Paperwhites
A few years ago my sister Karen gave us some paperwhite bulbs and told us how to get them to flower. The process seemed to mysterious to me; put some dried up bulbs on some stones, add just enough water to cover the bottom of the bulbs and in a short amount of time…voila, you have the most amazing smelling flowers in your house. In winter! So we do it every year now. Give it a shot. It is a great way to brighten up a household.
Fog and Palm
Heading back North tomorrow. We had time for one last walk on the beach today, but had to bail. Very odd conditions. Foggy, misty, windy, and loud from the roar of the surf. It was very disorientating and made walking difficult. It was hard to stay balanced and the conditions made us both a bit dizzy. Went for a long walk away from the beach and it was nice. Had a bit of a thunderstorm late this afternoon to cap it all off.
Happy 2014 to you all.
End of a Week
Last Saturday I posted pictures from the Amherst Farmers’ Market. On Thursday I got an email from Casey at Old Friends Farm asking if he could use some of the photos in the farm’s weekly newsletter. I was more than happy to oblige and went into heavy negotiation mode. Pictures for flowers; quite a good deal for us both.
Earlier in the week I went to watch Cris teach an undergrad class in one of the UMASS School of Ed. buildings. The class meets in a now-closed elementary school auditorium. Down a hallway and behind a set of doors with a “NO ENTRY” sign was this school gymnasium. I can remember being a kid at the East End School in Meadville and being in a similar gym (they all look pretty much alike). I especially like the climbing ropes and the cargo net.
Today we drove to Williamstown to meet up with Peggy Ross, her husband Peter, and their friend Pierette who is visiting from France. We met at the Williams College Museum of Art and then walked into town for a beer. It is a lovely small New England town with 2 great museums (the other being the Clark, which is a gem).
Driving back along Route 2, I was compelled to stop and grab a few shots of the Deerfield River.
I hope to have the willardsuitcases.com site up and running tomorrow. I am so excited and will post an update as soon as it is online.
Farmers’ Market
This is white ginger. It usually shows up at this time of the year at the Amherst farmers’ market and is quite lovely. We usually buy some to put in the freezer.
I was taken by the produce at Old Friends Farm stand this morning. Everything looked great in the soft morning light.
Autumn farmers’ markets are the best.
I’ve no idea what these little white pods are, but they look nice next to the tomatoes.
And a question for all you grammarians out there. When I was writing the title of this post I assumed that the apostrophe in farmers would go after the “r”, but when I did an internet search, many sites had it after the “s”. Any clarification on which is correct?
Sunflowers
I had to get the oil changed in Cristine’s car early today and as I was driving through Hadley I saw this field of sunflowers. I stopped on the way home and grabbed a few shots. Some of the flowers were huge. Big honkin’ leaves too. / Peggy Ross came over to work with me on the willardsuitcases.com site (which I am so far behind on) and we got a ton done on the FAQ section. I hope to be able to finish it up by early September. / There is a nice interview on the Port Magazine (UK) site about the suitcases. Here is the link. Betty Wood has been following the project from very early on, and she did a great job asking questions and putting it all together. I was really fun talking to her and am so grateful for her interest and support.
Meadville, PA
I am in Meadville sitting in a Tim Horton’s. It is the only open café with WIFI and I wanted to do a quick post before I head out of town.
My dad died in 2007 and in memorial to his time teaching at Allegheny College the family decided to plant a tree on the campus. I wanted to check on it to see how it was faring and was happy to see that it is in good shape.
My sister Karen knows a lot about trees and gardens and she suggested a Winter King. Here’s a link describing it and it seems an apt choice. (It is cool that the link goes to Penn State’s Extension program as dad got his doctorate in German Literature there.) I especially like how the bark peels off; it kind of reminds me of a sycamore which is a tree I also like. I have been thinking about a long post about my dad which I hope to get to in the next few months. He was a very interesting guy.
Mountain Laurel and Vegetable Stock #3
The mountain laurels are really wild this year. (Do I say this every year? I know there are previous posts about this plant, but really, this year is amazing.) One of the locals told me that this part of Pelham used to be called Mount Laurel and I can see why. When we look out the window it is almost like there is snow on the leaves of the plants.
I had a great dad’s day today. Peter is home from DC for a bit (the Nationals are on the road) and I got the chance to chill out and cook. I made another vegetable stock. As you can tell by the color, there were lots of beet peelings in it. You can see my previous posts about it here and here. I used some of it to make a wild rice thing for Cris and it was great.
Primrose?
We bought this plant at the Pelham Library plant sale and our great friend Kate Hudson told us that it was a primrose. The leaves look like one, but I have never seen a primrose flower like this. Cris planted it a few weeks ago and it is beautiful. Years ago I had made this bed out of mostly peat moss and it seems to like it (what plant wouldn’t?).
California Coast
This will be a picture heavy post without too many words.
We stopped in Pismo Beach, which is a sweet little town with a nice pier. I like being able to shoot from above, which is a great angle to document guys with metal detectors.
Morro Bay is another pleasant town. We were blown away to see these sea otters rafting at the end of the day so near to the town. The wide angle lens doesn’t make them seem so close, but they were right there.
Next stop was the amazing elephant seal beach just near to San Simeon. These seals have been coming to this location since the early ’90s. Noisy and smelly (but in a very nice way). Remarkable to be so close to these creatures.
They are molting at this time of the year and aren’t particularly active.
Next up, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park near Big Sur. Well worth a visit.
It is Spring out here and wild flowers are everywhere. This looks to be some sort of iris.
This spectacular field is just off Highway 1. We came around a corner and this scene took our breath away.
California poppys. Cris says they are the state flower.
Point Lobos State Park is a wonderful place to hike and get close to the ocean. The trails are extensive; it would be easy to spend a whole day here.
I had never been in the redwoods before. This same photo has probably been taken a million times, but who could resist. Big Basin State Park is just north of Santa Cruz.
Since I’m in California, I can get away with the word awesome. Truly amazing.
Had a nice walk yesterday from the Exploratorium up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Finally saw “The Changing Face of What is Normal” exhibit and will post some shots and my reaction soon.
Spanish Moss and Buds
We are heading North today after an amazing, recuperative stay in South Carolina. Spring has arrived in full force; trees are budding out and the weather has been beautiful. / I got a ton of work done on the suitcase project while here. The American Society of Picture Professionals is featuring the project in a story in their next publication. They are the first to have focused on the preservation aspect of the materials since many of their members are curators. I am so happy to get this side of the story out. And I have sent six images to the Exploratorium that they will be using to produce postcards to sell in the museum store. Finally, today I got a nice email from Yvonne Boots-Faubert who looked at some of the fabric/sewing based contents of the cases and wrote a nice post on her blog. Check it out. I am so happy when people look at the photographs and are stimulated enough to get creative and apply it to their own interests. Thanks, as usual, to all of you who are following this site.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
4 comments