cliffswallow – Page 2

Operation Baguette

Last year, I think a bird must have pooped out a wheat berry in the path right *next* to my garden beds (not *in* them for some reason), and against all odds, like a Biblical parable, it sprang up and bore fruit. My mama raised me right enough that I know a head of wheatContinue reading “Operation Baguette”

Uni Iroikas: Tomo Kishida’s Sakiori Project

Sakiori is the Japanese art of making new cloth from torn strips of worn-out clothing. I’ve done a couple of knitted sakiori projects before, like making Christmas tree skirts and table runners out of old sheets. I was looking for some inspiration for what to do with a set of silk pajamas that was splittingContinue reading “Uni Iroikas: Tomo Kishida’s Sakiori Project”

2024 Christmas Theme: Enchanted Forest

I took the Angela Harding advent calendar as the centerpiece of the theme as well as my Iittala Taika dinnerware (“Taika” means magic forest in Finnish, according to the company). Think lots of owls, deer, greenery, mushrooms, gnomes…. Extra Credit to my friend Nicole for convincing me to use my raven puppet as a treeContinue reading “2024 Christmas Theme: Enchanted Forest”

Tisane of the Week: Rose Honeysuckle Mint (etc.)

I inherited a crazy yard—really a mini urban farm complete with livestock (the chickens were written into the counter-offer): there are six fruit trees (sadly down from 8), 7 raised beds in different levels of the yard, and untold numbers of flowering shrubs and annuals, not to mention patches of perennial herbs here and there.Continue reading “Tisane of the Week: Rose Honeysuckle Mint (etc.)”

Wooden automata

Really beautiful: youtube.com/watch

Victorian Blue-and-White Christmas

Full disclosure: I don’t actually have that many Victorian-era decor items other than a set of paper houses I cut out when I was a kid and a pre-Raphaelite tree angel I think I bought from the Met catalogue 30 years ago. So around my place, “Victorian” kinda means “more is more” and also “putContinue reading “Victorian Blue-and-White Christmas”

Ceramics Saturdays: Oil-spot glazes

Hey, it’s photographing things on the dining-room table day! Actually, no joke, I have the perfect table for this–it’s a Hans Wegner table I lucked into (though the cross-bars at each end bark my shins with regularity, which is like, who designs a table with bars at shin-height? Hans Wegner is who…) and it’s reaaaaaaallyContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Oil-spot glazes”

Upcycled Cashmere CYA Mini-Skirt

I love it when seemingly unrelated problems get together and solve themselves. It saves me a lot of work. In this case the problems were as follows: Don’t get me wrong: I own multiple pairs of tights. They are unbeatable for cycling and cross-country skiing, also climbing and running (in the winter). And I amContinue reading “Upcycled Cashmere CYA Mini-Skirt”

Ceramics Saturdays: cups and saucers by Jeewon Jeong

Just got these in the mail as a gift from Jeewon’s mom, Hyunsuk. They’re gorgeous! I

Living In: Victorian Christmas

So, I usually don’t pick my Christmas theme out this far in advance, but I was leafing through one of my old holiday issues of Victoria Magazine that I’ve saved since forever, and it reminded me of how long it’s been since I did a full-on, over-the-top Victorian Christmas. I’d better start aging that figgyContinue reading “Living In: Victorian Christmas”