Booklog: November 2009

The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
It's not Bel Canto, and the story and characters are somewhat implausible, but I enjoyed this Ann Patchett book just the same. I like seeing how her writing progresses from her earlier books to her later ones.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
My first Vowell book, and definitely not my last. Funny and educational is a winning combination.

Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch
This is what a great biography is all about - a collection of small details you shouldn't care about or find interesting, but you do because Fitch was able to put them all in one place and create a marvelous tale about a woman named Julia. Though I could hardly stand to read about all the years after Paul got sick, because he and Julia were wonderful together, and it was just too sad to read about him leaving her life mentally then physically.

Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
McNamee can't quite pull off for Alice what Fitch did for Julia, but I loved reading about the early years of Alice Water's life and the beginnings of Chez Panisse. I dined there 5 years ago, and the actual experience and food surpassed everything I had heard about the restaurant. It was fun to find out more about how that night of olives, local salad, quail, and raspberry souffle came to be.

Julia Child by Laura Shapiro
The Rachael Ray version of Julia's life.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Half a fascinating and horrifying account of a young Hmong girl with epilepsy living in California, and half a history and description of the Hmong people. I could not put the odd chapters down, but found the even ones a little boring and drawn out.

As a Friend by Forrest Gander
A lovely, lovely, small book. Beautiful writing that only a poet could achieve.

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I had to take a break with this after I got 1/3 of the way through. I read his Shadow of the Wind for my bookclub a couple of years ago and we all loved it. This new book was supposed to be better, but it wasn't. Not even close.

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller
I read Lost in the Forest by Miller 3 years ago and I'm not sure why it took me so long to get back to her. Not quite as good as that one, but still an entertaining, late Summer read.

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman
Waldman has gotten a lot of criticism in the past for some of her essays (one in particular about loving her husband more than her children), but I found myself saying, "oh yes," many many more times than I said, "oh no." While this book is filled with funny and sweet moments, there is one profoundly heartbreaking moment. I closed this book feeling thankful Waldman wrote with such honesty about her motherhood.

The (Very Late) End of the Garden Notes

It's now mid-November, and I originally started this post at the beginning of October when I remembered I never wrote my garden notes for September. I'm trying to catch up with everything unfinished, so here it is:

By mid-September, we were mentally done with the garden. There was still okra and some tomatoes, but the blight finally got to my vines and everything started to look crispy. I figured the squirrels and birds can get what is left.

Originally I thought I would have planted some winter vegetables for the Fall like brussels sprouts and chard. I didn't realize that my little plot would be completely full, and nothing would be done early enough to plant for the Fall/Winter. Next year, I'm going to make sure there is some empty space for all those delicious green things that come up after it gets cold.

Our goal for next year is to till a much larger plot, and have more room and rows to reach our vegetables. Nothing was more frustrating that being unable to reach half of the stuff, because it was so dense and just plain inaccessible from the outside. I can't decide what I should do with the little plot we made this year - I'm thinking of either planting garlic or asparagus, or maybe rhubarb. I need to refer to some of books to see how asparagus and garlic do together, because maybe I'll just plant both. Though I might be too late for any of those now.

The other thing I am going to do soon is start covering the ground to make some more beds the easy way and plant bulbs. I'm not letting another Spring go by wishing for more flowers than the few tulips I get that grow inside a bush. My mother-in-law is gathering seeds from all her dead flowers right now, and she is saving some of everything for me! There is a wonderful book I discovered a few years ago called The Way We Garden Now by Katherine Whiteside. It is full of easy projects to improve your yard no matter if your yard is an acre (or more) of lawn, less than a quarter acre, a brick patio behind a condo, or a balcony in the city. The instructions are simple to follow and the whole book is filled with whimsical watercolors by Peter Gergely. If I even get to a handful of Katherine's projects in the coming year, my outside life will lovelier, yummier, and more colorful than this year.

Reorganizing

My sewing area has been a disaster for far too long (as in months and months and months). It's not much fun to sew wedged in a tiny corner of your sewing table by a mountain of fabric and other sewing accoutrements. With holiday sewing fast approaching and a bunch of unlistened-to This American Life podcasts, I decided to tackle the big project I'd been avoiding.

While I haven't bought much fabric in the past year, I have accumulated more and more small pieces of fabric. I think is is because I've begun quite a few quilt tops on a whim, all of which are still in progress. What used to be mostly fat quarters or half yards, is now a huge pile of pieces too big for the scrap box but too small to be folded neatly on a shelf. I decided I need to scrap (ha!) my current scrap system - one plastic bin for warm colors and one for cool colors stored on the shelf next to my sewing machine - and expand my definition of scrap. I cleared out most of the plastic filing drawers I use to store materials and current projects, which gave me three small drawers and one large drawer to work with. The large drawer is now for large scraps, and the three smaller drawers are for small warm scraps, small cool scraps, and tiny and irregular scraps. Most of the tiny scraps are just about useless, but I hate to throw them away and I know there are some nifty ideas like this one for using up tiny scraps which I'll probably attempt in the future. Even though I am usually not this way, I decided to label the drawers with the label maker we use at the office. Now that my scraps are reorganized and labeled, and the filing drawers are under my sewing table away from the little hands which like to open them up and dump them onto the floor, I feel like I have gotten somewhere with this reorganization project.

The last thing I don't really know what to do with is my paper bag filled with thread waste, and selvedges, and any kind of scrap that is just two narrow to sew into patchwork. It seems like I could stuff something with all this waste, but I'm afraid a pillow or softie or whatever I made would end up really lumpy. So tell me, do you hold on to this stuff? What do you do with it? Am I a crazy, frugal woman for holding onto it? Should I just chuck it into the nearest trash can?

Happy Halloween!

Says the Jedi and the Elephant. Hope you had a great evening full of tricks and treats. We sure did.

More on the homemade parts of the costumes later.

Hello

I'm here. Between sickness (me), Fall Break (Agnes), and more sickness (Ely), I've been otherwise occupied this week.

I have learned that sewing from Oliver + S patterns is a delight. My second garment ever, and first real dress for Agnes, is almost done. Hopefully I can do a little hand sewing tonight while watching Aliens. Yes, Aliens.

Be back soon, hopefully tomorrow. I haven't forgotten about my giveaway.

Good Things

The week is almost done, and it's been a good one:

-Our company was named one of the Best of Nashville by the local, weekly publication. Starting your own business is one of the hardest things we've ever done, and it feels good to know you are doing something well and that other people are noticing. Kudos to all our great employees who helped make this happen as much as Will did.

-Three baby-free workdays, as Agnes started mother's day out this week. She is having a blast, and I get to use my entire brain while in the office.

-My parents buying us our Christmas gift now. Almost 8 years ago, two nights before my wedding, this unknown group wowed me and my friends at my favorite small place to hear music, and now Will and I get to see them on New Year's Eve at my favorite large place to hear music. Plus a night of free babysitting.

-My annoying stomach illness is gone and this cold seems to be on it's way out.

-I get to buy some fabric today to make Ely's Halloween costume. Plus, I figured out that part of the costume can be made from the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas, so I got to buy that pattern as well. I have a feeling the latest issue of Stitch will also jump into my cart today.

-Upcoming Sunday dinner with friends

-Picking out our free pumpkin at Whole Foods after school today

-Friends coming into town next week for their first visit back since they moved in May, and the early Halloween party we are having for all the kids.

-Nicer weather on the horizon after a cold and rainy week

Also a reminder - if you are interested in my Alabama Stitch Book inspired moleskine journal, leave a comment under this post. I haven't looked at the comments yet, and probably won't until Saturday morning but time is running out. Have a good weekend!

Where the Writing Takes Me

One year ago today, I began this blog. I had wanted to start a blog for more than a year before, as a place where I could keep track of what I made through words and photographs. I'm not a very good documentarian and most of what I make, I make with the intention of giving it to someone else. My kids are going to be very disappointed when they look at their baby books and ask "Is this it?" Every diary or journal I've started has ended after a few pages. I did spend months of my life photographing myself as I slept, but that project has been long abandoned. I've enjoyed knowing that last October I spent a whole Saturday sewing coasters, and it's been easy for me to locate my favorite gin mojito recipe when I've misplaced the scrap of paper mine is written on at home. But, the best part of this has been experiencing where the writing has taken me.

Even though I thought this blog would be heavy on craft and cooking, all sorts of other things have crept in here. I might sit down during naptime (like right now), or at night once the little people in the house are asleep, with the intention of writing about the baby quilt I just finished after a year in the making. But then - somehow - the post becomes about the Tashlich service I went to a few days earlier, and the paper prayer I grabbed from my husband's hand and slipped into my purse before he could recycle it. I know I intended to just write another post in a world of posts about the making of a quilt, but somewhere in the process of me typing, my mind suddenly realized that the story of me making a quilt was so obviously tied to other experiences and thoughts in my life. That is the magic of writing about something. That is the magic of watercoloring over the lines of a white crayon drawing on a white sheet of paper. All those connections were always there, I just couldn't see them before.

If you've been along for any part of this journey and indulged me over the past year, then I thank you. My husband loves to tells me I'm a good writer and I usually respond by rolling my eyes, but I admit I do enjoy it. One of my favorite discoveries this year was realizing how much I like the process of hand sewing. I doubt I would have picked up this book and started stitching if I hadn't seen it and the resulting fabulous projects on many of my daily blog reads. While I was supposed to use my moleskine journal with the hand stenciled and stitched jersey cover myself, I'd rather send it out into the world for someone else to enjoy. If you are interested in this journal, leave me a comment by the end of Friday and I'll draw a name.

Looking forward to year #2.