Around here this month, I have been thinking a lot about Me Made May, the annual challenge to wear homemade garments. I have diligently worn my hand-sewn and hand-knit clothes for the past 25 days and have been recording a short video of each. On Monday, when the challenge is complete, I plan to upload a video to youtube of the whole thing. As always, it was a deep creative muscle stretch to take part in this challenge and I look forward to writing more about it soon.
Related, early this month, I joined ThreadLoop which is basically Ravelry for sewing. I am into it! The site is clean and feels nice to navigate. It’s overwhelming to get started but now that I am up and running, it feels like a manageable way to keep track of patterns and projects. I also like being able to see what other people are making. (Not being able to follow garment hashtags in the number one thing I miss about Instagram.) I am @elisejoy on ThreadLoop if you’re on there!
I’m calling it — it’s going to be a very Marigold summer. In years past I have grown mostly the low, ground cover-like version, but this year I also have much taller varieties (Crackerjack, Kee’s Orange & Kilimanjaro White) growing. Marigolds plants are so abundant and the blooms last forever (like two weeks) in a vase. I am cutting them as fast as I can and look forward to many dye pots full of them this summer.
Sometime in June we will be bottling our 2025 wine harvest which means I got to order new wine labels. Months ago, Piper, my ten-year-old, asked for “something to draw” and I told her “a bunch of grapes, having a party.” When I saw her sketch I knew it had to be the art for the label this year. I always come up with a subtitle for the harvest and this year’s is “If you’re having a fun, you’re doing it wrong” which is a Blaha and now Cripe family inside joke and absolutely captures the vibe of trying to make wine in your backyard.
I dug up my ranunculus and anemone bed this month and shared the process of harvesting and separating the corms to replant next fall on youtube. The bed will soon be turned over to 100+ sunflower stems and I can’t wait to see how it looks in late July when they should all be blooming.
This month I listened to Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue which was published in 1990(!) and is a history of the English language. It was outdated (he specifically talked about computers not having enough processing power to translate languages) but so interesting. (My favorite detail was how the NY Times reluctantly starting running the crossword in 1942; they thought word games were beneath them!) The book reminded me how much of a fan I am of Bryson’s work. I have read and deeply enjoyed A Short History of Nearly Everything, At Home and The Body. Check your local library because they are old releases and most likely a very short wait.
Paul and I started Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay this month. It’s Parks and Rec if Pawnee was haunted. I am not big on horror (like Stranger Things is my upper limit) but I am enjoying the quirky and scary show so much. It’s just a miniseries (so a ten episode commitment) and worth your time if you, like me, love Leslie Knope, Matthew Rhys and also Steven King.
Last week was my mom’s 73rd birthday and I got to be in charge of dessert. A 73rd birthday feels like the perfect time to do the damn thing and bake a carrot cake from scratch and I followed (what else?) the NY Times Cooking recipe. It was good and looked extra cute covered in edible flowers from the garden. My “pretty desserts” Pinterest board is so proud.
