janfebruary

• snow and sun...they are taking turns these days.
• the afternoon sun lingers later and later each day.
• batman has been splitting wood, baking cookies, planting pea shoots for the windowsill garden.
• we've been meeting with our design/builder, done comparison shopping for appliances, thinking about flooring, siding, insulation.
• we've ordered our vegetable seeds and wildflower seeds too, for the summer wedding.
• as we transition from january to february, and see more cold weeks ahead, i am signing on for the month of letters again.  how about you? are you in? (i have a generous supply of batman stamps tucked in my desk)!
• speaking of snail mail, there are valentines to make (it's not always about romance, there's room for friendship in there, too!)

What are you up to, friends, as we slide into a new month? 

reading and stitching apples

-Sometime in the fall, Bear Pond Books hosted an author's evening with Rowan Jacobsen.  He read from Apples of Uncommon Character.  After hearing him speak, I knew this book needed to be in our library at "a bit of earth".

-We recently had a houseful of guests (gardeners all), and the book was passed around as we had tea by the fire.

-One friend went home and selected a few vintage farming books from her collection. Last week, I was delighted to find them in our mailbox! Included was The American Fruit Book; containing directions for Raising, Propagating, and Managing Fruit Trees, Shrubs, and Plants by S. W. Cole, published in 1849. Carolyn noted that the books just "belonged" in our library in Vermont. Such generosity!

-I could not resist making a little zip pouch, appliqued with some green apples for Carolyn. I used this tutorial over at Noodlehead. I will pop it in the mail after the snow clears around here.

(Thank you for your kind thoughts, friends. Vermont is not in the direct path of the blizzard, but there is enough snow swirling up here to keep us home. Daughters Hannah and Gretta dodged the huge storm, but our Lindsey, my Mumsie, brother Doug and many other family and friends in the Boston area are in the eye of the storm. May the beauty of the storm outweigh the inconveniences!)

such simple beauty in the midst of

a new england winter.

tea and "on being"

I've been saving this hand screened fabric from Bookhou for ages. This morning as I sipped my Darjeeling and realized that the second cup would be lukewarm yet again, I decided today was the day to stitch up a wee cozy for my little tea pot. It holds just enough for the two cups that get me up from bed and to the breakfast table.  

I tried quilting with green thread up the stems, but decided I like using linen colored thread to stitch in the negative spaces better. I thought about trimming the bottom of the cozy with a few scraps of green linen, but decided against it, as I think it would have taken away from the delicate leaf pattern.

Best of all, I planned the project carefully and now still have some fabric left for yet another little project. I do love these bitter cold days in Vermont. After a brisk walk on the road, there is the lure of my cozy studio. As I worked, I listened to Krista Tippet's interview with the amazing John Lewis, a man who had me in tears as I listened. The Art and Discipline of Nonviolence. 

(The lovely tea cup is made by local potter Judy Jensen).

still...

"The issue is injustice."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

From "I've Been to the Mountaintop",

his last public speech, 1968.

#BlackLivesMatter

the only thing better than living here...

   

...is sharing it with those we love.

laughing, sledding, walking, story telling, remembering, 

holding hands 'round the table before meals.

this is the good life.

toddler toy totes

• I used this tutorial over at Peek-a-boo patterns. 
• To make two lined drawstring bags for our grand-nephew, Liam.
• Using my brother-in-law Chris' own fabric line, released a few years ago.

These days in the chilly mountains of Vermont are very studio friendly, with time to stitch up my to-do list.

What have you been up to lately?