May 29, 2013

At My Doorstep


Life really does go by faster the older we grow.

My mom use to say this but I didn't quite understand it until more recently. It kind of freaks me out now how fast the months come and go.

For instance, my dad died twelves years ago this past week.

Twelve years, just like that, come and gone, so easily.

I will feel very lucky if I get to live 3 more sets of twelve years, which will put me at age 88.

52 + 12 +12 +12 = 88...

Oh my.


Here is what I know of death- the pain of losing my Dad certainly lightened over time but I never stop missing him.


He was such a kind and loving soul. Full of goodness, through and through.

In celebration of him I took his ladylove on a short field trip to the Concord River on Friday, where we launched 6 paper boats in his honor. One for each of his five children, and her.


She was delighted.

As was I, to have had the moment.

To stop long enough in the whirlwind of life and not only remember the day, but to pause long enough to acknowledge him, and the hole his absence has left.

And to give my mom an extra squeeze.

To set a boat or two afloat.

But not adrift.

For the man who loved to sail.


May 22, 2013

Shades of Summer

The other day I was looking through old photos and came across this one. Several years ago a scout from Country Living magazine came into my booth at The SoWa Market in Boston. I was doing my felted wool line in full force back then and she said she might like to feature me in an upcoming issue.

After touching base later that week the scout said she was still considering me and asked if I could send her photos of our home.

"Sure!" I said.

But in my mind it was shear panic as our house was undergoing a major construction project. Most of our lawn was ripped out, we had temporary walls up, everything was in disarray. And there was dust everywhere.

So I spent the next two days in the summer heat taking photos, amidst the plaster and chaos. Vacuuming, dusting, primping, creating little visual vignettes. It was crazy. It was fun, but a lot of work.


I emailed her all the photos and a few days later she contacted me, apologizing, because she had lost her job. She said that all the info she had gathered on me would go into the "felted wool file" at the magazine but she couldn't make any promises about what would happen next.

Someone did eventually call me from the magazine to feature my line at the Country Living Fair but I never did make it into the magazine.

Maybe my house wasn't "country living" enough for them.

Oh well, I like the photos I took and I'll enjoy reminiscing with them again when I'm an old lady perhaps.

On a more inspiring note, Mr. Fix-it and my older daughter recently built five raised garden beds and she has been hard at work planting organic veggies and herbs that she raised from seed, which is exciting.

My hope is that her bounty will be big enough that we can set up a little self-serve farm stand and send the proceeds to Safe Passage, the school in Guatemala where our youngest interned this year.

This is jumping the gun, but maybe we'll even name the farm "Safe Passage Farm" partly because the produce will have had an organic, safe passage themselves. I feel the liberty to say this only because she is leaving me to babysit "the farm" while she does an internship this summer in California!

I'll keep you posted...

I hope you're all enjoying the spring.

XO,
Louise


May 14, 2013

Long Ago & Far Away



I've been taking a trip down memory line.

Long ago and far away.

But sometimes it feels like yesterday.

This song takes me back to my teenage bedroom with the blue, white and green daisy wallpaper, and the brown wood shutters that I stained myself with my father's encouragement.

I use to listen to it on my record player while lying on my bed, on my back, staring up at the ceiling.

I had taken my bed off its frame and put it flat on the floor, following in my four older, hippie sibling's footsteps.

No matter where teenagers were in their lives back then, listening to Seventeen helped to dull the pain of being one perhaps.

Janis Ian received 461 valentines the year it came out.


In my teenage bedroom, her album Between The Lines rivaled number of times played with Carole King's album Tapestry. There were so many songs on that album that I loved. Most notably Lover's Lullaby and When the Party's Over.


"In books and magazines of how to be
and what to see while you are being
Before and after photographs
teach how to pass from reaching to believing
We live beyond our means on other peoples' dreams
and that's succeeding."

Out of the mouth of a babe.
Between the Lines
Janis Ian, age 22.


May 08, 2013

The Find

Google image search for Kilim boots


The older I grow the less I like to go shopping. Number one, I am pretty frugal, and number two, I get bored quickly. If I am on a mission and shopping for something in particular, I enjoy shopping more-  but basically, I would rather be home making something than buying.

Then last summer, when I was the design coordinator on one of Tom's construction projects, I discovered a great way to find what I am looking for with Google Images. This might be old news to many of you but to me it was a fabulous discovery.  For instance, instead of googling the words "Mexican sinks", I hit the image tab on google for "Mexican Sinks" and there, in full color, was every sink of this type on the web, like magic. Viola!

Back in 1983, I bought a pair of Kilim boots that were made in Morocco. Over the years I have loved and worn these boots countess times and had them resoled at least 3 times. But there comes a time when 30 year old boots have to be put to rest. The problem was that I couldn't find a pair to replace them ANYWHERE. I searched high and low online. Then last fall, they finally hit the market again, and I found them with a Google image search. Score! This made me very happy.

Another great source for finding more of what we love is Ebay. It's a good place to find something we already have but has seen better days. For instance, pants I've bought and wish that I'd purchased two pairs of. Just look for the style number inside and chances are you can find the same beloved ones on Ebay.  Sometimes brand spanking new too.

Okay I'll shut up now.

I hope I haven't bored you to tears with this post!


One more thing before I go.....I am finally working on a Lines of Beauty Pinterest.

If you have a Pinterest, follow me if you would like, so I can follow you.

Thank you dear readers of mine.
XO