report card

There were three words for 2010: kindness, handicraft, and infrastructure. Not a resolution, (since those only ever generate overwhelming inadequacy; my list of projects and improvements is so much larger than one woman can ever do in one lifetime) but words to live by.

handicraft - became: a year of textiles rather than metals

There was quite a bit of sewing in 2010, mostly clothing, as I refurbished my scant wardrobe with newly made or re-made garments. This was handy for the two big online sewing activities: Me-Made-May, and Self-Stitched-September. The challenge here for me was not the sewing part, but the self-acceptance to clothe the body I do live in (Little Teapot), rather than the imaginary self. I seem to have been able to step outside of the whole fashion idiom to simply walk my own personal style path. Over the course of the year: nine dresses, seven pinafores, four tops, and four hats (two from Goretex)

Knitting was is transit-riding-calming, and as transit takes quite a bit of my time, quite a bit of knitting gets done: nineteen assorted projects this year. The biggest project was the blue vest stripey vest for me, the most complicated was the tea cozy, and the most fun was the jellyfish.

There was additional artisanry during the year, including a fair amount of embroidery, and toymaking (that won a contest) among other activities, though not anywhere near as much enameling as in years past. The falling dollar combined with the stratospheric rise in metals prices, multiplied by the stagnant economy, equals not a lot of jewelry work.

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Preserving: is it a handicraft, or is it infrastructure? ...seems somewhere in between for some reason, but whatever... a lot of it happened this year, which was structured by the year-long preserving challenge Tigress's Can Jam. Preserving food safely is a good skill to learn, pantry shelves full of tasty local foods helps add another layer of resiliency to the sustainable life that is my goal. By December, the process of putting up fruit and pickles in various forms had become quite comfortable, and an activity that will continue to be integrated into the cycle of the year here.

infrastructure - became: slow but steady progress

The linens shelf in the bedroom finally happened, and adds great functionality as well as being a transitional design element

A new low-flow, dual flush, comfort height commode is a step towards transforming the bathroom.

The bedroom wall cabinet/peg racks were another "Needs-Fixed-November" project, and are in daily use. Being able to see my earrings, my necklaces, with comb, mirror and hairbands right there in plain sight, really helps my morning routines.

Almost finished priming the porch columns and roof underside. Learned that overhead painting necessitates taking it slowly, or else taking time off is not optional. (next year, only paint for an hour or less at a time each day)

The day before the end of the year, a new small front loading washing machine replaced the huge water-guzzling top loader that was originally here. 15 gallons instead of 60 should make quite a difference.

Made a small garden bed next to the persimmon tree out in the parking strip, and planted the four garlic that made it from last year there, protected by half inch mesh. Hopefully that will deter the squirrels and jays from destroying the garlic before it sprouts, and 2011 will have enough garlic to eat as well as to plant.

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kindness - towards myself and the world around me...

Hmmm...Taking better care of myself (internal kindness) is still a challenge. Some things are shifting, and external awareness and communication continues to improve. However, I know what my intention was with this, and it really still needs improvement.

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Overall, 2010, despite the lack of steady full-time work, was a year of more progress than setback, more creation than devolution. There were fun online swaps, and travel to share celebrations with dear friends. There was another enameling demo at Art In The Pearl, and a cloisonne teaching workshop with my new student A, who has made open studio time a delight. There was the beginnings of greater connection within the neighborhood here and most of all there was always time to notice the small everpresent beauty that fills the world, the life that we all share.

I am, perhaps foolishly, of good cheer going into 2011. Meet you there...

and as always, wishing love and light to all of you in the year to come
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brought to you by the letter "S"

It was the last of the "last Sunday" Crafternoons... but no fear, the current plan is to switch to "first Sundays" instead, particularly since several folks who would have wanted to attend were not able to, due to holiday weekend commitments. So - same fun format, starting next weekend Sunday January 2nd, 1 to 5 PM, with an option of Sushi Ichiban afterwards, if that sounds good. Crafting and chat, snacks and teatime.

There was some entirely unexpected birthday present giving, and an entirely planned small gift swap as well. The biggest surprise of all was being gifted with this vast amount of yarn, a vivid assortment, over 20 gallons of sudden stash enhancement. Now there is plenty of yarn for giftmaking and yarn swapping, as well as the additional grocery sack of acrylic/wool blends that are earmarked for one of my 2011 goals: to knit at least one hat a month as a giveaway for homeless folks. In the last few days, I've been thinking about goals and ideas for next year, and that one felt right, but I was wondering about affording the yarn... and before the day was over - the supplies appeared!

There were no bite-sized quincemeat tarts made. My mind's eye saw them, but since the cupboards here have had only a few pattypans, and no mini-mufin tins, the tarts remained imaginary. On my way home from kitty food and meds duty over at Hotel Drachenwald, Goodwill beckoned, and in another bit of synchronicity, two mini-muffin tins were waiting to come home with me. Perhaps there will be quincemeat tarts for next Sunday's Crafternoon...

This morning, my party preparations were slowed by the surprise of a phone call from my friend T, and we ended up talking for almost an hour, not just catching up on how we are managing to survive/get by as independent artists, but in bits and fragments being able to go a bit deeper. My heart is brightened at each glimpse of common ground; he and I have some places where the spirit that underlies the work of our hands is very congruent. (I suspect this to be true for other friends as well, but it is hard, so hard most of the time, for me to get to where those aspects can be verbalised)

Picking up the house, putting the leftovers away, washing the dishes, planning the weeks work - I am smiling...

sunday morning snippets

The first plant that I remember planting here at Acorn Cottage was the culinary sage next to the front walkway, a gift from B long before I'd a home of my own. The second plant was this Nandina domesticata, for which several trips to local nurseries were necessary, to find one that was not the fancy dwarfed or color variant forms, but the plant that matched my childhood memory.

Commonly called "heavenly bamboo", it is not a bamboo at all, but a member of the barberry family; unlike common barberry, it has no thorns or spiky stems, just a round-the-year beauty that impressed me as a child, and still pleases me greatly. It gets no supplemental water and grows steadily but slowly larger, eventually it can grow quite tall and leggy, which will look beautiful at the outer corner of my front porch, where it now crouches as a small shrub. It seems to be doing well, a plant that is not "difficult", with red berries as bright as holly in the dark of winter, sprays of white flowers in their season, and a tidy habit of growth.

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Japanese artifacts are a great and abiding pleasure of mine, as anyone that has ever been to Acorn Cottage will find apparent. So also is participating in various gift and craft exchanges; this is the second year I've done the Hexmas Sekrit Santa Swap, organised by my friend C. A few days ago a small package arrived in the mail, carefully wrapped so as to be impervious to my (gentle) shaking... bad me, I know, but I just can't help myself... It was tortuously difficult to wait till this morning to open my gift, but look at the exquisite bit of carving that the clever and perceptive T sent me:

a beautiful netsuke,
actual size ≈ 5.5cm

and underneath...


look at the chicken feet!

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Like many, this time of year has me feeling rather nostalgic, both for dear ones far away, and the dear ones that have gone where I may not yet follow. Lately, in the last few years, many images, and songs especially, from my youngerself memories can suddenly catch at my heart, (fortunately not so often when out and about in the world, since a tearful face is not my preferred one to show in public) I remember this song when it was new, and these women from long before that, but in the words of an entirely different song "we will get by, we will abide..."

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