Hello friends!
Just a quick bit of housekeeping…I pledge to reply to any comments made on a post within a day or two. I’ll write a reply just under the comment itself. I do appreciate when you reach out!
Last weekend we got 14” of fresh snow (on top of a few inches already on the ground). Yesterday we woke to howling wind and pelting rain and dripping eaves. By the time I drove down to town at 9, the sun was shining and our dirt road was getting muddy. Later in the afternoon it was snowing again. So goes a winter day in Vermont.
There is so much to love about the winter here.
As I drove along the ridge on my way to town on Saturday I was startled and delighted when a flock of snow buntings rose from the field and swooped overhead. It was the first time I had seen them this winter and they lift my spirits each time I spot them. I appreciate the resilience of these tiny birds as they make their way up and down their migratory routes.
Batman gears up and ventures out to do tree pruning this time of year. He cut back the heirloom lilacs this week. He hauled all the branches down to the burn pile and we look forward to a little bonfire before the safety of the snow cover melts into the meadow. It’s hard to imagine the scent of blooming lilacs drifting through the open windows right now, but those days will come.
corazón and wilma and a wine cork and crumpled brown paper in a box. such a cute pod.
The full moon is coming up on Wednesday and there’s a village a bit south of us hosting a snowshoe trek at night. Guided by moonlight, participants plan to trek across fields and forest. I may suggest to Batman that we take a foray out into our meadow.
The Vermont Department of Transportation asked school kids in Vermont for suggestions of names for their fleet of snow plows. Check out their clever answers here.
My friend Anne’s post a few weeks ago inspired me to check out some of her book recommendations. Our small, rural library did not have any of the books I was hoping for and so I used the interlibrary loan service. Less than a week after I made my requests, two books (from two different libraries) were waiting for me on a shelf outside the door. As our democracy teeters on the edge of who-knows-what, I am delighted that our public library system stands strong. At our library you can borrow snowshoes, museum passes, you can participate in Monday Night Knitting Group (which has gone virtual again) and buy donated potted plants in the springtime (a fundraiser sourced from local gardens).
Friends, how are you feeling about living so much of life online? It’s a love/dislike relationship for me! Due to Covid, dreadful road conditions and nasty wind chill factors, so many things remain online here in Vermont. Various committees I serve on do our work via Zoom and our Vermont Modern Quilt Guild meetings remain online. This morning Batman and I went to Italy (virtually) with some of our favorite farmers market vendors. Check out their offering here. I had put together a sewing project for four year old granddaughter Maggie and sent it to her in the mail. This afternoon we stitched a very simple foursquare patch (above). She has requested a pink pig “stuffy” project for next time. With yellow and brown straw. I am so on it!
Plants keep things festive around here…one of the many babies grown from a clipping from my grandmother’s Christmas cactus is blooming late, micro greens grow on the windowsill. Pots of forced daffodils, narcissus, hyacinths and amaryllis stand bright on table and countertops. THE VEGETABLE SEEDS HAVE ARRIVED, and are tucked away for late May planting. Finding that brown package in the mailbox out by the road is sure to put a grin on Batman’s face.
I have a bunch of sewing projects underway, but it will be a while before I can share some of them with you. Another collaborative quilt, which I’m very excited about is working its way through multiple steps in multiple households. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy seeing some quilts, stitched by Grace Rother. Grace’s quilts tell stories too, and she makes them with repurposed and scrap fabrics. Grace also writes a blog that is so fun, just check out the menu on her website.
And one last thing (if you are indeed, still reading…) lest you think it’s all fluff around here, check out the interview Krista Tippett did with Trabian Shorters, a visionary who describes Asset Framing as a way to flip our mindset from one of deficit to one that helps us flourish.
I do so appreciate your popping by sewandsowlife. I hope you have found some sanctuary here as we roll on through these odd times.
xo
me