Half Birthdays

Today I am 24 and 1/2 years old.

I know this because it has been exactly 6 months to the day since I turned 24 and for as far back as I can remember, I have celebrated my half birthday.

It was a tradition my dad started somewhere around my conscious memory of 3 and 1/2 years old; I think I got a little gold ring with a turquoise stone that I still have. On the celebration of my 4 and 1/2 birthday, I got a gold locket with a ruby chip in it and '4 1/2' engraved on the back--there are also toothmarks to show how much I loved it. I don't actually remember getting the locket, but I do remember my 5 and 1/2 birthday party that my mom threw for me. It was in the park up the street from our house in the Bay Area and I invited all my kindergarten friends. We played games and made crafts and my mom was 8 months pregnant with my brother. However, having two birthday parties in one year was a bit much for my dad, I think, and I don't remember any official half birthday celebrations after that.

Still, I've carried the torch for my own half birthday celebrations. Narcissitic? Maybe a good reason to spoil myself (see: the very nice eyeshadow I bought myself today). But I like to think of it as remembering my 6 year old self, just waiting to be officially 6 and 1/2 years old so I can tell everyone so. My 6 and 1/2 year old self likes being remembered and on the day before the beginning of summer, I think it's not such a bad idea.

My Little Plants

Lately, my morning schedule has been like this:

Wake up to Alex's alarm, drift in and out of sleep until she kisses me goodbye.
Wake up for reals and decide that, yeah, it is a good idea to get out of bed.
Make breakfast, tea, check email.
Water my plants.

Spearmint, Coriander, Basil, Pineapple Mint

And while my basil and coriander are still puzzling me in their state of healthiness, the mints and especially the rose plant look gorgeous.

House-warming Rose plant and
the most inaccurate watering can on the planet.


Look at all the new leaves!

Untitled

'And what did life bring you?'

My First Quilt

Yesterday, June 16, 2009, I finished the last stitches on my first quilt. Unable to resist, we slept with it last night. Today, however, it was washed and hung out to dry. A real quilt, begun in September 2008 as I prepared to move to across the ocean to make a new home.

I starting cutting in October. Sewing in November. Attempted to quilt it by machine in December, only to rip out all the stitching and re-pin the layers on Christmas day, before I packed up in a box and shipped it to London.

The final pins on Christmas day

A king size creation, the binding took a while to complete by hand--my great-grandma's Singer table top machine not the easiest to travel with on a airplane. But, I managed it. And as Alex say, I think it adds a nice touch.

Anchors and Strawberries just for Alex & me

It is a scrap quilt, although I wish I could say they were all scraps I had just lying around. Some, yes: the handkerchief pattern, the multiple versions of red & white polka dots. Some I found new (see: 1930s reproduction fabrics) and some from the back rooms of Yreka's finest charity shops. Some of the best finds actually. Others are from my psuedo-grandma, Em, who gave me the start to this quilt, and a few others from G'ma Jan, who's been sewing for years.

Finally settled on tying off the quilt, it works.

Ever a romantic, the pattern I chose for this quilt is called "Because Two People Fell in Love." While the nice woman from the South who submitted the pattern to a quilting magazine that she used for her daughter and son-in-law's wedding quilt may or may not approve of Alex and I's love, I felt the sentiment of the title was spot on, and just that simple.

When I started the quilt, I was piecing together what my life had been over the last years and trying to sort it into boxes and bags and suitcases, trying to predict what I might need in the next moves I would make. Piecing things together, I decided, was like the steps of making a quilt. There's "the vision," as fellow quilter Leslie and I call it, the finding of fabric, cutting the squares, laying it out to get the feel for it all.

Everything in making a quilt is one step at a time, taking things in stride, following a pattern but always bending the rules. Frustrating and rewarding. Filled with love and hard work.

As we lay in bed last night, testing the warmth of the new quilt, we were already dreaming of what a winter quilt might look like: big strips of fabric, blues and purples maybe. But for now, we have our quilt, drying on the line, summer just about to begin, two women in love.

'Because Two People Fell In Love'
(Clotheslines again, I just can't help it.)

Thanks to Em, G'ma Jan, and LuAnn for much needed advice and supplies. Leslie, Katie F, and Reneé for learning to quilt with me. Kate and j. for inspiration, fabric and listening to my constant reports on "how the quilt's coming along." Dad, for letting us young quilters take over the house. Mom, for patience and helping me rip out all those damn stitches. And Alex, for loving it with me.

(Can you tell how huge of a project this was for me?)

Why I Love Clotheslines

With the weather being gracious enough to allow me to hang my newly washed clothes on the line this morning, I thought I would reflect on why I absolutely love clotheslines:

• Using the clothesline forces me to slow down, enjoy the sunshine and/or wind and take deep breaths in the 10-15 mins it takes me to put up a full load.
• It saves energy, and my electricity bill.
• Sometimes it only takes an hour or two for clothes to be dry on really sunny or windy days.
• My garden becomes instantly colorful.
• It's, like, so European.
• Puns like "Is she hanging out?" or "I'm outside, pegging out!" are hilarious. (Thanks, Andrea.)
• I will always remember one house in Ireland along my bus route that had their family's clothes on the line, every day, rain, wind or shine.
  
• Drying 2 or 3 loads of laundry on the line in one day is so much more satisfying than sending them in through a dryer.
• A clothesline is so easy to put up and use: someplace to hang it from, wire/rope, pegs.
• You can even have a clothesline on a balcony.
• My clothes smell nice.
• I like the wind-blown look.

Urban Homesteader

Somewhere in my longing for Americana, I have this romantic notion of what it would be like to live in the South, proper woman of the house looking over her Southern home, the sweltering air and crickets at sunset.

To be honest, I have no idea where this comes from. I don't even think it's from the movies. I've never been to the South and I'm almost positive that if I actually lived there at any time over the last century I would have real trouble, one way or another. Plus, I don't think it's just "the South" that's in my head, more of a meshing with images and music of the Appalachian mountains and my upbringing in Northern California.

While a past life full of hoop skirts and sweet tea could be the answer, it occured to me today that maybe it's related to a larger movement I didn't even know existed by name. Again, my trusty, wise friend VeggieKnitter got me thinking when she told the story of someone being intrigued by her being an Urban Homesteader. Something clicked: is this what all my cooking, baking, gardening, crafting, sustainability, organic produce, composting-daily stuff is about?

OK, so maybe urban homesteading--working towards self-sufficiency in the "heart of the city"--doesn't really have anything to do with my fantasies about the South, but with the way my brain works, I still think there could be a connection. Even if it's scallop edging with polka dots, glass jars, jam, and fresh mint from the garden.

Dessert of Créme Brulée with Local Raspberry Jam
+ Zubrówka Vodka & Organic Raspberry Apple Juice

Doesn't something about it just make you start dreaming?

Royal Vegetables

When Michelle Obama planted the White House vegetable garden, I was pretty impressed. Just a few months after the inauguration, my hope in the new administration was renewed again as the Obama's modeled the possibilities of practicing one's values--in my case trying to figure out how to work towards sustainability in my every day life. All very American, in some ways.

Living in England, I wasn't expecting Gordon Brown to do anything similiar. But, I'd forgotten about the Royal Family. Ah, the Royal Family--their national and international role as a reigning family is still elusive to me, but when I brought up The Guardian this morning to see that one of the top headlines was 'Queen turns corner of palace backyard into an allotment,' I was duly impressed!

I doubt I'll become a Royalist, but I'm digging this grow-your-own in high places.

For Saturday

"You power station, you."