Foraging Tour and Oil Lamps

We just led our first official Foraging tour, and were pleasantly surprised at how well it went. We had about twenty folks there, and planned th' tour for two hours. But as always with foraging, there's no end of surprises. 

There were lots of kids, and they found a nice little hobo shelter to play in while we talked about th' yellow dock plant, and learned how to twist dogbane into a nice string, which me and Josh used for oil lamp wicks.

Rosemary with a nicely twisted string

th' kids in their hobo shelter

Thoughts on arts and crafts pt.1

The way we make things is very important to us. We strive for beauty and functionality in everything we craft, and we long for a return to beauty in the things we use everyday. Following are thoughts on arts and crafts that i simply couldn't have stated more clearly, so i'll echo th' words of th' late Soetsu Yanagi as translated by Bernard Leach, from the book The Unknown Craftsman.

I wish that everyone would realize that until recently beauty in things was commonplace, and that it is our responsibility to demand that of the future.

The difference between former times and ours is that the individual remained unobtrusive until recently. All once used the same patterns without any question of jealousy. The separation of picture and pattern, arts and crafts, is one of the tragedies or modern times. 

Crafts are of and for the great mass of people and are made in great quantity for daily life. 

What is the power at work in good pattern? Pattern is a product of man's skill, the true mission of which is to turn to use the laws of nature. Thus, while pattern is in a sense an artificial product, it is not so much man made as a technique for reducing nature to something more "natural" still. It is not a vaunting of man's humanity, but a hymn to nature's mysterious power. In a good pattern, man is faithful to laws; one detects in it a true humility. It is good to the extent that it is free of any arrogance of personality. A very strange consequence of obedience to these laws is the increased freedom that then results. The acceptance of limits produces ease of mind. 

Usefulness, material, and technique, if given their due values, automatically give us calm and friendly beauty in the crafts we use from day to day. By and large, good pattern is of communal parentage. The more so the better, and the further the disciplines of nature are accepted the better the results will be. I cannot lay sufficient stress on this last behest, for our undertaking as craftsmen is to act as humble and loyal agents of the divine will inherent in nature.

Work without innate beauty is dead work; that is why the artist-craftsman is important to us. The great need of our time is for the artist-craftsman not only to produce his own good work but also to ally himself closely with the artisan, so that eventually we may have beauty in common things again. 

The Facts have to be faced concerning the future of craftsmanship anywhere within an industrial civilization...Before the age of science and modern industry, crafts used to spring out of the hearts and hands of man.

The nature of machine work is such that it's products are standardized and thus monotonous and cold; ill fitted to serve as man's companions in his daily life.  

The profit making motive became uppermost, and the change from the age of the hand to the age of the machine took place; the two together have had a disastrous effect not only on the crafts, but also on the way of natural life in which they had their roots.

As we all know, America is the home of the machine; there has never been much handwork there since the beginning of it's modern history.   

I would like to believe that beauty is of deep import to our modern age. Without question, the intention of morality, philosophy, and religious belief is to bring hope, joy, peace, and freedom to mankind. But in our time religion has lost it's grip. Intellectualism has undermined spiritual aspiration in most people. At this juncture I would put the question, might not beauty, and the love of the beautiful, perhaps bring peace and harmony? Could it not carry us forward to new concepts of life's meaning? Would it not establish a fresh concept of culture? Would it not be a dove of peace between the various cultures of mankind?

...the good artist or craftsman has no personal pride because in his soul he knows that any prowess he shows is evidence of that Other Power. "Take heed of the humble, be what you are by birthright; there is no room for arrogance."

I felt a general lack of maturity both in motivation and technique. The first impression given was one of power, or force, but it was followed by a sensation of violence and at the same time of emptiness. On the whole, the Japanese exhibits had a greater traditional content and were more skillful in technique, but were less alive than the pots from the West. Shells without fish. The abstract examples were mannered, and did not spring from a genuine internal life. In the whole exhibition the pots that i admired most were made by Bernard Leach.... Curiously, these were the quietest pots in the whole show....The feeling in his pots comes from a high inspiration that defeats both weakened traditions and the violence of modern motivation i have mentioned. He draws his strength from the soil of his own nature and his life experience. This is spring water. ~Shoji Hamada

 In a sense, an age without good patterns is an age that does not look at nature carefully.

Our Online Storefront

Hi friends- we've decided to once again offer our handcrafted goods for sale via th' world wide web.

You can see our current stock at our facebook store Lighthouse Family Crafts.

Also, we can be found at the Fort Collins farmers markets in old town. 

For those of you who enjoy our blog for th' wild food and foraging, don't worry, spring is on it's way! 

spalted birch with kolrosing

Spalted Birch

freshly carved, waiting for oil.

winter market booth.

pole lathe turned bowls, aspen inside large birch

New Life: Rowan Little Tree

Well th' past two weeks has introduced to th' world little Rowan. He was born at home, with no one around but me and beth, just as our first son Fynn was. Th' birth went very well- in fact, we had th' grandparents pick Fynn up at 7:30 pm- and by 10:30 we had another person living with us- well, on the outside anyway. Till about 8:30-9:00 or so i was assembling and painting Rowan's cradleboard.

Rowan Little-Tree Lighthouse

The cradleboard was and still is used by many indigenous cultures to swaddle their infants. Children who grow up using them are said to be strong willed, independent, patient people. We took our design from th' Navajo nation, and added a touch of milk paint to it. It is made of cedar, with th' bow being a split elm sapling. Here's our kitchen table just before th' birth, showing all th' pieces of th' cradleboard.

pieces of a navajo style cradleboard.

Th' board was assembled using rawhide, there are no screws nails or glue on it... then painted using milkpaint. Rawhide is tied on wet, then as it dries it shrinks and holds th' board together very solidly. Th' child is wrapped up in blankets, or in rabbit furs, and secured with lacing. He is cozy and safe in there. Some are made to be carried on th' back, i'll probably make another one and try that out in th' future, or we'll just attach straps to this one. 

cradleboard with milk paint

back side, showing lacing.

I know people who say this world is too messed up to bring a child into. I say this world is too messed up not to bring a child into. What other hope do we have? Children bring out th' best in folks. Let them spend time outside looking at trees, hearing birds- you won't ever have to convince them to "be green"- for they will be rooted firmly in the earth, with their hearts in th' sky.

On our first drive to th' store with Rowan, i remember thinking how harsh our world has become, at least th' parts we live in. Driving down th' streets, loud trucks belching out smokestacks of pollution- cold hard concrete, everything moving so fast. This is no place for a child i thought. Off to my right a field, gently swaying grass, a cottonwood tree, a creek. That is a soft, inviting place- that is a place for a child. The indians were smart.  How did we ever get so far away from our home? 

On that first drive i saw a bumper sticker with th' all to familiar saying- "Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints." Many environmentalists are fond of this quote, but i wonder, where would we be if our ancestors thought this way? 

No where. Th' first people would've died and that would've been history. What about th' multiple factories it takes to make stickers and glue and ink, and th' cars that our stickers go on, did they take nothing but pictures? Did they leave nothing but footprints?  Though it's hard to see through th' synthetic life we've built, everything we need comes from the earth. We have to take- so we'll just have to learn to be thankful for what we take. There is no other way.  So we're thankful for th' new life we've been given, and we hope to impart to him all that we've found good in our life. Here's lookin at you kid.

~Rico

Sweetwater and th' Gang pt.1

"You've got to read Little House in th' Big Woods" she said.
"I already have" I told her. "When we lived in Chicago, remember."
"Actually," she reminded me "I read it to you. And you fell asleep through most of it."
"I know," I say, "it was a good book."
"It talks all about how they make maple syrup, and maple sugar. Oh how I wished that we could do that. My whole life I've wished it."
"Well," I say "let's give it a shot."

It was one of those days in February. You know, th' kind where th' sun is shining on th' snow lying all around. Temperature's rising, snow balls a flyin. You remember days like this in th' past when you had actually dug holes through th' snow to plant some of your cold weather crops. Because you knew spring was coming. But you'll not do that again. Such was th' day when Beth came out and said "Oh it's a beautiful day. We should go set some taps and romp around in th' woods."
"Yeah!" says Fynn, "let's go on an adventure."
"That's a great idea," I say "I'll whip us up some taps right now."
"Papa look out!" Fynn giggles, as one last snow ball explodes in my face.

whittlin a bamboo tap

I make us three simple taps from some bamboo we harvested last year, pack up a tool box with all the essentials, drill bits, drill, mallet, hatchet, and a copy of Backyard Sugarin, we grab a few orange juice jugs and soon we're in th' woods, knee deep in snow.

essentials kit

"This is so nice." says Beth, "I was feeling a bit crazy this morning. I already feel much better. Oh how I love th' woods."

th' peace of th' winter woods

Beth ploughs th' trail, with Fynn frolicking behind, or rather, all around her. I'm off in every direction looking for maples.

knee deep for a four year old

"Are you sure you can tell which ones are maple?" she asks.
"Yep." I say.
 All summer long I rode around town learning to identify trees by their bark. I'd just ride with my head down, looking at th' base of th' tree, make my best guess, then check th' foliage for the answer.
"I've got maples down pat. And box elder too. Look, there's one right here."

poudre river silver maple

"See th' silver bark, and how it sits on th' tree in layers. And up near th' top, th' new growth, th' bark is smooth, and very silvery. This is th' wood I made Fynn's spoon out of. We'll have to collect some more for carving while we're out here. That last wind storm did some good trimming. There's green wood laying all over th' place."

Fynn runs all around th' forest, exploring, squealing, sliding in th' snow.

I get out th' drill and get to work. We've only brought three taps with us. We've never done this before. Better to start small, see what happens. During th' tapping Fynn gets interested and comes on over to pay closer attention. He's a smart boy.

drilling into th' tree

rounding off th' corners of th' bamboo

settin th' tap with a wooden mallet

he'll know how to do this from a young age

Th' hole is drilled about two inches. It smells like freshly cut grass. Th' tap is set with a wooden mallet, and it looks really nice on th' tree.

note the end of th' tap

"Our water jugs are almost invisible in th' snow." says Beth. "If they didn't have a blue top and a yellow label, no one would even see them."
"Well," I say, "we can peel th' label off. Besides, people hardly notice what's around them anyway."
I cut a small hole near th' top of th' jug, so it'll hang on th' tap. We place it on th' tree. Beth smiles. It's th' beginning of a dream come true. Sure we live in Colorado. Sure there's no sugar maples around here. But we've got to be resourceful. We've got to be creative. We'll never know what could've been done if we don't try. Besides, I'd tap driftwood if it would get me out into th' woods for a few hours.

cut a small hole near th' top

and hang it on th' tap

now that's a happy camper

All th' while th' river rushes on. We can hear it nearby, and with our first tree tapped, we set off to find it. Fynn gives some driftwood another chance to make it a little further downstream, while me and Beth sit and watch him play, watch th' river flow.

poudre river in February

"This is just th' beginning." I say to Beth. "There's more taps coming. More trees to find. More adventures to go on. More snow in our boots."
"More rocks to throw!" adds Fynn.
"Yes. And snowballs too!" I say as I quickly form one and splatter him with it.
He squeals "Heeeeeeeeeeeee!" And then I'm facing a torrent of snow and laughter.  We play for a while, tap a couple more trees and then move on.

Th' cold air fills our lungs. The calm, our spirits. And I've a mind to read that book.

 As we leave, th' woods are quiet.

They are silent in our absence.

More Cattail, Milkweed adventures

Here's a leather pillow stuffed with two of our favorite wild foods, cattail and milkweed. It's made from an old leather couch, and sewn together with Irish shoemakers linen. It has a suede side and a smooth side, and is very nice to sleep on, and pretty easy to make too. I made this pillow with about a half and half mix of cattail down and milkweed silks.

suede

smooth

I used four different stitches on here, to see which one i liked best- so far, this one's th' winner. It loops through itself and holds nicely.

Cattails spread by rhizomes, so i just collected what i needed of their corn dog looking fluff, and didn't worry much about taking too many.

With th' milkweed however, i was a little more cautious. I took only th' fluffy silk, scattering th' seeds where th' plants grew. I remember reading in one of Euell Gibbons books of essays about him figuring out a good way to separate th' silk from th' seed. It didn't make much sense till i actually tried it. His two essay collections, Stalking the Good Life and Stalking the Faraway places i found on amazon for about a dollar, best dollar i ever spent by th' way. 

What i did was collect th' pods in th' fall, after they had cracked open, but not fully opened up. Once they're open and spreading silk, it gets much more difficult to harvest it.

milkweed pod

and here's that split-perfect time to harvest silk

Once you open th' pod all th' way, th' silk lays flat, and it looks kinda like a fish.

milkweed seeds

Hold it by th' silk, just like in th' photo above, then just rub th' seeds off. You'll lose a little bit of th' silk too, but not much. Th' silk can then be placed in a bag, where it will expand and want to fly all over th' place.

seeds partially rubbed off

milkweed silks

Inside there's a little membrane that you'll want to get out, then just stuff your bag till it's full. 

In th' past milkweed silks were used to stuff lifevests, and it must be one of th' most insulating fibers on th' planet. You can literally feel your hand warming up when you stick it inside a bag of milkweed silk. There's potential here. Something that floats, is waterproof, and very warm. What could we do with that?

If you'd like to see more of our crafts creations, click here.

And, just to get you in a sleepy mood, here's some pictures of th' sunset outside my workshop. Good night.

sunset

sunset outside my shop (garage)

~Rico

The Ten Things Challenge

A while ago, i went through in my head the ten things i use most in my life, and set a goal to try to make as many of them as possible, from natural and local materials. Those that i can't make for myself i'll search for from someone i know, again, as local as possible. Or at least to know th' history of th' things i use most, where they come from, who made them, why were they made, etc...their story. Knowing a story makes a thing much more meanginful, and gets us to consider why we need these things in our life, and whether th' price we pay for them is worth it. It's been quite a challenge, but one that humanity has met throughout most of history, and only in th' last couple of centuries has departed from. That gives me courage, and has inspired me to meet this challenge. And, being a member of a family, that's th' first place to start looking for someone else to make something for me. Like having Beth make my clothes, I'm sure i could do it, but when you're married to a textile artist, it's only rational to allow her work to flourish in your own life. This is not so much a personal goal as a familial one, and more of an effort to feel that empowerment that people must've once felt who were able to meet their own needs. Th' list itself is not easy. We use so many things in our lives that many of th' most common place often get overlooked. My list, roughly, (and it changes frequently) goes something like this, in no particular order.

1. Clothing (or strings to make clothing)

2. Shoes (this could be considered clothing, i know, yet to me somehow feels different)

3. Sleeping quarters (pillow, bed, etc.)

4. House.

5. Food (and water)

6. Fire (light, heat)

7. Eating and cooking utensils

8. Tools (archery, woodworking,oh boy)

9. Soap

10. Furniture (tables, chairs, workbench, etc.)

I'm not going to be too stiff about this, it's a lifelong goal, and i'll build up to it over time, but it gives me one more thing in life to look forward too, and is an absolute joy to accomplish any part of, no matter how small. When one thing is accomplished it empowers you to move on to th' next. In our quest for new skills, we have met many fascinating and inspiring folk, and have begun to understand freedom in new and exciting ways. For me, it has helped me to re-asses my values, and how my time is spent, helped me to see what's really important in my life, and spend more time in those areas.
We'll put up related posts as we get time, slowly perhaps, but steadily- we've already written a bit about foraging, and not having much garden space, that has been a tremendously freeing experience.
So, we encourage you to take up this challenge yourself- It may just change your life for good. Don't be overwhelmed, just start with one thing, and go from there. Everything you do will prepare you for the next. Post comments and let us know what you're working on, ideas, etc. We'd love to hear from you. Start your own blog chronicling your experiences, and then post a link in th' comments section, so we can all share ideas. Let's see what kind of future we can build for our children.

soap dish, spoon blank, and tin can that i pretend is a carving knife

Sumac-ade for a sizzlin summer!

It gets hot in summer. A person can only drink so much water before th' body starts craving salt, and electrolytes. We used to squeeze a lime into some ice water and add a small pinch of sea salt, and sometimes we still do. But nowadays our thirst quencher of choice is sumac-ade. It looks and tastes surprisingly like pink lemonade, and if you didn't know what you were drinking you might not even realize it's not pink lemonade.

Add a sprig of fresh mint to it and you've got a drink "el fabuloso", and good for you too. Here's how we make it. First you find your sumac tree, one with new berries, often the old ones from last year will still be on th' tree, but these are dry and have no flavor left in them. Th' berries seem to be at their best when they're fully red, though i have found some pretty tart ones with a little white on their shady side. I taste th' berries before it pick them, to make sure i'm getting th' ones i want. Just stick one in your mouth and taste it, don't bite it, th' seed is bitter. If it makes you pucker, pick th' cluster. We pick enough to fill up a pitcher, or a pot, then take them home, put them in th' pitcher, and cover with cool filtered water. Then i reach my hand in there and squeeze 'em a little bit, or just mash them gently with a wooden spoon, then cover and let 'em sit overnight, stirring or squeezing occasionally. Then we put a cloth napkin in our colander and pour th' brew through to strain out all th' hairs and loose berries. Add a big sprig of fresh mint, and if you so desire a tiny pinch of sea salt. Pour over ice in your favorite cup and your a happy camper.

For some crafty ways to enjoy Sumac, see our crafts blog here!

sumac spoons and candle holder

Sumac-ade in pitcher.

sumac-ade with mint