weighing the good and the bad

husband has calcific tendonitis and can't use his right hand. he writes like a kindergartner with his left hand. i find it somehow very endearing. it's pissing down rain. i had a dull caffeine-induced headache all afternoon. i'm not sure if it was from not enough caffeine or too much. and have i mentioned the rain? the bunny chewed off a bunch of the nail polish from my thumb when i wasn't paying attention. the rain made the satellite dish go out (i think it may have drowned) and now that poor lawyer girl from philly will eternally be stuck with her old wardrobe. the dishes are piling up in the sink because i don't feel like doing them and husband can't with his gimp hand. i want to say that it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but i already used that previously and i'm supposed to be getting my edge back, not repeating myself...in all, it was a tuesday that felt like a monday. and i'm glad it's over.

an interview with amy of tilting windmills

i was so pleased that amy wanted to be interviewed, because she's been at the country lifestyle for a bit longer than i have. we have in common a house for sale (ours is thankfully now sold and hers rented) and a desire for a simpler life more filled with animals and gardening. so i jumped at the chance to ask her a few questions about how she's getting along with all of that. so read what she had to say and do check her blog and flickr photostream - she's also part of the blog camp 365 flickr group.

1. tell us what's going into your garden boxes at the moment? and how many people receive them per week?

This week we had loads of cucumbers (both English and mini ones), swiss chard, Italian squash, zucchini, baby bell peppers and tomatillos! We are doing the boxes for four families. There is another family that's been helping us with the garden and the two of us eat our fill and put up plenty for the off season too. This is the first year we have tried our mini CSA. It's been a great learning experience and a lot of fun. We actually have a waiting list of interested people for next year!

2. are the chickens really worth it, despite being utterly brainless?

Hmmm utterly brainless to take care of or they're utterly brainless (editorial note: chickens not that smart) ? Either way the answer is Yes! We've loved having them and Sidney is very attached. It is fascinating to watch them in their interactions with each other and us. We have two that are two years old and they'll come right up and hop on your lap. Then this year we got 15 babies. One of the hens grew up to be a rooster so we get to listen to him crow, which does seem to add further to the ambiance here :) One of the young ones laid her first egg yesterday! Come fall we'll be adding eggs to our weekly farm boxes for everyone!

3. what's the most essential utensil in your kitchen?

I love my Kitchenaid mixer. I use it all of the time!

4. which garden goodness that you've put up do you most enjoy in the dead of winter?

That's a tough one. I'd have to say the butternut squash, it's so sweet, warm and comforting and takes the whole season to grow. A close second would be the loads of fresh pesto I've made and frozen.

5. if you were going to run away and escape from it all, where would you go?

I grew up in Southern California, right near the ocean. I love the water. I think my best escape would be to a lake where I can just relax and listen to the water gently lapping on the shore.

6. can you give me some canning advice? or a good pickle recipe?

Something I've just learned, you don't need the bread and butter pickle spice mix. Do the whole shebang from scratch. It makes amazing pickles, I think I just might enter a jar of these in the fair next year :)

12 large cucumbers
12 large onions
1 Pt. white vinegar
1 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp, celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper


Peel the onions. Wash and thinly slice onions and cucumbers. Place in a solution of 1 qt. water mixed with 1/4 C. canning salt. Cover with ice and allow to stand in brine for 3 hours.


Combine vinegar, brown sugar, mustard and celery seed and bring to boil. Add ginger, turmeric, salt and pepper.


Drain cucumber & onion mixture (do not rinse). Pack into clean hot jars and cover with hot liquid mixture. Place on 2 part lids to seal and process in a boiling water bath. 15 minutes for quarts or 10 minutes for pints.

7. how's your fabric stash coming along?

Ohhh it's growing quite nicely, thank you (Sid's is too)! Now I just need my own 'blue room.' I can see I'm quickly going to outgrow my dining room. In fact, I'm hosting a dinner party outside (in some crazy humidity) this weekend, just to keep my craft room intact ;)

8. what prompted your decision to move to the countryside to try to live a simpler life?

I've always been drawn to the country. B grew up on a farm in Kansas, and though he didn't want to farm per se, we wanted our own type of farming experience. It began to come together just before we had our daughter, Sidney. We had a business opportunity that would move us closer to the small town experience that we wanted for our kids. When we first moved to Wisconsin, there wasn't that perfect property available and we soon got sucked into the day to day of owning and running a business, and our son came along too. Just when we weren't looking, we came across the perfect property just over 3 years ago. Now our kids are growing up with plenty of space to run and an intimate understanding of our environment and how to take care of it. For us, we're beginning to realize our dreams of sustainability.

9. has it been as you expected it to be?

Everything and more. It's a lot of hard work, but at the end of the day, it's ours. We take ownership of it, nurture it and will pass it down.

10. how have your ideas of living a simpler life evolved since you began?

I think that once you immerse yourself in this lifestyle, you begin to find that the simpler life isn't always simple to attain. It's a series of trials and errors, dreams and visions, and time (sometimes frustrating when you're the type of person who sees the vision and wants to enact the whole thing right now)! It is an amazing experience and like B always says: It's a marathon, not a sprint. A good mantra for me, to calm my impatience as we continue on the journey.

* * *

thank you, amy, for sharing some your thoughts on the journey towards simplicity. every little bit helps! and for someone who wanted to simplify and spend this year not buying anything, i've not done so well: so far in 2010, we've bought a house, a car and a horse. and an iPad. and iPhones for everyone in the family. so you can see, i need all the help i can get!

we interrupt the interviews for the colors of the moment

it's been awhile since i played with big huge labs' color palette generator i love to do this to check in on the colors that are attracting me at the moment. these are all photos i've taken recently. hmm, i sense warm scarves and quilts on the horizon...and i still haven't painted over that awful pink in the kitchen. i wonder if these colors are among the ones i bought two months ago?

i love the names of some of these: bracken, allports, chelsa cucumber, stromboli, persimmon, sherpa blue, mash, chenin... tho' my ubiquitous teals and greens are here, there are some other ranges sneaking in. what colors are speaking to you in this late summer-early autumn transitional time?

an interview with inna karenina (not to be confused with anna)

inna joined our BC365 flickr group at the beginning of the year. i hadn't met her before that and it wasn't long before i learned that much to my surprise she was only 18! her photos were completely luminous and inventive and creative and i was blown away to find out she was so young. i had to realign completely my way of thinking and for that, i thank her very much. eventually, she revealed to us her beautiful blog and you must visit it along with her 365 project blog and her flickr photostream, right after you read this.  all of the pretty pictures are hers...



1. you have been extraordinarily dedicated to the 365 photo project, have there been moments when you wanted to give up and what did you do to get through them?

Yes, there has been. It's quite a regular feeling for me that my photos are not good at all, and those feelings may lead to the moments when all I want is to give up. But that's part of learning and improving, I have learned. The last, and the only really bad moment like that, was just a few weeks ago. Then I just whine, cry, feel bad for myself for taking such terrible photos, whine a bit more, and get over it. Maybe take a day off in between. Not very adultlike I suppose, but that's honestly what I do, and it helps. I'd love to say it's only the love for photography, and the love for learning that keeps me shooting, but even though that's all true - I am rather passionate about photography, and I love how the project makes me grow not only as a photographer but also as a person - I must admit the biggest reason why I keep on taking the photos day after day is that I am too proud to give up. I am too proud to admit that I couldn't do something that I have started and so publicly done.



2. when you reach what feels like a plateau with your photography, what do you do to take it to the next level (because i think you always do take it to the next level)?

I'm not sure if I understand the question right, but in case feeling like a plateau means the same as feeling like your photos are always the same, I just try to do something different. New location, new time of day, anything that's new for you. Once when I was feeling like in a rut, like my photos weren't getting any better at all, and looked the same always, I just woke up early in the morning, and went to photograph the sunrise around 5 a.m. Waking up early is so hard for me, so I had hardly ever photographed a sunrise before, and that day I was rather lucky and there was this fog which looked dashing in the dawn. After that I had a lot more courage to do something different again, and I think, I was able to start taking my photography to a new level again.



3. you do absolute magic with your nikon D40, but what would be your dream camera?

my dream camera? a camera with more focus points (is that how you call them in english?) than three ones. or maybe a film camera, as that's something I would really like to try and experiment with.

4. a little known quirky fact about finland...

They say Finland is the only country in the world where news are broadcasted in Latin..

5. what do you want to be when you grow up? (i still don't know, so don't feel bad about this one, i mean it more light-hearted than it may seem. :-) )

I might say a photographer, because that's what I want to do, but I guess it'd never happen as I am rather spontaneous when it comes to photographing. I'm not that into planning, so photographing weddings etc. wouldn't be the best option. After all, in the middle of wedding you must take photos of the wedding, instead of going out to capture the perfect light or the beautiful clouds. Anyway, my sister and I have been joking that we will probably be studying all our lives, and that's the only thing I could actually imagine happening. There are too many interesting things to learn and do, and I guess I won't be able to decide what I really want, not anytime soon at least.



6. you've been experimenting with self-portraits lately - what has it taught you?

Self-portraits are still rather new thing for me, and I am still in progress processing the feelings and thoughts that I have about it. For sure it has taught me a lot though. As I earlier mentioned, I am not much of a planner when taking photos, and self portraits are teaching me to plan: to think about the composition, the light, the location etc. before taking the photo. When taking selfies, you can't change them so easily, and I am lazy, so it forces me to focus and think. That's the part which I find the most challenging, but also which I think I need to learn in case I would like to be real, professional, photographer some day. Also, I often feel like the selfies I take have already been taken by so many other people, so it's teaching me to be more creative, and to learn what is the thing in a photo that makes it me, if that makes any sense.

7. how do you feel about photo processing? is it an essential part of the process or is it cheating?

Nowadays I do think it's an essential part of the process. There was time when I felt guilty for editing, but after writing about it in my blog and reading thoughts about it, I have realised it is essential for me. For me editing means finalizing the photo, making it look like I feel or like I see the world. And as I have noticed that photography is a way of expressing myself, it is essential to make the photo look like me, or like my feelings. I still do not edit a lot, I do not remove anything from the photo, or add there anything, so I haven't yet any opinion about that.. art it is for sure anyhow.

8. is using someone else's lightroom presets cheating?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and there is this voice in my head saying that it is. However, I really would like to think it's not, because it makes editing a lot more fun and easy. I have not much experience with presets in Lightroom, but when I used to use actions in PS Elements, I always made sure I read also a tutorial of how you do the stuff which the action makes for you. That way I was able to feel less quilty.



9. they say the northern lights have been visible in these parts in recent nights, have you seen them?

nope, unfortunately I haven't.

10. do you have or would you get a tattoo?

Tattoos are a little too permanent for me. I get tired easily, that's why. So no, no tattoos for me.

* * *

thank you, inna, with your name like a russian epic novel, for sharing your beautiful photography with us every day in the group and thank you for letting me interview you right here.  i know you'll be a photographer if you want to be and you won't be the kind who has to do weddings...of that i'm sure.

scenes from a gathering of vikings

it was a glorious, sunshiney day for a visit to the viking market at the viking harbor museum in bork havn. 250 people who spend their summers dressing and living as vikings (if you don't count the campers i saw out back) gathered and sold traditional viking wares - hand-dyed yarns, ironwork, jewelry, bows and arrows, hides and the like. we came away with a lovely bow and some safe-for-children arrows for sabin, a bit of hand-dyed embroidery thread, a couple of skeins of yarn and a lot of ideas. we tried to buy a viking "stove," - handmade by one of the viking blacksmiths, but none of them seemed to be for sale (we encountered the same with several of the arrows sellers had on hand) - they were for their own use and not for sale (making me wonder why they were there with a stall, ostensibly to sell, but i digress). but here are some highlights. i definitely wouldn't mind spending my summer this way...

viking yarn candy - all hand-dyed with natural plant dyes.

clothing fit for a viking. i did wonder if the main audience for many of the stalls was the other vikings

mmm, food fit for a viking - a pancake with tart forest berries,
served in a smart, environmentally-friendly wooden bowl with wooden fork.

more yarn candy, tho' the woman here admitted she was a cheating viking since she had used some dyes from south america and the vikings wouldn't have done that (the pinks and purples came from those).
i wanted to be good, but i did buy two shades of gorgeous purple from the far left.

we will definitely be getting one of these at some point.
tho' oddly and totally against the viking spirit of trade and commerce,
the ones we saw were not for sale.

the tools of the trade - if you're a viking jeweler

pretty shiny beads make lovely viking jewelry.

see, i can take pictures of random people in public.
but apparently only if they're not facing me.

another of those fabulous viking stoves - one of these WILL be mine even if i have to take a welding course myself to get it.

beautiful baskets. and yes, another people picture!

more yarn candy - and look at that embroidery!

a feast fit for a viking.

i definitely NEED one of those bread dough bowls.

look at that baby viking.

and another adorable baby viking. isn't she sweet?

an interview with kamana of journalling through photos

and as we continue the interview series that's a result of this post...this time i'm pleased to introduce kamana, who blogs at the lovely journalling through photos sharing the beauty and bounty of the gorgeous island where she makes her home.

1. you're part of our BC365 photo group - what has been the best thing about taking a picture every day?

The best thing probably is learning more about how to take good photographs. I knew nothing about photography when I started blogging, and it has been a trial and error process. It has been - and still is, everyday - a learning experience, and I find that the more I play around with my camera, the more I try different things in terms of lighting, angles, composition, and so on, I learn.

2. and what's been the worst?

Trying to get a shot taken everyday. Most days, this is not a problem, especially now that I carry my camera around with me all the time. But on those days when life gets in the way of what you really want to be doing... those days when inspiration just hits rock bottom... those days are hard. I don't want to just point my camera at the first thing I see and upload it. I have to be reasonably happy with a shot, to upload it. So, the pressure to take a reasonably okay shot everyday can be difficult.

3. and what have you learned from doing the project?

I have learned so much about photography during these seven months. Much from my own attempts, but also so much from others - seeing their work and getting comments from others on mine.

4. i always feel envious that you have endless supplies of light and gorgeous fruit for the project...what's the best thing about living in an island paradise (aside from light and fruit)?

LOL. I should have expected this question! The best thing for a beach loving girl like me, is the proximity to the ocean. I just love to be near the sea and feel the sand under my feet. Instant relaxation, I think.

5. what impact of climate change do you see where you live?

• The weather being more volatile and less predictable.
• Shoreline erosion.
• Increased temperatures leading to coral bleaching and creating havoc for marine ecosystems.

And of course, rising sea levels, reported to be around 0.9cm a year... a significant amount, considering the majority of these islands are just 1m above sea level. When I meet people from other countries for the first time, many often laugh and say, "oh so have you decided where you will go when your country goes underwater in 50 years?"
This is so unfunny... just so you know. :)

6. what did you think you would be when you grew up?

You mean I am already grown up?! Because I am still figuring out what I want to be...

But seriously, I have always been passionate about language and about learning. Even as a little girl, I talked about wanting to be a teacher. I remember often teaching my toys and marking their work. I did teach in school for some years, and have continued to work in education.

But what I also dreamed about wanting to be even then as a little girl, and more so now, is to be a writer. I want to write. I want to play with words. I want to weave stories.

7. and what did your parents expect you to be?

Oh, very clearly, a teacher.

8. tell us a funny travel-related story...

I was 18. Travelling alone for the first time, and also my first time in Europe. I fly into London Heathrow, where I receive verbal instructions from a British Council representative at the airport, on how to make my way from the airport to the hotel I was to stay in for the night, and my travel plans to go up to Scotland the next day. I have no idea of how the underground trains work, and the mess of coloured lines on a sheet of paper makes little sense when you have been travelling the whole day, and have too much information to take in all at once. It is rush hour, at the end of the working day, and the trains are packed. I get on the tube, with another fellow traveller who is also headed to the same hotel. It stops at where we are expected to change lines, and I make my way out, dragging with me my suitcase and my hand luggage through the packed train. The guy who is with me, takes his own cool time, and is just able to throw out his stuff on to the platform when the train doors close and it takes off...taking him away, and leaving me stranded on this platform with four very heavy bags and no address of the hotel I am supposed to be going to. I remember the name of the hotel, and that I have to eventually get off at Earl's Court. Apart from that, I have nothing. And no cash in sterling pounds. But I must have looked helpless enough, because before long, I had someone ask me where I was going to, and help me find my way (read: accompanied me all the way) to the hotel.

The next day, I fly to Edinburgh and I am supposed to take the train from there to Stirling. I am told which platform to get the train from, and when I get there, there is a train already there, about to leave. Of course, I get on, and find a seat. The ticket collector comes along, looks at my ticket and tells me that I am on the wrong train, going in an entirely different direction. And that I should have waited another ten minutes for the right train at that platform.

Yes, it was an eventful introduction to trains in the UK. And no, it didn't put me off them. In fact, trains are my preferred mode of transportation whenever I go back there now.

9. your life philosophy in one sentence:

Dream big, work hard and have faith, because all things are possible for those who believe.

10. what has blogging given you?

Many friends around the world. Lots of laughs. A sense of belonging to an incredibly supportive community of (mostly) women bloggers sharing their experiences through words and images.

* * *

thank you, kamana, for sitting down to speak with me (because that's how this one feels) and thank you for being part of the BC365 project on flickr as well! be sure to visit kamana and her photostream! it will open a whole new world!

an interview with witcha from the warp zone

when witcha of a new (to me and literally pretty new) blog called warp zone said she wanted to be interviewed, i was excited, because she lives in one of my favorite places in all the world - the philippines! naturally, i had to ask her what her favorite place in the philippines is...

one of my own favorite pictures from a trip to borocay. because i couldn't resist.

 1. the philippines is one of my favorite places, tell me about your favorite place in the philippines...

My favorite place would be my home province, Camarines Sur. It's located in the Southeast part of upper Philippines and has always been visited by typhoons all throughout the year. What I like most about this place is that the language is amazing. Maybe it's quite applicable to the Bicol Region, but the dialect changes from one town to the next. The change is always distinguishable, but we can still understand what each one is saying. The other thing I like about this place is the food - most of which are spicy. But ultimately, it's HOME to me.

2. what is your idea of the ultimate relaxing weekend?

I would rather stay inside the house, cook spaghetti and meatballs, read a book, and just enjoy the day to myself! :)

3. you wrote recently about finding inspiration on etsy..how does this inspiration manifest itself in your home?

We just transferred to a new house and I would really have wanted it to feel like a cozy home, so I wanted all those vintage decorations and colorful walls. I myself am a child at heart, so I painted one of my walls with the giraffe-trees thing that I found on etsy. I thought it would be a great side for my son to play by and I shall take photos of him with the wall as backdrop.

4. your biggest fear?

Losing, or rejection. I think I'm still too immature to accept things like that.

5. your biggest joy?

Family. I believe and can see now that I am so much of a family-oriented person.

6. what does family mean to you?

Oh my. I was trying spontaneity and was answering the questions chronologically, but this question would definitely jump us back to #5. Family = Joy and everything that means so much to me.

7. your ultimate dream camera?

I would definitely want to have an EOS, but it's pretty expensive for me at the moment. And if truth be told, I'd like to own a polaroid and have those prints posted on another wall in my house, haha.

8. tell me about that tattoo on the back of your neck (check out her profile pic)...

Back in college, we had a yearly fair at the University of the Philippines. All those rock bands, ferris wheel, food booths, apparel booths and everything you can expect out of a Fair was there. Because everybody has been into henna tattoos, I got envious so I had one made on my nape. But that's just henna. I would have wanted a real one with my son's name in ambigram (although that might make me look too pushy). Well, the tribal tattoo was just a try at 'coolness.

9. your best and favorite place to shop in the manila area (i'll admit this is a selfish question on my part).

I'm sorry to say but I'm quite a mall rat. I would have chosen to buy my things in Divisoria, a street full of everything you could ever think of at a cheaper cost, but it's quite far from my place and it would be difficult to transport whatever buys I might have made.

10. coffee or tea?

Coffee. For all those palpitations and nausea and bulging eyes. Well, at least I get to have some caffeine boost to let myself awake during the most boring office hours. (Ssshhh.)

* * *

thank you witcha for letting me interview you! i'm so glad you wanted to participate, because i discovered a new blog and now i've learned about a new place in the philippines that i haven't visited. yet.  and it also made me go through my folders of pictures from the philippines, which just generally made me happy. do go check out witcha's blog, you won't be sorry.