A Contemplative Life

  Above is most of a fourteen-inch high by twenty-inch wide section of blues for a wall hanging I'm crafting with two other quilters. Blue is the bottom hue, topped by green, then orange, then yellow. Starting with my fave colour, I'll be going upward as time allows, but I'm pleased with starting this and definitely looking forward to sewing more! In part that the fabrics are a collaboration, hehehe, a few of my Karen Nyberg Ocean prints in this piece, which I have shared with my quilting companions. Also a yellow woven, not loose-woven, though I plan to put some loosely woven fabric in my yellow section. Need to allow a wide seam allowance for that fabric, as well as any other wovens I include. I've been reading a book about saints for a few months, not Butler's Lives of the Saints , though Alban Butler was yesterday's saint of the day. All Saints by Robert Ellsberg is a fascinating collection of canonized saints and saintly people; Fannie Lou Hamer and Dietr...

Today's view of Peace Round the World. More about that soon! Writing not as a career but not keeping novels in a drawer either.... Maybe another twenty years of writing post. Oh and an update on chickens, Owl in particular, the poor scraggly hen. Let's begin with Owl Chicken; she looks, um, sad. Terrible actually, even in this chickie-mama's opinion, lol. None of the hens who have molted have lost as many feathers as Owl and I wonder if when Camilla molts, will she somehow try to appear even less appealing, in her I'm the Alpha Hen even in the worst circumstances sort of way. Pullet-sized Owl a few hours ago, bless her! I have no idea as Camilla is keeping a tight lid on her molting timeline. Regardless, Owl is getting the bulk of it done before weather gets chilly. Good on ya Owl Chicken! As for the writing, or rather revisions.... I'm nearly a third of the way through a read-aloud with The Deadfern Miracles . It's always revelatory when reading one's stor...

Guests have gone, a quiet house this evening. Fog rolled in a couple of hours ago and my goodness it's as thick as it was early this morning. Family has landed in their respective domiciles where it's not at all marine-layer-like, lol. Funny how within one state, albeit a large state, the weather and climates can be so different. I think I'll sleep well tonight, pondering how being close to routine still feels a little strange. Hosting several beloveds became immediately normal and now that altered normalcy is quiet, foggy, autumnal. Earlier sunsets and later sunrises get a little lost in the card game shuffle, long chats, and lots of dishes washed. Now it's truly October, very much fall, and with four molting hens to boot, lots of change occurring. Ruthie on the baby perch while Cami looks on. Photo courtesy of my husband from this evening. Cami and Owl are both looking scraggly, Welsummer as well, though she still has tail feathers. Camilla is hinting at the molt, wha...

It's late for me. I'm weary but in the best beloveds are visiting way. And tonight I completed a round on the Peace Round the World quilt. Here's a picture.   I'd love to say more, however I really am about to fall over into my laptop keyboard. Suffice to say it's the last day of September and I'm moving forward with this quilt, YAY! Have a lovely rest of the week out there.... 

Guests are arriving tomorrow for the upcoming week, beloveds dear to my heart. Since I'm the type who (deep) cleans prior to visitors, the last few days have been steeped in, well, cleaning. LOL! Not sure why I have always done it this way, but it works and I'm too old to change. I'm feeling weary tonight, but other than making one bed TOMORROW, the house is looking good. Hopefully I'll sleep well, I've certainly earned a decent rest. Little Owl Chicken from a year ago. She looks so YOUNG! From where I'm seated I can see six chickens scratching at the ground. It's six p.m. and in another hour and fifteen minutes those hens will be heading to the coop, climbing up the roost steps, then settling on the wall. Cami Chicken has lost her tail feathers, but not as aggressively as Ruthie and Gigi, who both appeared like someone had chopped off their backsides! Cami is also acting slightly cowed, Ruthie picking on her in the mornings while they eat breakfast. Pecking...

Ah, another Mandolin quilt is completed. The EPP portion that is, lol. Not that the rest of it is going to be complicated, other than adding to the fleece backing so it's large enough. No batting, as an English paper pieced quilt top is heavier than a machine pieced top, or mine are because I use wide seam allowances, adding to the heft. I'll stitch the top's perimeter onto the fleece, then do some hand-quilting, and BOOM, there's a completed cozy. However... I want to make some notes, just on the very obscure chance I ever start another EPP project. Seven await my attention, ahem, so even pondering another is ridiculous. But I learned A LOT in making this quilt, much of it upon studying the photo above. How chaotic it appears to me, sigh, because I used two different fabrics in constructing the joining blocks, not including the center hexagons. Yet the last Mandolin quilt I made looked, well, dull, what with white joining blocks edging hexagons from a sunflower print. ...