guilty pleasures

Häagen-Dazs Caramel Pizzelle Bar

So once a week (or so) I wander down the street to Santos Liquors where I purchase my ice cream bar. They are getting to know me and I realized I was no longer anonymous and so I should start having brief conversations with them. They are really a very friendly lot. There is a whole small universe at the corner liquor store where the sales people know their regulars by name and vice versa. For unexplained reasons I find this whole universe somewhat comforting. Perhaps because it is so far removed from the whole millennial culture and seems to include a large number of people buying lottery tickets with dreams of escape from their daily drudgery. I am reminded of childhood days when we would scrounge bottles from the creek and turn them in for candy at the local corner small grocery. I don't have to scrounge for bottles or raid the penny jar, I always seem to have the $2.99 and I enjoy the walk down the block. I could just eat ice cream from the carton in the freezer, but I wouldn't get to experience Santos Liquors employees, customers, or the walk down the block.

nesting

The light and the leaves are telling me it's time to nest. I'm ready. Knitting time is increasing. I've completed my window seat with pillows and blankets. Now all I need is some rain. I might have to be patient and settle for the morning fog.

midsummer quilt change

The quilter has been very busy this past month, even though the blogger has been remiss.
The bearpaw blocks over the bed were found in my fabric stash from unknown years ago. I decided it was time to do something with them. So here they are on view.
Suddenly drawn to something other than squares I pieced the flying geese below.

The Rettie houeshold added a window seat to our bedroom which seems to provide a display for quilts, blankets, and pillows so there could be more activity.

5 seasons in quilts

The Chinese believe there are five seasons, our usual four with the added fifth: late summer. Late summer is a time of harvest and abundance and only last 4-6 weeks. We perhaps have always called it Indian summer, cool mornings, warm days but hints of of autumn around the corner. I have always associated the season with a change in the light, a clarity, and crispness in the smell of the air. Late summer is associated with the earth element, a time to balance our bodies with the feel of the soil beneath our toes and taking deep breaths before we eat our harvests.
So what does this have to do with quilts you might be asking. Well, I have a quilt on the bed and a quilt on the wall above the bed. Below are my summer quilts:

The blue and white quilt has been on the bed so many summers that many of the dark fabrics have disappeared becoming light. With the newly added window seat I now have more easily accessed storage and with retirement and a collection of fabric I have the ability to produce more quilts. And so I am assessing the seasons to see what I need to do to cover my wall and bed.

The late summer season is perhaps my favorite season so I will have to choose carefully.

The above may be my choice for the bed with the almost completed bear paw below to hang on the wall.

And then what can I do with this tub of fabric from my friend Ann? I've been toying with a flying geese quilt to represent the autumnal migrations south with the quilt in the drawer for the bed.

Winter will come, but that is far off and pushed out of my mind as my least favorite of seasons. But I have some ideas involving white, grey, and red.

And Spring, weren't we just there?

things change

We just returned from our annual Yellow Creek camping trip. The weather was beautiful, the food, as always, both good and plentiful and the company enjoyable. But there was an edge of bitter sweetness to the time. We are not sure if the campground will exist for us next year and we are all aging. While the two of us still enjoy our tent, trailers and generators have entered our friends campsites. Some are for necessity and some for added comfort. I kept hearing the recitation from my Qigong teacher's young son's play, where he and another little one were costumed as a Monarch butterflies and at the singing of "things change" they opened their wings.

Nicole said a discussion about change then happened, trying to gently tell her son that while often good, change may not always go in that direction. But I came home to find life working in the vegetable garden between our house and the Mikes. And I'm hoping for a good change for these catterpillars.

community and gardens

I've been busy gardening the past month, and rather than publicly blogging, I've been planting and tending the "community" garden with my neighbors. Not all of them are involved with the actual soil or plants but some wander by for conversation on collard greens and cabbage, telling stories of their gardens. Gardening in the front yard is a wonderful way to meet people walking by on their way to drop off children at the school next door or who are just out for a stroll with their dog. People wander to and from farmer's market, the post office, and all the businesses on Webster Street, pausing to say hello. Some don't speak English but smile and give a thumbs up, connections are made between us. I consider myself fortunate for this neighborhood and all of my neighbors.

hail!!!

Quite a Spring we are having. Not sure what the garden will think of this.