Morel mushrooms and mother’s day…

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Emily

This was our dinner the other night…

It was ammmmazzzzing…

Since we have been grown…usually my own mother is happily hunting morel mushrooms in the woods instead of with us…which is awesome! She gets this crazy passionate fire in her eyes when she talks about mushroom season and deserves more than anyone some alone time in the woods…

This year everything is early…lilacs, the everything including mushrooms so she had gone the weekend before. Her and her partner in mushrooming crime:) found a haul rain or shine!

We were so blessed to have this gourmet meal shared…a fresh morel mushroom, fresh farm raised eggs, and fresh asparagus omelet…

Note the purple hue of fresh asparagus, so tender, never stringy and from what is left of the little green house, the asparagus and rhubarb patches…

The leaf is a Nettle. They bring us back to Turkey…my cute father-in-law would go pick this prickly green without gloves…ouch! Bring them back for my mother-in-law to saute with onions and lots of olive oil. Side of fresh yogurt… delicious!

Unfortunately no picks yet but my dear hubby has been making fresh yogurt for us. It is amazing how moving across the world brought out the chef in him…I did the same in Turkey…

I don’t have a picture of the final omlette either but you just have to take my word for it that it was one of the best things I have ever eaten;)

On this mother’s day I feel so blessed with two daughter’s of my own. To have the most amazing role model mother as well as dear sweet aunties and mother-in-law!

Thank you everyone for your help!

Lakes instead of seas…railroad tracks…

Gallery

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Emily

This gallery contains 18 photos.

My little family and I left the Aegean Sea months ago… I miss it! The smell, the color shift depending on the mood of sky…from blues to greens to grays and back again… that salty smell… That vibrancy in that … Continue reading →

Budding…

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Emily

The weather has been amazing here…and nature knows what to do…pops of vibrant new growth green contrast from the hearty brown that survived the winter.

As my baby belly grows big I feel constant flutters of life and an occasional bum or elbow stick out for it all to be so real.

Baby dear #1 is excited for “my baby”…her baby sister to join us…she thinks she is at least…

My hubby is settling in but misses his country. Not so much his country but the lifestyle he knew. Everyone knows him, he has tons of respect and a good reputation built up there. A go getter who can no longer do it all by himself. Language and delicious Turkish food. (I miss the food too and feel fortunate to be able to relate to all those feelings as I lived in his country for 5 years:)

I have been writing lately. Feels good. Defining what I’m doing. reminiscing. exploring. The beginning of a bio for my new Kisa Kollections website, perhaps?

Since I can remember I have loved the hunt and the gather with my hands… my eyes… the experiences with all the senses involved…that treasure hunt for beautiful and interesting things.

Lilac flowers pop in May in Minnesota. When I was young during this time this was MY hunt.

I would creep in around neighbors yards, having previous years mentally mapped out where the most fragrant lilacs bloomed.

Down by the edge of the road grew the whitest ones, the lightest lavender hue.

If I stood on my tippy toes at the edge of the neighboorhood I could pull down the branch and clip the coveted “double” one, double dose of pretty petals.

The smaller variety with the deepest lavender hue popped from the corner of the yard, over the compost heap.

I would bundle these beauties all together and present them, usually to my mother, to adorn the dining room table and allow us all to gasp at their fragrance and beauty.

My own back yard has grown, although solidly rooted in Minnesota but branches have embraced experiences around the world, most personally profound were 5 year stints in each southern California and my now second home of Turkey.

While my hunt has progressed from lilacs to other lovely treasures to adorn the body and elicit gasps of “where did you find that?”. My heart remains the same.

I hope you will enjoy the collections I have put forth for you. You too appreciate the hunt, the travel and the stories interwoven in the pieces; from their evolution of materials, ancient techniques and histories, to story of how they got on your lovely self.

wear, share and make new stories…

How are you all?

How is spring effecting you?

Just a little reminder…I heart comments!

I miss the chickens…

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Emily

Our neighbors had chickens. We had our dog. All the spare vegetable peels, fruit peels, breads and grains went to feed the chickens. All the meat and macaroni leftovers went to the dog. Nothing was wasted.

As we were moving from Didim the neighbors were too. As the house is their summer house and were headed back to Izmir for the winter. They, yes this happens and is delicious, killed some for meat and some how shoved a few live ones in their Mercedes Benz with them to give to his brother for his farm…real characters to say the least and really nice neighbors.

They left one behind, purposefully so our daughter who had made a daily ritual of walking across the lawn to visit wouldn’t be without one to feed and “chat with” (or scold) as the above photo shows. Or they figured we could have a nice meal one night.

I miss the fresh farm eggs. Every few days my husband and daughter would climb into the little white topless jeep, (carseatless, I prayed everytime) and drive down the dirt roads to go get fresh eggs from the local farmers. It was their cute little ritual which they both loved. At the farms our daughter would pet big cows and their calves, watch the chickens run and scratch for food, feed baby sheep and goats and just have a little thing she did with her “baba”-daddy. I miss my husband.

I miss my husband. She misses her daddy. He misses us but we will all make it through. There is skype…

I miss the chickens, our dog who had to go live with another family, I miss only eating seasonal foods, I miss the freshness of the produce, the pazar where you buy it and being able to taste it all before you buy it!

I miss family and food…that’s what life is all about I guess…

That said I am not looking back about our decision to give MN a try…for the family and food here…

I realize now the huge food waste in this country, portion size is off the charts and everything is wrapped and boxed in copious amounts of plastic. No dogs or chickens to feed the excess to at my mom’s house(although of course we could have them again outside the cities limits) but the city of Wayzata does have a great organics composting program which she faithfully participates in.

All around good to be back and life changes take time to settle into…xoxo

whipping wind and snail hunting…

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Emily

The normally blue Aegean turns an eerie, gorgeous green when the storms whip through…

I know…it looks like a twister may pop up and whisk my polka dotted princess to Oz…but…

I assure you she would be singing the whole way there…she loved it!

sea…

sky…

land…

Shells make the perfect scoopers…

The rain, the storms are amazing in so many ways…but mainly…

we’re into…the snail hunting!

All those silly little slippery creatures come out with the moisture…stay curious!

That cute little fat “hannie”…

Thanks for joining us again on a nature walk…

this momma needs to get to sleep now…

my polka dotted princess AKA “the bigs” will be waking up before I know it!

Planet Earth from the discover channel is on in the background…amazing our world! Much respect!

Do you want to follow the clouds with me? Do you live in the now?

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Emily

Lately I’ve been feeling uninspired, overwhelmed, a monotony of life pressing down on me pending the reality that it will all explode in my face soon. Everything will change. Wondering what we will do next and how will we all deal with it. Feeling like we can’t move soon enough yet WTF will we do when we actually do this thing, moving to Minnesota. This thing I have thought I have wanted so badly for the past 3+ years.

Plus I’ve felt tired…

And so…I haven’t been posting. My brain was just imploding. Waking me up at 4 A.m. to think. Bloody terrible hour(been hanging out with lots of Brits lately, hence the bloody).

But today the clouds were just too gorgeous to ignore. Felt good to want to have my camera in hand again.

Felt good that it rained! Smells good that it rained!

The wind blows in the fresh sea air. Stirs that big wet pot. Salt. Plants. Life.

Feels good that I don’t feel like my skin is going to burn off and can exit the house safely during midday hours. Summers are long and hot here…got it? Lovely for swimming and good if you can live as a creature of the night but small children inhibit night owlism…yes I might have made that word up?

Long story short…fall is fabulous! Although it isn’t my mid-western mindset of fall. No leaves change gorgeous shades of red, yellow and orange. The Apples are just ok but pomegranates…nar are bursting from the trees. When a yellow shade the fruit inside still sour but the Aegean sun is turning them this amazing coral color sweeting those jewel like pink fruits only to soon rupture brilliant, vibrant, sweet red!

I will miss this. I know. Love it now. Live in the now.

Do you live in the now?

Love my family framed in fluff. Fluffy bougainvillea flowers. Fluffy white clouds.

Terribly two. Terribly tired here. Terrible tantrum ensues as she wants to get out and push the stroller herself.

Terribly smart. Terribly stubborn. Terribly sassy. Fights terribly hard for her independence. Terribly normal from what I understand…terrible test of parents patience:)

Compromise? or was it distraction? Let’s do it together…

ALWAYS happy in the sand.

Hero, one of the neighborhood street dogs joins us sometimes too…

Typical Turkish view; colorful cement townhouses with solar water heating panels…and satilite dishes…

Thanks for joining us on the walk around the neighborhood…

I feel better now…how about you?

Fresh air and family. gratitude. calms the brain.

Rain came back in full force.

Listening to Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan…amazing!

Living in the now these past couple days…

“Photos” is the Greek word for “Light.”

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Emily

Our happy place to cool down

“Photos” is the greek word for “light”.

This fact makes me so very happy and makes so much sense! What I love about photography is how it helps you capture not only a point of view but the light. One of my favorite things to notice about our world…is the light…

When that sun is peaking up over our hills or setting down into the corn fields this is my favorite time for the light to come out and play. Low on that horizon line I curse if my camera isn’t right next to me!

Light gives color to the sea, sparkling or stormy.

Our very own Coppertone baby...

The above fact I actually learned from The Pioneer Women. This lovely lady who has made a website empire for herself all from her farm/ranch/homestead all the while homeschooling her (I think 4) kids…so much can be done on this world wide web! Definitely inspirational!

Also I downloaded some Photoshop Elements Actions from her and have a whole new medium to play in!