Sea Snaps (preview)

(amazing to me how these look like the Sheet Snap series)

beautiful

I smile o'er the wrinkled blue

Lo! the sea is fair,

Smooth as the flow of a maiden's hair;

And the welkin's light shines through

Into mid-sea caverns of beryl hue,

And the little waves laugh and the mermaids sing,

And the sea is a beautiful, sinuous thing! 

- excerpt from The Sea Spirit, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sheet Snaps (preview)

For 25 consecutive days the challenge is to document the history of a night's sleep every morning.
Here are three images from the series:

P O R T L A N D O R E G O N X X X X X

On a whim, we bought tickets to go hear and see Broken Social Scene ( with Sea & Cake opening!)  in Portland, Oregon.

http://www.brokensocialscene.ca/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqqLe9uiLl4&feature=related

http://www.myspace.com/seaandcake

This was months ago....
Suddenly the date of the concert was approaching and we had to plan for our get-away weekend.........
Sadly the place we wanted to stay was booked....see below. Really amazing.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home

But we booked a spot in great sounding hotel and decided no rental car. Renting bikes.

Portland. It is known as one of the most "green" cities of the world.

It is a vibrant city, near the confluence of two rivers: the Willamette & the Columbia.

It reminds us of Pittsburgh.

We got ready for our big first night out. We were going to rely on Urban Spoon on the IPhone to assist us in finding a place to eat........ (bad idea)

So we ended up dining at Pizza Schmizza.....

The next day was a beauty. Sun shining. Shadows mighty.

And we rented bicycles and were off! 

We saw Dharma's work at Augen Gallery! Hello!

And saw a really interesting show at the Portland Craft Museum.

There we met many sweet people who guided us to all the cool spots.

Thank you!

So we pedaled fast & with excitement!

Hitting an art installation that was in an abandoned high school....super super super.

We played with shadows.

And swirled

to the whirl........

And we were inspired by color.

That night we biked to dinner and then to the show. 

A M A Z I N G.

To wake up in the a.m. inspired by the geography of the sheets on the bed.

And the conversations of light and form on the streets.

And a local greasy spoon made our bellies full.

So we lingered at this record shop....inspired by the range....

And home we went: minds buzzing with image and sound.

Wrapping the World in Beauty.....

There is a new baby in New Zealand that I am thinking about....her name is Minerva.

Minerva was the Roman goddess who the Hellenizing Romans from the second century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, and magic, and the inventor of music. She is often depicted with an owl, her sacred creature, and a symbol of wisdom.

I decided to knit baby Minerva a blanket, to wrap her in love and knitted cosiness.

Her parents are sailors, and have braved the seas in their beautiful boat, Sereia.

http://svsereia.blogspot.com/

So I chose colors that symbolized land and water.

It is amazing to begin a knitting project....hours and hours of love and meditation woven into a creation.

Knot after knot......Stitch following Stitch......

This project traveled many places with me as I was working....Portland, Stinson Beach, Marin, on the BART, over the mountains to Cazaderos.....

The last stitches are like the end of a marathon...heart beating faster, anticipation brewing....excitement to get to the end of an incredible journey......

Ah, the edging....each stitch stitched with love.....

And now it will wing its way, wrapped in layers of tissue paper to New Zealand!

xxxxx

Figs & Honey: Honoring the Sensuous and Sensual

On 10.10.10 we were productive here on Aileen Street.

The goals for the day: Extract and jar honey and make fig jam. 

We are alll about the YUM here in Oakland.

Here are some interesting facts to think about:
* A honeybee's wings stroke 11,400 times per minute. Bzzzzzzzzz.....
* Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.
* Honeybees can travel as far as 3 miles from their hive.
* Honeybees are responsible for pollinating 80% of all fruit, vegetable, and seed crops in the U.S.
* To make a pound of honey, the bees in the colony must visit 2 million flowers, and fly over 55,000 miles.
* A single honeybee will produce 1/2 a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

* Figs are believed to be the first agricultural plants grown by humans.
* Figs are of great nutritional value, and a great source of energy for athletes.
* If you are lactose intolerant: 1/2 a cup of figs = 1/2 a cup of milk!

We first had to pick the beauties from our abundant tree......plump & purple & sweet!

It takes time and energy to make sure all of the lids and jars are sterile. 

But it is satisfying to see the line-up of multiple forms.........

Scott Ward does not usually like the taste of fig...

Things have changed.

Ok....now for the honey venture.......

You need something called an extractor that looks like R2D2.....

7 frames of capped honey...that is what we had to work with....

You also need a special knife that enables you to carefully open 

up the cells to reveal the golden nectar. 

 Once the frames have been spun, the honey trickles into glass jars....

In the end we jarred 10 lbs. of beautiful Oakland honey.

Scott also loves the waxy yumminess that is like candy.

Thank you amazing bees! 

The honey is sweet and amber colored: tastes of lavender and citrus tickle the tongue.

Aileen Street Yum

Tomatoes.

Dreamy.

There are as many as 7, 500 varieties and are divided into categories depending on shape and size.

And the heaviest tomato known was 7 lbs 12 oz. WOW.

But we struggled this year.

Not enough heat? Watering issues?

We spent a lot of time wondering and worrying about our tomatoes.....BUT the below images are a sight to behold.

Tomato sauce! Created from the Aileen Street tomatoes!

We were proud.

And our bellies happy.

Freshly plucked orbs: Please note: Shot taken up close. Behind these orbs marched a bounty in the thousands......

Nothing better than making your own saucy sauce:

Purely tomato, olive oil, garlic, and thyme

And here you have it: fresh garlic and parsley pasta with fresh tomato sauce and some sauteed chard.

Come on over anytime.

.....When a rope is not just a rope...........

"Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by the simple things." 

~ Noam Chomsky 

Today I was surprised by the graceful elegance of the ropes laid to rest at the climbing gym.

And then I was struck by the curl on the girl taking photographs and the shadow being cast.

And the curve of the lit curve struck my eye.

And the cascading grace of the telephone curl.