fresh and local

Homemade pizza featuring local potatoes and squash.
Nothing else like it!

b&w color process film

Corey with some of our pepper and tomato plants!

My Japanese eggplant!

Grub! Yuck.

Corey and his bike.

Me and my sad, but loved, bike! I'm getting a new one soon so I wanted to document this one, which my mom handed down to me and I used all during college.

These photos are from the first trial of some film I bought on clearance for 90% off! Ilford XP2 Super. C-41 Process black and white. 400 ISO. It turned out perfectly! I love it. Just the right contrast, not too much grain.

More soon. I have a lot.

the wait

I might not have posted this before, but for the past two+ months, I've been working at Target. I'm really enjoying myself there. My coworkers are fun to get to know, and it's nice to take a few months off from the responsibility of school before I move to Ohio and start my graduate program in the fall. Even though I am almost working full time and doodling on the side, this is the least busy I've been in forever!

I normally work on the sales floor, but last week I was trained to work in the photo lab. I'll be working one photo lab shift per week for now. Right now I have five rolls of film waiting to be developed and shared, but I am waiting until my photo lab shift so I can process them myself! The darkroom is still quite a bit more magical than the C-41 processing machine, but it is fun nonetheless and I am glad I'm getting this experience. So, in my next post, you can look forward to new pictures of mine and Corey's garden, my second visit to Tara's farm in Vilonia, kittens, a walk around campus with Casey, and a few bike rides with Corey.

Gardening updates: I harvested my first basil clippings from the heirloom Italian basil I have been growing on my windowsill the past two months! Also, one of our heirloom peas has its first pea pod! It's really, really magical. Our hard work is starting to pay off.

The Conway farmers' market opens in five days, and I could not be more thrilled! Although our garden is looking good, we still have a ways to go before we'll harvest much, and I am tired of buying my veggies at the supermarket! Corey and I are testing out different bike routes to take us downtown. Lately I have been riding my bike more and driving my car less. It feels great!

Look out for that picture post on Tuesday.

spring is nice

I've been enjoying this spring season so much! With just about a month left until the real first day of summer, this is what I have been up to lately:

- Tending to the garden.
- Going for evening bike rides. (Corey and I are working on perfecting our route to the farmers' market--it opens a week from Saturday!)
- Picking flowers to brighten up my apartment.
- Cooking and baking healthful meals and treats.
- Organizing my apartment to make moving easier in a few months.

Lately I have been making an extra effort to enjoy the simple things in life, which I believe is an important thing to do. Spring is a good time to reflect on that.

honeysuckle magic

As I get older and wiser (at least I hope that's what I'm doing!), living in tune with the seasons has become a basic goal and desire of mine. Nature has so much to offer that is easy to take for granted when we live as if every season is in existence all year (fresh tomatoes in winter? c'mon!).

This spring, I have been spending lots of time in Corey's backyard (I lack one of my own). We have picnics and thoughtful discussions, and spend many hours in the garden. It's come to mean a lot to me to be able to spend quality time outdoors without driving to a park or taking a walk on campus (because this town is certainly not pedestrian friendly!).

And so I couldn't help noticing the large quantity of aromatic honeysuckles growing along Corey's fence. And when I came upon this article, I knew just the perfect use for them--honeysuckle sorbet. If you like the scent and taste of honeysuckle, you should make this sorbet. It tastes like summers of my childhood. And all you need are honeysuckles, water, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon.

What else have you made from wild plants? This topic has become a fascination of mine.

on succulents and color film

These are the beautiful succulents of my friends Jessica and Brandon. They will soon spread out in their front flower bed and cover the entire thing! I think they are so beautiful, kind of like little sea creatures on land. I have three planters on my windowsill that I haven't been able to get anything to grow in so I am about to pick out three succulents and plant them! I am just decided the best place to purchase them and what varieties to get. Suggestions?

Lately I have been photographing in color film and I can't get enough (I started for my local food project)! I don't care what people say, I like it so much more than digital. Even if their quality gap may be quickly closing (and I'm not using the highest quality film right now by any means), film wins in originality, depth, and brilliant colors. Digital is so dull until after editing! I think there's just something to be said for most analog practices, but maybe I am just old fashioned. Whatever your preference, though, if you have a camera, go out and take some pictures today! You will be glad you did.

paroikia, paros, cyclades, greece

I found some film in my closet that had been used but never developed. I had it processed, and was delighted to find that half a roll was from when I studied abroad in Greece! It has been nearly two years. I have two additional rolls that still need to be done. I was hesitant to see if the first roll would turn out.

I like surprises like this.

That was a really good summer.

Paros, I miss you!