ZoraJane

On a Line

I've been spending a lot of my time in the garden lately.  The weeds seem to grow faster then I can pull them.  I stand guard against the groundhogs and the cotton tail bunnies that want to partake of our lovely vegetables.  I kindly tell them that there's plenty out beyond that fence, and I'd thank you not to eat my cilantro.  I (either bravely or stupidly) pulled out all the poisoned ivy that was weaving it's way through the raspberry patch.  I'd carefully weighed the thought of a rash against the thought of no raspberries and then I knew what I needed to do.  I donned gloves and a long sleeved shirt and I was fine in the end and ate some berries in celebration.  I made pesto and a salad and Simonetta fried summer squash all fresh from the garden for our first community garden party last evening.  Happiness is fresh vegetables, children in the garden devouring raspberries and a glass of Bellini. 

Art has taken a backseat to all the garden action lately but I have my mind on many things and so I place them on a line.  Ophelia's blue, summer colors, and traveling ships...

                     

not a great photo (I may try and take another) but you get the idea.  Back to knitting my summer sweater that I hope to have finished by my trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles later this summer to see an almost baby and a wedding. 

Strawberry and Honeysuckle Birthday

           

It was a great birthday week extravaganza.  Friends actually made the trip to come here from the city last weekend (when even getting people to my neighborhood in Brooklyn used to be hard.)  There were BBQs, PBS/BBC productions of Victorian novels, cakes, Lemon Deliciousness, and Apples to Apples played until the wee hours of the night. 

The day before my birthday Gania and I found a lost dog roaming on Storm King Highway.  Andre was just about the sweetest dog ever and after a few phone calls to vets listed on his collar he was returned to his rightful owner.  Sigh.      

On my actual birthday Gania and I made the trip to a local U-Pick farm and rounded up 8 baskets of these beauties.  After a nap we made preserves and frozen canned strawberries to use throughout the winter.  I can't wait for blueberries and peaches!  All in all I think it bodes well for the 30s.

   

A Wedding Dress, Shipwrecks and Beehives

I'm a big fan of stacks of fabric.  It's fun to know that this will one day be a dress.  Not your traditional white dress as you can see.  I have spent the last year dressing 1920's lesbian poets, widows, spinsters and The Fates but here's my first bride.

                        

And here's a sketch I came up with on the train home.  Not the final product by any means but a first try.  The big debate right now is whether to go strapless.  That makes me a little nervous...the thing may be HEAVY.

                        

And as for the shipwrecks and beehives...just another sketch.  I've been trying to make time for art in the evening and dreaming of waves and honey. 

     

Like a Renegade

            

This past weekend was the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn.  I went on Saturday.  This was my first time there since when I lived in Brooklyn before I ALWAYS had to work on the weekends.  There were so many amazing artists and crafters that I was overwhelmed and walked away without buying anything.  It was also extremely hot and I couldn't think of anything but a tall glass of lemonade with lots of ice.  I took a bunch of cards from people I fell for though.  Here's one and here's another. It makes me happy to be at places like that, it's like an open studio tour. I cam never make a decision about what to buy.  And I want to talk to people but am usually too shy.  I am also on a major budget so I'm only allowed things I really and truly love.  Like this print I bought last week from my folk lover.

Sunday was spent getting lost in Philly with Becca while buying fabric for her wedding dress.  I'm now officially making it.  I'm both excited and extremely nervous about that.  We got some great fabric and had a lovely time there.  I forget how much I really love Philadelphia.  I've made a Becca shelf where her stack of fabric sits.  I'll take a picture next time. 

A week from today and I'll be the big 3-0! 

Hello June, Goodbye Ludlow

 

Went into the city this weekend to say goodbye to Mary's store.  She'd been there for over 20 years.  I owe so much to that little shop on Ludlow Street and the amazing woman who ran it.  French seams, hems, ruffles, and corsets...She's now on another adventure in dressmaking and so am I(we're both Cancers it must be in the air.)  June brings 30 a little bit closer.  I'm looking forward to it.

 

Bee in my Bonnet

                   

It's official.  I'm becoming a Garden Geek.  I watch my beans and lettuce for each day's growth, I lift the skirts of strawberries to check for ripe red fruits and I look forward to rain.  The photo was taken on the way home from the library where I'd just checked out two books on beekeeping and one on seed starting(so I could learn from my many mistakes - turns out you're supposed to start tomatoes sideways, who knew?  Farmers, that's who.)  The bees might be harder then I thought but I'm going to take a class and see what comes of it.  I think everyone involved in the garden is starting to feel excited that all that digging, tilling and weeding will be worth it.

Still playing with my new cameras.  Changing my room around and making way for summer.  Out with the sweaters and in with the cotton dresses!   

On the Doorstep

                     

I had a conversation with Stella, one of the Garden Partners today about this article from the NY Times.  I also just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver.  I was so inspired.  It reminded me that once upon a time my mother made and canned our baby food, baked bread and canned like a mad woman for the winter.  That was before California and the land of perpetual Eden.  I am thinking a lot about what I'm doing here and how that fits into a larger picture.  Maybe it's the Pennsylvania farmer blood in me that thinks digging in the dirt just makes sense.  I don't know if enough people will actually change their habits or the way we measure our lives and our successes to make up the difference but I know that have been thinking about the way I've been measuring mine.  I don't know that I'm ready to go off the grid just yet but maybe grow a bigger garden.

Tag

It's tag sale season here in the Hudson River Valley.  I went to my first church sale in April and was so overwhelmed by the piles of clothing on tables I left without anything.  Last weekend Gania came to visit and we decided on a day of yard saleing.  This time I knew what to expect and dug my way through to find some nice old fabric and a few odd pieces to take apart for something else.  This weekend I made my way to an organic farm to buy some new plants for the garden.  The perfect sort of place where beautiful heirloom breeds of chicken peck at your feet and the little vegetables look miles away from my first attempts at starting things from seeds (Why are mine so gosh darn leggy.)  So with the excuse that they were on my way I went to a few yard sales.  I looked through the newspaper and circled the ones I thought I could hit.  But I got lost.  I hate driving and being the navigator at the same time, it's like patting your head and rubbing your belly, eventually you end up going the wrong way, only in this case I was lucky.  I stumbled on a yard sale where the man was selling his father's collection of old cameras and I came out with three new cameras to play around with TTV of which the above are two.  I also bought a plate with the name "Bird 'N Hand", which happens to be a great little town near my my mother's hometown in Amish Pennsylvania with amazing fabric and quilt stores.  Despite the thrill of the hunt my actual favorite part is driving the country roads, past dairy cows and farm houses with gingerbread woodwork.

                      

The garden is growing and the seeds I did manage to start are doing pretty well for a first-timer.  Thunderstorms and lightning bugs are a sign that summer is just about here and that this place just might be where I would like to stay. 

With a Push and a Shove and a Flutter of Wings

                     

Oh, Thanks for everyone's words of kindness.  I feel a little sad but mostly good and open to the new possibilities! 

I decided to paint last night while watching TV (I couldn't watch LOST since I've missed the last two and oh how I miss my Pie Man) and the nests emerged.  I had done one years ago but I liked just building them.  No real reason, just trying to get a little art in. 

I also spent a little time on flickr the other day and saw this.  I use old photo books for my dresses and just to look at and fall in love.  I have a small collection of vintage found photographs but LovedayLemon's is an amazing collection.  I think I may be in love with this lady.   Don't you just want to wander into one of those Edwardian gardens, sipping tea, your skirt dragging along the dewy grass?  (Never mind the organ-crushing corset and the Empire on the verge of collapse, pish-posh.)  I know I'll be going back here for inspiration for the new dress I'm working on.  Oh you never do know what interesting people are out there.   

Not Written In Stone

A turn of phrase that seems appropriate for today, (though I wouldn't know an actual one if it was thrown at me,) is the one about a curve ball or about things carved in stone.  After a move of about 3000 miles and in the midst of applying for a Waldorf Master's Program I just found out that as of two weeks ago it no longer exists.  Nope.  Gone.  Strike one. 

But it strangely feels like an opening not a closing.  Ever since my friend Erika introduced to me to the Waldorf school system I have been intrigued.  Two of my favorite customers at the yarn shop were these two amazing brothers who went to a Waldorf school there.  It seemed to combine the things I love most - kids, handwork, a connection to the planet and each other.  It wasn't perfect but it felt close.  So I finally decided to go for it.  Usually, I am really good at putting up road blocks for myself(I think I could do it professionally) but this has been one long journey of non-Marcie created road blocks.  There are still a lot of other options and by no means am I giving up on the idea of being a teacher.  In the end, I don't regret moving or where I landed.  Who knows what comes next?  Just when I think I do...