Dad

Today is my dad’s birthday. He would be 88, and has been gone from this life for 28 years.

I think he would be proud of what has happened with his children and their offspring. A lot of creativity, a lot of personal and professional successes, a lot of loving people brought into the family that he would have enfolded in his bear hug. I can just see him smile that huge grin of his with his eyes twinkling….

Dad would be digging up dirt for me and coming up with more ideas on how to ‘play in the mud’, too. What a guy he was!

Happy birthday, Dad!

Newest idea!

Got this great idea for a book… but I need to back up a bit and give some background info.

Last spring I taught a mudcloth workshop in St. Louis and made a strong connection with one of the students in the class. JudyC is a fiber art instructor in a local college there, and supervises new teachers. (I think I got that straight!) One of the things that I mentioned in class was how the Mali cloth that is mordanted before putting on the mud is called basilanfini (cloth that can heal) due to the healing properties of some of the tannins. She and I made a pledge to push each other into creating new work with a basis in healing (healing cloths, big and small).

Earlier than that, local quilter and fiber art friend Moya and I had agreed to focus on pockets (and the play on words that can come from that, as in “out of pocket”) as a way to force some creative work.

I’ve sort of put the two of them together and the three of us have shared some of what we are doing as well as act as instigators in getting work accomplished.

Next summer I’ll be teaching mudcloth, gut and simple bookbinding at Convergence in Tampa. There are several exhibits that I’m thinking of entering as a way to show my various work to more than just the people in the classes. The basketry exhibit would be ideal for a gut piece. The exhibit Small Expressions, which has a 15 inch limit in any direction, seems to be a good place for a book….

Fast forward to the idea:

A bag/purse of pockets that hold healing cloths of various sizes dyed with mud. Then it becomes a PocketBook of Healthy Dirt – or something along those lines. Each pocket contains a separate “page” of the “book”.

I think I’m almost having too much fun with the play on words. <g>  Better get the project started!

The Virgin…

of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard, Balantine Books, NY, 2006.

Just finished the above book – a quick read but pulls you in immediately. Calls itself a novel of suspense and I have to agree.

I actually read the book, with it in my hands, using my eyes – no  audio-recording this time!  My sons would be so proud…

What a Meal!

This Thanksgiving, we traveled to Cleveland to spend it with our boys. We have a ‘relative rotation’ going on and this is our year for them to be with us for Thanksgiving Day. Doesn’t make sense for five of them to find their way to southern Ohio, figuring out the various work schedules, when the two of us can drive up and do it all there.

It made all the more sense to travel to them when the youngest has access to a restaurant kitchen and the three boys decided to do the cooking! My love and I got there about midday Thursday to find the three boys chopping and mixing and generally scurrying around to the blare of some contemporary music.

We watched in wonder as one turkey (stuffed with a sausage dressing), two ducks (brined and stuffed with a berry and hot chili pepper cornbread dressing) and two pheasants (stuffed with a chestnut dressing – we brought up the chestnut meats – and overnighted with pearl onions and garlic cloves) went into the oven. A whole cranberry relish thickened on top the stove along with duck/chicken gravy. An apple pie at least six inches high and a two-toned pumpkin/sweet potato pie were pulled out of the oven at the golden brown stage (the pumpkin cheesecake was already waiting in the fridge at Tom’s house). Extra cornbread, with corn kernels freshly cut off the cob, was baked with huge blackberries added. Of course, everything was done with butter or duck lard. About ten pounds of smashed white potatoes (with sour cream and cream cheese added) and 5 large whipped sweet potatoes were also cooked along the way. The fresh asparagus spears waited to be lightly steamed till right before the meal.

My love and I supplied the wines, fruits and cheeses to keep us going before, during and after the meal. The favorite cheese seemed to be a smoked hot pepper gouda. The most interesting looking one was an elderberry cheese with a green rind – it did not turn out to be as interesting in taste as looks, though.

And what a meal, when we finally all sat down at Tom and Lydia’s lovely table! We took it slowly in courses with the various dressings accompanying the birds they were cooked in. Turkey first, then duck and finally the pheasant. The desserts came a lot later!

I don’t think the boys realized how much food they were making – we did a reprise of the meal on Friday (after spending several hours in the Art Museum perusing the Masters exhibit) with plenty more left for them to munch on for a couple more days.

I know I missed mentioning some of the wonderful ingredients in the above dishes (in particular, the cranberry sauce had a lemon zest and some other liquid – maybe a wine? or cherry soda? or ?). It was hard to keep up with what they were throwing in and mixing around. One of the great things about using the restaurant kitchen was being able to use their big pots and pans for cooking and transporting, and the dishwasher for clean-up!

I don’t think my love and I can compete with that sumptuous of a meal when they come in for the Christmas holidays, but I don’t think that will be a problem. We’ll have home and the hot tub. <g>

First Anniversary

Did a little bit of research and found that it’s been over a year that I wrote my first blog entry. I have no idea how successful this has been to anyone else, but I do like how I’ve been able to record various events and travels.

I don’t keep a diary even though other artists are always extolling the virtues of keeping a journal. I did follow The Artist’s Way first-thing-in-the-morning routine of writing for several months, at one point. (One morning I stopped, thinking I’d go back to it the next day, but never did.  I guess I can always start again…)
I thoroughly enjoy reading an author with a good imagination and witty way with words. And I always sort of fancied that I could write.

I don’t think I measure up to the writers that I like, and sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not writing more, but I guess I haven’t done too badly for the first year.

I may start including more of the “snippets of life” and not worry if there isn’t as much of the fiber stuff, although THAT will always be part of my life.

A month gone by…

I just realized that it has been almost a month since I last wrote! Those days sure went by in a blur – I know I was busy, but I’m not sure I could tell you much of what I did.

Except – the week spent in Duck, NC! A dozen basket friends from around the country converged on Duck (Outer Banks north of Kitty Hawk) to spend some time together. We don’t often get to see each other and usually when when we do, it is during a conference or some other teaching time and the ‘friend time’ is limited. A glorious week full of ocean and sand and beach combing and wine and laughing-till-our-sides-hurt and knitting and sunsets and hot tubs and …

The knitting I did during that week was a couple pairs of ****** ******* to be Christmas gifts. I’ll divulge all later. Have to say, I’m quite pleased with how they are turning out.

This weekend I am basking in the warmth and humidity of Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati as I peddle my wares during their Kris Kringle Mart in conjunction with the opening of their holiday plant exhibit. The exhibit is gorgeous, as always.

Filling the time today* I made up a bunch of tension trays – nothing difficult while crowds are around. Tea staining them at the moment to take the ‘newness edge’ off them. I think they will work well as holders for the soaps my new daughter-in-law is making.

*(This post was actually written the evening of 11/17 – I thought I posted it then, but obviously did not!)