A Life Sustained Sponsor: Inga Zeitlin

Please welcome A Life Sustained sponsor Inga Zeitlin!

A trained artist, Inga expresses her creativity on canvas and in the form of jewelry made from precious metal clay. You can read more about her and her process on her website. Her jewlery is for sale in her shop Smooth Metal Design and she sells high quality giclée prints of her paintings in her shop Inga Zeitlin.

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you became an artist.

I graduated from Siauliai University in Lithuania with a Bachelor's degree in Applied, Visual Arts and Education. There I'd learned a lot of different mediums and techniques and gained the ability to express myself in 2D and 3D art. I spent some time in research, then life gave me the possibility to discover Photoshop, Freehand, and all the creativity to be found inside a monitor's virtual reality. That was fun, but my hands were itching for something more basic; the usual hands-on expression. I'm very egotistical about my paintings. I create little, rarely, sparingly, and as a result, all my paintings are very personal and I don't easily part with them. I need night's quiet tranquility, poetry and music to get into the painting mood and we all know how it is difficult in today's fast city pace to find this time (while keeping a day job, being driver to all my son's after-school programs, etc.). I was looking for something more technical, but also creative when I stumbled on the words "metal clay" online. And here comes my 3D/Applied Art experience. Working with clay was "normal" for me so I let myself enjoy every moment (and still do).

For you, what's the relationship between the different mediums in which you work?

It's funny, but jewelry "pushed" me back to drawing (doing sketches) and from that back to painting. My son is a big boy in high school now and doesn't need his mama all the time and I get support and understanding from both my men by letting have my quiet tranquility time.

Tell us about your artistic process. How do you choose your materials?

I paint depending on my mood and muse, maybe because of that my paintings are not in a particular style. You can't control your moods and I don't try. I just use material that matches my mood today: canvas, oil, acrylic, sand paper...whatever works.

Today's technology gave me the possibility to ignore my egoism and to share with you my art in the form of reproduction - high quality giclée prints. All giclée prints are printed using archival pigment inks and archival, 100% cotton Fine Art paper or canvas. And still...every time when a print comes out I am amazed at how close a professional printer can come to the original.

Inga is offering to one lucky A Life Sustained reader their choice of any 8x10 print from her shop! Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in the radom drawing to win.

You can get two additional entries. First, you can Follow A Life Sustained through Google Friend Connect and second, you can Tweet the following message: Check Out Inga Zeitlin Giveaway at http://tiny.cc/e6mbo #alifesustained

Be sure to leave a comment for each "extra" so they can be counted. Comments will be closed and a winner will be announced here on August 6.

And the lucky winner is TopHat!
"How cute! I'd love to put these up!"

Thank you Inga Zeitlin!

Weekend Review: Self-Sufficiency, Ed. by Abigail R. Gehring

If you were to peruse the bookshelf of your average homesteader, you would most likely find quite a variety of texts. From the general to the specific, companion planting to pig slaughtering, barn raising to bee keeping, many topics will be represented there. Self-Sufficiency (2010), edited by Abigail R. Gehring, covers this full range of topics. This reference volume is divided into six parts (The Family Garden, The Country Kitchen, Canning and Preserving, Country Crafts, The Barnyard, and The Workshop) and each page is full of information, illustrations, and photographs. There is enough here to get you started, but additional reading will be necessary for true self-sufficiency. What sets this title apart is that it targets the whole family. Scattered throughout are fun projects for the "junior homesteader" and tips for incorporating homesteading skills in a homeschooling curriculum. This holistic approach makes homesteading seem doable for someone who is just starting out and gives them adequate information to acquire a basic set of skills and to achieve enough success with them in order to gain the confidence necessary to start on the road to true self-sufficiency.

While it is fully illustrated, the photos and illustrations are not necessarily helpful. It often feels as if every available stock photo on each topic was inserted, sometimes more than once, just to fill up space that could have been better used to convey a greater depth of information. A majority of the diagrams are either too vague or too specific to be of much use. The subtitle claims this to be a complete guide to "baking, carpentry, crafts, organic gardening, preserving your harvest, raising animals, and more" and while all of these topics are indeed covered, they are done so with only an introductory level of depth. If I were truly trying to survive by my own two hands, this is not the resource that I would choose to guide me. This book is best used as a collection of ideas and if taken as such, is a success. Paging through it on a Sunday afternoon in order to find some inspiration, you might get motivated to do some "old time" crafts with the kids while dreaming of starting your sustainable farm.

This review was first published on Blogcritics.
My review copy was provided courtesy of Skyhorse Publishing.

This Moment

Playing along with SouleMama today. In her words: {this moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

CSA Day

This week's CSA brought us: green beans, broccoli, white and red onions, eggplant, potatoes, and basil. We're a little bit behind in using it all, as we were out of town this past weekend. We spent a few days by the lake with Steve's high school and college friends where the heat wave was tempered by a cool lake breeze. We stayed in the cabin that they used to frequent in college and where they would drink. A lot. It was a somewhat different trip now that everyone had spouses and children in tow. Silas had a hard time sleeping with all the new faces and activity around, but it was a good time nonetheless.

Here's the breakdown:

The eggplant and onions (as well as green peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers from our garden!) went into an eggplant and pecan curry served over quinoa and topped with raita. Yum!

(Recipe in Enchanted Broccoli Forest) 



Last week's potatoes, basil, and red onion were used in a vinegar marinated potato salad, which we served with sherry braised hot Italian sausage. These warm potato salads are the perfect way to use up spring potatoes, I'm finding. As long as I don't have to turn my oven on, I'm a happy girl.

(Recipe in Enchanted Broccoli Forest)

Finally, last week's green and yellow wax beans went into a cold three bean salad that we took with us to the cabin.

Three Bean Salad with Prosciutto

6 slices prosciutto

1 - 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

mix of green and yellow wax beans (about 15 oz. total), washed, trimmed, and cut into 2 inch segments

1/3 C. apple cider vinegar

1/3 C. extra virgin olive oil

1 C. flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 1 TBS. EVOO in a skillet and pan fry they prosciutto until crispy. Remove to a paper-lined plate and allow to drain. When cool, roughly chop.

2. At the same time, bring water to boil in a pot. Blanch the green and yellow beans for about 5 minutes, or until the green beans turn a bright green. Drain and rinse with cold water.

3. In a bowl, mix the green and yellow beans with the garbanzo beans and chopped prosciutto.

4. In a measuring cup, whisk together the vinegar and oil and pour over the beans.

5. Stir in the parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper.

6. Chill for at least an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Yarn Along | Just a little bit of progress



Perhaps I should refrain from posting more Yarn Along photos until I actually have something to show! This week I only made the smallest little bit of progress. I picked up Silas' blanket a couple nights and knit a half dozen rows. Silas is having a bit of a sleep regression and is up every two hours at night. I know that this is what it was like when he was first born, but somehow it didn't seem quite so exhausting then. I think the addition of the 5:30 start to the day (where he used to stay in bed with me until 9:00) may have something to do with it. I spend a lot of time napping with him during the day, which cuts into all other activities, including knitting. And reading. I have managed to start another book though: Radical Gardening. When I first cracked it open the thing I noticed was how small the margins were. My eyes were assaulted by the volume of text. I take this as a sign that it may take me awhile to get through this one!

It's hard to believe that we're just a few short days away from August and, with it, Silas turns six months old. I really couldn't fathom what he would be like at this point when we were just starting out. A friend brought her five-week-old to my mommy's group yesterday and it was such a reminder of how much things have changed since March when Silas was that age. He smiles and laughs and is generally more interactive with us and with his environment. His whole body is open and kicking, instead of tightly coiled and curled. We communicate better. I can put him down for longer stretches. I feel more confident and less confined to the house.

All through the newborn period people kept telling me how fast it would go and that before I knew it I would be up all night waiting for him to come home instead of up all night nursing. Those comments were so unhelpful because they felt so abstract. I was so in the moment of our lives that I really couldn't imagine what changes the passage of one month would bring, let alone sixteen years. It felt like the way things were was the way that they would always be. And now, six months in, I still can't wrap my mind around the changes that still await us. In my mind at this moment, he will always be just how he is. Even crawling seems so impossible, even though I know it's just around the corner, really.

For more Yarn-ing Along head on over to Small Things.

Garden Update

As we near the close of the month of July, my garden looks as it almost always does; unruly tomato plants, untrellised cucumbers, and an abundance of weeds. I garden in the same way that I keep house; let things go and just kinda "see what happens." But, through some sort of grace we have been able to eat a little bit from our few small raised beds.



These adorable tiny cucumbers sprouted from seeds that have been lying around for awhile. I ordered them for the 2009 season, I believe. I think I'll keep planting them every year just to see how long before they become unreliable in germination. The few cukes that we've harvested so far have been incredibly bitter, a testament to the stress the plants have suffered from this heat wave. If I were more proactive I would have mulched them so that their soil would have stayed a bit cooler.

We bought tomato and pepper starts this year from our CSA farm. With the uncharted waters of new motherhood looming before me late last winter, I held no delusions about starting my own from seed. One of our plants was mislabeled and we ended up with a cherry tomato plant, which has been bearing an incredible amount of fruit. The other two plants have blight and so have been a bit slower to produce. I only just picked my first tomato today and it is finishing up ripening on my counter.

We've never had much luck with pepper plants, so Steve was both surprised and delighted to see several little jalapenos growing. We also have two green bell plants that have contributed some peppers to our dinners.

And finally, my volunteer sunflower. She looks a bit sad now, but she was glorious in her day. She sprung up in my "prairie patch" along with a host of other mysterious dormant seeds. This is where my live and let live gardening philosophy really shines. I love to see what surprises await me in this little space. I try to make mental notes of what I see to aid in some identification when I have snippets of time here and there. There is much this little plot can teach me.

What's growing in your garden?

Recycling Plastic Lids

At my house we don't have a recycling bin. We have a recycling closet with no less than a dozen different categories of items. This is in addition to the small caches of items that I have stashed around the house that are not readily recyclable, but that I'm sure can be diverted from the waste stream if I can just find a creative solution. One of those caches finally made its way out of our house, much to Steve's delight.

Above, Silas is surrounded by two years worth of plastic lids that have been waiting to find new life. Many people just throw lids in their regular plastic recycling, but they shouldn't. There are a number of reasons that they are not accepted: lids are almost always made from a different plastic than the bodies of their containers, causing contamination if they are recycled together; they don't readily compact when batches of plastic are baled; and they easily jam recycling equipment. For these reasons, almost no recyclers accept them mixed in with other plastics. Even if you remove them from their containers and throw them in with the plastics thinking that they might somehow be separated and recycled, they won't. They end up in the landfill either way or our waterways where they are easily mistaken as a tasty treat by sea birds. Not a good thing.

I couldn't handle throwing all of these milk jug, shampoo bottle, and other lids in the trash. So, I started separating them out and keeping them in a bag, certain that a solution would present itself if I just waited long enough. It did.



For awhile now, Aveda has been accepting these rigid, threaded plastic lids, which they recycle into new lids for their haircare products. They've partnered with 1,600 schools around the country to raise awareness and to collect these lids. If your local school doesn't participate, you can also drop them off at Aveda salons, which is what I did.

Some enterprising recyclers have also set up cap recycling programs, such as the Caps Can Do program in Columbus, Ohio. Check with your local recycler to see what they do and don't accept and if they don't accept lids, take them with you to your next hair cut. It seems like such a small gesture, but as you can see in the photo above, just two people go through many, many lids in a short amount of time. In the aggregate, keeping them out of the trash keeps them out of the bellies of turtles and that is a good thing.

A Life Sustained Sponsor: Green Mama Design

Please welcome A Life Sustained sponsor Green Mama Design!

In Taryn's words: "I am the mother of two children, Finn (3) and Phoebe (4 months), and I teach environmental science part-time at Portland Community College. In my not-so-spare time, I love to craft, take photographs, and share my thoughts on the environment on my blog, Mama Gone Green. I decided to start up my etsy shop, Green Mama Design, when I was pregnant with Phoebe. Knitting and sewing was my way to wind down every night, to work out my anxieties, and I was running out of things to make that my family needed... so I thought I could maybe share and sell some of what I made with others. Now that Phoebe has arrived, my crafting time is a bit more sporadic, but it is still one of my favorite "me" times of my week. I find inspiration for both my blog and my designs from watching my children, my other crafty mama friends, and the natural world around me."



 Was there a moment when you knew that you wanted to live a "green" life or have you always cared about such things? Tell us about it.

I think my true interest in all things environmental started freshman year of high school, which was in 1991 (and by the way, it makes me feel really old to say that). A couple of my friends and I actually started an environmental club at my school. We mostly did silly things, like have an Earth Day cake baking contest and make club t-shirts, but we also got recycling cans put in all (or most) of the classrooms and also started an environmental education program where we traveled to elementary schools and taught enviro-education to little ones. Man, that seems like a lifetime ago!

How did you learn to sew? Who taught you?

I used to do a lot of sewing with my grandma when I was really little, however, that mostly entailed me instructing her what to make and then watching her do it. I first really started sewing the summer after I finished high school. I got on this big kick and starting making a bunch of my own (very simple) clothes. My mom taught me how to use her machine, but never actually taught me how to sew anything. In fact, I had never used a pattern until just a few months ago, and it was a really simple one at that. Previously, I would just think up a design in my mind, sketch it onto the fabric, cut and go. It was a great way to encourage my creativity, however, I often (OK, usually) didn't get things right the first time around. I did a lot of stitch pulling and fixing. I am sure I spend 3 times as long making something as if I would just have used a pattern to begin with. As time has gone on, I have started to use my own patterns and to figure out what works and what doesn't. I still don't know sewing lingo or the "right" way to do a lot of things... I am hoping to tackle some harder patterns this summer/fall and maybe even take a sewing class one of these days. It would be nice to learn some skills on a more formal level.

Is there a relationship between the work you do as a teacher and the work that you do as a sewer/maker of things?

In ways, yes. A lot of what I encourage people to do in the classroom is to take small steps to lower their carbon footprint. I don't try and preach to people to give up their car or to move into a tent, but I stress the little things... the things that your average person can change without feeling it to be too large of a burden. I believe that by crafting items for my family and for my etsy shop, I can reduce some of the packaging and shipping that goes into those items, and can help reduce our impact on the Earth. Plus it's nice to keep more money in the hands of people and give less to big corporations.

What is one hope that you have for your children as they grow up?

One hope. That is a hard one, as I have so many! I think my biggest hope is that my children will follow their dreams, wherever they may take them. I think that is harder than it sounds as society has so many preconceived notions and I of course want what is best for my children (which won't always coincide with their dreams). But, in the end, their happiness is what truly matters.

Taryn is offering to one lucky A Life Sustained winner their choice of the ruffled green pillowcase dress pictured above or any onesie from her shop! Upcycled from a woman's skirt, the dress is 100% linen and will fit approximately size 3 months to 12 months.

 Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in the random drawing to win. Comments will be closed and a winner will be chosen in the evening of July 30. Good luck!

The winner is...Tannis!
"that dress is super cute, but the onesie is great too!"
Thank you Green Mama Design!

Weekend Review: Thriving Beyond Sustainability

The title of Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society (2010) by Andres R. Edwards is very purposefully selected. In response to the great and necessary changes that Edwards sees in our collective future he chooses to describe that future as one of thriveability rather than one of sustainability. Sustainability, he points out, conjures up images of sacrifice and doing without in order to, at least, maintain the planet and, at best, to be less bad in our relationship with it. Thriveability, on the other hand, is a state of abundance and success; an intertwining of human society with the natural world to their mutual benefit. This shift in mindset, Edwards hopes, will help us to see the possibilities and to remain positive in our efforts in the face of such an uphill climb.

This book is a collection of initiatives from all sectors of society and all geographic regions that share the common goal of moving us towards a future that respects the natural world, promotes social justice, and increases the level of respect with which we treat one another and our "Earth Island." Edwards begins by exploring practices of traditional societies--such as Tibetan nomads, The Kogi of Colombia, and Inuits--and how those methods have been or could be adapted for use on either a larger scale or in additional locations. He then guides us through successful examples of localism, greening commerce, regenerative design, and saving ecosystems. We then are shown possibilities for how to navigate the alteration of these systems and how we reach the tipping point for change. Edwards closes by discussing thriveability and how we can attain it in our own lives and work to bring it to our communities.

While well-written, it ultimately reads like an encyclopedia and may have benefited from being organized as such. Reading it as a narrative work is a bit laborious and the "take action" sections at the end of each chapter are too general to be of any real use to the reader. Inspiration is where this book excels. Reading page after page of real-world examples of how people saw problems in their communities and then came up with creative and workable solutions to them is awe-inspiring. It is made very clear that there is much work to be done, but that with our many hands and our collective wisdom, success is not outside our reach.

This review was originally published on Blogcritics.org.

This Moment | Sitting (and Falling)

Playing along with SouleMama today. In her words: {this moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Don't forget to enter this weeks drawing for a Mommy Necklace from My Lil Market!

A Season for Green Beans

We've moved on from the cabbage. Now we're on to the weeks of green beans. In this week's CSA: basil, onions, eggplant, green beans, yellow wax beans, new and yukon gold potatoes, and broccoli.

We used the very last of last week's cabbage to make a lime cabbage slaw for use on tempeh tacos (which were absolutely yummy).

(Recipe in Feeding the Whole Family)

Our first variation on green beans was this really fresh Swiss green bean salad that we served with tofu egg salad sandwiches. Diced tofu replaces the egg in the sandwiches, which we were skeptical of at first, but it really works. The recipe includes a mayo made from silken tofu, so it's completely egg-less, but we just used regular mayo.

(Recipes in Enchanted Broccoli Forest)

This green caponata over creamy polenta was an excellent way to use up a lot of our produce. The eggplant, onions, and basil all went in here. Really, really tasty.

(Recipe in Just in Time!)

And finally, the broccoli went into our Aglio e Olio pasta recipe. This is a really simple and quick weeknight meal. Instead of broccoli, you can add whatever veggie you have on hand, or add no veggies at all.

Aglio e Olio with Broccoli

1 head fresh broccoli, cut into florets

1/2 lb. angel hair pasta

1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes

1 tsp. salt

Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Blanch broccoli for about five minutes.

2. At the same time, heat olive oil in a large skillet with high sides over medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt.

3. Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove broccoli from water. Let drain for a moment and then add to the pan with olive oil and garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes.

4. While that's going, bring the stockpot water back to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions and then drain.

5. Add pasta to pan with olive oil and use a tongs to turn and coat.

6. Serve topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Yarn Along

Three rows in to my Traveling Woman shawl and I already had to drop into my LYS for some pattern explanation. Luckily, the ladies there are very kind and were able to talk me through a very simple problem. Sometimes you should do exactly what the pattern tells you to do, even if it doesn't make any sense to you. Sometimes you make things harder than they need to be. This pattern is good for me. It's forcing me to overcome my dislike of yarn overs.

I'm skimming through Self-Sufficiency, a handbook to homesteading. So far, it seems like a good resource. It doesn't cover any one topic with an incredible amount of depth, but it is useful as a book of ideas for different projects and endeavors to try. I'm really ready to dig into a book that I enjoy. It's been awhile...

It's just so hot here...it's hard to get motivated to do much of anything. This heat wave might motivate me to take Silas for his first swimming outing, though. If his bathtime antics are any indication, it's something he would enjoy, but I worry about all that sunshine on his delicate little baby skin. Hopefully hat + tank suit + a ton of zinc oxide sunscreen will do the trick.

For more Yarn Along-ing head over to Small Things.

While Wandering

The Little Bug and I have gotten into the habit of taking walks whenever we go into town to run an errand, leading us to explore neighborhoods and streets and alleys that we never knew before. There are little notes of beauty in all of them and these are what we try to see...While Wandering.

Won't you join us? Feel free to leave a link to your own wanderings in the comments.

This week it was a trip to the post office to mail books and gifts for birthdays and new babies. This is the wandering that followed...