snapshots

A few snaps around here lately…

+ Studio lights. You really can never have too many…

+ I took some time today to update my older Pocket Wallet.

+ The new version now has a snap cover, to keep cards more secure.

+ I’ve been slowly adding new things to meadow + mark, and have a pile more to photograph soon.

+ We made a recent visit to one of our favorite beaches. A day at the ocean is always so restorative.

I know it’s spring break for some of you, and I think on some level I am feeling it myself. I have had a hard time snapping out of weekend mode, and it’s almost Wednesday! What ever the case is for you, I hope your week is treating you well xo

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snapshots (and a little catching up)

 

For the past couple months – since Christmas, really – I’ve been allowing myself time to freely play around in the studio with whatever my focus naturally gravitates toward. I have really cherished this time, and I feel like a part of me that had become stifled and restrained is coming back to colorful life. I had gotten to feeling like I didn’t know why I was making the things I was offering anymore, and needed to come back around and find my own creative initiative again. It’s been the longest period ever since I’ve had a true change of work in the shop, which also means a true change of work for me. I am a creative, sentient being. I am not a catalog, nor am I a machine.

Some of the things that I’ve been especially enjoying is exploring different kinds of leather work, digging into my stash of collected textiles, and getting immersed in a variety of wood carving projects. Sometimes I’ll go upstairs thinking I’ll just carve for a few minutes, and a few hours will easily pass. I love that kind of focus, where you are effortlessly, fully present in what you’re doing. That’s where it’s at! I’ve also been making an effort to let go of unneeded habits that have formed, and ideas about what I should be making. Free it up!

There will be a shop update pretty soon. Once I know the date, I will be sure to announce it here. I’ve been editing photos the last few nights and I have a few more bags I want to finish up. I’m excited!

Outside of the studio, we’ve been readying the garden and working out the details of a pretty big garden expansion. Not sure how much of the new garden we’ll get done this year with all the other things we are hoping to accomplish, but we’ll be making some first steps soon. In the existing garden I’ve sown the first round of peas, which are already popping through the soil, and I recently planted tomatoes, hot peppers, sunflowers and various greens in starter pots. We replaced the plastic sheeting on the hoop house recently and Steven’s been working on setting up irrigation in there, which is very exciting! I can easily spend an hour a day in there hand watering, so to have it automated with timers will be a huge help. There are a bajillion other ways I could think to spend those hours. Oh and my beautiful kale I was recently talking about? Well folks, the aphids have landed! They sure do love that stuff, dangit.

What are you all excited about these days? What gets your creative spark glowing?

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snapshots

Looking down, on the set-up for the latest studio enhancement.

A new plant shelf, which is now home to a small dragon tree! I love having plants around me. They elevate a space so much. And I love that guy. He elevates my life, exponentially.

An incredible slice of bright light right before sunset. These days I am in, more than out, and I felt lucky to have been out during these few extra beautiful moments.

Recent crazy rain and wind storm. Thinking strong thoughts for our northern California neighbors.

My new best friend at work, this power burnisher Steven built for me,

helping to create beautiful, burnished edges.

Bevelling leather.

Straight-shot view from the comfy chair in the studio. I like to sit here first thing in the day, while I collect my thoughts.

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i n f u s i o n  is in the final days of holiday order making and shipping. It’s an intense time, which is both super fun and extremely difficult. Fun as a business and difficult, at times, as a person who is a business. Most of all though, I am incredibly grateful. I am also amazed at my capacity for discipline, the love I have in my life, and the mixed up crazy that seems to be pure human-ness. Wow!

So much Love to you all! xo

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kind

A few more hours this evening and then it’s  time to put the week’s work aside for a bit, and slide into an easier pace. I’m looking forward to upping my guitar practice with a new app Steven found, tinkering in my garden and meeting up with some old friends. And if this crazy (!) wind calms down, we’ve got campfire cooking on our list. It’s been so summery and beautiful (and windy) out.

Also, I’ve been thinking about deliberate acts of random kindness, and how I could make them more a part of my life. Have you done any that stood out lately? This world is sure needing more gentle kindness.

 

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snapshots

 

It really feels like summer’s come early here. Not sure if I should be thrilled or concerned. I guess I am both. The weather patterns are all over the place, around the world.

1 – Signs of a warmer season. I live for this season of less.

2 – Planting a little bit, all the time.

3 – Mates. They were running across the drive like this.

4 – Packing the basket, bound for the lake.

5 – Blueberries are filling in.

6 – Camouflaged in red in a riot of color. Sweetest and hardest working guy I know ♥

I hope you’ve had a great weekend! We spent as much time as possible outside, gardening, working in the yard, eating meals, observing the changes around us. There is so much activity with the birds now raising their young and the deer getting ready for the arrival of baby fawns. There is new life emerging on every level! There is a little deer that’s been hanging close by the past few days. I often find it tucked in a corner near the garden, and it seems to feel comfortable near me while I work. We are thinking it may be recently orphaned. We saw an all day battle between a crow and a mother robin. The crow hunted and killed one of her babies, and then stalked the nest all day. Mamas are fierce though and the defense was ongoing and intense. My life can feel so easy when I see the raw reality of the life of an animal, where it is all about survival.

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simple things

Some random snaps from around here lately.

This time of year requires huge amounts of high energy output, ironically, during a time that I more naturally would rather rest and focus inward, on nurturing myself, tending to my home and devoting a little extra time to family and friends. It’s always been sort of therapeutic for me to look through the recent photos I have taken. I think it gives me a chance to linger on the small things that I enjoy so much, and which usually get lost in the busyness of the day.

The simplest nothings are often the best parts of the day.

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snapshots

Garden, kitchen, studio. These are the places I seem to spend most of my time recently. The garden is just doing it’s thing these days, making lots of food. There is a lot of food coming out of our relatively tiny growing spaces! Our main meals are almost 100% homegrown right now. The realization never gets old, that an entire meal is homegrown. I can really geek out on that sometimes, it’s just so satisfying.

The studio has been a busier place recently, and I have so many things I thought I might get done up there this summer – from painting the floor and some of the dark beams overhead, to building a new table. How does one renovate a space that is overwhelmingly occupied? I haven’t figured it out quite yet.

Speaking of the studio, my friend Camille, the talented craftswoman behind Red Onion Woodworks, has put up an infusion studio tour on her blog, Wayward Spark, if you’d like to check it out. And be sure to see her her beautiful raw edge cutting boards. I have been on the verge of treating our kitchen with one of her boards for so long. They are all one of a kind natural beauties, so if you see one you love, it’s best not to let it pass you by.

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hey, june

I tend to think of June as my favorite month of the year; or at least it usually feels like that when it arrives. It’s an exciting lead-up to summer, and it is just the very beginning of many warm days to come. So much is blooming right now and every living thing is busy outside!

Today I am emerging from a long, strange week, and I can’t wait to wake up to another, even newer day tomorrow. My back got thrown out of alignment last week, in the worst way that I have experienced in many years. It’s really humbling to be unable to pull on your own socks and underwear without assistance, and for someone who tends to be constantly on the move, it was a supreme challenge to have to mostly lay and do nothing. I did gain a new appreciation for rest this week though. I really should let go and rest more.

Today I worked on catching up on orders, and was even able to do a little bit of mellow gardening this evening. I am so grateful to be moving more freely again!

The above photos are sort of random, just some snaps from this morning – this first day of June. My sister had a baby a little over a week ago, and I was fortunate enough to assist her birth again. My best friend from grade school is also due with a baby very soon, so I have been sewing baby hats and pants. It’s so fun and satisfying to sew baby things. The pilot hat pattern is from sew liberated.

After learning about Alys Fowler’s The Edible Garden series on YouTube, I pulled out her book Garden Anywhere. It’s been nice to revisit when I take a few minutes to relax my back. She is such a fun and knowledgeable resource.

One day soon I’ll post a new garden update… Hope you all are well. Happy June to you xo

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weekend

It was a working weekend, though I still made sure to include some time off. Saturday has become a day where we catch up on cleaning and organizing, watering plants, and starting little projects that got pushed aside during the week. I love this time, and it’s amazing how much we usually accomplish together.

A few snaps from the weekend…

1. an impromptu, clean-out-the-fridge fruit crisp was made (with crisp based loosely on my memory of Stephanie’s)

2. weeding in the warm sunshine

3. always something on the stairs, going up or going down

4. lunch in the making

5. homegrown rosemary – there is lots, being dried and stored

Not captured on camera was: the incredible mess that some critter made of the insulator panel in the hood of our car. OH MY WORD. I guess it is nesting season // The pollen clouds bursting forth from the alder trees. Have you ever seen a tree do that? It’s amazing (and a little frightful if you have allergies) // The sound of the birds these days, chattering away excitedly – yes, indeed, I think it is nesting season // The rooster that now lives up the road, and crows every morning at 4am // The bounty that Steven was paid, for revealing the name of said neighbor, to a different neighbor, who has been kept up in the wee hours of the morning (hee!)

How was your weekend? Did you drink beer and eat cabbage??

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in the studio

It’s been tough to keep focused this past week or so. I’ve been restless, and have had so much energy –  both creative and physical. It’s a pretty fun state to be in, but it’s not always the most productive (it’s just not possible to do everything at once!). I keep thinking it’ll pass, but it’s been well over a week now. Is it spring fever? How bout you – are you feeling a change lately?

PS Thanks so much for your entries on the giveaway. I loved reading all your comments – some so heartfelt! – and I’ll be sure to try and share more about the things you all mentioned you’d like to see more of.

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