Catching up

These last weeks have been hard and wonderful at the same time. I am still having a difficult time letting myself think about our recent losses, yet I've found peace here in these mountains to help gather my thoughts for life, going forward. Whereas last fall I was conflicted about wanting to leave the grand kids and come back to Taos, I believe I have now found myself embracing the balance of both worlds. On Wednesday, I'll return to San Diego for approximately six weeks. So many changes in the kids since I was last there...my grandson starts kindergarten in a few months, and my granddaughter is now laughing and rolling over. I can barely wait to get some hugs, laughs, and kisses.

One of the things I really missed being in California last year was my rug hooking. Because of this, I'm taking a pattern, wool, and portable frame to set up to hook out there as well. Here I hook on a very large quilting frame, which I purposely wanted for larger pieces. There I can do smaller pieces. Along with getting back to my quilting, my trip back there next week holds the promise of starting a new mat. If there's anything I'm great at, it's starting new projects (please do not ask how many get finished).

After finishing the lotus mat, I decided I didn't want to wait until I had some big creative idea for a next project...so I decided to hook a pattern from Rug Hooking Magazine, one they gave as a freebie, a design from the La Rancherita project in Mexico. I haven't been hooking long enough to feel confident in my colors, so it's somewhat of an easy project because it calls for bright colors and in the spirit of the La Rancherita rugs, just about anything goes...purple pigs, pink chickens, you name it. Now, to let myself be free enough to enjoy this fun.

Lotus mat

I finished it yesterday. Well, that is, except for finishing the edges, which may or may not get done anytime soon (it may join a couple of others that need to be done and commiserate with them, first). In the end, I really like it. The colors don't seem as washed out, thanks to your support for me outlining in teal. I had fun doing the background, using up oddments of colors. I am content to add it to my short list of mats I've hooked as part of my beginner hooking process. Today or tomorrow, I'll be happily exploring what I'll hook next. That's as much fun as finishing something.

One of the fun things that happened to me when I wrote all of you for advice on the outlining was a comment from Shawn at Island Sweet in Newfoundland. She recently took a great trip to San Francisco, and commented that my colors were "San Francisco colors", based on all the beautiful, old, painted Victorian homes she saw there. Then, while hooking, I realized that the border design on my mat looked like little houses...and that the lotus in the center, a symbol of survival and renewal, could represent San Francisco's amazing history since the great earthquake of 1906. Thanks, Shawn. You helped give my mat new life!

Comfort in the familiar

I've been mostly housebound this last week and it has been absolutely wonderful. Spring in New Mexico is not my favorite season. We've had consistent winds for weeks and weeks (sustaining at around 51 mph a few days ago) and then yesterday, what I didn't want to see but know we need: snow.

One good thing about icky weather is not feeling guilty about hanging out indoors. I've been hooking most every day, and continuing to weed out things I am pretty sure I'll never live long enough to need. I've also been watching "How to Make An American Quilt" (1995), which I captured off the satellite some days ago. It's one of those movies I could never see too many times. I feel like I always learn something new from the stories of those women, as they reflect on their lives through their quilting: stories of love, love and loss, love and forgiveness. I love the cast and the home in which much of it takes place. I rather envy the idea of having the sense of continuity that these women have in the form of their years' long weekly quilting group. I love at the end of the movie, when Sophia says to Finn "I was a diver." In those few words she reached out to let Finn know that she had once been someone else, someone young, vibrant and talented, all before she had let her life be overgrown with pessimism. Cut to one of the last scenes: Sophia, inspired by Finn, taking a dive off the high dive. She had it in her all the time...just like the good witch Glenda told Dorothy. Something for all of us to remember.

Shop sitting

While I've been busy ignoring my own Etsy shop this last week, I've been having fun shop sitting for Michelle at Widdershin Woolworks. It's great fun, diving through her wonderful fiber stash, filling orders, and knowing how many people will be so happy to get their fibers in a few days. Talk about having all the fun without the work.

I think I've told you about Michelle before, so at the risk of repeating myself...she is a long time dear friend who went to India, was ordained (by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, no less) as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, and continued living there for around five years to continue her studies. Last spring we were lucky enough to be able to convince her to come live with us here on our little piece of the mountain, so I now have the joy of her being in my life on a daily basis. We get to spin together, knit together, watch movies, swap books...and she is the loving nanny to our dogs and cats, not to mention a great gardener with no fears about planting at 8,000 ft. Life is good!

Here's a photo of her harvesting a rogue beet that grew, unexpectedly, in our greenhouse last year. The other photo was taken this morning as I was filling an order for her shop. SIGH. It's hard to keep my hands off the goods!

Hooking

Today I finally gave myself permission to sit down and start hooking on the mat I started last winter, before leaving for California for so many months. It is fabric that my friend and I bought that is a wool/synthetic blend of some sort, so when we dyed it, we didn't get very dark colors. In fact, most of what I ended up dyeing looks remarkably like Easter eggs. They're pretty, but not necessarily colors I'd have picked if I had purchased them.

I decided that since I'd made the investment (both financial and in dyeing time), I should suck it up and make something with it. I drove myself crazy, figuring out square footage of fabric and trying to calculate what size rug I could hook with it. I eventually decided on something much smaller than I had fabric for, and drew it up myself. I think I even showed you the photos of it after I started it last spring (too lazy to go back to find that blog post, sorry).

Anyway...while happily spinning yesterday afternoon, I finally opened and watched the video I purchased from Deanne Fitzpatrick last winter. It was, as I expected, just wonderful. It was like having a visit with Deanne in her studio (only I didn't get to chat with her and eat some of those delicious oat cakes she baked for us when I was there a couple of years ago, sigh). Her use of colors and textures just makes my heart soar. I love how free she is.

Meanwhile, back to my little mat...after watching the video, I decided I pretty much couldn't stand what I started and wished I had the courage to take it off the frame and give it up. I slept on it, and decided this morning that what it needed was something that popped...so I found some 100% wool in a lovely teal color and started outlining. I think I helps...what do you think?

If it's green, love it

Depending on where you live, you may or may not know we are in a state of severe drought here in NM. In fact, I heard that AZ, NM, TX and FL are all off the charts for fire danger. It's no secret that Texas is under assault with wildfires right now, and we have a few of our own here in our fair state.

My heart goes out to all of you living near or in the path of a fire. I've been close, and I know what it feels like. Living here in the forest, we're always just one idiot or lightning strike away from the same fate. I say idiot because there are, unbelievably, still folks who think it's OK to burn their brush and/or trash in this area. Never mind that our local fire department trucks say "Learn not to burn". I fear this is yet another sign that my fellow citizens may not always read .

Anyhow. As I was coming in from the dog yard today, I found this little dandelion plant. I raced back into the house for my camera. What's so great about a dandelion, you ask? Well...for one...it's a sign of life that is persisting despite the dry ground (see photo I took in our yard this week...we seem to have skipped mud season). The flowers alone brought me pure joy. There are few signs of new life up here except for the lilac and rose bushes, which seem to carry on despite the worst of situations. To find these bright little flowers was like someone sending me a sweet bouquet of smiles. Never do I recall being so happy to see a dandelion.

As a kid, I grew up with my father nurturing a front yard full of dichondra "grass". Only today, after searching the internet, did I learn this pesky stuff was not even a true grass, but rather a perennial herbaceous plant of which there appear to be several species. He babied that "lawn" like it was solid gold. Heaven help you if you fouled and set foot on it, and this wasn't always easy for a kid to manage. I grew up with great disdain for the idea of a lawn, or worrying about being so fussy about Bermuda grass (his arch enemy). My attitude: if it's growing, and it's green, and it's not dangerous...love it.

In thinking back about dad and that "lawn", I can picture him still, standing in the middle of it, hand watering with the hose and sprayer, and a transistor radio plugged into his ear as he listened to Vin Scully and the L.A. Dodgers. I get it now...he needed a place of his own, somewhere to go to get away from the rest of us, a sanctuary. That's a lesson, right there, to learn to find your peace where you can.

Dad, if you happen to be editing my writing from wherever your next life has taken you, I hope you read this post and accept my apology.

Remember Me

Not to repeat myself too often, but one of the wonderful things that has come from all the sadness of these last months has been the opportunity to reconnect with family. Some of those hours have been spent discussing what each of us knows about our family's history...much of which has passed on with my father, and now, my sister.

I was digging through my bookshelf this week and found this book, purchased long ago. I opened it, and to my delight, found carefully reconstructed histories of seven women, and the stories surrounding their friendship quilts. I knew nothing of the history of these quilts, and am now inspired to create one of my own; not a swap with friends, but one to remember each of our family members, living or not. I think it's a rather ambitious project (my tendency), but it will be a gift to leave one day for future generations. If you are a lover of quilts and their histories, I highly recommend this book.

When I read stories like theirs (mostly surrounding the Civil War period), I feel so close to those women and their hard lives, I often wonder if that was something I did in another lifetime. When I started spinning years ago, my hands knew immediately that it was exactly what they were supposed to be doing, like some sort of muscle memory. My many other fiber pursuits have fallen into place in much the same way, but not with that same feeling of familiarity.

Once, many years ago, someone told me I must be an old soul. At the time, I had no sensitivity to things of these matters, and filed it away for future consideration. Then this summer, while walking the tide pools with my niece Laurie, I was telling her that I think my grandson is an old soul...and a few feet later, look what we found in a tide pool. How's that for timing???

PS Photo obviously snagged from Amazon...my photos of the cover weren't as good!