Tattoo Artist?

Check out this tattoo a loyal Spinto Band fan got of the cover for Nice and Nicely Done?! (I hand embroidered that album cover!)

Sunshine

Albert brought me some flowers yesterday (thank you!) for Valentine's and I arranged them in the oatmeal container. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. So pretty! 

New Stack

6 new scarves soon to come!

Winter Wonderland

Albert seized the moment after getting out of work yesterday, around 7 am. He nabbed these gorgeous photos during a walk to share with me when I woke up. The tracks run right by our apartment (a renovated train station) and along the Brandywine River. By mid-afternoon most of the snow had melted. 

This morning we woke to the sound of geese. Gaggles of geese? By the sound of it I think they might have moved on to a new area to graze.

Photo

photo by Brian Boucheron :)

A goofy pic from a few years back that I love re-found digging though old emails. Oh, the delicious multi-course dinner that followed this photo!

What a dinner!

A feast of arepas and the last episode of season one of The Wire (I know- we're a little late).

Ever since our spontaneous trip to Brooklyn a few weeks ago, I have been dreaming of these.. Tonight I tried my hand making arepas using this website as my guide. So delicious! Not too difficult to make- basically a dough from special precooked corn flour, warm water and a splash of salt and oil. Little patties slow cooked on my cast iron pan for about 10 minutes a side, then finished in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes. I was especially happy with the fillings inspired by our meal at Caracas. On the right: sliced avocado and a bit of mozzarella. If only we had plaintains to top it with... On the left: garlic, onion, kale, tomatoes, soy chorizo and scallions with a bit of feta. Now I need to find a source for this flour in our neck of the woods (thank you Erin for the bag you gave us!)

Honey Coconut Granola

Check out these beauties we spied on Sunday. I always forget how much bigger  they are then what I imagine cute little deer to be. Mama and two babies perhaps?

Here is a little granola family. I've used the same recipe to start for over 10 years now- the steno notebook paper is almost totally greased through. As with most recipes, I add in and substitute ingredients depending on what I have on hand. Here's a rough version:

Honey Coconut Granola

preheat oven to 250 degrees. You'll need 2 cookie sheets with a raised edge (so the granola doesn't spill everywhere.

8 cups oats
1 cup almond slivers
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
(mix them up in a big bowl)

1/2 cup honey/agave combo
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2? cup water
1/4 cup oil
a few teaspoons of vanilla
teaspoon of cinnamon extract (I used homemade: sticks of cinnamon seeping in vodka for months)
(mix them up in another bowl)

Stir this all together, spread on the pans and bake for an hour to 90min, stirring every half hour or so. I know it's done when it makes a crispy sprinkly sound on the pan when I stir (like cereal) instead of the damp gloppy sound before you cook it and it is golden colored.

10 min before it's done, throw in a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes to toast. That's it! Really good to snack on while it is still warm.

I had a bowl for lunch with vanilla almond milk. Yum.

6 more

Six more scarves in the shop. My last push before Valentine's. 

Gardening

Rachel, Phil, Albert and me planting the most fertile garden in Butler, MD, 2004.

I miss gardening! One day we'll have a spot with sunshine (that isn't in a flood plain) and will grow everything. Until then, CSA and veggie stand will have to do. 

A collage I made last summer using German playing cards and a homemade wooden canvas.

Hopefully a future me.

Endless Town

For one week this January, Albert and I put aside other projects and made this video for the band, Sweet Lights. Endless Town is all paper cut out stop motion animation, similar to the Pumpkins and Paisley video we made a few years back for the Spinto Band. I animated (also read The Help) while Albert worked the camera and computer. What a mess the studio was!

Springtime

Springtime sure feels like it has started.. It is officially 15 degrees warmer outside than inside. Albert and I have both been battling with how to stay inside and get work done on such an unseasonably beautiful day. We had breakfast outside in the sun. We took a walk by the river. We chatted with our neighbors. That's about as far as Albert got. As you can see from that body in the backyard. He's got it right though, and I think I'll have to fix a snack and go join him.

New Studio Space

We've spent the last 2 days rearranging the living room, studio and office and I think we found something that works! Above, my new and improved studio space complete with sewing area, 2 looms (weave at one, spin around and weave at the other) and storage (not completed settled on that) for yarn. We have the best light in the winter and I'm inspired..

The new living area across the room with new-to-us coffee table has a better netflix view and a cozy feel with that carpet underfoot. So much better than before.. Pidge is in the back with the cotton monster and stuffed deer doll.

I think she is happier with this set up. If Pidge is capable of happiness. Stubbornly not in discontentment? I love her even if she loves no one.

Bobbins!