Our crew of happy volunteers spent the day digging and weeding, making beds and planting a few seeds. We snacked on a pile of farm-fresh plums and peaches, tasty cheeses, spicy heirloom tomato salsa from Happy Girl Kitchen, and a few local brews from Lagunitas Brewing Co.

All in all, a beautiful day on the farm – and looking forward to going back again soon!

listening to: I Hear Them All by Old Crow Medicine Show (listen)

Happy weekend! It’s been a hot week over here – and I’m looking forward to cooling off and catching up with friends and projects over the weekend… A potluck at our place tonight. A morning bike ride to delicious Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes tomorrow. A possible hike and a potluck pizza party on Sunday. And a work day with friends at Little Fork Farm on Monday!

Here are a few highlights from my daily finds…
+ Daydreaming about future road trips and adventures like this one.
+ This amazing rental-with-a-view in Point Reyes is named The Poet’s Loft – looks awe-some. Anyone want to come for a visit and stay here?
+ I love Sister Corita’s Art Department Rules: “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make.”
+ Twinkling lights outdoors are always catching my eye.
+ A new print in Claire Nereim’s calendar series: Seasonal Vegetables of California.
+ Remembering how great the T-shirt designs are over at threadless.com.
+ Nectarine sorbet sounds like a perfect treat for the end of summer.
+ These illustrated recipes prints are perfect kitchen art!

Cheers to the weekend! Ready to soak up the end of summer, and launch into the grown-up version of back-to-school season for September.

listening to: All My Days by Alexi Murdoch (listen)

I’ve been wanting to have more time for making this fall, ready to get my hands dirty and inkstained. In the past few weeks, that’s finally started taking shape… Here are a few outtakes from an afternoon spent with handcarved stamps, some colorful ink pads and a stack of stark white notecards.

The set on the left are fill-in-the-blank style cards for everyday notes, thank yous and all. I love these polka dots! The handmade quality of the stamps gives the prints an extra bit of texture, which I really like.

For handmade stampmaking tips, check out Gennenine’s Art blog for some great+simple tutorials on linoleum cutting and techniques.

More makings from here coming soon!

Wherever I live, finding the local coffee shop is always an important first step to settling into the neighborhood. Within a month of living in our new place in Marin, I stumbled on Graffeo Coffee—a small roastery located in our downtown San Rafael. Started in San Francisco, they have been a single-focus coffee roaster since the 1930s (in other words, no cups of coffee for sale here!). That’s commitment to the art+science of roasting! They roast in small batches and offer a simple menu of dark, light or mixed roasts.

In a pinch, I’ve bought a few other coffees from Whole Foods in the past few weeks–but they’re really no match for Graffeo. I love the strong strong, smooth, clean flavor of freshly roasted beans, and Graffeo Coffee hits the spot (plus perfectly ground, if you like). Tomorrow I’m picking up a long overdue half-pound of their dark roast, mmmmm.

Any local coffee spots that you know and love?

Graffeo Coffee
1314 4th St
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 457-5131

listening to: Burn One Down by Ben Harper (listen)

afternoon in the observation car

Train travel is all about location. It’s the ongoing topic of conversation. Where you’re coming from, where’s the next stop, where you’re passing through, and where you’re headed to. But funny–while riding the train, it feels like all those locations are passing by you, rather than the reverse–as life onboard is like a little world of its own.

window seats

There’s still some magic about travelling by train. It’s not fast or always entirely timely–but something feels right about watching the changing landscape and feeling the long transition from one place to another. It’s a trip worth taking if you have the chance.

Any chance that you’ll ride the rails sometime soon?

listening to: Peace Train by Cat Stevens (listen)