Quote of the Day: Thomas Jefferson
It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness.
-Thomas Jefferson
Hopefully you can take find a bit of tranquility today. I find that winter makes it easier to find, it seems natural to spend more time being inactive, particularly in the evenings. Reading, doing puzzles, sewing, crocheting, coloring, all help me cultivate tranquility.
What’s your favorite tranquil activity?
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Quote of the Day: Faith Popcorn
Handmade things with all their wonderful charming imperfections have a very rare value. Any craft as applicable and pragmatic as kitting has a great future.
Faith Popcorn (from The Wabi-Sabi House: The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty)
As I’ve been crocheting away I notice the mistakes I make. Of course not many people would notice, but I do. I have to keep myself from tearing everything out to fix my mistakes, making myself remember that imperfections make things unique. I’m trying to learn not to be a perfectionist, which is quite difficult for me. Sometimes good is good enough!
Do you find that you are too much of a perfectionist?
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Quote of the Day: Kristin Kimball
“And this is the place where I’m supposed to tell you what I’ve learned. Here’s the best I can do: a bowl of beans, rest for tired bones. These things are reasonable roots for a life, not just its window dressing. They have comforted our species for all time, and for happiness’ sake, they should not slip beneath our notice. Cook things, eat them with other people. If you can tire your own bones while growing the beans, so much the better for you.”
Kristin Kimball from The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
Cook things, eat them with other people – that really is the essence of life!
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Quote of the Day: The Sun!
When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome.
Wilma Rudolph
Yesterday the sun finally came out, you could almost hear a sigh of relief from everything: the pigs, the birds, the trees, the humans…
It was refreshing to our spirits and to our souls. I spend as much time outdoors as I could, hanging laundry, feeding animals, hiking, and cleaning up the gardens.
The quote above is very true, I am ver much affected by the level of light. This becomes clearly evident this time of year, when I am lazy to get work done if it’s cloudy and gray. The sun is like fuel for me, perhaps I’m more connected to the grass and earth than I realize.
Do you find yourself affected by the sun?
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Quote of the Day Shauna Niequist
“Fall is harvest, when we’re getting all the good stuff that someone took the time to plant many month ago. Someone planted it, and now we benefit from it. And that’s how it is we make art. We struggle and push and plant seeds deep underground, and it doesn’t look like much for a hilwe. But then someone comes alone and listens to your song or sees your painting or reads your poem, and they feel alive again, like the world if freh and bursting, just like harvest. Plant something today that will feed someone many months or many years from now. Plant something today, because you’ve feasted on someone else’s carefully planted seeds, seeds that bloomed into nourishment and kept you alive and wide-eyed.”
Shauna Niequiest in Bittersweet.
I love the farmers market this time of year, I come home with bags full of hearty roots for roasting, adding to gratins or long simmering in soups. While I grow potatoes, I don’t really grow carrots and celeriac much, they have such a long growing season I’m happy to allow someone else to plant those things so I can benefit from them.
I’m also loving the sweetening on the bitter greens like kale. Shopping at the farmers market is a great way to get in touch with the flow of the seasons.
Roasting is probably my favorite way to enjoy winter root vegetables, it bring out the sweetness and really showcases their flavor.
What’s your favorite fall/winter vegetable? How do you like it prepared?
