Put on the left shoe first
it is less painful than the right.
Then, try to keep the finger-bony protrusion-
from getting mashed between the heel and the shoe as
it slides into the snug heel cup.
Snug is better:
better to absorb the impact of each step as it follows.
Both shoes are laced now.
Stand and balance,
assess & measure the degree of discomfort and
make the judgement. It is tolerable.
Tolerable.

too much spare time?

ride home

ready

We will be driving out east today but I have done one thread and I am ready to do another upon our return.
I am shipping Carolina Crossroads to Val to un-sew! and then have it quilted by Kathy. It is in a box-just needs to go to the post office...
I will be adding arms to my doll who now has a possible new owner-a friend's daughter who shall remain secret until I have finished the aforementioned doll. I am always inspired to finish something when I think of giving it away. I rarely sell my stuff, but I get motivated by the thought of giving it to someone who will get pleasure from it.
And while I am on the subject of giving-I did make a small donation to the democratic candidate....
edit to add: I machine quilted the quilt and it was a disaster. Un sewing means to take out all of that mess so it can be done by some one who knows what they are doing.
The doll has two legs and ten toes..and maybe tomorrow-arms...

standstill

Life is at a standstill. We are acutely aware that we do not have any control over the next inevitable thing to happen.We move through the day, through our lives, as tho we are in a strange medium, hitherto unbeknownst to us. We feel the atmosphere with our skin, our senses, but were are only vaguely aware of it. It is not the outside that has changed but our perception of it.
Events that are catastrophic in our lives have happened but we are not yet sure of how they will change us. We know it is useless to resist and yet we feel we should do something. As though our actions would make a difference in the outcome.We wait in the eerie silence that envelops us as we recede into our interiors to assess. the interior where external noise is unheard and unremarkable.
In this fugue state of the suspension of the ordinary, we listen. We are not aware that we have receded but the realization that we have withdrawn is made clear by the jarring sensation of the everyday as it intrudes into our inner realm.

Breakfast on the channel

We took bagels and juice to a park bench on this perfect morning.

Sheep with sweaters?

doll jones

I am scratching the doll making itch in a new way and knitting a doll. This is a change from my other dolls. I am using double pointed knitting needles for the first time and so far I am liking the results. It should be cute when it is done and I am sure I will have no problem finding a home for it (her?). The pattern, from Oat Couture, also has knitted clothes but i am not sure how much more I am going to make for this doll. I bought it from Angelika's Yarn store and there are others......to tempt the latent doll maker in you.

Give aways

Giving stuff away and swapping are a great way to make friends! I swap birthday siggies DJ siggies fabric ATCs postcards noodles.
Jen from Crafty Giveaways is hosting a give away on her blog of the same name.
I have made four (8) six inch blocks to share with my new swap buddy in NH. I am looking forward to our easy going exchange.
I spent all day making a keynote -practicing. Maybe I should get of the couch now?

I am a nigela What Flower Are You?

alas!

Nothing to report. I am woefully unmotivated and undisciplined in my stitching and writing and painting. Full time work will do that to a body.
I have started a new one to one Dear Jane Block swap with Phylils in New Hampshire and I am looking forward to that! I have done one block. The idea is, we each make one block twice, and send the other the double. It is a very good way to make progress and friends. I have twenty something already from a block swap with Tilde and I am looking forward to resuming my Dear Jane stitching.
I am woefully behind on my birthday siggies. Need to catch up on those tomorrow morning. I have all of the envelopes labeled and waiting to be filled. It won't take that long to be up to speed.
And I am desperately trying to hold of beginning any new knitting projects but they are screaming like sirens at me. I have to finish Mike;s hat and a shrug I began two freakin years ago. Must finish must finish... If I finish those first I will not feel too guilyy about starting a new project and I will have two Christmas gifts done.
and now of to work
another day another nickel

morning coffee on the back porch in July

Monkey

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

The monkey is done. It was my thread for today. We are going to dinner for a belated anniversary dinner. Maybe sewing some blocks for DJ later. I am feeling tempted to begin another swap, but maybe making a few blocks will save me!

so many things

I want to do so many things and I am feeling just incapable of doing anything. I want to paint and draw and write and sew and take classes and go kayaking. All these things are available but I do not have the time to do them all. How do I choose?
There is not enough time in two lifetimes to finish all of the quilts that I want to make. Why do I want to make them? they are not high art. I am not chilly. I will not sell them.
I wrote a couple of pages in the doctors office. That will have to do. The boobs are scanned and there are no new or worrisome things. Good to go for another six months. The writing is mundane and boring. What else to expect while waiting for a sonogram of your boobs.
We visited the nieces yesterday and they are always a joy. They are pretending not to want to have their pictures taken.
I will sew some today and wrap some things for mailing and that will be my afternoon...

fun with leaves and poetry

Every summer I want to do this and I wait till the leaves are too dry. I have been saving the rice paper and have plenty of paint-I am a hoarder of paint-so today I just did it. Make prints while the sun shines. Mike was concerned that I would use too many leaves and Bailey thought it strange that I just got up and began doing this with no discussion. Little did they know I had been scheming for many summers now.
Mary Oliver wrote a poem with a line that says,
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
Read by Garrison Keillor, on his podcast called The Writers Almanac, available for free on Itunes, or from this link.

Sky through the southern window

Swaps and murmerings

I am working on my swaps. I have received a cross stitched square from Cyndi and it was so nice that I have not been able to finish the one I am doing for her for fear it will not be good enough. I am also doing birthday siggies. All of my christmas siggies are ready to mail. I need to get them to the post office. I am almost caught up with birthdays tho ~~so that is good.
I have not worked on my tris in a week and I want to do seven different DJs. in seven different colors. I also want to write a book a poem a movie and paint portraits of strangers applying lipstick in the mall food court.
I almost had a picture but then she moved.
She was murmuring softly to herself in between applying the inner color and the outer lip liner color. She had a protruding mole on her upper right lip which she covered with the liner. And a little mirror that had a clip which hooked around her index finger leaving her other fingers free to hold the lipstick cases as she inspected her work.
her heavy cleavage was exposed and she was dressed entirely in black~what used to be called a twinset , black pants and shoes. all black except for for her bright red lips whose color was probably named after a wine, or a flower or mythological beast.
She was entirely oblivious to the cacophony of the food court as she sat stock still before her tiny mirror.
o the promise of the perfect color of lipstick.

This is fun

I don't know if I could do 725 of them like Janyce did for her prize
winning quilt at the vermont quilt festival . But a couple or three
dozen would make a cool wall hanging or baby quilt.
Minka has a picture on her blog of the whole beautiful thing. I used a cd to draw the circles on my nickels which left a less than quarter inch for a seam allowance-which was plenty.
Hanne shared a link with a tutorial in pictures....