Completed: #20. make my own jam

I am told I was born an old soul. I am also often called "childlike", so it's a strange balance. As a child, I was always quietly enamoured with my Gaspé grandmother's way of life: the indigenous influence in a small country town sort of apart from my suburban small city upbringing.

Laundry was dried on lines. Field berries were picked fresh and made into jams, kept in a cold cellar for up to a year, alongside jars of sweet bread & butter pickles, and ever-ready stashes of root vegetables. Produce was grown in gardens, fish was caught and sold fresh from the Atlantic, the only corner grocery store was small and family-run by my uncle.

As I age, this is the lifestyle I've steadily tried to infuse into my quote big city living unquote. It imbues a peace and calm in the ready-made mass-produced fluorescence of grocery aisles and major intersections. It speaks favourably to some very core aspect of my being. It helps me on the journey to becoming more the person I'd like to be.

Last night, I received what will be my last Mama Earth order. I started out, in one of my first exacted goals on this list, with a Farms & Forks delivery. That company, months later, was absorbed into the larger institution of Mama Earth. I have very few complaints - their produce is great, and their customer service is excellent. However, since moving to North York, my delivery day has been switched to Friday evenings. The deliveries generally arrive around 7pm, which presents large issues if I am ever away for the weekend. In short, I'll be changing over to a biweekly delivery from a smaller, North York-based organization called Fresh City Farms, which will bring my order on Thursday evenings.

Anyway, this final order contained a pound of Ontario coronation grapes. I have very specific feelings about grapes, as follows: red -> love, green -> like, anything else -> loathe. However, though I consume jam very infrequently, I know that I have always loved any variety of grape jam. Therein, this idea was born.

This morning was the first official weekend Geoff and I have both spent in our new place. After a late night of organizing, we slept in. I woke, washed my clothes for the upcoming work week (gah!), and for the first time, used my new laundry line that my parents helped me install upon request.

(Hanging these clothes flooded back all sorts of Gaspé memories. They also smell greater than anything I've ever washed. Today's first "old soul" accomplishment.)

After these clothes were hung, we headed out for the first in what I'm sure will become a weekend tradition of grocery shopping (and, next to cooking our dinners together, may also become one of my favourite domestic activities). Knowing that I intended to make grape jam (the day's second "old soul" accomplishment), I researched local gluten-free grocery stores and found Goodbye Gluten. It's no Sweet Potato, but it'll do. I bought a loaf of overpriced gluten-free multigrain and an Amy's gluten-free vegan mac & cheese microwave dinner.

I took a long nap in the late afternoon to early evening, waking to try the mac & cheese (which was decidedly tolerable), take down my laundry, and prepare the jam.

I very loosely based my recipe upon this one for concord grape jam.

Here is the very simple pared-down version (which is easier than pie):

1. Skin the grapes by squeezing them into a small bowl / container.

2. Keep the grape skins in a separate bowl. They will be added later on in the cooking process.

3. Put the shelled grape mixture in a pan over medium heat. Stir occasionally.

4. Bring to a gentle boil after 3-4 minutes. Boil for about 5 minutes, covered. Remove cover to stir occasionally.

5. Add grape skins. Set heat as high as it will go. Stir frequently.

6. After about 2 minutes, add a cup of sugar per pound of grapes. (I use coconut sugar, so that this is a completely vegan-friendly recipe.) Add this sugar a cup at a time, while stirring.

7. Stir constantly as jam thickens.

8. Use a spoon test for completion: If you lift the spoon and it drips into the pot, it needs to be cooked longer. It should slowly fall into the pot when it is complete.

9. Remove from heat. Add the jam to a jar if you are planning to keep it in the fridge for awhile before consumption. The heat from the berries should create a vacuum seal (if the centre seal is pressed down, you're generally good). If it does not seal after an evening, either complete a hot water bath, or make sure you consume the jam in fairly short order. (I only made a small amount of jam, which I intend to begin consuming tomorrow, so I just set mine aside in a tupperware container. Breakfast!)

I was really struck after making this with the same thought I had after making pickles for the first time (which was another goal on my last three-year set): This is so easy! Why does anyone buy these at the store??

I encourage you to try it for yourself.

[Original goal list posted here.]

Progress: 9/30 - #18. read 30 texts that will aid in my teaching

I've been so busy with arts & crafts and reinventing new ways to be self-sufficient that this is, somehow, the only book I've completed this summer. This leaves me, essentially - on a ratio - one book behind on a three-year goal. I'm not too concerned. Books to me are an escapism that make waiting in transit possible (of which I've done little this summer, with zero international travel), that make quiet evenings possible, that make lunch breaks on bad days tolerable. Etc. Etc. Etc. I'll get there. I've been content in my own head these days. This is something for which I am grateful.

Anyway.

When first I spoke about reasserting my Métis identity a few years back, a colleague said: "You should read Three Day Road." I continued to hear about Joseph Boyden at many conferences since this recommendation, and started reading more about him and his literature. I almost picked up The Orenda, until I realized it was a continuation in a series that began with Three Day Road. I then decided to log the latter on an ongoing "To Read" list. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a $200 Indigo gift card some time back from a contest held by my union (one of many reasons I am indebted to my union!), and sat there at my computer screen with my "To Read" list in hand, picking off books. This was obviously one.

Now, at almost 400 pages of tiny text and brutal war descriptions, this is no light book. I'd recommend it on my 2D multicultural list to only the very mature readers. It could be a great pairing for a 4U ISU. Near the end of the book, the protagonist ruminates: “We all fight on two fronts, the one facing the enemy, the one facing what we do to the enemy.” This is the odd and exclusive reason I appreciate war texts, for this is what they illustrate about the human condition.

There is so much foreshadowing that I anticipated the ending well before the midpoint of the text as the only logical meeting point of the two parallel narratives. This kept making me wonder if perhaps I would be shockingly mistaken, or if I was meant to sadly anticipate the way in which it would all go down, so to speak, and simply wait for how. I think if the latter were possible, it didn't even take away anything from the narrative to me: just spoke of the brutal degradation of humanity in such a scenario. I kept reminiscing about this class I took in university called Literary Non-Fiction, in which we read - amongst many other texts - Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Of course we knew the inevitable ending. This was real. We were only waiting. (This called up all sorts of ethical questions with regard to ourselves as readers that I have always loathed having to face, but that's sort of an aside.) My professor asked: "What is the purpose of a parallel structure?" I raised my hand, and was selected: "At some point, they have to meet."

The structure here is a little different, as it floats through space and time within both narratives - told more in flashbacks than in present tense. However, unlike any postmodern text, this is entirely fluid and never disorienting.

Boyden is a beautiful writer. I do want to read the others in the series.

[Original goal list posted here.]

Completed: #21. silkscreen shirt with anatomical heart on sleeve

I bought a $3 Dollarama t-shirt on which to test this first, in the case that I was unsatisfied with the print. I'm actually pretty stoked!

A small section bled at the edge of the screen, but now it's quite easy to tell where it is. I'll OxyClean it after I heat-set the rest, and I'll fix the screen for any future runs. (Along with any areas where the screen filter chipped after first print and clean.)

Like I said, eventually the whole large screen will be a quilt of tiny patterns just like this one, to keep and update.

Screenprint is pretty badass. I forgot how much fun it can be - and how potentially productive!

[Original goal list posted here.]

Progress: #21. silkscreen shirt with anatomical heart on sleeve

Screen is all prepped, and set to dry for the evening. Since I'm printing a sleeve, I'm not too worried about blocking out any more background - but, should I need to, I'll just use tape.

I'll aim to acquire a shirt while I'm out running errands tomorrow.

I think I'll just leave this corner as is on the screen. If I like the design, I may even use it to print on slabs of wood for Treecycle shows / sales.

I'm envisioning keeping this screen full of tiny little squares of designs just like this one, which I can keep and print at will.

Further ideas, always.

[Original goal list posted here.]

Progress: #21. silkscreen shirt with anatomical heart on sleeve

It's been a few years since I've worked with a silkscreen. I decided to use an iron-on patch and a permanent Sharpie to work on a high contrast preliminary drawing this evening. 

I think this is the one I'll use:

I'll aim to prep the screen tomorrow, perhaps.

[Original goal list posted here.]

Completed: #19 - read about local flora & harvest material to brew my own tea

I spent a couple hours of the early afternoon up in my new reading room, perusing these two field guides:

One of my favourite aspects of my new rental property is how overgrown it is with all sorts of trees. I've already put them to use with supporting a hammock, and providing me with Cedar sprigs for medicine pouches and sugar scrubs.

Today I used these guides to identify the trees on my lawn I didn't know: Boxelder Maple, White Spruce (which is also called a "Blue Spruce," but not in either of these guides). I read about the ones I already knew: Cedar, Sugar Maple.

I learned that Cedar is potentially toxic if ingested, and actual fatalities have been reported. Somehow I was under the previous impression that maybe it would make a good tea. Thanks, guides to medicinal plants and herbs!

However, I also learned that Spruce tea is common (though most prefer Black over White, considering the latter too bitter). High in Vitamin C and antioxidants, Spruce teas were formerly used for such ailments as tuberculosis and scurvy. Today, they are documented to be of use for stomach problems, rheumatism, kidney stones, laryngitis, and weight loss.

However, one should NOT drink this tea if pregnant.

I decided to give the White Spruce Tea a try. I used a combination of these two sites when preparing my tea.

It is recommended that a person harvests the newer, lighter Spruce sprigs for a more delicate-tasting, less bitter, tea. These are completely simple to identify visually:

I cut about 3 or 4 sprigs, which was an absolutely ideal amount for a first try.

Next, I took the sprigs inside, washed them, and separated the needles as best I could from the bark. I then chopped them into small pieces with scissors and placed them in a (Western) medicine container (the irony).

Next, I covered a small pot of water on the stove, setting it to boil.

I put all the pieces of Spruce needles (about a tablespoon total) into a tea ball strainer, and placed the strainer into a large mug. I covered the mug with boiling water and let it steep, using the chain to sift the strainer around occasionally.

Verdict: A hot tea on a summer day that tastes just like winter. I do not find it too bitter, and I'd drink it again. It's kind that my lawn is presenting it to me for free. Nature!

For variations: It seems that the needles could also be boiled whole. Steep for 10-15 minutes. Sugar, or a sugar substitute may be added for a desired sweetness.

[Original goal list posted here.]

Completed: #34 - clean up / organize / revamp art studio

I think I meant to do this in my old place. However, by the time it became apparent that I was moving into a much larger space, with room again for my own studio, it seemed like sort of a moot point if I were to do it, simply to do it all over again.

Therefore, my "before" shot is of the old place:

This is the state of disarray in which I had resolved to keep it, under the rationale of "Oh well, it's a studio. It gets messy anyway, right?" The creation of Treecycle only heightened this rationale, as I was inundated with branches and needles and slabs of tree trunks that I wasn't sure how to sort and that were frequently in use.

As you can see from the labels in this photo, some attempts of organization were in fact made prior to this palimpsestic mess. I do need to tell you that they were not mine. I shall reveal to you that once I was sick with a 2-day vomitous migraine (an unfortunately common experience) and my mom came to help take care of me. During my long bouts of sleep, the neglected cry of the messy studio was too much and she went ahead - metaphorical scythe in hand - and hacked away at it, leaving handwritten thematic notations as to where she piled the clutter. Geoff's response to this endeavour: "I've been wanting to do that for months".

I did end up reducing some of this clutter to about 3 bags of garbage and 4 of recycling when I put in my notice and the landlord decided to give his tours of the place. (Apparently there were 30 views and the place was snatched up that day, so I guess I did okay. I sent an email warning about the inevitable clutter of an artist's studio beforehand. I don't think he was too pleased. Non-artist folk, yeah?)

In the interim, I started thinking about ways that I would ideally want to organize a studio, for optimum use and ease of tidying. I love the idea of organizing by theme. (I actually really do love organizing, when I'm not either feeling particularly defeated or just generally masochistic.) I realized I needed much more in the way of small parts cabinets. This actually started my great discovery of Bunz (thanks, Steph!) and my renewed gusto for garage sales (Thanks, Geoff!)

In short, this organization was as inexpensive as it was efficient. 

I have already used this studio for finalizing a rustic wedding ring box, and decorating a pair of canvas sneakers for a wedding reception. It's actually quite easy to clean when everything has its right place.

This four minute studio tour below explains a lot of the more finicky details:

[Original goal list posted here.]