margaret and milkweed

milkweed is blossoming in some places here at home,

this one hasn't quite, yet.

in the pacific northwest

i travelled from Victoria BC to Seattle and then Tacoma.

part of that trip was by a big ferry.

 and once in seattle I had a wee time out, 

in a lovely hotel that took very good care of me for two nights.

i found this place, 

where I was served a chocolate by a well-dressed staffer,

on a tiny paper server thingie.

 then Kate took me home 

where i spent time sleeping in a lovely quiet house in a beautiful garden.

what could be better than 

hanging out with good people, a poet and a conservator, both printers,

in their beautiful home?

 one evening, between workshop days,

we had a little supper party

with Joan and Margaret visiting.

 joan is larger than life wonderful

and margaret, a name i'd heard for years...

 they were both my students,

but more,

margaret brought her shifu

 which she modeled

and then put this coat on me.
i wore indigo shifu.
it was warm and perfect

and this bundle of cloths
shifu all
i held in my arms and didn't want to return.
it was a precious gift
to hold Mrs Sakurai's work for a while.

Margaret's beautiful hands
and the bundle

 it was a blessing

and margaret herself...she's a horse girl!

i thought i'd gotten my horse late in life 

my 30's, but margaret, she was in her 70's!

and then the final day.

 happy kami-ito spinning

 student work

 Hazel and Gabby

both were once mere phantoms of the ethers,

now real and beautiful

and hugely imaginative and hard working.

 some brought nifty lights to help out

 patricia grass,

another famous name came with her shifu covered book of tea

 and Linda came with washi...

and then there was

 kami-ito knit

(this precious gift is now in my teaching collection)

 and knit recycled cashmere

 prep

 a little indigo ink stick work

 joan, the amazing

 indigo ink on mitsumata

gabby

shifu dancing

 a good how to present your work!

 and then i went to tacoma and stayed with Lucia

saw Catherine and ate her good soup, 

talked to the PSBA

and had several meals in the presence of this great one.

 there is good to look at art in the airports

where i spent a lot of time on wednesday

after lucia dropped me off.

i headed home finally at 11:30 on the red-eye

arrived in ottawa 7-ish.

drove home, and relaxed.

 i didn't take many pictures really,

none of the papermaking at Debbie's home 

with Lucia and two very friendly cute pups.

and to all of you, my old and new friends and my one-time students,

a HUGE thank you.

really.

i felt so welcomed so treasured even.

i still feel surrounded by caring.

today, pre-op, thursday, ovarectomy.

recovery then, maybe, some papermaking!