The Spice is the Cabinet,The Cabinet is the Spice

True to my New Year's resolution I have continued to de-clutter the little corners of my life. Here is my spice cabinet....after de-cluttering. It was a journey back in time to Thanksgivings, Yule celebrations and birthdays past. Ancient spices purchased to create that 'perfect' meal 10 years ago. Candles in single digit shapes, sprinkles in a preschoolers favorite colors and long hardened cinnamon/sugar still with small buttery fingerprints on the jar. Spices that were my mother's favorites, used only to re-create a long gone cherished meal. I took out each bottle and tin, reaching far back in the past and let them go, some with a smile and some with a tear.
Now my spice cabinet is organized and clean, the spices fresh and new. I step into the future, remembering the past. Spicy and Delicious!

A Bowl of Sunshine

Not exactly a bowl of cherries, here in California in the middle of February you can walk out to a tree and pick a bowl of sunshine. These amazing (and giant) kumquats are off a tree in the orchard by the Long Beach Community Gardens. I have a plot there that is my little 20'x4o' rectangle of paradise. These beauties are sitting in a white bowl in my kitchen and make me smile every time I look at them.... delicious.

Doodle Brain

Oh the days are getting longer (slightly) and February is here. That means...dun-dun-duuunnn...Valentine's day approacheth. My birthday is the day before so I hold a special place in my heart (heart, get it?) for this particular holiday. So on that note, (goodness, not another pun) I made some notes! Doodle notes actually. You see I cannot draw, that is fine as I cannot sing either, but what I can do is doodle. Here you see the fruits of my doodling labor. These lovely, simple little note cards are my doodle creations. 'Love' with a long stem and little hearts-in-a-box. Now I can knit, I can sculpt, I can weave (if someone helps me warp my loom) I can cook and I can win a verbal argument, but I have always wanted to be able to draw. So now I am pretty proud of myself, I feel like a real two dimensional (not personality wise, but in 'art-speak') artist.
These little gems are available in my etsy store www.blackgingham.etsy.com, and I have sold several sets and that feels delicious! eat them up.