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wild garden, crazy bright rose, perfect green truck(another bigger of the rose here)i scored some sale red + pink marimekko fabric that i will make curtains from. two curtains down at my new place and six to go.guillaume kashima
amanda marsalis makes beautiful photographs. found through jeana's closet visit with amanda.
abundant in alameda:
fat squirrels (all over—i think it's something to do with all the big trees and it being an island)
american flags
tangles of kids roaming together
riding of bicycles on sidewalks and without helmets (guilty—everyone else is doing it)
great old signs
bright coral colored roses
good stuff:
carson ellis
pawling print studio
from the new home
there are various tomatoes growing. tomato still with the vine scent on it has to be one of the best scents.
the yard—rambling and with so many possibilities. my landlady dreams of multiple treehouses and covered bike storage (sounds good to me!). chickens, of course, crossed my mind. i like hearing some neighbor chickens clucking. goats? i should at least try to garden! (there's also a tall, somewhat stingy with the oranges orange tree and a picnic table outside of the picture frame.)
one of my favorite san francisco stores, gravel & gold, apparently went to sweden. they visited the jobs textile factory. and check out their cute post about their own funky and bold first printed textile, panda.
i plan to install a shelf to the right there for reading lamp and glass of water. this here fine marimekko pillow i was ogling this summer in the marimekko store. and dear liz (in regular generous liz form) bought it for me for my birthday right then. i love it.
some alameda surroundings that tug at me.
the cake plate from laurel and family wants a small iced sweetness to top it.
the peaches (not mine) tempt me at least twice daily.
the blue flowers (also not mine, and just by the peaches) wish to fit inside my small blue ceramic vase (and they have in fact. shshsh). it's a matter of time before a peach finds its way to my house. maybe i'll ask if there's a plan to harvest or if they just plan to let them fall. the way the tree is propped up does make me think they have some peachy intentions. they certainly look ripe though, don't they?
settling in. bought some cutie plants today at encinal nursery. some thread for curtain sewing. a mixing bowl for cookie baking. (i've always had housemates with mixing bowls it seems.) still need to get a small cookie sheet though for my miniature oven.
i got the apartment, by the way! so very grateful. i'm off to the sunny east bay soon.
while i appreciate the convenience, diversity and cultural and food offerings of san francisco, i've never felt like a city person. i grew up in a city of 23,000 and lived on the edge of it, surrounded by hills. and the two colleges i applied to, i chose based mainly on the number of trees in the vicinity (a lot). so it's strange to me that i've weathered city life in SF for 13 years. as cities go, i suppose san francisco is pretty gentle (aside from ridiculous housing prices). and the neighborhoods almost seem like small towns that just spill into one another. but still!
some things i will miss about my apartment of eight years
being able to easily walk to dolores park, bernal hill, and to all the bakeries and ice creameries and other deliciousness in between
the views from the back steps
flowers from the yard
rainbow grocery right down the street
my housemate of four years, heather (and splitting our csa box)
going to the alemany farmers' market with jen and mati most saturdays
some things i will not miss
the sirens that sound from living near a fire station
men peeing wherever/whenever on the street, regularly
city noise
the heavy influx of marina types and mainstreamers (stereotypes, i know) to the mission
carpet
slow drains
extreme drafts/lack of insulation and heat
i'm excited to learn a new place. to walk around and look at different houses and different yards. to figure out where to put things in my apartment. to bike. i wonder what the SF fog looks like from there...
have you seen heather smith jones' beautiful new shop, blue sparrow press?! lovely.
wee house by my house party
it has been a long time since i've wanted something so badly. since i've known what would be good for me. this house, this little sunny apartment would suit me just right. at first when i entered, there was a strange smell that put me off. but that is just the current resident's smell. it can be waved away. and after a minute's adjustment, i no longer smelled it. then a couple of minutes imagining away the current tenant's things, and i could see myself and pinky leon there so clearly. in that bright morning kitchen with its black and white checkered floor we could bask—me drinking tea, PL on the floor, tummy to the sun. kitchen things on white shelves. tall windows and tall ceilings. hardwood floors throughout the rest. a tiny bathroom—the bathroom has never been important to me—the less bathroom to clean, the better. a back door to the large, rambling yard that has so much potential. and already an orange tree and tomato vines growing up, up. and a super friendly musician-mom landlady!
and i'm so excited to move away from the bustle (and poop) of the city and onto a sleepy street with tall old trees lining it. there are a lot of american flags out there, and i counted two of those military tank-like SUVs within about as many streets, which puts me slightly on edge, but the house feels so safe. i can bike all around the flat town on my cute public bicycle. there's a city carshare pod nearby. a public library nearby. an expensive, but cute natural foods marketplace. movie theater not far. BART not far. what more does one need, really! a park and a swimming pool, but i'm guessing that can be discovered there too.
i am getting ahead of myself. she has not decided yet who will move there. but i tell you, all of my fingers and toes are mentally crossed, and in my head i'm already there, already home. i did not feel this way when i moved into my current apartment years ago. not even close. the wait is excruciating. i may be developing an ulcer.
and i know it is dangerous, this wanting, because all this imagining, all this hoping could be dashed. but i can't help it.
i was trying to photo the marimekko socks that i bought in sweden—almost the only thing i bought for myself in sweden. but a little cat decided he was a far more interesting subject. i suppose he's right.
today i finished the grapes of wrath. it was 27 dollars for a paperback in sweden!! so i figured i better get one that's guaranteed to be good. it was. man. that is one intense trial of a story. constant struggle. and i'm guessing today's migrant farm workers' struggles are not much different. probably even worse in many cases. it's crazy how most of the seeds of today's food movements can be found in that book, published in 1939; we've known for some time how f-ed up our agricultural system is.
in sweden i saw
lots of brown midsummer poles not yet taken down—holding on to summer
dramatic skies (though mild, lovely weather)
puffy clouds
small, bright green, perfect couch
lots of terriers and strange looking dogs
people baffled by the new locker system at both the göteborg and stockholm train stations
way more tattoos than i've ever seen before in sweden
camilla, morran and ingvar and karin for the first time—all completely charming
i was moved when
as the plane was landing at arlanda airport, i immediately felt safe and home (and not just from having miraculously survived yet another plane flight)
listening to our tour guide describe carl and karin's house and life together at carl larsson gården (unfortunately there are no photos inside the house allowed)
watching beginners (the movie) for the second time
saying goodbye to carin i like
the black train cars
fika, of course
the smell of the underground
the soft air
how well little things seem to work everywhere—like how the hot water comes on right away
night swimming under an almost full moon in the archipelago
strawberry cake
some more descriptions under my photos.
i will see some of these cousins soon.
i'm off for two weeks to sweden. bought the ticket many months ago and have been looking forward to this trip ever since, and daily for about a month. it's been 5.5 years since i've been back, since mormor died. i wonder how it will feel without her there. i'm happy to be going with friends, so i won't linger too much on the lack of mormor's physical presence. i will visit her sister carin, the last of her generation on either side of my family. i know there is so much i'll later wish i had asked carin, but i think that's just how it goes. i know when i see her, between us will be our missing mormor, and that that will make us cry.
as always, i am nervous about flying. racing around tonight trying not to think about it.
some lovely scandinavian flickrs for a virtual summer visit:
by the water
in the water
at the water's edge
(can you tell i can't wait to jump in?!)
red house on tree legs
astrid's temporary kitchen
see you in a bit!
his fur is almost grown back. i like how his formerly shaved patch is aligned with the light rhomboid. good job PL.pssst: camilla engman prints for sale on the PL purrs site.
origami and fries at frjtz
listen/watch. so damn good. the words, the delivery, the images. wow. can't express how good, so you'll just have to watch.
cheeses make nice shapes.
you can find art for sale from the pinky leon purrs fundraiser here. more will be posted there wednesday too.
hope to see you here tonight!
well, i guess i'm getting a little better about asking for help, because i'm throwing a pinky leon purrs fundraising party (with mati's, jen's and leslie's and a lot of other people's help). can't say i feel entirely comfortable with the concept, but it feels better if i think of it more as a party and art show. a bunch of friends/artists/crafters are contributing artwork. the moola will go to help pay part of the whopping cost of PL's procedure and surgery.
so, come to the party! not this saturday but next. party info.
(pinky leon will not be attending the party, unfortunately. he's even more shy than i am.)
at dusk on the back steps. last bit of light and the deep blues.
thank you all for the recent book purchases. it's been a big help in many ways!
pinky leon got his cone off yesterday, finally! i think he was beginning to believe it was a part of him. he cleaned it regularly, making big scraping noises (sandpaper tongue on textured cone fabric). a little funny, a little pitiful. that cannot feel good on the tongue! he looks much more dignified now, and is markedly cleaner and more sprightly. there's a spring in his step, and his old orneriness is back. some flickry cats and dogs for you
sunken treasure's cat
a beautiful dog by anja
dog shore's album cover
gemma always cracks me up
it's been a rough week. an emergency trip to the vet (two vets actually) for pinky leon (surgery) and the emptying of my pockets to pay for it.
pinky leon's tummy is shaved and piglet pink; he's appropriately named. but i've known that for a while. when he was little he would meow, and for several seconds after meowing, his mouth would remain open. it was very amusing. he had a long list of descriptors—pink mouthed-pink toed-pink nosed-brillo backed-(his back fur was oddly rough when he was small) bushytailed leon. eventually shortened to pinky leon or PL.
the pink man is home recovering now. i am recovering too. so stressful. and while there is security in a bit of savings, there is also security in a warm, purring friend sleeping, finally, after much pacing about, settling in on my lap.
we are listening to the low anthem. (once upon a time PL was afraid of the piano. he heard it on the radio and freaked out. made airplane ears and ran and hid. his musical taste has matured, however, or he's become desensitized to the piano.)to help pay for his surgery, i am having a Pinky Leon purrs BIG SALE on From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens. the books are half off. some of my favorite PL photos
PL tiny, 1999sweet face
in the sewing maching cover
tummy show off
love ∞ bigbernal hill is my favorite place in the city, especially when it is green. very soon it will start turning brown/tan—its summer coat. but right now the grass seems unusually lush after our many days of rain and then bursts of sun. today the hill was dreamy. (these photos do not capture it.)
i walked by julia's old house before walking up on the grassy bernal hill. julia was the eccentric french lady i used to go grocery shopping with. she died in april six years ago. her house looks the same. i remember her peeking out of her upstairs kitchen window when i rang the doorbell, yelling down to me that she'd be right there (descending in a cloud of perfume—she must have lost some of her sense of smell) or waving goodbye from the window when i left. i thought the house would have been spiffed up. it'a a very plain house, but with a sweet, sloping, overgrown garden and an amazing view of the bay. funny that all the houses on her block are plain and a bit downtrodden. they're probably worth so much just for their view/location. i think there must be a lot of people on that block who have lived there a long time. julia certainly appreciated her home. she spent what i gathered to be her happiest years there with her second husband. he died 15 years into their marriage, but she stayed on there, enjoying herself and her view and her dog(s) for many more years.
up on bernal hill, there were the usual people walking their dogs. and then there were a few little groups of people, almost hidden, sitting amidst the grass. one couple was putting down their blanket, but it was billowing, so they were sitting, letting the red and white pattern billow over their heads and against them. today reminded me of that most fabulous hillside picnicking scene in room with a view. lazy and warm and soft and springy (though lacking that passionate kiss).
non sequitur photoPrairie Collective, another of my favorite stores in SF is now carrying From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens. and Rare Device restocked them. thank you dear SF store owners Annabelle and Giselle!
currently i'm reading The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. it's making me want to escape to a farm. somehow i'm able to read about all the trials of farming (about the blood and guts, the extremely taxing and intense manual labor, the cold, the time suck, the death, the pain, the vast practical and particular skills/knowledge required, the unpredictability and instability, the neverendingness, the fact that it's mostly outside {while i'm a homebody}, the fact that one doesn't make money doing it, and on and on) and i'm still able to romanticize it. only because i've never done it. i don't even garden for goodness sake. of course it's that draw of community and closeness to the land and animals and food, the physicality (as opposed to the disembodiment of sitting in front of the computer all day). the sense of rootedness and home. the purpose felt in improving land and contributing to the health of a place.
Kimball and her husband, first generation farmers, are clearly both optimistic, strong, smart, clever, generous and open, and they're good improvisers and really brave people who have a lot of faith. i'm only halfway done, but i can tell you already that the book is inspiring and funny. (there's an auction scene that had me chuckling at many points.) the many unexpected and specific details in Kimball's descriptions of her experiences make the book especially engaging.
afternoon tea with rittersport marzipan (the only rittersport i like).
you can enter the hearts + hands raffle for japan. over 80 artists/crafters have entered pieces for the raffle. 100% of proceeds go to japan relief efforts.
just had to put something up to move the tulip head down.i cani (the dogs in italian). hundarna (in swedish)now this is a good dog photo.
congrats to my bff from grade school!
here comes a quilt for baby harrison to roll about upon joyously.
more, bigger
my cousin, lotta (above), has a fashion, etc. blog as part of her job in the fashion department of one of sweden's oldest department stores, åhléns. she could be a fashion model herself—so stylish and beautiful.
i miss all my cousins and the beautiful streets of stockholm too. old apartment buildings with their accordion elevator doors. the echoes in the stone stairwells. in july i'll be there again. it's been since january 2006. too long.
more prettiness
lasso mauve rose (am loving these colors right now)
santorini
eva morell
also by eva
sirens of the sea
oh, and speaking of style, here's mati in her new sven clog-boots with a gold stripe! up the back!
