loose ends

even though i keep a calendar things do get lost
so today

[after a quick pootle to the seaside to meet and exchange dye stories with Latvian master weaver Maris Manins who is visiting the annual summer school at Dzintari , a place i've long thought would make a fine retreat location]

i came home and made a list for this year
and added it to my website

that way, if i fall out of the sky at some point
at least someone in my family has access to the people that will need to be contacted
so it's an insurance policy
as much as a running sheet

it's a surprisingly long list.
but idle hands are the devil's playground.

it's hot and there is smoke on the horizon

and a bit closer, a funny shape

no, not a Pushmi-pulyu
just two friends having a scratch

 while Kelpie gives an excellent impression of a Stubbs painting

there is packing to do for a hop across the ditch and this year i do hope to travel a bit lighter than in recent months

 it mightn't be quite as light as this, but i'm working on it.
my back isn't what it used to be since the stair-tumble in Portland.

i'm also working on this dress
loving the way the shapes are forming
pondering which trees i'll be asking for donations
and wandering over the surface with needle and thread
drawing lines and making marks

and am thrilled to bits that people have begun to send me images of their stuffed, steeped and stored jars
to add to the virtual pantry

this jar holds the remnants of the bunch of roses Ma gave me for my birthday in December
together with a handful of copper nails i found on Granville Island
when i was visiting Maiwa last September