Colors

All textile designs © Jennifer Parry Dodge 2011

Going through some old stuff yesterday, I came across a box of my grandfather's crayons. I forgot I had these.

He wrote his name on the box and on each crayon.

"Vernon."

It looks like red was his favorite color.
How strange that they are still here-something that seems pretty ephemeral--a crayon...and he is not.

Also found this book of Japanese "self- blending" watercolors.

More ERMIE textiles for Fall.

Maybe my favorite part of our two and a half day trip came at the end: a stop at Windrose Farm on the the drive home.

I found out about Windrose 4 years ago when the couple we bought our house from told us that many of the organic heirloom tomato seedlings they had purchased & planted in their/our backyard came from there. We decided to stop by on a whim. I'm so glad we did!

They had so much more than tomatoes...we ended up buying two or three of pounds of apples, a nice bunch of radishes, two bunches of carrots, four heads of garlic and a couple pounds of heirloom & cherry tomatoes for $18! All organic and grown right there on the farm.
Some of the garlic we bought is a variety called Maskij (2nd to last pic). It has beautiful purple stripes and it is incredibly spicy when eaten raw- like wasabi or fresh horseradish!

When we returned home, later that evening I made a simple sauce from some of the farm's tomatoes, diced & simmered for about 20-30 minutes with olive oil, garlic, basil & oregano from our garden, salt, a pinch of sugar; ate it with some spaghetti (yes, I broke my gluten- free streak. I was not about to eat that sauce with brown rice pasta), with plenty of parmesan and a few nice handfuls of uncooked golden cherry tomatoes & basil on top. I also made a salad with apples & radishes from the farm, and a bit of mache from Trader Joe's, dressed with lemon juice & black pepper.

The next night I made a salad from store bought plums, more of the farm's tomatoes, pomegranate seeds from our yard, balsamic vinegar and black pepper. I was inspired by Heather's webisode!
I also served some of the farm's radishes with butter and sea salt. So simple and so good.

The last image is not something that we ate (anyone recognize this 'shroom? Some kind of amanita? I'm assuming it's poisonous) but discovered: these toadstools grew in our front yard after only 2 nights while we were away!

Windrose is having their annual tomato tasting this coming Sunday. If it weren't so far of a drive (3.5 hrs) we would totally go back! I highly recommend visiting the farm if you ever have the chance. They do sell at the Santa Monica farmer's market...but there was something so special about visiting the actual farm itself and seeing all of the land, and getting a better sense of the hard work and love behind the produce. We left feeling so inspired for planning & planting our garden's winter crops.

Central Coast

Some more photos from our mini-vacation up the Central Coast.

1-4: Taken at and around our favorite winery.

5-13: The Madonna Inn. Have you been? It's super kitsch! All of the rooms have a theme. Our room was the Tack Room ( "tack"as in horses...not "tacky"...but some might argue that would apply--the bed had a red leather comforter!). My new (vintage) dress matched the decor. I love it when that happens. (I completely copied Joslyn on the dress, btw--after seeing her posts. I found my dress here.)

In recent years they added a pool with gorgeous views, and a spa where we had amazing massages. They also have an old school steak house (get the filet) that is adjacent to a dance floor & stage where standards are played by a live band most nights, and locals come to show off their moves.

14: Villa Creek in Paso. Always have great meals here- they have a seasonal menu featuring mostly organic & local/regional/ California grown/raised & produce, meats, cheeses and wines.

More trip pics tomorrow!

Other stuff:

** My friend Hadley started a blog- please check it out.

*** Summer Sale Winners: Congratulations to leFilagree...who won the Huipil Dress and to vchun who won the Ave. 51 Silk Dress!

My first pot in the bisque-ware state. Waiting to be glazed and fired again. Not perfect- but o.k. for my first attempt at the wheel since high school (the glaze will make it look better).

Some shots of the ceramics studio...











I'm off for a couple of days up the Central Coast- be back soon with some good pics.
I'll be itching to get back to the wheel by then.

In ceramics related news- if you are in the L.A. area- this show opens this weekend.
So excited to see it!!