Biscuits
It’s taken me all week to get to the point where I could sit and write…but the moment finally presented itself. Anyhow, I’ve got twenty minutes and a sleepy Bisbee armrest so I’ll get down to it.
Last week’s Bakeoff theme was biscuits (aka, crispy cookies), so we did indeed end up tackling shortbread. We used this recipe, which required us to make up some browned butter the night before - but the extra step was worth it. With a substation of maple sugar instead of regular sugar, and the addition of some fresh-chopped thyme, they turned out…addictive. I was both sad and not sad when we’d eaten up the last crumbs.
Tomorrow, we tackle bread. Can you say savory sourdough tear-and-share? That’s the goal anyways!
I got an email this week from a really lovely soul who owns a couple of jewelry pieces that I made a few years back. Basically it was her reaching out to let me know how those pieces have become a part of her life and what they’ve come to mean to her. It was one of those messages that took me by surprise, going straight to the heart, and I’ve been walking around thinking about it ever since.
When I was deep in selling mode for Clementine and Sage, it was often a real struggle to not feel like I was just standing out on the edge of a cliff, throwing my soft-underbelly thoughts out into an empty void. Even though there were so many kind folks supporting me throughout that journey, I think I was just too far IN IT to stop and recognize that what I had to share did matter to others as much as it mattered to me.
But time changes everything. Who we are. How we see things. The way we interpret our experiences. Revisiting old writings and old photos these past few months has been a homecoming. And little messages, like the one from this week, remind me that that time and that work was important (even if it felt like I was a little lost in the moment).
I’ve lived so much of my life renovating my exterior that it’s come as a shock to find that these past months, which have felt ridiculously slow and hard, have been spent rebuilding my sense of self from the inside out. I am not the same. It will take time to know who I’ve become in this new skin.
Fall always brings on a rush of creativity for me. It’s like waking up, feeling better, after a long illness - and suddenly I must make all the things. I’m trying to stay focused on adding the final details to the courses (they may actually be DONE by the end of next week!), but everything else is calling me so I’m trying to make a little time for fun, too.
I almost finished my little autumnal self-portrait…but might be done with it, fickle creative that I am. I was really into the black and white, the lines, finding the flow - and then got to 80% complete and just felt done. The perfectionist in me said I needed to finish it before starting anything else. Said I needed to share a completed picture here or it was a waste. Buuuuut…I’m fighting that. And letting it sit. I may come back, I may not - as with my jewelry making, no time spent creating is really wasted (even if I can’t see that at the time).
I also took a quick trip down to Denver a few days back to visit Fancy Tiger. It’s like…a maker’s candy store and just walking around gets the ideas flowing and the possibilities popping. Though constantly distracted by the bolts of cloth and cute kits and general supply-overload of the store, I was on the hunt for two things specifically.
The first was some yarn to knit up a new cowl scarf. I’ve had this semi-secret ambition for a few years to submit something to Taproot Magazine - but I always chicken out or decide that what I’ve got to share doesn’t quite match the upcoming themes.
Recently though, I had a knitting pattern idea come into my head and I thought, hey - I’ll just write up the pattern, without aiming for a specific issue, and submit it to the best fitting theme when I’m done. I’ll get a (hopefully) cute scarf out of the deal and won’t be pressured by deadlines or trying to match it to what I think the editors may want. Win-win!
The second thing I was looking for was some autumnal flannel fabric. See, I’ve spent most of the summer walking around in a pair of cotton/hemp dresses that are SO COMFORTABLE and allow me to be a slacker without totally looking like a slacker. And finding pants right now stinks (my body was not made for the high waisted, cropped styles that everyone insists on producing at the moment). So I thought to myself, self - why not try to make a winter skirt or two?
It’s been a long time since I’ve made myself clothes. And I’m making up my own pattern for this piece. But it’s just a skirt - I can do that!
Autumnal motivation? Check.
Yarn? Check.
Fabric? Check.
This really is the best time of year.
