bee creative

in season: golden

There are times right now that I stay still more than I want to.  If I move around a lot at home, Briar will follow me. And I don't think that is especially comfortable for her always.  Today it is not.  She didn't want to jump down the three steps on the front porch and she needed help coming back up. 

Can I use this as an excuse for not having washed the windows?

The sun is intense.  Is it the cold (below freezing here, even during the day)?  The time of year?  I did a little research, "Does cold air affect the light?"  And came up with Mirage. 

Interesting but not quite right.

A better question was, "How does light change with the seasons?" And I came up with an explanation for the "Reasons for the Seasons."

So some time to sit with my library books:

I didn't make it all the way through Craftivism.  After finding numerous more quotes and ideas I wanted to hang on to, I decided it was really a book that I wanted to add to my collection.  Here's another quote I really liked by Kim Werker.

And all that led me to requesting her book, Make it Mighty Ugly from the library.  I suspect it will end up on my wish list too.

Just in case anyone is wondering, for me a well used library card does not damage book sales at the locally owned bookstore.  It only lets me decide what I really want to add to my collection.

There also was some stitching.  This fabric was a gift.  Is it possible to say "Thank you," too many times?  I don't think so. 

When Jude sent it to me she wrote that she hoped I would find it useful...I'm making a fabric box with these pieces, so yes useful indeed. 

New posts up at bee creative cooking.  

begin again, knitting a thoughtful blanket

Making a blanket

1. Local wool

2. Hand spun (thick and thin 'cause that's what I like best)

3. Knit on locally made knitting needles (size 6).

4. Made from squares, about 8 inches big.

5. The squares will be stitched together.

6. The blanket will be felted/fulled to make it dense (in other words, more dog proof). 

7.  The blanket can not become so heavy or large that it is hard to wash (I keep forgetting that).

Estimated time to finish...maybe by next December if I don't get too distracted by anything else.  My goal is to make at least one square a week. 

And because I tend to listen to interviews or ponder things I've currently been reading as I knit, it's going to be a "thoughtful blanket."  I am thinking to share a bit of the knitting and a bit of a quote every-once-and-awhile. 

This weekend I am reading (and must finish as it is due on Monday and I can't renew it again) Craftivism edited by Betsy Greer.  Her definition of Craftivism can be found here.  I love it. 

One of my favorite quotes so far:

 

 

thankful

local

I'm currently reading Blessing the Hands that Feed Us by Vicki Robin and found the following:

"We can build levees but we cannot control the vehemence of storms.  We can, as farmers know, plant and tend and water and watch, but we only work with nature, not command it.  Especially now, as we watch the skies and wonder if the storms sweeping in again and again are harbingers of climate change or just-as we hope-El Nino or La Nina." 

The weather is always worth considering. 

The weather report:  Sunny at the moment, but there has been rain and wind and there is supposed to be more heavy rain again soon.  It is warmer, probably 50 something. 

Robin continues:

"Food vulnerability is the last thing any of us wants. In fact, agriculture is our sustained human attempt to control our food supplies.  Without predictability of "food income," the energy of a family or culture is necessarily focused on survival.  Once those needs are met, we liberate our hands and minds for invention, for the arts, for dreams, for so much of what we identify as human." 

Because it is a topic that I care about, I'm familiar with most of the points she's making and the information she's sharing.  It's still very worth the reading to me.  I read it and think, "this is a community that I belong to." 

 

This video is worth the watching too. 

My sour cherry tree.  The cold snap we had last week came so quickly many trees still had green leaves.  Now they are frost damaged, dead on the tree but still attached. 

I wonder how many wind storms it will take for the leaves to detach and go their way? 

No bee creative cooking post this week. 

in the hand

It's been awhile since I've done any hand stitching.  Today I found some fabric that I really liked and started 2 by 2 until I had a grid.  Wool because it is warm in the hand. 

Overlaid now with the screen that has been catching raindrops all day.

Weather report:  High winds but from the south so it is warmer, heavy rains, dark sky. 

And then because I started considering the difference between knitting and sewing I started knitting...

Thinking about my desire to make things whole, to put things back together. 

And that returns me to a favorite book... Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams. 

"I trust what I can touch.  The surface of things is what we touch." 

And because it fits the day...A favorite song, Autumn Lullaby by Natalie Merchant, that can be listened to here. 

 

catching sunshine while it lasts

Morning sun caught in a couple of the glass ornaments my mother has made (fused glass). 

A few more days of sunshine and then rain and gray again.  Found last night:

"Every year we have been witness to it: how the world descends into a rich mash, in order that it may resume." Mary Oliver

New post up at bee creative cooking.

5 moments from the day

(sorry mom, no sweet potatoes but I did get a persimmon for Grandma and sampled a Medlar.)

I'd been doing a pretty good job with the spinning wheel and then suddenly I couldn't get it to work.  Today I figured out what I was doing wrong...  It's all about having the right tension. 

post cards from a frosty corner

 

Click on photos if the text is hard to read.

The weather report:  39 F, 34 with wind chill.  Winds NNE 13 to 23, visibility 10 miles (far enough to see the stars). 

Sunset:  4:30ish. 

"I get all the news I need on the weather report." Paul Simon

out of season

A little pot of grape hyacinth (muscari) that I bought this spring and then left on the porch.  It dried out over the summer and then for some reason  (probably because it's been warmer than average) decided to bloom again once the autumn rains started. 

New post up at bee creative cooking

restless

Restless... It's an unusual feeling for me. 

It could be the weather.  Heavy rain, high winds, a record high dipping to almost freezing a few days later, sunshine, fog... a week full of weather. 

And a full moon.

It could be lack of sleep...

Briar ended up with an infection and bladder stones. She was getting me up several times a night and is now recovering nicely from surgery. 

With a little kitty company. 

It could be having finished a big project (the  poncho)...

I have started at least three different projects with this yarn and pulled them out.  I will probably pull this out too. 

It just doesn't feel right yet. 

Reminding myself that this is sometimes part of being creative.