.another 6 months.

hello lovelies!
it seems that another 6 months has flown by!

i am back down to working one job now, doing some massage and creating on the side.  i handmade, bought locally or re-homed most of the gifts we gave this christmas, my garden did so ridiculously well that i could not even keep up with the tomatoes!  let see . . . i traveled a bit - went to thailand, back east for a visit, down to southern oregon to see family . . . mostly we've had non-stop visitors since moving in to our new place last May.  it's been fun being NE PDX's most hospitable bed and breakfast.  i am also now the proud co-captain of my roller derby team, the Heartless Heathers for the 2013 season.  we are about to have our season opener in a few weeks - and i am so proud of how hard we have all been working this pre-season!

so, this was a big HAPPY NEW YEAR jumble update . . .

i will close by plugging a few facebook pages i've started.  the first is Bird on Wire Handmade (which i may just change to TJLoves).  here you can find my lovelies as i create them until i get that etsy shop.

the second is Hudson TShirts. a place where you can become a fan of our alaskan malamute Hudson and the  tshirts that bear his face.  hudson tees were a creation between myself and my dear collaborator, the fantastic textile designer and superhuman whitney. . . the first printing of shirts were a fundraiser for the man-friend and i to raise gas money to move back to the PNW . . . now tees are being printed so that hudson can leave his "print" on the world for years and years to come.

lastly, i've updated a few of the mixed media bars on the side ...  more on that to come.

for now i leave you with a few photos of my life since i last posted:

 strawberry rhubarb jam with rhubarb from my front yard

 an example of how my tomato plants took over the plot- they actually got much worse than this

 the man-friend and i celebrating our 8 yr wedding anniversary in sun river, oregon

 my 31st birthday float trip down the sandy river.  photo by corinne krogh

 climbing with friends at smith rock in central oregon

 at the top of the angles' rest hike in the columbia river gorge with my sisters in sept

 at the highest elevation a person can hike to without technical climbing gear on mt hood oregon, with my leaguemate Roller Eclipse

 my travel companions at the loi krathong festival in chiang mai, thailand this november

an example of what you can get when you shop from hudson tshirts

 my boy in his christmas sweater

the heartless heathers celebrating their win against seattle's hometeam the sockit wenches last month

i've missed you all!  what have you been up to in my absence?

.busy bee.

i took this photo recently in my garden - this big, fat, happy bee was buzzing around my marigolds. there's not a ton left in my garden - just root veggies (beets, carrots), leeks, and onions. i've mulched it all over and pulled up the dead tomatoes and peppers. left to overwinter is my raspberry bush, rhubarb and echinasea . . . as well as the potted mint. i planted some garlic and still have daffodil bulbs from last year. i've got high hopes for next year too - as long as i keep doing a little better each year, i'll be happy!

.how does your garden grow? v6.

.how does your garden grow? v5.

.how does your garden grow? v4.

.dinnertime.

having our own garden has been a blast! we got a good, early start on it this year and it is already going strong. we've even started harvesting some leeks, herbs and greens and adding them to our meals.

here's a yummy frittata recipe that we adapted and completely altered from "1000 vegetarian meals" cookbook:

step one: go to the garden and pick your fresh ingredients.

step two: wash your fresh ingredients
step three: begin to boil some sliced potato, while also sauteing up some leeks, garlic, shallot and onion
step four: have the man-friend chop up broccoli while you chop up the rest of the greens and herbs from the garden (bok choi, turnip greens, kale, chard, cilantro). add all these things to the skillet
step five: have the man-friend beat about 5 eggs while you add spices to the veggies (turmeric, garam masala, garlic powder, ginger, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, etc). mix the veggies in to the egg. drain the potatoes now that they are soft and add them to the egg mix too.
step six: scrape the bottom of the skillet clean and add a little oil. pour mixture into skillet and let it cook until the egg begins to look more like an omlette and less like straight-up liquid.
step seven: grate some cheese over to the top of the frittata (we used swiss!) and then put it under the broiler until cheese is bubbly and egg is cooked through (be sure to use a skillet that can go in the oven or you will melt the handle!! we heart our cast iron skillet).
step eight: let it cool, slice it up and enjoy!!

.how does your garden grow? v1.

.happy first day of spring!.

meet tom bombadil

the garden is slowly getting on its feet. we've had a few awesome days of sun and warm weather and the garlic and daffodil bulbs i planted last year are sending shoots peeking out over the layer of leaf mulch i spread at the beginning of the winter. my raspberry plant is covered in new buds. the seeds i started just a week ago are growing like crazy! i totally missed the seed swap i was supposed to go to today because i was in the providence St patrick's day parade with the providence roller derby and it ran overtime. but still, i am super excited about this growing season! i learned a lot last year (like don't plant everything at once, stagger it, or you'll have way too much lettuce and it will all go to seed before you can eat it). i got us a new garden gnome, tom bombadil, to join our gnome from last year (john barleycorn). this is going to be fun! now if it only wont rain all summer like it did last year . . .

.meet john barleycorn.

this is john barleycorn. he lived in our garden all last year. he's getting a brother soon. i'll name him tom bombadil. together they will guard our garden. i plan on getting a new gnome every year that we garden.

so happy!!

.good day.

new-ish mural on the street where i met the man-friend for pizza (this was taken by ME back during the last time it snowed)

today i slept in, watched LOST on my laptop, met the man-friend for lunch (subsequently received free pizza- yes!), had a great walk in the sun, bought some cute leg-warmers for my sister's new baby, drank my first iced americano of the year (yum!), got a new straw cowgirl had for my HUGE head, took hudson to the dog park, finished planning my garden, planted the first round of seeds in my starter tray, set some beans to soak for a nice batch of vegetarian chili tomorrow, had some dinner, ordered some goodies from neo hippie mama, and am now about to get ready for roller derby practice!

whew.

i do have some awesome photos to share with you . . . a fun announcement about an art show i have a painting in, and hopefully a GREAT announcement about what home team i have been placed on for the providence roller derby and what my derby name will be (still narrowing it down . . . and still accepting ideas, PLEASE give me your ideas!).

so, hopefully i'll fit some of that in tomorrow before or after work at the massage studio.

for now? off to practice giving good solid hits, checks, blocks and whips at roller derby practice.

.ps.

i want to make one of these for next winter in the garden.

.guess who's excited?.

this girl is excited.

.three things.

number one: my computer is broken. hopefully the man-friend will fix it tonight.

number two: my sister had her baby!!! i am completely in love with her. she makes me dizzy. they live all the way in tulsa . . . . i've booked tickets to fly out and see them, but not until the end of april. AAGGHHH .... it's too far away!

number three: the man-friend and i have been spending a lot of time dreaming about our future lately . . . how we want to buy land and start a non-profit, commune-type, farm, eco-education center, etc . . . we ran across this parcel of land in oregon wine country that seems perfect for the dream. too bad it's available NOW and we wont be ready for it for YEARS to come. sigh. add it to my wishlish. also, add these dogs to my wishlist. they are bread to live with and guard goats. so. cool!

.tj loves: radical housekeeping and gardening.

.companion planting.
.the daily green.
.diy kitchen cleaners.
.earth dinner.
.farm fresh ri.
.foxpoint community garden.
.herb companion.
.permaculture.
.permies.
.scratch farm.
.selfsufficientish.
.southside community land trust.
.the hollies.
.wikihow.