Tag Archives: everything else

I have been using Instagram for about a year now and it may be my favorite social networking site of all. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Instagram, it’s sort of like twitter for pictures. You can download an app for your smart phone that lets you post pictures from phone to internet instantly. The app also provides you with a whole bunch of filters to use on your pictures, which really makes them pop.

Just like on twitter, you can follow friends and acquaintances on Instagram, and you can comment on other people’s photos. But the reason I am smitten with the app is that I find, since I’ve been using it, I am much more aware of how filled with loveliness my life is. When you start looking for beauty and whimsy and grace to share with others you find them all in abundance. Instagram reminds me to be grateful for this amazing life I get to live!

 I’ve posted some of my favorites here for those of you that aren’t currently using Instagram

If you’re on Instagram, I would love to see all the little joys of your life. Please post a link to your feed in the comments. And if you’d like to follow mine, you’ll find it right here.

Neve, you are my best friend’s daughter, but in so many ways, you are mine. From the moment we met, you and I just sort of understood each other. We are so much alike. We share a sense of humor, an over-developed sense of justice and a stubborn streak a mile-wild.

Having lived with that particular set of personality traits for years now, I can tell you that life is will not be easy for you. You will struggle and fight and rage, and demand a fairness that the world just doesn’t have to offer. You will, at times, feel outraged, exhausted and weary from carrying so much right around inside of you. You’ll wonder in ernest why everyone else can’t see things the way you do, why people can be so intentionally obtuse, why no one will listen.

And then, you’ll be distracted by the loveliest field of flowers or a sky full of stars, and the wonder and beauty will remind you that the world really is an amazing, intoxicating place.

Not everyone will understand your sense of humor, your tendency to make a joke even at the tensest, most inappropriate times. And that’s okay. Because the people who you find who do understand you and speak your language will be the most loyal friends anyone ever had. You can’t see it yet, Neve, but you are positively bursting at the seams with personality and charm, and you will be a magnet for the people who get you. You will find your tribe.

If I could spare you the hurt that’s in your future or even just prep you for it, I would. But knowing you as I do, I also know you wouldn’t listen. You would flat out refused to be briefed. You will demand to learn your own lessons, even if it’s the hard way. You will take your highs and lows as they come, wallowing in your mistakes and reveling in your victories. You will own them all. I respect that about you.

But remember, when you do want advice I am always just a phone call away. Sometimes, a person just need to talk to someone who understands you.

Love,

Aunt Mommy

About 10 years ago, when I was still working a network news producer, I was out in the field on some breaking news story when a producer from a local t.v. station came up to me. He told me that in his spare time he was the editor of a magazine and he thought it might interest me. Maybe I’d even like to contribute?

I was crazy busy trying to get my story fed to NYC, so I barely even looked up at him. When he tried to hand me the magazine, I asked him to stick it in my bag and said I’d take a look later.

That evening when I got back to my hotel I pulled the magazine out of my bag. It was a fetish magazine for men who like pale women. I kid you not. When he asked if I wanted to contribute he meant pictures. Pictures of my pale, pale, practically see-through skin.

Yup. That happened.

All of this is is by way of telling you that I am what one might call fair. And, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am evangelical about wearing sun block every day of the year. The very first thing I do every morning — before I brush my teeth, even– is apply SPF 110 to every millimeter of my face from my hairline to my décolletage. I wear hats when I’m going to be outdoors for more than a few minutes. I eschew beach vacations.

I am careful.

And today, I am going to have a spot of skin cancer removed from my face.

This is not a huge deal. Luckily (because I am vain) it’s in my hair line by my right ear. It’s small and easily removable.

But here’s the thing: if I can get skin cancer, you can get skin cancer. FACT.

So wear sunscreen, damn it!

Today is a very exciting day for me because today, Lauria comes to work for Juniper Moon Farm full-time!

Lauria Kincaid has been a great friend to the farm for last five years. She and our friend Suzy actually helped me ship some of the very first shares we ever sent out, back when the farm was located on Martha’s Vineyard.

Since then, Lauria has made herself indispensable by blogging a couple days a week, running our sample knitter program (with some help from my sister when she was unavailable) and stage managing our photo shoots.

Actually, stage managing is what Lauria was doing before she joined JMF. But the theater world’s loss is very much our gain. Lauria is a master of organization and a genius with a spread sheet! I have never known anyone with her particular skill set and it’s a great match for us.

Lauria will be telecommuting from Boston, so don’t be surprised if an order from the farm has a Massachusetts postmark!

Those of you who already know Lauria from our Ravelry group will understand why I am so excited to have this amazing woman on board. We haven’t quite decided on a title yet, so if you have any suggestions, post them here along with any messages you have for Lauria.

I hate to jinx it by even mentioning it here (because every time I plan to start working out again, I get sick) but my sister Carrie and I are starting Prevention Magazine’s Three Week Kettle Bell Challenge on Monday.

Things I like about it:

• 3 weeks isn’t very long, so I can commit to it without worrying about what will come up
  
• Prevention Magazine is so reputable that I believe them when they say that I’ll see results in 3 weeks
• There isn’t a lot of equipment required- just one kettle bell or set of dumb bells
• It only takes 20 minutes a day.

Finally, I need to get on a regular fitness plan (those Michelle Obama arms I want aren’t going to sculpt themselves) and this seems like a very gentle way to start.

Anyone want to join us? I think it would be a lot less dreary more fun to do this as a group! We will have a dedicated thread in our Raverly group here where we encourage each other and share questions. And I will blog here about how it’s going. We can even come up with some yarn and knitting related prizes!

What do you say? Are you in? You can check out the workout here and get your weights over the weekend.

I have pretty much been confined to my house for the weekend, thanks to the stupid case of pneumonia. It’s cool, though, because I am so tired of being sick that I am more than willing to commit three days in a row to resting up and getting well.

I do need your suggestions for must-see movies and tv shows though. I have Netflix Instant, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, but I’m not averse to paying to download a movie from iTunes if y’all say it’s worthwhile.

Share your faves here and I will add them to post for all to see.

Hello from Texas, where is is raining buckets today. BUCKETS, I’LL TELL YOU!!!

It’s actually a fantastic day for spending the day in pajamas, which is exactly what I’m doing, because I have pneumonia. I guess the hell-cold virus thing I had in April didn’t go away completely. Instead it lay dormant somewhere in my lungs and multiplied. I’m actually not all that sick considering; I’ve had pneumonia before and this is fairly mild, cause we caught it early. HOORAY!

So today is one of those email answering, blog reading kind of days. I thought it would be fun to share two of my current favorite sewing blogs with you and get you to link me to your favorite crafty blogs.

Lladybird is one of my favorite sewing blogs, because 27-year-old Lauren taught herself to sew and in three short years has become this amazing garment maker. She can make absolutely anything! I mean, she makes her own coats, for godssake! I love Lauren because she is completely fearless. She’s also funny and swears a fair amount, breaking down the stereotypes about the kind of women who make their own clothes. You will love this one!

Tilly and the Buttons is another sewing blog and her story is similar to Lladybird’s in that she also taught herself to sew in three years. Tilly has become something of a sewing star in her native England, appearing on the BBC in The Great British Sewing Bee. She has also begun designing patterns, the Miette skirt above being one of the first. It’s in my queue.

Who’s blog do you read when you need crafty inspiration or a creative kick in the pants?

One of my goals for this year is to become a better sewist. (“Sewist” is what all the cool kids say instead of sewer or seamstress these days.) So far I have furthered this goal by purchasing lots of lovely fabric and perusing patterns and wondering if my skills are up to their challenge.

Lately I’ve been completely obsessed with vintage clothing patterns. Here are some of my current faves.

1950s Cigarette Pants. Could you die?

I am totally digging the black, sleeveless shift on the far right.

If I could find this patten, I would make this dress in a million fabrics and prints. And how cute is her hair?!?

These 1940s pajamas are so charming!

While I’m not a confident sewist yet, I am going to give vintage patterns a try, thanks to an article in our latest issue of BY HAND Magazine by Rebecca Blood (page 56). Rebecca has lots of great advice and tips so be sure to check it out.

I’m planning a sewing Sunday this weekend and I will be attempting to make a shirt dress. I’ll post about the results next week.

Last week, I found myself in need of a piñata for my birthday party and, having never purchased one before, I turned to my good buddy Amazon. But picking one out was harder than I thought.

See, most of the piñatas on offer were shaped like animals and, try as I might, I just couldn’t bring myself to hang a cow or a pig from a tree and watch my friends’ kids beat the hell out of it with a stick. I know this sounds completely irrational but the very idea turned my stomach. It seemed so unnecessarily brutal.

In the end, I ordered the colorful and well-reviewed number 6 piñata. (Someday we need to talk about the fact that comment writing may have become the first true art form of the 20-teens. I sometimes spend hours reading them before I order something just because they are so unintentionally hilarious.)

But my almost-physical revulsion at the idea of watching a highly stylized, cartoon farm animal being beaten with stick made me think. Although I was surprised by my reaction, I totally understood where it came from. I like animals. I know them. They have personalities and idiosyncrasies. They can be silly and affectionate and obstinate.

And these thoughts lead me have a much bigger conversation with myself, one that I have been putting off and pushing to the back of my mind for months. If I can’t bear to watch a toy animal be hit with a stick, how I can be perfectly okay with eating animals that were killed on my behalf?

Please understand that I love meat. I love cooking it and I love eating it. I’m a culinary school grad and I plan my meals around  protein. But for a long time I have been bothered by the environmental impact of a meat-based diet, but some research suggested that eating a diet low in meat is actually better for the environment than eliminating it altogether.  There is plenty of information out there, but it’s confusing and contradictory, so, till know, I’ve chosen to ignore this issue.

Till now. My environmental concerns and my feelings for animals have combined and I’ve decided that I am going to take the summer off from eating mammals. Why mammals? Because mammals are the animals that I personally feel a connection with. I cannot relate to fish or fowl in quite the same way that I cows and pigs and sheep.

Why just the summer? Because I’m not sure how this change will effect the way I feel (or my health) and I’m keeping my options open at this point. Also, I am a fool for the fresh vegetables of summer and I am hoping that ripe tomatoes and corn on the cob might soften the blow a bit. And it’s much easier to commit to my plan in the short term than to think about never enjoying a rare steak or rack of ribs ever again.

In addition to giving up pork and beef for three months (I gave up lamb longs ago!) I am going to strive for two entirely meatless days per week. I won’t be giving up dairy products or eggs, but I’m going to try my best to source all animal products from high quality, small producers who make animal welfare a top priority.

What this experiment is not is any kind of judgement about the way anyone else chooses to eat. There are very few decisions so personal as what food to put in our bodies and I would never presume to know what’s right for anyone else. But I do think that this is a decision you should make actively, rather than passively.

I highly recommend The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran. Neither of these books has the answers but both present compelling cases and contain information that may help you make a reasoned choice about what you eat.

I would love to hear whether or not you eat meat and why. Vegans, vegetarians, semi-vegetarians, pescetarians, and carnivores are all invited to join in this conversation.

And if anyone would like to join me in my experiment with eating less meat from Memorial Day to Labor Day, I’ll be posting lots of recipes and menu ideas as I go along and I would love for you to join me.