grow you food dude...

we come from the earth,

we return to the earth,

and in between

we garden.

                 - anonymous

i pick up a lot of inspiration during my walks...
especially around the colourful neighbourhoods near our home.

with the rising costs of grocery items (have you seen the price of celery lately ???)
this summer will definitely be my year of growing some grub !!!!

this has been on my new year's resolution list for decades now.
and i have had a few failed attempts in the past (mostly due to travel plans interrupting watering schedules).
but i'm determined this year...even if it means harvesting just a couple of tomatoes to make some mango salsa !!!

wishing you all a very lovely friday

erica

xoxo
p.s.  just because karen wants to know ...

walk-in clinic

               and the ocean taught her how to drown 

               in all the things bigger than herself.

               the ocean loved her and

               knew everything that made her.

                and every time she'd walk to the shore,

               she'd smile at the ocean

               because the waves told her story.

                                        - r.m. drake

whenever we can we walk towards the water.
these days, it's usually just ian and i and harlow, our teenagers will make it there later with friends or on their own.
whenever we think of it, we bring along harlow's dog brush and groom his hair by the shore and watch handfuls fly into the pacific.

we are so very lucky to live on an island and be surrounded by the ocean. (thank you)
we are doubly fortunate (thank you, thank you) to be able to walk to the beach and make a daily pilgrimage of the experience.

its vastness and immensity is a relief from the many little troubles of our brains.
we go there to break from the hustle and bustle, from due dates and deadlines, from our daily chores and responsibilities.
we go there to quiet our brains and open up our hearts.
we go there to find calm and clarity.
we go there to breath a little deeper, to inhale salty oxygen into our skin, hair and lungs.

it's like a walk-in clinic for our souls...

erica

xoxo

duvet and purple scrap blanket

i found a double size flat sheet (with matching pillow cases) at the thrift shop,  

i was drawn to it because of its faded denim colour and its two dollar price tag.

for an extra dollar, i was able to pick up another flat sheet (exactly the same size)

 but in a different shade of blue.

after a good laundering and a quick run through the sewing machine

(p.s. instructions are in this previous post)

i ended up with a new-to-me duvet cover (not that i really needed another one!!)

voila !!!

and here is my purple scrap blanket on top...all finished (finally) !!!

i'm still reading both john lanchester's capital and andre alexis' fifteen dogs.

one sits on my nightstand and the other in my gym bag 

so i can read while on the stationary bike.

what are you knitting? reading? sewing?

care to share?

erica

xoxo

joining frontier dreams and small things

burning to become

i can tell you some things i know about spring.

that it's about bursting.

it's about renewal.

it's about relearning.

and it's about becoming.

and you know what?

it's also about discomfort.

it burns to become.

but you can't avoid it.

step into it.

own it.

                       -victoria erickson

spring has arrived (whether we welcome it or not !!!)

springtime in victoria is probably the longest season of our year - starting usually 
around mid january (if not earlier) and going until late may or june.

we have become adept creatures of renewal, of relearning, and of becoming,

i think this is mainly because most of us start the process 
right after putting away our christmas decorations.

my mother-in-love moved into her new assisted living space this weekend.

for her, in her eighty-second year, it is yet another
 season of renewal, relearning and becoming.

we spent the weekend helping her move, unpack and 
hang some of her favourite paintings on the wall.

i brought my cutting shears and combs and gave her a fresh new haircut. 

(it looks great and showcases her brand new earrings!!!)

she was a wee bit tired the day of the move 
and a little shy of meeting the other residents,

but after the haircut she was a brand new brave/braver/bravest soul 

and ended up enjoying all the other ladies she shared her dinner table with that evening.

yes...renewal, relearning and becoming...

it's a skill to keep practicing even at eighty two !!!

erica

xoxo

p.s.  it is a very, very nice place... and i want to move in with her !!!

sprung ....

the sun came out while i was sitting on the dentist chair yesterday.

i decided right there and then that if i survived the root canal that i was going

 for an extra long, slow walk to take in some of that vitamin D.

well...i survived !!!

thanks to great anesthesia and 

my wonderful and extremely gentle-handed dentist,

i felt almost nothing at all and i was even able

 to doze off a few times during the procedure.

check out what i found during my stroll....

spring has sprung on the west coast !!!

i've been so busy and distracted lately that i almost missed the crocuses 

(the beginning of the symphony of blooms).

aren't they stunning?

i was so happy (after the walk) and relieved (after the root canal)

that i went home and finally took down the last of the christmas decorations.

erica

xoxo

thrifted threads: embroidered cloth

had i the heavens' embroidered cloths.

enwrought with golden and silver light,

the blue and the dim and the dark cloths

of night and light and the half-light,

i would spread the cloths under your feet:

but i, being poor, have only my dreams;

i have spread my dreams under your feet;

tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

                                   -william butler yeats

did you do any embroidery when you were younger?

i did...it was my favourite subject at elementary school 

(waaaaay back when...when my family still lived in the philippines)

i think that is the reason i can't help but admire any embroidery work - 

especially work that has been hand made, hand crafted.

i found this yellow hand made top in a tinker trunk

at a second hand (not-really-thrift) shop while visiting the town of duncan, b.c..

the second hand, consignment store had a ton of treasures in it 

but a lot of it were priced so high i decided to just browse.

that is when i discovered the tinker trunk... with its 'everything for a twoonie" sign.

guess what was sitting on the top of the pile?

i very rarely wear yellow...(i think it makes my complexion look sallow)

but in this case, the embroidery overrides the sallow yellow,

especially on a grey and cloudy day (yup...the rain is back!!!)

wishing you all a very lovely wednesday !!!

erica

xoxo

joining lindsey for 'what i wore' wednesday

fun stuff: three on the needles

here they are...

all three scrap blankets (still on the needles)

two are almost done... and one is a third of the way through.

can you tell i knit for the colour play?

 i'm still in the middle of john lanchester's capital but have put it aside

because my copy of andre alexis' fifteen dogs came in at the library.

i haven't been able to put it down.

it is an easy read...the author tackles the questions of life and happiness 

and whether humans or our four legged furry canine friends do better at both.

what are you knitting?  reading?

care to share?

erica

xoxo

joining frontier dreams and small things