I love so much the comments in these last two days.  So much.  They seem in direct thread to something i have been thinking and trying to put into words.   That this blog,  i'd like it not to be about me,  really, rather just things i see and feel.  Which really,  are in commonality with every one elses things they see and feel.  The details are different but i am thinking the experience is common.   We all have days.  lying ourselves down in our beds,  and in the dark,  we think for a little or a long while about "it all".  Whatever it is for each of us,  but we all lie there when dark comes.  and then we sleep to rise in the morning,  put on our clothes and Begin Again.   I think it's such a Shared thing,  a shared Heart.  

I thought that if i were more capable,  i would really like to change it into a forum like Jude had with her online classes.  How beauty FULL that was,  how much i learned about so many.  Here tho,  it wouldn't necessarily need to be about whatever cloth work we might be doing….i talk about the raised beds.  someone else might talk about their favorite African Violet.  Does this make sense?   I'm just winging it as i always do,  without trying to think it "through" ahead…just what comes to mind in the moment.  Anyway,  I thank everyone for the thoughts given,  so so much,  not about anything i do,  but about that shared experience.  It's so life affirming in such hard times.  Is the antidote to things like the political joke in this country that could break my heart every day.  

DSCN0753fg

i tweaked the color to let the sticks be what they really are which then makes Tay blacker than she really is.  Yesterday it was Tay.  today it's the sticks.  There is a whole pile of them out in the Way Back.  Scavenged from the local dump some years ago.  They've had many transmutations.  Were pieces of someone's pig pen.  I left the really smelly pig wood there and just brought home the sticks.  They are Salt Cedar,  Tamarisk.  An extremely STRONG wood.  Here,  they are placed next to one another to create whats commonly called coyote fencing.  The salt cedar is everywhere and can be harvested everywhere.  People are Glad you come for it.  BLM,  Bureau of Land Management bulldozes it and it lies in great piles, waiting to be cut, disposed of.  It is not good for firewood.  something in it corrodes the stove pipes in relatively short order.  But for so many things,  it is just so Great and will last a lifetime.  When i think of the great grandkids coming this summer,  i think of us maybe building a shade house out there by the Raft,  where the OldCowboy's lawn furniture is now.  These,  not

these….they are needed where they are,

but the others,  in the way back would be perfect for the roof,  held in place with baling wire.  They are one of my most prized possessions.

DSCN0758ff

 

 

 all the invisible baste is finished and i wanted to try out a thought…that the Path could be with black and white thread,  that it would wind through this Heartscape of Imaginal Diorama.  And right now,  i'm thinking how to put the pile of sticks.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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37 responses to “shared heart”

  1. Liz Avatar

    Jude’s forum … I so loved that in Considering Weave. If you were to do something like that here, I would love to be a part of it. The fact that she is no longer hosting forums is a caution though.

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  2. grace Avatar

    i never could. I am so tech challenged it’s a miracle i can
    upload pics here.
    but it’s what i mean…that everyone is such a Partner to
    what’s here. it’s US. and more and more i’d like it that
    way. however that can happen.

    Like

  3. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Funny but to me, this already exists here without the need for a structured forum:
    …we come here because you so willingly share your life.
    …because we find questions, simple and profound, and in the communicating and telling of shared experiences, we sometimes also find answers.
    …we come because of connections and those connections can be anything from cloth to gardening to love of family, human and animal, love of land, wind, seeds, planting, growing, harvesting, the vast sky.
    …because so much of what we harvest here has to do with so many aspects of our lives even though we all lead different lives.
    …we come to vent our anger at the state of our planet, our country and to try to find individual and collective solutions for us, our community, our world.
    …because we find nourishment from gooey lasagna, french fries, egg foo young, spicy chili and the healing goodness of tea sent from others.
    …we come because sometimes, the salve of spirituality is so apparent.
    SEE we come because it’s all here SO KEEP on doing just what you are doing and we will keep wandering the sandy dirt path, arriving at your gate and coming on through…

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  4. grace Avatar

    ahh, Marti, you are so kind and GOOD. Maybe someone will come
    through that gate with their African Violet.
    a long long LOOOOOONG time ago i was the secretary to the Assistant Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School.
    It was a lark. Except for one thing. The Dean’s secretary,
    the venerable DOROTHY would go on vacation and i would be responsible for the care of the Zillions of African Violet plants all along the rim of the window sills in the Dean’s Office. They didn’t belong to him, but to DOROTHY. I was terrorized. If one leaf rotted because of improper watering method, i knew i’d had it.
    To this day, if someone asked me to care for an African Violet, i would be FILLED with ANXIETY.

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  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Before I get off, I shake my head in sympathy and laughter. My mother had many African violets and not only that, she planted them in her fine bone china tea cups. I lived in fear of splotching the leaves due to watering and chipping those cups. To be fair, most of the cups had a few little chips but I worried about accidentally dropping them and killing the plants.

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  6. deb lacativa Avatar

    My mother-in-law, Eleanor had beautiful African violets and taught me the secrets; never full sun and just a sip of water “through their toes” on Sundays.
    I bought the nearly dead ones dumped in a cart in the floral department of our grocery store. 25 cents each. They come back to life if they are not too far gone.

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  7. cynthia Avatar
    cynthia

    oh i was always so grateful that my dad loved african violets..they flooded in as teacher presents..and he took them and they flourished all different kinds and colors.on his window sill….and i could honestly tell the kids how well they were doing…really they are a species unto themselves , i think..inspiring love or fear in quite distinct measure..powerful little flowers
    this place is so huge and important to me..i come here when i am full..because the wonder of being is so evident in every key stroke..in every stitch..
    and i come when i am empty knowing that the swings between the peacefulness and the questioning..the variety of experience and the laughter..will help me hold place until i can breathe fully..and that to be sad is acknowledged and then life grows up all around it..it is real to me
    i start my day here because it is a place of joy and i am grateful each morning..and full of anticipation and curiosity and wonder..and african violets..
    gentle day

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  8. Liz Avatar

    I missed the “if” in your musings about a forum … wishful thinking I guess. But Marti’s right, there is a forum here already. All that’s missing is pictures in the comments, but perhaps those of us who come here can add more links (Michelle is so good about that already).

    Like

  9. Susan C Avatar

    We have so much more than fabric and thread in common. I find that too.
    and my grandma loved and seemingly effortlessly kept lots of African violets. I think of her every time I see one but have never had one of my own. I will have to remember Deb’s secret family care instructions above if ever I try.

    Like

  10. Angie Avatar

    Marti’s words echo what my soul speaks for me too, someone she doesn’t even ‘know’ but I come here every single day, and every single day I am trying to understand why I am drawn here every single day and how your blog posts help form and inform this human experience that I am having. There is a ‘calm’ here that my soul absorbs. Please, just keep doing what you do. Hugs of love and light to all who enter here.

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  11. yvette Avatar

    This is forum i think….graceway forum for all of us. I often say it here , we form a circle of like minded people and are connected are powerful in sharing and caring
    If i’m away from here for some time for some reason i miss you , read back , feel home.
    Reaction on reaction is already kind of forum
    Love you all!

    Like

  12. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    ok then. african violets. here’s a story to pull up from the compost. My mother had so many of them. . .on the large picture window ledge in the dining room. It was a south facing window but very shaded by the woods. They were always lush. She had the right touch for them and also created an English herbaceous garden outside, out of nothing except good earth. Western Pennsylvania. She still had the violets when I brought my small family, husband, son and dog, back to the States from England. the bone china teacups too. . .not filled with flowers. . .interspersed between them. We had to stay with them, my parents, a bit too long and there were boundary issues between my mother and myself. A case of saying one thing and doing something else. Feeling a bit desperate one day I have to confess (the tender-hearted may wish to read no further) I knelt down by those violets and murdered one of them. Squeezed it and sunk my fingernails into its body. I horrified myself and picked the poor thing up and carried it outside to the woods. . .left its foreign body to become compost in that place. As I left the dining room I saw my mother out of the corner of my eye. She saw and never said a word. TMI?

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  13. Mo Crow Avatar

    African violets are all about having the right position northeast facing window indirect light here in the Land of Oz and like tomatoes they can’t bear to be touched by hands that smoke tobacco
    oh and I love visiting this space!

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  14. Dana Avatar

    Grace, you are such a maker and opener of space for all of us. Your house and yard with all of their places for goat care and migration, dog play and poop, special shrine-like niches, shade and sun combine with your inner-worldly cloth making and your expressions here on-line to create a welcoming space for all of us to gather. I am grateful especially to you for making this place, but also for everyone else who visits.

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  15. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Oh my goodness Grace…my visits here have given me endless hours of learning. So often I’m left with thoughts about people places and things that I had no knowledge of before. I’ve grown artistically and spirituality. For me my visits here are like going to a humanities class……for me I think it is GREAT just the way it is. Sending loving BLESSINGS to you all!

    Like

  16. Vicky aka stichr and stichr2 Avatar

    intended or not, i see a frog in the top of the cloth. bullfrog? dunno.

    Like

  17. saskia Avatar

    your blog is the first one i visit whenever i’m visiting, that just about sums it up for me
    all else has been said above
    ….except, the main reason for me is you are genuinely interested in the other, in our replies, in our blogs and you have commited yourself to us, we truly share

    Like

  18. ² Avatar
    ²

    i am really deep hearted agree with Marti words in the way i understand them , i have no enough nowledge of your language , my heart understand it all, we have more the youmeus than with my neighbourhood , we are all different but in spirit we are the same , months ago i want to stop ( grace know ) but i will here you all , read you enjoy the life things you live your thoughts your short conversations of heart words really to the point .having my own blog is to match for me
    wish you all a experience sunday

    Like

  19. ² Avatar
    ²

    Angie o yes your words are my thoughts , thank you for write them here

    Like

  20. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    My dear Maria, how it gives me such joy when I see that you have commented. Your words, and by the way, you DO have an excellent understanding of our language, always fill me with clarity and quiet joy. Your words do so because you open your heart and share a deep connection to how we all live our lives. Thank you for being one of the youmeus of this world.

    Like

  21. ² Avatar
    ²

    thank you , you make me smile
    thank you Grace for let this happen !!!!!

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  22. grace Avatar

    Love to you, Angie

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  23. grace Avatar

    Heart words, Maria. Will you make your own Blog???????????

    Like

  24. grace Avatar

    yes…through their toes. and on Sundays.

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  25. grace Avatar

    Holding Place for EachOther….we DO this and it gives us
    Room when we need it

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  26. grace Avatar

    i will Never try….

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  27. grace Avatar

    yvette, We ARE. and we wait for Each Other

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  28. grace Avatar

    i LOVE this…i LOVE this so so much, the murder…by squeezing, by sinking fingernails
    and how she saw
    and never said a word
    this is priceless

    Like

  29. grace Avatar

    are they a nightshade being?

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  30. grace Avatar

    i am more and more and MOSTLY grateful for all who Make
    Community of it.

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  31. grace Avatar

    i smiled so much when i first read that…humanities…and now i smile again,
    I love you Tina

    Like

  32. grace Avatar

    o Vicky….no….no frog, bull or otherwise. What a
    beauty full vision you have…but nope….

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  33. grace Avatar

    thank you for saying this…it’s TRUE….
    everyone, everything, i love, like really Love and it feeds
    me and my own world here…so BeautyFull, all of it

    Like

  34. ² Avatar
    ²

    no Grace , it takes to match of my 24 hours of a day , it makes me crazy i know

    Like

  35. Mo Crow Avatar

    Tomatoes are in Solanacae the nightshade family, African Violets are in Gesnericeae, they both have fine hairs on the leaves and stems which are sensitive to nicotine & overwatering

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  36. Nancy Avatar

    Yes, full or empty…but for me it is the end of the day. Reflection.

    Like

  37. grace Avatar

    then you can make your oh so BeautyFull cloths

    Like

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