Cranberries

Last week I was stir crazy to an extreme, I couldn't focus on anything and was frustrated, but I had no clue why. And then it hit me; all summer long I've been outside for at least four days a week, until work ended, and since I've hardly been outdoors or anywhere in almost three weeks. No wonder I'm loosing it! I needed to get outside. Now, I've gone blueberry picking with my family almost every summer for the past ten or eleven years, and every time we see the cranberries that aren't quite ripe yet among the blueberries, and I always want to come back later to pick them, but never have until now.

(photos are mine)

Thankfully it worked out for me to take my dad's truck and drive out that very afternoon. I was only out there about three hours and I didn't get many berries, but it was amazing. Being out alone on the hill, with just the wind and the silence gathering the last of summer's jewels for the winter was exactly what I needed. And I think I learned my lesson about how long this country mouse should stay inside.

Oh and happy October!

Love, Clara

veronica

veronica, waterperry


foxglove, camelot mix

Just some photos from work, being forced to be outside, rain or shine, has in a small way saved me this summer. Most people here have talked about it being such a rainy summer, but I can't say that it's been that way for me, it's rained a fair amount, but there have been so many sunny days too. And I will never complain about driving into the misty hills in the morning, few things are so inspiring as the mist. I hope you all have and still are, enjoying your summers.

Much love,

Clara

(photos were taken by me)

Summer has been freedom. Late nights, spontaneous hikes and camping, planning, collecting, observing, day dreaming, praying, cooking, brainstorming, deciding, thrifting, swimming in lakes and a hot spring, boat rides and tubing, and making things. Also lots and lots of journaling (I hate how most of the words I use when writing about journals aren't technically words!), I've never journaled this much before in the summer. It's been wonderful though, full of good things. I'm allowing my summer list to carry over into fall, so that way I can still accomplish a few of the many things that never happened. Thank you so so much for all of the birthday wishes! You all are to wonderful for words. Life is still hectic, but I'm going to make myself post at least once a week regardless, so I won't disappear!

So until I'm back (which is hopefully sooner than a week),

Clara

A long time wish has come true! For my birthday my dad and mom got me a typewriter! Oh yes, and this was the big 18, which is (in America) the step into "adulthood" (kind of, you don't really get to do anything exciting though, can just vote and get drafted into the army). Anyway, about my typewriter, it's an old one. Solid metal, with a fabric ribbon which still has ink in it, none of the keys stick (shockingly), and the only problems it has is that the ribbon doesn't move on it's own and the caps lock doesn't work. Both of those are fine with me though, I just love that I can type little notes and letters on it!

Not to mention how nice it is to see it sitting on my desk when ever I'm in my room. There will be more on what I've aquired lately later, I just thought this deserved a post of it's own, and you all deserved a post sooner as well. I just can't get over how wonderful you all are.
The end of summer is going wonderfully, I've been getting out alot, and making sure I enjoy every minute of it. Life is good.

Love, Clara

hot spell

Summer should be coming to a close here, but the weather seems to be having other ideas these past few days. I step out of the doors from work and feel like I'm hitting a wall of heat.
I apologize again for being so absent, but most of all for not responding to your comments. However, I must tell you that the rest of this month will probably stay the same way. It's crazy beyond crazy right, what with turning 18, work, the fair, getting my shop going, three other birthdays, an anniversary, and quite possibly getting an apartment with one of my friends.

I hope things will become steady eventually though, I'll keep posting, but everything else might end up going out the window. We'll see.

Thank you all so much for being so wonderful and sweet, you all mean so much to me even though I'm so bad at showing it. I hope you're all enjoying your summers (or winter I suppose) to their fullest!

with love from my dizzy little world,

Clara

PS: all images from here

Alaska

taken in Denali State Park

If you didn't already know, I live in Alaska. I was born here, raised here, and I'll probably stay here(aside from travels) unless something unexpected calls me elsewhere. Because I love it. It's so beautiful here and so void of crowds, but so full of the wealth and beauty of nature. I'm always astounded when people come here and say they hate it. I just can't help but think "are you blind?" But then, I suppose everyone has different tastes, and there aren't as many resources here as there are in L.A. obviously. Because this is Alaska, and we like it that way.Taken at Clam Gulch
So, I was going to tell you all about my trip here, in one post, but looking though my pictures I took I realized that would be much to huge of a project. For me to make and for you to read. I also realized I don't want to be limited to just my trip, really I just want to tell you about Alaska and how much I love it. You won't mind that will you?

Taken at Clam Gulch

This photo and the one before it were taken at the beach where we went clamming, which was really fun by the way, thanks for all of your well wishes! It was my first time to do so and I wasn't wearing gloves so my fingers got extremely cut up(they were razor clams), definitely one of those live and learn experiences. But I did love being at the sea!Taken in Homer

Oh, and did I mention I love the sea? *smile. I LOVE it. The wind, the sound, the smell, the sight, I always knew I loved it, but this short little trip made me realize just HOW MUCH I love it. Okay, I'll stop now, but let me just say that Homer is beautiful. We got to go there for half a day and now I really want to see if I can get a job there some summer in the future. Just imagine it, working in a small coastal town in Alaska, able to go down to the beach every day for lunch or to walk on at night.
Taken at the Russian River
I love how there are so many different parts to Alaska, we have rain forest and desert. There are waterfalls, glaciers, tundra, and you can drive through all of it in one day. On our way back home, in between Anchorage and Clam Gulch we went on a hike to see a huge waterfall that leads into the Russian River. The salmon were running, so I got to see a few working their way up the waterfall!
Taken in Homer
It was a really good trip, I'd never seen those parts of Alaska before(in fact I haven't seen most of it) so it was all new to me. There will be more of the trip coming, probably spread out over the rest of the summer, so I'm rather excited about that. Also, there will be a rose petal jam tutorial, I'm really hoping it will be soon, but those sort of promises don't always work out so well when coming from me. But it will happen, don't worry!

so with drift wood and irises,

Clara

Jam!

I'm back! The sea was wonderful, such a fun and beautiful trip which you'll see lots of soon. But first I must show you my jam. You all must know how unavoidably proud of myself I am that I actually have done a few things on my summer list. You see, I think this is the first time that's ever happened!

So. my jam. We'll start out with blueberry. The blueberries used here are from last year's supply. We got so many that after eating and baking with them for six people and making a nice batch of jam we still have one and a half big containers in our freezer almost a year later. Oh gosh, I totally forgot where I was going with that. Anyway, I made blueberry jam and it turned out great(I really love these plain little pint-size mason jars, aren't they adorable?). It was my first time ever making jam all by myself, I'm just so glad it worked!
This one is my favorite. Rose petal jam, it's a really interesting recipe and I love how it turned out. I was a bit worried while making it because it didn't call for any pectin,(if you don't already know, that's what makes the jam jell) but it worked out fine, it never jelled as strongly as the blueberry jam did, but it's a perfect texture for rose petals, I think.

I'm wondering if anyone would like me to post the recipe or even to a tutorial, I might do it anyway, just to give it a try. But I'd love to hear if your interested or not. I hope you're all having a delightful summer, getting things done and just enjoying the wonders of nature. I'll be back soon with clamming delights and woes, and the beauty of Alaska!

with jasmine tea and irises,

Clara

PS: I'm back to justly responding to comments now! Thank you so much for your patience with me being in and out for so long. I truly appreciate it.