A Contemplative Life

Remnant of eldest grandson's rampart against the oncoming tide. Grandsons are busy, so here's a brief entry, reminding myself, and anyone in need, to breathe deeply, rhythmically, peacefully. I don't write this because my grandsons are a handful, lol. More the world around all of us seems.... Fraught with discord. Anyway, make your corner of this planet as peaceful as you can. Enjoy the rest of the week! 

The formerly nimble Nadia, now a broody Puffmeister! She's Puffy the hen until the broodiness passes, hopefully soon. And one more excerpt, lol. I considered putting up an excerpt earlier this week, but didn't. This morning, reading over yesterday's writing, well, it's time. Sometimes following the Spirit is like that, just gotta keep moving forward in love. Anyway, if you feel like looking for backstory on what's going on, first read Far Away from Home , then Home and Far Away . While these novels are Parts Three and Four of The Enran Chronicles , I wrote them more as their own little duo with no need, unless you're truly curious, to read Parts One and Two . Not that I wish to dissuade you from my novels , merely that The Enran Chronicles is an interesting series, so far written that if someone only wants to dabble in it, they can read two books, then decide how far they wish to go. And I'll also say this; if you read Three and Four , well, definitely ch...

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...