the nest. one of the little white ones was missing. i looked all over for it and finally found it, much to my sadness, cold and stiff, far outside of the nest box. it looks perfect and plump and yet perhaps the mama bunny pushed it out because she could tell there was something wrong with it, something that wasn't visible to the human eye that's just utterly charmed by the nest of furry baby bunnies.

mama mira
thinking that mama knows best, that's our impulse, right? we've been acculturated to think it. and i've been otherwise impressed at the transformation of mira, a rather fluffy and inscrutably expressionless bunny, who i didn't think had a whole lot going on in her little bunny head, into a very good and diligent mama.  i guess there's also an element of hope in the story i've told myself - that she could sense that something was profoundly wrong with her little white bunny baby, and not that she just accidentally knocked it out of the nest box and couldn't be bothered to get it back in.

motherhood is transformative. both mira and molly's thoughtful post on c is for capetown have me pondering that. tho' i am a mother and a blogger, i resist the term mommy blogger, finding it decidedly pejorative. i also find the lists of advice and navel gazing in the mommy blogosphere make me throw up a little bit in my mouth. there's a lot of piety and righteousness and i don't do well with either of those (and don't even get me started on homeschooling).  there's also lots of talk of losing oneself and finding oneself and there's also a whole lot of self-absorbed chat about how to get your old self back.

well, i have news for you. you can't have your old self back. and what's more, you don't even really want her back. you may still have her clothes and they may not fit, but guess what...fashion changes and you needed new clothes anyway. realistically, those clothes are at least a year old and while i'm in favor of choosing lasting pieces that have a timeless quality, just buy some new clothes.

of course, clothes are the least of your worries. here's the deal - you are still who you are, you just added a new dimension in becoming a mom. i had always said i didn't want children. it turns out that the reason i thought that was because until i met husband, i wasn't with a guy that i could see being that tied to (despite years of serial monogamy and long-term relationships and even marrying one of those guys for awhile) for ever and ever. and so when we had sabin, i had a lot of worries about it - like everyone does. but i don't think i ever worried about losing myself.

i worried about not being able to go to the movies or travel or stay up late drinking too much wine and i worried about putting that feeding tube down her nose (she was born 10 weeks early), and i worried about whether it was actually ok that her poo was that color. but those worries soon passed. the hospital taught us how to do the feeding tube (and since she doesn't still use it, it was a temporary thing anyway.) you learn that what you put in the baby comes out of the baby and if what you put in was green, chances are it will be rather green coming out. i stopped caring about whether i'd seen the latest movies and it stopped being important whether i saw them in the theatre or on a plane or on my computer. i found i could still have friends over for dinner and stay up 'til the wee hours solving the world's problems over a bottle (or two) of red wine. and as for travel? the child has been to the philippines five times, dragged across europe on a train, shopped in london and dublin and barcelona and was sent to the US on her own at the age of 7, so travel hasn't been an issue. turns out they have tickets for children.

if, when you have children, you continue to live your life, including your child in that life, it's the best you can do. you can't really lose yourself because, as i commented on molly's blog, you're the one person you can't ever really get away from. you might lose an old version of who you were, but we do that all the time anyway, it's called life and growing and changing. and if there's one thing that doesn't change, it's that we change. our priorities, our desires, our homes...life is change. but if you show your child that you're strong and secure in who you are and that you'll protect and help and cherish them and be there for them when they need you, you'll be the best mom you can be. even mira knows that.

oh the bunny adventures you'll have...

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

sense of place: civilized sunrise


the sun makes its way slowly (and perhaps a bit lazily) towards the horizon.
blazing a trail of yellow, orange, red and purple more reminiscent of sunset than sunrise.
but sunrise it is.
at the very civilized hour of 7:40 in the morning.


the first frost carpets the grass.
a stillness fills the air, broken only by an occasional bird call.
everyone was sleeping in, even the birds.
smoky puffs of breath hang visible in the air for a moment before dissipating.
cool air rushing in on sleepy lungs,
bringing with it a cool clarity.


there's an expectancy in the air,
waiting for the sun to finally burst over the horizon.
and the day, with all its promise still intact, to begin in earnest.

Monday, October 10, 2011

dear autumn


autumn, you can be discordant and pushy - blustery and demanding attention one second and demurely bathing us all in a golden glow the next. you're nothing if not unpredictable. maybe that's why i like you so much. even tho' your winds are whipping fine drops of rain into my face every time i step outside today, there are also the last bright flowers to be gathered in the garden and brought in to brighten up the indoors.

oh autumn, you're so demanding and real and just so THERE.

thank you for that.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

i know what everyone's getting for christmas


our bunny mira surprised us this week, by having FIVE baby bunnies in her first go! and we thought we'd separated her from sophus in time, but apparently bunnies are very fertile and 8 months old isn't too young to have babies. what's even better is that she's obviously doing a very good job of taking care of them, as they're fat, warm and healthy, tho' oddly i've not yet actually seen her IN the nest box with them. all that i've read indicates that's totally normal and they're very active - popping around like popcorn when we uncover them for their photo shoots - so she must be doing a good job. there are three grey and two light ones and we can't wait 'til their eyes are open. i'm sure you'll be seeing more of them in the coming weeks.



Friday, October 07, 2011

friday confession or just another random list


i haven't done a friday confession in ages, so i thought i'd revive that idea and get some things off my chest (despite being a disciple of appleism, not a catholic).

i confess...

...that i was gleeful this week when a little drama worked out against the dramatist. kinda proving that drama isn't all it's cracked up to be. i also confess that it was all i could do not to openly do a little happy dance when the drama queen was put in her place. i actually walked away for awhile, not to be seen looking a little too satisfied.

...i have little time for such dramas anymore and easily become impatient with them.

...that i swear a lot while i'm driving.

...i really, really am not fond of the "let's see how far the car can drive after the gas light comes on" game. (sadly, this seems to be husband's favorite game.)

...i might smother him in his sleep for that.

...i got a lot less done this week than i hoped i would.

...i'm pretty surprised that mira seems to be proving to be a good mama to her 5 baby bunnies. bunny instincts are pretty strong.

...when i was in school and they had that "no running in the halls" rule, i thought that was for the others, but not really for me. so sometimes i ran in the halls. but only if i thought no one was looking.

...i don't talk to my parents often enough.

...that a couple of days this week have really gone by slowly. in a good way.

...i need to do the blog makeover i've been pondering now for a couple of weeks.

...that i don't miss the corporate world. not one little bit.

...i do, however, miss traveling. and planes. and airports.

...i think denmark's new fat tax is pretty lame. i can appreciate needing to do something about public health when you have a state-financed health care system, but shouldn't unhealthy fat products - like potato chips and pork rinds - be what's taxed, rather than basic baking ingredients like butter and cream? they say there was broad political backing for the tax (which is so complicated to calculate that companies have had to hire whole new fleets of accountants), but it seems they neglected to ask whether there was public backing (which i just accidentally spelled baking in a freudian slip) for it. i never heard even a whisper of debate about it.

...i'm happy that it's friday.

happy weekend, one and all.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

goodbye steve

313:365 floating on air...MacBook Air

i woke up this morning to the news of steve jobs’ death - fittingly enough, i read about it on my iPhone. i didn’t know him personally, but yet i feel truly saddened by his death. it’s not even that it was that unexpected - it must have been really bad for him to step down from the helm of apple in august. and yet someone like him seemed somehow invincible. but he wasn’t and i feel shock and sorrow. and i’ve even shed a few actual tears. 56 is far too young to die.

for all my joking about worshipping at the altar of apple, there is some truth to it. since college (except for those years where i accidentally worked for microsoft), all of the computers in my life have been macs. i even remained faithful during the PowerPC years (tho’ those were the years of apple without steve). now, as i write this, i’m doing so in a cute little café, latté at hand, on my MacBook Air, connected to the ‘net via my iPhone as a personal hotspot. a large portion of my identity is connected to my ownership of apple products and even more importantly, to being seen with them.

what a breathtaking legacy steve jobs leaves behind. what his vision did for design and how we use and identify with technology in our everyday lives is nothing short of stunning. but i think what worries me most is not what will happen to apple - they surely have some of the most creative people in the world working for them - but that i don’t see anyone on the radar who can even come close to his innovation and vision. and it makes me wonder where we’ll be without him, in general.

where are the visionaries? the real innovators? the ones truly unafraid to think differently and push us in new directions? like real philosophers, true innovators are thin on the ground without steve.

he will be missed. by the whole world.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

i woke up with a headache

i woke up with a headache. i blame the abrupt shift in weather.

* * *

these photos were clearly taken before the weather changed...


the saddlemaker, who is actually a saddle fitter, is coming today, but already we think the used passier dressage saddle we're trying out is MUCH better than the other saddle we had. we'll see what she says about it tho'. who knew so many problems could be caused by the wrong saddle?


matilde is already quite fuzzy. i suppose she knows something we don't about the coming winter. and it doesn't bode well. 

* * *

thanks to my headache, i don't have much more, so i'm off to make potato leek soup to try to feel better so i'm coherent for the saddle fitter.

* * *

in the meantime, check out these:

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

make hay while the sun shines

those WIP stitched-up photos
autumnal solids
soft, supple leather
i confess that i have been led astray from my creative endeavors by glorious autumn weather. when the weather got good last wednesday, i abandoned my post at the sewing machine and went outside. i've only come back in to do things that were absolutely necessary (laundry, meals, making sure the child takes a shower), but otherwise, i've been out with the horse and the bunnies and the chickens and the child. puttering in the garden. helping husband clear an area to plant some grapes and some special cider apple trees that we ordered. ok, i didn't actually help that much, but i discussed where it should all go before i settled down in the hammock with a book.

however, i do have all of these lovely materials, waiting patiently for me on the table in my makeshift studio and they promise rain tomorrow...

Monday, October 03, 2011

monday fizzies


you must go see what happened on the roaming gnome's first day in denmark.
and stay tuned for what happens next.

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speaking of happening, there seems to be a lot happening in ePublishing.

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speaking of self-published books - check out this delightful bobbaloo book by my friend pia!
bobbaloos, food, cake and coffee - what's not to like?

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have you noticed that if you sneak up on firefox, it freezes?
and by sneak up on it, i mean flip to it from another program, like iPhoto.

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looking through my 365 tumblr makes me happy.

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here's hoping your monday was fizzy too...

eggcellent monday


you know it's going to be a good day when it begins with one perfect egg, still warm from the chicken.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

turning off the inner anthropologist


i'm finding that i'm developing a work-related injury as i work on this piece on the danish welfare state. it's an injury more mental than physical - i simply can't turn off my inner anthropologist. everywhere i go, i'm observing and analyzing (i suppose regular readers of this blog know that this is actually nothing new), but it feels somehow different. it's become more systematic, perhaps, than my usual musings.

last evening, i attended a large party and had occasion to do a lot of anthropological observation of the natives in their natural habitat (if indeed their natural habitat can be said to be a rather large exhibition hall transformed into dinner seating for 7700 people and the swedish 90s band roxette). and in my observation (and mental application of various theories), i realized that playing the role of anthropologist tends to make me hold back from participating fully in the moment myself. i end up sidelining myself as mere observer (at least i restrained from scribbling notes in my little notebook, tho' it was in my tiny little purse and i was sorely tempted). so while i gain a great deal from the experience in one sense, i come away from it feeling that i wasn't truly there, except in some abstract theoretical sense (filtered heavily through bourdieu).

and while these clinical anthropological skills are all well and good for the purposes of the book, i do hope i can achieve some degree of being able to turn it off again - because it's making me effectively miss the party.