30 Days of Creativity

new wave

Finally back from the lake! I had hoped to get online during our vacation, but the sole public Wi-Fi connection was on the fritz. Just as well. It’s always good to unplug for a while.

I did regret the delay in posting my final photo for the 30 Days of Creativity project, though. Here’s a shot of the wake taken on June 30th during our first boat ride of the season…

Day 30: Liquid Blue

Image

Visit my Pinterest board to see all 30 Days. Thanks to the @createstuff folks for a great month of daily creativity!

(nearly) foiled again

I spent all day yesterday shopping, cooking, doing laundry, and packing for our vacation at the cabin. Hoping all this work on the front end guarantees me some ‘doing nothing’ time sitting by the lake. With all the activity, it was 9:30pm when I realized that I hadn’t taken my 30 Days of Creativity picture yet. I spied the loaf of baked banana bread I’d baked earlier in the day and had some fun with the patterns in its foil-wrapped surface.

Day 29: Banana Bread Wrapped in Aluminum Foil

P.S. I’ll be wrapping up with Day 30 up at the lake so it may take a few days to post.

about those greens…

I’ll admit that the CSA member experience comes with a bit of a learning curve. I try to improve each year – using more, wasting less – and, also, expanding my palate. Leafy greens were an acquired taste for us. And, we were always so inundated with greens during the early weeks of the season that eating the tops of the turnips seemed beyond our grasp. Until now. I sliced them up in ribbons and cooked them the way I like my spinach, only longer. Not likely to replace spinach as my favorite but pretty tasty. Now, if I could find a way to fall in love with those collards…

Day 28: Turnip Greens for Dinner

Turnip Greens with Garlic, Garlic Scapes, Chili Flake, and Parmesan with Simple Roasted Potatoes

growing strong art

I’m nearing the end of the 30 Days of Creativity project. It has been such a joy to get back in the habit of creating something every day. I have to admit, at the start of June, I had hoped to create lots of different things, not just photographs. So, I did some food, and a mosaic with my kids, but mostly I made photographs. And that was great because I love making photographs!!

For Day 27, though, I was excited to pin something non-photographic – a layout I created for the Growing Strong Art Contest. Due to a couple withdrawals and some logistics we had to change things at the last minute but I was rather proud of the layout I had designed TO SCALE in Photoshop. As in, I created something and also did math. 🙂 I had the honor of judging this contest and I am always thrilled to experience and promote other people’s creativity – in this case, inspired (as I so often am) by the farmer’s market!

Day 27: Art Exhibit Layout

The finished display of art contest winners:

made in the shade

The shade garden holds special charm for me. It lacks the bold and showy sun-gobbling blooms. But, my eye delights in the myriad green hues and tiny flowers – like hidden gems – gracing the shadows.

Day 25: Yellow Corydalis

Yellow Corydalis

a weed is not a weed

When we bought the globe thistle at the garden store a few years ago, I remember feeling almost embarrassed. Paying money for a WEED? Such folly!  But the flowers are spectacular, not to mention their ability to attract butterflies to the garden. And the whole weed vs. flower thing? It’s all relative. It’s not a weed if you WANT it to be there.

Day 22: Globe Thistles

Globe Thistles

garlic scapes

This week’s box from Hog’s Back Farm contained an undulating mass of garlic scapes. These curvaceous critters seem almost more animal than vegetable and, while easy to cook and delicious to eat, they can be tough to tame, stubbornly insisting on their serpentine poses.

Day 21: Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes

I haven’t had a chance to cook them yet but I’m thinking frittata…