Sunday, April 29, 2012

Random rags to riches

Counting blessings one by one

492 - rag curls (before)

493 - rag curls (after)

494 - buckwheat pancakes with dandelion syrup

495 - the new work apron and...

496 - ...sturdy colonial shoes that protected me from a spilt kettle of liquid wax

497 - the pretty under the grungy wax-stained colonials

498 - our rain barrel

499 - lilac and black

500 - my painting and my daughter (my girl's the masterpiece)






Joining Ann today

Monday, April 23, 2012

Cue the Cowsills: Give Me a Head with Hair, Long Beautiful Hair

When I was a kid, I wanted long hair. What I got was a "pixie cut". Sigh. Some people look adorable with short hair. Sadly, I'm not one of them. I'm not bitter, no. But as a big girl, I keep it long. I like to imagine myself as an old lady with long gray hair. Not wild and tangled so as it looks crazy, of course--long gray braids twisted into a respectable bun.

Anyway, my youngest, the lovely Bronwyn, has been looking for ideas to curl her beautiful locks. We've been searching for a how-to on rag curls. Looky what we found! This exquisite film by TigerinaJar, the same people who made the inspiring-to-be-bakeish Dutch Oven Bread film. If ever there was an inspiration for Bron and I keep from cutting our hair, this is it.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Mid-life art-attack, or my love affair with red and blue

I blame the red shoes.

I found these sneakers in New Zealand, and I love them, love them, I do. The color is energizing. And when I wear them, I can run faster, jump higher, and I actually want to clean the house. Yep, they started a dangerous trend in the Acorn household. I suddenly felt the need for a change.

Well, maybe the shoes can't be entirely to blame. It really started when Old Blue gave up the ghost.


The frame of our dear thrifted 1920's sofa gave out. The three of us--the hubs, the youngest, and I--were snuggled up enjoying an episode of Cupcake Wars when suddenly -BAM!- the couch collapsed. Dry rot. Irreparable. After the prescribed mourning period passed...


...Old Blue was finally replaced with something Chesterfield-esque. Thank God. My weary eyes were starting to bleed from perusing the internet in search of another blue couch. So what does this have to do with red shoes? I don't know. Just stick with me here.


All of a sudden, this, with a can of paint...


...became this


And these were traded out


for these


Gosh, I dunno. Maybe it's because I've got to dress like this once or twice a week. I want to come home to mod. Maybe it's some sort of tempermental artist mid-life crisis. I won't say cabin fever, since I've milked that one to death.


Anyway, red shoes can sometimes be a dangerous business. Oh, and my daughter is sending me another pair in turquoise. Oh-oh...

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Just Dandy

The boys bent, smiling. They picked the golden flowers, the flowers that flooded the world, dripped off lawns onto brick streets, tapped softly at crystal cellar windows and agitated themselves so that on all sides lay the dazzle and the glitter of molten sun.

"Every year," said grandfather, "they run amuck; I let them. Pride of lions in the yard. Stare, and they burn a hole in your retina. A common flower, a weed that no one sees, yes. But for us, a noble thing, the dandelion."

Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine



Dandelion Wine - one of my favorite books, . We tried to make dandelion wine once. A homeschool science project. Epic fail. Which I guess worked out in our favor, as I don't see how well winemaking would have looked in a homeschooling portfolio--heh, heh. But never mind that. Today I'm working on some dandelion syrup.


And speaking of books and dandelions, I just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy at my daughter's request. Three books in three and a half days. I couldn't put them down. Had a headache when I was done. Plus, I felt a strong urge to arm myself, and to learn to make food out of weeds.


I first read about dandelion syrup on my friend Julie's blog at One Penny Jumble Packet.


Julie used to live in my district, uh, I mean, my neighborhood. She was fun to hang out with, and she has some mad skills. You would definitely want Julie as an ally in the arena.


She moved (drat it), and I miss her.


So anyways, after spending my weekend reading an inner-turmoil-inducing but still good trilogy, I decided to calm myself with the making of said syrup.


"To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta, Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed." Katniss, in The Hunger Games


That sounds good - bread that gives you hope. May dandelions be ever on your lawn.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Be still and count

"Possibly, I thought, as I set the miniature bouquet on the old trestle table, possibly God knows that if spring came all at once, we should die of it. So, the fairy-size bells ring a chime to make it possible to bear the beauty that will come in May."

Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Sampler


485 - first blooms on the apple tree

486 - candied violets

487 - finding this at the library

488 - kitchen alchemy

489 - Saturday baking

490 - new additions Tasha and Pepper Ann

491 - time to till





Joining Ann today

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Reposting Relentless

In honor of this holy week, I'm reposting my oil pastel and little poem underneath, inspired by the wonderful quote from Bill Crowder. I'm ever grateful for the oh so Good Friday, and the day the stone was rolled away. Happy Easter, everyone.


"Godly love endures beyond life's hurts by pulling us relentlessly toward the never-diminishing care of the Father."
Bill Crowder

oil pastel on canvasette


I'm not eager for your wounds,
But I know they are faithful.
Putting self to death
And my heart full-blown will live again
Like a tulip in the doorway of your house.

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