watching the sunrise from a plane

i had the privilege of watching the sun rise over europe as i headed from copenhagen to paris (and on to valencia) last week. it went from purple to pink to purple again and pink again and finally, as we were coming in to land at CDG, i could even see the eiffel tower. and i felt consciously aware of the profound privilege of getting to travel again. the world is a wondrous place if we pay attention. and i'll admit it also helped my appreciation that i was in business class, even if it was a short flight.

it just takes the time it takes

i'm weaving a four meter long rag rug. i spent weeks searching out old bedding in red and black and white in second hand stores, carefully ripping it and rolling it into balls.

on october 19, i began my rug. the end product will be 4 meters long and it will have a place of pride in my kitchen. the warp on the loom had already woven two rag rugs and they were cut off and so i had to tie up my ends. i am very fortunate to have excellent help from the experienced weavers where i weave.

i started off with an edge of 8 rows of "fisherman's cotton," which is the same as my warp.

i began with plain black fabric, loving how it looks with the pattern that's set up on the loom. i press the pedals 1-2-3-2-1 and so on.

it looked so amazing with the plain fabric, that i decided, after weaving a few rows with some of the patterns i had collected, to remove them and keep it simple with plain colors.

i'm alternating between black, white and red, more or less as the spirit moves me. i'm using less white, since at 4 meters, the rug will be too large and heavy to fit into the washing machine very easily. 

i decided early on to measure each section, so that when i come to the middle, i can begin a mirror image. i think the finished rug will be more harmonious this way.

since the loom has been in use for awhile, strings keep hopping off. it's frustrating and slows things down, but i also learn a lot from it. and it's a good reminder that this is a slow project. there's no way to hurry it up. it just takes the time it takes.

and since i can only go weave every other wednesday when the group gets together, my progress is steady but slow.



but progress there is, and i plod along. it's even slower than it should be because i decided that the strips i originally made were too wide and so i have to tear them all in half. this means that i'm doing a lot of matching up of ends, which just takes the time it takes.

but things do move forward. and i'm pleased with my edges. somehow, i'm a natural at those. but, i'll admit that when visitors to the museum stop and talk to me, i make mistakes and i have to back up. making it again, just take the time it takes. i'm learning patience. and perseverance.

and i'm well over halfway as of this shot. when i start to make mistakes, i take a break, get a coffee, walk around and talk to the others, and look at what they're doing. or i help reach things that are up high or take a turn at the desk out in the museum. and i just remind myself that this just takes the time it takes.

and now, i have under a meter to go. i didn't finish it in time for my big thanksgiving with guests, but i will finish it early next year. and i will be so proud of this significant, beautiful thing i have made for my kitchen. and i will remember that things just take the time they take and how important it is to enjoy the journey along the way.

the perfect end to a wonderful week

early in the week, i saw these stacks of awesomeness in my boss' boss's (i did one of each because i couldn't make it look right - any grammar police, please advise which is correct!) office. i nearly fainted dead away. they're all there. every. last. one. of. them.

and today, i had a meeting with that boss, which stretched from an hour to an hour and a half and during the course of it, he said i could select a single minifigure from any box of my choosing every friday. this is the one i chose. i was hoping for the equestrian.

but i got the gymnast, which was my second choice anyway and which is totally awesome! how lucky am i?  it was the perfect ending to a truly wonderful week. i think i actually feel sorry for anyone who doesn't work for lego. it must be the best place in the world to work.

and because you can never have too much, i had to share this fabulous MOC (my own creation - which means a lego object created from someone's imagination, not a set). it's pretty darn amazing.

the madness continues - new minifigures from the lego movie

one of our local grocery stores has the latest series of minifigures from the lego movie. and tho' it's less than a week until i start at lego, i couldn't resist. but take a look - could you have resisted?

wild west wyldestyle

scribble-faced bad cop (i love his scribble face)

he's got a bad cop face with sunglasses on the other side.

abraham lincoln

taco tuesday guy

emmet - he's the hero of the movie (as i understand it)

wiley fusebot. he's got an awesome daniel boone hat with a racoon tail.

mrs. scratchen-post - check out the cat hair on her clothes!

panda guy (i really wanted him).

where's my pants guy (i understand he has a reality program in the movie).

marsha queen of the mermaids.

love her blue hair and silver lipstick.

and i couldn't resist a shot of marsha from the back.

fanciferocity

fanciferocity - i learned that word from the j. peterman catalog today. (it would be my dream job to write for them.) i figured it was appropriate, as i've gone a little nuts with the fanciferous little round baby acorns. it's just that every time i go out to feed the horses, i see more of the little caps on the ground and i can't stop picking them up. it's funny, as i already told you, i started thinking i'd just make red and white, since i want to use them on our christmas tree, but very soon, i picked up orange and green and blue (of course) and before long, i was making a whole rainbow. i just couldn't help myself. molly suggested making a garland and i just may have to do that, if their little sticks will hold up to it. otherwise, i'm going to incorporate them in my packaging for the upcoming christmas market we're having at our local kulturhus (community center). hopefully they'll make my bottles of cordials and jars of jam look totally irresistible.

i have so much going on and so many thoughts and ideas and possibilities swirling in my head at the moment, that it strangely doesn't want to come out into the blogger compose window. that doesn't happen to me very often, but apparently now is one of those times. i will undoubtedly be back soon with some self-therapy. but until then, i hope you're all having as glorious and warm an autumn as we are.

good things or have i mentioned our fox?

so much goodness going on right now...

~ as you can see, our fox continues to enchant. we were sitting in the garden, sipping wine with friends this evening when she came out to join us. one of the big barn kittens ran towards her, wanting to play (and nearly giving me a heart attack) and she ran away. she's not a normal fox.

~ preparing for my upcoming real life blogging course! it will run locally the month of october in two locations! and i'm not taking it, i'm the teacher if you can believe it! it's so much fun putting together the lesson plan, i'm really excited about it.

~ also preparing for the beginning russian course i was roped into teaching. i'm still hoping a little bit that they don't get enough people signing up for it to hold it, as i'm not sure i remember enough russian to teach it, let alone teach it through danish rather than through english! ack! at the same time, i'm enjoying talking to the interested people (read, cute-sounding older ladies) who are calling to inquire about it.

~ i think i can live with reading on an iPad if the book is in PDF form and i can open it in notability, where i can highlight and scribble in the margins, just like in a real book. maybe there is something to this whole eBook thing after all.

~ our summery days have returned and they are glorious.  as is that moon. i didn't bother to try to photograph it, i just took a picture with my eyes and am holding it in my memory.

~ trying out a new, more subdued blog banner. i'm not sure how long it will last, but for tonight, i like it.

~ we ordered some insanely cute and probably poisonous japanese candy from eBay this evening. you know about stuff like that if you have an almost-teenager in the house.

~ the almost-teenager is still the most sensible member of the family. i was going to buy some frozen shrimp to put in tonight's pasta dish and she said, "mom, wait 'til friday and buy fresh from the fish guy when he comes." why didn't i think of that?

~ the next iPhone is coming soon. we're ready.

~ it's been four days since i've bought lego minifigures.

garlands make me happy

coming up for air after a week of being sick, i wanted to make something. i was inspired by jessica's ten days of garlands and a big stack of newspapers that were accumulating in the big round basket. we've always got paint around and plenty of thread, so sabin and i painted up some newspaper and punched out circles and i sewed and sewed. my garland is a little long (like about 20 meters) and a bit tangled, as molly "helped" me hang it up above my desk. but it's cheery and makes me happy.  with the blues and greens i used, some of the circles have a decidedly globe-like quality, which also makes me happy. this photo of sabin painting her newspaper in fiery orange and red, you guessed it...makes me happy.

what made you happy this weekend?