Work Away

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at the Weaver's home.   She'd given me some "ends" of this cobweb silk a long time ago.  It's what i've been using for the Grasses on the cloths,  the stems and seed heads,  and i finished it recently and left her a note a while ago that if she wasn't going to be able to have enough to use herself,  i'd like to buy it from her.  Told her i'd tried to get some more from Colour Mart (where this was from)  but that a very nice woman there in the U.K.  told me that they were no longer going to offer it,  that there was too little interest as it is so fine.  There on the dining room table today…this cone.  I Love using this….use it with a very very fine beading needle for so many things more than the Grasses.  Its neutral color works with everything as invisible baste  (Jude Hill~Spirit Cloth) that literally is invisible on almost all cloth.    This is enough for a lifetime.  and beyond.

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and there in the Way Back two very sturdy little plants maybe an inch and a half tall. 

Flixweed.  "Flixweed is a winter annual, native to europe; 8-24 inches high;  leaves alternate, 2 to 3 times pinnately compound; segments very narrow or linear; pubescent with branched hairs or nearly glabrous; inflorescence a raceme; petals, very small, yelllow or greenish yellow; pod partitioned with 2 to 3 longitudinal nerves, siliques  1/2 to 1 14 inches long."  Weeds of the West   Published by The Western Society of Weed Science in cooperation with the Western United States Land Grant Universities Cooperative Extension Services.    Not good for Goats, this Flixweed.  it's other name is Wild Mustard.  or Fourth of July weed.    It's only the second day of February.  I hope this is not a sign.

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i dreamed of my friend Luna and her buckwheat pancakes last night.  I could TASTE them,  feel their texture,  smell their fragrance.  It was maybe 40 years ago.  And the dream was strong enough that on the way home i stopped at the grocery.    I called her to ask her if she'd used yeast as the recipe on the package says…and if she partially mixed and then left over night also as the recipe on the package says and well,  it's a long time ago and we weren't sure about anything, but remembering that they were the greatest pancakes and how we canoed down their river where she lived then,  like white water rafting and i thought of Ellen Melloy,  and i thought about how i could dream something so so Strong after 40 years, how nothing is ever lost from that rolodex in my head and also how great it is that i can call her,  all these years and miles away from each other and we can remember that morning.

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so i am waiting.  What's Next?  This little pile of cloth and cat hair.  The cat hair is a bummer.  But Tazmeena is old.   I'll need to deal.   Maybe someday i'll leave my hair all over everything.  Probably.

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this morning before i left.   Tomorrow,  the FINAL other side and then it is DONE.  

 

 

 

 

 

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22 responses to “How Mondays are”

  1. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Until I read your words and did a closeup of the flixweed, I thought, hey how great that grace is growing frisee…!
    How wonderful it is to recall an experience from your memory Rolodex and bring it to life, forty years later, the taste of food shared, the time spent together…memories feed us.

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  2. grace Avatar

    yes. that was before i had any kids. That was when we were
    well, just Loose. Loose for anything, everything.
    And i found myself incredibly gratefull to dial her number and
    there she is…her voice, my voice, talking and laughing. It’s
    very Elegant. Every thing in our lives has changed since then, everything but Us. We are us. still. With our lives now, but still us. Me and her. How Great is That?

    Like

  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    It is amazing how if we are unafraid to reach out….to reconnect….we see that time can stand still…we just pick up…..it is amazing! What does not amaze me is how very generous people can be…..giving things ……your friend must have known that you would put all that thread to better use than she could. Love you peeking over that window…..seeing an end to it soon.

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  4. grace Avatar

    Tina…yes. peeking. Looking over that window…eeeeeeee to see
    the End of it.
    i am never afraid to reach out. I reach OUT all the time cause Why Not? It’s the thing about vulnerability. Why Not?

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  5. grace Avatar

    and more, it’s like how YOU are. You see something that works for
    you, that makes sense to you and you don’t hesitate, but just
    GO and take your PlACE in the midst of it…
    I love that. just love that a LOT.

    Like

  6. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Thank you! It’s people like you that make it easy for me to be ME! Am always searching for ways to keep growing…not just older but with help…wiser!

    Like

  7. handstories Avatar

    We often go to Bob’s Red Mill when we go to see family The boys love to go there for BIG breakfasts. I love buying the 25 lb bag of oatmeal at a discount. The original mill was at the edge of our childhood home town. It burned down, everything- except the millstone.

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  8. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Now i can taste them too…….
    1 cup buckwheat flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    2 Tbsp sugar
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 egg, beaten
    1 cup milk
    2 Tbsp melted butter or margarine
    Prep Time: 5 minutes–Cook Time: 5 minutes–Total Time: 10 minutes
    Preparation
    Preheat griddle or large skillet (if electric) to 375 F. Grease lightly with oil. Griddle is ready when small drops of water sizzle and disappear almost immediately. Mix dry ingredients together; add egg, milk and butter or margarine, beating well after each addition.
    Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 1½ minutes, turning when edges look cooked and bubbles begin to break on the surface. Continue to cook 1 to 1½ minutes or until golden brown.
    And that circle of warm cloth reminds me of the plate of warm cloth Jude served up over at spirit.

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  9. ² Avatar
    ²

    yes ” with the help of a friend ”
    yes we make eachother wiser in many way’s
    thanks

    Like

  10. Louisa Avatar

    oh my, colour mart – what a find! I used to weave with yarns this fine and I think I will be ordering some stuff from them, they are all beautiful! have you ever thought of spinning the cat hair?

    Like

  11. Mo Crow Avatar

    good that the window work is nearly done Grace!

    Like

  12. Liz Avatar

    Oh … buckwheat pancakes … slathered in butter and blessed with blackstrap molasses … what a blissful memory. I am going right now to put buckwheat on my shopping list … as if I would forget.

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  13. Dana Avatar

    Thread, friends, food and the end of the windows…Hooray!

    Like

  14. jude Avatar

    that window was big work.

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  15. grace Avatar

    yes. as Maria said this is what we give to one another

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  16. grace Avatar

    everything except the millstone. yes. i love knowing this

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  17. grace Avatar

    food and cloth. it’s really the same

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  18. grace Avatar

    NO! spinning cat hair, NO!
    maybe in my next life

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  19. grace Avatar

    i haven’t done it yet and it’s Thursday night. Maybe tomorrow.

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  20. grace Avatar

    i am Beyond Glad that the windows are finished. Totally Anal work
    and not ME

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  21. grace Avatar

    more than i’d imagined. Way, Way more than i’d imagined. Thought
    it would be a piece of cake.

    Like

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