bee creative

#91 looking at a finishing line

Closing in on my goal of 100 posts. 

Looking back on post number one (May 8) of this set and thinking about the words I started with:

resiliency, comfort, caregiving and languishing. 

Daily posts did not happen. 

There were days of not being sure what I wanted to say. 

When the moment that I could just show up passed by.

Days of "good enough."

(Layers of windows that need to be washed and lace.)

I realized quickly that comfort was too narrow of a word; caregiving more what I meant. 

That (much like field notes) everything I post is really about caregiving, about being part of a community. 

Everything about resiliency, about how we continue.

(Three 1 gallon bags of frozen grapes stored)

(Act of comfort, frozen cookie dough...all gone.) 

Languishing has been a real thing at times since May.

Of feeling stuck.  Not depressed but not thriving.

(I know, it's becoming the kitten chronicles again.)

There has been, and is, a lot of comfort in making. 

And there is a lot of sadness in knowing I need to make more masks.

Wishing everyone a moment of comfort.

P.S. next word I want to consider...melodramatic, but not for 100 posts! :) 

 

#90 return

I paused for awhile on this...

I like how my stripes are crooked sometimes.

Off work for a few day.

I am glad that today's decisions are something like...rug or quilt square?

Maybe both.

#89 learn a new skill: rug making

Making rugs has been on my to-do list for awhile. 

After seeing Ilka White's beautiful rugs and learning that she teaches classes, I thought now is the time!

It will be a great way to use up scraps...I love that knits and woven fabrics can be used together.  Denim is good too.

And other things can be made...bags, baskets

and

kitten beds?

#88 reflecting and list making

Yesterday...

A short walk before going to work. 

It was quiet, but many friendly hellos.

I would have liked to stay longer.

Finished the second panel for the insomnia blanket and have started a third. 

It's now lap sized, I would like it to cover the bed.

Today there is gardening and collecting to do. 

#87 in the dark

A couple weeks ago I treated myself to sunflowers,

shared a couple too. 

They are almost done.

I will save the dark petals and seeds for some dyeing experiments.

A couple dozen walnuts have been collected after our wind storm as well to freshen the walnut vat.

The balance of light and dark is disorienting me this year.  Up  early in the morning I start doing things and then suddenly realize even though it is dark, it is much later than I think it is...

When I think of the kittens as a duo I've started calling them "K2." There is a local taproom named that.

Individually they seem to go by multiple names as well... "Gibson Go-lightly" and Timber Timbre Marshall."

If you receive a strange message from me it's because they like to stomp across the keyboard.

#86 companionship

Up early...knitting because all cats are occupied. 

Either sleeping, playing, watching, exploring or eating.

(Noticing how every different way of folding creates something new.)

Widget is trying hard to figure out how to interact.

Chase is good.

Swatting is good (especially from different levels). 

Take down is bad when it's Widget versus one of the boys.

Surprising Widget is bad...

(Recently made new pillow cases. Eventually I may dye these in indigo...the vat definitely needs to be brought inside.)

Last night, thinking the boys weren't ready to be out during the night, I put them in the bathroom.  An hour later Widget's growling woke me up. 

Two kittens on the prowl.

Companionship is good.

#85 eat lunch

Watermelon + Feta + basil + walnuts + olive oil + sherry vinegar.

And

"Not Marshall" has been named Timber.  Which could be timber or timbre because it is both an alternative spelling and pronunciation of timbre.  Timber just seems to suit better. 

And

I think we are going to be okay.

#84 stay in motion

From my journal: 

Arrangement, how things come together. To make one arrangement, and then cut and rearrange. To rearrange the furniture. To change you mind about how you want something arranged. To be fluid and flow with the current. Current: what is timely or what is the motion of water or air moving in a similar direction….

Earlier this week I finished rearranging the pieces I had cut and found myself really liking this arrangement...not quite what I had in mind. 

Okay.  Let it be something else. I am going to use it as a book cover.  A bit more stitching to add and I will start gathering pages.

Widget and the boy band have had a few meetings.  Mostly going well.  They want to explore and Widget wants to play chase.  Sometimes I let them both out for a bit, other times one at a time.  It will take a little time but I think it is going to be okay. 

Field notes:  first storm of the season on the cusp of summer and fall.

Rain.  Wind 17-22 MPH with gusts possible to 33 MPH tomorrow. Possibly thunder showers. Temp: 52 F.

Sunrise,  6:49 PM               Sunset, 7:17 PM

 

#83 find some joy and double it

I did something a little crazy...for quite awhile I've been feeling that Widget is lonely. So last weekend I went to adopt a kitten...

This is Marshall who will be renamed.  It just doesn't come off the tongue easily.

There was only one problem...he was having so much fun playing with his brother that I just couldn't bring myself to separate them.

This is Gibson. 

Yep, two. I brought them home last night. 

Shss... don't tell, it's sort of a secret. :)

Widget is...disturbed but interested. A teeny bit of growling through the bathroom door.  They want out, "now" and are very noisy when they aren't sleeping.  They are also supposed to be calm for 3 days...

Not so sure about that. 

P.S. Can you guess what they are named after? I do have a couple names for "Marshall" in mind. Just giving it a few days to settle.

#82 advice to a stranger

Sometimes when I journal I write to myself, other times to an unknown person. Thinking about that.  Adapted from a journal entry:

At the farmer’s market on Saturday, I was talking with someone I know about Alaska. Their family goes up each summer to fish. The person next to me commented about our conversation and I asked her if she had ever been to Alaska or lived there. Her reply was no, but that she had just moved from Hawaii and was finding the transition difficult. That where she had came from was small and a close community.

Even though it has been such a long time since my family made that move, I knew exactly what she was talking about. Living on an island is different.

It made me think about moving to Seattle in my twenties, something that was out of my comfort zone and seemed overwhelming at times. I moved to a neighborhood I was somewhat familiar with, into an apartment for the first time (it had great light for houseplants).  The first weekend there, I went to a park I had been to a few times before.  

I don't know that I was very brave, but I was brave enough. 

And the only thought I have, is start small and build from there. Know your neighborhood and move out further, go a little further, and then farther, but not too far all at once. And maybe only so far.

Boundaries and edges are not always a bad thing.