Like so many of you, I look to blogs for inspiration + would like to know what blog(s) REALLY inspire(s) you?
My boy got a tune up on his bike + now each journey starts off with the question...
With our canoe strapped to the top of the car, we drove the back roads of TN + AL to my boy's family vacation cabin for 3 days of 4th of July fun + relaxation.
My necklaces have been in a jumble. I've been looking for hooks, forgetting I bought these years ago from a blacksmith at a crafts fair.
We are experiencing our first pest infestation...ants! Using a mixing bowl to collect kitchen scraps for the compost was attracting ants so I had to break down + buy one of these bins at 
This morning Monk + I went for an hour walk + want to go for another. It's 75 degrees, overcast + drizzling, perfect walking weather. We'll go in a bit, but first I want to work on a shop update + listen to Wait Wait.
~Before~
~After~
My boy + I were out of our skins excited when Bruce Springsteen announced the last leg of his world tour + Nashville was on the schedule.
Curb-side finds I have previously shown in other posts.
Blue chair (no longer avail.), futon +
Metal shelf (no longer avail.). Someone already picked up the lawn mower.
Mariss @ Vanillabean Knits left a comment wondering what I was going to do with the big wooden table I found on the curb. In addition to putting it in my backyard + eating lunch on it everyday, I'm using it as a backdrop for my Etsy photos. Yesterday I worked on my first post-move Etsy update + it feels good to be able to update with new items, created in our new home.
As you can tell I am obsessed with my garden + all things fresh + yummy. I spent the better part of the morning digging up more grass + finally planting the winter squash + new potatoes. I have a friend who says "I don't go to church on Sundays, I go to my garden."
Our friend's plumb trees are producing beautiful, sweet plumbs. AND I found out a co-worker has a chicken farm. Organic, free range eggs for $2.00 a dozen! I have to put in my order a week in advance because she's selling eggs as fast as her chickens are laying them.
First we saw the German group, from The Black Forrest region, who sang traditional folk songs. Luckily we bumped into a German friend who told us that all the songs were hiking songs he was taught when he was young. At that moment I really wish I knew them so I could sing them on hiking trips.
One member of the group explained that there were a lot of cows in their region + they made music on cow bells, which made my German friend mutter "please don't play Edelweiss" several times. They didn't, but the skill involved was quite amazing.
Next was a local clogging group called The Cripple Creek Cloggers who danced traditional Appalachian folk + square dances.
Here is where it got fun...The dancers pulled people out of the audience + we were chosen. Initially I was completely freaked out, but as the dance progressed I was having so much fun. My boy snapped the above photo as I was doing a solo dance with my partner. Hezza, you should have been there!
All that was so much fun, but my favorite performers were the Indian dancers. They were young children who danced, sang + played the instruments. Oh! their dresses were so beautiful + they had such tremendous enthusiasm.
First visit of the year.
I also got my water barrels set-up. I had one under the gutter spout, but here is the *key* if you are going to get your barrels from a bottling plant...WASH THEM OUT COMPLETELY! My barrel still had syrup residue, which I thought I had completely cleaned out, but because of the small opening it did not drain completely. This requires you to cut a larger hole in the top. Not doing this resulted in 55 gals of rain water mixed with syrup residue, which congealed + smelled like Sprite(?). Not good for plants or a vegetable garden at all!
I spent Sunday with a friend who recently returned to Nashville + we went to The American Artisan craft show to see Beth.
Thrift store finds
Another curb-side find from my neighborhood,
This is the beginning of my garden- 2 rows of heirloom tomatoes, Great White, Brandywine + Cherokee Purple. 9 of the 10 plants survived the transplant + 1 watermelon. I'm trying to get some arugula (wild rocket!), salad mix, spinach + kale started. My mother just called me to tell me about this LA Times article about no-dig gardening. Being that I don't have a tiller + digging takes ALL DAY...it looks like a great way to go.
*Attempting* to bake bread. This is a whole wheat, flax seed concoction that needs a little tweaking.
Swing dancing the night away at a benefit for On The Fifth Day,
Last Saturday was the 1st ON The Beaten Path crafts fair (the summer event) which is the counterpart to the OFF The Beaten Path studio tour (the fall event).
When I assembled stock for The Book Babes' group booth I realized that I had more than I thought- how often does that happen? Group booths can be difficult to set-up, but with all the events we have done over the years, I think we have our "look" down.
One vendor remedied everyone's heat issues with cold watermelons cut with his chair making tools.
One year ago the plan was to summit Palisades Glacier, but various life events prevented everyone from preparing for the hike. It all worked out because what we found on our camping trip was snow...lots of snow! Snow that would have prevented us from completing the hike. Not the vacation we planned, but it really was beautiful. 5 days, 4 nights without running water, flush toilets or heat. What we did have was lots of wool, technical clothing, good camping food + lots of family. AND of course...the quiet sounds of nature.
We hiked into the Muir Widerness to the Chaney Cabin. It was the vacation home of Lon Chaney + now it's a ranger station + a great rest stop for weary hikers.
We also spent a day in Cerro Gordo, the wealthiest silver mine in Ca. during the 1800's, now a privately owned ghost town. It's tucked away in a mountain canyon + we had to drive through clouds + hail on a 1-lane steep road to get there. My dad narrated as he drove + I freaked out! None of the structures were completely visable because of the clouds, so erie.
The American Hotel, built in 1871
Drinking root beer + cozying up to the wood burning stove
One's perspective on leaving one's home changes drastically when that home is owned + not rented.
I had a painting teacher who gave us an assignment to collect fantastic realities + it's an assignment I have continued for over 10 years.
Despite being SO tired that I could have died, we went Latin dancing on Friday night. The Swing dance teachers are taking the summer off, so it's 8 weeks of Salsa + Cha-Cha, although I prefer Merengue!!!!!
Despite being SO tired that I could have died, we went Latin dancing AGAIN on Saturday night. Much to my happiness, they mostly played Merengue songs. THEN we went with some friends to a country barn dance. I don't really like Country Music (I prefer Western, + yes, there is a difference) but gave it one try + my boy gave it three tries. My native Tennessee friends joke about me not being allowed back in California.
AND despite being SO tired that I could have died, we went to IHOP after all that dancing. I realized that I had not been in a place like that past midnight since High School (we always ended up at Denny's or Canter's).
Today I am a printing fool. With 2 weeks until my next crafts show (+ one of those weeks on vacation) I'm busting tail trying to pull it all together. Luckily I'm in a group booth with The Book Babes + don't have the pressure of filling an entire space.
...WE WILL BE HERE
The press is in the studio + I'm printing again.
Dear, sweet Ambika @ (Into) The Fray sent me house warming coasters + she remembered my love of sage-y green! I will insist that everyone uses them when they come over, 
We have been watching a dove family on our porch this past month. She's sitting on her 2 babies.
And Monk has officially become an old man in his lawn chair.
...then the sun came out + it was a beautiful weekend!
This year's TACA Spring fair got off to a wet start, but we made it through tornado watches on Fri. (we were told to leave) + came back on Sat. to a glorious weekend filled with old friends + new friends. Beth spent Saturday with me showing off the amazing engineering of her tabletop platen press + printing pine cones. OK truth be told, we did not get much done.
AND she brought Lotta Prints to further distract me. I did manage to complete a carving + make some prints. I'll print cards + postcards this month for sale.
This print is by Lisa @ made by one girl, who is super cool + super nice. She is primarily a book binder with a great aesthetic.
If Susan Smith lived near me I would want to hang out with her. Beth + I pretty much freaked out when we walked into her booth because we wanted EVERYTHING. I came home with a dish + a vase. She has an Etsy shop + a blog.
(L) A tile by a local potter named Amy, which I'm thinking of incorporating into a back splash in the kitchen.
(L) A wonderful gift from the very generous Teresa Hayes, who is ALWAYS so good to me.
Heather (whose camera was stolen + can't post for the time being) came by + channeled Little Edie Beale in Teresa's scarf.
(L) I met the sweetest student named Jeni, who is working with a friend of mine at The Appalachian Center for Craft + who traded me these lovely silver + pearl earrings. Susan + Ambika have inspired me to wear earrings again.
Two weekends ago we went to the Watertown town-wide yard sale + came away with nearly everything on our wish list including a push mower ($20.00!) for all the grass on our property (what an amazing upper body work-out). Next year we want to plant an organic vegetable garden, but until then we have started a compost + we'll rely on friends who already have theirs planted. Tomorrow morning I am going to Coca-Cola, in Nashville, to pick-up a few 55 gal plastic barrels for the rain water collection system we are installing. We have so many plans + we have to pace ourselves because there just are not enough hours in the day, but it all makes me SO very happy.
We have recently been the beneficiaries of random acts of kindness.
Yesterday I received a package from Marissa @ Vanillabean Knits + my boy had to tell me not to cry!
I also received a package from Amy @ Papa Studios + let me tell you that my blog could easily become an Amy fan site! We share a mutual appreciation for 50's kitch (+ Social Distortion) + when I saw her Pee Wee print, with an obscure quote from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, well that sealed the deal in terms of my admiration.
As you know, everything looks better in person that on blogs or on Etsy + when I actually got to study the details of Amy's carving + registration I was in awe! Seriously, I have to take a trip to Atlanta + meet her.
