savoring the days

Batman and Maggie, fishing at the Floating Bridge in Brookfield, VT.

“oh, Great Spirit of Light and Love…”

supper from the garden

In the breezeway.

The monarch kite. Matilda (with one boot on and one boot off), Batman and Flora.

Picking our pears before the raccoons do.

A gift from a garden in Indiana, blooming here in Vermont.

Matilda, wearing a dress I made for Maggie in 2019, that Flora wore too. :-)

Now I am washing linens, collecting toys and books from here and there. Taking some deep breathes. Resetting.

I’ll be back before the end of the month. Until then, know that you are with me in spirit, dearest ones.

xo

stepping away for a spell

Maggie, Gretta and I went to Billings Farm and Museum to check out the annual quilt exhibit. I’ll share photos of some of the fabric quilts later this August, but I thought you might enjoy seeing these barn quilt beauties!

We continue to thank our lucky stars that we are perched on high ground, and avoided the third wave of flooding that devastated parts of Vermont last week. Some towns in the Northeast Kingdom got 8” of rain overnight, in places that have already seen record flooding this summer. It’s been a very humid and warm summer…my least favorite kind! It’s all quite sobering.

August has turned into a very busy time, and in order to take a few things off my plate, I am going to give sewandsowlife a rest for a few weeks. You can be sure I’ll be back with more photos and musings. In the meantime, be who you are and keep on shining your light, dearest ones. xo

practicing hope

THANK YOU, FRIENDS, FOR ALL OF YOUR LOVELY COMMENTS on my last post. What fun it was to read your thoughts and ideas. I see you. I value you. I celebrate you. xo

When things felt especially heavy these last few months, I would self-soothe by thinking, “A lot can happen between now and November”. Goodness gracious, so much has happened in the last few weeks! This morning I woke up, pulled a sweatshirt on over my nightgown, brewed a mug of tea and set out into the morning fog.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled with long sighs. I sipped the Darjeeling and felt its comfort slide down my throat. I noticed, appreciated, delighted in the little bits of beauty all around me.

I felt myself easing into the day, rather than bracing myself for it.

I’m so grateful for a world renewed by possibility.

Before an appointment I had down in Bethel this morning, I dropped Batman at one of his favorite fishing spots. I joined him on the riverside after my appointment. You know I love to see what beauty pebbles and water can accomplish together…Summertime, not my fave, but I find ways to navigate it. :-)

Last week, Gretta and a friend joined me at the Middlebury College Museum of Art to see the Bread and Puppet exhibit.It was a delight to wander through. We also stopped by Sparrow Art Supply, owned and operated by one of Gretta’s high school buddies. I may have gotten into a bit of “trouble” there…

Gretta came up yesterday and we spent time in my studio, working side bye side on projects, and chatting about this and that. I’m so lucky to have these bits of time with my grown kids. One of the projects I worked on was mending what we call the “squishy chair” purchased years ago when we lived in Chicagoland. It has been loved and used to the point of ugliness. But yesterday I rejuvinated it with a scrap of fabric from my stash, circa the late 1990’s? The chair is still faded and tired looking, but it now it has a freshness about it. It sits in the corner of my studio, hosting a bit of hand sewing or a friend who wants to visit and chat.

My springtime flowers were lovely blues and lavenders and whites…the summertime blooms are wild and firey and hot.

This fuschia in my hanging basket, reminded me of the wild fuchsia bushes we saw in Scotland last September. (below)

To see more beauty from the British Isles, check out photos from Hannah Nunn’s wedding here. Golly, what a gorgeous occasion!

The garden and hoop house are filled with possibility, with crops coming on strong. The garlic needs to be dug once the ground dries out a bit, the blueberries are under netting, as they ripen and tease the birds. We’re tweaking the playhouse, in preparation for Flora and Matilda’s arrival in August. We can feel the days tumbling one into the next. As we age, Batman and I remind ourselves to savor these days. And we try to remember that being happy, creative and loving is productive. In fact, it’s part of the resistance! So glad to have you here, friends, alongside, gathered from many parts of the world. Both hoping for and working towards a better world. I send you gratitude. xo

I feel like the "low fuel" icon is flashing on the dashboard of my spirit.

Hello friends.

Does anyone else feel like even their reserves are depleted? Are you on the struggle bus? Has July felt like one long, hot slog? Seems like we’ve all been on bad news overload! And here in Vermont, the one year anniversary of dreadful flooding was overshadowed by more flooding. Our neck of the woods escaped damage, but folks north of us are slogging through another round of recovery. I don’t know how they do it, honestly.

Do we need to know everything that’s happening in the big wide world all the time? NO, no, a thousand times NO!

Perhaps you have dropped by here at sewandsowlife to get a peek at what will never make the headlines? Domestic, simple, uncomplicated bits of ordinary life? Hoping some of this will take your mind off things, gentle friends…

Freya and her mama and papa have been with us here in Vermont, they left this morning to head back to Detroit.

We celebrated Freya’s second birthday with a lovely gathering. Gretta, Ben and Maggie are living just an hour south of us for the summer, and so they joined us for the celebrations. You can see Freya’s sweet little fingers (above) cleaning up the last bits of her confetti cupcake. Her fingers are appropriately colored with markers (because all great celebrations are marked with color around here).

We’ve gone to story hour at the library, played in the kiddie pool, rambled around the local playground, eaten multiple creemees and read books, played with Duplos and drawn pictures. We’ve also made terrific use of a swing on the front porch. Time just folds into itself when you hang out with a two year old.

Hannah mentioned that a library tote might be a fun present for Freya, so I poked around the internet and found a cute image of a big eared kitty and tweaked it. There’s a little pocket stitched inside, so that when Freya gets her own library card, she’ll have a safe place to keep it. (Of course, I filled the tote with books, among them Harold and the Purple Crayon and a Richard Scary board book.)

Other things that offer sanctuary from the realities of the world:

  • the gardens and farmers market and their increasing bounty.

  • dead-heading the day lilies early in the morning and thanking each one for their fleeting beauty.

  • grabbing fresh herbs to cook with.

  • the birds, who sing and fly with abandon.

  • laughing out loud until we need to gasp for air.

  • reading. BTW, North Woods delighted me and exasperated me at the same time. Lyrical and very choppy at other times, I just don’t know what to make of it.

Good words from inspired people

  • from gather here’s July 3rd newsletter, “When I’m Worried I Make Things”. Sign up for the newsletter here.

  • also via gather here, npr’s Goat’s and Soda’s How do you stay optimistic in spite of it all? 6 hopeful souls share their secrets.

  • via heather cox richardson, “As Maine writer E. B. White famously wrote to a man who said he had lost faith in humanity: “Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”

Remember to breathe, hope, notice, invite, love, create, wonder and celebrate.

Let’s celebrate the little things, drop a comment below to let us know what has brought you comfort, joy, delight this week! Let’s refill out tanks. xo

manifesto

Well friends, I don’t know what to say. I actually feel a bit sick this afternoon. I’ve tried walking, meditating, reading, sewing, chatting, texting…I cannot shake the gloom. The ghosts of the sons and daughters of liberty must be shaking their heads wherever their spirits ended up.

So I’ll share with you, again, bits of my very favorite poem. Wendell Berry’s Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front. The entire poem is a gem, but these phrases often serve as true north for me.

Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.

Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.

Practice resurrection.

sending you light, love and hope, friends. i’d love to hear how you have navigated the day…

special edition

Good morning friends. I don’t often show my face here, but I felt called to come to this spot today, to be fully present, to check in.

Sometimes I wonder who I actually write for here at sewandsowlife…you or me! Since today feels so very unsettled, I think I am writing for all of us.

After breakfast, I decided to take a wander around our place here. I spent a bit of time just noticing. Paying attention. Appreciating. Wander with me?

When I feel this unsettled, I remind myself to do what I can in my own life, to make positive change in my own sphere of influence. And so, I rededicate myself to my volunteer work.

But the older I get, I also have respect for self-care. So, I’m not waiting til July to share my list of things I hope to do in the coming weeks and months. I’m not sure it’s a bucket list, maybe it’s more of a listing of what I want to be devoted to. Trying new things, making progress on current projects, and appreciating spaciousness in my days. So here goes…

  • work on the book for my Mumsie

  • visit the Middlebury College Museum of Art to see this exhibit and this is a wonderful short film you may want to watch.

  • pop in to Sparrow Art Supply while in Middlebury.

  • I was gifted a bit of raw flax, grown by a neighbor. I’m curious about making a wee basket with it. Inspiration found here.

  • I’ve got a packet of “Chinese knotting cord” and would like to try making a friendship bracelet, using this tutorial.

  • maybe try making a fabric scrap paper mâché bowl. I’m not a fan of balloons and modge podge, because they are not great for the planet…

  • we made a very special visit to an automata museum in Scotland. I’d like to try making a gizmo or two and then share the story with you.

  • we’ve got a lot of sage in the garden, and I have three ways I want to play with it.

  • keep on hand quilting Nelson’s quilt.

  • create an outdoor loom, where found objects can be woven into a summer tapestry.

  • make something fun for Freya’s second birthday.

  • reading on the three season porch

  • riding my new e-bike!

In the kitchen

  • try a recipe for garlic scape soup

  • stew up some rhubarb

  • try making some mocktails

  • roast some strawberries (!)

At my desk

  • write more snail mail (maybe one a day?)

  • organize some files (not fun, but I’ll feel better when it’s done)

gorgeous new USPS Shaker stamps and a sweet card from Lori at Little Truths Studio.

With family

  • revel in multiple visits with grandkids

  • play games

  • splash in the wading pool

  • go adventuring

  • etc etc etc

I invite each of you, dearest ones, to spend some time thinking about ways you and your very own special talents are changing your little part of the world. And then think about how you might find shelter and sanctuary from that very same world.

It’s a balancing act. I know that, for sure.

But none of us is alone. And each of us has a shining light.

Shine, friends.

Share your light with the world. And hold that light up to find your own way, too.

xo

time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'...

A group of friends gathered down the road for a solstice celebration. This gorgeous cheese was made from goat’s milk gathered and cellared on property.

We made “living wreaths”, using metal frames provided by our hosts. Each of us brought our own plants. I found mine on sale at a local greenhouse. What fun it was to chat and plant and snack and chat some more with the sweetest of people! And who can believe that summer is here and July is just around the corner?

Summer is my least favorite season (I know, odd, isn’t it?) but I am determined to make the best of it. I’m working on a July “bucket list” which I’ll share next week. Maybe you’d like to create your own bucket list?

Each person’s wreath was unique as its maker. I did not crowd my plants, hoping they will fill in as the summer unfolds.

Most folks made their wreaths to hang. I like using mine as a centerpiece out on the deck for now.

The “heat dome” did not spare Vermont, and last week was scorching here. In the mid nineties for temperatures and full-on humidity, the weather finally broke with wild winds and pounding rain on Thursday night. The relief was wonderful, with plummeting temperatures and better sleeping weather.

I took advantage of the cooling and fired up my oven one morning to bake rhubarb muffins, with rhubarb cut from our gardens. You can find the healthy-ish recipe here. They have cardamom in them and lemon, too, so they are lip smacking good.

We celebrated Wilma’s “gotcha day” last week, and remembered when we first brought her home eight years ago. We love her so.

Ben and Maggie and Gretta are living in Vermont this summer, about an hour south of us, so we will get to see them more often. This past weekend, Gretta, Maggie and I went to visit family in MA. We stayed overnight with the ever-generous Doug and Ra and Maggie got to put her toes in the ocean. The next day we went to visit my Mumsie in her assisted living community and took a four-generation selfie. It cracks me up whenever Maggie talks of visiting with her “ancestors”.

Doug and Ra’s house abuts a salt marsh, and osprey keep an eye on the neighborhood. This guy spent a good bit of time flying overhead and screeching at us until we stepped away.

In the reading department, our book group gave an unusual “thumbs down” to Mercury Pictures Presents, by Anthony Marra. Our group will continue to meet over the summer, but we’ll be cooking together, using Vermont cookbooks as our inspiration. For my own summer reading, I picked up a book at our library that looks promising, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, by Eric Kinenberg. I’ve also got my nose in Johnny Tremain, a Newbery Award winner by Esther Forbes. I’ve read and listened to this book multiple times with my kids when they were little, and since I do love a coming-of-age story, it’s got a bookmark in it once again.

I’ve run out of energy here, dear friends. Sending fresh Vermont breezes your way, and best wishes to you as June winds down and we get ourselves ready for whatever July has to throw at us. Whatever that might be, you can find me taking deep, relaxing breaths, looking for the light in everything. Each and every one of you is part of that light. I remain grateful for your presence here. xo

revelling

I decided to let June be all about revelling. When the fields are filled with yellow buttercups, there does not seem to be any other option. In the past, I’ve written about buttercups here, and here.

The days have been spectacular. Sunny, temperate, breezy. The lightning bugs have returned at dusk, blinking their magic as the evening falls. (I’m remembering you especially, Liz. xo)

The hoop house is exploding with greens. The tomatoes and peppers are gearing up for their celebrations later this summer. Pinch me. Is this real?

The peony crescent is nearing full bloom, and when I walk by this bouquet on the porch, their scent just makes me swoon. The California poppies are going gangbusters and they make me dizzy with their color and dancing in the breeze.

This morning I did my usual Saturday loop in Montpelier. How much do you love the pride flag and the flower basket hanging from the same pole? The farmers market was bursting at the seams with bounty. I popped into Bohemian Bakery for a decaf mocha and a cherry danish. Then on to Hunger Mountain Co-op, where I filled in the gaps. When I got home, I washed and chopped and prepped for the week ahead. It is going to get HOT and I want to be ready!

And I continue to stitch on the porch, listening to North Woods as the day unwinds in the late afternoon.

Let me share with you some beautiful things I have stumbled upon in the last few weeks…

Sometimes it just feels right to write about beauty and not get caught up in all the sticky things in the world. Sending you big gulps of hope and love and light, dearest readers. Get out there and revel!

xo

June days

Once again, my sweet friend Anne gave me a generous nod in her newsletter, and a few new readers have found their way over here to sewandsowlife. Welcome friends! I hope you’ll find some sanctuary here amidst the noise of the world.

Jacob’s ladder, lupine, iris, violets and lobelia are blooming in a riot of blues and purples in the garden beds and window box. Tiger Swallowtails are gulping down the last of the lilac nectar. The bluebird babies are fledging and the barred owl starts its hooting just as the sun peeks over the ridge in the morning. The peony crescent garden is just about ready to explode. The lettuce is coming on strong in the hoop house and the chives are blooming. We are eating most of our meals out on the three season porch, where we can keep an eye on the deer grazing in the meadow. I think we need to thread the fishing line through the hook eyes at the top of the fence posts around the veggie garden beds.

I bought asparagus and sugar snap peas at the farmers market on Saturday and made a pot of spring minestrone last night. I love Heidi Swanson’s book, Super Natural Cooking… she also writes the blog 101 Cookbooks. I remember years ago, bringing local ingredients home from VT in a cooler to our place in CT and making this same recipe. Batman and I sat out on the front door stoop, bowls in hand and longed for the days when we could be in VT full time. :-)

When I last went to visit my Mumsie in MA, I took my 100 days of stitching book to show her. She sat with it for a long time, turning the pages and running her fingers gently over the stitches. She asked to see it again the next day when I stopped by on my way back to VT. I asked her if she would like a little book of her own and her eyes lit up. Driving home, my brain was in full imagination mode. I was flooded with ideas. Sometimes when I’m working on composing pages, I like to create collections of things to inspire me. I thought I’d share one of these “groupings” with you, above.

I also turn to children’s books for inspiration. Trina Schart Hyman’s Little Red Riding Hood is one of my all time faves, above. My Mumsie adores foxes, and so the first page I stitched for her book includes a scrap from this project which I sewed for our granddaughter Maggie during the pandemic.

The background for this page was dyed with avocado skins and pits. The turquoise silk was dyed with home grown indigo. The sweet hibernating mouse is from a fabric collection called Tilda’s World. I think this page needs a little bit of “something”, so I am waiting for something to surface.

My Mumsie is a miniaturist and she loves children’s books, too. She loves the natural world and animals of many kinds. She taught me to sew at a young age and so I am really having fun with this project.

On my cutting table…a gnome, some mushrooms, a badger…

A quick word about audiobooks. Thank you all, for the recommendations! I have tried a few options and have settled on both Libby and Libro.fm. I finished listening to The Lioness of Boston, about the life and times of Isabella Stuart Gardener, and I loved The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Both works of historical fiction, they document the lives of two very different women! Now I am reading Amor Towles’ newest book Table For Two. What do you have a bookmark in, dearest readers?

I do so wish we could all gather on the deck, shaded a bit now by the growing crabapple tree. We could have iced tea, or maybe lemonade and watch as the afternoon shadows slice across the meadow. The breeze would keep the bugs away, and our conversation would drift from books, to hand projects, to recipes, to hopeful things and to our dreams. I am there with you in spirit, friends. Pull up a chair and join the circle. xo

a quick note

I made time today to go out into the meadow, where I tilted my head back, raised my arms and gave thanks to the twelve jurors who took their roles as ordinary citizens seriously and upheld the Constitution of these United States. How grateful I am to them for their service to justice.