What I'm Digging: April [2]
here and gone
Between family and close friends, we celebrate 12 birthdays this month, including one today (Happy Birthday Grandma Patti!) which always feels so fun and special, but man it makes the month fly! This is also the month that I consistently forget goes from late winter to spring in a matter of weeks. The cold can no longer hold the sunny days back and everything just explodes with bud and branch, and the birds are pairing up and I suddenly have a million things to do in the garden and for the bees! It always catches me a bit off guard, but I wouldn’t change it.
Reading
Late Migrations: a Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
My friend Olivia recommended I read this and lent me her copy. I enjoyed it so very much. I absolutely loved the short prose-like pieces that wove together to tell a larger narrative of family relationships over time. And lessons from nature were mingled in between, giving more texture to an already bittersweet story. I could relate to so many pieces, and found my own writing style to be somewhat similar, which was interesting, considering I have always wondered how I would be able to turn what I do into a book. Inspiring to say the least.
Top Bar Beekeeping : Organic Practices for Honey Bee Health by Les Crowder and Heather Harrell
On goes my continual search to keep bees in a more natural, sustainable way, so when some friends offered me an old top bar hive they weren’t using, I jumped at the chance. For those not as honey bee-nerdy as me, top bar is a different style of bee box for keeping managed colonies that allows the bees to build their own comb, so it winds up being more like they would make it if they were in a tree. Of course I have a lot to learn on the subject and this has been such a helpful book to get me ready for my first foray with top bar.
This article about Bees and Grief - by Emily Polk
A beautiful essay on a personal experience of Telling the Bees
Watching
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Not as good as Fury Road, in my opinion, but I really enjoyed the prequel storyline. Normally she’s hit or miss for me, but I thought Ana Taylor Joy did a really nice job.
The Boy and the Heron
The most recent Hayao Miyazaki film, the Japanese title “How Do You Live?” is a much more appropriate one, but the American release changed the title to make it more…palatable? This is a somewhat bizarre adventure into an alternate world that is resting in a precarious balance. It is mind boggling that this is still drawn animation, it is incredibly beautiful, and as all of Miyazaki’s films, forces you to question the good guy/bad guy traditional storyline.
Shitt’s Creek - the rewatch begins
If you haven’t given this one a go, just do it. Its incredibly fun and the rewatch is no less enjoyable
Listening
Masakatsu Takagi - Eating 1+2
this is just lovely music to work or chill to. Positive, light and airy
Billie Marten - Writing of Blues and Yellows
I cannot wait for Billie Martens new album to drop this summer, so while I wait I am back cataloging, and this is currently my fav
Something Local
WDRT - Vinylthon 2025!
Eric and I had the pleasure of taking part in WDRT’s Vinylthon, where they played all vinyl for 24 hours straight! It was a blast to take take part, Eric even played for the live vinyl dance party later that night. Such a blast!
An almost finished quilt
After holidays in late winter I break out my inside projects, this quilt has been in the works for two years I think, but I wanted to finish it before Phoenix’s birthday. And while it’s not completely done, I was able to quilt it together using Blue Bobbin Studio, just like I did for Fayes quilt a few years ago. I decided to use wool for this one, which I have never done, but was able to source locally from Ewetopia Fiber Mill. Aparently wool is great for insulating as well as breathability, which is just perfect for my little firebird, who runs hot most of the time.
…and a Fiber Mill Tour
Ewetopia Fiber Mill hosts an open house every spring, so we went to tour the facility where wool is cleaned and processed and turned into beautiful skeins of wool and batting. It was amazing to watch the process!
And Not That Local…
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Two years ago my sisters and I took our first trip together. No husbands or kids, it was our first experience just the three of us. I had this realization that it was necessary to continue cultivating relationships with these women who have known me my whole life, but at this point get to decide how close we choose to be. Since we don’t live close in proximity it has been a great opportunity to travel somewhere we’ve never been, and experience it together. After quite a bit of indecisiveness (I’m not pointing fingers), we decided maybe we take turns picking the place, so this year I chose. I stumbled upon Truth or Consequences when searching for hot springs in the US, and simply because of the name, went with it. What a quirky delight. What used to be called Hot Springs, NM, this place changed its name for a radio/television show’s tenth anniversary (its true, look it up). It is still a great place to find lots of places to soak (all piped from the actual underground springs), some pretty good food for the middle of the desert, and close enough for a day trip to White Sands National Park. It was a wild trip, literal highs and lows, including nearly running out of gas and driving through a missile range. And I’m so glad we made it happen.
Oh so many delightful recommendations! Reading while sitting in the sun in Hojo, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
I heard Ryuichi Sakamoto yesterday, so maybe add to your lovely listening list :)
And yes Truth and Consequences!!