I can barely stop to post these days I'm so abuzz with projects, plans, and holiday spirit. There was a wonderful napkin workshop in the studio this weekend. Ahhh. The combination of linen, leaves and paint bring the outside onto the table! The little lion ornament is a little lap project I've slowly been working on and I think they are adorable. Now, production begins.
I love working with felt. Especially the wool felts.
It's so easy and satisfying with little (or no sewing) and such wonderful colors and contrasts. I will add another Fun and Easy Felt Workshop to the Alameda StudioTime calendar soon. If anyone out there wants to come and make ornaments, gifts, patches, brooches and other wool treasures, please let me know so I can schedule it in time for the holidays.
I've been laying low for two days now with a cough + lower back thing and my dear Annie has been my cozy companion and court comedian. This morning, after multiple trips down the stairs, and quite a while in the kitchen, she prepared this lovely breakfast tray for she and I. She also stepped up to clean the kitchen so that it didn't pile up, and ran many small "fetching" errands around the house for me, so I didn't have to get up.
*Blink*
*Blink*
Not that she isn't helpful and willing on a regular basis, but she has never made me a meal, cleaned the kitchen or taken responsibility on like she's done the last two days.
*Can you hear the triumphant choir from above singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah?*
Wow! I can. For the first time I'm getting a small glimpse of how, after eight years of what seems like constant giving and doing for her, there might be more shared responsibility and independence down the road.
...out in the fields, beyond that tall stand of trees, where the witches meet and dance and conjure up the spirits of this world and the next! Happy Halloween!
...until the witching hour! Annie thinks she likes scary things now that she's eight and a half, but really she's still very unsure of masks, dry ice fog, being out at night, and of course spooky sounds and screams.
I was born on April 1st in Berkeley, California. I'm enjoying a life full of satisfaction and challenge alongside my dear friend and partner, Bill, and our almost twelve year-old daughter, Annie. We have a great house and garden that we share with two dogs, nine canaries, and three fire bellied toads. We are choosing a path of living that holds everyone's needs as precious and equal. We're loving an unschooling approach to education for Annie and ourselves. We're trying to live a life with the least amount of negative impact to the enviornment. One way we're doing that is we're really trying to be mindful about what we buy, how we travel, and how we care for ourselves. I will post my ideas, challenges, and celebrations for doing so on this blog. I would love to hear any of yours too!