beauty among the brown

Does discontent lead to wanderlust, or does wanderlust lead to discontent? 

Either way, I've had a bad case of both this spring A few f our friends and family have gone on some major trips, or relocated. Watching them go through the excitement of change gets my imagination working over-time. I've lived in the same place for almost 10 years (not because of a lack of effort on my part) and there are just so many other places to be!

 But I do live in a beautiful place, so the other night when I went for a walk I grabbed my camera and made an effort to find the beauty around me and enjoy where I am. If I had moved here from somewhere else there would be plenty of things to be excited about. These pictures are all from within 5 feet of the road, and it took me about 25 minutes to find them. 

 While I was shooting them it struck me that with such a brown backdrop the fresh little shoots really glow with their colors, and their sharp miniature shapes stand out a little clearer.

I like the thought that these signs probably had a very inhospitable message on them at one point. And there's no trace of it left.

what happens during nap-time - making my own non-TOMS with mistakes

Good morning, I hope you're having a lovely week. And if you're not, maybe a project would help!

Over the winter I bought a pair of TOMS shoes online and stashed them until them the weather got nice. Since I pulled them out I've worn almost nothing else! They really are as comfortable as everyone has said and I'm already a little worried about that inevitable day when they've worn out. And they will, there's nothing to them. They are canvas with a foam bottom. 

Which is why I will also never pay full price for them. But they are REEAALLY comfortable. So I'm going to make some. This is my first attempt at getting the shaping right. If you have any tips or ideas about what to use for a sole, or on getting the upper more structured, let me know in the comments. 

Also, I apologize for the grainy pictures. London has been using my camera and she must have clicked through to the menu because when I transferred the pictured to the computer I realized the pixel setting was at the absolute lowest option. Oh well.

 I started by rolling the shoe across a piece of paper and following the shape with my pencil as it went. it gave me this outline, which turned out to be too big, but we'll get to that later.

 I cut my pattern piece out of canvas and started pinching it around my foot to see where the darts should be...

 ... then I pinned the darts in place.

 I marked the fold where the dart started and where the fold lay against the fabric.

 then I unpinned the darts and marked my points on my paper version so I could recreate it for the other shoe.

 I put the darts back in and top stitched them into place. Here's my toe box!

 I folded the raw edge under the stitched it in place

 I did the same tracing technique for the heal piece and this is what I came up with. I folded and stitched the top edge.

 Then I draped both pieces onto my foot making sure the toe box wasn't pulled too tightly back and pinned the heal to the top at their intersection.

 The bottom of the heal was obviously going to be a little floppy so I put a small dart there as well. Then I stitched along the side seams and the instep seams and hold the front and back parts together.

 I traced the bottom of the shoe with a little extra room for a seam allowance and pinned the upper pieces to the sole and stitched all the way around.

 There is obviously a little extra going on around the back of the heal...

 ...and the outside edge of the toe box

 so I turned it inside out and ran a pencil along my toe line....

 ... and my heal. I stitched along these lines and then clipped off the extra. *MISTAKE # 1 - This extra flab turned out to be caused by extra TOP material, not just largeness in general. When I stitched along this line it brought in the sole outline as well which made the sole too small. Next time I will be more discerning about where the excess is coming from and if it's only from the top I will tear out the stitching and pull the upper fabric tighter against my foot instead of altering the sole outline as well.(please excuse the weird looking scar on my ankle.)

 Not bad! The pattern for the front upper turned out to be too big, which made the darts deeper than they needed to be. I'll have to work on getting it a tad more snug depth-wise. And I will be ruminating for structure ideas. If I lined it with an inside-out version of it's self it would cover the raw seams inside and add some extra shape, but I'm not sure I want them any thicker. It's the minimalism that I like so much. Perhaps leather would hold it's own...

And the sole. Should I hijack a cheap pair of flats and use the rubber? Perhaps contact cement it to my own shoe?

 I'll keep you updated.

getting out

SPRING TIME! Oh glorious air! Even though the winter wasn't as punishing as last year, it's still a coming to life when things start to green up We have been doing some intense catching up with Spencer's school work lately. That's a story for another time. But after all that intense brain-work I try to make sure we get outside, somewhere, somehow. Sometime it's just running around on the side street, other times it's driving to a trail. Here's some shots of us expending our energy in the fresh air!

Chesterfield Gorge - Chesterfield, NH

Bear's Den Natural Area - Gilsum, NH

It's difficult to see the glacial potholes because they're so high above eye level, but there are these rounded channels carved out of this boulder that course from the top down to these rounded basins.

In the darkest shadow of this picture is the largest basin. It's full of leaves and mud and looks pretty soft and squishy (cont)

(cont) Becca's and London's toes are pointed at the muckiness.

There is a rounded lip around the basin that I'm standing on while I'm talking to Becca and London on the other side. So naturally we start joking about not falling into all that yuck, I grab a stick and start poking around to see how far down the stone bottom is, and guess what! The stick disappears! Then we start thinking, oh, we really should be careful not to slip int0 this thing!

We haven't found the bear's dens yet. The trail was too wet to follow it, but I talked to my local librarian and she gave me some tips on how to get there.

Till next time!

warm kale salad with apples and raisins

it's funny how certain foods get popular. it makes me cringe when i see hipsters wearing t-shirts with kale slogans, or certain hot sauce roosters. at some point the popularity will wear off, but we're talking about food, not bell-bottoms. the fact will still stand that kale has wheel-barrow amounts of stuff that we need. interestingly, kale also has more protein per calorie than beef. so let's not discard it just because we may be sick of hearing about it!
but let's face it, even if we know it's good for us, and even if we think that eating it might make us cool, if we just don't like, how long will our determination last?
I like kale, but I like kale with things, in things, and with other things on it. like this salad. when i eat this for breakfast i feel satisfied without feeling heavy. and it's delicious.
tip: you don't feel satisfied after eating veggies for breakfast? chew. chew a lot. there is a lot more texture in a kale salad than in a fried egg with toast. take your time eating and give your brain a chance to catch up.


1/2 of a head of green kale, leaves torn from the stems
1/4 onion, sliced thinly
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 green apple, peeled and diced
dressing:
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
2 tsp maple syrup
walnuts

warm the oil in a large pot with a lid. add the onion and saute uncovered until it's soft.

add the kale and wine and put the cover on. turn up to medium-low or medium depending on the strength of your stove. you want the wine to steam the kale, but you don't want it to 'cook' on the bottom of your pot. mix together your dressing

check it often, giving it a stir to mix in the onions and move the kale around. when the kale is bright green and a still a little stiff add in your raisins and apples, stir and cover again for just a minute or two.

move it all to a bowl and drizzle your dressing over the top, and add as many walnuts as you like.

serves 4 as a side, 2 as a hearty breakfast.

goes well with goat-cheese/hot pepper jelly sourdough toast