April 28th

Batman, Henry and I left the corporate world, committee work,  paint rollers and brushes behind and climbed into the truck last night. As we drove north, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and about 20 minutes from the house, we saw flurries in the beams of the headlights. After we built a fire in the Home Comfort and brushed our teeth, we snuggled under the quilts and fell asleep listening to the howling wind. Toast and tea this morning, then we bundled up and strolled the property. It was 29 degrees in the breezeway, but the sun was bright. Our children will be glad to see that the hops (above) came through the winter just fine, and are sprouting enthusiastically! 

The rhubarb had a bit of leftover snow cradled in its leaves. The apple trees look precariously undecided about what they are up to, and a report on the radio confirmed that many orchardists are worried about their trees as well. The forget-me-not that I planted last spring has self-seeded and there are pretty clumps of their bright blue flowers along the edge of my perennial bed (and remind me of my buddy, Potts). The grape hyacinths and daffodils that Batman has been planting over the years are spreading as well. 

We had planned to dismantle the huge peace wreath this weekend, but when we found this little nest under construction, we didn't have the heart to do it. We will leave well enough alone for now.

On the agenda for this afternoon? Napping, reading, more walking and a bit of cooking as we're having friends over for supper.

...and, ahem, could someone please explain to me how our favorite son has managed to turn 30 years old today? I am a bit flustered by this fact. Happy birthday, Stewart! xo

catching up

forest green corduroy salvaged from an old dress,

a murder of crows and some fern embroidery.

can you guess what i'm up to?

we've finally had some blessed rain.

the sky has been so changeable and beautiful,

with the spring green leaves adding to the dazzle.

when i'm in the midst of busyness, and running on fumes,

i look up, 

take a few deep breaths

and relax my shoulders.

mother nature is a balm.  

i'm looking forward to catching some r&r with this book

sometime in the next few days.

anne lamott is one of my absolute favorites.

have you read some assembly required yet?

another room done!

Benjamin Moore's mesquite on a cloudy afternoon.

I thought it would be a bit more grey in tone,

a bit more neutral, but I still like it.

And I'm so freakin' glad to have another room finished.

Have you finished anything lately 

that you want to celebrate here?

I'll send you a "hip, hip hooray"!

Today I went to our annual Yom Hashoah service and was reminded again of the power of telling and listening to one another's real life stories. 

do what you can. today and every day.

reduce, reuse, recycle!


check out the hulu clip here, a news broadcast from April 1970,
 the original Earth Day.
now i'm reminded and rededicated.
how about you?

giveaway winner and a peek at the future

After spending the day in meetings and at convocation,
I took a stroll around campus as the sun was setting.
I spent two years living in this beauty (above), many years ago.
I love being in the midst of this latest generation of Earlham students.
Read about some of them here...they will make you smile,
and help you hope.

Congratulations to giveaway winner  

JEANNEKE, who lives in the Netherlands.

See her handcrafting blog here.

(Please send me your mailing address 

and I will get the pillow cover into the mail.)

sewandsowlife(at)gmail(dot)com

silver lining

to save money, i booked a flight that had 

a connection in washington d.c.

the prop plane was noisy and a bit wobbly in the headwinds. 

due to "mechanical difficulties", i missed my connection.

but look at what i got to see, up close.

 discovery had just flown in 

on its way to rest in peace in an area museum.

so my rebooked flight will get me to earlham after dinner.

i'll be late to our meeting, but if i make it in time for dessert...

perhaps not all will be lost.

 i'll always remember the thrill of seeing this beauty

set against the spring sky and broad runway here at dulles.

-----------there's still time to enter the giveaway--------------

guest post from Gretta, all about Paul Greenberg's Four Fishes

There are a lot of exciting things about going to a liberal arts college. However, as a school of 1300, it can sometimes be tricky to get really well-known speakers to campus. That's why today I am ridiculously excited! Through the Environmental Studies department and several student clubs and organizations, Paul Greenberg is coming to Knox! Paul is a journalist and fisherman who combined his two loves into the NYT Bestseller "Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food". The book profiles the four major types of fish we eat: Salmon, Sea Bass, Cod, and Tuna. Greenberg writes about his own experiences with these fish as well as the cultural history of how we interact with them. It is an excellent read! (And thanks to Papa-Batman who let me borrow his copy before he was even done with it, whadda guy!)
What does this mean for you, dearest readers of my dearest Marmie's blog? You can watch it! Knox is streaming his talk online, 5 PM CST! Click here to go to the livestream page (http://www.livestream.com/knoxcollege)

The coolest thing about the whole experience of planning his visit is the amount of outreach we've been doing. We partnered with local businesses to have specials all week related to fish, worked with the public library and surrounding high schools to get more people reading "Four Fish", and are bringing students from our rival Monmouth College and Augustana College to join in the celebrations! All of us on the planning committee got really comfortable with media- posting on blogs and news stories, postering Galesburg, working with local newspapers. There's also going to be a sustainable seafood dinner. It all makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

xoxo Gretta

---------there's still time to enter the giveaway-----------