domicile

Mmmm books

A few years ago, I found myself not reading as much as I wanted to. I think this had much to do with moving into our new home and all the time, energy and drywall dust that created, but still I wasn't too happy about it. Then a dear friend started up a bookclub, which I gleefully joined and that got things rolling again as far as reading was concerned. Now, if I don't have a book on my bedside table that I'm engrossed in, I feel at a loss.

While I was in Victoria recently I had a chance to visit my absolute favourite bookstore Munro's. If you've never been and you're ever in Victoria you must go. The end. It is, to me anyway, what a bookstore should be. That is: filled with books. No tchotchkes, no cds, no in store Starbucks, just mainly books on dark wooden bookshelves with gorgeous high ceilings. If I ever have the time, I'll spend a few hours with a stack of books in a chair in Munro's weighing my options. And, sadly, I always need to put some back. Last time I was there, I reluctantly put back Peter Reinhart's new Whole Grain Breads cookbook, mostly because it was too heavy to bring home in my one small suitcase on the ferry, but I've kind of regretted it ever since.

As I mentioned a while back now, I've been experimenting with making bread, and I'm happy to report I'm getting somewhere. Still, bread is a bit of a mystery to me. I'm not sure where I can play with recipes and where I can improvise, and frankly it kinda scares me to contemplate. Reinhart's book however, provides all kinds of theory, history and technique to each recipe. And photos! Photos of what it should look like, photos of what you don't want and really photo, after glorious photo, which for the newbie bread maker like me seems like a brilliant idea. That, and as the name implies, it's all about whole grains. I first heard about the Whole Grains Bread cookbook over at Heidi's site, so I wasn't surprised it was such a great resource.

Speaking of 101Cookbooks and recipes, she's got a recipe up from the new How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman book. I'm pretty curious about this cookbook too, as I've always felt pretty left out of the How to Cook Everything love.

On Aprons. Again.

  gardening apron 
  Originally uploaded by emira

I promised plenty of apron talk this month, and I have to warn you we're a month out from month's end and I'm still in the thinking/planning stage and not the actually doing stage.

So here's the thing. I have a chance to be near my favourite fabric store this week and the two books containing apron patterns that I ordered have yet to arrive. I'm pretty sure I want to make the Lotta apron (as seen here, but I need to know how much fabric to buy. Does anyone have Simply Sewing? Can you send me the fabric requirements? I'd so appreciate it.

Real Live Art

  camilla engman in hallway 
  Originally uploaded by emira

One of the first big purchases Martin and I made together as a couple was a piece of art. We fell victim to two things: first, too much wine at the opening and second, it was a gorgeous piece of art that touched us both immediately. That piece was an original by a local Vancouver artist Jude Griebel and it now hangs in our livingroom. (Incidentally the house the painting now lives in was our second big purchase together, we take baby steps). The piece is called Further Towards the Forest, and you can see it here if you're interested. It tends to illicit strong reactions from folks. Many people don't like it. We adore it. But you already knew that.

Since we bought that piece we've slowly collected pieces from many of our favourite local artists. Among them Mia Hansen, Lori Joy Smith, and Renee Gouin. We typically pick these pieces up at openings and sales in town here and, with this new fangled contraption called the internet, we've been adding to our local art collection with some truly awesome pieces from a few webstars like Camilla Engman (that's one of her prints kind of poorly photographed there in the photo) and Abigail Percy. I fear I'm liable to get a bit Etsy happy and go overboard one of these days, though we've still got plenty of walls to fill, so I'm probably safe for a while yet. I recently snatched up a set of Camilla's prints, and while they're not exactly originals I just can't recommend them enough as they're a screaming deal (in my opinion) and boy do they make me super happy every time I see them. (Imagine how much I'll like them when they're actually framed!) I grew up with a lot of original art on our walls, most of it done by a close friend of the family, and while Martin and I are certainly not experienced collectors by any stretch of the imagination, it's a wonderful way to bring stories, beauty and friends into your home. If you've got a favourite local/rising star of an artist or count yourself amongst the talented, let me know. I'm always on the lookout...

And speaking of tempting beautiful things, Megan/Not Martha is a guest blogger over at Design Sponge right now. Among other things, she's got a piece up about window film. Megan has the Strossel geranium pattern in her kitchen which I much adore, and has used window film to great effect in her own place to block out nasty neighbour's walls while keeping light in a space. We keep meaning to do this in the kitchen so we don't have to watch the frat boy neighbours constantly trying to start their broken down cars while doing dishes. And as I think about it, this might be a good idea for Miss P's window which looks out on the neighbour's less than beautiful vinyl siding.

New Fall Shoes

  new shoes 
  Originally uploaded by emira

When I was a little girl my mom used to take me to the children's shoe store on Oak Bay Avenue for a new pair of shoes. They were always Buster Browns, they were always Mary Janes, each year I had a choice between black, navy and one year I believe there was a burgundy option. While I loved this ritual -- the new smell of them, the sticker and hard candy they always gave you at that shop, the anticipation that perhaps this year there would be something more exciting in the selection than last year -- I can't say I totally loved the shoes themselves. I believe I had a keen eye for the delight in the cut of cloth and pairings of colours that fashion and fabrics bring me today at a pretty young age. And, so, it kind of surprised me when I realized this Fall I was on the lookout for a pretty conservative/practical pair of mary janes to round out my shoe collection.

I'm not sure if it's just the change in the tides of fashion (certainly when I was a university student/raver in the mid-nineties these would never have passed muster), or perhaps the influence of my new love for all things flamenco (many have commented that these look like flamenco shoes), or a resurrection of childhood nostalgia but I'm rather smitten with the humble mary jane this season. That said, this particular pair have a flair that my five year old self would have given her baby eye-teeth for what with the flowers and all. The best part of these shoes? I didn't have to leave my house to buy them. Actually, that's not really the best part because I honestly love boutique shopping. But after scouring boutiques both in town here and in Victoria I still hadn't come up with a pair of shoes that met my current requirements for: pretty, comfortable (meaning a little heel was fine, but nothing over 2 inches and must have decent arch support), and laced with a hint of 5  year old mary jane nostalgia. This pair are from Zappos who finally, finally, ship to Canada. (How did I not know this by the way?) The convenience combined with the sinking American dollar/rising Canadian dollar meant my resistance faltered and the shoes were acquired. And my how I adore them. Though, they notably did not come with a sticker or a hard candy.

More on aprons

At this point it seems highly likely that I'll be spending the month of October obsessing over aprons. There are worse habits.

Several of you have contacted me recommending I check out the apron pattern in the newish MaryJane's Stitching Room book. And others have cast a vote for the Lotta Jansdotter book, which I was already not so secretly lusting after. Then I found this photo of an apron made from the Lotta pattern and since the colours are basically exactly the same as our kitchen I considered it a sign. I've ordered both from Amazon (such a splurge!) and am secretly hoping they arrive in time for this weekend so I can start a new project. I have that itchy sewing feeling, and not nearly enough time to indulge it.

As it so happens, I also ordered a whack of patterns from Sublime Stitching (finally) last week. So perhaps my new apron will be an overly ambitious combination of fabric and fancy pants embroidery. We'll see. If all goes well, then many folks may be getting aprons this holiday.

A New Apron

For high school I went to a small private school. I'll admit I was a died-in-the-wool geek, and for the most part I adored it. As much as a teenager can adore school, that is. I took latin class, reveled in Calculus and was pretty diligent about keeping my knee socks up. One of the side effects of wearing a uniform to school (for me anyway) was that I began to mentally associate that uniform with a certain state of mind. As such, I used to pretty much always keep my uniform on, when I got home from school, to finish my homework. It was as though it was literally my "working" uniform. When I was done my schoolwork, I'd take it off, shift my brain to other things and move on. (Told you, I was a geek). Anyway, I'm not sure if it was those impressionable years, or an innate sense of practicality, but as an adult, as soon as I get home from work I go into the kitchen, put on an apron and start an evening of cooking, or some sort of home project. I have a different apron for gardening. I use my kitchen apron when I'm cleaning the house as well, and fear that though it is certainly not my most alluring look most weeknights I have my apron on until I go to bed. And while all this makes me sound painfully like a 50s housewife, know that I'm not doing all this alone, Martin, however, chooses not to wear an apron.

So, it's time for a new one. I have this fabulous printed apron that I got at a second hand store that is quite basic, with a lovely navy/grass green print that has stood me well for a few  years, but it's getting quite ratty and I figure if I'm going to spend as much time in an apron as I do, I should have one a bit nicer looking. Don't you agree? So, I'm thinking a fair bit about my next apron. I've been a huge fan of BellaPamella's aprons since I first saw them on the web (that's what's pictured here). I love the retro feel, the practical nature (I don't like half apron as they're not protective enough, and they must have pockets). I've had a look around the italian delis in the neighrbourhood to see what they have in the way of italian nonna aprons, but they're all made of polyester and that doesn't fit with my "lovely apron I'll wear everyday" vision. And ultimately, as a sewer, with a pile of unused fabric in the basement, I just can't bring myself to buy an apron. However lovely. It's like I can hear my grandma in my head saying, "oh just get on with it and go whip something up, it's an apron for goodness sake." And she's right.

Last night I pulled out my Mary Jane's Farm magazine, the apron issue, and had a thumb through. All the free patterns in it are for half aprons though, and that won't quite do for my purposes. I'm tempted to order both the Helen's Apron pattern and the Farm Girl Apron pattern, but then I thought: I've got the internet at my fingers. And, hopefully, still a pile of talented creative folks out there reading this occasionally. So, any of you have an awesome apron pattern you'd like to recommend? My requirements are pretty simple: must be a full apron (not just  half) and must have at least one pocket. Please save me before I get totally lost in the tie one on archives.

(And for the record, I'm already thinking I should just embrace my inner house wife and get one of these for fancy times, and still make an everyday apron to sooth my inner grandma).

News seasons. New Beginnings.

  narcissi bulbs 
  Originally uploaded by emira

Last weekend, in the pouring rain, I tried to put my I'm-a-rugged-west-coaster / it's-better-than-working face on and plant my fall bulbs. I managed to get them all planted and did a none-too-shabby job of cleaning up the flower beds, before I gave up and went in for a long hot bath and some tea. By the time I was done I had that kind of wet cold where water is actually seeping up your jeans, and your wool sweater wears twice what it did when you started. My gloves were also so slippery with mud that I couldn't get them off my hands (too slippery to hold onto!) and I actually considered for more than half a second (officially too long) the option of grabbing a very, very muddy glove in my teeth to pry it off my cold fingers. I ended up using my feet. Whining and winging aside, I did actually kind of enjoy my time out in the garden for a number of reasons beyond that perverse feeling of having accomplished something despite my strong will to go inside and snuggle. Mostly, I have to admit my internal rhythms seem forever tied to the school year more than the calendar year and fall seems to bring with it a sense of renewed possibilities. As I was out there digging wee bulb holes and trying to envision what everything will look like next spring, I couldn't help but get hopeful for the chance at a little renewal (the metaphor was right there for me to grab onto afterall), cuz frankly I could use it right about now.