My Weaving Brings My Collie Joy

  I took my little loom outside today to work on a small character I am weaving. I put the loom on the grass to take a photo and Ember, my collie,  promptly walked up to it to have a look. She then dropped to the ground and rolled around making joyful collie sounds. I think she likes it!

For My Sister; You Were Born With Wings

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” ~Rumi

This piece I have been working on is dedicated to my Sister who recently lost her husband and is now losing her home. It is called "You Were Born With Wings" and is very rich in symbolism. Only 2 months after losing her husband she is losing her home and it is unimaginably heartbreaking for her to have to leave the "nest" that she lived in for 34 years with her husband and where they raised their children together.  The 2 eggs in the woven nest represent her two children and I may add a third for her granddaughter. There is more meaning woven and stitched into this piece but maybe it all doesn't need to be said right now, besides it is still a work in progress so more may evolve. 

I have tried my best to support her during this horrible time in her life and understandably, she has not always been able to be there for me over the last year as she dealt with her husband's cancer and finally his death. When I called her tonight I started to cry about some health issues I'm having and she was there for me so fully and completely that I suddenly realized she is finding her own wings. She is letting go of the life she knew and is taking her first steps without feet in this groundless place she has been thrown. 

You were born with wings Cindy, and now you are learning to fly. 

Weaving on a Primitive Table Loom

I finnaly figured out how to warp the little loom I bought at a tag sale. I can't say I enjoyed the warping process at all but I am loving weaving on it. It is a very Zen and mindful experience to sit and weave on it. 

This is a wonderful way to use up all the small scraps of thread and yarn I have hanging around. The beige-grey section was the hand rolled hem of some silk I eco dyed and then tore off. I love how the silk shimmers when you look at it in person.

Tiny Woven Beast

I am seeing a physical therapist for some shoulder pain and problems with a tendon in my arm that occurred from all this weaving I have been doing. I have taken a bit of a break to rest it and am doing stretches that are helping, but today I couldn't resist doing some weaving. Luckily Jude Hill is talking about tiny weave now in her What if Diaries on Considering Weave so I kept my weaving tiny and did my stretches. All in all my arm ached only slightly.  

So here is a tiny woven beast. I should have thought to take photos of it in progress, alas I forgot. I cut a rectangle out of the denim then folded back and basted the edges. I ran my warp threads vertically in the cut out hole and wove the weft horizontally stitching it into the denim on each end. The beast was woven in but the raven was stitched on top of the weave afterwards. 

July Woods

Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.   ~George Washington Carver

Ceder Waxwing

Orphans: Baby Jay & Baby Mouse

The little mouse above was in my kayak when we dragged it up from the pond the other day. His Mama ran away with all of his siblings firmly attached to her nipples as she ran. Sadly this little one fell off in the kayak when she ran. We took him into the woods to the area where we saw his Mama run off. Hopefully she will find him. 

You may recall the post where I showed the nest I had woven for Jude Hill's "Considering Weave" class? You can see the post and the nest here: Nest Post and Photos . Well tonight that nest came in handy.  

My collie, Ember,  was at the door barking at 9:00 pm and this little blue jay fledgling was on my front porch. He was literally standing on the doormat looking into our glass front door. It was adorable.  He can't fly yet so I put him in the nest I had woven and then I put the nest  out in one of my planters, snugging it down into the flowers hopping to keep him warm. 

 He really wanted to snuggle up and didn't like it when I put him down. He would cling to me and jump back up on me. It was hard to put him in the nest and leave him.

 I held him up in the air to see if he could fly and he did a lot of wing pumping but he couldn't fly yet.

He really seemed to feel secure in the nest I had woven. I certainly never knew that it would serve such a lofty purpose when I wove it.

All bedded down in the nest in the planter. Hope it makes it through the night. 

Moonrise over Raven's Nest

A moon has appeared in the piece I am working on, along with a woven nest and some eggs.

A Visitation by Plant Spirits

The Universe is stirring things up in my life today. An old friend that grew up down the road from us passed away at 53, making that the 4th loss of a friend or family member in the last couple of months. That in turn led to some in-depth and emotionally healing conversations with another friend that also grew up down the road. My Mom and I had just happened to have had a deep conversation this morning about the year my Dad completed suicide which lead to some profound revelations. Then the "Things I remember about growing up in New Milford, CT" 'group on Facebook popped up in my notifications and there were some very relevant posts and people I noticed there, bringing back a flood of memories.

It also has not gone unnoticed by me that my house is surrounded by copious numbers of the tall yellow flowering torches of the mullein plant and the Tribe of the Sun blog has this to say about the wisdom of mullein: "Spiritual Uses: Mullein is useful if you are battling evil spirita and energies. It is protective and increases mental clarity. This memeber of the snapdragon family can help open you up when life's battles have worn you down. Mullein works well with the throat chakra so if you are having trouble finding your voice, try allying yourself with this plant." Along with the mullein there is a sea of yellow blossoms from St John's Wort also surrounding the house. Here is an article that talks about the many uses of St John's Wort, not the least of which is the bringer of light into the dark areas of our lives.

So it is an emotional day but something is stirring and moving through my life. I have always found such movement to be healing. God knows I am ready to move to the next level so He is moving me, and it hurts a little. But that's OK, sometimes healing is like that.

 Multiple stalks of mullein flowers on one plant

 St John's Wort, Bringer of light into darkness

A Sea of St johns Wort and Mullein