Pages

Crazy as a Loom

Friday, October 13, 2017

Days and desperation


Autumn is a disappointment this year, the leaves are turning brown, skipping right over the usual lovely oranges and golds.  The sunshine is amazing though, and it's warm in the daytime, and cool at night.  That's perfect.  Guess I have to be grateful for the positives.  I do have lots of photos of October in previous years, in all its glory.

My recent weaving has been on a natural warp.  I always love it, it's like a blank slate, with so many possibilities.



I often sit on my park bench, out back.  It's a nice place to relax, and just be.


These river birch are part of the gift of trees my mother bought me several years back.


 This little maple is another.



And these two maples as well.
Every time I sit here, I think of her.


 One of her favorite poems was this one:

Trees

I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 

A tree that looks at God all day, 
And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 

A tree that may in Summer wear 
A nest of robins in her hair; 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 
Who intimately lives with rain. 

Poems are made by fools like me, 

But only God can make a tree.
I finally finished the quilt for my grandson's birthday.  Here it is right before I put it all together.
It was a challenge, for sure.


And made more difficult by the fact that I cut the side of my fingertip off with a rotary blade.


Yes, I went to the ER, after it bled for about 8 hours.
It is better, but still incredibly sore.


It has slowed me down some, but it hasn't stopped me from weaving.

As if......

I had some warp left on the loom after a custom order, so I played some.  Actually, I played quite
a bit.





This morning L and I put a navy warp on for my next project.

Now for the threading.


My dyes have always been over my dyeing counter, but they were near impossible to find.  I almost had to get on a step stool to get close enough to them to read the colors.
So today, I had a brain storm, and I moved them.  I used those same shelves to store large cones of cotton and linen waiting to be dyed.

 My dyes are now on a shelf over the sink, much closer to someone looking at them, and much easier to deal with.



I am desperate for a day away, or days even........though I love my home, and my studio, and what I do, sometimes still I need some perspective: the kind you get when you leave it all behind for a bit.

A long drive in the country, good conversation, a leisurely lunch.


oh, well.
In the meantime, my zinnias are still rocking, and to see them is joy.





12 comments:

Connie in Hartwood said...

Our trees appear to have the same plan for fall color as yours do. Shades of brown. I'm okay with it. Fall is still wonderful.

I cut off the side of the tip of my finger in 2012, with a chef's knife while chopping greens. It bled like crazy, and I went to the ER. Fortunately, it healed well. I was warned by someone who did something similar that the area would be super sensitive once it healed. I'm passing that warning along to you. Now, sensation is pretty much normal. It took a while.

I love the fact that you mother bought trees for you.

claudia said...

Trees are such a wonderful gift. When we first moved to this property, my daughter bought two trees for my birthday. It's not as though we don't have enough already, but these are my BIRTHDAY trees!
I'm sorry to say that over here in the PNW we are in full fall color. I bet you get yours back again next year. It's something to look forward to. I love that poem too.

mudmaven said...

We have been fortunate with colors this fall in Colorado (in spite of the snow taking so many branches). Usually I am in total envy of you in the northeast as usually your colors are so very much more vibrant than what we have here. There will be other falls. You are so fortunate to have had such a wonderfully thoughtful mother. Her gift to you is also a great legacy to both your family and the planet. ~chris

Nancy said...

How wonderful to have your mother's gift that you can see everyday! When I was in school (7th grade????), we were taught a lovely song with that poem as the lyrics. I carefully mouthed the words as I have NO singing talent whatsoever, but memorized the poem.

Love the quilt! and the weaving!

Thanks for sharing.

Peg Cherre said...

That quilt is beautiful! Our trees here in western NY are doing the same thing as yours. Weather is the impact, and ours has certainly been unusual - everywhere.

In addition to my zinnias, I also love my 4 o'clocks. Such bright and happy colors, and a nice scent.

Vicky said...

I enjoy how much you share the truth about things, but how you also find the scraps of good and use them to focus on. Our trees have also not shown much in color and the leaves are all starting to fall from the trees in huge amounts. While people mention it in passing, its always ok for them as long as the sunshine is still here and there is a bit of warmth left in the days. If we could just adopt that perspective for all the big things in life. Blessings to you!

KAM said...

This winter the trees here in the Missoula Valley have been some of the best ever...rich strong colors and not a lot of rain to push them too soon to the ground. We are having below freezing nights cooler days and two morning some light dusting of snow..an unusually colorful fall for this part of the country.
The quilt for your grandson is wonderful - surely a challenge to sew together, but what a grand quilt.
Kristin

MarthaVA said...

Love that quilt - very Native American looking. OUCH to the finger slicing tho.....maybe you need a pair of those safety gloves!

LOVE the playing you did on the loom. The blue is really lovely and the other design is pretty awesome!

If I lived in NY near you - I'd take off too. We just got back from a 12 day trip to Maine - which didn't go as I'd hoped but it was GREAT to get away, and certainly did give me better perspective when I returned.

Hang in there. You make your own beauty on those looms.........

Daryl said...

OUCH ... not long ago i took off a little piece of my middle finger ... yes .. it was quite interesting to have that bandaged for a month .. grew back .. the body is amazing isnt it

and what a perfect tribute to your mother .. all those glorious trees and that poem ...

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

What a lovely gift, those trees - to be enjoyed for generations.

oooooch, the finger!

Anita Johnson said...

I could write a comment on every post. 🤔 So until then I willl say “ouch” to the cut finger, yippee to the trees from your mom, yes, to your beautiful weaving...and the rain here that makes the few colors pop. Hmmmm, I’m interested about what you wrote about noreply comments at blogger!

Teri said...

Love the zinnias, I think a garden is the only thing I miss about not having a home.

Welcome to my world.

Because every thread counts

Because every thread counts