pin basting the donation quilt.
gretta and lindsey helped me pick this lovely terra cotta kona solid at a shop out in ann arbor.
it plays nicely with all six improv blocks.
my treasured 1971 roger tory peterson still gets the job done.
black krim and green zebra tomatoes and bell peppers from the hoop house.
On the wall behind us…Cai Gua-Qiang: Cuyahoga River Lightning: drawing for the Cleveland Museum of Art. On loan. Read about it here. (A-MA-ZING.)
Hello friends! I have navigated our interstate highway system once again and I remain fascinated by how we are able to get from here to there. (There are flaws, I know, but there are joys to be had along the way.) The drifts of black-eyed-Susans and Queen Anne’s lace in the ditches along the pavement…the undulating rows of the vineyards along the Great Lakes…the barns, fading and groaning under the weight of years…the giant windmills, catching energy as they rotate amidst the farmland…the rising mist at dawn, as I pull down the visor to avoid the glare of the summertime rising sun… the road cuts, spilling all sorts of rock formations for all to see…and reminders of the people of the First Nations, challenging the status quo with billboards along the way. And the quiet. Hours alone in a car with so much time to think and reflect and plan. Ahhhhh…
My days in the Midwest were filled with visits with all four children, their partners and all four (!) grandchildren. There were playgrounds and errands and chores and iced lattes and strolling and laundry and changing diapers and burping and laughing and reading kids’ books and great food and…well, you get the idea…
Oh, and meeting tiny Freya and sniffing the back of her neck (eau de newborn) and snuggling her on my shoulder.
I was so lucky to have time with everyone at once and also, some in single family units.
When Ben, Gretta and Maggie invited me to meet them at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, I was delighted! We met up to see the Watershed exhibit and it blew my mind more than once. From their website: Watershed brings recent work from fifteen contemporary artists to UMMA for an exhibition that immerses visitors in the interconnected histories, present lives, and imagined futures of the Great Lakes region.
The museum provided an excellent workbook for families to use as they moved through the exhibit. You can find a copy here (excellent museum work!) In the photo (above), Maggie and I were considering our reactions to some of the things we saw while walking through the gallery. It’s hard to describe how lovely it was to have Maggie tucked up next to me, to share our thoughts and to watch her draw in her booklet.
Two of the artists used cyanotypes to create their works. Meghann Riepenhoff’s work responded to the chemicals dumped into the confluence of the Genessee River and Lake Ontario by Kodak. You can check out her amazing work here.
Along with the workbook for families, the museum offered small cyanotype kits to families. I can’t wait to see what Maggie does with hers! I came home and dug out an old package I had stashed in my studio and tried my hand at making a print this morning (above.) Clearly, the paper is old and it’s not a sunny day here in Vermont, so the results were not great…but I had fun.
Coincidentally (don’t you love coincidences?) my friend Anne recently sent me some snail mail written on a card made by one of her students. You can find Nina’s gorgeous botanical cyanotypes here.
There’s so much more to share, but I will save some for another day.
I hope you have been well, dearest readers, as summer pushes its way through August. We are hoping for more rain here in Vermont, and cooler days, perhaps you are too.
xo
Can you see it? The harsh sunlight and the swelter edging around the yard? This is my least favorite time of year, and even though it’s perfect for line drying laundry, it’s not so good for my British/Nordic cooling system.
My sweet Wilma is a kindred spirit, she goes belly up on the windowsill, catching a breeze where she can.
Yes, the gardens are going gangbusters, thanks to a recent drenching rain, but I still feel parched. I hydrate like a marathon runner, even tho I’m in slow motion. I toss and turn under just a sheet at night, depending on the ceiling fan to stir the air. I do not bring my best self to the work of the day when I’m slogged down in mid-July and the whole month of August. It has ever been thus.
So I am on to greener pastures. I’m packing up my little blue Subaru and I am heading west, to be grandma in residence for Freya, with a dash of Theo, Flora and Magpie thrown in. Hoping this distraction will get me through a few weeks of summer…
I’ll be taking a pause from blogging for a bit, just sinking down into the lovely days of bearing witness to a new family growing their way into their future. And watching as cousins and aunts and uncles find their place in our expanding family. It feels like a sacred opportunity and I’ll walk into it softly and with gratitude.
I’ll see you back here in Vermont in a bit. In the meantime, be gentle with yourselves, friends. xo
p.s. I’ve been trying to respond to your comments on the post where you left them…
p.p.s. If you have any tips for embracing the “dog days of summer”, let me know in the comments! :-)
Hannah and Loren’s baby girl was delivered safely on Tuesday afternoon. Little Freya is a cherub and much cherished. She joins the growing posse of our beloved grandchildren, and I won’t hesitate to use the word blessed.
Once we finished with Zoom meetings that evening, Batman and I popped open a small bottle of Prosecco and toasted to the new and shining light that has entered the world.
Our veggie gardens are parched, requiring us to water them once in a while, which is concerning, because our home depends on well water. The sun gold tomatoes are just coming in down in the hoop house and I close my eyes when I pop them in my mouth. It’s the quintessential taste of summer for me.
The improv kids’ quilt is coming together. It will be donated once it’s done, via our quilt guild. Do you have any thoughts on what solid color might be nice to use as the in-between lattice strips? (Does that count for “crowd sourcing?”).
I’m using scraps from a cape I made for Maggie a few years ago. It’s a super fun novelty print that I’ll use in other projects down the road. I just can’t throw the scraps away!!!
This is how I work. Messy as heck.
How about you?
Are you a tidy project person or a jump into the deep end person?
Yesterday Batman and I spent some time in Middlebury, VT checking out a new shop opened by a dear someone we’ve known for ages, (one of Gretta’s best friends from high school). You can read about the shop opening here. I love that Beth had a vision, and despite the pandemic, found a way to open Sparrow Art Supply and Gallery. Beth is building community with art supplies and local art. Magic.
After saying “hi” to Beth and shopping a bit, we wandered around downtown Midddlebury. We walked across a pedestrian bridge to get this great view of the falls. The trees were filled with rollicking cedar waxwings who must have been catching bugs disturbed by the churning water. Maybe there were a dozen of them, chattering and flitting, flying very close to us.
Babies, sewing with scraps, eating tomatoes from the hoop house, wandering with no big agenda…these are the things bringing me joy and comfort these days. And of course, a maple creemee on the way home, at one of the best creemee stands in Vermont.
Maybe you wandered with me here, friends, and maybe you had a chance to catch your breath. I sure do hope so.
xo
A design for this tattoo had been rolling around in my head for years. (See my first tattoo, here.) I knew I wanted to get something like this for my 65th birthday and due to COVID I finally got it last week, more than a year later.
This tattoo really feels like a portable resumé of my life, filled with so much meaning…some of which is too dear and close to my heart to share. But I can tell you that I have spent most of my life in partnership with needles and thread. (The metaphors for mending the world seem endless these days). As I sat down with Pat at Black Meadow Gallery and Tattoo, I realized that rather than have a thread with a knot at the end I really wanted to include a square knot, one of the strongest knots around. If you tug on a square knot it just gets tighter and stronger.
I’m still getting used to catching the tattoo out of the corner of my eye, and I smile every time I see it.
And this, dearest ones is a motto I am keeping front and center these days. As my brood of grand children grows, I’m reminded of the passage of time, of shifts in the generations. I am certainly not feeling like I’m getting to the end of things…but there is more behind me than in front of me. Of that I am aware. So, Rilke’s words bring me comfort.
And as for creating an oasis…I thought I’d bring you a smorgasbord of things that have brought me relief, distraction and comfort in the last few weeks…
BOOKS
Our book group just read The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams. It’s a gem, and I recommend it to you. I did not realize it was historical fiction until I was well into it, and I recommend reading all the goodies at the end of the novel, too.
I got two books through our inter-library loan program. Frances Palmer’s Life in the Studio has been recommended to me by several friends. The photos alone are an inspiration, and the text just adds to the pleasure of the book.
I learned of the second book via my dear, dear friend Dolo. Written in the 1990’s by historian Howard Zinn, the title is You Can’t Be Neutral On a Moving Train. Eerily timely, it’s a refreshing read on the role of hope in the world.
Do you know of Libro.com? It’s a free app where you can purchase audio books from independent booksellers. In fact, you can help support your favorite indie bookseller with your purchases. This July, Libro.com is giving away two free downloadable audiobooks, and the link can be found here. The two books have me intrigued…Let’s Talk About Hard Things by Anna Sale and High Conflict, Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley.
CONNECTING WITH KINDRED SPIRITS
I’ve been making a point of setting dates for phone conversations with “old” friends. Not Zoom calls, or Facetime, just old fashioned phone calls. Hearing the voices of dear friends and giving and getting updates has been profoundly gratifying.
I went to an in-person gathering of our quilt guild this morning and it was just a delight. We were careful about being socially distanced, some wore masks, but we were all together, much like my book group meeting on Friday.
We’ve been gobbling up the Montpelier Farmers’ Market each Saturday, wandering from stall to stall, basket in hand, chatting with farmers and crafts folk and bakers. Such fun to see the same folks week after week and begin to have the kind of connections that have been so missed these last few years.
REASSURING WORDS
Another resource shared by several friends are words from Mary Pipher, whose Raising Ophelia is a gem of a parenting book. Her opinion piece in a recent issue of the NYTimes titled How I Build a Good Day When I’m Full of Despair at the World is worth a read (or two).
The first Gen Z candidates are running for Congress—and running against compromise, a story on NPR a few weeks ago, will bring hope to your heart.
Do you know of Insight Timer? Another phone app, it’s free, with an option to upgrade. I often use the free mediations to start my day. I am very fond of this one right now. It’s just 6 minutes long, and it really sets a nice tone for the day.
IN THE GARDEN
Be sure to check out my friend Anne’s blog. She invited her readers to submit photos and she took us on a grand tour of 12 gardens! Check out the variety here.
Batman and I have been rehabbing overgrown flower beds, weeding the veggies, spreading new mulch on the paths between the raised beds and chipping more branches downed by the winter winds and trimmed with Batman’s clippers. Getting into the dirt while the sun kisses our shoulders and the breezes discourage the bugs…being a team, still after all these years…an oasis, for sure.
I really am a list maker. Are you? Here’s my list of the fun things ahead for the week (vs the ordinary, keeping up with commitments things)
piece a promised quilt top to help our guild reach its goal of 22 donated quilts in 2022.
catch up on snail mail
FaceTime with Maggie
How about you? Where are you finding hope? What’s on your fun “to do” list?
Sending buckets of love and hope and joy and comfort to each of you, dearest readers. xo
On Wednesday Batman and I consolidated a bunch of errands (to save on gasoline and time) and trekked out into the world, taking I-89 south. We were determined to pack some pleasure into our day and so we found this neat, off the radar spot to take a short hike. The trail loops out onto an esker, dipping up and down in elevation through gorgeous pine groves. The trail goes out onto a steep drop-off where the esker created a finger of land jutting out into the Connecticut River. Our steps were cushioned by layers of pine needles and the ferns rustled in the gentle breeze.
It was a good place to shed some tension and reset my attitude. Lots of deep breaths, sighs and stretches helped.
Maybe you have found a place to wander, relax your shoulders, exhale, readjust? They are precious places these days, because we are all carrying so much in our spirits and hearts.
Did you watch as Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in yesterday? I was teary. I am so grateful that Judge Jackson is willing to serve on the court, but because it’s so broken, I hold thoughts of her close to my heart. She is wading into very rough waters and I wish her strength, support and protection.
Sending you courage, dearest ones, as we navigate the changes that are swirling around us.
xo
P.S. Today I did something I’ve been thinking of doing for years and it was deeply satisfying. More later.
light and dark have played together since the beginning of time.
decay and newness can be held at the same time.
grief, anger, frustration…they can lead us to action and change.
this is something that may be easier to embrace in the days ahead.
for now…find some beauty and sit in her midst.
please do not forget to let your own light shine.
keep thoughts of faithful friends close to your heart.
remember to look up.
nourish and hydrate.
the sun will come up tomorrow, no matter what.
dearest ones, it has been a day. know that i am here, holding space for all of us to just breathe. xo
Drifts of daisies, devil’s paintbrush, buttercups and red clover speckle the meadows. Lupin are making a last splash amidst the medians on I-89. Most of the flowering trees have turned their energies to starting fruit on their branches. The lightning bugs have begun their evening flights of fancy.
What a treat to spend so much of yesterday caught up in Mother Nature’s rhythms. The certainty of her planetary cycles is a welcome respite from the current chaos we find ourselves enmeshed in.
On Sunday, Batman and I edged, weeded and mulched the peony crescent. It was so satisfying to use our homemade mulch, chipped with the help of an attachment on Batman’s tractor.
Last night, early in the evening, I wandered out to the peonies, clippers in hand and harvested a bowlful of blossoms.
I brought them in, pulled the petals off, rinsed and drained them. Then I poured boiling water over them, covered the bowl with a tea towel and left them to steep overnight. The scent in the kitchen was intoxicating.
Batman and I had strawberry shortcake for supper, because what else would one have for supper on the solstice? We used King Arthur Baking’s recipe for lemon cornbread biscuits, here. Of course we had them mit schlag and berries from the farmers market. The biscuit recipe really is amazing.
We ate generous bowls of deliciousness outdoors as the bonfire was lit. Rain was in the forecast, so we got started after the sunset, but before it got dark.
I made a daisy bracelet and took this photo for Maggie, who was very curious about my wrinkly skin when we were together last week. :-)
You may be able to see the sheets of rain coming across the valley in waves as it hits each mountaintop along the way. We stayed outdoors as long as we could and then tumbled in just as the downpour began. We need the rain. It was a celebration of hope and renewal.
This morning I got up early and made five jars of peony jelly, using this recipe that I found on the website of the Alaska Peony Cooperative. (Did you know there was such a thing? I did not!) I’m not convinced I’ve got things just right and am waiting til later this morning to check the jelly out. I still have much to learn in the world of making preserves!*
It’s still raining and so I will spend some time in my sewing studio today. I have some new and fresh inspirations I want to play with.
I hope you were able to find some time to celebrate the solstice, friends, wherever you are. I know things are topsy turvy in the Southern Hemisphere. That has always fascinated me…how we are all rooted on the same planet, but can find ourselves in different seasons and time zones.
Oddly, I’m not a huge fan of the summertime. Her blazing heat and glaring light challenge my northern soul. But each year I try to find her pleasures…lovely gardens filled with bounty, quiet evenings on the deck with a breeze off the mountains, more social time wrapped in the freedom of being outdoors, farmers markets, festivals…and dye season!
Sending love, sending hope, sending hugs…to each of you, dearest ones. xo
*The peony jelly was a success! It jelled nicely and it’s got a complex and delicious flavor. :-)
A WINNER Hello friends! I have been away for a week and I returned to find some very lovely comments and emails about my last post. Thank you for your generous kindness. I picked a random winner and Martha will find the “imagine” banner in her mailbox next week. I’m so glad to know its gentle message will be hanging in a home far from Vermont.
Whenever I do a giveaway, I end up a bit sad that I cannot offer something to everyone. I’ll continue to do an occasional giveaway in hopes that someday will be your lucky day. xo
The Ambassador Bridge, an international suspension bridge across the Detroit River, connecting the USA and Canada.
AN ADVENTURE We loaded up the pickup with bins of 1980-1990’s era Playmobiles, Legos and marble works. Batman had refinished the bunkbeds from our own kids’ era and we loaded those up too, along with an assortment of other childhood treasures. We spent our 43rd wedding anniversary on a 13 hour drive through to Detroit. :-)
Oh, the fun we had, gathered with all four kids and three grandkids.
On Friday, Batman painted Flora’s new bedroom and we set up her new “big girl bed”. We made another visit to Fish Eye Farm, to pick up a CSA share. Early on Saturday, we visited Eastern Market, Our mission is to nourish a healthier, wealthier, happier Detroit, as we have been doing since 1891. Later in the day, we celebrated Hannah and Loren’s baby shower. On Sunday we went to the opening of 4 1/2 year old Maggie’s art gallery, in her apartment. Photos, above. On Monday we celebrated LIndsey’s birthday with a cruise along the Detroit River.
Another day we trekked out to Ann Arbor to the WE Upjohn Peony Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum at the U of Michigan. You can read all about the amazing work that’s being done to study this gorgeous flower on the linked website. (And right now, our peony bed here in Vermont is spectacular!)
A carousel filled with roaring tigers.
Tuesday night found us watching the Tigers play the White Socks with eight of us supporting Maggie’s first baseball experience. What a hoot! Maggie made it to the seventh inning stretch when she realized how late it was and decided it was time for her to go home. She was ready to go back the next day for another game.
The Tigers were Batman’s childhood team and he remains loyal to them all these years later. What fun to have some of our kids in the Tigers’ neighborhood!
There was amazing food all week, some homemade and some ethnic take out, which is hard to find on the back roads of Vermont. We also made a pilgrimage to Sister Pie, one of our fave Detroit landmarks.
We had some quiet time with little Theo and his mama and papa on our way back east, and ended up pulling into our driveway last evening.
What a privilege and joy to be able to spend time with family and friends far from home. It reminds us of how precious these connections are. And spending time in and around Detroit continues to inspire and challenge the way we think about equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging. There are so many connections to this work, no matter where we live. And so…
SOME CURIOSITY Juneteenth’s coming up this weekend and I am learning more about this holiday each year. There are many events scheduled here in Vermont, one of the whitest states in our nation. I’ll be listening to some podcasts in the next few days to open my heart and brain to more learning. Maybe you have some curiosity too?
Now that we’re home from our adventures, I’m looking forward to time in my studio, refreshed by a break in our routine.
I hope you are able to find refreshment, friends. Maybe it’s a break from your routine as well, maybe it’s just a walk around the block or out in the woods. In any case, wishing you a wonderful weekend…full of curiosity and fun.
love always, me.
the blue color here is slightly distorted.
As a child of the 1960’s, some of my strongest memories are infused with images on my family’s small black and white TV. Our bravest Americans were assassinated onscreen, protests of all sorts were caught on camera and inequities were challenging the status quo all over America.
Despite the time and energy many of us have invested in doing what we can over these many years, here we are again. Or better put, still. These are tough times to navigate, friends. Often it’s hard to know how to say something meaningful.
But friends, there’s music. There was music then, so much amazing music. Music to inspire, to resist, to pull people together. And there’s music now, too.
I head to my sewing studio to find sanctuary, calm and restoration. As I thought of the invitation from the Chandler Center for the Arts and their call for submissions for their area artist exhibit, I felt moved to bring John Lennon’s timeless anthem Imagine to life with this textile piece.
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one.
The show comes down soon and I want to spread a tiny bit of hope and love and comfort today. I’m not sure what else to do at the moment…IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TOSS YOUR NAME IN FOR A CHANCE TO FIND THIS imagine banner IN YOUR MAILBOX, leave a note in the comments below or send me an email at sewandsowlife(at)gmial(dot)com. I’ll leave this giveaway open until next week…say Friday June 17th at noon EST.
maker’s notes: fusible transfer paper for the letters, raw edge appliqué and quilting done using my sewing machine, vintage linen napkin purchased at our hospital’s thrift shop for the base, cotton quilt batting, letters cut from linen dyed with homegrown indigo.