Tis the season for driving along country lanes and finding apple trees loaded with fresh fruit, never picked. Kind of sad those trees that grow forgotten along the road. Once they would have been picked, the apples used in pies or eaten right off the tree. Now people just drive on by and only notice them in passing. Yet those are our history, our heritage.

Next time you see an apple tree stop and pick a few. Some may be bug eaten, but some of the brown patches are only places where it rubbed on the tree branch and not anything you can’t just peel away. It may be the best apple you have ever had, if you give them a chance. Of those I picked almost all were edible, not bug eaten as I expected they would be. One was especially delicious. It’s a shame I don’t know what kind of apple tree it came from.

Would you grow an apple from seed? Have you ever grown a plant from seed? Why not try one, even something tropical or exotic and have it grow by your writing space. Keep your seedling company and let it inspire you with something fresh and growing where you work.

Our world is shrinking. The Internet was predicted to save us paper, bring sweeping changes to the way we communicate and bring the world together, connecting us all as a community over distances.

I don’t see less paper use, maybe even more as people print things from the Internet, including their bills, statements and such which are sent via email from their paperless accounts with banks, insurance, utilities, etc. The corporations can show a savings in paper but, in reality, it has just been passed to the consumer.

Mushing School: A Dog Sledding Adventure « becominganomad.

How to Farm in the City; Urban Homesteading.

Busker Central

Get out there and plant a tree together. Best of all if it is in your own yard so you can see it grow over the years. If a tree isn’t your style pick up a package of seeds and give them room to grow.

Take a walk or go for the speed and use rollerblades or bicycles.

Massage or just sit together close and snuggle.

Give yourselves a staycation. Plan ahead for cooking at home, sharing some pampering and together time.

Take a bath together. Bring out the great scented soaps and shampoos. You can each bring a book to the tub if you want to keep it PG.

Don’t buy chocolates, bring the chocolate home and bake something together. You get couple time and the satisfaction of having tried something new.

 

Planned Spontaneity writes about sustainable wedding trends.

Steampunk Canada and the Steampunk Exhibition in Toronto.

Steampunk Magazine

Steampunk Tales

The Gatehouse Gazette

Exhibition Hall

Brass Goggles

Aether Emporium

Vagrants Among Ruins

The Steampunk Home –

I believe that Steampunk is more than just brass and watchparts. It’s finding a way to combine the past and the future in an aesthetic pleasing yet still punkish way. It’s living a life that looks old-fashioned, yet speaks to the future. It’s taking the detritus of our modern technological society and remaking it into useful things. Join me as I search for items for my house that combine the scientific romanticism of the Victorians with our real present and imagined future.

Steampunk Lab

The Datamancer

The Steampunk Workshop

Steampunk Wallpaper

Clockwork Couture

Live Journal: Steampunk Fashion

I really liked the header graphic for Vagrants Among Ruins. Looks like two people from the Victorian age out doing some rural exploring. I wonder if they invented a steampunk version of the digital camera. The cameras back then would have been quite a chore to cart around.