I forgot my Sunday post! Well!
I took the weekend off work to attend a willow weaving workshop. I am filled with many regrets but also now have some neat willow stuff so … I guess we might call it even.
The peonies bloomed! Shouldn’t this have fixed everything?
I bought a dozen plants, shouldn’t that have fixed everything?
Also I made some paper…
The days blur together now but I swear I took clear notes!
Walks in the woods
Time at each beach
“If we were in love, I’d ask if you wouldn’t mind stopping the car up here … ”
And landscapes that always delivered
June is a flash of light. All the waiting for nice weather and a garden in full swing has given way to just that, in the blink of an eye, so swiftly that it feels like I’ve missed my morning alarm. I’m grateful but completely thrown.
I must make some big decisions soon about the materials I want to use for my gallery submission after that residency. Mild paralysis mixed with full on dread.
I’ve been fern hunting in Odell while catching the sunrise over that ridge as often as I can convince my lazy morning body to move, with the bug bites that come with experiencing those glories. There are a couple deadfalls where my tiny tent would fit perfectly and there is just enough sunlight peeking through the 200 year old hemlocks for a raised bed of greens to thrive. A flat of chickpea tins and a can opener could really make a home of it all.
The health issues dropped on me in February have resolved. It is time for some big steps forward and a guttural full body response to anything trying to drag me back.
It’s all Odell. After a new experience I like to pretend it never happened for a bit until I’m ready to reflect. Settling back into life. Seeing what comes up.
Art Residency: Day 1
A late start on my end due to having to plant sweet peas and scarlet runner beans, a lovely residency participant picked me up for the drive to Fundy. I had warned her about my tendency to over pack. I did not disappoint.
If you told me my excellent oTENTic roommate was related to Lily Tomlin, I wouldn’t blink.
She had a cabin across the beach that was nearly visible from the residency accommodations. It was handy for recharging all sorts of batteries and making meals. I did not use my camp stove at all. One adventure at a time, I guess.
The first day remains a bit of a blur, getting situated/feeling out of place.
The curator from Conversations was the first presenter and she got everyone to read excerpts from their private applications off a power-point to the entire group and then hear feedback on possible directions for their work. The critique on mine was content-less and it made me feel like that was because I haven’t produced anything worthy of commentary. Greetings Devastation.
We did a nice walk through the woods in the pouring rain, talked about inaturalist and then settled in for the night. During the day I took a lot of notes which I am now avoiding. This post could really be point form. Feeling really Exit Stage Left here.
After publicly proclaiming I was done with making jewelry, my garden produced these miniature daffodils (you know, from when I panicked a week before the first autumn 2018 snowfall and planted 200 bulbs). They obviously need to be preserved for posterity.
I assume my next post will start “After publicly proclaiming I would be able to turn these into earrings …” Still unsure of how I’ll make it work. Dreamers gotta dream. Next show is June 1st. Just keep working.
I’ve been focusing on gardening and preparing for my week long art residency in Fundy National Park. As someone who dates outdoorsy people and rarely travels alone, I have limited equipment/supplies. Doing many googles.
Sugar snap peas, nasturtiums, borage, sweet peas, mustard, beets, onions, spinach, bachelor’s buttons, sage, poppies, swiss chard, carrots and arugula were directly sown. Room was left for beans! Zinnia! Purslane! Sun flowers?
While a few new daffodil types are opening every few days, not a single one of the wide array of tulips has begun peek out. It has been Cold! Gray! Non stop rain featuring snow/frost! Just generally awful. Today is paternal grandmother’s date of birth and it’s been ten years since she passed. This is the first time I haven’t had a full bouquet from my garden to bring to her grave to mark the date. While I certainly am feeling lousy about it, it would feel worse to overcompensate with store bought. Hopefully in a few days I’ll be able to correct this unpalatable error the weather created and leave something to warm my beautiful grandfather’s heart on his morning visits.
Redemption! I got this guy from Scott’s in Nov and he was huge! Buuut also full of giant terrifying bugs! I had to do a soil washout and repot to remove them all and that’s when this jasmine demanded to be cut to a 5th of its size. Fast forward to May 12th and we’ve got four blooms, some red on them (pulling a full stop phoenix maneuver). Thank goodness. Onward and upward.
Mother’s Day workstation
Fresh Cut Feelings 