Taking The Long Way Home

Our little knitting group is still going strong after a year or so of regular Tuesday knit-togethers. Until recently, we've been meeting at coffee places. Starbucks was nice, except that they played the music so loud we couldn't hear each other talk. Nothing more fun than a group of people over 50 all yelling, "Huh?! What?! What is this music???" Not so good for our attempts to  not  look like a bunch of old farts playing with sticks and string. We tried bouncing back and forth between two little privately owned places nearby, that just happened to be right across the street from each other. After a while though, as the cafe owners began to feel more comfortable around us, the vibe shifted. They both became more and more open about the vicious and unprofessional rivalry between the two of them. The verbal shrapnel-flinging was fierce and frequent, and it became so ugly and awkward, we felt the need to wander off in search of a safer place to spend our time and ...

If today was Thanksgiving, and I was sitting at a table full of people taking turns sharing what they're grateful for, my contribution would go something like, I am ridiculously thankful for Grace and Frankie.  Yes, the show. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have much wisdom to share, and they bring it to us so entertainingly via Netflix. My daughter watches it, and often leaves it on in the background, because she likes the sound of their voices. They reassure her as only voices of years and experience can do. I like to think they remind her of me. They certainly remind me of me. I hear a lot of women say things like, "I'm totally Grace", or "Frankie is me ." I'm mostly Frankie with a dash of Grace. Frankie is my hair soul sister, and she has those amazing clothes and all that jewelry. She's woowoo and she's an artist, and she just isn't normal ... sigh... so much love. Grace, on the other hand, struggles with letting go of her "beau...

Some very inspiring friends/guests came to stay at Mermaid's Nest last week. Marti and Cheri make things. Lots of things. Out of other things. They are creative up-cyclers who spend their free time gathering weird cast-off items in the world and turning them into wonderful things people actually want to buy and have and love. I make stuff too, you know. But I'd almost forgotten what it was like to get out in the world and share what I do. Somehow, chatting with these talented and encouraging women jump-started something in me that's been sleeping like a snoring, snowbound bear for the last several years. Suddenly, and surprisingly, I find myself dusting off my blog, tidying all my websites, updating everything, linking them all together, making them look like they know each other, filing with the state for a resale number, ordering new business cards, and also ordering a bunch of supplies for making stuff. This flurry of activity all started with a simple request fro...

I can't explain my nearly year-long absence any better than to say that I lost my way, lost my focus, lost my ambition, and also became a grandmother. My grandson was born right around the time of my last post. That's my excuse. I was absolutely distracted by a new love in my life. I'm on more even footing now (although I'm still completely smitten). You know how things go in cycles. On and off and around and around. At least for some of us, maybe not all, I suppose, creativity has its own rules. I don't know why - maybe spring in the air again - I'm energized and excited and ready to get going on my own things again. It starts here. Picks up here, where I left off. Come along. Let's see where we go.

Starting a knitting group was more challenging than I'd expected. What I learned, after taking votes and trying to juggle the scheduling and location preferences of 5 to 10 people, is that somebody ultimately has to make a decision, let the rest of the group know, and then see who shows up. It's all negotiable from there, but it's a good way to at least get things started. Rick and I eventually decided on our local Starbucks, and have been meeting with a few knitting friends each week for a while now. Taking turns hosting the group in our homes seemed like a good idea, but it turned out to be confusing and inconsistent. A public space doesn't put the hosting burden on anyone, and we all know where to go and when to go there. There was, and still is, some discussion about our location (especially on days when the coffeehouse vibe is a bit too loud). As much as we'd like to support some of our favorite local businesses, so far none of them have the seating and ...

I closed my Etsy shop recently. What??? Why??? Well, because I think Etsy has done great harm to the livelihoods of makers everywhere. If you do manage to get noticed, which is pretty difficult these days, it's impossible to compete with the pricing on so-called "handmade" goods that are mass produced in foreign countries. Equally frustrating to me is the number of actual makers who drastically underprice their work, effectively turning themselves into voluntary sweatshop laborers in order to stay in the game at all. I'm not playing. I would love to see makers of all fine handmade things everywhere reclaim a sense of dignity, and charge a fair price for their skills and talents. Until I find such a group of folks that I can join, I'm back to being on my own here, in my own little shop, charging a reasonable price for the quality materials and hours of work it takes to make the things I make. I feel good about this. The Shop, at the moment, contains exactl...

Rick started making sourdough bread this winter. Lucky me! He made the starter out of flour, water, and our good sea air, and it makes the most  wonderful bread I've ever eaten. About once a week he spends most of a day in the kitchen, finishing with two lovely loaves by dinner time. Seems like a lot of work to me, but he loves doing it. I am a very appreciative audience. And I make the "accessory" soup to go with the true star of any Bread Day meal - the bread. We were having some trouble with the keeping of the bread. Couldn't quite figure out how to store it in this particular climate to keep it fresh and free of mold. Leaving it out on the counter, cut side down works for a couple of days, and gets us through most of the first loaf. But then it needs to be wrapped up in some way. A tea towel wasn't enough. A plastic bag was too sweaty. The fridge is too dry. A bread box won't fit on our very small countertop. And the advice to "eat it all up in ...