threads of time

Last year after the Spring Open Studio tour we decided to try the Saturday Farmers Market on Vashon. We have been doing it ever since. It started up again at the end of March & will go until the middle of December. Yesterday was sunny, sales were not great, $82 in four+ hours, it's the other benefits which keep us coming back. We never know who will wander through, what child will have a guinea pig hidden in her purse,  it is Vashon on Saturday, watching who shows up to support local growers of vegetables, starts & local craftspeople. Yesterday was a stretch, Jim had worked all week on a window trim project in the old Burton Hotel, M-F, 7:30-4.  I had been putting in similar hours here, building inventory for the open house weekends, getting two orders ready to ship & contemplating the clean up of the house to show the Virgin of Guadalupe as part of the tile tour, first weekend in May. So, neither of us really wanted to get up, load the car & stand up talking to anyone walking by for 4+ hours. We did. We set up together, Jim did 10-12, I drove home, rode back up on my bike with the items forgotten, replacement tea for the turned over cup during setup, rode back home to begin cleaning the living area, albeit distracted by the several games of wordscraper that are ongoing with my older daughters & one of their friends Meghan, we have 3-4 games going most of the time. I drove back up at noon & stood behind the tiles til 2. Serena & I had a chance to stand in the sun & share our week. I was barely 16 when she was born, she's the best thing that ever happened to me with the only exceptions being my other children & 1 granddaughter & now a grandson on the way.  Life is good & years that have unspooled threads of time are my friends. Thanks, Vashon.

Easter Sunday & Tuesday

Easter: it has rained all day, steady, sometimes downpourish. Walked up to the library in the afternoon, it was open with more employees than patrons. A blessed day, too wet to garden, watched a funny movie, Sedeucing Dr. Lewis. Grace, well enough to fix her own food, Lucas, pleasant.

Tuesday, April 14, still have not received the foodstamp card, but did get the federal tax refund enough to pay for another a timing belt in Ruby, her second, mileage 138,000. Snow was threatened last night, none that stuck, but still in the high 30, low 40 range, hard to get out & put in the garden. Grace has recovered from the teeth out & has been at track the last two afternoons, the amazing healing powers of the young 

I have been back to work, Jim is working too, at an old hotel renovation putting in trim on the third floor. I have been listening to The Chronicles of the wind up cuckoo bird on 21 cd's by Haruki Murakami. Another world, & an amazing story with a fabulous reader, Rupert Degas. I have gone through many major changes in the last couple of years , a lovely one has been working alone after working with other people for 25+ years.  Thank all of you who have responded to this blog effort. Irene

Spring Break, wisdom teeth, new guitar & foodstamps...

Many threads have woven the fabric of my Spring Break. My eldest daughter got a new guitar, a dreamy one, new from the company & news of downsizing at her work, more time for the guitar? My youngest daughter got all 4 wisdom teeth removed. I finally qualified for Washington State's Basic Health +, dental care for children under the age of 19. She has watched 3 seasons of Weed, a TV series with few redeeming features, in the last 48 hours with the edges of reality blurred by vicodin. Also got my acceptance in the foodstamp program. I will be getting my card in 5-10 business days & have until the end of April to spend $598? Yes, unless the amount is spent in the calendar month of April I lose them. So after months of austerity, bulk buys, Costco runs for milk & eggs ,  what will this spending spree be like? Costco does not accept foodstamps, Trader Joe's does. What will a shopping of that size be like? More tales to tell. 

invite the wolf in...

I'm listening for positive words, phrases relating to our bigger picture. Yesterday my violin teacher's mother visited me, commenting that prosperity was around the corner. I have been wrestling with the wolf at the door, somehow hoping to disarm him, I think of the wolf as masculine. Can that as of yet out of sight prosperity be used to tame the wolf? or more likely does the wolf need to be invited in, to dance? or sit down to dinner?  Is the wolf a welcome harbinger of Spring, of facing into our fear thus turning us to the light. How long has it been since America even thought about the wolf? Does he show the way to a more examined life?

time for homegrown & handmade

Gradually I have been making less & less money. I have been self-employed for 30+ years. I picked up an application for part time work in our local liquor store last week. Decided it wouldn't work. I don't drink & couldn't imagine myself  there. I knew then I needed to keep on my path do further adaptions to keep the ship afloat. I hope to use this forum to gain self knowledge as I feel alone & in new territory. I am not afraid & have honestly enjoyed the lighter work load but know I have to keep my heart, my art & my family  solvent. In this process, more contemplative time, head up after years of producing a line of tiles, what awaits?

positive requests for enough resources to live...

This is my first blog. We are all reexamining how we maintain ourselves & our families. I have felt great change sweep through both my personal & professional lives. I am one among many. I hope to connect with others experiencing new identities & ways of living in these exciting times. I don't know how this all works but here goes. More soon. Irene