Last week I popped into my local bike shop, Rocky’s, with the idea of scoping out a new bike to save up for as I work on commuting by bike more around town. I’ve been trying to bike to work more since it’s only a mile each way, both for the exercise and the eco-friendliness of it – but mostly the exercise because let’s be real: 8 hours a day tied to a desk job isn’t doing me any favors weight and health-wise. My 23 year old mountain bike works but isn’t very comfortable and I knew I’d need an upgrade soon. I’ve had my eye on a few brands,…

The tomatoes are beginning to ripen in the garden, which means I am starting to ever-so-slowly can up this year’s batch of pizza sauce for use later in the winter. I’m using the recipe from Preserving by the Pint, which has been a fabulous book these last few years as I scale back on, well, pretty much everything. Pre-kid, you’d find me with pounds and POUNDS of garden produce that I’d be canning up for use later in the season. But these days… not so much. It’s a combination of reasons, really – not putting out as big of a garden anymore, having a kid sucks up a lot more…

Hi all! I took longer to get this posted than I would have liked, but such is life. We spent a lovely bit of time at the beginning of July in Traverse City, Michigan for our vacation. I unknowingly planned it during the Cherry Festival, and was told by coworkers that I’d hate it because of how busy it was. But we actually had a really good time, festival and all! We went north with very little in the way of plans, more like goals of things in the area we’d like to see. I resisted my need to overplan everything, so there was no daily schedule dictating what we…

I meant to post up weekly about my Yellow Bird Food Shed box but… oops. We ate more salads out of box 2, and if I’m being honest box 3 basically went… ignored. Today being Tuesday, I have yet to even dig in to box 4. We’ve been awful at eating at home because of life and stress. Though we’ve also been awful at eating out… honestly, most nights Declan and I more snack than eat real meals. I finished a thing. A “Sunlight for Sad People” shawl out of some yarn I bought back in February that I meant to turn into a scarf to wear to the cold…

I decided to sign us up for the Yellowbird Foodshed box this summer on a kind of last-minute whim. I had heard a few months ago about their boxes but then promptly forgot about it again until early this month when I was in the local juice shop and someone came in to ask about the boxes and verify their pickup date. As soon as I got back to my desk at work I was on the website and signing up so I could get in on the first box. Last week, that first box arrived, which was quite an exciting way for me to break up my day at…

Mother’s Day has been, for me, a mixed bag of feelings. Historically, I spend the day bouncing around from one emotion to the next, and sit a little too long with my disappointment and become an emotional, moody mess. That is not going to be me this year. For too long I’ve spent my “special” day feeling hurt over not being appreciated or celebrated enough by my people. I mean, the whole house would fall apart, both figuratively and literally, without me. Don’t they even care about how easy their lives are because of me? (I’m kidding… a little) But I had this realization today, after a day out shopping…

I’ve missed this very much. Sitting outside enjoying the lovely weather, knitting, watching the world go by…

Spinning yarn is this magical thing. It’s magical enough, to me anyway, to be able to take something as simple as some fluffy sheep’s wool and add a bit of twist to it to make yarn. But the magic that really gets me is the kind that happens with dyed rovings. I know how it happens, of course. It’s not actually magic. I understand that the way the fiber is prepped and spun, the way it is plied, etc all contribute to this transformation. But every yarn I make leaves me feeling the same way – this feeling of disbelief that THIS yarn came from THAT fiber. That the colors…