CAN-DO DOES!

Selfishly, this blog revolves around what I create, what I'm thinking about, how I feel.  But there IS another half to this Cloudwalk equation.  And he is mighty creative and often resourceful - HIS weekend was about installing a wood stove in his barn.  At first I thought - oh oh, this is a BAD idea.  Wood stoves attract men who drive trucks and like to stand around drinking brewskis frosty beverages while shooting the bull and basically wasting, squandering whiling away the afternoon.  

What's going on in there guys?

Someone is awfully focused and I'm not seeing the trucks and the frosty beverages!

He loves his barn - it's his palace.  He got tired of heating it with the salamanders - those heavy kerosene fumes and horrendous engine noises can bring on a migraine ... not an environment conducive to creating unspeakably beautiful furniture...

Watch out for my Fairy roses!  Those ladders are carefully placed - he didn't harm a single twig.

This is a craftsman who knows the meaning of doing things the 'right' way - the best tools and equipment, 'cobbing' is not in his vocabulary.  Still, I liked the barn better before that big smokestack appeared.  I can't really complain - did you notice the beautiful color of this barn?  He let me pick it out - I chose "Hollyberry" and the first two coats went on leaning  toward a shocking pink!  Still, he had faith in my color sense and persevered and it all worked out - it's really very lovely.   Back inside the barn there are all kinds of treasures - Can-Do-Guy is a hoarder collector.

Even the sawdust and cobwebs cannot hide the delicacy of this old fixture.  I'd like to see it find feet and walk into the house!  I know exactly where it would shine.

This was undoubtedly one of the BEST treasures he ever dragged home.  When we have a party or are hosting a  holiday dinner, I never have to worry about food storage.  This cooler works like a dream and it lives a few hundred feet from the house!  How did we ever manage the Labor Day party without this bad boy?!

LAST MINUTE SEWING

The last day of the long weekend found me hustling to finish projects.  Where does the time go?  When the sewing mojo moves me I slip into a trance and the hours and minutes race by.  Before I know it, the sun has set and the animals are rustling about - hoping for a treat.  Cold pots and a dark kitchen are signs - true signals that I am trying to meet a goal!  I did manage to complete my mother's new curtains.  She likes them.

They warm the room where we hung them and make mom feel more secure.  The old cafes didn't close and she likes to feel cozy and sealed in when the darkness comes - these do the trick!

I skeined some Blue Sky Alpaca cottons - little projects await, and NO!  I did not purchase any yarn - these are stash busters.  I am holding true to my word NOT to purchase any yarn before the new year arrives.  Hmmph!

This is a piece that I am secretly making - I sewed the binding on and if you look closely, you'll see that I am doing a running outline stitch in hot pink embroidery thread on selected blooms - this has been a lot of fun.  It should be finished by the weekend.
Last, but not least, one of the blocks for my new mantle runner.

When I look at these projects lined up together I feel as though I am all over the place!!!  But it's all good.

WINTER BIRDS

Tractor Supply was having a sale!  We get pretty excited about these kinds of things, especially when they offer 12 seedcakes for $8!!!  We have a lot of hungry birds to feed around here.

Although we feed year round, we really pop it up a few notches when the winter comes.  Sitting knitting or quilting in front of the french doors is so enhanced by the feathered entertainment that goes on at the feeders.  First, you have to prepare the shepherd's hooks with this  -  good old fashioned Crisco.

I grease about halfway up - this is more than enough to prevent the squirrels from sitting in the feeders and devouring every last seed.  It doesn't matter to them that they are fed on the ground and away from the bird population.  They are greedy and relentless and downright destructive so they have to be 'schooled'.  Ha!  Plus, it is really amusing to watch their antics - they jump on the pole and then S L O W L Y slide down....
After we've cleaned the glass doors inside and out, we start sorting the Tractor Supply haul - putting it into storage in the potting shed.  The summer feeders get put away too - these are the ones that tend to gum up and freeze when the snow comes.

The Buddha keeps a benevolent eye on the comings and goings in the potting shed.  I always leave a little something for the inhabitants and their families.

The new feeders are set out and filled and the dining begins!

If you are wondering where the birds are, I can tell you - they are perched in the New Dawn rose, waiting for me to go inside!

I've been checking the Duncraft catalogue and I think that this year I will spring for one of those deluxe feeders which feature a wide dome to protect the birds on snowy days.  I love my birds.  When I come outdoors to feed them in the morning there is a rustle and a whirring and the call goes up, beginning with the bluejays, the raconteurs of the bird world.  The announcement spreads quickly and suddenly the still air is filled with birdsong.  Yes, you did notice safflower seed with the others.  I hold back on that, dolling it out like precious stones.  It is my one indulgence - I use it to persuade the shy cardinals to return.  They are a selective group, but I always win out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CM!

It's The Bean's boyfriend's birthday - CM! Phew - this protecting of the family's anonymity is tiresome!  Anyway - HAPPY BIRTHDAY C!  We all hope that you have a wonderful day - that you don't have to work, and that you get to spend at least some of it eating lactose-free cake and enjoying the beach!  We'll be finishing up that carrot cake that you used to love - but don't worry - it wasn't that great this year (NOT!)

This image was taken last Thanksgiving - before you had to get off, and stay off, the dairy altogether.  You are amazing.  And not just because you have great muscles willpower.  You are a genuinely good person and your existence gives me hope.  You are funny and kind and extraordinarily patient and considerate.  You are smart and resourceful and have amazing work ethic.  And you love, and are good to my daughter.  So that makes you a PRINCE in my book.  We love you and we miss you.  HAPPY 25th!

Did I mention those muscles?

QUIET WEEKEND

It's been a quiet few days around here - blessedly so.  I love the long Thanksgiving weekend - it's sights and sounds and quiet tempo.  Oh, and the smells - the aroma of the turkey carcass boiling down with fresh herbs - the extra casserole of cornbread stuffing baking in a dish filled with water - the corn chowder coming to a simmer - its shrimp and crab swirling in the cream.  We've been eating a lot of really excellent homemade food.  


Can-Do-Guy installed a woodstove in the barn while I sewed the binding on my daughter's new comforter.  He also installed motion detector lights on the potting shed so that, in his words, when I pull into the darkened drive, the lights will come on like a prison yard and I may be blinded!  Enough so that I could possibly drive THROUGH the potting shed!  He's funny.  I'll take my chances, thank you.  It's been a struggle these last few weeks of daylight savings time - we have no street lights on our country road and when I tell you that it's dark out there, believe me, it is PITCH BLACK!  It's not the two-legged intruder that I fear in the dark - it's more the four legged, black and white striped one that I have no interest in stumbling over!!!


There was blocking ...

Love that picot edge, but this sweater is SMALL - although the photo makes it appear huge. The front bands need to be knitted and applied after blocking occurs, and according to my calculations - it will end up being somewhere between a small and a medium.  Neither of those sizes describe me.   Someone is going to receive a really pretty holiday gift this year!  But I'd like one for myself, so I cast on Briar Rose's 'Fourth of July' and combined that with a few silk noro skeins - I'm liking this creation A LOT...

I try not to gush when describing Chris's fibers, but really - if you haven't had the pleasure of her dye pot and lovely fiber, well, you NEED to score some - you'll never regret it, not ever.  I can hardly wait to finish this knit so that I can hurry over to the Anne Hanson 'Hillflowers' shawl that I have on the needles in Briar Rose's  'Grandmother's Blessing'.  I know that once I finish this shawl it will become an extremely functional part of my wardrobe.  I'm thinking about wearing it to bed.

I've started to pull out the Christmas decorations.  I like this gourd-made-into-a-night-light very much.  It serves two purposes - one is to get the holiday juices flowing, the other  - a bit more diabolical.....


The Can-Do-Guy and I have some issues.  I want you to look at the backdrop of the image above.  Notice the plaster and lathe (complete with horsehair which you may or may not see).  THREE years ago in February, on the coldest damn night of the year, I came home to find Can-Do-Guy's work crew SHOVELING the plaster walls of my hallway out the front door.  I shit kid you not!!!!  To say that I was alarmed would be putting it lightly.  I asked - why?  He replied that the 180 year plaster walls had the consistency of cheesecake and that they HAD TO GO!  Ok.


But as I mentioned - it's been nearly three long years, three long years WITHOUT CEILINGS AND WALLS IN THE HALLWAY.   When are they coming back?   Every time I bring this up, a fight ensues.  I am lost.  I have no idea how to steer this train wreck back on track - and I would appreciate any and all comments - does anyone out there have a tried and true formula for getting home improvement projects up and running?  

GIVING THANKS

I wish you all a blessed bountiful Thanksgiving.  We rose with the dawn to rinse the brine off of Thomasina Turkey and pack Harley into the truck - off to try our luck again.  This time we had to wait for the Gatekeeper, but I think that it was worth it.

There were a few other brave souls waiting to gain access.  Harley was joined to Can-Do-Guy, keeping close at heel.  I think that the strangeness of the bridge, coupled with company on our morning walk confused him a bit!  He liked who was at the other end of his leash

As we neared the Poughkeepsie side, we could see Can-Do-Guy's old neighborhood, including the elementary school that he and his brothers attended.

There was such a dreamy quality up there, engulfed as we were in soft grayness, ethereal, other worldly. 

As we started back, the fog began to lift a bit.  Did I mention my fear of height?  I was happy with the fog, happy not to have to see the distance from the rail to the water!  I might have not had the courage I needed to make the crossing if it were clear!

This fine fellow was very determined, but he agreed to pause to have his photo taken.  He reminded of of an urchin - the kind you might see in the street 50 years ago (theme of the Godfather in the background!)  

On the way home we talked about the last time that we went to a lofty lookout. It was in September of 2001.  Family had come in from Colorado and we took the train to the city.  We went, by boat, out to see the Statue of Liberty.

We went, by foot, through the financial district, strolling without purpose or plan.  It was one of those perfect autumn days - an extended Labor Day weekend and the city was so deserted.  

We went, by elevator, to the top of the world - the twin towers, where on top we wandered and enjoyed the balmy day and each other's company.  We stayed on that perch for nearly an hour - marveling at the sights below and beyond.  

Three days later it was all gone.  Destroyed.


Hug your loved ones especially tightly today.  Remember those that cannot join you.  Keep gratitude in your heart - give thanks for the gift of this day, every single moment.  Happy Thanksgiving.

PAULINE'S PEARS

Last year this little wonder arrived in time for Christmas:

Maybe a clearer image -

It is an exquisitely embroidered felt piece that my friend Pauline made for me.  The details are astonishing - one bajillion times more impressive than my photography of it!  And then - another parcel last month ...

Again, my images are quite pathetic compared to the splendor of Pauline's hand work.  She takes silk thread to another dimension.  That's just the beginning of what she can do - over the years I have collected her treasures - objects that mean the world to me.  

This was made from vintage kimono silk and stuffed with pine needles - even after all of these years you can press your nose into it and inhale a piney forest.

This was the first doll that I received as an adult - Pauline intuitively knew that I needed this small gem.  She has graced every guest room bed for the last 15 years or so.  Her silk dupioni (sp) dress is as brilliant today as it was when she arrived.


Anyway - getting back to the felted embroidered pieces, Pauline.  I have the 'partridge', I have the 'pear tree'.  Next Christmas I'll be hoping for the turtle doves!!

IT GOES TO THE DOG

She tink dis new toy make it ok.  It not.  Look at head - Rod Stewart.  Look at ear - girley ear.

Look at feet - all even and toes sharp pointy.  Smell bad - dumb ting on neck - dumb, hates it.  Got to go in big store to get toy, dat fun.  Everyone like me, pat me head and make goo goo noises.

Dis new toy ok, keeps it.


Person Post Script:  He smells divine and he is squeaky clean - to the tune of $48 (plus big tip) and worth every penny.  He does not like going to the groomer, but let me tell you - he is just irresistible when he is finished!  His groomer, wonderful Debby, tells me that he is the only one who didn't bark and carry on - SUCH a good boy!

VANILLA

It's been a vanilla kind of weekend around here.  

Bringing the good woolens - the tried and true sweaters out of hibernation.  I loved making this sweater 15 years ago and I STILL look forward to wearing it.

'Bella's Mittens; by Marielle Henault - brilliant - get over there - www.subliminalrabbit.com.  These lovelies were inspired by mittens worn in the movie "Twilight" by Kristen Stewart.  I cannot even pretend that I am interested or following that phenomena, but I was swept away by the beauty and function of this pattern.  I'm using Cascade's Ecological Wool, size 8 dpns.   Absolutely LOVE these mittens!

Getting ready for the Turkey day.  I'm going to brine the bird this year.  If anyone out there has suggestions -I am all ears!  In the spirit of the holidays I took one small piece out today - my wonderful quilt and pie shop that my lovely friend Susie gave to me.  It is one of the first boxes that I reach for every single year.

The Bean is struggling with a particularly nasty flu and staff infection.  She spent the entire day in the hospital ER yesterday and is feeling pretty low.  If you have extras - please send good wishes her way.