Red Cedar

Mild case of the crazies.

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Megan

Given my regularly happy and productive postings I feel like I need to come clean and confess that I am currently suffering from terrible anxiety. It’s been building for the past week or so and has me in a state of perpetual panic. About what? About everything (self-hating, money-stressing, work-overwhelmed) – which is how I know it’s anxiety….. because everything in my life can’t be epic all at once can it? And in fact everything in my life is pretty good – from an objective view – so that’s also how I know it’s anxiety.

I’ve noticed since being with Brian that I don’t get nearly the horrible depressions I used to (I have down weeks, but nothing approximating actual depression), but I do get anxiety peaking from time to time. I’m trying to work out the link between the two because I’m pretty sure it’s there – as in, anxiety has always been a precursor to depression if I don’t take the time out and look after myself when I am stressed. Now that I’m in a really solid relationship, with a strong sense of home and family and community – I tend not to burn myself into depression, but the anxiety still comes as a little central nervous system warning to the rest of me.

So I’m hearing that message right now and thinking it’s time to take a break from alcohol and get my ass back to the gym. Not that I’m drinking much at all, but even one glass of wine disrupts my sleep enough to screw me up with insomnia and I need to get that in check. Also, procrastination is not a friend to my stress – so I’m thinking more work-discipline is in order.

No fun! I have to work harder and stop drinking at the same time! Bah! But I really want to calm down, and I think that might be the only way. *Sigh* At least I’m starting from the place of “awesome” instead of “already depleted”.

In the Bookshed: Two on Permaculture

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Megan

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Permaculture is the harmonious integration of the landscape, people and appropriate technologies, providing food, shelter, energy and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.” Bill Mollison

I first heard the term permaculture about thirteen years ago, out of the mouth of my friend Emily on Vancouver Island. Being an urban dweller (then and now), permaculture seemed to be an unrealistic concept, based on everyone having a 25 acre piece of land on which to sustain themselves in perfect balance with nature. But since then I’ve learned a lot more about it, and that permaculture techniques need not be limited to raw land or raising rabbits even if the ultimate goal is a self-sustaining off-the-grid existence.

Two books have recently made their way onto my shelf which are at different ends of the permaculture spectrum: The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture (The Ultimate Guides) and The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem.

The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture (The Ultimate Guides) by Nicole Faires (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012) is exactly what it promises to be – an ultimate guide. Starting with a chapter on what permaculture is and hot to define it, the book moves quickly through sections detailing energy, water, homes/shelter, gardens, cooking, and community through the permaculture philosophy. Faires is not wordy as she works through the various topics, making for an excellent overview of the considerations one would have if setting up a total permaculture lifestyle. The photographs in the book help to inspire the text, providing quick snapshot illustrations of the principles covered in the packed chapters. Most useful to me as an urban-dweller with a garden are the sections on gardening (which includes an excellent companion-planting table) and the building of community across diversity.

If you have an interest in the over-arching philosophy and practices that underpin permaculture, this is a great introduction – with a lot of practical and no-nonsense “how too”. Faires really does do a great job of cutting away her prose to deliver just the information that you want in an “ultimate guide” type of book – so it takes up little room on the shelf while delivering a lot of info.

The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem by Christopher Shen w/ Julie Thompson (Timber Press, 2013) is a much more focused guide to applying permaculture techniques to your vegetable garden – no matter where that garden happens to be. This is not a book about the shangri-la of permaculture paradise, but one that hones into the concepts and techniques one might employ in the pursuit of a little more sustainability in their backyard, community garden or urban plot. Sections in the book include discussions about food forests and poly culture, how to design a permaculture garden (whether on a balcony or large urban lot – Shen includes plans for five different layouts), understanding input and outputs, building the soil, choosing crops and teaching abundance. Photographs and illustrations throughout the book illustrate techniques being employed in diverse environments, mostly backyards and urban spaces – which I really appreciate (being on a small urban lot). This type of book goes a long way to helping me incorporate certain permaculture practices bit-by-bit without feeling like it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. As the new gardening season starts taking shape in my imagination — this is a book I will definitely be turning to as I think about what new techniques I want to try and whether there’s an approach in one part of the backyard that will work alongside some of what I’m already doing. As always, I’m game for anything that helps the garden to be more water-friendly, higher-yielding, and more manageable – in an environmentally-friendly way.

Roses for February: The Dress

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Megan

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CAM00167 — If I waited to get a *good* picture you would never see the dress!

Happy Love Day!

To celebrate the non-holiday of Valentines I am wearing my newly-finished Roses for February which seems appropriate. Sadly, the cardigan I am working on to go with this dress is not yet finished so I ended up pairing this with a store-bought sweater instead.

I’m not sure exactly what this fabric is – some kind of lightweight synthetic – this dress is mainly for spring/summer wear (it’s not lined). Paired with a slip, stockings and a cardigan however – it works for February too!

Total cost: $25 ($21 for 3 metres of material, about $4 in interfacing and thread). The pattern was one I’ve made before so I’m not counting it in the cost (Simplicity Amazing Fit 5818).

I am now making a third version of this dress in a voile with underlining and french seams. Now that I know the pattern works well for my figure (with and without sleeves) I would like to work on fancy-ing up my techniques to get a nicer finish inside and out.

Another version of the dress, pieces cut and underlined with a light satin.

Yes, exactly right here.

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Megan

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I turned forty last Friday, and to celebrate I went night-snowshoeing with B. and M. at Cypress Mountain (followed by fondue at Hollyburn Lodge). After the festivities of the previous weekend (cabaret and friends staying and dinner party), a quieter and more activity-oriented birthday was the perfect choice. Plus, it was an activity even a 15-year-old could enjoy (and she did).

This was followed up by a mostly-lazy weekend. I say mostly because while there was a lot of lounging around, I did manage to finish a dress and start another (pictures soon), plus I unraveled the sweater I was working on and started it over (too small, I made a pattern mistake), and we had an afternoon of music-making followed by dinner with the music-folks on Sunday. Oh, and there was a plumbing emergency on Monday morning. That’s pretty much the definition of a lazy weekend isn’t it?

Ok. Well it’s my definition of a lazy weekend because we were entirely around the house which is restorative for me even when there is work to be done.

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up a little before the alarm and laid in the stillness of the pre-dawn house thinking about just that. How glad to wake up in that bed, in that house, beside my awesome partner. How pleased to wake up on my first day of forty and think, “yes, exactly here.” Because I think it’s pretty lucky to have a life you enjoy. Not a perfect life (god forbid, I am nothing like perfect – I drink too much, I eat too many carbs, I don’t practice my fiddle nearly as often as I should), but a good life – one which is both self-validating and which serves to affirm and animate others.

And related to that – I’ve recently felt the return of community in my life. Starting school, playing music, and seeing some of our closer friends on a more regular basis have all played a part in that after a long period of trying to re-orient after my social/political rupture in the mid 2000’s, followed by leaving the political side of my union two years ago (which wasn’t much of a community, but did take up a lot of my time).

So I suppose if I am to reflect on being forty, I would like this new decade to build on what the last few years have begun: that is a life which prioritizes home, community, and making – with a lot of love and good dinner parties to round out the rest.

I’m a bit rambly here, I know. But I just mostly wanted to say that this place here, at forty. It’s awesome.