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.

if…..

if your birthday

and thanksgiving

and hanukkah

are all the same day

i guess it's ok

to travel to toronto

to spend thanksgiving break away,

avoid buy nothing day

and come home on saturday

having

visited with two of the most amazing women in the world

aimee and wendy,

eaten a meal with paper people*

visited the ontario college of art and design

met amos kennedy (read his name with gusto and delight)

visited the japanese paper place

and wonderful nancy

eaten delicious soups and pesto

with dandelion and beet greens

walked in a city that's friendly and beautiful

visited soma (read with a sigh)

and looked at inuit art.

anyway,

that's what i did.

visiting the wendy/velma book

currently holding holy water! 

the prints

(i made one like this) 

amos hard at play 

aimee looking at prints that amos brought

for the ocad book arts fair.

we were a little disappointed that the textile museum

was between exhibitions, 

but we did find a quiet hidey-hole

to strip off some extra winter layers

so aimee could breathe.

and i found some friendly bones.

prints

they won't last long, these prints.

i've noticed all winter

the layering of soil, sand, and snow

how my boot prints show up time and again

and occasionally a wendy print

besides all the others:

cat (bobcat?), deer, dogs, turkey, little rodents... 

so the snow will melt this weekend they say

and i will place more rocks on the cairn that covers

my friend.

strange, how the days were shaped around her

and i didn't even know it.

after break

 landscape tapestry

so familiar, 

i see almost daily

this backside of my land

beyond the ecotone

 afternoon flat light and little snow

keep my boots wet, 

wendy's coat soaked

 the snow is rich manure

for poor men this year

 who knows what she sees now,

certainly the snow

clouds and shadows.

she rolls her head into the crunchy snow

her body no longer follows the lead of her exuberant spine

she looks over her shoulder

at me. yes?

she is quiet and tired after half a walk,

will make her chatty border collie

grunt-talk when we get home

until i feed her

then she will rest nearby

a curl, a comma, of dog.

 the ecoprint on cave flax paper 

has me pleased.

friday thoughts in snow

 that damn porcupine has been feasting

on my one big white pine

 and you won't believe 

how hard it is to follow it

back to where the tracks

become a confusion

a vanishing

a something i don't understand.

sigh.

i wish it wouldn't.

 a nice big snow storm here

an elder dog prefers not to forge through 

(not many leaps left)

i hope there will be skiing tomorrow

after i shovel or plow out.

the house is creaking 

as the wind becomes

a bit more serious.

that pink comes from

a cold dyebath 

with lemon zinger in it.

and the ball of lokta is very tough.

the cloth is harem or strong cheese cloth,

with globes of its own.

 during clean up 

a few moons

have surfaced, and a few

are missing.

and a few prints,

a surprise, 

a happy surprise collaboration

from aimee, 

how textile

and paper

and print

converge.

i like this very much!

in the sky (mostly)

 a ring, 

lights in the night sky

 another ring or so

 lights on the frozen ground

 and in a pup's eyes

 snow fell

 and snow crystals lit up today's sky

 as day nods into evening

 a bit more snow

another light in the sky

and a book ready for sewing

last of summer plants

captured on paper

snow day

wednesday evening sky over the meadow

thursday started out rough

not nearly enough sleep

wendy has some hard nights

and then so do i

 but on thanksgiving

we went out to the meadow

 and played

wendy, melissa, and me

 we gathered up some milkweed

stripped up a bunch while wendy played

can this be called spalted?

it was a glorious time 

before a small meal with just four of us

family and friends

simple food, wine, and conversation

later

we stayed up talking to all hours

melissa and i

and after a wonderful morning of talk and tea and more talk 

she took to the road for cleveland

unfortunately she encountered lake effect snow 

along the way.

which made its way to the north country today

a reminder 

of a bundle of cloth

and one of paper

we prepared and jarred up 

to be opened in a while

back in chicago.

and here in the north country

a gray day, but it looks like winter

has arrived.