MIDWEST LOTUS

January Readings

2012-02-03T07:18:00.000-06:00

It's already February and I find myself wondering what the heck happened to January. Usually I can't wait for January to be over but because of the warm winter, the month that always seems the coldest to me in Minnesota flew by. Either that or I'm freaking over the fact that my little itty bitty Lotus Bud will be two-years-old (!!) in eight days.

In the effort to find some pattern in the books I read I decided to track them each month; see if there is any rhyme or reason to my reading selection. I spent a couple of hours today trying to remember all that I read in January. It seems to have been a light reading month. I was surprised to see that the library didn't have a list of books that I checked out. Perhaps that's a good thing. I'll usually check the reviews in Amazon before requesting a book from the library. Amazon didn't have my browsing history, which while surprising, I was pretty happy to learn. The Internet will probably keep a track of all my personal information, but not my reading list. Huh? It seems to me that to know a person's reading list is to know what they are thinking.

Sometimes I'll finish a book, then I'll follow a lead into another book. Which is what lead me from Heacox to Hoshino. I picked up The Only Kayak: A Journey into the Heart of Alaska by Kim Heacox after I finished Deep Water Passage (which I read in December; a book about one woman's kayak trip around Lake Superior). Here I wrote about how Heacox introduced me to Hoshino with whom I promptly fell in love. I did eventually pick up Moose by Michio Hoshino but that just left me yearning for more. Heacox was interesting in his account of living in Alaska but it didn't seep into my bones like Edward Abbey does and no doubt I'll be picking up some Abbey this month.

I then went on a Neil Gaiman kick finishing both Anansi Boys and American Gods. Listening to NPR while driving to the Arches National Park in Moab got me intrigued with Gaiman what with his move to Wisconsin and all (and really all not that far from our WI property). I'm sure everyone who reads contemporary fiction has already discovered Gaiman. While I liked the idea of American Gods I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Anansi Boys. Kali makes an appearance and that was fun, of course. But who am I kidding? I don't even come from the part of India where they worship Kali (therefore my knowledge of Her is about the same as any mainstream Midwest reader) and do I really get that excited over a couple of paragraphs about this Hindu god? (You bet I did.) On the other hand, Anansi Boys was hilarious in a subtle comedic way. I'm sure it was full of British cliches, but it was a whole new brand of humor for me. I found myself laughing in those last few minutes before bedtime.

I planned this to be a review, but I'm merely giving you my impressions here because I hadn't planned to review until today and this is after all, my first month's attempt. I'll do better next time. I promise.

But before I go I have to share a bit about Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee. I recently read a blog that asked the question 'what is your favorite book?' and the blogger admonished anyone that listed more than one. Unequivocally it is this book. It has been my favorite book for a couple of decades now and I really try to read it only every three or four years. It's simple derisann, ooma. Lee produces this groshing new language that drives you tosky at times, but honestly, I don't see how the book could have been written without it.

Don't ask me the main character's name. I couldn't tell you and believe me, I've gone over it a few times to try to find it. Anyway it's about this culture who's youth (called the Jang) are encouraged to live life (for a century or so) to the fullest experiencing all manner of fun and games, sex, drugs and rock and roll. They change bodies, they change gender, they take ecstasy pills and explore debauchery with their inner circles (but only if they marry for an afternoon, or a week - hey, there are some rules). Great fun, no? Except it gets mindless and boring (droad) after a while. Who knew?

The book was written in 1976 and it is scary, I tell you, scary how much it reminds me of the youth in 2012. And yet, so profoundly moving when I realized how much the book reflects my own yearning for a green, local, back to the earth, agricultural, perhaps authentic, moments.

So, don't be a floop. Go and read and tell my it isn't the best book you've read in a while.

[OK, sorry to have called you a floop - unless of course you don't read it. Then you really are a floop!]

The Roots of Winter

2012-02-02T09:15:00.001-06:00

As Winter continues to be undecided about itself, I am decidedly happy for my extended CSA share. I feel so much gratitude for these nourishing vegetables this year. It's definitely a new experience for me. I've been roasting up vegetables for lunch. I still have trouble telling the difference between a rutabaga and a turnip, but details like do not matter when both roast up deliciously.

So, did you hear? Phil apparently saw his shadow today. 6 more weeks of winter. If it means 6 more weeks of the kind of winter where the day begins in fog, then temps rise to 40 degrees, I don't mind. Honestly though, I could use a bit more snow.

Iron Craft: Hearts and Flowers

2012-01-31T08:53:00.002-06:00

The Iron Craft challenge this week was to do a project with hearts and flowers. It's great having two weeks to do each challenge this year. Yet this time around I found myself deciding on a project only to change it all up the next day. I finally settled upon an iron-on patch idea because I had done these before but the Lotus Bud is in a new size so she has a bunch of plain onesies that needed to be embellished. I only had one sheet of iron-on patch paper so I had to settle with two designs. One of which includes hearts and flowers.

I'm so glad I did this because normally this isn't the sort of patch I would choose. I'm sure she's going to look great in it.

I seemed to have drawn into our lives one of the things I didn't want. Her love for pink no doubt comes from depriving her of that color for most of her life. Now anything pink brings on cheers of joy.

I should learn a lesson in this, I suppose.

Flight

2012-01-23T16:58:00.000-06:00

“When once you have tasted flight you will always walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward: for there you have been and there you will always be.”
--- Henry Van Dyke

I went to an artist talk at the Mpls Photo Center a couple of weeks ago and had yet another mind-blowing experience. I'm still reeling from the experience.

The photographer was Wing Young Huie. I have seen his work many times and in fact, I own a couple of his books. He is a local artist and he is making images of the Minnesota that I know.

I don't know if it's because of the huge hormonal change in my body or if it's because I'm getting older, but I find it increasingly difficult to attend public events. I'm so glad the lights were off as I had several strong emotional reactions to his words and images.

How can I even begin to explain what I felt that night?

Some good insights. Some jarring sensations.

"People only see what they are capable of seeing," was just one of the gems of experience that Huie shared. If my camera is how I see the world around me, then what do my photos say about my sight?

I bought my first SLR camera in Chicago, then promptly hopped on a plane to return to school in the Himalaya Mountains. The year was 1987 and I shot my first roll of film in those foothills, amongst the rhododendron trees and free-ranging monkeys of the region. When I look through my camera I am always looking at the land around me, trying to capture that moment of my existence.

This has been what is most important to me. Perhaps that is my way to finding a space for me to dwell.

I studied race, class, ethnicity, and gender theory for many years while finishing my doctorate. I spent more than a decade exploring language that would appropriately illustrate my experience as a South Asian American woman living in Minnesota. I left the University with the suspicion that I had been looking in the wrong place and did in fact have the insight that it might exist in the language of photography. Confirming my suspicions, Huie summed it all up with one sentence. I will restate it here in my own words:

I feel like I have been photoshopped into the landscape of Minnesota.

Although I live, breathe, survive the cold, warmth, and nicety of Minnesota, I will perpetually be perceived as someone that has been placed in the picture - a prop, perhaps. As someone who is not part of the natural landscape, an outsider and an other.

Truth be told - I have come to terms with that. I believe having a child has changed my perspective, certainly my reality, and my interaction with the region where my child was born. She belongs here.

When I look upon her face, I see parts of myself with Minneapolis as the backdrop. She brought me to the inside. And when I went in, I found I was there all along.

-----------------------------

Something to think about when you get a quiet moment:
What truths have you learned about yourself since having a child?
If you are not a parent, what was a catalyst for self-awareness in your life?

-----------------------------

Links for today's inspiration:
Wing Young Huie
(K)now
The University Avenue Project
Mpls Photo Center

Iron Craft: Paper

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I should title this post "Feeding Her Obsession" because my Lotus Bud is obsessed with penguins. This is the first Iron Craft challenge for 2012 and it was very exciting to be back to it. Those of you who might be interested in joining - now is the time!

So, I should admit, she's never actually seen a penguin in real life. She is in love with movie "Happy Feet." I happen to like this movie as well, which is a good thing, because she wants to watch it a lot. This helped, oh so much, on our 20 hour road trip.

I made stencil cut-outs of penguins...

...then, hung them on her wall, above her crib. Don't they look delightful against the blue wall paint. Almost as if they are backed up to a glacier. Sort of...if that glacier was in my backyard in NE Minneapolis.

At first I was a bit annoyed that I only had two stencils, then I realized I could flip them for some variety. And, of course, my cutting wasn't all that precise, so there you go - penguins with some individuality.

Iron Craft is an every-other week challenge this year and for that, I am glad. Also, my goal for this year is to re-purpose or use mostly, only supplies I have on hand for these craft challenges. I collected enough materials last year for many projects, so it should be fairly easy to use what is on hand.

Join me, my friends! It's a blast to be a part of this crafting community!

The triangulation of photographic events in my life.

2012-01-09T13:36:00.010-06:00

I won't be doing the one-photo-a-week sort of project this year. Mainly because I can't figure out why I was doing it. I'm not sure where my motivation was, nor what I hoped to achieve. I joined the growing number of photographers in internet-land who do these sorts of projects. While I am impressed with those who actually complete a 365-challenge or a 52-week challenge, I know that I am not one of them.

I did manage to finish my 28 day challenge and when I look back on that, I am in awe of my own dedication. I attribute that event to post-partum mania.

Several events that started at the end of 2011 combined with new things in 2012 have created an auspicious triangulation, a convergence that's leading to a whole new emphasis on photography in my life. Indeed, this does seem to feel like the Year of Photography.

First, I have a new (used) camera and am stoked to learn all about it. It's lighter and faster than my old camera. I am working on shooting manually again. I used to do that when I was young and naive - before the digital age.

Second, I have joined Gratitude 2012. I have always admired Karen Walrond's photography and blog. Recently, I have come to admire what she has achieved with her daily gratitude practice and pursuit of creativity. Already, she has me looking through my lens differently.

The third thing has to do with my reading list. I recently finished The Only Kayak within which there were stories of Michio Hoshino. I immediately requested a couple of Michio's books from the local library and fell in love with the images he had created. I was already in love with him just from reading Heacox's book, but seeing Michio's images took me to a whole new mind-blowing level of consciousness.

I don't think I'm going to go right out and shoot images of Minnesota black bear, although I certainly have done that before with surprising results.

I believe what happened is that I fell in love with Michio's passion for photography. Now that is something I have felt before and that is the fire I hope to stoke this year.

And, truly, that's not too hard to do when I get chances to visit places like this:

I made two resolutions on New Year's Eve. The first was to enjoy my images more. The second was to get a babysitter. I have already achieved the second one. Woot! I did get a babysitter for last Friday night which made it especially enjoyable to look back on this image and know that I devoured the whole plate without the chitter chatter of a toddler on the side.

I'm getting darn close to achieving my first goal, too!

The End of the Year

2011-12-31T19:39:00.007-06:00

Wow. It's here. The end of 2011 has arrived. I meant this to be a year in review post, but since I haven't posted since October, I do believe I was done with 2011 a long time ago. Instead I will share where I have been these last few weeks.

We fled family and thought we were fleeing snow for the Holidays. We failed on both accounts, both pleasant reminders of this life we choose to live.

Family is everywhere we happen to be.

And it is she, the beautiful one, who makes all light and love possible.

There were two goals I wanted for my photography by year's end. First, I wanted to shoot an iconic image in a not-so-usual-way. Second, I wanted to upload pictures that were straight-out-the-camera shots.

Success is abundant in the desert.

For much of the year I felt like I was just a shadow of my self. Corny. I know. Cliche. Oh, yes.

But, true. Nonetheless.

So I sought healing. In a hot tub.

But really found it at an impromptu yoga class. Possibly the most spiritual yoga class I have ever attended. Perhaps it is the desert environment that leads more easily to the path of the sacred and meaningful.

So there I was.
There I am.
Here I be.
With the snow behind me, my Jeep at my side, feeling stronger everyday.

On the day we went out for an easy Jeep drive, we turned around because it wasn't so easy. Instead we took this road. Still a bit difficult and bumpy. Beautiful and full of color. Full of challenge and the unexpected.

The road ahead looks good, doesn't it?

My life has taken a turn, but I do believe the road is better for it.

Iron Craft: Imaginary Friend

2011-10-19T08:11:00.000-05:00

Hello? Is anyone still reading here? I've been away for so long I almost forgot how to log back in. But here I am!

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to make an imaginary friend. I didn't do that exactly...

I made Tina for little Lotus Bud and it took me many months. I had waited until she was born so that I could match skin tones. I finally had her completed for her 1st birthday. It was the face that took me longest, not because it was difficult to do, but rather, I was hesitating because I wanted to do it just right. Turns out it was easy.

I made an outfit that would match Lotus Bud's birthday clothes.

Oh my goodness. She is so small in this photo. I'll have to post something more recent soon because she has grown so much. Lotus Bud is already defying me! I told her not to grow!

Next up: I made a summer outfit for Tina. Smart little crop pants and a sleeveless shirt.

Alas, winter is quickly approaching and Tina needed a new outfit. I decided to complete a warmer outfit for this week's Iron Craft challenge. I also had to fix Tina's eye.

I'm working on a sweater (for myself) so it was especially nice to take a break from it to knit up something quickly. I had already made the doll sweater earlier this year. Check out the colorwork!

There she is! All ready for the winter!

To tell the truth, it took a while for Lotus Bud to make friends with Tina but now Tina sleeps in her crib. I wouldn't say they are close friends, but I can say that Tina gets more kisses than I do. Although it is the cat that gets the most kisses. I swear she loves that cat more than anyone!

I named her Tina. When I was younger, I had heard my parents say that they were considering naming me Tina and for a large part of my childhood, I wished it was so. Tina is so much easier to say than Manisha.

So, I named Tina. I hope Lotus Bud doesn't mind.

Iron Craft: Sculptural

2011-08-03T08:38:00.000-05:00

"Oh dear..." is how Silvia commented when she read about this week's Iron Craft challenge. My thoughts exactly! Thank goodness for the Internet because without it I would have been at a total loss.

I decided to make this. Ambitious, I know. But I am Lotus and it is a lotus that I decided to make (please ignore the fact that it actually is a lily. I'm claiming it to be a lotus because I CAN).

This is a craft that I wouldn't have thought to do on my own. I'm glad I got challenged to do it because the whole time I was crafting I was thinking about what it will be like to do this with Lotus Bud one day. Probably sooner that I think because she grows fast and is much smarter that I thought little ones could be.

I struggled a bit with the assembly, then later the plastic wrap which was necessary for shaping the clay petals

The white stage is my favorite. I used air-dry clay because it seemed easier but I've had mixed feelings about this. On the one had it was good not having my oven on during this heat spell. But on the other hand, I had planned to have these lotus out on my patio but I'm not sure I can yet.

I had to make two because the first one didn't seem large enough. This second, larger one turned out better but the paint job is brighter than I like.

It's so not as pretty as I wanted it to be. I just knew that when I got to the painting that I would fail miserably. To my credit, it wasn't all that bad, just that it is not all that good. The Big D suggested I do a few more coats of paint, but honestly? I'm done with this craft. Well at least the painting part of it. I will do some more FIMO crafting but next time I will stick to one color.

Challenge #31. Done.

Now if only I could get back to regularly scheduled postings such as my letters to the Lotus Bud and my Lotus 52s project. One of these days I will. Hopefully it will be soon!

Iron Craft: Hot, Hot, Hot

2011-07-27T08:48:00.001-05:00

Oh man, was I ever craving these drinks during that crazy heat bubble that sat on top of Minnesota for a week. I had the limes from my CSA but not the time. Good thing limes last a while in the fridge so I was set up, just perfect, for this week's Iron Craft challenge.

I double checked and yes, indeed, one of the suggestions for this week's challenge was a cool cocktail!

I made margaritas! And they were yummy! The Big D decided he wanted a frozen one and I stuck with the on-the-rocks version. So yummy that I had two!

I admit that I need to tweak the recipe a little: 2 ounces tequila, 1 ounce triple sec, 1/2 ounce simple syrup and the juice of 2 fresh limes (+ ice). It will be fun working further on this recipe.

The think I learned this week? I hate those glasses. So the both of them are going into the donation box. I'm trying to de-clutter my tiny, little house and getting rid of these glasses will open up a lot of space in my cupboard.

What a fun challenge full of de-cluttering and intoxicating beverages!

Iron Craft: Button Up

2011-07-20T08:28:00.001-05:00

OK. So there are people that really like buttons. Then there are people who see buttons and think about all the shirts they need to mend and replace. I'm in the latter catogory. Granted there is a shirt or two that I shouldn't have anymore in my closet but I just can't seem to get rid of because of the awesome buttons.

And there is a shirt that no longer fits but has awesome buttons and one of which just recently fell off and it really should be thrown out but I just can't bear the thought of never having that shirt again so I will ramble on and on and try to forget that it needs to be tossed.

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to do something with buttons. As usual, I groaned. Then I got over it and went to work.

I made this:

My groaning is always pointless because I always enjoy the crafting. Does that say something neurotic about me? I hope not. Anyway I got the idea from here.

I made the bouquet on a really hot evening. I broke a sweat. But that was from the heat and not the work that went into the bouquet.

I love it so much I bought a shelf so that I can put this in the Lotus Bud's room! I might even re-do her whole room based on this Seussical button bouquet!

Iron Craft: Reuse [Baby Jars]

2011-07-12T23:19:00.003-05:00

I have too many baby jars. More than I'd like to admit because that admission would reveal that I hadn't made all the baby food for the little Lotus Bud. I did make a good amount of food, but we still use one jar of baby food a day. She gets a jar of prunes to keep her regular.

This week's Iron Craft challenge was the perfect opportunity to use up these jars.

This is going to be another one of those on-going projects for me. I was able to make three for this challenge and that number was limited by the amount of wire I had available. I got the copper wire from a neighbor and this pleased me because I was able to re-use all the materials for this project!

I plan to make more and hang them in the low lying branches that surround our firepit. Unfortunately we weren't able to to go out to our Airstream property this last weekend so the picture is from our city garden.

I'm so very glad I saved all those bottles instead of recycling them!

Iron Craft - Stars and Stripes

2011-07-06T07:54:00.001-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge should have come together really quick, but I was a little off my game considering I was being attacked by an army of mosquitoes and stalked by some tenacious deer flies. Seriously, at one point, there seemed to be a cavalry of mosquitoes prepared to conquer, a consolidated effort to suck my blood. Ugh.

So the effort took me two nights, but it got done. And I am mighty pleased!

Last week's craft project feel apart on the drive to our woodland Airstream retreat. The glue gun failed me. Perhaps because the glue wasn't appropriate for wood. Because of this I was able to reuse the crystal beads for this week's project.

The most fun was finding a place to hang the star. It inspired me to do more. I'm imagining many weekend evenings dedicated to making more of these, except from now on I will be using hemp twine to bind the twigs together.

The only unfortunate occurrence is that I got so caught up in binding, I was really delayed with dinner. We didn't eat until 10:30! But you know - everything tastes good when it's been cooked over a big campfire!

Iron Craft: Camp Craft

2011-06-29T13:35:00.000-05:00

Years ago, I was into making things from twigs. Mostly all that I had made were some decorative hanging that I had hung on some of the trees at our Airstream retreat property. Like many of the craft projects I do, I developed dreams of taking it to a grander scale. I'd make twig baskets, twig furniture, maybe even an arbor. I bought supplies, I bought books.

Of course, those grand dreams never materialized. I can never stick to one sort of project. I'm always moving on to something else.

So this week's Iron Craft challenge was a good return to something I've done before. Except this time I had a glue gun to make the process go much quicker. I added some small crystals in the middle of the twig diamonds that catch the sunlight.

It doesn't look like much in the picture and of course, it would be much to have been had a tree to hang it on. The Big D usually climbs a ladder to hang these. It's much more exciting to see them from below.

Iron Craft: Something For Him

2011-06-15T08:25:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to post about the Iron Craft challenge this week because it's for Him. The challenge was to create something to honor the wonderful men in our lives. For me - there is only one. The Big D.

He has been in my life for over 18 years, we've been married for 17 of those years. I spent my twenties with him, my thirties and now I'm starting off the 4th decade of my life with this incredible man. We've grown together in every way possible. The last big growth spurt has unfortunately been on our bodies. But I think he gets better looking everyday, whereas me? Well, let's just say, bigger looking, ok?

I knew he would be a good father. And he is. More so than I could have ever imagined. The great thing is that I still feel he is a husband to me, meaning we haven't let the new addition to our family completely take over our relationship.

So I had to craft something for him, in addition to the Father's Day gift I bought. I had fun!

I found this fun, easy-to-make, cut-out frame here. The frame was really easy to make, however, getting the right size photos were a bit of a hassle. I just printed them on regular printer paper so there was virtually no cost. I recycled my mistakes.

After I had it all assembled, I decided I had to do another craft. Except this one was just sort of a funky, quirky little thing. Just a little something fun. Jeez. Have I said "fun" enough times yet?

This photo is intriguing, isn't it? Believe me - I made something out that discarded cardboard box. Yes, I admit, sometimes I make rice out of a box. It's only when I make some rice to go with burritos or tacos. I haven't found the right recipe yet. I sure am glad I did last week because that's the only box of that kind I'd ever have in my house. I pray that Lotus Bud doesn't get into a mac-n-cheese kick someday. Fingers crossed.

See? Fun. I found the idea here.

Oh, yeah, so I never finished telling why I wasn't going to post about this week's challenge. I didn't want him to find out. When I casually mentioned this to him, he assured me that he'd hold off reading the blog until Sunday. See how awesome he is?

The Big D. The man I love. The father of my child. Awesome!

24 - Another Flower

2011-06-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

Iron Craft: You Are Here

2011-06-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

I have a ton of maps. I have maps in my Jeep, I have maps hanging on my walls, I have maps crammed into my shelves. This week's Iron Craft challenge was leading right up my alley and into my backdoor. Where it promptly got stalled.

I was really hoping this week's challenge would lead to some creative genius idea which would allow me to do something with all those maps I've been collecting for all these decades (yes, I have that many).

I don't know if it's the warm weather or the lingering daylight that's got me crafting much less these days. It just now (in this very moment) occured to me that it IS because of the change in seasons that has me occupied with other things. I've have all these plain white onesies waiting to be altered for the Lotus Bud.

You know where this is going, right?

Yep, I made another shirt for the Shunkins.

I have a deep, abiding love for Lake Superior. I've spent many a special occasion on the Lake Shore. I've spent many days and nights camping up there. Many weeks in vacation condos during the winter months. I have experienced the Lake from the Minnesota side, the Wisconsin shore and this last vacation of ours was spent on Michigan's Keweenaw Pennisula.

I simply had to something map-related with Lake Superior.

I do have many maps of the Lake. I have the circle driving map, a map of the depths of the Lake, a map of all the shipwrecks, etc, etc. However I could not use any of these. So, I found a map online and printed it on some iron-on transfer paper, then ironed it onto the onesie.

Next time I head to Lake Superior is going to really special because not only do I get to spend more time on that spectacular body of water, but I will also get to see this little girl run around on the lake shore.

23 - Bright Columbine

2011-06-06T16:22:00.000-05:00

Finally the April showers have brought about the June flowers. The neighborhood is a bloom with bright color!

Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

2011-06-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

This Rogue bottle of beer is a big ass bottle and it has been sitting in my fridge since last Fall. I have a small fridge. The big bottle took up a lot of space for far too long.

Why haven't I sampled it yet?

I stopped drinking beer last Fall in an effort to lose some weight - too many carbs. I still really enjoy beer and when we visit a place that brews beer I have to buy some. I've got quite a few varieties from our trip to the Keweenaw Pennisula.

Also, I admit I got a little scared. I picked a few microbrews from my local liquor store and I hit just one too many that were not to my taste.

And so the Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout sat in the corner of my fridge for months and months. Yet every time I opened the fridge there was Shakespeare tipping his hat to me as if to entice and seduce.

I resisted. Until tonight.

But I should say I only opened it because we have to simmer some uncooked brats in beer before they go on the grill for tonight's dinner. I forgot to pick up some cheap beer for this purpose. It being Sunday and all and since I live in Minnesota, there is no beer to be had on this sunny, warm June day.

Did I mention it's a big ass bottle? I don't need all that beer for the brats so I poured myself a glass, remembered I had this Lotus List, and decided to live a little.

The Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout is made by Rogue and they use no chemical, additives or preservatives. Yikes! I guess I got lucky that the beer is still fresh.

It was a beautiful, creamy pour with a tan, foamy head. We're off to a good start!

The beer is very dark, Rogue calls it "ebony."

I stuck my nose down into the glass but was not able to distinguish a particular aroma. The Big D claims he smelled something chocolaty, something nutty. I need to fine tune my senses here, for sure.

I had a smooth sip that coated my tongue. It left a slightly bitter, slightly nutty aftertaste, but then mellowed out meaning the bitterness was gone after a few minutes. That I like.

After about 5-6 tastes I caught hold of something very, slightly fruity on my tongue - ahh, me thinks that tis the character that names the beer well.

I found myself watching the bubbles gently on the surface. The remaining bubbles seemed to collect in the glass which at first seemed to me like a galaxy of stars. But after they settled, I looked down into the glass and saw islands. Seriously, no. I'm not drunk. Yet.

There it is - Friends, Bloggers, Beer-drinkers. The Rogue Oatmeal Stout was slightly bitter, slightly fruity, all good - exactly like Shakespeare to me! It was well named indeed.

22 - Fluff

2011-06-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

Should the dandelion be classified as a weed? While there are many medicinal and culinary uses for the dandelion, many people think of them as pesky and worrisome, spending many hours and possibly dollars extracting these yellow flowers. I like that it goes through stages and this last stage is my favorite.

Swinger

2011-06-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

Dear Lotus Bud,

I haven't managed to write my monthly letters to you. I've missed four months, I think. So perhaps I'll try a different format.

I should offer another apology. I'm so, so sorry that I hadn't taken you to the parks in our neighborhood. Well, actually, I took you to the parks, only I didn't introduce you to the true joy of the park.

You had your first taste of a swing. A swing in the bright sunshine of a late Spring day.

You were skeptical at first.

You looked at me like I was fool.

But I just knew you would like it...eventually.

I was ready with my camera to catch that first smile.

After that, you needed to inspect the situation a little more.

You looked very closely at every aspect of this swing.

Finally, the situation met your approval.

And then the true fun began!

We haven't missed a day since!

Iron Craft: Al Fresco

2011-06-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

I took the simple route for this week's Iron Craft challenge. I decided to do one of the craft projects suggested on the site, a craft featured on Dollar Store Crafts. Except I did something much simpler than what was featured. Go look at the pretty paper lanterns and be impressed. They are great, mine are not.

The only impressive thing I did was to use all materials I had on hand and so I managed to use up left over scraps of cardstock and the one remaining roll of ribbon in my home. I also used some of the glitter I bought for a previous week's project.

My intention was to take these paper lanterns and hang them in the trees at our Airstream retreat property in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, it rained when we were there and on top of that, our power kept cutting out because of all the humidity so we left the very evening on the day we arrived. Temps were going to dip down into the 30s that night and so too cold for the Lotus Bud.

We finally got a sunny, but windy day down in the City. The bonus of being home for the long holiday weekend was that I got to work on my garden/yard!

Looking forward to the next challenge and hopefully by then, I won't be so tired out and ready to something more interesting!

Iron Craft: Where We Come From

2011-05-25T13:20:00.000-05:00

As I said in my last Iron Craft post, participating in this awesome group has facilitated a number of unexpected discoveries about my cultural background. I have strengthened my relationship with my mother who is sadly moving soon to Florida. I've tried some crafts and learned new techniques that were in small ways similar to Gujarati art and culture.

Gujarat is a state on the Western coast of India. The part of the family that still lives there are in a little farming town called Ghala.

I hesitated doing something that was distinctly Gujurati. To be honest, that's a little daunting. I can't catch up on thousands of years of cultural development in a one week challenge.

I did try. I photocopied an embroidery pattern and then used transfer paper to put it on a onesie. After an hour of working at it, I realized I would never get this project done. Also the fabric was slippy and not so easy to work.

I decided to switch gears.

I have this old photo of my mother and myself as a baby. It was taken 39 years ago in the little town where she lived while waiting to be reunited with my father. I love this photo. In it she has roses in her hair. She used to love roses and her family had rose bushes near their house. She told me that she would put roses in her hair as often as possible, smelling their sweet scent all day long as she attended school. Apparently my father wouldn't let her plant rose bushes when they moved to the States. I don't exactly know why. Maybe he thought they were decadent or frivolous. Still to this day she does not have roses in her garden.

See why I had to use this photo?

I love that there is a mirror on the left side of this photo. It shows some of curls in my hair although my hair wasn't as curly as my little Lotus Bud. Also I feel like I recognize my mother in the mirror image, more so than the young, very thin women in the forefront of the photo. See the bracelets on me, the little baby? My grandmother took some of her own gold jewlery, had it melted down, and made into bracelets for me. I have those and really must make a point of taking more pictures of Lotus Bud wearing them.

I scanned in the photo and had to do some touch-up because there was a tear in the top center. It's not perfect but it is way better than it was when I scanned it in. I printed the photo onto some photo transfer paper which was then ironed onto a dress I made for the Lotus Bud.

Before I could print, I had select some other images to print out on the 8 x 11 iron-on transfer paper. Those were $7.99 for only three sheets. Thankfully I had a 40% off coupon but still it feels ridiculously expensive. I didn't want to waste any of it even if I don't get to using those other images right away.

I wanted to do another dress because this would allow me to continue working on my sewing skills. Sewing is something I hope to do more of as the Lotus Bud gets older. I think hand-made clothes are so much better than store-bought ones.

Although this isn't a Gujarati art or craft project, it definitely shows where I come from. I was born not far away from the town where this photo was taken. And I love the idea that Lotus Bud can wear us on her dress!

21 - Urban Chicken

2011-05-24T14:25:00.001-05:00

20 - Bete Grise Mailboxes

2011-05-20T09:54:00.001-05:00

Imagine living in this small of a town? Sounds dreamy, doesn't it?

19 - The Yurts

2011-05-20T08:51:00.003-05:00

Some yurts at Mount Bohemia in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Apparently they serve some fine, upscale food in these yurts (see the end of the video for examples).

18 - Lake Harriet

2011-05-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

One day last week it was warm and beautiful. Just one day. I'm so glad I got to walk around Lake Harriet!

17 - First Sign of Spring

2011-05-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

Unfurling hostas signal to me that Spring is finally here.

16 - Cotton Balls in the Sky

2011-05-19T08:41:00.001-05:00

These clouds were amazing but they did not deliver the heavy storm that I was expecting.

--- --- ---

I'm behind on posting my photos. These next few days is all about catching up.

Iron Craft: To a Tee

2011-05-18T07:20:00.004-05:00

Iron Craft challenge #20 was to redo/upcycle a T-shirt.

Yah, sure I could have done a freezer paper stencil. That's right, I could have taken the easy way out. Easy for me, that is. I've been doing freezer paper stencils since Lotus Bud was born. Sounds impressive, right? She's only 15 months old so it hasn't been all that long.

Instead I seriously considered doing something a little special for me. Then I remembered I look awful in t-shirts. Even worse now that my body is a bit bigger, not to mention the big breastfeeding boobs lying behind that piece of cotton.

No t-shirt upcycle for me.

I did have a few t-shirts sitting around that I had planned to stencil for myself. Instead I used them to work out at the gym, but that quickly stopped when I was reminded of how awful I looked in t-shirts. They've been sitting around, crowding my drawer.

I ended up doing a sewing project for the Lotus Bud. I got there in a wind-y fashion, jumping from one website to another. Jeez, I love the internet when I need to find a craft project. I found this site on re-doing t-shirts, from there moved to this site which had awesome instructions for making toddler dresses. I went to my mother's house on Friday to get some help sewing and to use her sewing machine. Realized early on that I was going to have to find an alternative to sewing on the roses, so I turned to the craft people at Iron Craft for inspiration. Linda at laf...artsin' and craftsin' had made fabric rosette bookmarks for last week's challenge and thankfully, included the link to instructions that required no sewing, just fabric adhesive (at Skip to my Lou).

Still with me? Are following you me down this yellow brick road to the Craft City otherwise known as the Internet?

I started my searching and deciding and cutting on Thursday. Good-bye old t-shirt!

I used a dress that I had bought from Target for the pattern.

Right away I knew I had chosen wisely.

Friday it was off to my mother's house. I don't know how to sew so she had to give me a quick tutorial and a lot of help.

Lotus Bud loved the strips of cloth I had cut for the flowers. At this point, I realized I had to head home, so no sewing the flowers. I'm so glad I had found Linda's site yet I had no idea whether it would work for me.

But it did! And I am so glad!

Here's a close up of the flower.

Here's Lotus Bud in her new dress! The neck is a little bit big, but I can correct that in the next dress.

She's so cute, I had to show another picture.

This turned out to be a real fun project and it's just starting to get warm enough for her to wear. I can't wait to make more. If it weren't for the Iron Craft challenges I never would have learned to do this.

--- --- ---
My mother has had her sewing machine for as long as I can remember. Turns out she bought it in 1978. I was 7 years old. When she moves to Florida, I think I get it so I want to learn as much as I can while she's still here.

From my perspective, she's always been sewing. Granted not so much lately, but I remember she used to sew me clothes when I was younger and more recently, she made me a diaper bag. I never before asked her how she started sewing. It was an interesting story.

Right after she married my father in India, he returned to the States to finish his Master's degree. He gave himself six weeks to find a bride and get married before leaving India again. Crazy, isn't it?

She decided to enroll in a sewing class. Her father bought her a sewing machine at which she had to stand in order to work it with her foot. I can just picture her standing there working the pedal, although I have no idea what such a sewing machine would look like.

One day she was walking in the bazaar and found a dress for me (I promptly came along 9 months after my father had left India) but it was 7 rupees and the way she tells it, she says that although it wasn't a lot of money, she just didn't want to pay for it. So she went home and tore up a pair of her brother's old trousers and made me a dress. I wish she still had that dress.

I wonder how many dresses she made for me when I was a little baby. How many did she bring with her when she moved to Toronto to be with my Dad? He had emigrated there after school and a couple years later, we moved to Pennsylvania.

Later in the States, my parents bought the Singer because they wanted to reupholster an old couch. That was one year after my sister was born.

Am I drawn to sewing because of something genetic in me? The experiences I had with my mother? No doubt that it is because of my mother. And, I'm grateful that we were able to connect in this way, making a dress together for my daughter, her granddaughter.

Rock on, Iron Craft! You and all your crafters have brought so many unexpected joys to my life! I am struck by how many of these unexpected discoveries have had to do with my cultural background, something that always stood thousands of miles away from me, all the way on the other side of the planet.

Mama Karma

2011-05-16T07:12:00.001-05:00

Baby got new shoes today. From REI. Then the Big D found a pair he liked and it was the same brand - Keen. So I thought "oh hell, I'm not going to be left out on a new pair of shoes" so I ended up finding a pair of sandals in the same brand. The whole family got new shoes.

From REI. At least we'll get that 10% dividend.

Next year. Just in time for another new round of shoes.

See my toes painted in blue? It scares the crap out of Lotus Bud when I wiggle my big toe at her. Am I bad because I think this is hilarious? Nope. And, so I keep on doing it. Besides, I know she'll get me back some day.

Sometimes I think she's already plotting her revenge!

CSA Recap #1

2011-05-15T17:56:00.010-05:00

As usual, I'm off to a good start with this year's CSA. I always start off good but when the boxes get more full and loaded, I start seeking a new spot to start a compost hole. No, come on, it's not all that bad, but there have been days when I've resented having all this wonderful, incredible, local produce delivered right to my neighborhood just a day after harvest. I write this so that I can remind myself that I'm lucky and blessed to have access to this food that truly taste better than anything I've bought at a store, co-op included in this. Right now I am grateful and I'm really going to try to stay that way. Did I mention we signed up for the fruit share?

This season has started off with a lot of soy, cream, butter and cheese. I'm still breastfeeding but the Baby Lotus Bud no longer has the skin reactions she used to get when I consumed any and all dairy products and soy. And - surprise, surprise - I don't seem to be lactose intolerant anymore. I don't know how it happened, but being pregnant sure changed my body and this case, for the better.

The first box had parsnips, black radish, ramps, overwintered spinach, sorrel, russian kale, sunchokes, chives, and (dried) red (super) chilis.

Straight up I have to tell you, again, I do not like parsnips. They smell foul to me when I cook them. I kept them around and steamed a couple up for Lotus Bud. She ate them, could be because I mixed them with broccoli and apple sauce. [yes, she still eats purred food and yes, that's driving me nuts. I wish should would eat more whole foods and sometimes she does, but she always starts with some purred.]

We had a spinach salad with the black radish, which I thought were too dry and a little too much kick. Maybe too bold and spicy for my taste, at least when it's raw.

We had the sunchokes on Mother's Day and I roasted them, even though I technically wasn't supposed to be cooking. I sprinkled them with both turmeric and hing (asafoetida) in hopes of, you know, cutting down the gas factor. Did it work? Let me just say it was a bit windy in NE Minneapolis on Mother's Day.

Also on Mother's Day I made ramp deviled eggs.

In the middle of the week I made the pasta primavera recipe that came with the CSA newsletter. Included in this recipe was the black radish (much better), ramps, spinach and kale. Used up all the kale! Whew!

The chives were chopped up into some sour cream for a dip that the Big D loves.

I used the sorrel to make a cream sauce for some cod. The house still smells of cod, but the meal was good.

Finally, I used up the rest of spinach in another cream sauce to put over baked chicken.

Now all that remains is one black radish, some more chives and the dried chilis which I'm waiting on them getting dryer so that we can crush them up.

No CSA this week as this year again we opted for the every other week box and I'm glad not to have to mess with the nettles. I always hurt myself on those suckers!

Iron Craft: Spring Contest

2011-05-11T07:54:00.000-05:00

We were out of town last week. In the Keweenaw peninsula up in UP Michigan, in that upper, northern little peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior. So I did not craft and I missed it. I brought my craft supplies with me, I was planning to do another embroidery project. But I never got the time and I am sort of glad about that.

What I really am happy about is that I didn't miss the Spring Contest week. I fantasize (yes, fantasize is the right word) about winning Iron Craft contests, but I know that I am not that talented, or else, I don't hit the mark on the particular contest weeks.

Anyway, so this week's Iron Craft challenge is to do something Spring. And it's a contest with voting and all. Go, and vote, my friends.

I had picked up a book from the library called The Big-Ass Book of Crafts (by Mark Montano) and while it is a big-ass book, I didn't see a whole lot of projects that I could pull off. I did however see this one project and fell in love with it: a 3-D Blossom Box. I lusted (and again, lusted is the right word) over this project idea. This week's challenge seemed the perfect time to try it.

Another thing I should mention is that we did not come home until Saturday. So, I started a bit late. Thankfully I still had the library book at home, but I didn't have a few essential crafting tools. I didn't have a glue gun nor any glitter. I had plenty of dogwood branches in my back yard, but I didn't have the right color cardstock for the flowers. I headed to the craft store after hours of driving home from our vacation. I bought the necessary items and actually felt quite energized about doing all this. Then I realized the glue gun I bought did not work.

Arrggghhh!

So I gave it up for the night and went back to the craft store on Mother's Day.

OK, Lotus, cut to the picture...

How do you like that? Huh?

I love it!

It reminds me of spring blossoms that are now abundant in my neighborhood - a month late, but thankfully, they are finally here.

OK, so a word about glue guns. This was my first one, well actually, my second one since the first one I bought was bunk.

Hello glue gun! Where have you been all my life? Loved it! LOVED it!

And, the glitter? Not a fan of glitter. But this project pops with the glitter in the center of the flowers and on the branches, don't you think?

Thanks Mark Montano! You've unleashed some new passions in my life. And now that I am less than 20 days from my 40th birthday, I think that means a lot. It took me nearly 40 years, but now - NOW - I have a glue gun!

Ready to Ramp it Up!

2011-05-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

It's Mother's Day and yes, I'm cooking. Just a little bit. The Big D is making dinner tonight but I couldn't help myself. I had to cook up a little bit of something. It's that CSA. Each year starts with a lot of energy on my part.

I figure that happens for two reasons.
1. The boxes are still small and manageable. I get excited about the few delicious produce items in the box and not overwhelmed with the summer abundance.
2. Local, Spring foods contain all those good things we need to clear up the weighty, heavy winter-induced toxins from our system. I always feel full of energy eating this highly nutritious stuff from the CSA, and I'm sure my body and mind are both responding favorably to the Spring clean-up.

So what did I cook today? I made some ramp deviled eggs. The recipe is from Chef Boni at the Harmony Valley Farm.

Not pretty, but pretty yummy! Although the ramps weren't as sharp and biting as I thought they would be. Not complaining, just reporting the facts as I see them.

Here's the recipe:

Ramp Deviled Eggs - Serves 2 - Recipe by Chef Bonita

3 eggs, boiled and cooled
3 tbsp ramp bulbs, finely chopped. Reserve the greens for garnish
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard (yellow or dijon)
salt and pepper to taste

1-Slice the eggs from top to bottom and remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a bowl and place the egg white halves
on a plate.
2-To the yolks, add the other five ingredients and mix well with a fork.
3-Spoon the mixture into the egg white halves.
4-To serve, place the finished deviled eggs on a bed of raw ramp greens. Chiffonade a couple ramp greens and
sprinkle on top of eggs for garnish.

Tomorrow I'm going to add a bunch of ramps to a spring pasta primavera (yet another recipe from Chef Boni). I'm done with my carb fast (don't ask) and ready to return to a world with pasta. Coincidentally, Cook's Illustrated just had an article about pasta primavera so I think that's another cue for me.

Have you read Cook's Illustrated? A friend mentioned it to me and now I'm hooked!

One last use for ramps: Ramp Compound Butter. Man, am I excited about this one. We plan to head back up the Airstream retreat next weekend and I'm going to brave the wood ticks and forage til my heart is content. Then, I'm going to haul those ramps back to the city and whip up some of this butter. Oh, yes I am!

Back and Ready to Start the CSA!

2011-05-07T21:20:00.002-05:00

Hey, y'all! I've been out of town, but truthfully, I've been a bit out of touch with this whole blogging business lately. Now that I'm back from my vacation, I'm rejuvenated and ready to blog. And, on top of all that, my neighbor kindly picked up our first CSA delivery for us while we were gone (and he didn't take any for himself), so I returned to a couple of shelves full of awesome, organic vegetables grown right here in this region - local, y'all. OK, so it is from the next state over, but that's still considered local to me.

I was even happy to see the parsnips! Seriously - I must be delirious or something, got CSA fever to be saying I was happy to see the parsnips.

There's a new chef on the farm and already she's got me excited. She cooks for a crew of 45 and she blogs about it here. I love that she posts her menus, just like Kat.

So, why do I like her? Well, she wrote a recipe for deviled eggs in the HVF newsletter. It's a recipe that includes ramps. I'm new to deviled eggs. I just tried my first sometime in the week before last with a friend when we spent the evening at Psycho Suzi's. Having grown up with this comfort food, my friend had said that she will order it anytime she sees it on the menu. But, Chef Boni's deviled eggs include ramps! I think I already mentioned that, but ramps have such a short season that I get excited to try new recipes with them. Another bonus - the recipe is for two - perfect!

Did I tell you that I have my own vast supply of ramps at the Airstream retreat? We were just there and they (the ramps) were growing everywhere. I've said before that ramps seem like little emerald jewels poking up in the Spring - a sure sign that Spring is finally here in the Midwest!

I've got lots to share - our trip up the Keweenaw Peninsula, our night at the Airstream retreat, and the joy of the first CSA box. Also, I'm so overdue with the letters to the Baby Lotus Bud. Got lots to do and am definitely going to do it all.

I'll write more soon. Thanks for stopping by!
Love,
Lotus

Iron Craft: Wedding

2011-04-26T22:21:00.005-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to do a wedding related project. It was inspired by the royal wedding that's going to happen this weekend. Dang I remember when Diana got married. Wasn't that some thirty years ago?

The Big D and I (sort of) eloped. We didn't get very far though. We ended up at a courthouse here in Minnesota with a few witnesses. We told our families the next day. It was exciting and emotional and somewhat dramatic. It set the tone for our marriage. We've had many adventures, just the two of us.

About a month later, the Big D's sister-in-law threw a little party for us and this is the place where we got a photo. The ones from the night of our marriage ceremony did not turn out so I was really, really happy to have gotten this one photo.

We look so naive and young in the photo!

Sometimes I have regrets for not having a bigger wedding. Just being honest. I'm all into ritual and ceremony, dresses and flowers, invitations and dinner settings.

So, I decided to do an elopement announcement for us two. I used that photo I mentioned here and I'm happy that I did this. It did a lot to heal those feelings of regret.

Apparently we made the right decision because we've been married now for 17 years!

We didn't have a honeymoon either. The very next day, he was back at work and I was in a composition class at the University. But, I can happily say most all our anniversaries have felt like honeymoons.

I love that man!

Iron Craft: Money, Money, Money

2011-04-20T13:16:00.004-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge turned out to be a pretty special project for me. The challenge was to create something with money (in recognition of US tax day).

I picked coins from all the countries where I have lived and tried a Gujarati embroidery technique. I am Gujarati and I have always - always - admired the embroidery that includes mirrors and metals that is so distinctive of the region. Turns out it was not so difficult to do.

Although it did take me a while to get the technique down in a way that I was satisfied. I was busy because I also had a knitting project I had complete for a Naming Ceremony gift that had to be finished by Sunday. But this was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

I was born in India, then moved to Canada with my mother to join my father who was already there. We then moved to Pennsylvania. In the eighties we moved out to Minnesota. I returned to India for a few years during high school, then back to Minnesota where I met my husband and bought a home.

I used all these country and state coins and embroidered them into a circle in an order that represents my multiple moves across the globe and back again.

The center coin is a Sacagawea coin and I chose that one because my mother always uses them in her Laxshmi pujas (she is the goddess of prosperity). I get a kick out the fact that she chooses a coin that has an Indian on it, even if it is a different kind of Indian.

I feel like I am always searching for my "thing". That craft that represents me and my history. I may have found it. Since starting this project, I have picked up a few books on Indian embroidery from the library. Perhaps this will be the "thing" I do to earn some extra income. Maybe. Hopefully. I loved doing this project and look forward to doing more!

-----------------------------------
I forget to add this earlier. Here is a good tutorial for working the coins!

Iron Craft: Peep Art

2011-04-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to make something involving Peeps.

I'm shameless when it comes to searching the internet for craft ideas. Especially if the challenge is something I've never thought to craft with before, like Peeps.

There really are some fun and clever craft projects that involve Peeps. But, many of them required a large number of Peeps and I just did not want that much sugar in my house. It's been over a decade since I've had a Peep. Right now I'm on a carb-free diet (mostly carb-free) and having a large number of Peeps in the house would drive me nuts.

I was very happy to find this project here.

I really like how this turned out.

I bought the box frame at the thrift store. I paid a bit more than other stuff I buy at the thrift store. I've wanted a frame like this for years, so shelling out the $5 was no problem. When I'm through with looking at the Peeps, I can pop them right out and move on to another project with the frame.

And, in case you are wondering, I managed to eat only that bit that was bit off for the project. I promptly walked the halved Peeps and the remainders over to my neighbor's house and gave it to his son.

Challenge done. Week 15. I'm feeling good about meeting these challenges!

15 - A Pavillion Fit for the Loon

2011-04-12T22:33:00.003-05:00

If you've been reading this blog, you know that every year I try to get to Stillwater, MN to capture some pictures of the spring floods. You can see previous years photos here and here.

The Lotus 52s is about capturing a new photo each week. However, I may choose to show a series of flood pictures for a few weeks.

Iron Craft: Wish You Were There

2011-04-06T12:57:00.005-05:00

Wish I was there! Anywhere! Been trying to plan a trip this Spring but haven't been able to pull it off. Instead I've been focusing on this Week's Iron Craft challenge.

The challenge was to create a postcard. I ended up making five: four for a series and one on it's own. I found some lovely Inuit Art on my set of Word clipart and paired them with quotes. I chose birds and decided to call the series "The Return of the Lonely Bird." They are sort of melancholy.

I like these so much that I think I am going to make them bigger and frame them. It was inspiring, actually. We are going to sell our house and buy a larger in the area. Our home is very small, just perfect for the childless couple we were in the 14 years we've lived here. But now we need something a bit bigger. And this week's challenge made me very excited about the prospects. I have a few other pieces of Inuit Art I bought up in Grand Marais, MN so I'm imaging a whole room full!

I couldn't find any happier, livelier quotes so I had to settle for these darker phrases.

The Loon is Minnesota's state bird. I love hearing loon calls coming from the lakes and rivers.

It was this Raven that started the whole series. Of course, I love ravens so much I gave the name to my child (it's her middle name).

But, this is my favorite card. I love the message. So true!

The Baby Lotus Bud couldn't keep her hands off them!

I intended to do a whole Hafiz series. I don't consider myself a religious person, but spirituality plays a big part of my life. I admire the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi and hoped to use their words for these postcard creations. However, most of my ideas fell apart during production. I had these stamp-like things that are from Afghanistan and I tried to put ink on them for imprints behind the quotes. It didn't work and as I went to rinse the ink off them, I realized that the material used to make these stamps was staining my hands. These stamps are used to make batik prints and it works well on cloth, but not on paper.

I learned a lot through the process and hope to able to craft something a bit later.

Anyway, so here is a better look at it.

This week's challenge was great fun! There is even a postcard swap. I guess I'll have to pick one to part with.

Did you notice I got away from the knitting for a week? Yeah me!

14- The Snow is Gone

2011-04-04T22:01:00.000-05:00

Woohoo!

Iron Craft: Best in Show

2011-03-30T13:14:00.005-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was animal/pet related. I am more than a little ticked at my cats right now so crafting something for them was completely off the table.

Here are a few things I discovered about myself this week:

1. I am totally enamoured with amigurumi! I'm so excited about this new aspect of knitting in my life.

2. I have a lot of birthday parties coming up so I've got to get knitting some amigurumi.

3. I have turned Iron Craft into Iron Knit. So I went and requested a bunch of craft books from the library to get some other sorts of crafty inspirations.

4. I didn't realize that metal double-pointed knitting needles come in packs of four. I've always gotten the bamboo that come in packs of five needles. I spent an hour last Friday night looking for my "missing" metal needle. Argh.

5. I think I have way too much fun setting up photo shoots for my knit animals.

6. I'm definitely a two stick girl. I had to try a bit of crochet this week and it wasn't pretty.

7. I totally have a thing for elephants.

Meet Ella and Phante!

This was such a fun project! I found the pattern here. I am so making these for all the babies in my life that are turning 1 year old in the next few months. I'm so excited because I can knit one of these up in two nights and that gives me plenty of time to personalize them and continue with Iron Craft challenges and still care for the Baby Lotus Bud and get the house ready to put on the market and possible laundry and dishes, too! Do you think I have too much going on?

See what I mean about the photo shoot? I actually considered taking Ella and Phante to the Como Conservatory just so I could something a bit more elaborate. I think cabin fever is reaching peak levels.

I also had to add here Cornelia the Crab because I'm just so dang proud of her! I've been wanted to make Cornelia for a year now and while it did take me several weeks and therefore outside the scope of the Iron Craft challeges, I just had to share. Cornelia was named after the Cornelia Marie, a Deadliest Catch crab boat who happened to be steered by my favorite crab boat captain - Captain Phil Harris.

This is where I found the crab pattern and looking again at the pattern I see why I got excited about the earlier photo shoots.

Next week, I am really going to try hard to do something other than a knit project, something a little more crafty!

13 - The tracks...

2011-03-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

...leading towards Spring.

Iron Craft - Lucky

2011-03-23T08:07:00.000-05:00

I struggled with coming up with an idea for this week's Iron Craft challenge. I pouted because not only was I not feeling particularly lucky, but I just couldn't come up with an idea.

I found on the internet a number of things that are lucky throughout the world. But I had just done a project with a dragonfly and with an elephant (the ganpati om). So I pouted some more. I even went on to the comments page of Iron Craft and pouted there.

I considered skipping this week.

Finally Friday night I decided to cross-stitch something. I had a very old set of baby patterns from literally 20 years ago. I had made some towels for a baby shower.

I suppose cross-stitching was my first serious venture into craft. No, wait, I think there was a couple of months in my teens where I did some latch-hook crazy thing. Remember latch-hooking?

So the thing that was different in this decade of cross-stitching was that I did it on a bib rather than on a item that one can buy at the fabric store that already has the cross-stitch fabric on it. I had to buy the waste canvas and a bit of interfacing. I'd never done this before so it was a nice little challenge to myself.

Yes, that old bib is stained and dirty. That's why it's all folded up for the photo.

I sure wished I'd had my twenty-year old eyes. This was definitely harder in the months before my 40th birthday.

But it got done. Sort of.

I had a slight problem getting the waste canvas out. So I ended up trimming it all.

Still it got done.

There she is!

I suddenly realized that I AM lucky! I am lucky to have HER in my life!

2011-03-22T20:36:00.004-05:00

This year and this blog has been consumed with the Baby Lotus Bud and with Iron Craft. I think about posting other things, but I can't seem to find the time. I'm two months behind on letters to the Lotus Bud. Life with her is intense now that she's mobile. It's like a tornado hits this home twice a day.

What did I ever do before she arrived? Huh?

I blogged, I crafted, I cooked, I wrote, I took photos.

Honestly - I want some of that life back! I know I still blog, craft, cook, write and take photos. But it never seems to exactly what I want to do. Just being honest here.

I feel like I've become this boring, very predictable nearly 40-year old crazy lady.

I know I keep harping on the 40 year old thing, but dang-it! I'm turning 40! I thought I would be way more fun and interesting than this!

12 - Old Man Winter

2011-03-22T19:58:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know it's a Buddha, but doesn't he look like Old Man Winter with that hoar frost on his head?

Iron Craft - (mostly) Green

2011-03-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was "Green." Not green as in environmental sustainability, but the color green. BUT, and there always seems to be a but, doesn't it? BUT, I did need a plastic bag holder in this house, specifically in the baby room (and as it turns out I need one at our Airstream retreat for similar reasons) and so, that is the saga of how my green color project ended up being a green, re-use project. We re-use plastic grocery bags for all the dirty diapers.

So, real quick because it's late and I've got lots to do tonight and we've (the baby and I) got have a really early morning tomorrow. So, real quick, here it is.

This was a good project for me because I had a skein of bamboo green yarn that I had picked up for 97 cents at the fabric store ready and waiting for me to knit up. Another good thing about this project is that I pulled out knitting needles from when I first started knitting so the whole time I was knitting I was thinking about those memories from years ago.

Yet another reason why this was a good project was that I got to use one of the knitting bags I made from last week's project to store my materials for this week's project.

And since my little Lotus Bud is like a daily tornado that hits my home, having a place to keep my project safe keeps me from storing my supplies in the basement to keep them safe from the tornado. She's so quick! You see the reason why I don't take many photos of her these days?

OK. Here is the pattern. I followed the pattern. Sort of. I didn't actually have the necessary needles and just made do with what I had. The pattern states that approximately 200 yards of yarn were needed for this project. I only had about 100 yards. I'm new to this whole "adapting the pattern for my own purposes" and thought that I would not have enough green yarn for this green challenge. I opted to start with purple and switched to green for the body of bag. Turns out I could have used green for the whole project because remember? I used different size needles, smaller needles to be specific.

Anyway, so it all worked out. The pattern suggested 10 inches, but I ended up doing more than 20 inches. And yet, the final product still wasn't big enough for all the freaking bags that I have. I have way too many bags.

Yep. Bag lady. That's me. Maybe I should change the name of this blog. Hmmmmm. Makes me wanna sing some Erika Badu.

OK. Gotta go. Happy Wednesday, y'all!

11 - Which Side of the Tracks

2011-03-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

I live near the tracks. Is it the wrong side of the tracks? Maybe. I think of it as the near side of the tracks. The near side of history. And the future, really, if you know that the commuter rail uses the same set of tracks.

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

Iron Craft: Fat Quarter (or All My Friends are in New Orleans and All I've Got is This Fat Quarter)

2011-03-09T07:57:00.000-06:00

I've got friends down in New Orleans right now. And I was planning a trip down there for April. I turn 40 this year and my good friend just turned 40, so we thought we would meet in New Orleans to celebrate. But now I'm not sure I want to go. I'm not sure I can leave the Baby Lotus Bud behind. I never, ever thought I would feel this way and yet there it is.

Anyway, so, on to this week's Iron Craft challenge. If you follow that link, you'll see why I am moaning about New Orleans.

Fat Quarters. I happened to have one left from a previous week's challenge.

97 cents, y'all! Can't get any better than that!

There were so many wonderful ideas for this project. But sadly my talents didn't match my aspirations nor did I have the time to try out some new technique. Or so I thought, but here I am getting ahead of myself.

I bought this knitting bag a couple of years ago and I paid $12.95 for it. It's comes in very handy. I put all that I need for whichever knitting project I am working on into this bag.

And what do ya know? It's just happens to be about the same size as a fat quarter.

I whipped one up pretty easily and decided to do a freezer paper stencil on it.

This first one turned out a bit slimmer than I expected so I decided to make another. I bought a batik fat quarter ($1.99) and came up with plans for the second freezer paper stencil.

I started seeing Ganpati Oms around town, in a yoga studio, on t-shirts, on the internet. Immediately when I saw one I knew there would come a day when I would craft it into a project.

That day finally arrived. It was last Friday, in case you were wondering.

For such a momentous day, freezer paper stencils weren't going to cut it. I only had black and brown fabric paint and knew those colors would not stand out in the way that I wanted. And I did not want to go back again to the fabric store.

So I decided to give embroidery a try.

OK. So it's not "perfect" but I am feeling pretty proud of myself!

Now I have two more knitting bags so I better get a move on and start another knitting project!

Want to join Iron Craft (I'm talking to you Lani and you Newness!)? You can join the fun at anytime. Come on! I know you wanna!

10 - Mossy Tree

2011-03-07T17:34:00.000-06:00

I love that there is so much greenery to be found in the winter woods. Yes, it's still winter. Sigh.

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

Iron Craft: March of the Penguins

2011-03-02T08:54:00.007-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was really challenging for me! I hadn't seen any of the nominated movies, in fact, I hadn't even heard of them. I'm not into watching the Oscars, so all in all, I had no idea what to do.

Susi said we could feature any movie and it didn't have to be one from the Oscars. I really wanted to focus on one of my favorite movies which I do think won an Oscar way back in the 80s: Out of Africa. But I couldn't think of anything to do. I could have folded some more origami into wild animals, but I really wanted to continue knitting. I have a lot of yarn sitting around my house that I need to use up, so I went searching for a project. I kept thinking penguins for some strange, unknown reason. Then I remembered that the movie March of the Penguins was an Oscar winner! And it is March now so I figured this was the project for me.

This project was a bit frustrating because I couldn't think of crafting something useful for my household. In the end I decided I would give these penguins away to some of the babies in the Mama group I hang with.

I found a pattern online and started knitting thinking I could whip out a dozen or so of these in a couple of nights.

But I was wrong. Those little birdies took me more time than expected and so I could only knit two each night. At one point I thought to "assembly line" them, but I only managed to make four in two nights, so my average knitting rate stayed the same.

I finally settled on 9 penguins and I only finished late last night so all my postings are late. It's the photo shoot that I really looked forward to and thoroughly enjoyed planning. The weather turned bitter cold again today, so it was me and penguins out in -1 degree temps.

Remember that scene where they all huddle together for warmth?

I couldn't resist trying to recreate that moment!

Corny! Don't I know it!

But I did use up some of my yarn and I met the challenge!!

9 - Out on the Ski Trail

2011-02-28T03:08:00.000-06:00

It was a dream come true! Getting out on the ski trails was something I thought we wouldn't be able to do for many years. We finally invested in the Chariot Cougar and decided it was our anniversary gift to each other. She loves riding behind and I love that he does all the pulling!

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

Iron Craft: A State of Mind

2011-02-23T08:01:00.000-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to do a project that represents my hometown.

Completing this challenge was a very dramatic event for me. I knew right away what I wanted to do. Every since I attended Art-A-Whirl (the NE Minneapolis springtime art crawl reported to be the largest open-air art show in the country) I have wanted to do this project. Last May I saw a number of onesies for sale that had the state of Minnesota on them. I had to have one but the $24 pricetag prevented me from buying one. The Big D was certain I could make one of my own but I really had no idea how to do this.

The Iron Craft challenge got me going. Printing out a map of Minnesota was fairly easy and I printed it on card stock so the project started out great!

My major problem was that I've never done applique before. But I jumped right in and grabbed some cloth from the fabric store. My first stumble happened when I came home with my chosen fabric (a cute little piece with baby wildlife on it - foxes, bears, owls, skunks, etc) but I quickly realized that my little applique design could not get them all on one piece. So I packed up the Baby Lotus Bud again and headed back to the store.

Ealier that day I had searched the Internet for different applique techniques and had decided not to do the technique with the fusible webbing because I had none. My next misstep was trying to make this another freezer paper project. I haven't sewed much in my life, and the cutting and folding and sewing of the applique piece just about did me in.

I was frantic, pissed off, and ready to pull my hair out!! I had remembered to take pictures along the way so when I tried and tried again, I felt totally defeated.

By now it was late Thursday night and I could see a whole weekend being ruined by my applique defeat and the subsequent foul mood.

Then I remembered I had some stitch witchery.

Granted it was thin strips of the fusible webbing, but I made it work!

Now, can I remind you again that I haven't done much sewing? I decided on a blanket stitch which people on the Internet described as a "folksy" finish to applique. I wasn't sure if "folksy" was what I was going for but I really had no other options. I found the right color thread from my cross-stitching stash and gave it a try. Finding my old embroidery hoop helped tremedously!

And then it was done! Whew! I felt so relieved!

The next day I felt rather impressed with myself!

I wish I could have gotten a better photo of the Baby Lotus Bud but she's a wiley little thing now and hard to catch sitting still.

We went out for breakfast on Saturday and we got quite a few compliments on the shirt. I smiled so dang big thinking about how I saved myself over $20!!

Now I can't get my mind off my next applique adventure!

8 - Atop the Old Brewery

2011-02-21T07:21:00.000-06:00

Grainbelt has a new brew out called Nordeast named for this old brewery located in NE Minneapolis. I had tasted this beer from the tap at a local Thai restaurant and loved it. So I bought myself a case last night. But it wasn't as good as it was straight from the tap and unfortunately it did taste like the water had been pulled from the much polluted Mississippi River. Love the name, but not the beer.

The brewery was built by the Minneapolis Brewing Company in 1891 and still today is a beautiful building. From this photo, you'd never know that a major snow storm hit the area just one day later. Glad I caught a glimpse of the bright blue sky! Perhaps it will sustain me until the next 50 degree day.

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

Iron Craft: Rajkumari in Gold

2011-02-16T09:04:00.001-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was craft something using gold.

Gold. Huh? OK. Gold.

Well, my baby is one year old now and although she is not very big, she has definitely grown out of her 6-month onesies. I had a bunch of 9-month onesies that I needed to personalize and in the case of gold I should probably say "fancy-up". She still fits into the 9 month stuff but it probably won't be for much longer, so I had to get on with the stenciling.

I tried freezer paper stenciling back in August. You can see the results here. I like this sort of project. It's doable for me and it is immensely satisfying, especially when I see my family wearing all the personalized shirts I made for them. I've done mostly stencils with designs on them, animals and robots, etc. Letters can be a bit trickier especially if the stencil is small.

For this week's project I tried the "Rajkumari" again. "Rajkumari" sort of translates as princess in Hindi. I found the Samarkan font online which is meant to resemble the Hindi script.

Here is a brief look at how to do this project.

Step one: Make sure baby is napping. Napping, by the way, is a new thing for us. She's been standing lately and I think that effort tires her out more so than usual. Dang! I love this napping thing! I can get stuff done!

Step two: Gather the supplies - freezer paper, paint, scissors, cutting mat, exacto knife, an item of clothing.

Don't forget to print your stencil onto the freezer paper. Print the stencil on the matte side, not on the waxed side. My printer jams up when I print the wrong way.

I have forgotten to print onto the freezer paper so many times. It's embarrasing how many times. I even get to the point of cutting and sit there dumbfounded as to why it is harder to cut.

Yep. I did it again for this week's project.

Step three: Secure the stencil to the cutting mat and start cutting away, carefully. If you look at the word you'll see that there are couple of "a"s in it. If this is the case for your word too, be sure to keep that little oval piece to complete the letter.

Step four: Iron on the stencil to the item of clothing. Iron on the freezer paper waxed side down. I have my iron fairly hot.

I iron on the big stencil first, then position the little ovals for the "a"s.

Step five: Paint! I did two coats, letting the first dry for about a half hour before adding the second. Then I let it completely dry over night.

Step six (the last step, the fun step!): Peel off the freezer paper.

I really love the positioning of this particular stencil. It's right over her chubby belly!

I love stenciling clothes for the Baby Lotus Bud! I can make stylish, personalized clothes for her without spending too much money. She looks so cute!

7 - Out for a Stroll

2011-02-14T09:18:00.002-06:00

I first caught sight of these five turkeys in October when they decided to hang out in front of my house - our very own set of turkeys in the hood. These turkeys were hatched at a neighborhood park just 4 blocks from my home. I know this because the local paper has been following their progress and writing about them on occasion.

On Saturday I went to the local knit shop (Crafty Planet is wonderfully just two blocks from my home) and found these turkeys were also interested in some window shopping.

The males have such pretty colors.

I have a thing for wild turkeys, especially the ones I see out in the woods near our Airstream retreat. The thing that I have for them is derived from the fact that the sight of wild turkeys make me hungry. I don't know why. I've never really had an urge to hunt any sort of animal unless you would consider fishing in this category.

But I assure you my carnivorous urge does not apply to those turkeys strolling through my neighborhood.

There's just no way I could eat one my neighbors!

-------------
Take a stroll around the world at Communal Global!

Iron Craft: The Winter Contest

2011-02-09T10:46:00.004-06:00

I am having a crazy week! I am planning and preparing for a birthday party. I have the house to clean. I have to write a letter I have to the Baby Lotus Bud. I have cranes to fold and hang. BUT, I just couldn't take a break from Iron Craft. I'm hooked and addicted!

This Week's challenge is a contest - The Winter Contest. The fact that it is a contest got me all charged up and so I sit here blogging when I should be sweeping and wiping dust.

Despite my excitement, I was sort of at a loss about what to do. I couldn't do the fire and ice candle again which is (for me) the ultimate winter craft. So I did a search on the Internet for winter craft ideas and settled upon creating a Winter Sun Catcher. I really wanted to do something outside so this seemed like the perfect project. Have you followed the link and looked at the photo? It's beautiful and elegant, isn't it?

Mine - not so much.

OK. So here's what I did. I filled ice cube trays with colored water, then when those froze, I put them into a cake pan to freeze together.

I had to go and buy a cake pan because I didn't have one. I picked one up at the thrift store for 99 cents. Fortunately I did have food coloring and a spare ice cube tray.

This last week was perfect for an outside project because the temps dipped down into the single digits. The project froze quickly, but maybe a little too quickly. You see, the colored ice cubes are supposed to melt a bit when you put them in the cake pan so that the colors blend together. But like I said, single digit temps freeze water quickly!

I also had figure out where to hang these to catch the sun. My usual spots to hang things like on the clothes line pole or the big elm tree in the backyard were pretty much inaccessible due to the 4 feet of snow blocking the way. The trellis I made out of broken branches was not strong enough to support the weight of the ice block and it was in a spot where it would not catch any sun. I settled on the front railing and really lucked out that I hung them right before the sun shone down.

OK, so not exactly how I pictured them to be, but I like them anyway. AND, I have something decorative for the guests as they arrive at the birthday party tomorrow.

I can't help thinking - Would glitter have made this project better?

6 - The Bridge over the Rail Yard

2011-02-07T08:10:00.001-06:00

Just near our house is a huge rail yard which I've been meaning to shoot for a while now. Every week I head over there because it has a fantastic view of Minneapolis. But every week I get distracted by a different view. Today was a gray day but that offered a great background for capturing the details of this towering elm tree. Thousands of elm trees added to the height of this city neighborhood. Unfortunately every few decades dutch elm disease hits the area and instead of inoculating the trees, the city chooses to chop them down.

I love looking at these trees in the winter. Can you see that the buds have popped? Spring is coming!

Iron Craft: Be Mine

2011-02-02T08:52:00.001-06:00

I admit I groaned when I first read about this week's challenge at Iron Craft. The challenge is to make a Valentine.

I shouldn't have moaned and groaned because Valentine's Day is my special day. The Big D and I were married on this day seventeen years ago. We decided to elope and chose the next big "holiday" for the date not realizing that we forever made it impossible to get dinner reservations on our Anniversary. Our "wedding" was at dingy, grimy courthouse and I was back in classes the next day. We decided that each Anniversary should be an adventure since we didn't have a honeymoon.

Last year I gave birth to the Baby Lotus Bud four days before our 16-year Anniversary (and, yes, that was quite an adventure). She was our sweet little Valentine. I kept thinking about this as I considered a project for this week's challenge.

Have you ever bought a how-to or reference book and thought perhaps it was a waste of money? That's what I thought about Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments. My first project out this book did not turn out the way I hoped so that's what got me down. But now I am super happy that I purchased it because I keep going back to it for new ideas and to learn new techniques.

I pulled a heart pattern from Epstein's book for this week's challenge and I just happen to have all the yarn I needed at home. My lunch plans for last Thursday were cancelled so I came home and started knitting up the heart not realizing that it would knit and finish rather quickly. In fact, so quick that I forgot to take some photos. But, I went back and cast on again just to give myself a visual reminder of how easy it was despite starting with anxious feelings about knitting with two balls of yarn.

Here's the finished Valentine heart. Now I had to figure out what I was going to do with it.

I decided to leave some yarn on it to I could tie it to the Baby Lotus Bud but she's moving around so much now I couldn't get a photo. My little Tasmanian devil! Capturing a photo of her is nearly impossible these days.

My sweet Valentine!

I made them both - the heart and the baby!

5 - Winter is for the Birds

2011-01-31T08:27:00.001-06:00

Following closely behind these bird tracks were cat prints. Did the cat stalk the bird? Or did it catch the scent hours after the bird had left? Or maybe the cat had been there first. The snow records their presence but leaves us no timeline except to reveal that the birds are returning from their southern vacation and that means that spring can't be that far behind.

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

Lotus List Update: 1000 piece puzzle

2011-01-30T13:15:00.000-06:00

Another item on my list is done! This one was an easy one and perhaps some would say finishing a 1000 piece puzzle is too simple of a goal for a Life List. But I am Lotus and this is MY LIST. And I'd never done a puzzle before. With Big D's help, I've now completed two!

We started the Yosemite puzzle the day after Thanksgiving. Still burning from the fact that we had to abandon a puzzle, unfinished at our vacation condo on the North Shore, we came home and immediately went out to buy another. We didn't complete it until Christmas Day. I admit we considered giving up, but got quite the boost from out neighbor who re-energized our enthusiasm.

We started the Taj Mahal puzzle on New Year's Eve. It was completed this last weekend. This one was much easier!

Puzzling is a good activity for us two, being new parents and all. We can sit with some wine and puzzle after the Baby Lotus Bud has fallen asleep. We talk, we listen to music, we stop for dinner and to refill our wine glasses. When we are puzzling, I don't feel like there is somewhere else I want to be and that's a very good thing.

Item #126 on the Lotus List complete!

I have a lot of catching up do on this list. In 2010 I completed several items on my list but I still have not had the chance to post about them. Stay tuned for more. And don't forget to make a list of your own!

Iron Craft: Get Cozy

2011-01-26T07:54:00.002-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge was to make a coffee cozy. I think this was a great challenge because these coffee cozies are reusable alternatives to those cardboard sleeves that come with every single cup of coffee bought at a coffeehouse. Also, I was itching to knit something.

I had seen the ones that Kat made last year and envied her fine work. I was thrilled to see this for the week's challenge and had big dreams.

Big, big dreams.

To say I got obsessed with this challenge would not be far from the truth.

Did these dreams materialize? Somewhat. Am I entirely happy with the results. No. But I did it and I am sharing what I completed AND I plan to use the ones that I made.

Please excuse the blurriness of this photo. I had a couple glasses of wine. And let me tell you, wine does make knitting a little difficult, especially because I decided to do a fair isle pattern.

I attempted to edge the sleeve with ribbing, but that was not working. I was struggling with the DPN needles, the cat trying to eat the yarn and the Baby Lotus Bud tugging on my sleeve. After several failed attempts, I decided to move forward without it.

I wanted to make something that would remind me that Spring was on it's way. Flowers were the way to go. It seemed to work because after a week of single digit temperatures, the temps rose as I was working on these sleeves. We actually got above 20 and that sure seems like a heat wave!

The floral pattern comes from toys to knit which includes a pattern for a teddy bear. I made the teddy before the Baby Lotus Bud was born and I named him Teddy Marley. I have not made him a sweater yet, instead I used the design for the coffee cozy.

This challenge forced me to seriously think about gauging my stitches because I had to think about creating as I went along. While I am sort of happy about this, I thought the colors didn't pop like I wanted. So, I tried again.

Unfortunately, this time the gauge was off so the coffee cozy turned out too long and little loose. The Big D called it "overkill".

So of course, I couldn't stop there. I made one for him and this time I finally figured the gauge right.

In this last one I decided to get that ribbing down. I tried and tried and tried again (yes, three times) with the other cozies I made, but it just wasn't happening for some reason. I tried it before the wine so I can't blame it on alcohol.

I'm pretty happy with this last one. The Big D took it into work yesterday and because he was running late, he picked up coffee rather than bringing it from home. Apparently it was a hit with his co-workers. The Big D works for an organic, environmentally-conscious company so there were many people who appreciated the reusable sleeves. There have been requests! Now I have to find the time to make some for others. But these knit up fairly quickly (now that I've got the pattern down) so I might be able to sell some of my knits.

The question is: Am I crafty enough? Indeed I am ! Now I just have to find the time!

4 - Mississippi Queen

2011-01-24T08:17:00.002-06:00

I was thrilled to spot so much color on this gray Winter day. The Mississippi Queen is just as beautiful today as it is during warmer seasons. The stairway leading onto the boat was a huge temptation but trespassing wasn't on the agenda for today.

The Lotus 52s is my 2011 project to capture one photo a week. I have a new lens and that makes it the right time to get to know my camera better. This is my effort to improve my images, to improve my processing, and to learn more about the world around me.

--------------------------
The weather is bitter cold here in Minnesota. See what else the world has to offer at Communal Global.

Iron Craft: Just Bunt (or Garland)

2011-01-19T08:48:00.000-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge is to create a bunting or a garland.

How I got to the idea for my project requires some explanation. Like I said yesterday, I had grand plans to make a thousand cranes in anticipation for the birth of the Baby Lotus Bud. I planned to hang as many as I could from the ceiling of her room. My dreams got squished when I chose the wrong, meaning harder, peace crane pattern. It took me twenty minutes to make each crane (that was when I got used to the pattern and picked up the speed). I was annoyed with myself and settled on making about thirty.

Her one year birthday is coming up. Can you believe it? My baby will be one year old in less than a month!

This week's challenge got me thinking about decorations for her birthday party. I feel so in sync with this whole Iron Craft adventure!

The birthday party will be a small gathering of family, some other Mamas, and a couple hundred cranes. I found a different pattern and it is much simpler: a pattern for the flapping bird. I can make about 15 in an hour. I even ordered some black paper so I make some raven-like birds (Raven is my daughter's middle name). But those will come later this week, after the deadline for the Iron Craft challenge.

So I made my way to Joann Fabric and picked up some origami paper. While there I found paper that has fold directions right on it for making wild animals. Specifically lions, giraffes and elephants.

These were so fun to fold! Quite the noble looking menagerie, wouldn't you say?

Then came the scramble to make cranes.

The Big D had gotten a whole box load of nice twine from where he works. I think they were supposed to be part of a holiday project about 5 years ago. They never followed through with the idea, so the company was just giving it away. This is the first time I am using this twine, but I sure was glad to have it sitting around here in my house. I probably have more than 50 of these bundles. Need twine?

I couldn't figure out how to string the wild animals for a garland without destroying their elegant shapes. So I settled for a string of cranes which I have hung in the dining room.

The nice thing about this particular folding origami pattern is that once I get used to it, I can start churning them out. I finished my whole package of paper.

Although the effort to meet the challenge may be complete, the project to fold a few hundred cranes is ongoing. I have a lot of folding to do from now until February 10!

The Menagerie

2011-01-18T09:16:00.001-06:00

I spent the weekend folding origami animals and cranes for my contribution to this week's Iron Craft challenge. I am making a garland for the Baby Lotus Bud's room.

Lions, giraffes and elephants...Oh my! These come with the fold pattern on the paper which made them fairly easy to make.

When I was pregnant I made a bunch of cranes to hang from the ceiling of the nursery. I didn't realize that I had chosen the more difficult pattern: the peace crane. So much for making a 1000 cranes.

These here are much easier to make and supposedly you can tug on the tail and they will flap their wings. 1000 cranes just may happen sometime soon!

As of today, I'm still folding. I have about 30 more to go for the garland. Wish me luck!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what's happening around the world today at Communal Global!

An Evening of Women and Art

2011-01-17T08:31:00.003-06:00

How perfect is it that my first night on a Friday without baby is to an art exhibition at Homewood Studios entitled "Women: Relationship and Identity"?

Venturing out in the early evening snowfall I made my way over to North Minneapolis, which is not an easy feat these days as all but one bridge that crosses the river from Northeast Minneapolis are closed. I put my Jeep into 4-wheel drive and navigated my way to the gallery. It was worth every effort it took to get there as the Art Exhibition was wonderful and Homewood Studios turned out to be this lovely, shining place on a dark little corner of Plymouth Avenue.

I am definitely in that phase of life where my identity is radically changing. I am a new mother, I am turning 40 this year, I left academia to pursue something else with the sneaking suspicion that the something else might actually be "art."

With the intent to demonstrate more than just simple statements about women's identity, the exhibition's curator Sarah Rust Sampedro presents a "visual conversation about the role relationships play in the identity of women." She goes on to state that women are the "relational gender" which I took to mean that relationships play a fundamental part in decisions made by women, in the paths that women dare to tread, in the battles that women choose to engage, the joys that they seek, and the art they choose to create.

The exhibition presented pieces from many local artists as well as some from women across the country. There was a variety of mediums including textile, photography and paint. And...um...hair curlers. Yes, I did look very closely in this piece and discovered hair amongst these curlers which made me smile. What a way to re-use and re-purpose! This piece was created by Elizabeth Lundberg Morisette who resides in Fort Collins, Co (which is also the location of the Fat Tire Brewery, just in case you wanted to know where that awesome beer comes from!). The piece is called "Beauty School Dropout." It was one of the first I saw as I entered Homewood Studios and a result that song from Grease was in my head for a large part of the evening.

KimyiBo created this textile piece and declared it to be "Hope." She is the local artist and mother who invited me to this exhibit. I wish my photo was better so that the colors of this stunning piece were vibrant and visible. In her artist statement, she says "Identity is the result of a struggle to achieve balance between inner self and the world." Her piece demonstrated the fractured, yet harmonious nature of women's identity through this chaos of color and geometric structures.

"A Kiss on the Cheek Can Be a Stab in the Back." Who hasn't experienced this sort of kiss? Jasmine King is a local artist and her piece is from a larger series called "21," which were created at the young age of 21. Damn. It was profound, not only in content but also to think she had such wisdom at such a young age. And the ability to capture the sentiment with such precision.

Sampedro's arrangement of this piece in particular was brilliant. Placed at the end of a long hallway, the painting drew you along and raised curiosity. No problem if you go straight to it as King's art is undeniably compelling. You must walk back through the hallway to get out, so there is time to focus on all the pieces that you may have passed to get to King's.

Like this one entitled "Internal/External."

Danielle Kutscheid pulls together graphite, paper, thread and linen into her artwork. I was drawn to this one, but it still took me a few moments to realize that the subject was breastfeeding.

An alternative title for this post is...Why do I see references to breastfeeding everywhere?

It is because I am a woman, a nursing mother, a resident of Minnesota where breastfeeding is protected by law, and because my instincts and vision are driven by the major changes brought into my life when I gave birth to the Baby Lotus Bud. I know that all these factors have contributed to my identity, my relationship to those around me and the interactions I have with the surrounding community. Or it could just be that I am part of a community of new mothers who all seem to bare their breast in public. Which by the way brings about a whole new relationship between my body and society.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about this evening was the opportunity to hang out with other women of color, other mothers of color. This is important to me. While I am part of a fantastic community of Minneapolis Mamas, I crave sharing my motherhood experience with other women of color. The experience raises my comfort level when breastfeeding in public.

Growing up as an South Asian American in Minnesota, I was constantly under the gaze of the majority White community around me. At times this gaze made me very uncomfortable. A bared breast causes stares in public, understandably so. As a nursing mother, my relationship to this community has changed. Because breastfeeding is a right protected by law in Minnesota, I take this to bolster my strength and will in providing the necessary nutrition for my baby anywhere and everywhere that it is needed.

The ways and means in which women carry this off - breastfeeding in public - is itself a beautiful art form.

The exhibition "Women: Relationship and Identity" runs from January 14-29 at Homewood Studios. Go check it out. And if you've got one, bring your baby along and breastfeed while you are there. Contact me if you want some company!

My thanks to George and Sarah for allowing me to photograph this amazing art!

3 - Evidence

2011-01-16T18:16:00.002-06:00

Here's proof that I actually got out on a Friday night. That means out of the house, without baby, and not wearing sweat pants. And it was snowing! And I had a glass of wine!

I met up with a couple of women that have recently come into my life and for that I am grateful! Not only did I get out, but I got out to an art exhibition. One of these women is an artist whose submitted a piece for the show. More on the exhibition in the next post. Right now I just want to bask in the experience of being out on a Friday night!

Iron Craft: Snakey Door Thingy

2011-01-12T09:07:00.000-06:00

This week's Iron Craft challenge is to make a "draft dodger" or "door snake." I had this project in mind for a few weeks now and even had all the materials available. That's before this week's challenge was announced. While I adore the tips for a "door snake," since I already had the materials I had to stick with the less fun, less hip "draft dodger."

My version is such a plain Jane version that I almost didn't even want to blog about it. But there's this thing called committment and because of that I have to stay committed to blogging about this week's craft challenge. Besides I heard that it takes three weeks for habits to sink in and so I don't want to make a break in my crafting/blogging stride.

The supplies: fabric (clearance at the fabric store) and bags of beans (I bought cheap ones on sale at the local grocery store).

Here it is:

Pay no attention to the dust on the floor!

Letters to the Lotus Bud: Eleven Months

2011-01-10T13:17:00.001-06:00

Little Lotus Bud,

I totally missed out on writing your letter last month. It was a crazy month, full of lots of things that needed to get done. On top of that, your Daddy was home from work for nearly half the month and when he's around there's no time to do those things that fit in our regular schedule. There are too many really fun things to do with him around and he doesn't get time off all that often so we have to make the most of it.

Also, I haven't taken many pictures lately. It's hard to catch you sitting still AND it's a cold, winter out there so there aren't too many places to shoot. I know these are just a bunch of excuses but the truth is winter hit hard here in Minnesota and it's not letting up, putting a damper on my mood and energy. You don't seem to mind the snow and cold. Look how you just fell asleep on a totally snowy day!

You've also started moving around. I always have to keep my eye on you now. You are everywhere and into every little thing, especially those things that you shouldn't be into like the power strip and the cat food bowls! It's fun to see you making your way around the world. You've got the army crawl down and it is so dang cute!

But, oh man, you've got a temper. I think that comes from me. You get so angry when I pull you away from something that you were playing with or simply don't want to let go! You're squirmy when we try to change your diaper and thank goodness you have a deep abiding love for your diaper rash cream tube or else there would be no diaper changes in this house.

Your Daddy and I got a membership at a local health club where they have a 90 degree swimming pool. Last month you got your first swimming certificate from lessons at a local high school and we've continued the swimming at the health club. You seem to love it. Truly! You even like your baths much more and seem to try to swim in the bath tub. In the pool, you hold on to my fingers and kick your legs like a froggy. It's amazing to see you take to the water and I hope you have that enthusiasm for all the different things we want to share with you!

That health club has two hours of free child care per day. Did you read that correctly? TWO HOURS OF FREE CHILD CARE! Wahoo! Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how liberating it feels to me to drop you off in that facility and head to the locker room for my workout! Mostly it's going good. There are some staff you really like and some you really detest.

We were members of that club years ago but it is a little bit of a drive for us, so we quit and joined a smaller one closer to us. Now we are back mainly for the pool and the family activities and that drive seems just long enough to put you to sleep. You nap on a regular basis now and I am so glad we didn't tussle over this issue because it seems to just have come naturally to you. I'm learning to be a Mama, you're teaching me to follow my instincts.

Christmas was interesting. I couldn't help but feel proud that you didn't trust this big white guy in the weird suit!

We spent Christmas Eve with your Daddy's family. You didn't quite get the concept of presents in terms of ripping the wrapping paper off, but you do seem to like the new toys. It's a good thing we got a few new things for you because you get bored with toys really fast and daily need new things to stimulate your interest.

Christmas was also the first time you ate from the adult table. That's been a worry of mine lately. I want you to be able to eat with us and move away from the pureed foods. But we don't usually have the energy to cook dinner until after you've gone to bed for the night. Now we're making a point to eat breakfast and lunch with you and I'm learning new tricks from other Mamas. Like the fact that I can cut up pieces of turkey for lunch and you'll eat them. And then you'll fall asleep for a good two hours! Bonus!

The pickle was the first food you grabbed and ate on your own. Now you've moved onto squash, avocado, bread and of course, turkey.

Our big Christmas present for you was a sled. It's a blast taking your around the neighborhood! You chatter away while we drag you over the snow on the city sidewalks. You always look so happy. We have to be careful to not let your cheeks get chapped because I think if it was up to you, you'd stay out there for a long, long time. We took you sledding on Christmas day and I can honestly say that was the best holiday I ever had.

On New Year's Eve I kept telling you that when you woke the next morning, it would be a whole new year. But I don't think you quite understood. That's OK. You slept all night, like every night and for that I am grateful.

So I'm going to end this letter with a few pictures I took of you for Christmas cards. Please don't hate me when you grow up for dressing you like this. You should know that I made the hat and added the feather trim to the red onesie. Even if you do hate it just know that I made it with love!

I can't believe that in a month you are going to a whole year old! You're growing up so fast. I already miss the tiny little peanut that you were.

Love from me, your Mommy

2 - The Snow is Here to Stay

2011-01-10T12:00:00.002-06:00

It's going to be here for months! It's piling up. I remember when I was younger, it seemed that snow fell around Halloween and stayed until April. At least this year the big piles of snow didn't come until December. This is when I start to think global climate change might not be such a bad thing for Minnesota. Except for the fact that the farms get flooded in the summers, the region experiences draughts and killer tornadoes become regular occurrences. OK, so maybe global climate change isn't good. I'll take the snow because right now it's beautiful!

ETA: The whole point of this project is to improve upon my photography, not only in terms of composition, but also processing. And also to better know my camera. Making the switch to digital has been tough for me because of all the variables.

Big difference in the processing of these two photos, no?

Iron Craft: Fire and Ice

2011-01-05T08:35:00.000-06:00

I joined another group. I'm so into the group thing. And when that group does things, I get all tingly and excited inside about participating.

IRON CRAFT! 1 year, 52 challenges. Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious. Crafting.

This week is the first challenge: Lighting the Winter Gloom.

This is my contribution to this week's challenge.

I affectionately call it "Fire and Ice"

We got rain here in Minneapolis over the New Year's Holiday. Rain followed by single degree temperatures, so it was icy. I couldn't think of how to tackle this project until I started paying attention to my surrounding. Ice!

Supplies:
flowers
candle
empty carton - ice cream, half & half, etc.
water

I've made these candles before for winter dinner parties. Each time I try a different flower and these seemed to hold up pretty well. The trick is to find a flower that is somewhat sturdy. If the petals are too delicate, they won't hold up to the freezing, they'll look wilted.

I used a small votive candle that I picked up from the dollar store. The carton used to hold coconut milk ice cream - perfect size. Once you've gathered these simple items, it's just a matter of placing the flowers around the candle. In the past I've used larger cartons and candles which made for a more dramatic piece, but since there was more water involved, I lost control over the placement of the flowers. The smalled sized cartons allow for way more control.

With this size carton, the candle froze overnight. I put it in my freezer, but now that I think of it, I could have just put it outside!

As time goes by, the ice candle changes. It's important to have the right holder. I bought these ridiculously large wine glasses years ago thinking I'd actually use them. But when you lift the glass to take a sip, it seems like an ocean of wine comes pouring down. Oh well, as it turns out the wine glass is perfect for my ice candle.

I was a bit nervous when I signed onto Iron Craft. There are some seriously good crafters and knitters in the group. Also with Baby Lotus Bud around, it is very hard to get things done. I'm off to a good start and looking forward to the next challenge!

A New Project - The Lotus 52s - 1

2011-01-02T14:43:00.001-06:00

Projects that require commitment are appealing to me. Last year I tried to do one photo a day, but then I had my baby a month earlier than planned that threw everything off! This year I am going to try to do one photo a week: The Lotus 52s.

I realized that I do much better with smaller projects. The 28 Days project that recorded the changing seasons here in Minnesota was fun to do and extremely satisfying to finish.

Taking on a project like this allow me to be more than just a Mama. I get to keep an eye on all that surrounds me trying to capture another great photo.

I think I can do it and at the very least, I'm going to give it a try!

A New Day

2011-01-01T21:05:00.003-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while. It's been a crazy, busy end to 2010. I am grateful for all that has happened and all that has come to my life in 2010.

It's a new year, a new decade.

I'm excited for all the new opportunities and possibilities.

It is the Year of Lotus!

And I'm ready for the challenges ahead of me.

May the best of my past be the worst of my future.

Solute! Joy! Blessed Be! Cheers!

2011 - here I come!!!

She's a Natural!

2010-12-07T07:45:00.001-06:00

The following post provides instruction on how to create a baby snow angel.

Find a bank of fresh, untouched snow. Bundle up baby in warm snowsuit.

Place the baby cuteness in the snow. Note: this might only work the first time baby encounters snow so make the most of the opportunity. Once she knows what snow is and understands that it causes a cold sensation, snow angels may not be made for a number of years.

Wait for baby to fall over.

Must have sufficient amount of snow in order to watch baby safely fall over. Two feet of snow works just fine.

Allow baby time to maneuver in overly voluminous snowsuit. It may take time to get those limbs placed once topple had occurred.

Let baby sink into snow and lay supine for a few minutes. Inevitably she will start sweeping her arms and legs in a back and forth motion.

You'll find that as time passes, the angel form will begin to appear. Once baby has been distracted by the pretty winter, blue sky (or perhaps the squirrels in the elm tree above her), consider the length of time the snowsuit will keep baby warm.

Keep you eye on the color of baby's nose. Redness might be an indication that the project is near completion.

And voila! Not bad for a first attempt! I'm hoping that all cold weather activities come naturally to her. What a great start to life in snowy Minnesota.

It's snowy here in the Midwest of the US. See what's going on all around the world at Communal Global.

Oberg Mountain Revisited and a Lotus List Update

2010-12-01T13:48:00.009-06:00

Last year we hiked up Oberg during our babymoon and set the goal to do it again. It was important to me get up the mountain this year. Not getting out and up there would represent to me all that we had lost since having a baby. Getting out and up there demonstrated to me that while things had changed significantly in our lives, some things were still the same.

So many people have said to us that we can't live our lives the same after having a child. We can't go on Jeep adventures or hiking or canoeing anymore. I'm so glad we didn't listen to those worry-worts. We just bundled our little Lotus Bud up and took her up the mountain.

I keep saying mountain, and truly it is a mountain, but it is an old mountain. We climbed Oberg, not Everest. But I sure as heck did think about climbing Everest on our way up. No, not thinking about it like I would want to climb Everest some day. It was more like if I find this tough, I could never, ever think about Everest [although going to Base Camp 1 might be interesting].

The hike to the top of Oberg Mountain begins half way up the mountain. It seemed to only take about a half hour to get up there. The Big D set the pace and I struggled to keep up.

They were both way ahead of me. I stopped and took pictures, of course. But, also I was way out of shape and out of breath the whole way up. I didn't even have the energy to shout "Hey, wait for me!" It was a bit slick and slippery so I was concentrating on staying on the path and on keeping my breathing under control.

When we got to the switchbacks, I tried not to think about the vertigo I had last year. I kept my eyes on that cute babe (way) in front of me.

The week before REI had their winter sale. The whole family got new winter coats. By this point on the hike, I was sweating. And starting to get worried about reaching the peak with sweat all over me.

My hiking partners did not let up and I scrambled to catch up. I seem to recall a few years ago when the Big D and I were hiking in Horseshoe Canyon when I asked him to slow his roll. It is a good thing I did because we could of died had we been under the rock that fell from the canyon. I'm serious. Here, take a look!

I was breathing so hard by the time I got to the top that I couldn't say my name let alone shout for them to wait for me. I spent a few high school years in the Himalaya Mountains and I am one those parents that can say to Lotus Bud "I walked up a mountain to get to school everyday." I was thinking of that as I was hiking Oberg, thinking about those days when I was thinner and more fit. Note to self: get in shape! They say nine months on, nine months off in regards to the pregnancy weight. And while I have lost "the weight" I'm still not in shape. Argh!

Finally I got up there and caught up with them because honestly, there is no where else for them to go. In this picture, they are standing right in front of the drop off. There is a loop that circles the peak, but we had decided to just go to the first two look out spots. There was seven plus inches of snow expected that day and we didn't want to be caught in the snow.

The sun was do some amazing things on the Lake. Lake Superior is like an inland sea. Some call this the "third coast."

Taking a picture of the three of us was tricky because there was snow everywhere and of course, I did not bring a tripod along. I barely got myself up there, I wasn't going to lug around camera equipment. So, I threw down my camera bag and placed the camera on it and set the timer. Can't have perfection at a time like this. The background is too bright and framing of the shot is odd. I love it anyway!

We headed down when the wind picked up. There's the parking lot!

I wish we had taken our time, because the snow never came!

Hiking down the mountain seemed a bit scary. The Big D, like a good Minnesotan, was not at all daunted by the snowy descent!

They were kind enough to wait for me.

There she is! My little outdoors girl!

We stopped and touched the cedars. It is so amazing to feel the energy coursing up the tree trunk. I went to grab Lotus Bud's hand so that she could feel the cedar and found that the little pumpkin was sound asleep.

It was a great day. The drive back to the lake shore was beautiful.

We were in the Jeep, of course, so no worries about the ice and snow.

Later, when we got back to our condo on the Lake, we soaked in the hot tub. It was so cool hanging in there with Lotus Bud. All three of us laid back and soothed our weary muscles.

I fulfilled another goal of mine from the Lotus List of 108 Things. This is one makes me feel real proud!

A Few of My Favorites

2010-11-30T14:31:00.000-06:00

This week is post-holiday week and it is difficult not be sad. The snow has fallen and I do believe it is here to stay. Last week, the snow was a delight. Now, it is just cold and windy.

So, I will stay indoors today and dwell in the pictures from our trip last week which was magical, blissful and so relaxing.

Today, I share a few of my favorite images from our trip to Minnesota's North Shore. Later, I will post more details about our activities. Please stop again if you have the time!

Thanksgiving evening was spent with wine and jigsaw puzzle.

The Gales of November sent us a storm that got the waves crashing all night long. Although the sun set early, the sound of the waves kept us company and imagining the fury was not difficult.

The day before we had gone on a hike. We climbed Oberg Mountain and view from the top was beautiful.

The view was amazing and yet, I could sit and look at these two all day and be content. They both make me so happy! Even if they do have matching stink eyes.

Another day was spent in Grand Marais where it was sunny, but bitterly cold.

We have taken this trip many times before. This year traveling together as a family made for a very different sort of trip. In so many way, it was so much better as a family. We had many plans and yet managed to be spontaneous. The Baby Lotus Bud slowed us down in the most perfect way.

I can't remember a vacation that I enjoyed more than the one we had last week!

In addition to dwelling in the memories of our trip, I will travel the world today through Communal Global. It warms me to see all the goodness that's out there!

Through Rain, Sleet, and Snow...

2010-11-22T20:44:00.008-06:00

Sounds like we were delivering the mail, right?

We left Minneapolis for our annual Thanksgiving trip up to the North Shore. I say "annual" but this is only the second time. I am certain that we will keep doing this trip every year. There is a great deal on the rooms and the rooms fit our style. This year at Bluefin Bay we got a condo with a bedroom in the back where the Baby Lotus Bud is fast asleep.

Last year we came up here for our Babymoon and this year, we are up here with our little Lotus Bud. Last year we went on a Jeep adventure and hiked up a mountain because the snow hadn't fallen yet. The weather was a bit drizzly and foggy, but that didn't stop us. In fact, it was the sort of day we enjoy.

This year it's going be different. Much different. There is already snow on the ground and it's supposed to continue snowing for the next three days! We are right on Lake Superior and hopefully the Gales of November will make those waves crash hard and loud!

Do you know what the really great thing about this year is?

I GET TO DRINK BEER! Fat Tie Amber Ale is my beer of choice these days.

We left the City in freezing rain. Do you ever watch the Deadliest Catch? Ever watch one of those episode where the ships get caked in ice? That's what the Jeep was like on our way up to Duluth. We had to stop and bust the ice off the windshield and wipers. It looked wicked cool.

Things got better as we got closer to Duluth. The rain had ended, the sleet stopped and all the precip turned to snow. Snow is drivable. Freezing rain and sleet - not so much.

Everyone talks about Betty's Pies, but we had never stopped there except the one time we picked up pasties (to-go). Which is pronounced pass-tees, not pay-sties (like the things some dancers attach to their nipples). Which, but the way, were frozen, which I didn't realize until I bit into one. Doh!

Anyway, so the Lotus Bud needed a break and we needed a break from the white-knuckle driving and the clenching of the grip on the side roll bar and gasping on my part.

Have you heard of Betty's Pies? Does this entice you to make the trek up to Minnesota's North Shore to get some pie?

Apparently the 5 Layer Chocolate is the most popular. The server said that for her today's favorite was Apple Strawberry Crunch. They make them fresh daily and big chunky, fresh fruit go into them. I was a grouch though. I wanted the coconut cream and since I can't have the coconut cream (I can't have any dairy while breastfeeding Lotus Bud), I wasn't going to have any dang pie. So, in other words, we went to Betty's Pies but had no pie. It's 9:30 and I'm sitting here regretting it.

The Lotus Bud enjoyed it because she got some applesauce, on the house (but also because they sort of misplaced our order of fish and chips, and a burger). She was like "oh sweet, applesauce when I'm not expecting it!" And I was like "Oh sweet, the more food she has, the more likely it is that she will nap for the last hour of our trip"!

OK, ready for some snowy shots?

The Jeep.

The highway so pretty with the pine trees and the drifting snow.

The tunnel built right into the rock. I suppose that's what tunnels do.

Finally, six hours later, we arrived.

And Lotus Bud was all cute and happy in front of the fire. She didn't really know what to make of the big jacuzzi tub where she had a bath. That's OK. WE know what to do with it! (Hint, hint. Wink, wink.)

So, here's what I really like about this resort - the kitchen! I'm a gonna cook Thanksgiving dinner in that kitchen. And the cranberry sauce will get made. I'll just have to pick up some more maple syrup - thankfully places around here tap their maples in the spring.

Here's what I love about this kitchen.

The dishwasher! We don't have one down in the City. I am the dishwasher. I really feel like I'm on vacation now.

Well, who's knows what we'll do while we're here. We could check out the snow shoes and walk the rivers (there several in the areas) if the snow gets too deep. Or we might just get snowed in. If that happens, I'm prepared to knit.

Whatever it is, I know it's going to be good!

Crafting an "N"

2010-11-19T20:32:00.004-06:00

The Baby Lotus Bud's name begins with an "N". I haven't decided yet whether I want to put her name out here on the Internet, but I guess I can't hide a letter when I want to share my recent craft project.

Here's the pattern.

I made this very quickly on a Friday night. I had some stuffing leftover from some other toys I had made, so I decided to stuff it. The materials were very inexpensive - just under $10, with enough left for at least four more (but, I'd have to buy a bit more ribbon).

Lotus Bud loves to chew on the tags of her blankets, actually any tag she can get her hands on. I figured she'd like this and she does! Whew. Thank goodness.

Letters to the Baby Lotus Bud: Nine Months

2010-11-12T09:19:00.016-06:00

Little Lotus Bud,

You're nine months old. Nine. Months. Old.

When the heck did that happen? Oh, I know, it's been happening for nine months now, but I just can't get over this idea that it's already been nine months since you were born, since you were a wee little babe.

Not that you are still not a wee little babe. You've grown taller, but you haven't put on much weight.

Here are the stats from your last doctor's appointment: weight - 15lbs. 7oz (4%); length - 27 1/4 in (39%); head circumference - 17 in. (27%)

What's all that mean? Well, based on your weight, you are in the 4th percentile which means that 96% of the babies in the world (your age) are bigger than you. Although you don't weigh too much, you are rather tall, and your head circumference seems just right.

I think you are perfect! I just like thinking about the numbers. I like the idea that you were only one third of your current weight when you were born. You've tripled in weight in nine months! I like the idea that you might end up being taller than me and your Daddy! I like everything about you and I wouldn't change a thing.

When I mention the numbers to other people, they respond by telling me that it's "OK" or some such nonsense. I don't think they know I think you are perfect and I don't know how to respond to them without sounding defensive. I'm working on it. I also have to figure out to respond to women who don't have any children but who do have a lot of advise for me, judgemental advise. And, finally there is the need to figure out to talk with other Mamas without instigating comparisons of babies. A friend told me once that when it comes to babies "there is a wide range of average." I'm sticking that logic and hoping that I get better at talking with other Mamas.

Moving on...

We bought you a "new" high chair. It's not exactly new because I picked it up at the thrift store for $10. What a find! I wanted a wooden one and the ones in the stores sell for over $150 dollars. I love this one even though it doesn't have any straps. We make do.

One thing you need to know about your parents, Little Lotus Bud, is that we are loners. We spend the majority of our time alone together and when that got lonely, we decided to have you. But with you in our lives we realize we need to reach out to other parents. I need to hang with other Mamas to get some good Baby talk in with those in the know. I also need to get out of the house. So, this last summer, I gathered a bunch of Mamas I met at yoga class, in the neighborhood and through the Co-op into a group that took regular outings together. This has evolved into a group called the Minneapolis Mamas and now - brace yourself - there are 48 members! We've been getting together twice a month, mostly visiting museums, but there have been some other Outings that were wonderful such as the Minnesota Arboretum and Midtown Global Market.

Here's a couple of shots of you at the Arboretum.

A few of us went to see the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, where you picked up your first cold (more about that later). Nonetheless we had a great time!

We attended a Halloween Party with 13 other babies! And this is where things got a little bit tricky. First of all, you just don't like hanging out with other babies. Put you in a room full of grannys and grandpas, and you are the happiest girl in the city. But, put in with other babies and your annoyance become very apparent.

Arrgghh! Shunkins, as you will surely notice, this letter is so late! You're a busy girl. Not only are we busy on our outings, but you are becoming quite a handful. You're always wanting to do something and often that requires my undivided attention. The daylight savings time change has been wonderful and now you go to sleep a little after 7:00, but I still get nothing done.

Anyway, so back to the last Holiday - Halloween. It was a bit of a dilemma for me. You had a couple of great outfits, but too many for one day. I was happy to dress you up to take you yoga class and then, there was that whole pumpkin patch incident. But, then, I wanted to dress you for that pre-Halloween party with the 13 babies. I finally decided to put you in an Indian outfit, but I don't want you to grow up and think it was strange. Besides, you looked awesome even if it was a cultural outfit. We just didn't get to any Indian events this year and soon you will grow out of this wonderful outfit.

We even put you in some bangles that you found to be endlessly fascinating.

I think we redeemed ourselves by taking you over to your Granny's house. Some of Grandpa's old college buddies were in town for a visit. When I was little like you, I was the only child amongst all of his old buddies, so I became everyone's baby. They were so excited to meet their baby's baby. And they loved the outfit. You were quite the rajkumari. And, you loved hanging out with them so much more than those other babies.

Then, came Halloween night and your Dad was so excited. He carved out some pumpkins. He did this last year when you were in my belly and I gotta tell you - you are going to have a blast with him every year when Halloween rolls around.

We had a great Autumn season with you.

The weather was wonderful for most of November. I took you for a stroll at Silverwood Park and while you slept I meditated by the lake. Then after you woke, you practiced your sitting skills and it was amazing. You are amazing!

One night at the trailer, you did get some chapped cheeks. It's like you got toasted like a marshmallow.

They were such a bright pink and it was adorable. But, I had to take care of it and so I consulted the Minneapolis Mamas and managed to get alternative to petroleum jelly. I won't let it happen again.

The amount of cute clothes and accouterments for babies is ridiculous but I can't resist when you look so good in everything I get you.

So, you got your first cold. So much snot from such a little baby! Then you gave me the cold and finally, your Dad got it. You had your first fever but it wasn't too high, so we let you ride it out and by the next day, it was gone. It must have done it's job because you weren't sick for very long. I got a little depressed thinking I couldn't meet the other Mamas for an Outing, but I talked to a few and they encouraged me to come anyway. Thankfully, you didn't make anyone else sick, but then, I think they all had it before you.

It's cold now and the snow has finally arrived. I can't wait for you to get older so you can understand and enjoy the snow as much as we do! We take you out in it so that you'll get used to it. So far so good! You don't seem to mind very much.

These days you are always tired. I'm working on getting you to nap but you fight it. But when you do nap it is for a couple of hours and that so sweet for me. I really should be getting more things done but I don't.

You started swimming lessons and you seemed to enjoy it, but we may never go back there. The pool was very cold and the locker room was a nightmare! It was a local high school and I tried to think of you spending time there on the swim team but maybe now is not the time. Next week we are all going up to the North Shore and there are two pools at the resort where we are staying. We plan to take you swimming every day and maybe we'll even get some underwater pictures of you. You really like floating on your back which is awesome because apparently most babies don't like that. But, your Dad lets you float on your back in the tub every night so maybe that's why you are used to it. I loved swimming when I was really little, so maybe you got that from me!

So, that's it for now, Little Lotus Bud. I'm going to try to be more punctual with this letter next month.

I love you so much!

From Me, your Mommy.

28 Days: Conclusion and Lessons Learned

2010-11-09T08:12:00.001-06:00

Autumn. It is usually a bright, colorful time of year in Minneapolis and the surrounding region. This year the colors were not so bright due perhaps to the abundance of rain. Most of it was thrown from the trees by hurricane-like winds that swept through towards the end of October.

I find I am alright with that. My project to capture 28 days of season change in Minnesota was perhaps a bit more manageable. I did not feel the anxiety to capture the brilliance of Autumn as I had often felt in years past.

I don't mean to say that this Autumn was any less beautiful this year. Certainly there were many beautiful moments this season:

browns so rich and leathery;

sky blues that made my hear soar;

reds that only nature can create.

I don't mean to criticize at all and I hope that my images reflected how much I cherished and celebrated this season.

And, too, there was a return of innocence and wonder as I observed my daughter marveling at the changes around her. I saw things in a new light as she grasped a bright red leaf, and when her cheeks turned pink in the cool Autumn air, and when she stomped her feet listening to the rustle and crunch of fallen leaves.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a photography discussion where the guest artist and speaker talked about "failed images" (those which I wish I had captured something else than what appeared) as opportunities to learn. I found myself taking notes that evening, jotting questions to ask myself throughout this project and at its conclusion.

What did I learn? How could I have done this differently? How have I changed? Did I reach my goal? How? Why? When? Was it different than I imagined?

I reached my goal, yes, with the conclusion of this project. I stuck with it and captured a full 28 days of season change. I did not however shoot everyday, which was one of my goals. I found this tiresome and near impossible alongside the responsibility of tending a young child. This project took us outside far more than I would have done this Autumn. On each of our hikes and outings, there were many aspects of Autumn that were on display. I made the decision early on that I would not be able to take one image a day and post it. I would shoot once every 3-4 days and hope to get a variety of images to include in the project. I did stay true to the weather in that when the rain came and doused all the firey Autumn colors, I no longer posted images that did not fit what I saw around me, even if it meant letting a favorite image go unpublished. This project was different from how I imagined its unfolding.

I had expected the snow to hit by the end of the project, but it did not. There is very little snow cover in Canada right now and a result, this region's air temperature has been mild. We may be lucky enough to get some snow later this week (and, I do mean lucky because the first snows are always the most magical). I had imagined ending this project with a picture that included snow, but that was not meant to be.

I found myself debating about how to capture the various aspects of Autumn. Do I shoot close-ups? Do I shoot wide landscapes? Do I stick with foliage? Although I captured some lovely images of my daughter, I did not capture any images a the migrating birds traveling southward or the small animals preparing for winter. My images of geese lacked the cacaphonous sounds of their presence. My images of squirrels and chipmunks could not elaborate the fullness of their cheeks and their fattening bellies.

I had imagined coming to a sense of my "photographic style." But I am no closer to that then when I started this project. I learned that I am proud of my composition skills and acknowledging that pushed me to consider different angles. Yet I have not settled on a "look" other than general enhancement of the colors and tones. I don't know if this is important, but it feels necessary to me, to distinguish myself and claim a certain sense of individuality to my work.

Attending that photography discussion eliminated any thoughts of failure. I felt encouraged and focused by the discussion. I wanted to capture the perfect image to end this project, but I finally resolved to the fact that it was the process which counted more so than the ending or completion of the project.

Besides, no picture towards the end came close to what I consider my favorite image of the whole lot. This wildflower, lit by the sun, makes me feel warm and content. I learned that Autumn is not only in the changing leaves, but also in the many flowers that thrive in the cooling temperatures.

One last show, one last moment of beauty before the freeze of winter.

------------------------------
Check all the photographic beauty captured around the world in Communal Global.

11/6/10 (28)

2010-11-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

For the Fall of the year is more than three months bounded by
an equinox and a solstice. It is a summing up without the
finality of year's end.
- Hal Borland

This final image and message concludes my project to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

Lotus Bud's New Game

2010-11-06T09:49:00.001-05:00

It's called "Watch Mommy retrieve everything I throw on the floor."

It's got to be deliberate. That sassy look in her eye shows there's more going on than just simply dropping toys on the floor.

She drops.

I pick it up.

If I don't pick one up, she stares at it until I do pick it up.

If I just leave them, she gets this look on her face spelling out quite clearly her disdain for my lack of participation in this great game she's created for herself.

So, I grab them and the game starts all over again.

She drops the toy.

I pick it up.

She drops the toy.

Get the idea?

At least someone is having fun.

11/5/10 (27)

2010-11-05T16:53:00.003-05:00

The final stage in the cycle of a flowering tree.

I'm nearing the end of my 28 Days project and that's good because I'm running out of steam. I had a pretty miserable week when my memory card got corrupted and I lost many, many photos. I'm over that now and pushing towards the end.

I've been thinking a lot about what I've learned through this project and hopefully I will be able to articulate some of that when this project comes to completion.

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

Rock Me Amadeus!

2010-11-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

So, we made our way across the river to the other Twin City. All the way to St. Paul where the streets are organized with no rhyme or reason. Maybe I shouldn't use the word "organize" when referring to St. Paul's streets. And, this is in no way meant to criticize the capital city, but rather to point out it's quirky-ness. I've heard it said that there may have been alcohol involved when the city streets were laid out.

If anything, this should show how little I travel to St. Paul. So, in a way, it's more a reflection on my lack of knowledge.

St. Paul is prettier than Minneapolis. I just don't go there often, even though it really takes me only 10 minutes to get there.

Anyway...

Baby Lotus Bud and I head out to this event, an event that I had looked forward to for a long month and a half. A concert! A concert with performers from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. A first for me and I'm assuming, also a first for the Lotus Bud (who knows what she did in her precious lifetime). That means we experienced our first classical music performance together.

The event was organized by MomCulture and it was the first time we attended one of their events. I wish they did these things more often.

I wanted to get there early to partake in the refreshments. When I got there, I realized how far I'd come...Did I seriously think the refreshments included wine and cheese? At 10:30 in the morning? Oh yes. Instead there was bottled water and cheez-its. No kidding.

And, lots and lots of babies, toddlers, other young people and their mamas, papas, grandparents and a few caregivers.

The musicians were set up on stage that was placed diagonally in the corner with chairs set up along each wall, next the larger windows. Like a V, perhaps? I don't know exactly how to describe it, but I can say that it was wonderful.

Better yet, the musicians invited us to sit on the floor right in front of the stage. Heck yes! Front row, baby! The musicians waving and smiling at my little bundle of cuteness. It was awesome!

There was a little girl, 8 or 9 years old, in the front row of seats who played air-violin throughout the entire 45 minute concert. Child prodigy, no doubt!

One of the pieces that they performed was written by Amadeus Mozart. When he was 10 years old. It blew my mind.

I have to admit I had a few tears in my eyes at the beginning of the performance. The music was so lovely, the setting was perfect, my baby was totally rocking out!

She was enthralled by the two violins, the viola and the cello.

We swayed to the sounds of Vivaldi and Mozart and Bach.

It was a lovely morning! The music was transformative and ethereal. I forgot for a few moments that I was a Mama. I felt like I was hanging out with my best friend.

11/4/10 (26)

2010-11-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

- John Muir

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

11/3/10 (25)

2010-11-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

Be like the flower, turn your faces to the sun.
- Kahlil Gibran

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

11/2/10 (24)

2010-11-02T08:14:00.000-05:00

Corn wind in the fall, come off the black lands,
come off the whisper of the silk hangers,
the lap of the flat spear leaves.
- Carl Sandburg

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

11/1/10 (23)

2010-11-01T08:46:00.002-05:00

Our Family of Pumpkins

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue

Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.

~Author Unknown

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/31/10 (22)

2010-10-31T08:03:00.002-05:00

I'll love you til the end of vine.

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/30/10 (21)

2010-10-30T08:01:00.001-05:00

The harvest moon has no innocence, like the slim quarter moon
of a spring twilight, nor has it the silver penny brilliance of the
moon that looks down upon the resorts of summer time.
Wise, ripe, and portly, like an old Bacchus,
it waxes night after night.
- Donald Culross Peattie

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/29/10 (20)

2010-10-29T08:58:00.003-05:00

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly
changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.
- Henry Beston, Northern Farm

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/28/10 (19)

2010-10-28T08:50:00.004-05:00

The winds will blow their own freshness into you,
and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you
like the leaves of Autumn.
- John Muir

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/27/10 (18)

2010-10-27T08:48:00.002-05:00

The winds will blow their own freshness into you,
and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you
like the leaves of Autumn.
- John Muir

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/26/10 (17)

2010-10-26T08:30:00.002-05:00

Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.
- Elizabeth Lawrence

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

Aaaarrrrggghhh!!

2010-10-26T00:15:00.003-05:00

I messed up tonight. Now it's late and I can't stop trying to fix my blog.

Yes, I did download my template. Yet somehow I don't have any of my widgets left. I lost my whole list of inspirations and blog links.

If I used to link to you and you don't see your link, please let me know.

If you've read my blog before and happen to remember a link that is now gone, please let me know.

Help me out!! Please!!!

10/25/10 (16)

2010-10-25T07:27:00.004-05:00

Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.
~Grant Petersen

The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.
~Christopher Morley

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

Unexpected Buddha Find

2010-10-24T23:01:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we headed down to the River. It was the part of the Mississippi that divides Northeast Minneapolis from Downtown. There is an island out there just up from the lock and dam, just up from where St. Anthony Falls used to exist.

Nicollet Island is one of my favorite places in Minneapolis. I have been there so many times, in so many seasons, for so many occasions, mostly all happy, but a few sad ones when the flow of the river all around healed me.

Therefore it was quite surprising to me that I had never noticed this Buddha before. Perhaps...no, I thought I could come up with an explanation, but there is no reason that I can think of that prevented me from seeing this totem.

I love going to Nicollet Island. I've stopped by there on so many memorable occasions in my life, at times throwing in flowers for offerings to be carried downstream by the River. We watched fireworks down at this spot as the new millennium began. One year we stopped by on our ten year anniversary and ended up standing under a tree branch that held the largest eagle I have ever seen. I'm still astonished, sitting here thinking about it six years later. It felt like a sacred sign. I went to this island on the evening I defended my dissertation, drank champagne and threw bright tulips into the water.

I just realized this is the place where I say my prayers and give thanks for all that is good in my life.

Rather fitting, isn't it? Finding this Buddha watching over this island?

10/24/10 (15)

2010-10-24T08:09:00.000-05:00

Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time.
- William Cowper

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.

10/23/10 (14)

2010-10-23T07:54:00.001-05:00

Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
- James Wright

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.
I'm halfway through the project!

10/22/10 (13)

2010-10-22T08:14:00.000-05:00

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden,
but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.
- Minnie Aumonier

My new project is to capture 28 days of season change here in Minnesota.