looking and seeing

it's been a big week. 

I won't burden you with the details

suffice it to say I was pleased to make it through

and still be smiling at the other end

today I had work to do

though it was hot

the help (in several forms) was ready to lend a paw

in the early evening there were a few welcome drops of rain

which settled the dust and made the whirled look even more beautiful 

so we took our eyes for a wee walk

looking and seeing

so eventually i drifted into the home paddock

where i found a pile of mail
which included
a wonderful scarf from Hilde Blank in New Zealand
handwoven polwarth wool, dyed with eucalyptus

a precious bottle of my favourite scent, sadly no longer in production
when i heard it was to be axed i ordered some back up bottles and sent a note to Aesop bemoaning its loss...you could have knocked me down with a feather when i found a whole bottle had been sent me with their kind compliments

and magic dust! thank you Heidi, my sweet host at Titirangi. we had seen the empty space on the shelf marked "magic dust" when out shopping for gumbo ingredients in January and i'd expressed some curiosity as to what it might be. now i know. yum.

and although i had work to do
the forest was calling

there were mushrooms to be found
and picnics to be had

and later on
after a feast of potatoes and Lactarius deliciosus
to bed with some tasty reading

i love the way Nigel Slater writes about food.

finding my feet

it has dawned on me that it is the first time since 1985

that i am living in a dwelling on my ownsome

[note ownsome, not lonesome]

the faculty here at the Oregon College of Art and Craft

have been so kind and welcoming that i feel as if i have been here for more than five days

but that's all it is, so far

even so

the studio walls are filling.

i shall have to grow taller

or find a ladder

in order to make the most of the space

i have been wandering and gathering surface textures

as well as a few words

marvelling at the wonder of the leaves

gathering

and then bundling them up

with happy results

and i had a somewhat larger bundle going

a little ambitious for the pot

but a quick flip solved the spatial issue

then

later today

 a kindly former student

took me to the Japanese Garden

afterward

i felt as though someone had taken my soul out

given it a good scrubbing in a hot bath

fed it a lovely warm bowl of chowder

and tucked it in again between freshly pressed sheets

that had been dried in the sun

then read it the most beautiful bedtime story in the whirled

NB the chowder [mentioned above] did not have any koi in it

so now i am back in my wee cottage

reading this splendid book

which i found at Gold Beach

where i called in on my journey because the nice woman at the coffee shop down by the cannery dock makes the best ever double shot moccha frappes, except that it was Sunday and her day off [and who shall blame her, it was a glorious day] and the coffee shop was closed

anyway

on pages 14 + 15 there is good advice

i'm glad i bought it even if i did pay rather more over the counter 

than i would have from the Book Depository

if you live in the North-West Pacific and like food 

it's essential reading

and

the philosophy applies to dye gathering.

except that windfalls don't get much of a mention.

some time later

following on from the last post
[no pun intended - am aware it is Memorial Day in yesterdayland]

i bundled a $4 silk dress [branded "Trent Nathan" but found in a thrift store] with fallen stars
gathered from the gutters in Stirling

said dress now absorbed into the wardrobe of one of the grandchildren of the visionary who initiated the tree-planting scheme

scarlet stars

when we first came to live in South Australia
in the early 1970s
[yes, children, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth
and your mother was dodging lava puddles and errant meteors]
there was barely a tree to be found on the main street of Stirling
there was one brave oak
that marked the position of the local hamburger joint
[now a jewellery store]
and the deli next door
which some ambitious soul designated as the "Oak Tree Plaza"

Mount Barker Road was an expanse of bitumen
wide enough for a bullock cart to be turned in
[even though the chances of a bullock cart struggling up the hills from the plains were by now pretty slim]

so my Pa
who in those days was quite a bright chap
and coined phrases such as
"the driest state on the driest continent"
-  a snappy descriptor still applied to South Australia -
hit upon the notion of planting a few trees

due permissions were gathered
not without protest from the traders of the time who argued that it would take away parking spaces, people would be killed by running into [the trees], falling limbs would crush cars etc etc
Liquidambars were selected, not only for their glorious autumn colour but also as a fire safety measure...eucalypts are lovely trees but rather prone to explosive combustion and in the likely event the Mount Lofty Ranges are again consumed by fire 
having less flammable trees in the main street is probably a good thing

this winter it will be 40 years since we mucked in
with other hardy souls in the community
and helped plant some fifty trees
that now provide welcome shade in summer
scatter scarlet stars on the pavements in the fall
and whose branches trace delicate drawings in the mists
of our most chillsome season

might be time to gather a few leaves
and make a commemorative bundle
- i'll let you know how that goes

a blessed week

i'm writing this post tucked into a comfy bed
with a very dear friend [canine] sleeping at my feet
while outside
my beloved maples are gently drifting leaf stars

it's been a wonderful week for quiet walking in the woods
time with good friends
and for doing some very satisfying work

maple stars...

the lovely patina on railside treasures

i'll be wearing the dress [that big thing on the right]

when i say goodbye to this very special place

and head for Canada and Halifax this afternoon