hello june

Sometimes it just feels right to put on my rubber boots and go out to wander. My lupine patch out in the scrubby meadow persists and I’m fascinated by how perfect drops of water form in the center of the leaf whorls. I let myself imagine that I meet Miss Rumphius out there and invite her in for tea. (This afternoon I read about the real Miss Rumphius .)

Vermont’s state flower, red clover, has begun to bloom too. I remember planting scads of clover seeds in anticipation of our daughter Gretta’s wedding. We hosted everyone up here on the hill on a perfect summer’s day.

I’ve sort of melted into the landscape and the memories it holds. It feels like a good place to be these days, friends.

One way to preserve this lovely sense of calm and sanctuary is to dye with plants that grow from the land we walk on. I dyed these vintage linens with birch catkins which hang and sway in the spring breezes before they drop to the lawn. Freshly rinsed, this piece will dry on the line in the shade and wait for some stitching.

Per my last post, I’ve been working on less “news” and more inspiration…

One of my “internet crushes” is quilter Grace Rother, who I’ve mentioned here before. Her recommendation of the podcast Abolition is For Everybody has caught my ear.

Two of my faves, Jess of Public Library Quilts and quilter Zak Foster recently had a heartwarming conversation about “sturdy traditions” at the SEAMSIDE Project. You can hear it here.

Jess and her friend Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh wrote a piece about sharing cross cultural traditions in a piece called Quilts and Carpets: Our Gifts For Kin. It’s via a new-to-me website called Reasons to Be Cheerful. What a treasure trove of delight!

Emergence Magazine is another online treat. Creating connections between ecology, culture and spirituality, it’s an editorially independent initiative of the Kalliopeia Foundation.

Sooooo….that’s all I’ve got today, friends. Just sharing a few things that may refresh you, inspire you and comfort you.

A gentle reminder, posted in our kitchen, from young Benjamin Franklin’s “Virtuous Life” questions.

may musings (this is a long post, you may want to brew some tea) xo

lilacs blooming on the hill

crabapple blossoms, for just a quick few days before they shower the lawn with pink petals.

forget-me-nots, planted here in vermont to remind me of our first, sweet neighborhood in chicagoland.

lily of the valley along the stonewall. i used to read books in my grammies lowry’s patch of lily of the valley, under her lilac hedge when i was a kid. those two scents will forever remind me of spring in a magical childhood place. and of her dear presence in my life story.

The scents!

Lily of the valley. Lilac. Freshly cut grass. Cotton sheets dried out on the clothesline. Freshly spread manure. The garden beds after a soft spring rain.

The sounds!

So many plants abuzz with bees. The spring peepers as dusk falls. The coyotes out in the meadow at night. The birdsong, especially the swallows as they stake out their nesting spots. Tractors tilling neighboring fields. Chainsaws clearing trees downed over the winter.

The wildflowers!

Trillium. Columbine. Soloman’s seal. Marshmallows. Trout lilies. Primroses. And all the tiny violets and other sweet things in the lawn.

Eating!

+++Fiddleheads! We tried fiddlehead soup this year. (Be sure to research harvesting and cooking fiddleheads before you try anything! There are safety precautions to be aware of!)

+++Rhubarb! Stewed to eat with homemade yogurt (using Deborah Madison’s recipe.) Or baked into this delicious recipe!

+++Fresh chèvre! Our dear neighbors down the road made a new batch of chèvre and rolled it in the first dandelion petals of the season. They delivered the goat cheese with freshly baked sourdough ciabatta bread. SO GOOD! My gram used to dig the first dandelion greens of the season, steam them and eat them with a pat of butter and splash of cider vinegar. There are so many “spring tonics” we have lost track of over the years. It’s so fun to see some of them coming back. Here in Vermont it’s traditional to plant your potatoes when the first dandelions bloom. :-)

+++The farmer’s markets have been full of delightful treats. It’s been so fun to wander their stalls, basket in hand, renewing acquaintances and bringing home things fresh from the earth.

birch catkins, picked up off the lawn and brought in to the first dye pot of the season. vintage linens went in, i’ll share the results next week.

Recreating!

Once in a while Batman and I try to keep a day or two free of volunteer responsibilities and take a bit of time to do “retirement” things. Last week, we went down to South Royalton to check out a new-to-us food truck, Carlita’s Cocina. It was amazing, including some of Batman’s favorite carbonated beverages from his days of growing up in Latin America. After lunch, Batman cast a few under the bridge into the First Branch of the White River. I sat in the sunshine on the rocks and read a book. It really was blissful. I would like to do this more often. (If you are a vegetarian, you may want to skip this part…) On the way home we stopped at Roma’s Butchery, a woman owned and operated butchery, selling local meats. What a treat to have access to meat that is grazed on pasture and raised humanely and harvested compassionately.

we thought of you, kristen and gary. xo

Reading!

My goodness, I have been on an Amor Towles binge! I started with A Gentleman in Moscow (his second book), went on to The Lincoln Highway (his third book) and ended with Rules of Civility (his first book). I love Towles’ writing and each book is very different from the others. My Fave? Hands down, A Gentleman in Moscow. But don’t let me sway you. Please let me know if you have read any of them and what you thought of them!

I also read Pauper Auction written by fairly local author, Mary Kronenwetter, which I found to be fascinating. The author did some major research into old New England ways that I was not aware of. Always learning.

Now I’ve got my nose into Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Gathering Moss, another gem.

I found most of these titles via our public library, and am glad that we can wander in its quiet space once again. (I still wear a mask whenever I go inside anyplace.) It was lovely to sit and read Cook’s Illustrated in the squishy leather chairs after such a long absence.

Thinking about!

Holy smokes, friends, if you are still reading, do I have something for you to ponder!!!!

I had the most wonderful massage the other day (such a luxury!). As I described the horrible kink in my neck, Missy and I spoke a little bit about how stressful the world is, and of how the 24/7 news feed can be overwhelming. I do try to limit my exposure to the news, especially because it doesn’t seem like “news” to me anymore. How many more wars and mass shootings and inappropriate behaviors can be called “news”?

Missy stopped me in my tracks when she told me she checks the news once a week.

I am still thinking about that. And wondering if maybe I want to be like Missy.

If I can reduce the frustration, anger, anxiety and grief I experience while consuming “the news” might that provide more energy, hope and clear thinking for the small bits of good work I try to do in the world?

How about you friends? What do you think?

xo

P.S. Just saw the “news” . Thank you Sen. Chris Murphy (D) Connecticut for asking, “What are we doing?” Indeed, WHAT ARE WE DOING?

another collaborative quilt

Gretta, Lindsey and I hatched a plan in the early winter, to make a quilt together for Theo. It took us a while to come to consensus on the fabrics and pattern, but once we decided, we kicked into high gear.

We bought a bit of three different Charlie Harper prints and filled in the rest of the fabric with bits from our stashes. Here you can see the praying mantis, the luna moth and the nesting birds that we chose.

We picked “stacked coins” for our pattern and decided that each one of us would make a stack, sewing some of the Charlie Harper fabric and bits from our own stashes. That way we would have a cohesive colorsheme, but with some individual variation, too.

Here’s a text message from Gretta, showing us her completed stack of coins, posted from Ypsilanti, MI. My stack went out to Detroit via the postal service.

Thread, backing, quilt top and batting… ready to quilt.

All three of our stacks ended up in LIndsey’s sewing room, where she put the quilt top together, using the lovely KONA solid cotton that she and Gretta shopped for. We ordered the ferny/seaweedy fronds designed by Dear Stella from Gather Here, (after much deliberation.)

The top and backing arrived via the USPS here in Vermont and I added batting to the formula. I basted and quilted it in my studio and sent it back to Lindsey. She sewed the binding to the front of the quilt.

In April, Gretta, Lindsey and even Hannah took a turn at sewing the binding onto the back…and I finished it while staying at Hannah’s at Cranbrook. Sewing is not really Hannah’s favorite thing to do. She did a great job and was such a good sport, and now her love is stitched right into Theo’s quilt.

Here’s the finished quilt, spread out on Hannah’s floor

And here it is, draped over the fence in Lindsey’s backyard after being washed and dried…to give it the gentle puckering that we all love.

When Stewart (Theo’s papa) was a little boy he was an avid junior entomologist, so we kinda loved the bug fabric for that reason. Young Stew was in absolute heaven when the cicadas had one of their epic hatchings while we lived in Chicagoland.

The quilt was gifted this past weekend, at Theo’s shower in Ohio, which had been postponed from earlier in the spring. I was sad not to be there, but the kids shared a video and photos, which were so thoughtfully sent.

So friends, that’s the story of another fun Reed family collaboration. I find such happiness working on projects with my loved ones, especially when we are so far from one another most of the time.

Dearest ones, let me leave you with this image. I took this picture on Saturday afternoon, up on our ridge, on our way home from the farmer’s market and running errands in Montpelier. This was another reminder to me that life is filled with blessings if we just stop to notice them. Keep your eyes open, friends…may you find things that cause you to stop, notice and fill you with peace. xo

a birthday bunny

sitting in the sunshine, the glorious sunshine, stitching the head together.

half a bunny, with whiskers.

liberty of london scraps for her dress.

rosy cheeks and a pink nose.

at the last minute, i gathered her sleeves at the wrists.

so many fun places to play…on the threshold of the hoop house, amongst the daffodils, hanging on the clothesline and scoping out the raised beds.

…and sitting on the garden bench with a pal.

Well friends, sometimes we just need some fun, am I right? Thought you might enjoy seeing what I made for a certain someone who turns two this week.

Do you know Alicia Paulson’s delightful blog Posie Gets Cozy? I think Alicia’s was one of the very first blogs I started following years ago. I ordered a bunny kit from her and stitched it up for myself, the pattern is here. Then I went on the make a fox for Gretta, a cat for Dawn and a bunny for my Mumsie

It seemed like it was time to make another critter, and I’m hoping little grand daughter Flora with enjoy finding this latest version on her doorstep soon. All of my daughters are fans of Liberty of London fabric and whenever we use this precious fabric in a project, we are sure to save every little bit of leftover scrap. I had made a sun bonnet for Maggie when she was a toddler and saved the leftovers. Now her cousin will have a bunny dressed in that very same fabric. xo

“toot toots” made by batman for the birthday girl. (sailing on watery linen, hand dyed with home grown indigo.)

Lindsey has an app on her phone that allows her to see which freighters will be passing along the Detroit River each day. She and Flora will sometimes go to a playground along the river and wait for a big ship to pass. Flora points her finger and says “toot toot” as it chugs by. When I was there in April, we actually saw a pilot boat in action. It came along the river in the opposite direction of the freighter, turned around midstream and pulled up along the freighter matching its speed. The pilot grabbed a ladder and swung himself up onto the freighter. At that point, he took over the piloting of the ship, as he knew the local waters better than the captain of the freighter. How cool is that? (Maybe you already knew how that works, but it was a fun new piece of learning for me.) :-)

Today is what I call “Crayola crayon Spring Green Day.” When we woke up, the birches down at the bottom of our meadow were nearly bare. This afternoon, the leaves have begun to pop out and you can watch the explosion of color happen from hour to hour. There’s a day each year that feels this way, that spring has finally spring for real. It’s 87 degrees up here on the ridge…a crazy blast of heat that will last for a few days. Then, blessedly, temperatures will return to normal.

Yesterday we drove up and over the mountains to Shoreham, where my friend Pauline has been growing indigo seedlings. Golden Russet Farm sits on emerald green swaths of farmland near Lake Champlain. I was delighted to catch up with Pauline, and buy some seedlings from her. I also bought a generous handful of asparagus cut from their fields that morning. It was a glorious day to be traveling in Vermont, and I must confess that we had maple creemees for supper.

Finding joy and happiness and hope is an act of resistance friends, may we all flex our gratitude muscles and carry on.

Where are you finding loveliness and beauty and gratitude, friends? Let me know in the comments, below.

xo

what a week

spring beauties

“In our time of disturbance and radical change, we are crossing a threshold, a portal, or an unseen bridge from one world to another. It could be said that the bridge is either collapsing beneath us, or being made as we walk together, in the long twilight hours when one civilization gives way to another.” -Geneen Marie Haugen

fiddleheads

“My heart is moved by all I cannot save:

so much has been destroyed

I have cast my lot with those

who age after age, perversely,

with no extraordinary power,

reconstitute the world.”

-Adrienne Rich

baby lettuces in the hoop house

“If you think you are too small to make a difference try sleeping with a mosquito.” -Dalai Lama

“Start acting like you are a member of a compassionate majority up against a desperate, fearful and shrinking majority. Because you are.” -Ethan Nichtern

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in the darkness for the light that is you.” -L. R. Knost

Dearest friends, I think I wrote this post more for me than for you. :-) This is a collection of words that pull me back to center when I feel like I am spinning out of control. Perhaps they will help you, too, as we sit in the midst of a maelstrom here in America. (I cannot even seem to type “United States of America” because for me, it no longer feels true.)

And I leave you with Corita Kent…”Doing and making are acts of hope.”

Let us pick up needles this weekend, and spades and hoes and spatulas and pens and paintbrushes and wrenches and hammers and clay and looms and…find some sanctuary from all that distracts us. And be HOPEFUL.

And keep on shining your light.

xoxoxoxoxox

giddiness

HAPPY MAY DAY FRIENDS! Some of us are partial to the tradition of dancing around the maypole, some of us celebrate workers all over the world…maybe you have your own version of May Day! In any case, I am giddy because spring has finally arrived on Braintree Hill. The sky is blue, the sun is bright and it’s 68 degrees! I am drunk with joy.

Today we spent some time at our local garden center and then we went to Creek House Diner for our very first maple creemee of the season. Until you have tasted a creemee you cannot even imagine the dreaminess of this dairy treat. We sent a “selfie” to our kids and they swooned with longing for their own creemees. We came home and washed the screens that had been stored in the woodshed over the winter. Each room now has a screen in at least one window and over the next few days we’ll install all of them. FRESH AIR in the house! Batman did a good bit of gardening, both in the raised beds and the hoop house. I put together a bouquet of Tête-À-Tête daffodils and Scilla and snuck down to our neighbor’s house and left it along with some blueberry muffins on their doorstop. Their goat herd has increased this spring with a new batch of kids and they have gifted us (now and then) with homemade Chève cheese and buttermilk made with goat’s milk. I baked the muffins with the local buttermilk. Outstanding.

I thought you might like to see our very own version of Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road (above.) The coltsfoot is blooming along the side of the road and it really is dazzling on a sunny day. You can read about coltsfoot here.

Corazón and Wilma have been coaching me this weekend as I work to get a piece with a deadline finished up.

Here’s a sneak peek at the very start of the piece.

In an effort to keep myself working on challenges, I plan to submit a piece, invited by this call to artists. Gotta stay vulnerable in order to grow, am I right?

I sure do hope you are finding some simple happiness in the midst of these upside down days of 2022. Sending you hope and encouragement to do whatever small thing you can do to make this world a better place. xo

still waiting for spring

Happy Sunday, friends!

Here in Vermont, our usual mud season was not usual. In fact some called it epic, some Biblical, others called it relentless. Newspapers wrote articles, documenting with words and photos, the prolonged, messy and challenging weeks of impassable roads. Vermont’s free and independent newspaper, Seven Days, has a regular column called “Stuck in Vermont”. A few weeks back, they sent a reporter out into the field to do a story on being “Stuck in Vermont”, really stuck. There’s a fun video report featuring a town just a bit south of us, where a woman is carrying on the tradition of keeping folks appraised of road conditions in real time. Click here to see how my friend Sue and her neighbors deal with the roads in the springtime.

Batman and I make sure our pantry is ready for mud season, and that our windowsill has greens growing in the sunshine. We stayed on the hill for five days in a row in late March. Then we planned our trips for early in the morning when the mud was still frozen, so that we could get down and back before the roads began to warm up in the sun. Folks were checking in with neighbors and ATV’s were tuned up for possible emergency medical trips. It really was an unusual season, causing a bit of unease as we wonder what may be coming with warmer and earlier springs.

But hey, there’s more to life than fretting and worrying, right?

For instance…the season of drying laundry on the clothesline in the sunshine! My friend Stacy sent me these heirloom clothespins because she is a kindred spirit when it comes to air drying her laundry. And she is generous and thoughtful. Handcrafted in Washington State with local maple, they are made to be handed down through the generations. Top quality, long lasting, win win. You can read all about the clothespins at Lady and the Carpenter, here.

I went into the post office a few days ago to buy some stamps and was delighted to hear a charming sign of spring…the precious cheep cheeping of baby chicks, waiting in ventilated cartons to be picked up and taken to their new homes. Brave pansies are fluttering in the chilly breezes at our local gardening center and we picked up our year’s supply of very special maple syrup from neighbors over the ridge. Raven Hill Farm and Anchor Light Farm collaborate every spring to make maple syrup the very old fashioned way. Maple sap gathered in the woods from taps hung with buckets, loaded onto a horse drawn sled and evaporated with wood harvested from the forest, this syrup is the real deal. Check out their story here.

I used chives from the garden the other day and I’m keeping an eye out for the wild ramps that grow out by the stonewall. Batman has all sorts of seeds started under lights in the utility room, on the windowsill downstairs and tucked into the hoop house. The rototiller has been warmed up in anticipation of creating a new wildflower bed, soon to be filled with pollinators. We spent some time in the fall rejuvenating the area in the meadow where I’m channeling Miss Rumphius, coaxing more and more lupine to naturalize. Fingers crossed.

The quilt shown above was stitched in 2015, and I named it Persephone, as it’s made with fat quarters from Spoonflower splashed with pussy willows, forsythia, maple wings and maiden hair ferns. The fabric is designed by Holly Ward Bimba and you can see it here. When I was a little girl, my bedroom was wallpapered with a design that wove pussy willow and forsythia branches together and I still have a partial roll of it tucked away in a closet. I dream of having a bit of it lining a cupboard or some such thing when I am an elderly woman, to remind me of springs past.

So as the grey and chilly days drag on, and the soil remains too damp and cold to dig, I hold fast on to hope. Hope that our gardens and yard will come alive again soon…hope that all the good in the world will be recognized and celebrated (because there is a lot of good in the world)…hope that all of us will bring our loving energy into each and every day.

xo

here, there and everywhere

Playing in little puddles with Flora in Detroit.

Hello friends!

I am finally back on the hill enjoying some peace and quiet while I get my feet tucked back under myself! I have been on the go since late March, when I spent a few days helping my Mumsie in Massachusetts navigate some medical issues. Thankfully, all is fine now. Then a few days later, we headed to the Midwest to meet little Theodore and to visit our other grandkids. What a delight to have ten days with all four kids and their spouses, too. A few days after I got home from Michigan, a dear friend from our time in CT arrived to stay for a bit. Frances came up on the train and we realized it has been nearly 2 1/2 years since we have last been together. Now that she has returned home, I have had a chance to take a deep breath, relax my shoulders and think about the days and weeks ahead.

I’ve been taking notes along the way and have so many fun links and thoughts and experiences to share with you, friends. I’ll be posting more often to make sure to stay in better touch these next few weeks.

All of us tested for COVID, and some chose to wear masks, according to risk of exposure out in the world. Maggie, Gretta and I spent some time chatting and drawing at Hannah’s house. xo

Before I sign off, let me share some beauty with you. Today is Charlotte Brontë’s birthday. British artist Hannah Nunn has a lovely post over at her blog, here, where she highlights some commissioned work she did for The Brontë Society on the occasion of Charlotte’s 200th birthday a few years ago. I have long dreamed of having some of Hannah’s Charlotte’s Garden wallpaper hanging in my house, but, alas, rereading Charlotte’s books will have to do. :-)

So friends, may the freshness of spring bring you hope. Know that I send you hugs wherever you are, and keep you in my thoughts.

xo

the end of march and her precious snowdrops

snowdrops blooming under one of the crabapple trees.

One of my favorite books from my grandmother’s library, along with some vintage buttons from her sewing box. Fabric is a Liberty of London cotton floral. (I think the book may have come to my grandmother via her Aunt Adelaide.)

“Friend in need—hope”

With a flourish, on the page facing the inside front cover.

Friends, I offer this post as a place holder, while we tend to some things that need to be tended to. Not to worry. Sometimes life just puts a little squeeze on us, eh? I’ll be back here as soon as I can be, with fun updates. xo

"tiny and new"

Hello friends! It’s official, happy spring! (At least here in the northern hemisphere.) The brave little snowdrops are blooming, the pussy willows are fluffing up and we leave our bedroom window open a crack to listen for the spring peepers to begin singing (not quite yet.)

And I continue to sew away my anxiety about the world! My sewing studio provides sanctuary and I remain grateful for its shelter.

The other day I popped into our local-ish quilt store to buy a spool of thread and some quilt batting for my next collaborative quilt (more on that later this month.) As I stood at the counter to pay, a mini charm pack began to call to me. For those of you who may not know what a charm pack is, let me explain. Many fabric manufacturers put together bundles of pre-cut fabric squares. They include bits of a complete line of fabric from a given designer, often in the entire color range. The one that was calling to me was a packet of 2.5” squares, in the sweetest range of colors. The line of fabric was called tiny and new. It’s as if that little packet of fabric knew I was the grandma of a tiny and new baby boy.

I don’t usually fall for the tricks of fabric marketers, preferring to use fabric from my stash, or old clothes or vintage linens. But I fell for it. I bought that little charm pack. I brought it home and sewed those little squares together lickety split. Then I pulled a linen/cotton blend out of my stash and stitched it together with the squares to create a “tummy time quilt”, for little Theo to hang out on.

I used a grey and white checkered gingham for the backing. I had bought it for a summer top that never got made. The binding was sewn with some leftover fabric from a project I made from Umbrella Prints, a now defunct fabric company in Australia.

This little quilt came together in just a few days and Theo has already found it in his mailbox. :-)

As many of my long time readers know, I have deep connections to my alma mater, Earlham College. There are so many stories I could tell of how this special liberal arts college tucked in a small town in Indiana has touched my life over the years. Here is one of the sweetest stories of all…

When our son Stewart was born, one of my dearest college friends, Martha, sent him a bunny. “Bunbun” was cherished for years, tucked under Stewart’s arm on car trips, snuggled into bed with him and packed into Stewart’s footlocker when he went off to summer camp. True confessions? “Bunbun” even went off to college with Stewart. I took a picture of him sitting in his dorm room at the beginning of New Student Week (at that very same college that brought Martha and I together), holding up the bun for documentation! For the sake of privacy, I will not post that here. :-)

Imagine how my heart melted when Stewart sent this photo of Theo with Stewart’s bunny by his side.

No matter what, friends, there is still strong love and hope alive and well in this world. We may need to look for it sometimes, but when we find it, it’s worth talking about and sharing. xoxoxoxoxoxox

PS Ann (another Earlham friend) had asked for info on how to care for amaryllis plants in the comments on my last blog post. Look here for lots of good stuff about amaryllis.