bee creative

so what about melodrama?

Awhile back I mentioned that I wanted to consider the word, the concept, the idea of "melodrama."

I think it follows from the idea that so much of life right now still seems surreal.

(It was a dark and stormy night..." And a few days too. I did much better this week at taking a lunch break and pulled this out of my bag to work on one stormy day.)

From my journal:

Melodramatic. How would you define it without looking it up in the dictionary?  Someone who is overly dramatic, overly emotional, over the top, too much.

 
(Did I remember that I had used the term melodrama when I first considered "languishing?")

Just a thought, is there a gender issue? Is it an age thing (teens). If we talk about climate change, does someone who disagrees say you are being "melodramatic?" Over stating the issue?

"You must pay the rent, I can't pay the rent. You must pay the rent, I can't pay the rent.  I'll pay the rent. MY HERO!" Curses, foiled again."

So, something to consider...because I've realized that a fear of being melodramatic can hold me back.

 

 

 

 

#100 unraveling (joy follows joy)

Last week the kittens went in for shots and their checkup.  For the first time in over a year there was an option to go in rather than wait in the car.  I had questions so I went in.

The tech checked us in and then went out the door and I could hear him as he went into the backroom, "There are kittens!"

The vet came in, they leaped and pounced and explored, pausing just long enough for their check up.

The vet laughed, and laughed again. "What great cats!"

Two more techs ended up in the room, coming to say hello. 

The boys are very friendly.

The vet said they are very large for their age.

Hmm.

I sat there smiling; there is such pleasure in watching other people's joy. 

And I thought joy follows joy...the sharing of it.

It's part of community, care giving, resilience, mending.

Widget's pretty blurry in this photo but I love how she wraps her paws around Timber; insisting that he stay still for a bath.

Care giving.

Today's project, unraveling the sleeve for the sweater I haven't worked on for a long time.  I can't find my notes with the count for the increases. 

Thinking sometimes mending is starting over.

I unraveled the whole thing, all the way back to the beginning. 

Thinking about "languishing" again.  It's been almost six months since I encountered this idea. I am feeling a lot of things, but languishing isn't one of them.

"It's not about healing the world by making a huge difference. It's about healing the world that touches you, that is around you."

Rachel Naomi Reman

#99 another day, another salad.

Using some of the silk thread.

I ordered it from Long Ridge Farm. 

Thanks for recommending Jude!

 

The whole piece of cloth.

It's a piece of wool gauze that I felted and dyed with leaves from the garden.

I may dip an edge in the fresh indigo vat that I am making.

It's pretty much the same salad.  What I really wanted to share is that an English muffin makes good garlic bread.

Also played with the quilt blocks.

I like looking at them this way occasionally.

 

 

#98 tread softly

Avocado pit dyed silk and silk thread dyed with fresh indigo.

The avocado pits have been soaking in a canning jar all summer with a scrap of aluminum foil.  The water is very pink now so I decided to test it out with a piece of silk. I will dye some other things (thread most likely) this weekend.

An almost local salad: beets, lettuce, hazelnuts, apple, apple cider vinegar.  The rest is from California:  olive oil and blue cheese.

 

#97 rest and center

It has rained all day.

I had a to-do list but let it go...and let the day just unfold.

(Widget watching the kittens.)

On Friday a couple of us were talking about what it would be like to look back and remember what it was like to provide childcare during a pandemic. A pandemic that has made obvious how deeply troubled our system is for providing care for children.  For any vulnerable population.

When there is time at home, I either make long "to-do" lists  and then get frustrated when I can't get to it all or tired, not doing anything, and then frustrated because a day just slips away.

Today I was just content to let the day be.

To rest.

I did spend some time working on the rug.

Not a lot of thought was given to the colors at the beginning.  I didn't plan well and needed to grab fabric fast before the class started. The first 10 inches or so seemed so chaotic to me at first until I realized I could create a swirl of color, starting with a row of pink that then blended to yellow and pink and they yellow and blue. More gold and turquoise will be added in as well.

It became about organizing chaos. 

Make sense of something.

That's really a big part of what making is to me.

And,

the rug is cat approved.

#96 enjoy the sunshine

What was on the to-do list for today:

What wasn't on the list:

It was good to sit outside in the sun.  66F/18 MPH winds from the SSE.

More rain on the way

#95 preserve

From my journal, Saturday morning:

9:05 AM I thought I wanted to go walk along the bay, then go to the farmer’s market. And then I didn’t. And Now I kind of do. I have enough projects to do: tomatillo sauce, tomato jam, onion jam, apples for something? Beets that I could pickle. Carrots for drying. I don’t need more projects. I do need to take a walk. I do need to work in the garden some. I want to sleep but I m not tired. I want less clutter but I am not good at letting go.

What I did:

Tomato jam.  It took hours to cook down

Tomatillo simmering sauce.

The laundry.

Looked out the window at the dark.

Sat in the sunshine.

Puttered.

Napped (because I really did need to).

Worked on the insomnia blanket while the kittens napped.

Read.

Took a short walk.

Picked the last apples. `

I did not go to the Farmer's market.

 

 

 

#94 what about Widget?

I guess Gibson needed a bath.

Timber especially loves Widget.

There is a lot to be learned by watching cats.

 

#93 adapt

Chewed on? I don't know but they snag as I work now.

These are two different sets of needles (on cables).  I've flipped to the other ends that are smooth and work back and forth using the smooth end. 

Problem solved.

#92 wishing

From my journal: 

I lay in bed the other night thinking, somewhere in the world the northern lights, the Aurora Borealis is swirling over head. Magnetic energy. It could have been here. Did I miss it? Was it over my head while I lay sleeping?

I decided to use one of Jude's ThreadCrumbs for the center of this square.  Still indigo, still sky, but with a wishing star...