solace

dear friends.

thank you.

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 i've just returned from the Observatory

where

i observed the solstice

by hanging the solace pennants

opening each parcel i travelled around the country and around the whirled

many of you enclosed letters with your work

letters of joy, hope and sometimes sorrow

moving me to tears at times

as i held each piece in my hand i felt the love you had put into it

i learned some new words

(and will need to relearn long-forgotten morse code to decipher one flag)

you sent wishes for peace

blessings for the natural world

prayers and hopes for friends and family in need

and for loved ones you had lost.

you told stories of gathering to share food, talk and stitching

shared memories and stories

shared precious fragments of cloth that held personal significance

i thank you all.

you'll have noticed the indigo dip didn't happen.

the water situation at the Observatory is tenuous

(it all stil needs to be carried in)

and so i had to abandon that idea

which was as well, i think

as they are beautiful exactly as they are

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i shall be building a website for the project

carefully typing out your collective poem

and will leave the postbox open

in case there are more to come

in which case i shall add them to the circle

whenever i visit the Observatory

in the meantime, my gratitude goes to

(and in no particular order)

Heidi Monks

Cherilene Chan

Donna Kallner

Frances Westwood

Bodil Møller Larsen

Jo Roszkowski

Denise Fordyce

Isobel McGarry

Cassie Gibson

Mary Heath

K O'Donnell

Joy Hopetoun

Cynara Mori

Jenni Worth

Shari Bubner

Arija Schwerdtfeger

Nicole Howe

Wen Redmond

Amanda Holloway

Gerdi Schumacher

Dorcas Pennyfather

Penny Crompton

Evelyn Parkin

Louise Plint

Therese Swift-Hahn

Mo Crow

Cathy Wycliff

Celeste Hansel

Liz Ackert

Beth Brennan

Cindy Monte

Maya Sara Matthew

Jo Ann McGeever Metzger

Yvonne Habbe

Malin Sjöstrand

Suri Vangolen

Morna Crites-Moore

Janet Tobler

Susi Bancroft

Lajla Nystad

Holly Story

Diane Kingsley

Christi (Possum) Carter

Wendi Trulson

Jenny McHenry

Indra Stephenson

Tracy Duddridge

Eva Rodriguez Riestra

Lotta Helleberg

Emma Riley

Sue Fisken

Jane Flower

Kathy Wonderlin

Tina Meakin

Helen Trejo

Carola Heptinstall

Donella Wilson

Sue Gilbert

Fiona Burchell

Lynn Jones

Ronnie Ayliffe

Kathy Jolman

Jessica Grantley

Eileen Schramm

Nanette Gilbert

Jo Brook

Deb Cocks

Jan Rowan

A Sibson

Robert McCulloch

Mary McCulloch

Lorraine Meeks

Carrie Vartarandi

Emma McWilliam

Pat Morrissey

Margaret McCathie

Diana McPherson

Parvin Morrissey

Kate Bowles

Bridget Ely

Barbi Crisp

Jo Britt

Suzanna Klein

Nancy Thorne

Lindy Frayne

Jyah Gage

Tricia Copeland

from

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

the USA

England

Wales

Scotland

India

Denmark

France

Germany

Sweden

Spain

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Christi has kindly been gathering some of the backstories here

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some screenshots from my batfone below

you can see i have a bit of editing to do

and then

i need to choose an image of the whole circle for the postcard....

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there's a bit of blue creeping in, conditions for photography were not ideal and sunshine/wind/shadowdancing were the orders of the day
 

the solace of the arid lands

last week i took some time away from the whirled 

and headed northward to the Observatory

where a most satisfactory collection is slowly on the increase

 encompassing contributions from the UK, the USA, Denmark and Spain

as well as from across the length and breadth of the wide brown land

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there's still time to join in the solace project 

or

if you prefer, create your own. i'm happy to share the idea.

grateful to those who have sent pieces, thank you.

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people have been enquiring whether they may come and assist with the installation. 

the short answer is simply, no. 

the Observatory can only accommodate two persons, 

has no electricity or running water (meaning no showers or food cooling either)

cooking is done with an old wood stove

sparingly burning twigs to heat the kettle for tea

and while there is a pit toilet, it is not available to the public as 

when it fills i shall have to dig a fresh one and 

that's not a thought that fills me with delight. 

solace will be installed at the southern mid-winter solstice 

and (i hope) be available for viewing from June 23

it will remain in place indefinitely. 

i will document it photographically through various weathers and as promised, collate the images (together with the poem formed from all of your words) into a book.

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the sunrises and sunsets here are equally beautiful

the view of the stars at night is unequalled 

(and nigh on impossible to capture with a batfone)

the arid lands are a perfect place for clearing thoughts

(the Dog decided that my clearing needed further intervention)

it's good to travel with a friend.

on the way home we stopped at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens

to see how 'elegy' was faring

after which certain wee dog washed the dust of the desert off

with a swim at the top end of Spencer Gulf

blues, riverside

i left Portugal behind [with some reluctance but also with plans to return]

headed for another good place

back to the beautiful Tay River at Newburgh, Scotland

to immerse myself in two days of blues

with none other than the bluesmaster himself,  Michel Garcia

my banana blues in New Orleans were good

but his henna blues were better. much better.

and of course being back at Big Cat Textiles is wonderful

Nettie and Alison gave me such a warm welcome

and when i tottered down the street for supplies i bumped into several people i knew

Newburgh really is another home from home

and then there's the bonus of peonies
[these are in the garden of the lovely woman who bakes our bread]

and down the lane near the river are spectacular dark-leaved, pink flowered sambucus

now i have two days in preparation for 'being there'
and there may just be a little more indigo dyeing this weekend
because i have to maintain my blue fingernails

so i'll leave you with another bluesman
the fabulous Hugh Laurie

more cleveland

i am so fortunate to be in the hands of the superbly capable momma bear extraordinaire

Christine Mauersberger.

who not only organised four classes in Cleveland

found me a tree house

hung my exhibition [guided by handwritten notes from a cardboard box]

is fixing delicious lunches

collected me from the rental car depot [and has ferried me all over, even diverting for coffee in the mornings]

and today took The Precious

[the youngest of The Three] to the airport, so she could head back to dance school in Oz.

not content with all that

she gave The Precious an exquisite blouse on which there were many beautiful stitches.

sigh.

[i could become seriously accustomed to this rockstar lifestyle]

that picture is a tad gloomy

here's a better look

meanwhile the students were beavering away

good times.

great students in the class

and

loved catching up with Lotta and Kelly again

back to Yankalilla and the Colours of Home

it's a tight week [off to France at dawn on Thursday]
but i was keen to see the flags we dyed at Yankalilla a few weeks ago
fluttering in the wind
and the big cloth that was pieced [with lots of handstitching]
from silk dyed with bunches of greenery from people's gardens

so i pootled down to the south coast
sadly no time for puddling in waves

the two separate pieces either side were extra bits
that i made to give the patchwork some friends

i hope they find a permanent home for the big cloth...