A Contemplative Life

Because despite busy days with grandgirls, the longest day of the year means much to me, and I don't want to lose that notion amid whatever else is going on.... Okay, so it's early morning, all are sleeping. As for that solstice.... Currently it's heavily wrapped in a whopping marine layer that yesterday kept the sun from shining on our North Coast, and may again today veil the blue sky that on these lengthy daylight summer days seems unending. I am totally a summer person, or perhaps I merely gravitate toward the light. Whatever it is about this time of year that tugs at my heart, I long for a peek at blue sky, and if not today, then maybe tomorrow. This post was waylaid by an early rising youngest granddaughter who sewed this mostly ALL BY HERSELF!! I did the pressing, lol.... Could it be all those years we lived in the UK, where clouds dominated? Which butts up against my childhood spent in the hot Sacramento Valley here in California, few clouds in summer of which to sp...

About six months ago I wrote a post about five weeks till the winter solstice . Funny to think that's about half a year ago already. Nothing felt summery earlier this month; all those gray days seemed like a weird winter, because it was chilly but light out. We had four fires in our fireplace, maybe more than we actually had during winter. It was lovely to go out for more wood at seven p.m. and it wasn't dark, LOL. Then suddenly, like a weather switch has been flipped, we've had mostly sunny days since Mother's Day! Windy but not cold. Bright and healing. Truly like summer is around the corner, though here in Humboldt County summer is a relative term. It's summer once the dragonflies arrive, mowing down the mosquitoes. It's summer in July because by then not only are the mosquitoes gone, but the days are still lengthy and the marine layer isn't quite the wet blanket it was in June because there's just enough heat soaked into the ground that makes it feel...

Not the heart quilt but what I worked on last night for my medallion quilt also known as Alexandria. Pics of heart quilt coming soon! Kind of like life without grandkids around, or being on the other side of the solstice. It's an emptiness or loss that you knew couldn't be avoided. Eventually one quilt top is completed, and even if you make the pattern again, different fabrics proffer an altered vibe. And IF the same fabrics in exactly the same placement were used, the manner of application cannot be duplicated. Life isn't static. Everything changes. Yesterday after lunch our daughter and her crew departed for their home. Items were left behind, nothing essential, merely a way to remind us that a return trip is desired, or how I interpret it, lol. I threw some things in the wash, collected scattered toys and scraps of paper from art projects off the floor. I still need to toss their milk, as we drink lactose free and have no use for regular two percent. Last night as I sat ...