Hey guys,

I planted seeds yesterday. LOTS of seeds.

xoColie

Guide to Dating Gangsters, Vol. 2

Last year I lived at an artists' residency in Troy, NY, and shared a bathroom with some of the most fascinating, funny, hard-working, late-sleeping, dance-partying people I've ever met. One of them, one of the best of them, is Julia Arredondo. She caused a stir when she painted on a piece of artwork no one had ever paid attention to (and made it better) and she caused a spaced-out tizzy when she DJ-ed a show in our basement. (Look her up: MCMayanTemples.) Roller skating, spray painting, dreaming of her south TX home while freezing in the drafty church hall, Julia made amazing work while she was in Troy. And I miss her a bunch.

So when she wrote to ask for some friendly sponsorship of her next zine project, Guide to Dating Gangsters Vol. 2, and said she'd design an ad for Flower Scout to put in there, I was pretty stoked. 

See the 1st Guide to Dating Gangsters above, and the FS ad below. I'm really excited about collaboration right now, and am cooking up some really good ideas. If you want to connect/partner/share/play, get at me!

THANK YOU JULIA. XOXO

things meant for children

When I visited the public library in Sebastopol, California, looking for some good quick cabin reads, I had just missed a party. I don't know what sort of party involves a potted plant under a microscope, but I know that it's probably my kind of party.

It's incredibly difficult to photograph things (with a phone) through a microscope lens. Images can be really slippery.

With the perseverance and commitment of my friend Kayta, I took about a million photos of this kalanchoe-in-zoom. I think they're really beautiful.

Like glimpses through keyholes.

Or weird indecipherable body parts. 

Playing Catsup

For weeks and weeks I've been internet-quiet, amidst lots of beautiful things. So now I have to get this out of the way. Which by no means means I didn't love every last second of the moments featured herein, but the past few weeks really contained an inordinate amount of moments.

[Forewarning: This is a lot of photos. 

If you are sensitive to overwhelm, please think about viewing this post in installments.] 

. . . first of all, Green Gulch. 

A Zen temple and farm near Muir Beach where I spent two really meaningful weeks, 

two years ago, and a recent afternoon as well. 

Home to lots of wooden rooms and statues, the above hellebore, a living cutting from the Bodhi tree, very very good bread, a rich library, and copious amounts of mist.

 

 

 

 

Then there's Big Sur.

Mythic land of Kerouac, Henry Miller, the Beatles's, 

even more really good bread, cliffs & redwoods,

and Esalen, amongst other things. 

 Esalen is a resort/spiritual/education center, a farm, and the home of the most beautiful hot springs I've ever encountered. (No clothes = no documentation, sorry.) 

We volunteered on the farm in exchange for three phenomenal meals, 

a walk through a burnt redwood forest, a long soak in the hot springs (during which we sighted grey whales spouting, a whole bunch of playful seals, and a breathtaking sunset) and an hour of meditation, with the sound of the waves crashing in the darkness outside.  

 

Highway 1 passes over the forest trail. 

 Best friends-in-love.

I spent a bunch of time in the woods with my friends, 

and we each worked on the things that feed us:

reading, talking, tending fire, feeding each another, building shelves, looking at moss,

 playing with ash,

. . . but not a lot of it wanted to be documented.

I spent ten minutes trying to photograph this damn beautiful branch, 

and this was the best I got.

It's incredibly dry in California this season, though it rained on us a lot. 

Dry lake beds, brown hills.

Send your liquid thoughts there, okay? 

And then I checked out some of San Francisco, 

but really only a corner. 

The corner where Flora Grubb lives.

 

I don't think I have to tell you how much this place inspired me. 

I've never had a 30-year-plan, but I think I might right now.

 I got on a plane, I flew to Portland. Fingers of mist wrapped around San Francisco.

 

 I saw old friends, all doing things they love. One works at the amazing Zenger Farm.

 Another grows a magical beard. 

I didn't take many pictures of Portland; I was too busy feeling its bittersweet mopeyness,  

riding its buses, drinking its coffee, and eating its hipsterized duck egg sandwiches. 

It's so beautiful to see faraway friends and to know that we're all doing the best we can at being adults, making meaning, working hard, etc. etc.. 

While I was out there, it was mostly snowing here. And yet, just like the post office, my friend Caroline made the final touches and ensured the delivery of all of our Full Moon Valentines.

I can't thank her enough. 

 

 If you made it this far, thank you.

I love you guys a lot.

Thanks, lovers.

We are sold out 

of Valentines.

Here's a weird one for those of you who like that kind of thing:

(I like those of you that like that kind of thing.)

VDay Deetz

Okay, here we go:

In collaboration with the ladies behind Underground Alchemy, Forage Restoratives, The Little Ragamuffin, and the graphic designer Caroline Corrigan, Flower Scout is so psyched to present this February's greatest gift idea: The Full Moon Valentine.

I'm not going to tell you what will be inside each Full Moon Valentine bundle, because perhaps you want to receive one, in which case you should copy & paste the address for this post into an email, or that little "What's on your mind?" box on Facebook, or just leave your computer on the kitchen table, with a hand-drawn arrow-pierced heart pointing to this screen.

But if you want to give a Full Moon Valentine, please email me at flowerscoutfarm@gmail.com. We're only making 25 of them, and each is only $30 (a tremendous bargain, once you find out what's inside).

A hint: Each bundle will contain a contribution from each collaborator, plus some bonus treats. All of the proprietors featured are local makers, living in Troy, Albany, or Altamont, NY, and all of us create with an eye for the natural world, health, beauty and good design. You're gonna like it.

Here's some more info about each of the collaborators in our little lovely team:

Underground Alchemy is a small scale herbal apothecary in the City of Albany. We grow medicinal herbs and handcraft herbal products for sale through a CSA, Farmer's Market and local stores.
 
Tara Quackenbush knew she wanted to pursue her interest in restoring the connection between plants and people through collective participation for the health of living systems while earning a master's degree in Environmental Science, or more specifically in the discipline of Environmental Communication. Drawn to the magic contained within medicinal herbs, she continues to share her love and appreciation of these plant allies with others.

Jen O’Connor is the founder and owner of the small business The Little Ragamuffin where she sells her handcrafted soaps, housewares, and organic heirloom seeds grown on the 5.5 acres of land known as The Kirk Estate, in Altamont, NY. In addition, Jen is a musician, songwriter, and producer in the band The Parlor.

Caroline Corrigan is an Albany-based freelance graphic designer. Her work pulls inspiration from mid-century typography and Scandinavian design, using patterns, bold hand-drawn elements, and plenty of white space. Her old-fashioned snail mail greeting cards are printed on a Risograph at Troy Cloth & Paper on Speckletone cover stock from French Paper Company.

 

SO GET AT ME. 

(don't wait.)

sneek peak

Valentine's Day is a month from today, and Flower Scout hasn't forgotten you.

(That's actually not true. FS did forget you, and her potential VDay responsibilities, and booked a vacation on the West Coast for the two weeks preceding February 14th. But that's okay, because she figured it out, and there is a plan in the works, a better plan than bouquets even, a plan that will blow your mind and your heart and the heart of the person you love, because:

FULL MOON VALENTINES

are coming at you

Stay tuned for more info in the next few days. 

We're only making 25 of these, so you'll have to order quick!

more to come...

xoC