Farmer Kim and Farmer Jacob

Happy Halloween!

We wore my overalls to work (Trader Joe's) today and called ourselves farmers. My pin says "support local organic farmers" and that is a chicken on Jacob's shoulder. A woman came through my line and told me she grew up on a farm in Ireland. The more I talk about farming to middle aged people the more I find out nearly every middle aged person either grew up on a farm or had a close relative who had a farm. Now there are so few farmers...who will grow our food? The answer is other countries....but that is a whole other blog post. :0 )

Today at Chipotle after 6pm, if you wear a family farm related costume you get a $2 burrito...so we are waiting for 6pm to come along so we can have dinner. My sister is going to be the cow I was last year.

Lan, Jacob, me, and Emily as a frightening bunny.

More Fabric Cards

I have decided these fabric cards will be a regular thing for me. I enjoy making them because they are a relief from conceptualizing...and I still feel productive.

Color and Shape Study of Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplant-Finished!

In September I posted some water color studies I did of two Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplants and my plans for those studies. I finished the piece today. Here is a link to the post with the studies.

I had finished all the eggplants and started sewing them onto a big navy blue fabric. I got pricked so many times that I was about to give up. It is still shocking and unsettling every time I get pricked. And even more frustrating when I get pricked three times in 30 seconds.

I laid out the eggplants on the fabric to see what larger shape they would make.

Here is the piece finished. It is 32 x 28 inches, all fabric and thread. I think the title is Color and Shape Study of Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplant or just Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplant. I like the first title because it gives a bit more of an explantation of what the viewer is seeing, but it makes the title long and calling something a study makes a piece seem like it is not a final piece. Then again, I could use a different word than study. Or maybe it is obvious enough what I am trying to do when I simply call it Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplant. I have two more pieces similar to this and I go back and forth with the two sorts of titles.

And a close-up of an eggplant.

I am glad to be done with this one. Always near the end of a piece I get antsy to start another with completely different materials. I don't think I could ever do just one media over and over again. I need a break from fabric and sewing machine, so I am going back to sculpture to create a piece about the disappearance of our honey bees.

Apple Picking at Edward's Orchard

Jacob, my Mumah, and I went apple picking yesterday at Edward's Orchard in Poplar Grove, Illinois. We got three bushels of Golden Delicious apples so my mom can make a whole lot of apple pies for everyone.

These are some Golden Delicious apples on the tree before I picked the one on the right. We have been going here every year since I was in my Mumah's tummy...so 23 years.

There were larger apples way high up.

Coming down is always the scariest part.

I had to remind Jacob to be kind to the tree and not pull on her branches.

I am back home for a few days. I haven't been home since last summer. I'm home just in time for vegan apple pies.

Fall Foods!

mmm mmm fall!

This is an heirloom variety of an acorn squash. It is a Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Acorn Squash. Winter squash is amazing. There are many odd looking varieties. I cut this winter squash in half, took out the seeds, placed the cut side down on a pan with some water and put in the oven for 15-30 minutes at 350 degrees until I could put a fork through it. I like to fill the hole with butter. Some people do brown sugar and butter.

Look at these many different varieties of apples! 7 different kinds actually. Can't remember any of the names only the gala. I wanted to try a gala that wasn't from New Zealand and I swear it was crisper and sweeter because it was local. These apples were all so different and yummy. I got these from the market in front of the Contemporary Art Museum. It is open from 7am to 3pm on Tuesdays. They had about 20 varieties of apple to choose from, each with a tag to describe the taste. It is hard to choose.

Carnival Acorn Squash and green tomatoes! I never tried green tomatoes until I got them in my CSA a couple of weeks ago. They are so tasty when fried! I sliced them 1/4 inch thick, dipped them in a mixture of flour, paprika, salt, onion powder, and pepper, then dipped em in soymilk, then in a mixture of bread crumbs and panko bread crumbs and fried em up. Get yourself some green tomatoes.

Kale! I made "cheezy" kale chips. I discarded the stems and cut the leaves into bite size pieces then tossed them with some canola oil, salt, and nutritional yeast (has a cheesy flavor and very nutritious, hence the name) and put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, flipping them around every 5 minutes until they were crunchy. They are really good.

Looks like I will be volunteering at the Glenwood Sunday Winter Market this year! I am really excited to be more involved with the market. Now I must get back to sewing.