Disappointing My Agrarian Ancestors

Hi everyone! Last week I shared links to all the straw hat making resources I have found. Well, I’ve gotten quite serious about growing a hat. I’ve now bought gardening supplies and this week my spelt berries arrived. (Spelt seeds are called berries for reasons I haven’t discovered yet.) As I was researching how to best dig up the backyard to prepare it for planting, I realized how quickly generations of knowledge can be lost.

It wasn’t that long ago that most everyone farmed and had an understanding of how to make things grow, whereas I struggled to determine if the seeds I wanted to buy were for planting or just eating.1 I kept repeating to Connor, “My agrarian ancestors would be deeply disappointed in me.”

A Few Obsessions From This Week

1. I came across Matthew Rice’s watercolor work recently, and boy is it enchanting. He has written several books including travel journals. Although I think the book called Language of Buildings is extremely clever. It labels the parts of building, especially old decorative parts. Most of the problems I have when trying to repair something in our old house is finding the name of it.

2. I was reminded of C.F. Tunnicliffe after reading Matthew Rice’s about section. Tunnicliffe was an extraordinary artist who focused on two of my favorite things: watercolor and birds. Although the “What To Look For in…” seasons series he did with Ladybird book is arguably his most well known work.

Ready to read more comics? Check out audrywithoutane.com

Interested in what other projects Audry is involved with? Go to audrynicklin.com

Enjoy knitting? Visit Audry’s knitting pattern site at bear-ears.com