autumn stuff

see the geese?

and here i'm wearing hannah's beautiful sweater

(knitted twice)

she says i have to smile more

hannah visited for a few days,

after a marathon and a job interview

and a long drive

first to montpelier

then to the north country.

 she's addicted to yarn,

wool mostly.

she remembers fondly my little flock

of mostly brown sheep.

 after hannah went home

i used slu's paper mill

(zone 4 paper)

where i beat thistledown fiber first

and then linen canvas.

the linen clogged the beater

and while fixing melissa found this,

 large helping of old, 

oniionized pulp.

 yuck, 

thick and light

a map of sorts of who'd been there.

 i brought home thistledown sheets

and put them into a jerry-rigged drying stack

 on the counter the thistledown 

(and that's all there is, no formation aid)

and here it is,

layered on fall prints

 and i finished off yesterday what i began 

on wednesday

 this edition of paper is exactly like it was when i made it 

without a beater, using only a blender.

a two sided sheet,

 extremely textured.

a decorative sheet, but pretty satisfying to use

north country fiber.

night and day

 i do a lot of work in my kitchen 

and dining room at my old farmhouse

like they are my studio,

which, i suppose, they are.

 i finally pulled the summer book together
after conferring with a good friend about where to go with it

 wrote in all of the poems and words

 quotes and added in feathers

sewed in some things...

some of the fold-outs are quite long

 with surprise prints

 i stayed up very late one night

and wrote a LOT in cursive no less

 these pages are quite large, 

13 by 17, perhaps?

 and there was a lovely walk yesterday

late afternoon sun

at the new place:

 coltsfoot

 sugar maple

 shimmering staghorn sumac

cattail cat tails

tricks played by ferns and trees

 the new road being built

 the old wall

 wild clematis seeds

 goldenrod still coming!

  coming home the back way

soil for the garden waits.

good folks

i love my friends

they have hearts

and give good advice.

today i had occasion to speak with

mark and sam and val.

may i say right here that all of them

like me

chose the north country

over other livings.

other friends i keep in touch with

mostly through this magic,

the infrequent call,

you all know who you are, but back to this morning.

i went to visit mark's press

saw his doings and got terrific advice.

i took a pile of book models i'd made while teaching to sam

and one made by a student using something sam made,

but my kid was too embarrassed to take it out of the room.

(boys don't sew or make journals.)

and val who minds the children's library

and has such a big heart.

~~~

here are some shots of an almost complete

summer journal

it's a thin, big book

contact and daylily prints and shifu

four papers and cloths

shifu

mapping north russell,

north country,

north america.

 big fold-outs

 'experimental' printmaking and stitching

 and cloth 

mapping songbirds and daylilies.

autumn is next.

day lilies and song birds

this is well underway now,

filled with one signature of eight pages

pages that have fold-outs and add-ons and prints and stitches and words...

i'm not done, but the structure is there 

and the lilies and birds are, too.

it's a record of this summer of deep peace

of joy in change.

and a wee bit of fear, as in respect, too.

mostly, though, it's a journal of content.

 the changes here

are brilliant

 and at the new place called home

 view from the little big room.

the pond is a stream now,

almost all dried up.

 in yesterday's mail, 

a

sweet tiny dress card from aimee

yesterday i went out

in the rain, 

in boots and hat

gathering printing plants.

i came in and made three large pieces

all finished up and in the press.

just in case of ticks

i showered and shampooed and did the thorough check.

remember the hat?

well, my hair is sometimes more out of control than i know...

and this was what remained:

a coil of long curls

a leaf and

a worm.

geesh!