A Contemplative Life

The end of one round and the beginning of the next! From teal to medium green, decreasing by four squares, woo hoo! Usually I enjoy the Peace Round the World quilt on Wednesdays. With only seven of fifty-six squares left to add, I retrieved it this evening, thinking I'd do three. Well, four. Then on Wednesday, I could easily finish, as I get about four squares added in one Wednesday sitting. Well, tonight I went all out, which this quilt kinda calls for; seven teal squares DONE. Added one of the next round, just because. (Green, in case you're wondering.) Now it's after eight p.m., but I wanted to document this, especially since tomorrow the grandsons are coming for a week, and I don't think I'll be 1) sewing much or 2) blogging much. Lol. (And if you're wondering why it's called swan solstice it's because from here to the end, no more round the perimeter rows. The decrease begins.) Such a labour of love! So tonight was the night, the last of July, and n...

The Warm Hearted quilt neatly folded and resting on the back of the couch.   I so badly want to sew on the Warm Hearted Quilt this evening, but my forearm still has an Aquaphor-covered wound and I don't want to slap a band-aid on it because band-aids of all varieties (plastic or fabric) give me a rash. I did receive good news today that the spot biopsied was benign, which is GREAT! I juxtapose that with a dear friend's youngest son, who is in his forties and suffering from lung cancer. Enduring toxic chemotherapy in the hopes he'll survive long enough so his youngest child, three years old, will remember him. Sigh. We can't plan life other than daft outlines for what we'd love to occur. A week ago, when I had the biopsy, I stitched hearts like all the other days I'd been stitching hearts; I had a piece of gauze taped over the wound and no Aquaphor in sight. Since then, I've done very little sewing on that quilt. This afternoon I managed some Peace Round the ...

Like writing. And laundry, lol! That's when I came up with the idea for this post. Because sometimes we are enthralled with certain activities, even the boring things. Like laundry. Actually the title popped into my head earlier today while I was 1) Doing laundry. And 2) In the middle of writing a chapter. Then of course there's quilting, but lately that's fallen to the back of the pile mostly because I still have a wound on my arm covered in Aquaphor that has stained one shirt to the point it's now for when I eat chili or some other stain-worthy dish. So I can't hand-quilt, though my cranky shoulder is better, whew.... Yet I stare at my collected thread basket in the evenings, thinking back to my, ahem, younger years (BIG LOL) when I could sew at will. For now, quilting isn't what I'm talking about, though if you want you can lump it alongside writing as creative things I love to do. Um, what about blogging, Past Me quips. Oh uh, yeah, I nod, looking around...

Lately we've had loads of sunshine on the North Coast of California, as though the marine layer is being pulled in the opposite direction by some magical force for which I am quite grateful, lol. My husband isn't as pleased, but of course it is July and even here in Humboldt County occasionally warm temps creep along the shore, muscling that marine layer well off to sea. Having said all that, I still like draping a quilt over my lap when I sit in my chair early in the morning, hehehe. Right now I'm using my lightest weight cozy, pictured above. I made it in 2015, after my dad died, and I call it the Dadland Flag. Not sure from where that name emerged, but it stuck, and still sticks, and recently he would have turned eighty-two, dude! I can't honestly fathom him being that old, though he was looking pretty aged not long before he passed. His wasn't an easy life, and many of those potholes were of his own making, but he did reach seventy, which at the time I almost co...

One of the barnevelders, probably Nadia, finally stepping into the coop for bedtime. 30 June, 2026, photo courtesy of my husband. I was going to post an excerpt yesterday, but instead the better angel of my nature stepped in, insert smiley face here. Yet this morning it is again sunny, chickens have been fed, and despite usually not coming off the wall until the light is on, as I stepped into the coop, three hens were already down, waiting to go outside. LOL! Hold on hens, you're still hanging in the run these days. Owl backed up as I entered, placing their feeder in its usual spot. I exited, walked away, then remembered to turn on the light for the rest, hehehe. Anyways, all of this is to say here's an early morning post of much of yesterday's chapter. Greg is learning to trust, and Careen? She's still very much a work in progress, but then aren't we all? Insert another smiley face please. Have a wonderful day! Chapter 11   On New Year’s Eve afternoon Greg and...