maanantai, 14 kesäkuu

Hei.

The Doldrums. I prefer to think of it as a place... you know, somewhere south east of where I am, in the ocean... near to, but not necessarily at, the place where you have to beware of sea serpents.

Hmmm, I like commas today.

It doesn't seem possible in this day and age, to suffer from The Doldrums. But, yes, one surely can. It isn't as if I couldn't find enough to do. There are Making Things, Going Places, and Things To Do just waiting to be made, visited and done. Just not in the mood. Stuck in the doldrums. Not enough wind in my sails...

I've been reading about women in the 1650's to 1790's, trying to get a feel for what the ancestors - the female side - experienced. Not that I couldn't guess, but I wanted to see it in print for some reason. It's pretty depressing stuff. Wake up, work 'til you drop, go to bed. Think pure and holy thoughts. Be kind to the neighbors. Repeat and repeat and repeat. Oh, and drop a baby or 13 until your body gives out. It's hard to imagine giving birth to 13 children over a span of seventeen years, and ending up with only 6 children to care for until your death...untimely or no.

Sigh.

I've heard that this mood might be catching... so I will attempt to brighten the tone up a notch or two. Normally, I'm pretty good at it... let's see....

Some pretty pansies I found in Vermont that wanted to be in my garden and, so far, are loving it there.

My class with Hayley Tsang, and my Day One class with Holly Cooper! First of all, if you are a lampworker you really should take a class at Playing With Fire in Rockland, Maine. Ed and Virginia, the owners, are two really genuine and nice people who also know how to have a really good time... and they make sure that you too are having a good time. Rockland, ME? Wonderful little town, friendly folks. Artsy, Mainey, nice, picturesque with an incredible selection of great restaurants. I could live there. Don't forget the Wyeths at the Farnsworth.

Here are the beads I made in Hayley's class. The Van Gogh bead in the back is (a) bigger than the puny bead in front (camera magic) and (b) the largest bead I have ever made... it is 2.5 inches long and 7/8ths inches wide or, 6.4 cm by 2cm. Still trying to figure out how to put it into a wearable piece.

These are the beads I have been making since the class with Holly ... this is going to take a  whole lotta practice...

you will have to look up http://www.hollycooper.com/ to see her beads... see? I have a loooooong way to go. But I have already made some progress, and every minute that I spend at the torch will improve my skills. I hope.

I'm booked for four classes in July. One at New England Beads in Keene. What ? a new bead shop???? Nope, new name. I will  always think of it as Earth Treasures, but the important thing is it is still alive and well, just has more beads... yay! I will be teaching a bracelet variation on this:

and a few days later in Ludlow, VT at Fletcher Farm School, I will be teaching classes in these disciplines:

Charming Memories

Simple Stringing

Color Work

So far, the enrollments are pretty sparse... but then so is money and time, so we will see as we get closer to class time whether they are a go or not.

Hmmm what else is up? Oh, I finally met and played with Zentangles. Of course, I, like everyone else who talks about them, have doodled on my own since birth (the birth of my drawing career that is). Just not anything like Zentangles - they are much more sophisticated than anything I ever came up with... and yes, they are like eating your favorite salty, crunchy or sweet snack. Once is not enough. It is no wonder that I am attracted to B&W ... pictures, fabrics, designs.... in light of this latest craze.

 

Did I ever tell you how frustrating microsoft software is? Windows 7 in particular? And yet, I cannot bear to think of trying to learn a new software. I love how windows works. I hate how windows 7 works. I can never find a file when I need it. Sheesh. What happened to quality workmanship? Or softwarewritingmanship?

I have spent more time trying to move the darn images to the center than I have spent composing the descriptions of them. It's all about the spaces, largely unseen spaces that is, between the image and the text. Seems like it should be easier to do.

Two  Three more pictures and I will have successfully summed up the past couple of weeks...

 

Rhubarb and Rosemary Jelly courtesy of Gourmet Magazine. Third try was the charm. Still not sure why.

Quirky taste too.

The year of the foxglove!!! This is only half of what we have in the back garden. It is really enchanting to walk around the garden these days.

And finally, my new favorite picture. Three generations Skyping.

My daughter, my mother and my sister in VT skyping with my brother in VA.

How cool is that?