Mountains and Sea, Rainbows, Sunsets and Kitties...

these are a few of my favorite things!

Haleakala just after sunrise

 

North shore sandy beach

It's a double - look close!

 

Over our backyard

 

Our tropical kitty

 

A Current Obession...and what to do with all that fruit!

Grapefruit

 ...FRUIT SMOOTHIES! 

One of the coolest things about our yard is the 'grove' of fruit trees - 14 to be exact - planted by the previous owners. Guava, mango, lime, lemon, grapefruit, star fruit, oranges, papaya, avocado, passion fruit, and one we have yet to identify [no fruit produced yet] hanging from branches just outside the door - amazing!



Papaya

There is so much fruit, I'm reminded of tomato harvesting season in New Brunswick...what to do with it all? Fortunately, I have a brilliant sister-in-law who suggested freezing it [she likes a frozen lime wedge in her sunset sippy :)] to which I responded, of course! Sometimes I totally miss the most obvious solution, especially when it relates to cooking.  Also, fortunately, I've been obsessed with fruit smoothies for breakfast (can you see where I'm headed here?).  So, last week, I headed to our little orchard with a big basket and collected all the ripe fruit. A trip to the grocery store to supplement my stash with bananas, strawberries, juice and plain yoghurt and I was ready to stock the freezer.

I spent a couple of hours peeling, cutting, preparing the fruit.  The final result was 11 freezer bags in 2-person serving sizes. 

One bag of frozen fruit, half a cup of plain yoghurt, about a cup of fruit juice, and a handful of ice cubes into the blender... 

and YUM! breakfast! 

And, the freezer is stocked for 10 more!

A Poem ~ I AM A WILD WOMAN by Melissa Clary

I AM A WILD WOMAN by Melissa Clary

I am a wild woman
I know, in spite of myself
and in spite of what I've been told
that there's beauty in every age
no matter how old

I am a wild woman
I've learned what it means to be a life bearer
to bear children
to create art
to plant seeds of love

I am a wild woman
from the depths of the dirt underneath my fingernails
to the height of my very soul
I am one with the Earth
the winds from the four directions whisper through my skin

I am a wild woman
and the spirit of every wild woman coalesces in me
for we are each wild women
and we are all the spirit of the wild woman
I will follow the voice in my heart

I am a wild woman
I sing from my heart
I dance with the stars
I howl at the moon
I love uncontrollably

I am a wild woman
from the deepest, darkest, most sacred part of me
I am fearless
I cry in strength
I open my arms to the sky and welcome the rain

I am a wild woman
I nurture, love and protect
I stand, strongly, silently, sweetly for my brothers
I walk dutifully, prayerfully, joyfully upon the mother
and I will not be stopped

I am a wild woman.

I stumbled across this beautiful poem and had to share.

xo

...first photos

...first photos of my new little work bench [I did 'borrow' a small sections of hubs' shop :)] It's nothing fancy but will get the job done!

Spring has Sprung!

Welcome SPRING!!!

Playing with a Rolling Mill

I have to admit, I've been a tad obsessed with the rolling mill during my metalworking classes at the art college. Last night, I decided to just play with the mill using scrap bits of copper sheet metal and a variety of bits I brought because I like the texture.  I was so involved, I didn't take many photos but I'll share the ones I have.  Interestingly enough, I did end up with a finished piece after all - these sweet little copper earrings!

Some of my favorite textures were a leaf  'skeleton', a piece of burlap ribbon, paper torn from a spiral notebook and some crumpled foil (I textured both sides with the foil). 

 First, I annealed the copper to soften it to take the textures more easily.  I've been having some problems keeping the metal and texture piece all lined up when entering the rolling mill so I carefully placed the layers in a strip of paper towel and wrapped them three or four times to make a little packet. Part of my practice was to 'find' that perfect tension to easily roll it through while imprinting the texture on the metal.  If it's too tight, the metal will distort and too loose means no imprint at all. My favorite result was the crumpled foil - it looks almost like worn leather! I punched some discs from that piece, filed the edges, domed and polished them. I even love the little scrap left over and am going to make that into a key fob.

Oxidized, polished and scrubbed with steel wool, hand crafted sterling ear wires attached and here you go!

 

Next class, we are learning to create tube and prong settings for stones - YAY!

Missing my girl...xo

see you soon, sweet girl