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Finally . . .
Spring and Sprang
Hah, you are wondering about this title, aren’t you? It is actually very clever because on February 23rd and 24th, I took a class in “Sprang” from a world famous Sprang teacher, Carol James. Sprang you see, is an ancient braiding technique used to make clothing before knitting was invented.
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me learning to sprang -
Carol James modelling a tunic she replicated from a tunic circa 1500’s -
examples of Carol’s sprang-wear
So far I’ve made 3 pouches and I intend to make a hat soon. I’m also working on a crocheting project that I will present to this blog when finished. And I’m starting on a very big rug weaving project which got bogged down in trying to clean up my floor loom first.
The next big event was Corbin’s 7th birthday. Roger and I went down to celebrate with him by taking him to the Woodland Park Zoo. We had a very fun day, although it seemed to me that he was more interested in the bronze animals than the breathing ones.
After Corbin’s birthday we celebrated Eric’s birthday, St Patrick’s Day with the Soroptimist Fundraiser, the First Day of Spring with a “Super Moon”, and the best weather we had seen in weeks. And Weeks. So we began doing things outdoors:
Roger began making copious amounts of biochar to sell at the Farmers Market, we made a raised bed for the kitchen garden, harvested lots of willow for a variety of projects, went on more walks, cut down several trees, planted olive trees (!) and pretty much celebrated Spring.
I’ve also been benefitting from physical therapy to reestablish range of motion on my left side. More decisions about what to do post-cancer are ahead for me. More on that next month. And this last week I’ve suffered from a terrible cold which has put a damper on a whole host of projects I’ve wanted to work on. I’ve been unable to spring into action.
My Southwest Road Trip
Feb 3
Beat the Snow out of Bellingham on our flight to Tucson to start the trip. Arrived in Mesilla, NM at friends of my travel partner, Laura.
Feb 4
Hike up the Organ Mountains to Dripping Springs where the Van Patton Hotel once stood along with the Boyd Sanitariaum. In the evening, we attended a show by Roy Zimmerman at a Unitarian Church.
Feb 5
Trip to White Sands National Monument in morning and Zuhl collection of Petrified Wood in the afternoon.
link to Zuhl: https://zuhlmuseum.nmsu.edu/highlights/
Feb 6
On our way to Santa Fe we stopped in Hatch for photo op and San Antonio Owl Bar and Café and to see Sandhill Cranes at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Stayed at the el Rey Court which brought us back in time to Old Route 66.
Feb 7
Took in three major museums in Santa Fe: Georgia O’Keefe Museum, Folk Art Museum, Indian Culture Museum. Finished the day off with a fabulous tapas dinner at La Boca.
Feb 8
Long trip from Santa Fe to Williams, AZ on I-40 with stop in Winslow, AZ to see a corner made famous by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey. Williams also heralds back to Route 66 days.
Feb 9
Fun two hour train ride from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Besides the magnificent views, I was pleased to learn about the Hopi House designed by architect Mary Colter.
Feb 10
Left Williams for a scenic trip through the Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona and on to the historic mining town of Jerome and lastly to Prescott, AZ at an equally historic, art deco hotel with the odd sounding name of Hassayampa Inn. Hassayampa being an Apache word of the “upside down river”.
Feb 11
Surprise! It snowed that night so the trip on Hwy 89 through Wickenburg was a little icy, albeit beautiful. Reached our friends’ home in Goodyear (bought by the tire company to raise cotton used in the making of tires back in the day) where we planned to stay several days.
Feb 12
Went to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) that several people recommended to us. It was sure worth it. Worth a trip to Phoenix just for this museum. We spent six hours there and saw 6000 instruments. Check it out for yourselves: https://mim.org/
Feb 13 thru 15
Hung out with our Goodyear friends drinking the Kool-Aid.
Feb 16
drove to Saguaro National Park to see the cacti and then into Tucson for the Rock and Gem Show. Great way to spend our last day in Arizona.
Feb 17
Tucson Airport was deserted at 9:30 in the morning when we arrived for our noon flight to Bellingham. Waiting took as long as flying but we made it home safely and Roger picked me up at the ferry at 6:30 (7:30 Mountain time)
Now was that not a great Road Trip?
Meanwhile, Back at home:
To See all 166 photos on Flickr or any subset of them, here is the link:https://www.flickr.com/photos/myake/collections/72157705464574731/
So this is the New Year
And I don’t feel any different (song lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie)
Right now it is about 40 below in parts of the mid-west. It is 43 above zero here and very sunny. All in all, January has been exceedingly pleasant, weather-wise. There have been some great walks.
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Emmerling Lake -
South Beach at Sunset -
Big Tree -
Trout Lake -
Friday Walkers on Mt Grant -
Roger and Craig
January is Audrey’s Birthday Month. This year we took her to the Seattle Center’s Children Museum and Pacific Science Center. Still trying to take in the fact that she’s nine already!
The following week I attended the Textile Guild Quarterly on Shaw Island. Our keynote speaker, Betsy Mize Currie showed us some fabulous work in needlepoint. I always enjoy spending time with my guild friends.
painting with thread
A sign things are looking up in 2019–the “upstairs” hens, guided by their handsome rooster, have begun laying eggs.
click on any image to enlarge
JOY
Season’s Greetings to Everyone
Our rollercoaster of a year is ending with a smooth coast. A solstice card I received said “Amidst the darkest days, new light appears on the horizon.” After looking back over my posts of the past year, I see that all sorts of great and wonderful events took place. But for me, 2018 is the year that my dog died, I had a stroke, and then cancer. Dark days, indeed. If you are interested in those things, you can look at the months of February, April, August, and October.
But if that is old news to you, let’s press on with the good things that have happened in the last month:
Corbin with a giant black bird 
Audrey with her sewing kit 
Merry Christmas from the Family by Craig and Roger 
So above are examples of a very, merry Christmas with family and friends. And that wasn’t all that happened this month. We finally got our new oven!
Also, December in the San Juans can be very beautiful.
So here’s to the new light of 2019 that beckons with promises of more time with friends and family and road trips and perhaps a new beloved pet. A 2019 that is cancer free, healthy, productive (new bathroom on the cottage?) and much to be thankful for.
Restful November
This posting is delayed in part due to our being without the Internet for most of this week. We now have a working (!) outside antenna on the roof for our router and are back in business. Roger just about broke his crown getting down from the roof where he placed it but that’s another story.
That’s not the only SNAFU this month. Our oven broke. More specifically, our oven door broke off. Right before Thanksgiving. With a turkey already ordered from the Co-op. And since we didn’t pick it up right away, it came defrosted. Roger managed to cook a 20 lb. turkey on the propane grill. But we had already been invited to my sister’s so now we have a freezer full of turkey.
But I digress. I should start at the beginning of the month. Just before my last treatment I went to a retreat for San Juan County Textile Guild in Bellingham. I had a very nice time and took a couple great workshops: origami lights on a branch and bio-dyeing scarves. Here is the light branch .
I stayed with a friend on the mainland who took me to my last treatment and then to lunch at the Farmhouse Restaurant. Now I’m done and recovering. (applause)
Since then I’ve been trying to make up for a lost month but am hampered by being very tired. The third week after my treatment seemed to be the worst for me. Roger and I had gone to Seattle for a whirlwind weekend and were followed back to the island by Bjorn and family for a fun couple days followed immediately by Thanksgiving. This was the week I needed several naps a day.
Roger’s birthday celebration was low-key. Dinner out with friends. Should be a poem in there somewhere: Roger and Anita went to Mi Casita turning 63 gotta be low-key (something like that)
Audrey helping pick medlar
Corbin
Laid back Thanksgiving
So, yes, in-between turkey troubles, oven failures, and connectivity issues, it has been restful here at Thornbush.
Friendly Neighbors
just what I needed.
Fall, flying, and fog
I finished my picnic backpack! And just in time to show it off at the SJ Textile Guild Quarterly Meeting on Oct 6th. It was a bit tricky as I ran out of willow from the class and had to use some from my own stash. But I think they blended well enough.
Right after the meeting I ran over to the Fairgrounds to participate in the 8th Annual Farm Parade. You’ll note I am wearing an authentic Francie Hansen original sweater dress. This particular dress is made of two of my own sweaters that I donated. The green one was one my mom won in a church raffle back in the early 60’s.
Hooray for the Farm Parade! Our friend Barry helped again this year with the Thornbush entry and as a photographer.
The following week I started my daily radiation therapy regimen in Sedro-Wooley at their Cancer Care Center. Sedro Wooley is a small town just east of Burlington on Hwy 20. It is about 40 minutes from the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. But a trip to and from takes about 8 hours by car, due to the long interlude between trips to Friday Harbor.
Fortunately, I was able to hook up with the San Juan Eagles, an organization of pilots from the island who have been flying patients to oncology appointments since 2002.
Dr Geyman and his plane
The weather the first 18 days of October was fabulous. I got to fly four times with various pilots and the views were gorgeous. Fell in love with the place all over again.
One Sweet man even flew me over my own property so I could take pictures.
But then, the fog rolled in. Back to the ferry, back to eight hour trips.
Why, it’s like having a job again.
The treatments don’t hurt but I do get sore and they say I will get very tired by the end. Nine more trips to go. And maybe the fog will lift and I’ll fly some more.
