A Fanciful Twist

Cottage Chatter...

I was always told I was an impatient kid.  I suppose I was for many reasons.  Even when I started painting at 11, I chose acrylic, since it dried quicker.  I would paint huge canvases with quick strokes like a mad woman.  Completing one right after the other.  And yes, I did go bonkers waiting for after school microwave treats.  3 minutes felt like so much longer.  And, I did go insane in classes, waiting for the hour to be up.  Doodling anywhere I could, for sanity's sake.

But then, we have today.

I save gifts for opening at the perfect moment, even if it is days later.  I put something in the microwave, and 4 hours later remember I forgot my nuked edible.

I sit silently.

Waiting.

Pondering.

Thinking.

I paint slowly.

So slowly sometimes.

Focusing on little details for months.

And then, there is the cottage...

One year after the outside was built and the inside was insulated and dry walled, I patiently await its move in ready moment.

Happily waiting, as Mister Lovee works his magic on the inside.

Taping, texturing, painting.

Building out the inside plans he drew up before the cottage was even built.

He isn't a carpenter by trade, but he makes great things.

Things like, all of my work benches in the studio and office, my bed frame in my room, and my counter/cabinet in the office kitchenette - to name a few.

He is a perfectionist.

He takes a long time, but it is always worth it.

I watch him.

Days, weeks, months - a year.

He works.

I bring him cold lemonade, water, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (his fave), the seasons change...

There is homemade pizza, hot chocolate, pie, cake and then we are back to popsicles and cold treats...

A year of any free moment in the cottage, is where he has been.

I have taken over lots of other chores, to give him more cottage time.

Tree trimming, all the gardening, cleaning house, laundry, lawn mowing, raking, picking up brush with my wheel barrow, making meals, dishes...

Wait, I already did a lot of those.

Maybe when the cottage is done....

Tee hee...

:)

On his days off of work, or when he can work from home, he is covered in saw dust.

I stay patient.

I forget about the cottage.

I wait, but I don't even know I am waiting, because I have put it out of my mind.

Lovee spends hours doing little tasks that make all the difference.

Rounded edges and corners on wood, with sand paper.

Thinking, planning.

Building things on his own.

Inventing ways to do it.

Sanding corners some more.

Then, all of a sudden, we get so much closer to being done.

Time and waiting becomes closer to over.

I start to make cottage plans again.

I get real real real butterfly roller coaster waves in belly excited.

(I had kept myself from getting excited to keep sane)

I take visitors :)

I listen to the drill and the hammer and the electric saw (hate that sound, makes me nervous).

I roam around the garden.

I watch those miraculous lilies open up again below.

You know, an old boyfriend gave me a grocery store bunch of these in orange 13 years ago or so (I shared this tale before).  When they dried in the vase in the house, I plunked the dry stems into this pot outside, for no certain reason.  I intended to throw them away, but just wanted to get them out of the house at the time.

They ended up shriveling and disappearing into the pot.

I have since moved the pot to the country, and gently work fresh soil in every year, along with other seeds...

But wouldn't you know, every year since then, those lilies bloom in red in that very pot.

It always amazes me.

Can they root from store bought stems like that???

I can't get over it.

Then, the Oriental poppy seeds I planted three years ago (from the OneStopPoppyShoppe), shot up a couple stems.

I watered the little plants that wouldn't bloom, and kept them safe for 3 years.

They grew bigger and stronger this spring...

And then all of a sudden last week, blooms.

Yay!

Am I patient and I didn't even know it?

Are you patient?

Maybe we are all patient and impatient about certain things?

All I know is, I don't know how I became so calm?

Is it the whole older and wiser thing?

Or, is it a gift from the garden?

Does growing things make you a more peaceful and calm person?

I ponder these things as I collect tid-bits for dinner...

I think about cabbage patch kids everytime I look at those cabbages.

I take some to my neighbor down the road.

I sing, Cabbage Patch Kids, growing in the garden...

Cabbage Patch Kids growing in the sun.

I don't know where I got that song?

Is it the proper Cabbage Patch Kids song?

I remember going to the cabbage patch store in California - the hospital nursery store - and adopting a Cabbage Patch Kid.  I wonder where my Cabbage Patch kids are?

And my stuffed smurfs?

And my barbies and barbie doll house and cars and pool?

Wishing I had kept all of that.

(Weren't there scary Cabbage Patch Kids too?  Garbage Pail Kids?)

As I am pondering all this nonsense...

Mister Lovee calls me over....

We talk.

Me sitting in the cottage for the first time today.

He working on this and that.

My heart squeals with delightment.

I undo the forgetting about the cottage.

I tumble back in.

I wonder to myself, how did I stay so calm, waiting?

I dunno?

The time drifted by like a quick moving stream.

1 Year...

And now, I need to plan!!

I don't have any proper ideas or anything.

Do you??

What ever shall we do in there?

So much to think about.

But first, I have to inch my foot out from underneath Miles' sleeping and snoring head under my desk.  Then I will run out there and see what else Mister Lovee is up to.

I almost thought I should give him the cottage, since he's worked so hard on it.

Then I thought, nah :)

 

Love, V

 

 

ps:  I made the rose oil (per previous post).  I also put in some lavender. It is out in the sun for a few days.  I will make sure to let you know how it turns out...

 

Rose Water Makings

So, I did indeed plunge into rose water makings yesterday.  Twice in fact, with lots of lessons learned, which I have come back to report to you.

I put May on my label, since it is just days away.

My first try consisted of coral roses, and following this gal's exact steps, which I shared yesterday.

It was a gorgeous day.

Breezy and so Arizona spring.

I put on one of Mister's Lovee's fave albums, Gato Barbieri on vinyl, which I adore as well.

I am so glad we have a record player attached to our big stereo.

The songs on this album...

I dunno...

Make me feel like I am on vacation on some Latin island.

You might find the whole thing rather cheesy, but I quite like it.

Especially because, my beloved introduced me to it, so it reminds me of him.

Love.

Love does such silly things to us doesn't it?

Good.

But silly too, sometimes.

Anyhoooooooow.....

I put a brick in the center of my pot, then my rose petals around the brick, and filled the pot with water up to the brick.

I got the roses boiling at high - med heat, turned the the heat down a tinge as soon as boiling began, and put ice cubes on the lid.

Then I watched the magic happen...

You don't get a "ton" of rose water.

You get about 8 ounces worth with each batch, if you are lucky.

But, that's good enough for me.

To be totally honest, my first attempt smelled like -

Well...

Artichokes, with a tiny smattering of roses.

Eau de Artichoke.

Or should I say, Eau de artichauts?

Hmmm.

I decided to try again later in the day.

Mister Lovee suggested I use the more fragrant roses.

We have some crazy fragrant lavender color roses.

So, I went out and stole some from our two rose bushes.

I also grabbed some very fragrant yellow/orange tea roses.

The one thing to note is that, I took many young buds as well.

This seemed to make a HUGE difference.

I also did everything at lower temperatures the second time around.

I brought the roses to a boil at medium heat.

Oh, and I swapped my brick with holes, for a shorter brick without holes.

I also put in a little bit more water, to right above the brick.

When I heard the pot begin to boil, I turned the temp down to medium/low.

Then I put my ice cubes on top of the inverted lid.

I put on some pot holders and lifted the lid every so often to make sure I still smelled roses strongly.

The moment I thought I smelled artichokes, I pulled out my pot of collected rose water.

So, less heat and more fragrant roses = better rose water.

I am so pleased with the results.

The second try smells exactly like rose water.

I am sort of sad I let so many roses get away, as we are close to the end of rose season.

Next, I am making rose oil.

You all have such incredible ideas for all sorts of flower and plant treats to concoct.

Keep them coming, as you have inspired me to keep testing.

I so recommend trying the rose water.

It was so wonderful to get some real rose smelling water in the end.

Mister Lovee and I sipped a tiny bit, eyes wide at the intense rose flavor.

Fun fun!

I labeled it as made in May, since May is so close - and then I tucked it in my perfume case.

I am a happy camper.

I have gobs of calendula officionalis.  I must look into what I can do with it.

I also have a lot of lavender and tons of rosemary.

This is all so exciting, and actually, much easier to do than I could have imagined.

It seems that the more things I try, the easier I find that they are.

Why don't we try more things like this in life?

I don't know.

Time mainly, right?

But, we should all try more making of such things.

It is fun, easy and fulfilling.

I am really going to make an effort to try more of this sort of thing.

With that...

I have to go put my rose oil in the sun.

Actually, it's totally addicting!

;)

 

Love, V

 

 

 

ps:  I forgot to share that my brother Adam did in fact make his scary movie (you can see snippets on the Lost Weekend site) a couple of weekends ago.  He came in from L.A., hired actors in Tucson, had to find an old station wagon, notify the county he was filming in (2 hours away), including border patrols.  Get tons of equipment squared away, and travel into the hills to film.  I hear he had some awesome intense nights of filming.  I think they had a taco truck cater?  And everyone was happy.

I am sooo excited to see the end result.

The crew was up for days and days without sleeping.  And, since this was the first time my parents got to see my brother filming as such, my dad went without sleep for nearly 48 hours, just to be a part of it.  He was exhausted in the end, but loved being out there in the action, and wouldn't have missed it.

One of the nights, they were tucked way back in the hills at the southern most point of Arizona really.  In a very dark scary place.  My mom said it was soooo scary, she didn't even want to get out of the car.

A scary movie in a scary place.  Fun!  Wish I had been there.

Anyhow, I am not sure when the movie will be audience viewing ready, because Adam had to go to Mexico city and Guanajuato (an incredible place) to film a documentary last week.  He just got back to his place (in  Los Angeles).  So hopefully, we will get to see the scary short film soon :)

Yay!

Rosy Concoctions

It's looking like it's about that time, isn't it?

Time to get with the program.

Figure things out.

Channel my inner chemist.

Start working on some proper concoctions.

I sit amongst the petals in our garden.

I ponder the petals.

I smoosh my face into them, whilst breathing in.

I bring some in, I give some away...

I admire them.

I thank them.

I watch baby hummingbirds sleep in them.

I fill up jars with cuttings.

I take photos.

I visit all 16+ bushes.

I care for them.

I spray dish soap water on the leaves when I spot aphids.

I ponder them again.

Watching more and more pop open...

And then, like a huge slap on the cheek from mother nature -

To wake me up of course...

(I love Matty standing there, observing)

I realize...

Hello?

Rose Water!!!

And so, I begin the process.

Research, leads to how to do it -

Which leads to endless recipes and uses for rose water.

Which then leads to a desperate desire to be successful at this rose water creating.

Mister Lovee keeps talking about rose water in lemonade, and other culinary uses.

I keep thinking of astringents and more.

Of course I have purchased rose water in a bottle.

But making it at home?

With that thought -

An obsession comes on.

I hug my handsome puppy boy.

I tell him we are going to make rose water.

He seems fairly interested in my high pitched excitement.

He's thinking, treats?

(Isn't he getting all growed up? 1 year old + almost 5 months, and sooo huggable)

Matty (Matisse) cutie is skeptical, below.

What do you know about rose water, he wonders?

I hear him.

He asks...

Wouldn't you rather be roasting me a chicken?

And so, I ask you.

Have you ever made rose water from rose petals?

Doth thou have any tips for I?

(see how just the thought of decadent rose water makes me get all medieval queen speak?)

I have collected my huge amounts of petals early this morning in a big bag.

They are in the fridge, which is what I was told to do with them.

Now I am working on creating a homemade still.

Like this.

So basically, you are catching rose water steam.

So interesting, isn't it?

Of course, I have not even done this, and I am already getting crazy in my brain, thinking of all the things I want to make and try with other flowers and herbs.

Like I need another hobby.

Oh goodness me.

Should I quit while I am ahead, or plunge?

You tell me :)

I think, plunge is the answer.

Any ideas and tips would be so appreciated, if you have ever tried anything as such.

(I would love to try to make rosemary oil, not sure how practical that is?)

We have been eating so many things from the garden.  Things you would not really expect.  Trying things, me reading reading reading.  Finding out about this and that.

I just love trying new things.

And now, the rose petals.

I am watching this, which is awesome inspiration.

I've got my ice cubes, my brick...

Dun dun dun....

So Exciting!!

Love, V

 

 

Little Inspirations...

One of the things that I look at the most in my house, is my mood board.  I look at it a lot.  It sits on the wall, to the left of my computer screen.  This means, I look up at it incredibly often.  For two years or more, it has looked the same, except for an addition here and there.  What I like to look at, often stays the same for a really long time.  But every so often, tinges of what inspires me, change.  And so, it was time to take everything off of the mood board I shared a while back, and begin again...

Faces that I like to look at, bits and bobs that I love, begin to get added.

Tiny changes reflect my thoughts and feel.

Little pieces of this and that, inspire me to remember ideas I have.

Where I am in my mind at this time, gets tucked into my mood board.

Things such as colors and textures.

Amazing how trinkets can bring up so much.

Feelings...

Feelings that evoke feelings.

But first, I had to take most everything off of my mood board, as you can see below.

The board is actually a cork pin board, that I cut the edging off of, and screwed to my wall.

It is screwed into wooden studs in the wall, so there is no chance of it falling down, no matter what I attach to it.

So, after I took everything off except for the old papers, I started putting pieces back up.  Adding new things, dusting everything, moving things around...

I have certain little magazine clippings that I collaged years ago - that I love to look at (which I used).

I also have some catalogue pages from Anthroplogie, from what is to date, one of my fave years of their style - 2005.

Then there are pictures and medals and all sorts of things I love to look at, that get tacked up...

My colors in my heart are pink and light teal/sea foam green.

I love the birthday tag below that Jamie made, which I picked up from her shop.  Just a glance at it reminds me of a tea party, and frills and poofs and tea cups and laughs.

Exactly what a mood board should do, right?

Make you feel good and happy and inspired?

Of course, we are all inspired by vastly different things.

Which is why making your very own mood board is such a grand idea.

Do you have a mood board already?

An inspiration board?

If not, I highly recommend it.

It's a perfect spot for all the nonsense you love, that makes you feel good.

That's all.

Colors, patterns, messages, designs...

For me, the tiniest little background details, where colors meet and flights of flowers peek out, are the most special little spots.

A couple of postcards and greeting cards that I love get tacked up.

A wacky earring whose color delights me.

Some paper flowers...

(I adore the charming notecard below from Betty, sent to me years ago)

And, voila.

Done.

Fresh inspiration.

Some old friends stay, as I am not "great" at change.

But a proper little freshen up for your mood board, oh so much fun!

Over the months and years, things will change and move, and come and go...

Always following the flow of your mood, and what inspires you at the time.

I am just crazy about mood boards.

You can call them whatever you want really.

Inspiration boards.

Trinket boards.

Whatever the case, I love them.

And, I love looking at them too.

If you happen to have a board of your own that you would like to share, feel free to post a link within comments.  I would love to peek, as I am sure others would too.

I looooove looking at creature collections.

Love, V