for the birds.

December, warm, sunny and beautiful, and still no snow. I am confused what time of year it is! For the past several years, we have decorated one of our house plants for Christmas…a Northfolk Pine or our gigantic Ficus ‘tree’. There is no room in our house for a traditional Christmas tree, and it’s just fun to adorn a family plant. When thinking about this year, I remembered once when we had some friends housesit and coming home to one of our Aspen trees with dried fruit dangling from it’s naked branches. An edible holiday tree for our beloved bird friends! That idea just feels so perfect for us. We are bird lovers and watchers. We don’t own a tv and often sit in our window sills watching the birds and rabbits. So, we chose a very special tree outside my studio to give love to. We strung popcorn and cranberries, made molded birdseed ornaments and threaded dried apples, apricots, raisins, mangoes and papaya. We scattered seed around the trunk and hung lights. Then opened a bottle of wine and watched the birds discover it all. When the sun went down, we went in and decorated more. And can I just say the obvious? It’s so so fun celebrating holidays with a young child. Everything is new and extra exciting! Tulsi wakes up my kidself, bigtime.

We are taking advantage of the gorgeous weather and spending most of our days outside with the chickens and in the garden. And, it’s fun to nibble bites of fruit straight off the tree.

Posted in everyday | 3 Comments »

Nurturing Walls.

A couple months ago, I received this incredibly beautiful book, Nurturing Walls, from a, somewhat abstract, internet friend in India (hee. I love that we live in a time that we all have these ‘friends’ out there who we’ve never met but love that they exist in space and in our lives :) ) What an amazing parcel to be gifted, right? Actually, it was one of ten or eleven beautiful books, but this one on the Mandana art of the Meena women is my absolute love. These women are true artists and create in such a unique, collaborative way. The book is a work of art, too, with their designs silk-screened on brown craft paper. Any of them could be framed…if you could possibly part with extracting them from the book. Their art is painted on clay walls and floors during festivals and the change of seasons, and is cherished in its impermanence. I think I’d prefer to paint like this, too, and let the natural elements wash and wear it away in time. I just love everything about their art. The spirit is contagious, no? I have already asked Patrick if we can visit Rajasthan during our next trip to India with the hopes of meeting some of these women, and perhaps, the slim chance of learning from them. I wonder if they sing while they paint… (Anyone out there every tracked down tribal woman of another culture to study an art form from? If yes, can you share how it came about?) In the meantime…remember that bedroom and entrance/mudroom we started building in May? We finished and now have 8 new, bare mud walls pleading to be painted with white clay paint, Mandana-inspired!!…below is one of our bedroom walls after the first coat of mud. YUM! I’ll be sure to share when I get to painting it.

Also, check out the publisher of the book, Tara Books, in Chennai, India. They have so many inspiring books!

And Joy, thanks again!! I look forward to gifting my part of our trade :)

Posted in india, inspiration | 1 Comment »

Path to Enlightenment.

A friend found this sticker in a store in Boulder, and I had to share it. I’m pretty far from being enlightened, but I do feel enlightened about life in ways I never was before being a mother. Every path has something powerful to teach us, and I am grateful to be walking this one.

Not that I feel like I know what I’m doing all the time — I wonder whether I can do more or if my choices and instincts are ‘right’.  I was meditating on that recently, wondering if it’s ok that I don’t take Tulsi all the way to town for tumbling or music class or storytime like other cool moms I know. Is it ok that we spend our days tiptoeing thru the woods after coyotes or lying in the meadow watching clouds sail by and leaves fly? (A mother’s mind can question herself a lot if she lets it.) And after a few minutes of slight panic, I thought about how we all just have to walk our own walk and play in whatever way feels right for us. We can be inspired by each other, but it’s perfect for it all to look differently. These little years are our unique gift to our babes.

I’ve been trying to remember every day — especially when I’m tired, or when my mind wanders to a project I’ll work on when Tulsi falls asleep, or when she’s trying to tell me something that requires total stillness on my part to understand her, or when she doesn’t eat, or nurses a lot at night, or when she is watching me interact with others — that being her mother IS my practice right now. I’m not sitting in the mornings, and I don’t have my stellar home yoga practice that I used to, BUT mothering is a 24-7 meditation-heart-asana practice, so of course it will be the most challenging (and amazing) practice I could do. Especially if I keep this in view. Let thoughts float in and out without judgement…and soften. For now, being as present as I can, and following her lead, and sharing my loves with her, and answering her endless questions, and cuddling+smiling often, and being gentle and forgiving (to myself), and staying OPEN to learn from other mothers, and even giving her space when she walks away, I can do. Each day, each moment, is my chance to practice and grow. If I stutter or make a mistake, I have another chance with my very next inhale. We all do. And what a beautiful thing that is.

………………….

Erin Ross created these great stickers — thanks, Erin! — and you can order some for gifts to your mama friends. Email her at: motherhoodlotus@gmail.com

Posted in mamahood | 15 Comments »

transport to india.

It’s easy for me to daydream, or sleepdream, of being in India again. As far away as it is, and as difficult traveling there can be, I feel so ‘at home’ there. I don’t know exactly what it is that makes me feel that way, nor do I want to water it down by trying to explain it. It is funny how a culture that is so different than mine can also feel so familiar and comfortable. If you’ve been there, you know — it either is or it isn’t. I think the time I’ve spent in India and Nepal has had a big effect on how we live here — what it looks like, how we spend our time and money, and what is important to us and what isn’t. I’m sure a lot of people who’ve spent time in other countries can say the same.

I feel so fortunate to have a temple/ashram in our community. It’s a golden thread that connects us to India and our teacher. Today was one of those special moments in the temple room. In an instant, we were back in India. Just like that. Tulsi and I clapped and drummed and rang bells with a roomful of Indian women singing traditional songs that reminded me so so much of the village songs the women sang during Holi (the festival of Spring and colors) in Vrindavin the last time Patrick and I were there at Neem Karoli Baba’s Ashram (pictured above). The vibrations, energy and even giggles from the women occasionally forgetting words — it was the same today as then. Oh, and the voices. So full of life. I imagine it coming from someplace deep within them and back to their childhood and to their mothers and grandmothers. It would make anyone wish they were a part of their tribe or fluent in their mother tongue. Or at least just know the words. At least, for me it did.

Posted in everyday, india | 1 Comment »

NEW art on landofnod.com

I haven’t posted any new projects in so long since they aren’t published yet, but here is one that was just released. It is a train growth chart commissioned by Land of Nod & Oopsy Daisy Fine Art for Kids. It is available for purchase here on Land of Nod’s website with or without personalization. I usually work 95% conventional and just tweak the art a bit on photoshop, but this piece was mostly digital. I scanned textures and drawings and pieces of collage and stitched it all together in photoshop. I can say I prefer working conventionally and getting my hands sticky and paint on my nose, but this was fun. Plus, it was the perfect solution to a tight deadline while getting Tulsi’s help. She’s one super assistant and a natural with collage and crayon! Enjoy!

Posted in illustration | 3 Comments »

right here, right now.

This is my today.
And this is from one of my favorite poetry books, The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems by Hafiz, versions by Daniel Ladinksy.

Out of the Mouths of a Thousand Birds

Listen –
Listen more carefully to what is around you
Right now.

In my world
There are the bells from the clanks
Of the morning milk drums,

And a wagon wheel outside my window
Just hit a bump

Which turned into an ecstatic chorus
Of the Beloved’s Name.

There is the Prayer Call
Rising up like the sun
Out of the mouths of a thousand birds.

There is an astonishing vastness
Of movement and Life

Emanating sound and light
From my folded hands

And my even quieter simple being and heart.

My dear,
Is it true that your mind
Is sometimes like a battering
Ram

Running all through the city,
Shouting so madly inside and out

About the ten thousand things
That do not matter?

Hafiz, too,
For many years beat his head in youth

And thought himself at a great distance,
Far from an armistice
With God.

But that is why this scarred old pilgrim
Has now become such a sweet rare vintage
Who weeps and sings for you.

That is why Hafiz will forever in his verse
Play his cymbal and call to you.

O listen –
Listen more carefully
To what is inside of you right now.

In my world
All that remains is the wondrous call to
Dance and prayer

Rising up like a thousand suns
Out of the mouth of a
Single bird.

Posted in everyday | 1 Comment »

mountain children’s book retreat!

It happened! For real. Five of us children’s book authors and illustrators gathered up at our homestead for our “first annual kid’s book retreat”. I originally got the idea for this last winter when hearing about a women’s creative workshop at a remote and inspiring lake-cabin location. Considering time, finances, Tulsi, and the idea that IF I could have a few days for a creative retreat, wouldn’t I rather spend it with friends and fellow illustrators/authors trekkin’ the same path as me? Well, of course…!

We rented “the Barn” next door for a long weekend. It is a funky+fun analog recording studio/creative space owned by our good friend. It was the perfect space. I can’t say I did much art or writing at all, nothing complete anyhow. More like energy fragments. (Tulsi wanted to be with her mama and new girlfriends!) But as soon as I let go, I mean really let go of any expectations I had of myself and this time — I moved thru a lot. Ideas I’ve been stewing over grew and expanded and my energy/inspiration cup got refilled. We spread out on the floor like artists do :), made a mess, played with words and rhyme and images, listened to great music, told stories, wrote 5-sentence stories, drew maps of memories, shared our current/recent book projects and brainstormed on each other’s new book ideas (SO helpful). We shared our art and writing process, our strengths and struggles, gave little demos, swapped inspiration and ate yummy garden meals. We talked about the business and marketing side of books, too: promotion and festivals and school visits. I also had a really great talk with my friend Jenny who is a mama of 2 girls (and who also stayed at home with them before they reached school age).

And throughout, we simply related to each other, which was incredibly supportive. Thanks gals!!

Here is a map of my backyard by Laura Huliska-Beith!

And below: L to R: Tulsi, me, Laura Huliska-Beith, Jenny Whitehead, Betsy Snyder, and Beth Haidle,. Wander thru their sites — they are all so inspiring! The garden was also a sweet source of food and colorful inspiration! I was so happy the ‘big’ frost hadn’t come yet!

Another inspiration highlight: our visit to the amazing Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe!

And below: a few doodles I made that weekend for a project I’m working on. As suggested by the crew, I’ve been creating a whole digital library of patterns for a design project I’m working on. (A GREAT suggestion, too!)

The retreat was JUST what I needed. I feel so lucky. We are already planning the next one. I highly recommend this to others…take the time, round up some friends and go on a creative retreat!

Photos complimentary of Betsy Snyder and Jenny Whitehead.

Posted in book event, illustration, inspiration | 8 Comments »

flowers and a memory.

the temple had their biggest festival of the year. we harvested every flower in our garden for today. maybe a thousand marigolds all strung up hanging around the temple room. and bouquets of dahlias and daisies and gladiolas and more. it was so fun. the festival is called Bhandara. it’s Maharaj-ji’s Mahasamadhi (the day he left his body). i love that they celebrate that day. why don’t other cultures? death is a birth of sorts, too…depending on what you believe i guess. i had this strange dream the other night. i was dying and floating up like a balloon into the night sky. then, i was watching all these balloons floating up from below and popping, and as they popped, the sky lit up more and more with stars, and then i was flying, bodyless, thru galaxies of stars. guess we don’t know til it’s our turn, but it felt really exciting, like this energy escaping, rather than dissolving, while flying off into total expansiveness.

i will never forget my first visit to Benares, one of my favorite cities in India, and a very holy pilgrimage site for Hindus. it is situated on the Ganges River, also called Ganga Ma (Mother Ganga). many Hindus come to die there and/or be cremated there. Patrick and i were taking a morning boat ride along the Ganga, and our boat driver (or paddler) began talking in Hindi and pointing to the side. there was a young boy, maybe 14 (?), lying in and under a giant mound of giant gold and orange marigolds. his entire body was covered except for his face, like you would bury someone in the sand on a beach. as we watched in total silence, Indians were approaching him one-by-one with more marigolds. we learned that the boy had drowned in the river that morning, just hours before. there was no police, no yellow tape, no commotion. no disturbance at all. just complete respect and love from family and strangers, all caring for this boy and his body. i will never forget that moment. it was among the most beautiful i’ve known.

i haven’t thought of that time in awhile, but the marigolds reminded me today. i have thought a lot about traveling lately, and how i miss it. how i know i want to do more of it with my family in the future. and how it can reveal things to you and grow you in ways that you just can’t otherwise.

Posted in everyday | 6 Comments »

from dirt to onions.

I love that we live in a community where growing your own food is ‘normal’. And growing a homestead is contagious. It’s mid September, 10:30 at night, and I just finished braiding 60 onions to cure for the winter. And they are so pretty. (It reminded me of french braiding friends’ hair during Latin class in high school. Yup, that’s right, I studied Latin. I have no idea why, but I sorta liked it.) During all that braiding, I was thinking of how four years ago, our garden wasn’t a garden. That blows my mind! There was nothing there but sage bushes, cactus plants, a few trees, and a huge, ugly pile of construction dirt. There was no “soil”. It was all dry desert dirt.

A whole lotta heart and sweat went into starting our garden. We dug and hauled about 75 wheel barrels full of the construction dirt and barely made a dent in the mound. I was SO determined to do it by hand, but luckily Patrick had more sense and hired a man and his bobcat to clear the sage and a few trees, and create a burm (and windblock) along the south and west side of the future garden. Over a few years, we have added several enormous truckloads of manur+sandy soil and double-dug it into all our raised beds which are on drip (fed as much as possible by collected rain water). It started at roughly 3600 sq ft to grow into, and in such a short time we have, and even expanded with our greenhouse-dome. I have been going non-stop this summer, and especially lately, trying to preserve as much food as I can, and this morning was one of those “awe” moments for sure. Giving a lot of thanks and appreciating what we’ve created. Patrick, Tulsi, Oso and I make the bestest team ever.

One thing happens every garden season: some things work, and other things don’t, and we always learn a LOT. And at the beginning of every growing season, I announce that I’m going to keep a journal of everything — what we plant and harvest and preserve, what we sell, where we failed and what we were most excited about. But I never do. SO…this post is for me to remember next year, and for anyone who has any interest… :) And I would LOVE to hear what you are growing and preserving!

Without further ado, THE 2010 Garden Masala FARM REPORT:

I need to remember that the summer of 2010 was sorta crazy in the sense that we did more than what seems humanly possible for 2 people with a 16 month old. And although we always felt behind, and were hard on ourselves for having a sloppy summer greenhouse-turn-temporary-chicken-house or for abandoning our potato bags (an experiment this year to save space and time and therefore had a puny harvest (yet delicious)), I think it’s important to acknowledge how we had the biggest vegetable and flower garden yet. We started everything from seed in the greenhouse which was extremely exciting. And we took a huge step closer to our goal of feeding our family year round. That’s just awesome…

Here’s what we grew/did new this year:

NuMex Bolo Onions. Our stellar crop of the year! (and the first time we’ve EVER succeeded at growing onions.) They are HUGE and sweet! The most exciting part is that we started them from teeny seeds last February in our dome! We grew around 120 of them, and next year, I want to plant more! The trick, we learned, is to find an onion already proven to grow well in our climate/altitude, and this is the one. I’m curing them for the winter, which is new to me. I’m trying the braiding and hanging method, in a shaded, airy place, but I may move them into our new mudroom since it’s going to freeze soon.

Tomatoes. in our dome and hoop houses that we built with pvc and plastic. We grew several heirloom determinate varieties that fruit all at once at the end of the season (great for canning). At 8000ft, our summer nights are still quite cold (45-55 F) (which make tomato growing a bit slow), so as of right now, we have several hundred green tomatoes…we’ll soon see if this experiment works or not. I learned that tomatoes do MUCH better if you ‘feed’ them. And space them adequately. I also learned about pruning tomatoes and that I am HIGHLY allergic, breaking out in a prickly red rash every time I come in contact with their leaves. Next year I want to plant fewer tomatoes and indeterminate varieties in our dome. Juicy, fat red tomatoes in May is my goal! I also discovered the FAT, and crazy fast tomato horn worm who can devour an entire tomato plant’s leaves in 30 minutes…and how it turns into our garden’s beloved hummingbird moth.

Peppers. we grew in a hoop house with sweet bell and a medium pepper, and green chillies and jalapenos. Bumper crop. Not sure what to do with it all. Ideas? Maybe roast and puree for green chilli sauce in the winter.

A perennial herb garden. Been drying and freezing basil, sage, oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and cilantro. I canned this concentrated soup stock, and it’s great! I know we’ll be using it a lot in the winter months.

Wild pesto with sorrel, arugula, and lamb’s quarters. SO yum. I’ve always made it with basil, but the wild ones are really great, too. So yummy on pizzas and pasta but also a spoonful in soups.

I started my first fermenting endeavor! (Veggie Kimchi) My first batch is only 3 days old. It’s carrots, beets and ginger. Going to do a big batch soon with my friend who is teaching me.

Climbling cucumbers in the dome. Delicious, but they’d do much better if they had a proper jungle gym. Made pickles for the first time today!

Melon in the greenhouse. We only got one, and she was a BEAUTY! The funny thing is that it fell off the vine when I touched it and smelled amazingly ripe but was flavorless. Go figure. Gotta find us a yummy variety!

Fennel. We are growing tons for seed since we use it a lot in cooking, teas, and masala chai.

We planted our winter and summer squash in amended holes on our big burm. It worked GREAT! They could go wild and didn’t take up any valuable garden space. We tried a new winter squash variety with a shorter season — the buttercup — not a huge harvest, but they look beautiful. They are curing right now. Hoping they are super flavorful. I’m going to buy some other hard squashes from a local farmer to keep for the winter and try out other short-season varieties that do well here.

Parsnips. YUM. The candy of veggies. They have a long growing season so we may let them winter over…My intention was to plant a patch now to grow while the garden hybernated, and harvest them in the early spring, but my cuppeth runneth overeth.

Asparagus!! This was our first harvest season, and oh boy! They were prolific and perfect. Asparagus pizza and quiche and in stir fry! And simply raw in the garden is my favorite.

Raspberries! Our teeny transplants from a couple years ago have become a forest and quite abundant. I made raspberry muffins and waffles and froze some for the winter. Same with our strawberries. Looks like next Spring will demand another strawberry patch be started!!

We started an echinacea patch with great success! I’m most excited to tincture it since we consume a lot in this house.

Sugar Snap Peas. Happy to say we had 100% success rate with planting all saved seeds from last year’s plants!

In addition to these new things, we also grew tons of different lettuces, potatoes (although we neglected those and they had a teeny yield), spinach, kale, chard, carrots, beets, basil, and LOADS of flowers.

Foods I preserved: Dehydrated: tomatoes, watermelon, apples. In the freezer: pesto, soups galore, zucchini, spanakopita, berries, peaches, sugar snap peas, grated beets, zucchini bread, coconut-cilantro chutney. Canned: salsa, pickled beets, regular beets, fall soup. Stored: onions, winter squash, potatoes. And more coming! I’m learning proper curing techniques this year to avoid previous winter harvests going soft and mushy. We’ll see what happens, but another motivation for preserving as much food as I can is that we have two major creative projects that are going to fill our winter. (YAY!! Can’t wait to share more about these later…) So we want to focus our energy creating art and less on cooking and running to town for groceries. I tried new things this year (and more quantities) so we can really see what we eat and how long it lasts us. I imagine it just takes a few years to ‘get it down just right’.

And flowers! I forgot. Most abundant ever. So fun to have a flower stand at the market and sell to local restaurants, and of course to light up our house and friends’ houses.

On my list to try next year :

Garlic! We planted for the first time this morning! yay! Hard beans to keep for the winter. Garbonzo or chick peas, for hummus. LOTS more potatoes. Quinoa…gonna give it a try, who knows, it would be so fun to grow our own grains. And BEES!! A few friends told me recently that our bees would be in heaven with all our flowers, and well, we consume a lot of honey. :) Plus, we have several friends to learn from.

Whew! It’s addicting, this garden thing, and endless, too. Another thing I’m really excited about is crop-swapping. We just can’t grow everything, and we traded with friends and local farmers for corn, potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, cabbage, peaches, jams, honey, and more.

How did your garden grow? What varieties of veggies do you like best? What did you preserve? Please share!! I want to learn more…

Posted in garden, homesteading | 6 Comments »

it’s official, i’m a homesteader.

It’s been the running joke in our house that we are “almost” homesteaders. And that we will be officially someday, when we get chickens. I have been asking Patrick for chickens for 3 years now but none have come.

And this summer has been fuller than any to date. Two new add-ons : a bedroom and a mudroom/entry way, our biggest garden ever, a spot at the farmers’ market (that we have attended irregularly, yet fashionably), and my greatest (and most successful) attempt thus far at storing nuts for the winter (–my mom just visited for 5 days for a canning+freezing extravaganza! 18 pints of beets, 10 qts of veggie stew, 12 qts of salsa, 20 batches of basil and wild pestos, frozen broccoli soup, chutneys, berries, peaches, and more. And that was just in 5 days! A lot more before, and hopefully still…) SO, long story short. If you build it, they will come.

Or, if they come, you will build it.

Well, at least that was my reasoning. Patrick of course didn’t laugh as much when I brought home the 2-day old chickies, but when he saw Tulsi doing her lil’ chickie dance and saying “Baby!” over and over, he turned to a puddle of goo and agreed to help me build a coop. Because our “simple” life has been so busy lately (and admittedly, a wee stressful on occasion), I am especially excited about this joint project. I’m happy that it isn’t “a chore” for Patrick or we aren’t buying one from someone. We’re building it together, and we’ll end up loving it that much more — no matter how many mistakes we make or what it looks like.

So here is some of the gang…they are growing by the minute (in size and personality) and loving their temporary spot in the greenhouse. No names yet except for Roo-Roo the Rooster. Yes, I decided to get a rooster for my flock, to protect the flock from larger winged sky predators, and well, I’ll admit, I have always loved drawing roosters. The chicks are so fun, and they love Miss T. Oso still licks his chomps, but he loves eggs, so I told him to be patient and he’ll be happy. We are vegetarians, but we eat and bake with eggs. And now that Tulsi is nibbling on ‘real’ food more an more, I want to have our own chicken’s eggs to offer her.

So, here we go. I’m learning a lot, fast. Like, how it’s actually hard to find bugs when you are looking for them and that worms are ok to divide to share among the chicks but caterpillars aren’t. I’ll post some pictures of the coop when we get there! Until then, here is an old ink drawing I made of a rooster in Thailand.

Posted in homesteading | 5 Comments »