Researching

There aren't a lot of photos to take when one is sitting in a chair reading books. That's what I was doing all last week. I went on a short walk with Steve in the hopes of photographing the last of the seasons dahlias and having some fun autumn images for today's blog. The photos have nothing whatsoever to do with today's content.

Oops, the dahlias are gone.

To begin with, there was (and continues to be) How to Sit by Thich Nhat Hanh. A very little book on slowing down and centering. My hope is to read one page a day (once in a while, let's be realistic) and try to think about that instead of less constructive thoughts. I haven't linked any of the books because I buy from my local book seller, not Amazon or use the local library.

The lane through the cemetery.

 I've read Fishing in Action x Bobbie Kalman. It's all about fly fishing.

I've read Guides of the North Woods by Mike Parker. It's all about men and a couple of women who guided officers from Halifax, American tourists and a few local folks out into the woods to fish, hunt birds, deer and bear. I didn't not like the ones who hunted bears. Just as I was about to toss the book under the chair, I came across Lew Freeman. He was a guide who spent his career on the Medway River, used the boat designed specifically for the Medway River's rocks and rapids and there are a couple of charming anecdotes about him. That little section was written just for me.

A muse with pumpkin and seagull

I also read The Times of African Nova Scotians, Vol. 1. That was a good read. Fairly simple but a much better survey of African Canadian's lives, past times, important events and just regular people. It showed the roots of racism here and I was surprised by the existence of segregation. I had made a huge assumption that while Canada had been unequal in its treatment of all people, we hadn't fallen prey to the nastiness of segregation. Wrong.

Gander drinking

Trams in Halifax was a short but fun little read.

Gander not drinking.

The Nova Scotia Home Coloured Children by Wanda Taylor is a fascinating book. I wanted to know about the lives of black children in Halifax in the early 1900's. Before the Halifax Explosion, there wasn't too much going on to protect children generally, but with the explosion, all of a sudden there was a flood of needy children. It took a while for the first home to be organized and built. It burnt down before it was occupied. The second one had a long list of problems, mostly stemming from the government refusing to properly fund it. The home received one third the amount per child that other homes for children received and that remained true until its closing.  By the book's title, you can see that there was certainly segregation going on in many ways. There was deep poverty there and many abuses by the adults in charge. The book reveals the experiences of several children, ranging from awful to not too bad. Saying that experiences in a home were not too bad is silly, of course it was bad just by virtue of being there. But relatively speaking, some children had less trauma than others. I still don't know about coloured children living a life with a family and community.

Steve noticing that there are now three model ships in the pond.

For a little light reading, I read about Fireflies. Ha ha.

Steve modeling his homemade hat, vest and shirt. He is not allowed to wear the shirt out of the house, there are too many embarrassing mistakes in it. I'm a little concerned about the vest, it has a few too many gaps over the tummy, but if I insist he can't wear it outside of the house, then I'll have to knit another one. I don't have the time right now, so don't tell him.

My favourite catalogue arrived and that took me into a deep dark cave of lust and yearning. The Persephone Biannually (here) comes twice a year. It features mostly women writers from days gone by that were either overlooked over time, or who were pretty darn good but currently not on the bestsellers list. I yum this catalogue. Besides the obvious list of offerings, there are lovely art images relevant to the author or the time period of the new releases, there is usually an extract from one or more of the featured authors, there are book reviews from fellow Persephone weenies and best of all, I get to use a coloured magic marker and make incomprehensible notes to myself through the entire catalogue. I circle author's names that they reference, or book titles that are referenced, or if I like a piece of art, I give it a good circle too. It takes me a couple of readings to fully enjoy this, along with a bit of chocolate and some scotch. The autumn one is best because a fire and blanket can be included.

Gander drinking yet again.

Bingo & Damp stretching

I managed to do all the things in one week that I want to get done in one week. Does that make a routine or a lucky week? So bingo to me.

Writing and studio time were a major factor last week. In the world of writing, I had some research to do on Canadian life-styles 1900-1925, fireflies, fly-fishing, and radio. That was fun. For instance, did you know that the female firefly lights her bioluminescence lights at ground level, while the males light theirs higher up in the grass and bushes. There are South Asian fireflies that can coordinate their lights so that the entire group flash at the same time. What a sight that must be. Ka-flash-hold-and-out. I also learned that the first radios, while able to find hardly any sound because there were few radio stations, still cost as much as a car. The other cool fact was that an earlier radio had multiple earphone jacks for the entire family. The family sat around the dining table listening to the same program, but each person heard something slightly different because the tuning was so imprecise. I wonder what an I-phone family event would look like if we all plugged into the same jacks?

On the studio side of things,

I damp stretched my two 3 foot long pillow case edges. I am creeping up on joining them with the handmade lace you saw last week.

Each piece tends to curve gently in one direction or another, none are straight.

I think I will have to do a lot of basting to make sure each piece lies flat against the other.

I like to do clothes sewing on the weekend when possible.

I like to add a splash of colour on the inside of the collar. It is a lovely brushed cotton.

Phoebe and I don't like cuffs much. I shortened the sleeve slightly and added a lining to the inside of the sleeve. It has a very small peek out when folded flat, but when turned back, the accent colour shows again.

A small colour hit on the back of the shirt where the back is slightly pleated.

A little bit of yellow button sewing and this shirt is finished for Phoebe. It is the Sewaholic Pattern 1501 by Granville. I really like the outcome but the instructions are not great. I made a slight modification to the shirt. It should have a flare out over the hips, but the previous shirt flared out too much for Phoebe's taste and I straightened it. It won't be until the end of October until I know if it fits. (Insert nail biting here)

Last winter I wanted a simple black wool skirt. I bought what I thought was a black wool blend, but it turned out to be a deep brown.

I'm trying again, but this fabric still reads brown to me, although multiple people walking past the sewing machine assure me it is black. The pattern is Selene by Colette Patterns, 1035.

On the horizon is a shirt of this lovely cream/green flannel for Steve.OK, today is Monday. Upstairs vacuumed, check; blog done, check; bathroom cleaned, no check; gym? On my way.

Exciting News

I won! I won, I won, I won !
What did you win? you ask.

I won the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia Unpublished Manuscript prize. It is officially the Joyce Barkhouse for Children and Young Adults Prize. I didn't realize it when I submitted in November of last year that there is a cash amount as well as the honour. That's a great bonus, but I just so thrilled that my chapter book for young readers was chosen.

The book is called "Beach Meadow Friends". It is about Fox, Crane, Eagle and Crab as they live through a season on Beach Meadows.

Crane is silent most of the time, Crab is a slightly panic stricken crustacean, Eagle is a huge boaster with an enormous sense of self and Fox patiently keeps the community going. Each chapter has its own challenge or joke and different combinations of the characters are featured.

Beach Meadows is an actual place, about a 20 minute drive from our summer camp.

One very cold windy day as we were walking along the beach at low tide, a young fox walked alongside us for about 200 metres. I have a photo of him on the kitchen wall but can't find it in my archive. Maybe Steve took it.

We discussed the nature of the fox and Steve said if you had a totem animal, it would be the fox. It felt so completely right. Over the course of a few summers, seven short chapters evolved and with some editorial help from some very nice friends, the book was written. I get to read from it at the award ceremony on June 10 and immediately afterwards, go to Iceland. What a great day it will be. What shoes will I wear?

Deadline 5 or 6 way crash, I ate one of them.

Humber Creative Writing Course, The Year of the Fairy, and Mom's Quilt, Amazing Donuts, Pincushions and Simply Stitch . All of these have had deadlines of one sort or another, Now! Poor Hot Flash Woman has been languishing in the land of nowhere for several months now. I'm hoping she revives in the Spring.

Today, I am concentrating on.....

The Humber Creative Writing Course. I have submitted over 100 pages for commentary from Richard Scrimger, children's author. I managed to get to the final chapters, but there are billions of revisions and additions needed for page one to over one hundred. This pile of paper needs going through and thinking about. There is one month left. Hurry, hurry.

The Year of the Fairy Tale began in January. The gang has moved onto Fairy Tale Two, I am still working my way through One.Here is a left handed frog from a photo. Maybe I have shown it, I am a bit fuzzy on that.

Here's a close up of Mom's quilt, interior blocks. The inside is all stitched. Two sides of the inner borders are done, I'm turning the corner today to tackle a third side. 

Crazy delicious donuts from Ottawa's up and coming donut-eria "Sandy's Sweets". We were in Ottawa for a week and my computer was low man on the totem pole. Everything that could go wrong did, but since I was on 'vacation' and the others were working (as in getting paid), there wasn't time for me to get a major report and some statistics done.While I waited, I helped the cat eat these amazing donuts.

While eating donuts with our friends at breakfast, we talked about the trip to France that isn't going to happen this spring, but instead we talked about Turkey. The kind you go to. Looks like Steve and I are booked to go to Turkey in the late spring with a tour group from Carlton University. We are very excited. Yesterday, I asked Steve which piece of his wardrobe will be the pivot point of his packing. Joking really, but he  needs to buy some summer cotton shirts with long sleeves.  There is rarely strong enough sun here for Steve to worry about it, but in Turkey, he will fry. Apparently, men don't think this way. They think, open the suitcase, through things in. Maybe they think, do I have enough underpants. And my razor. End of thinking.

Whereas I am already staring at shoes, trying to figure out which shoes will get me the farthest, both in terms of miles walking and fashion vanity. And what about sunglasses. I don't mean to sound trite, but occasionally these things consume me, until I succumb and buy something. Hopefully on sale. Hopefully a book to read.

I sewed two pincushions for Good Will Seeds Co. out in B.C. One might be a give away. These were fun and good to do between other deadlines. Soothing.

Simply Stitch 4 with Karen Ruane starts today and I'm not ready. I kept trying to think what to do in this course. I haven't even had time and see the intro video, where I suspect, that exact question will be addressed. This is fabric from a piece I did ages ago, 'Detoor', that had several oranges in it. It is mostly transparent and that is what I'd like to concentrate on, how to stitch transparently.

Now, if this bloody internet, which has had it in for me for the entire month, will cooperate, I can post this blog and eat lunch.

Laughing in the Studio

Studio work is rather laughable at the moment. But writing zooms along.

Our sheets and pillowcases are a disaster. When we had guests this summer, I gave them the best sheets, the ones with three holes instead of seven.

I've been reading this book,
Time to Eat the Dog? the real guide to Sustainable Living by Robert and Brenda Vale

http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=time+to+eat+theh+dog%3F

 

What I like about it is it gives a scientific (argue as you like about that concept these days) overview on different carbon footprints. Here's a quote to give you an idea.

"It's not what you do, it's how you do it. We cannot do much about embodied energy, except to chose a small car and make it last a long time. We can, however, do quite a lot about fuel consumption." There is a comparator chart, Smart car vs. Toyota Landcruiser with different kinds of fuel consumption. It comes out the way you'd expect it would, the Landcruiser sucks. We've all been listening to car/fuel issues since the '60's or more.

The same goes for food, if you've been paying attention. Building methods are beginning to break into people's consciousness and a small number of people are thinking about stuff. Having too much of it, but a lot of these folks throw out or donate stuff, then trot out (or drive) to buy items that get the organic or local or living simply gold star. Bit of a goof up, that.

What is new to me, well not new, but confirmed, is the chapter on clothes, shoes, spare time, weddings, funerals, laundry and other household matters. All this is a long way of saying that it is more economic, money and carbon wise, for me to make pillowcases myself than to buy them already made. I save close to 30% in both areas.

My favourite quilt shop has a wonderful collection of flannels all year round. This pattern calls for .6m  for the body and .2m for the trim bit. This is the size for a queen pillow. I'm not sure if a king pillow is wider or not, otherwise it will work for those as well. For a twin size, I think .5m would work.  Their pattern uses cottons, but Steve and I prefer flannel.

Saving 30% on anything is worth considering if making it myself is a good idea. I have apron and pajama patterns all ready to tackle this week. Hopefully.

My other sewing adventure was with a scrap of half meter flannel. I cut the flannel top to bottom into 4 sections, sewed a tube, sewed up one end, poured in two tennis balls. Then I tied a knot at each end of the tube and you have the 'headache buster' Slip these tennis balls under the back of your skull, where the spine meets the skull and rest on it. The tension just seeps out. Let the balls slide down the spine, rest, slide, rest and you can massage your back using nothing but gravity and the about $2. of materials. I love it. We have two sets of these in the house already, upstairs and down. I always travel with a pair, they are brilliant after a long trip. The set above were a gift and the recipient loves them.

Time to blather on about a few other things. Videos. The bloody things. Two weeks ago I spent most of two days video-ing studio work and not a single one would upload to this site. I haven't spoken to the genius son about this, rather, I've just sulked about it. I will have to sort out the technical bugs before I try that again.

Writing has been going mostly well. Do you ever have that moment when you know you are learning something really important but you'd like to just strangle the teacher or the situation. The last 10 days or so, I've been having a pedagogical experience slamming me in the head nearly every day on the topic of plot. I had several tasks to do on plot. I could see the purpose before the task was completely outlined. The tasks were even things I had the kids do when we homeschooled. I was annoyed at myself for having to re-learn the whole thing again. But I followed instructions, I complied (not easy) and I have found the plot again. I can unroll from the fetal position.

This weekend past we had a "write your pants off" event. We had the weekend to find 24 hours and write like mad, on something already existing or something completely new. I chose something new and managed to write for a whole 6 hours straight. 22 pages of story. Then I needed a hot bath to unkink. We then attached our documents to some thingy that belongs to Humber College students and the others can read what has been written. We are then supposed to comment on each other's work. It sounds simple, but technically it's a killer. Any physically. I hope I get decent feedback.

It is -11 outside, that's with windchill. This morning was my first shift at the Out of the Cold Shelter. I was surprised to find only 7 guest using the beds. Good in that it means less work for me and hopefully people have other shelter, bad in that it is still needed. wouldn't it be terrific if the beds were all empty because everyone had safe, dignified housing

Plot-less

I'm struggling with 'plot'. The story I am writing for my creative writing course has a pallid plot. It's hard to imagine that I can't come up with a swashbuckling plot, but I can't. I want my character, Trixie Belle, who is ten years old, to not be embroiled in a disease, a death, a nasty family split up, abuse, bullying or pugilism. (one of the novels that's just real hip to read has a dwarf and a boxing club in it). What is left to write a plot about. I want to write about imagination and adventure and those don't necessarily have a beginning, middle and an ending. In my own imagination, I'm usually in the middle of something exciting or dangerous and then I'm on to the next one. I am realizing that I have rarely tied everything up neatly in my own head. Trying to do this for Trixie Belle, Invincible Pirate is painful. 
My mom sent me these two lovely cotton edgings for my studio work. If I have the story right, they are the trim used by an Aunt (Tante) for her son's layette set. Thank you Tante Riekie.

Below is a cross stitch that Phoebe worked on when she was a teenager. It is meant to be mirrored, but i agree, enough is enough. The background has to be filled in. It is a cool grey and pretty boring work. Just right for a travel project that requires no thinking. I now need a journey to take it on to finish it for her.

Knitted hexagons continue to grow on the pin board. I have two on the go, a multi-coloured one and a range of greys. I'm pretty happy with how the coloured one is coming along, but

this photo will only stay centered if I add a caption. Weird.

this grey one is a bit plot-less also. I plan to add some deep red or orange into it in small touches. Do I continue knitting this grey group and  hope the addition of red/orange perks it up, or forget it and turn it into a pot holder?

 

 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, I like this work, you Know.

Well Steve is back, hard at work, being Director of the College of Sustainability. Last week he and his friends played for Orientation night. I believe he is singing Jungle Book's 'King of the Jungle'. I'll have to figure out how to video him for you.

Steve on banjo, Ute on ukelele

There is a new issue of Open Heart Forgery, grass roots poetry. See the link on the side of the blog under Blog List.

I've sent off 30 pages to be commented upon by my writing Mentor at Humber. That was a week ago. My nails are bitten to the quick. What's he going to say? How much red pencil will there be? 

I attended a workshop this Saturday on how to make Protest Posters. Led by Franke James, an artist who examines politics and the environment. She is on Harper's enemy list. It was interesting session.

Each person considered the question "What is the hardest thing I could do?" with respect to engaging in environmental sensitivity, or social action, or justice. Topics like turning the heat down, reducing air miles, looking at the larger picture of perplexing questions and so on were all turned into cool posters.

Here's mine.

The hardest thing for me to do is cook. But since I loathe it, instead I'm in charge of menu planning, shopping, preserving, clean up and more clean up.We stay local, we stay with fair trade products and we eat fabulously.

My needle is almost as active as my pen these days. I have knit the 12 bootie sets for my mom's charity, Happy Hands. I forgot to take pictures. I still have enough yarn for next year's dozen.

I have finally put the backing on this piece. I think I love it. For a change, I really, really like what I made.

And..... I am back at the blog. My head is a little loose on it's neck, trying to find the groove of what to write about, but I'm sure it will all flow smoothly again soon. Hot Flash Woman is about to recommence. Hop on over there if you have forgotten about her or have fallen behind in her adventures.

http://hotflashwoman.wordpress.com/

Two cords of wood are due to arrive this week and will need stacking in the wood sheds. Yick. I should book an appointment with my hero, Ken, the osteopath now to take care of my inevitably ruined neck. Now I am off to be a good student and read "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk and E.B. White. (yes, that E.B. White)

Local Poetry in Halifax

An espaliered fruit tree at Annapolis Royal Botanical Garden, Nova Scotia

Well, here's something new to me. I heard about this a year ago, but last week a hard copy of a poetry journal was placed in my hands and voila!

Open Heart Farming, The Second Seeding, Vol 2. is now available at
http://www.ohforgery.com/

Open Heart's mandate is simple, yet powerful. It is an annual journal of poems on food and farming by Nova Scotians. It is published by Open Heart Forgery, Halifax's grass roots poetry journal. Each month there is a free, downloadable collection and they ask you to share it with others.

Here we have a different kind of garden, local effort, local art, inspired by local greens or not, if there's a drought. It is modest, humble and perfectly beautiful.

There is an annual Anthology, available at Bookmark for $10 or you can order it online (I think)
http://ohforgery.com/OHFanthology.html

I'd like to share with you two poems, one by a Quaker Friend, Sylvia Mangalam and the other because I like it. Of course, I like Sylvia's as well, but there is the Quaker connection that is always fun to toss out.

Fall Rite by Sylvia Mangalam

The Kentucky Blue bean swelled
Bigger than they should.
Tired of the garden,
I picked them anyway.

It's a sort of rite
This anticlimatic harvest
Reaching for the high fat ones,
Rounded over full seeds.

Gathering up the dry corn--
What can I do with this?
The last green tomatoes,
Last marjoram sprigs--

This genuflecting gleaning
Respects all the work here
Of God, of worms, of me.

And this one by Jaywant (Joe) Patil

Fruitless Tree (inspired by Luke 13:6-9)
The farmer about to chop down the tree
which had been fruitless for year three.
Give me another chance begged the tree.
I will be fruitful for sure next year,
if you fertilize and dig around me this year.
Everyone deserves a second chance sire.

These two poems have a spiritual dimension, but there are lots of plain old secular poems as well. One dedicated to hops, another to alfalfa, another to saltwater.