pro~visioning

 

..

THAT was fun. I've missed the hunt.

I went to my favorite thrift joint yesterday for the first time in two years. I did forget what the discount days were, but no matter.

100% silk anything was the quarry but not a whisper of silk anywhere, but I did score seven gorgeous pieces made of summer breezy cotton lawn- the kind of dresses and blouses that come with a second and third layer because, well, decency. 

This flouncy, three-tiered dress yielded an acre of some wonderful gauze or harem cloth. 

There were two tuxedo shirts from Saks 5th Ave that never went to a wedding. A super-fine, supple weave

that I've never seen in a dress shirt.  Everything scoured up nicely and I spent a pleasant evening deconstructing (more like dismembering) the booty. I can't wait to get this stuff into the dye pots. Still on the lookout for silks.

Studio visitors

 It's nice that visitors come by. Makes me wish I had a bar or at least a cooler up here. Some refreshments while we hang out, chat and chill. 

Charlie rousted Salem from her sunning spot to soak up a little Vitamin D. I thought he fell asleep, he was so quiet for so long. Simple pleasures.

Colin is at loose ends because his shift has changed. No more overnights, he's back to afternoon evenings and we get Brisco Field sunsets again!

Vote me up UPDATE

 Just as I am having second thoughts about this cover, Prophets Tango made it to Cover Wars! I don't need to tell artists about the value of free exposure😉. 

Vote here just once!   I read the fine print. You can vote ONCE DAILY for the whole week! 

Constant companion

Hatching a fat baggy

 Not bad for one take, right?

There are now two fat baggies left including this one that I just repacked (without taking a shred for myself). They are all pretty much the same, content-wise. Once I have a nice mix I make a point of not hand-picking. I just grab and stuff until I run out of cloth or bags. Equitable, I think.  

Three bags shipped yesterday, these are all that's left, but once dye season begins, there will be more.  I'm going to be looking for some silk, gauze, and cotton lawn to fill out the collection of damask table linens I have lined up for the first dyefest.

things to come

In a small act of faith that the will of decent people everywhere will prevail, I'm hoping to resume international shipping come summer.

No, these aren't new. A few shots from last year's harvest, but a perfect representation of things to come.

Some changes, though. 

Each skein will still be 11 yards, but I won't be winding them onto the cardboard bobbins anymore. Even though the "wind off" was my favorite part of the process, the final reveal has become too labor-intensive for my tired paws and eyes. 

I have a lot of cardboard bobbins and will include them with each order until I run out.  You probably already have your own method,  but I'll make a little video of how I transfer the loose thread to a bobbin with the least amount of snagging or knots.

So, same Dirty Threads, just a minor change in presentation. Yours to do with as the muse moves you.

The weather is coming around. Preparations are ongoing. 

Email me if you want to be notified when the shop doors open.

                                                  

 

 

digital learning days

Yesterday, we had what his school district is calling a Digital Learning Day.  Ready or not, it may be the wave of the future, for us at least. I really need to get my math understanding up to speed.  I didn't really get proficient in arithmetic until Jake was in 4th grade. It was one of the gray areas of my education that got overlooked because I was good with words and read beyond my years.  I showed him how I add and subtract three-place numbers and he showed me how he had learned to do it. We agreed that there are many ways to arrive at a correct answer, no calculators need apply.

Then he became completely besotted with some vintage technology. This Walkman was my Dad's. He was Charlie too. The tape we found inside it was something Colin copied from a local radio station back in the 90s. Charlie was quick to figure out how to use the Fast Forward button to get past the incessant commercials.

It was a beautiful day and we were alone at a nearby park so I decided it was a good time to release another art quilt into the wild. Charlie did not really approve but wanted to come back after lunch to see if it was still there. I have to make some real tags instead of what looks more like a ransom note!

World and domestic news developments have left me incapable of much else beyond this most important activity. Caretaking the most precious. 

color recall

 

It was so warm yesterday, I cut my sun time short. A scorch was setting in. Mid 70s? The frogs and the other singers around the pool have been tuning up. 

But today, it's gone back to the typical cold and damp of a Georgia Spring. Soon.

This whole week has been a slog of graphs, numbers, and waiting. In other words - book marketing. The necessary evil. Took a lot of notes. Learned a thing or two. There is no formula for breaking in with a novel that does not stick strictly to genre norms. It's going to be 90% hard work and a stroke or two of luck. One thing for sure, I won't be doing another promo week until book four is born.

Summer is coming and I'm going to make the best of each day.

I'm not a believer in that sense of the word. To whom does one pray for Karmic destruction to visit greedy, evil, old white men?

This bit of thread presented itself yesterday. Turquoise and gold.

Ukraine. Be strong.

belly laugh

 Laugh until tears from one end and pee from the other. That's what I got this morning. 

I've been killing curious about what some neighbors are up to behind their house. Where I lived in NY, you had to have a building permit for every damn little thing. Down here, maybe if you wanted a helipad, you might have to grease some palms. It seems like every other house has some kind of shed, shack, or granny pod behind the main house. I have a pool that takes up most of my backyard.

After dark, from my bed, I can see some very strange goings-on a few houses away. As soon as I borrowed Charlie's telescope - yes, I'm going that low - they doused the lights and fires. Away on vacation perhaps? The place is normally lit up like a gas station, but the past few nights, nothing. 

So, I thought I'd google the street and get the birds-eye view. I plugged in my own address first to orient my search and this image filled the screen. I laughed out loud and called Colin in for the spectacle. We both couldn't stop laughing.

In all its glory, Jim's '99 Ford pickup loaded down with a bunch of crap waiting to go to the dump. It was loaded like that for about two weeks, but only on the street for a day so the rest of us could come and go in the driveway. So, of course, the Google snooper drives by, snaps a picture, and uploads it. 

At least I don't have couches and washing machines on the front porch and meth labs in the back yard.

Not a week after this, the poor truck had a serious transmission issue and sat at the bottom of the driveway (blessedly empty) until Jake produced a cure. One of the last coherent concerns my husband had was that I should not sell the truck. No darling, it won't be me.

turning in

 

Somehow I will slip under that heap of pillows and comforter. They will grumble and shift around and purring will put me to sleep.  Outside, moonrise, lamplight, and dandelions. Even as I tried for another shot, the clouds swallowed the moon and we will be in the shit all day tomorrow, tornado watches and all.