Dining Alone - Beauty and soup at the mall

I'm not sure whether this is unusual, but I go through season cycles in my personal style.

Winter has brought a lack of enthusiasm. I wear pants with a simple long-sleeved tee-shirt. I wear scarves, but really it's to keep my neck warm more than for style. I stopped wearing make-up; I haven't even been wearing earrings lately.

I can tell I'm coming out of this phase - is it seasonal affect disorder? - because I suddenly had the urge to buy some fresh make-up. I've mis-laid my go-to lipstick, and the little pots of creme I dab here and there are all dried up. My few frowsty-looking eye pencils are blunt and broken. The other day, I saw a video at Une Femme d'un Certain Age about maquillage for mature women, and I thought - give that a try.

Slow learner

Oh, well. It's our gain.

Update: Omelette with scallions, mushrooms, and Tomme de Savoie cheese.

Just Kids

Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, 1969. Photo from HERE.

I've recently been reading the memoir "Just Kids" written by Patti Smith, '70s punk singer/songwriter. In 1967 she went to New York City, moved in with her friend, Robert Mapplethorpe, and they lived the life of poor artists. They moved from squats to house-sits and finally to the Chelsea Hotel, where they mingled with artists and musicians, and began to find success, she as a poet, playwright and singer, and he as a photographer.

She writes of sleeping in the streets, scavenging garbage for furniture or clothes, and going days with no food to eat but vending machine peanutbutter crackers. Her memoir brings back my own time in that city, walking those same streets, working in Lower East Side theatres. I was never as hungry as Smith, but I do remember walking blocks to save a 50 cent subway token, and there were times I couldn't make the rent on time.

Mama came back

We harvested the 5 eggs that Mama Red Hen laid in our planter box, but this morning when I was leaving for work, I heard a rustling among the ivy.

Mama's back. She's looking for her eggs.

I told [The Man I Love] who immediately said, "You have to put them back!"

I don't think so. Eggs? What eggs?

Free-range rogue

Chickens don't stand still for photos

Our neighbor's red hen is quite a rogue chicken - she's always flying over the fence and we've seen her strolling down our driveway or foraging among the oak-duff in our front yard.

The other day, I was walking Jack and our neighbor passed me while driving his kids to school. "There's something I want to show you," he said, "something funny about the chickens."

Weekly Jack

Jack is experiencing his annual spring shed. This is the "before" picture. See how matted and frowzy his fur is?

After a visit to the groomer, he looks fantastic and smells sweet!

Shifting winds at the port

The small community of San Pedro is the Port of Los Angeles. It's the busiest port in the United States, and together with its next-door neighbor, the Port of Long Beach, it's the sixth busiest port in the world.

Sea-going travel boats, fishing, shipping - these industries have driven human civilization since its beginning, and bring with them dependent industries. Port cities become vibrant places where amusement and vice are mingled with overindulgence, and where the world's cultures intersect, both authentically and with contrived fakery.

Crafty

 

If you're into handmade, home-made, and house-made crafts, there's a new place to visit. Crafted occupies a long, low, wooden warehouse in San Pedro, at the Port of Los Angeles.

Inside the space is divided into market stalls, which are rented to artists and craftspersons. Crafted has been open since last summer.

The idea is great, though there are still quite a few empty stalls. The space is beautiful, with wood beams overhead. Red-painted picnic tables and Adirondack chairs dot the space, welcoming shoppers to sit, relax, and enjoy snacks purchased from food trucks parked outside.

Here's an introduction to some of the vendors at Crafted:

2 Market Street - this retired couple works together. She makes aprons. He makes handmade cookie cutters. You can get almost any shape imaginable.

At World Flavorz Spice & Tea Company, the teas and spices are displayed in bowls that invite shoppers to breathe in the wonderful aromas.(Buyers are given packaged spices).

Tish and Peggy share a stall, where they sell jewelry and hand-knitted accessories. Their stall is so attractively arranged, with such clever displays that I commented on it. Peggy laughed and told a story about how her husband once described her decorating style as "epileptic" - his listener corrected him. "Don't you mean ecletic?" "No," he said, "it looks like it was done in spasms."  I bought a pretty pair of earrings.

At the Krazy Korner stall, Keith Schafer's colorful and punk-inspired glassworks stood out from the more subdued and tasteful surroundings. From a booth lined with old LP album covers, the brilliant colors popped. His mom was manning the stall when I visited.

The Red Car Market is a space that carries artisanal foods made by several craftspersons. Jarred salsas, bottled hot sauces, and relishes are offered. I bought a jar of San Angel mole, and some strawberry/hot chile jam.  Did you know you can buy cake in a jar? Cakebar sells spirit-infused goodies.

Paradise Preserves offers jams, jellies, preserves and other delicious jarred goodies. 

The warehouse is so vast that one half is walled off and rented as an event space. When I was there, preparations for a wedding were taking place.

On weekends, live music adds a festive feeling to the space. Different food trucks are invited to the parking lot outside the big warehouse doors.  It's the kind of place where vendors and customers greet one another like old friends.

If you wanted to take your hand-crafted business to the next level, it's worth looking into Or, if you're looking for unique handcrafts in Southern California, it's worth a visit.

Spring sprung

We're having the first really warm spell in a long time. The sunshine and warmth have really made the plum blossoms pop!