bee creative

step in

I am still reading Katherine May's Enchantment.  Most days I only read 2 or 3 pages at a time...and I will be sad when I am done.  It is a beautiful book.

The passage that is lingering at the moment is about how she feels when she goes swimming in the ocean.

Me dipping my toes into the very end of a river a couple weeks ago, where it enters the ocean.

Like Katherine May, and I am sure others, I believe that to step into the ocean is to step into connection.

And oh joy! I just discovered Katherine May has a podcast. 

First up, listening to Ross Gay, the author of Inciting Joy and Book of Delights.

looking for the joy

This morning I finished the shirt I started yesterday so that I could wear it...perfect for a warmer day. 

Forecast a high of 75 F.

A table cloth that belonged to one of my grandmothers, or maybe one of the great grandmothers. 

The floral print is faded but still beautiful. 

It still could have been used as a table cloth but I rarely use tablecloths (cats!) and wanted to have this be useful, not stored away. 

The fabric, linen, was a dream to sew.

I added a few inches to the width so that it could be a layer over a tank top. 

I will probably be posting everyday for awhile. 

Maybe just an image of something that brings me joy, a way to continue...

flowers again

A few beautiful days.

I've planted out tomatoes and tomatillos.  This weekend it will be beans and squash.

I direct seeded a bed full of dye plants: sunflowers, marigolds, scabiosa, bachelor buttons, madder, safflower and coreopsis.  

And making space for indigo.

There are also flowers of a different sort...

they just keep making me happy.

#11 I love flowers + conversations

Yesterday I did this:

It's three different layers.

Today I tried again:

To see what I might be able to repeat.

And... this weekend I went down a rabbit hole of podcasts again.

First this one with Jay Allison on Rumblestrip.  This is a really great conversation about being local, growing older and other stuff. For anyone who has listened to NPR for awhile, Jay Allison's voice is one that would be recognized, particularly from "This I Believe."  I sometimes think about how I would answer this question. 

Maybe that's what I am working on...

From there I went to the Hub and Spoke site and discovered the Lonely Palette  and listened to several episodes.  And then Nocturne.  The episode I listened to was called Tree Time about someone who teaches people how to climb really tall trees and how to sleep overnight in trees.  I will confess I fell asleep at one point (not because it was boring!) but then woke up to him talking about being with a group in the trees and being visited by owls. How incredible that would be.

This could be a problem...it really could.

more color

When there is too much help (meow) inside, the best solution for me is to take it outside.

This morning I put my garden soil pigment in a bottle cap to store.  Here is is alongside the brick pigment. 

I also investigated my long fermented indigo and found it was still good.  I added Calcium Hydroxide and it made pigment!

Happy, Happy dance!

I had a go at making a lake (making a pigment starting with a dye bath).

A lovely blue sludge is drying out of reach of the cats.

Picture tomorrow when there is better light.

vacation, staycation!

So much I want to do...

On the way home I stopped to sit on the beach and pick up a few rocks to try making pigment with. 

To take some deep breathes.

I may stitch "breathe" on the hem of all my shirts. 

I also picked up a few pieces of seaweed that caught my eye and a few shells.  There were some high winds this week, things seemed a little more diverse on the beach. 

It's been really cold, hard frosts most mornings.

Next week it is supposed to warm up and rain so tomorrow will be a good day for the outside projects...maybe some cyanotypes?

Also gathering wreath materials.

Definitely going to see if I can find some rocks that I can make pigment with from the garden, maybe gather some more soil. 

I am planning on posting every day...just a little accountability.

look up, look out

Last week a small flock of swans flew over while I was outside.

Last night it was a flock of geese.

I never was able to see them but I could certainly hear them. 

I didn't get to the fermenting indigo today so it will have to wait a while longer.  I did harvest the last handful of what was growing and stuck it in a bucket of water. 

While walking through the garden checking for what needed to be done before we dip below freezing I found one last dahlia blossom. 

There is a 50 to 60% chance of snow tomorrow morning.

That will be it's own kind of adventure, it's own kind of beauty.

beautiful things

They make me smile every time I go by them.

creative housekeeping

I was tidying up a stack of things and found a can of paint...the blue used in my living room.  Wondering if there was something inside, I opened it and found about a cup of paint.  So I grabbed a paintbrush and finished the corner I hadn't painted blue in the living room and then did the trim on two windows. 

It is safe to say that I paint with more enthusiasm than talent. My favorite applicator is a sponge or a rag...what was used on the window trim.

 

Back to my favorite park.

Today, on the end of the boardwalk I could hear a saxophone being played.  When I got to the gazebo a band was packing up, except a guitar player who started back down the boardwalk playing a bit.  The rest of the band caught up with him and they started singing as they went along.

Everyone walking by was smiling...

I've been learning about the health benefits, both emotional and physical, of short moments of connection;

even smiling at a person walking by. 

This afternoon just seemed to let a little more light in...