We recently went to visit my Mumsie at her assisted living community and as I was standing in the lobby, waiting for the elevator to take me up to her apartment, I spotted this sweet paper cut out on the bulletin board. Despite having 91 year old hands gnarled by arthritis, she still loves to produce a monthly display for the residents. She is quite amazing.
And in other generational musings, I became a mama 42 years ago today, delivering my sweet Baboo in a hospital in Puerto Rico. Stewart led me on the best adventure of my lifetime, and now his dear Theo has added new dimensions to my journey. Happy birthday to Stewart!
Gosh. Sometimes life just takes our breath away, doesn’t it?
The bluebirds are back, the spring peepers are singing at dusk, the lawn gets greener day by day and chives and rhubarb are coming up in the garden. The garlic survived the winter and are all lined up in their bed. We’re washing the screens today and Batman is back at the golf course whenever he can squeeze it in. I can feel my whole body exhaling a bit in the sun’s warmth.
I was dumbstruck the other day when I looked out the window and saw the colors across the way. Less than a week earlier I had stitched the image (on the left) for my 100 days of stitching project. It just amazes me how strongly a sense of place can influence us, sometimes in the most subtle ways.
Wilma, my studio companion.
All twenty of my pages have been stitched for my 100 days project. It took a bit of time to pair them up in a pleasing way. Some I had planned as pairs, other’s I had not. I then numbered them and have begun the task of sewing them together.
Here the page spreads have all been pinned into place, after I checked the instructions many times. You can follow along here, to see how “inside out” the thinking will be for this finish! And I can’t wait to put the book together, instructions shown here.
In my last post, I promised some listening/watching ideas.
A quick film about Nikki McClure, paper cutter extraordinaire. PBS Newshour, via my dear friend, Dolo.
Another talk from Anne Lamott, Meditations on Life, Love and the Cycle of Aging, also via Dolo.
A wonderful, hope-filled documentary about a gardening program in Maine’s prisons.
A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my top ten favorite books of all time. We have been watching the series, starring Ewan McGregor, on Paramount Plus and it’s just wonderful! You may find it in other places, and sometimes streaming services offer limited time, free subscriptions…
And some reading ideas.
This is Happiness, by Niall Williams. This is a lovely story set in Ireland just as electricity was being brought to a rural village. It’s a coming of age story, too. And the story of lost love. The stories intertwined, inter-generationonally. The writing style delighted me, but sometimes an occasional run on sentence would exasperate me. There were some absolutely heart stopping passages, filled with wisdom and beauty. This is another book I would not have read without participating in my book group, to them I remain grateful.
I Never Thought of It That Way, How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, by Mónica Guzmán. Can you imagine a more fitting book to read at this time in 2024? I have just started it, and it’s a bit dry as the author sets up the scope of the book. I look forward to making my way into the heart of the book.
WHAT ARE YOU ENJOYING? Drop a note in the comments.
Now I have some questions for you.
Do you listen to audiobooks? Where do you find them? I have loved the Libby platform, but sometimes there’s a queue for the book that I may want now. Also, sometimes I can’t find the book I’d like. Audible is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon, so I’m not interested in that option. Do you have suggestions? I am particularly looking for The Lioness of Boston, the story of Isabella Stewart Gardner. I’d like to have her story as a companion in my studio.
Do you keep track of the books you read? If so, how? I have used Goodreads to keep track of my reading and the reading of a few friends. It came to my attention via Sarah’s blog Wool&Home that Goodreads is also connected to the long tentacled Amazon! Sarah is a voracious reader and shares her reviews quite generously. Sarah has recently shifted over to StoryGraph as a way to keep track of her reading. I must confess that I also keep a reading log in a notebook, where I keep track of recommendations and who actually made them. It’s quite fun to peruse the list…it’s so very long, I can’t imagine I’ll ever get them all read (I am such a slow reader!)
So friends, if you’ve made it all…the…way…to…the…bottom of this post, well done, you! I’d love to hear from you about what you’re listening to, watching and reading. Other sewandsowlife readers may be curious, too. So drop a comment or send me an email.
With so much gratitude (and curiosity!)
Karen