I'm under the weather today, so lots of napping and laying around. I rest my eyes on the narrow view through the sliding door, being touched by the light and so much green.
In between sleeps, I watch this video of a home with endless views and endless things to visually explore. Artful and amazing....an endless imagination.
Family builds village of dugout homes into remote SoCal hill
Friday a "WOW!!" and some wishes were added...and today, some sciatica/neck stretches were added too. Trying my hand at the human form again. heehee I could not figure out how to create the head tipped back face, so the poor creature is just staring straight ahead instead. I also couldn't figure out how to put a person on that chair, so the chair had to represent all by itself! haha
I then began a new page while waiting today. I picked the acorn stamped page, which sent me right to thoughts of seeds and planting and growth...mostly by the way of questions first and possible answers afterwards.
I'll most likely add color to both of these pages...and maybe more doodles too. I am liking the pages to be quite full.
When you just want to run away...but at best you hobble. Any of you who have read here for a while know well my dreamy run away thoughts...escape, through walks or books on that theme...songs too...of going.
I almost didn't go to the bridge today, but then I did. I needed to.
I was well rewarded, for it was a beautiful late afternoon. The crows were heading home...three different families were there posing for their holiday photos...the sky held a giant X right beside the O of the glaring sun! The temperature was a lovely 71 degrees. Across the bridge and back...with lots of stopping and looking and embracing. So, in the end, I ran away for a few minutes.
Come along with me...and enjoy!
Water getting lower, but were are possibly getting some rain Thursday-Friday.
In the photo below, J. noticed right away the hard line of the sandy edge (photographed fairly recently) is now bursting with green growth. Well, how do you like that? In looking back through the river pics, I noticed that the edge growth had actually begun a while back, but today it seemed to really pop. I had thought of (and probably will) adding a 'watering can' or something to the acorn-growth page. So, yeah, there it is right in front of me!
Still fascinated with the shimmers, swirls and glitters. Doesn't the pic below look leaf-ish in how the water moved and shaped it?
In all honesty, I do play a bit with the lighting, saturation and cropping of my pics in recent months (or years?!). My camera has aged along with me and I don't feel like I get the most realistic results anymore. When I first started blogging, I wouldn't have considered doing this. Aside from cropping, the other techniques felt like cheating. Nowadays it feels like another kind of creativity. Plus, the results are really fun sometimes!
This day, there was Magic Feather on the bridge. Do you see it too? It reminded me so much of the ragged Crow feather that Big Grandson stitched all of those years ago, when we were all busy with Jude's "Magic Feather Project". Such beautiful and peace-filled memories of the time.
As I stood there, Crow came, landing on a cross-section...where it stood and called loudly over and over again. It was not the typical "CAW", it was more of a one-click of a call. It repeated itself many, many, many times. In the photo above you can just barely see some nest materials hanging down (top right of pic), so I wondered if it was Crow's nest? I couldn't recall if I thought they were Hawk's or Crow's nests up there, so who knows. At any rate, the loud woosh of the wings as it flew past me and up onto the bridge...priceless.
Below, today's selection of Bridge pics...bridging perspective...
I like how the bottom selection holds the gritty feel of old metal supports.
In the late afternoon sky, the crows headed home...you must look very closely or enlarge photo below to actually see them. I felt lucky to see this daily sight once again. I feel lucky every single time.
Also in Bridge attendance at the Bridge today, were three separate family groups...there to take their Holiday Photos. Couples, babies and young children...all dressed up, hair combed down...ready to smile for the photographer...or at least ready to allow themselves to be cajoled into the request grin.
I completed the 7 'peach' medicine bags I had intended to make. Then I got inspired for an 8th color scheme, so I will begin working on that one. After finger crocheting a fine bit of weaving material...I decided instead to just tie it on my wrist, as it was a perfect fit!
I stopped on the way back home to pick up my little Hallmark Date Book. I am more than ready for a new year! How about you...what are you doing, dreaming about or deleting?
...I dropped this video in the draft for a previous post and remembered it was there only when I saw the published post, and it showed up way at the bottom! While I was writing the post, as I added other items above it, there it sank - lower and lower on the screen...until I completely forgot it was there! Imagine my surprise as I scrolled down to respond to a comment and...Surprise! No explanation, no story, nothing. A bread video, all by its lonesome. Sigh.
Anyway, I saw this video and was reminded of the time I sewed together saltines 🙂 At first I thought it was going to be some football themed bread. Doesn't it look that way from the still shot? It brought me a little smile, so I hope it does that for you too. Humor helps.
~~~~~Laugh at the absurdity...or you'll cry at the tragedy of it all.
A recent visit to the VA, always an experience...
The TV was on for waiting patients, but was only a very dark blue screen of static, which could not be heard. I thought it odd that they just left it playing, as if to say: Yeah, here ya go, here's a TV to watch, good enough. I was insulted for the VET patients, who I thought deserved better. Much later, I heard one staff member talking to another about it..."You need to get your TV fixed"..."Yeah, we need to call "man's name" to come down." I was perplexed to consider that they knew about it...and yet let it continue to play, as is!
There was more...
A man wearing this: HOODIE & PANTS...I guess the answer is obvious if a doctor asks him what medicines/drugs he is using.
A man dangled a gold chain out in front of us as we walked down a hallway. When J. reached out for it (thinking it was being offered), the man snatched it back and let us know he was "selling it". Oh. Because I always buy my gold chains from random guys in the hall of the VA.
There were a wide variety of snappy or interestingly dressed gentlemen.
This sign made sense to me...
But, when I saw this one, I was scratching my head and instantly thinking of the book by Eric Carle, "From Head to Toe". Why are these in the same department?! These kinds of things make me laugh.
May we visit doctors as needed, but may we remain on The Wellness Trail always...
I finally unbundled the "mummies" (as J. called them). I had planned...no, considered unwrapping them with Orlo, but that didn't happen. This means they sat baking in the Summer Sun for a long time. I think that timing paid off!
I lucked out with cool photos today. These binding strings will be used in an upcoming weaving (she likes "brown").
Not all of the photos were great, but in the two above, I liked seeing the way the rust pattern traveled. I was reminded of Liz's Moon Myth book. So, I put them here.
I seem to put lots of photos here.
Cooler pics and the rust, markings, and organized wrinkles are so enchanting! Look at that lit up, white edging on the cloth!! I can see why just this part of the process has become the love affair for Marti.
Here is everything rinsed (not yet washed) and drying in the bathroom light. Look at those marks!! Magic. I had thrown in a bit of ground cayenne pepper, which was found in a box recently...a gift from Dear Peggy, so many years back. What a nice surprise! We are wondering if that helped give the cloth more color? An experiment is planned. I do think the length of time and the heat was a most powerful influence this time around.
The materials have been gathered (plus the binding string photographed above). Her colors are: Brown, Blue, Green and Purple. I'm not sure about the one very small ball of yarn (bottom, left), as it is a bit too pinkish. We'll see. I like the way these colors look together. Thanks go out to Hazel, Tina and Dee for their contributions to the yarn basket.
I heard this quote recently and spent some time with it. What if accepting that each love is completely unique in it's own right, eased one's expectations for particular levels of satisfaction? Mmmm... That whole idea of reframing seems to pop up a lot recently.
Lat night's WORDLE word was "crone". The timing of that made me smile.
While over at Dee's place, she posted a quote from this book that really hit home today (Pop over there for a read). That had me thinking about this book again and how I enjoyed it when my Magic Book Friend (and then another friend too!!) sent it to me in December 2021. I enjoyed gifting it to others as well.
As I wrote to Dee, "We do keep getting back up and going on, don't we...even if we are not sure where the path will lead or even if there is a path at all. Just call me the Wandering Weeble!
Here are a few more magical pages:
~~~~~
Still waiting for the story of this photo, but I can only hope that this lil guy and his daddy (and mommy too of course) get to share the deep love of Baseball that my son has had since age 5! He was all about baseball through his childhood 🧢 ⚾️
May you find, hold and share all the magic you can
I was home today. Doctor appointments. A tune up...more scheduled.
A physical, a covid booster, pre-op...mammogram...You know, the regular.
Anyway, being home allows me to post here. I've posted a lot recently.
I will not stop to consider why or if it will continue. For now, it just is.
I chuckled at "Are you human?" Sometime one can wonder!
Anyway, funny they use snarky humor to get folks to care for themselves.
It was hard to capture the depth of the sky the other morning.
I commented on this over at Jude's...how the clouds parted, sharing a bluer sky with Magritte like white puffy clouds peeking out! It was really cool!
We may get a bit of rain in the next few days. I never count on it until it is happening, but I plan my driving for it, just in case.
Also mentioned at Jude's - this book and newspaper clipping, still tucked inside since 1974! That was so my mom. J. and I both re-read them. This time around I really noticed the language in the book and how it was so 'of its time' and the illustrations/ideas...same thing, so 1963 when this book was written.
I've pulled out these two, with an idea percolating. The weaving was made as a 'coaster' for my mom, to match her tan and white living room colors (and then some). I plan to repurpose it with this leather (deerskin from our local Pow Wow years ago). I have a few ideas already, plus another today...should I add some other colors into the weaving? Give it a less mono-color look? Maybe some green, blue? It is complete as it is, but who says you can't had more?
I seriously think if all I did was weave and braid and knot bits of fiber...I'd be content to do just that.
Each fiber selection a piece of my heart...each twist, cross-over, braid and knot a meditation.
"Let Your Heart Be Your Compass"
~For someone on a new work journey...
I have no idea what colors she likes. Ha.
#ENJOYTHEJOURNEY
Slowly, but surely, I've been doing some cleaning up. Little bits of singular tasks, so my asthma stays reasonable, stays at bay. I like having smaller expectations these days.
Today it was the bedroom bookshelves, which hold my books and trinkets. This time around, I left the two top shelves for mostly stuff and very few books. It's a little bottom heavy, but who cares?! I moved the new lil quilt from Dee over there, clipping it on the painting my mom and I did together. Now I can see it as I lay in bed to read. I didn't even notice how I'd placed it near another Dee 'house' cloth. How nice. I think they will have some nice conversations. I love to see all of the gifts and mementoes. A lifetime of gifts, friendships, family, values, connections...love that. Plus, I found something within a book that has been misplaced for a very long time and remembered books I forgot I had. Nice.
🏁
After all of these days, I returned to the outside world today. We both tested negative, finally.
