what a week or so!

this march i am not traveling.

no trip to australia, or,

actually,

anywhere else.

this is fine, because i love march.

i love the weather changes, the way the land changes

bit by bit, and the birds return.

but i am missing australian friends

the australian landscape,

the kindness and big hearts of my friends there.

oh, and the sense of humor.

below is colleen jones with a friend in her installation.

i name them australian gothic.

 next is the shifu/paper work made by another australian friend, barb adams.

she makes amazing work.

see how her kami-ito turns into cloth turns into paper. 

 at home, or not far nearby,

 is a dear one some of you have a deep connection with.

wendy golden-levitt had surprise illness and surgery last weekend.

she pulled through well, 

but oh, my, out of the blue, surgery.

please send her your love and prayers for a speedy recovery.

 and even my big sister claudia had a health scare this week.

she's back home after a quick hospital overnight,

new meds taming the issue.

oh, my. 
and this morning on facebook 
another friend becky has a hernia
keeping her out of her studio.
beware the ides of march.
happy st patty's day.
whatever.
i still like march, though i'm sorry 
people are hurting.

and then there was a big snow.

big and heavy and wet and continuing for hours and hours

and hours

building up to an over my knees height.

and my subaru couldn't get through the blockade at the end of the driveway 

(snow plow detritus)

i could get outside, high step through, but it takes a lot of energy.

one trip to the mailbox was quite an adventure.

(my mailbox was severed from its post by the county plow)

on snowshoes it was easier 

and i'm surprised that i enjoy them so much.

 happily a prince came to the rescue on his orange steed 

over 18 miles on backroads to dig me out.

 i'm now between both homes keeping the fire going 

and dog care-giving for awhile.

and i'm stitiching.

and stitching.

 running stitch, 

 it's definitely more a walking stitch.

 i've stitched several, 30 or so, small sheets of my flax papers now. 

all that stitching has given me a notion.

an idea for a book edition of five.

today i'll begin putting them together.

unless the sunshine entices me outdoors.

 stiff, strong raw flax paper 

becomes soft and sueded with the stitching.

taming a potato chip of paper 

into a soft, almost pillowcase almost cloth,

continues to fascinate me.

this idea began years ago, and here it is again.

 i've used kami-ito, 

 cotton, silk and linen,

often waxing the thread.

 i like putting on my own candle-leftover beeswax.

it's very soft and scented with the labor 

of local bees,

 and who knew? 

the candles i buy are made from local beeswax

by my last winter book arts student randy merrill. 

i've been enjoying her candles for a couple of years now.