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sewed my first top from a pattern yesterday. the lovely jennifer serr helped me make a pattern from another top i brought to class. (normally she doesn't teach pattern-making in this class, but because the top was pretty simple—and she seemed to like it—she made an exception.) i am so pleased with the result. i had briefly forgotten how satisfying it is to make something that turns out pretty close to how you had envisioned that thing. excited to try more designs. i am trying to only purchase thrift store clothing or clothing that is not made by companies that exploit people/nature. unfortunately, fabric itself is also made by such companies. it's very hard to find fabric that is made in the US and made using sustainable (or even just non-toxic) practices.
some inspiring sewing ladies: jen hewett, christine haynes and jenny of wiksten made.
eaten yesterday in the back yard in perfect weather. woodstock even joined us at one point, sitting on the bench like a proper chicken.
in addition to lots of cool old cars, alameda now has two pigs! this little one was visiting bosco the pig (who is much bigger) when i walked by bosco's yard on saturday, post farmers market. the piglet was snorting up a storm. sounded like a grown up pig already. its owners say she will get to be 25–30 pounds. CUTE.
joan and dylan and aiden and i went on a bicycle tour of alameda chicken coops. fun to see people's different setups and back yards and chickens of all shades (soft grey, iridescent black, buff, spotted, fluffy footed). heard many breed names batted about, but don't remember many of those (buff orpington, wyandotte, bantam, araucana, ameraucana...) we determined that our chickens are some of the luckiest, space-wise, in alameda. all of the alameda chickens though seem to be pretty happy—very robust ladies. some sweet coops out there. also saw some beekeepers and goats and sheep. more photos.
it's been perfect weather in the bay area lately. sunny, soft winds, not too hot.
california being ridiculously beautiful. in tennessee valley, lupines are blooming and dot the grasses. we saw a whale (or whales), a plump quail chirping, black velvety butterflies, a small snake. among us we ate chicken wings, sparkly water, perfect carrots and hummus, fava beans, a baguette with cheeses, a pear, half an avocado, crostini, spicy nuts, and for dessert, a walnut cakey-loaf thing. an uncoordinated, yet suprisingly complementary, satsifying and decadent picnic.
i remember when they were building the interior of gravel & gold, before they opened, and i would walk by and wonder what this gravel & gold place was going to be. sey yes posters covered the windows, and a lot of woodworking seemed to be happening inside—sawdust came flying out of the darkness through the cracked open door. they've changed their layout many times since opening, but the store retains its yummy scent and always its excellent aesthetic.
the g&g store owners appreciate textile art, marimekko, producing their own fabric/designs, the 60s/70s, sweden, hand crafted goods, and boobs! among other things. and they're a pickup site for eatwell farms csa. overall goodness.
steve martin and edie brickell's collaboration is up on first listen.
a little lightness amidst the sad news.
a beautiful book by chef magnus nilsson about his restaurant fäviken, which is in the middle of sweden, near the norwegian border.
here is a talk by magnus.
and a shorter video.
a good blue and a good soup
now and then i remember to check out what maddie is doing. she's the best.
at pixies and peony in alameda
think i'm going to like this automechanic album i just started listening to by jenny o.
also enjoying the new JT and the new emmylou harris/rodney crowell.
hey ladies
hopefully this won't become a chicken-only blog.
either way, these tulips are big.
when i found these the other morning on my doorstep (left by a nice neighbor), i bent down to check if they were real. even after touching them, i thought that they might be fabric. after they'd been in the sun a while, they opened up almost flat.
pretty sure this is where the roller skating/blading disco magic happens in golden gate park.
i managed to not take any photos of the de young museum or of my friend today. instead took ones of the rainbow above and of my food.
phosphorescent on first listen
there will be three clucking in the back yard soon. they were just outside for a spell today to get used to their soon to be home coop.
i need to get lena sjöberg's hårdkokta fakta om ägg (hardboiled facts about eggs). she also linked recently to this article about a boy in sweden who had permission to ride the bus with his chicken. when a bus driver slammed the door in his and his chicken's faces, the boy called up the bus company. they apologized and treated him and his chicken to a cab. oh, sweden. lena has shared a lot of fun (and some sad) stories and pictures on her blog about her own chickens.
around alameda
went star crazy after seeing stephanie's star how to in 3191.
easy to get lost in folding and gluing and trying different color combos.
alana paterson found via fvf
dani padgett (a very talented photographer i met in italian class)
some bits from a weekend visiting a friend who left the city (where she grew up) for grass valley about seven years ago. she's a horse and mountain gal now. little curl to her hair. little wild to her (competent) ways.
yes please light
and speaking of friends in videos...
bob lake skates
and a ton more of mr. lake skatin' it up here
and katrina and lisa on video for their upcoming online class, interwoven (starts tomorrow—you can still sign up)
some of my favorites here: pinky leon, morning sun, flowers, and npr.
just after this picture, PL sniffed a succulent and spied something very exciting outside.
(also, after this, he tried to eat the flowers (in his usual flower-eating fashion), so they had to be removed to a cat safe location to avoid petal-y vomits.)
yesterday i finished a place in time, wendell berry's latest port william book, this one of short stories. i actually took my time reading it, because i worry this may be (and really hope it's not) the last port william stories he publishes, and i wanted to stay for a while in each story, with burley coulter, dick watson, elton penn, and the rest. something about his sentences too. they're not like other people's. not around here anyway.
