Still below freezing, it's been a couple of days now. Feeling tired and under whatever weather there is has kept me from doing too much. I tacked this old cloth over a Nest of Days, just to look. And I know it will stay like that for longer than I imagine because these days everything has become "uncurated" if you know what I mean.
In looking back through blog posts related to this cloth I got caught in how productive I used to be, The energy, how it gushed. I think I felt a pang of sadness before I blew it off and said to myself, just stop it.
I have rested a lot, I don't enjoy laying around, it is just not me. Today the sun is out and it will be above freezing. And I feel better. Suddenly very much better. Mom came to me in a dream yesterday and said drink your vinegar. She had this thing about apple cider vinegar. She passed that on to me. It worked. Maybe a coincidence. Maybe not. I like to believe she was right and she wanted me to know. Maybe it is just the believing. Works for many people in many ways.
And then, how we see things, like a pile of dyed or undyed scraps. Like did I actually create a pile during these days of not being productive? These no energy days. Yes I did.
The man here always says I am always going, I could go in a Coma.
I could build some small cloths, or as I was thinking lately a large cloth. What if a large cloth, a quilt, is simply a Loose Patch Catcher? I think I will be returning to this question.
Remember the mailbox we made into a birdbox? Well it's not a great picture but it just became a home.
the comment i wrote here must have disappeared-poof!. but the jist of it was that i hope you feel better and that the mailbox birdhome is wonderful and will be fun to watch in the coming months!
I feel much better. there is a nesting frenzy going on here right now.
Uncurated is my default, interrupted by exhausting bursts of curating. I enjoy the comments from your readers and your replies. Birds in the letterbox and a cat by the fire. What more could anyone want. Some lovely thoughts to start the day. Thanks.
bursts of curating, I have to laugh! yes!
My heart was broken three years ago with loss of my husband of 53 years. Fatigue has become a major issue coupled with loss & isolation of Covid. What a blessing to have found your lessons. Your work is gorgeous!
Humble gratitude, Anne
hey thanks
sorry for your loss, losing those so close is a big part of change lately. so many gone. sadness is very tiring, yes?
the birds…your family now
Feels good. Wrens.
I had to explain “curated’ to someone a couple days ago…it wasn’t really something that made me feel good, the context it was used in. Productivity…I am asking why more.
Yeah, I guess useful comes into play, and that can become more personal over time. Experience maybe.
Home sweet home, that will be fun to see those birds flying in and out soon 🙂
i guess soul-o will enjoy it too
The birds accepting your bird/mail box made me so happy.
I LOVE that quilts can be Loose Patch Catchers.
Cider vinegar is soooo good. When I was growing up my father used to have it every day through the Spring and Summer, with honey…to help his allergies. It did. How great that your Mom came to tell you in a dream ❤ and how great that it helped. Glad you’re feeling better. 🌞
Birds, always a joyful bringing.
I have this big old piece of muslin here and I use it to catch little things so they don’t get lost. Just pinned. But then, I could just let it be, stitch them down.
And honey. Vinegar and honey, that too!
keep being !!!
🥂
this post is very comforting, jude. your mom dream… and the new residents in your bird box!!! using the thread you left there! love creates a bridge. (((jude)))
A dear friend used to say it’s more important to be a human being, than a human doing. Trying to remember that as I age and nap more.
Love the idea of uncurated….interestingly spellcheck just corrected that to “uncharted”..
Uncharted, love that.
A search turned up this:
https://www.uncuratedco.com/products/uncurated-card-game
Ha
In her last newsletter my Qi Gong teacher suggested a couple of tablespoons of ACV in water with honey —- liver refresh for spring!
Wowzer – I did not know that gorgeous “planet” with orbiting scribbles was huge. I thought it was a patch. How funny. So beautiful. What joy it gives me to see your work. Can’t wait for the forest gallery photos with all the cloths among the trees. Be well.
Yeah, it’s big, scale is funny isn’t it? Its the fire inside. That red circle.
“Uncurated” finally I have a term for my disorder. Have lost interest in curating stuff. I randomly pick up projects. Vivid dreaming. Comforting to know I have company! Peace, Jude
✌
More and more, I think “having company” is what it’s all about–more than productivity, more than accomplishing. So glad for fellow ragmates and threadheads.
Ha, yes, travelling companions…
I really like the idea of a large blank quilt that’s a Loose Patch Catcher. Also – “uncurated” – most of me these days!
Yes, isn’t that a simple path? I kinda like uncurated. It’s a style in itself.
I’m so glad health & energy are returning!
xoxo
(love the new bird home)
A great comfort watching them come and go
You express so much of how I feel these days too. I try to be mindful of being in a different place in my life – exploring who I am as a 66 year old versus a 26 year old, and not disparaging myself. Not always easy to do. And then I try to remember the “wonder” in my life, as you did with the “just became a new home” photo. That is a spark of sunshine! Thank you.
It really was a pick up moment
The different faces of Energy…mind boggling really.
Hoping The Face you feel soon enough is The-Vibrant- One- of-Many-Colours. I am sure it’s already on its way to you.
Apple cidar vinegar…often wondered about that..but when “Mom’s” tell us it works…it’s always true:)
Loved the dyed scraps…waiting for you.The coma business makes me grin.
The circle and its amazing energy lines around it speaks so beautifully. I watch them….
Strange to hear you talking of freezing weather when it’s so terribly hot here already, in Delhi.
Thank you Jude…
I am so much better today…the cold here was so sudden, but those birds are still singing.
Sometimes I think that all of the electronic stuff saps our energy as well.
I recently started hanging my textiles on the wall and what a difference it makes. Even having small pieces there that could become larger cheers the heart and eyes reminding me that is what life is.
And a cheery welcome to the new bird home! Perhaps they need a Welcome Wagon visit.
Yes, I agree. Too much screen time. I am slowing. Cloth walls are softer, I feel hugged.
They are building a nest and I see them using the threads I left them!
Maybe I need some of that apple cider vinegar! How do you make it drinkable when you’re like me and don’t care for vinegary foods.
✌🏼💙
Just a small soon ful of vinegar in a big glass of water, I take sips all day.
Thanks Jude!
Get the good kind with the “mother” in it, like braggs.
👍🏻
Glad you are feeling better, feeling ‘back’. I think we put an awful lot of pressure on ourselves to be “productive”. What if we’re not? What if we do less? So what? I remember when you had said that “this is the year I got old”…I’m feeling ‘this is the year I got tired’. I can’t seem to shake it, but I sure hope it is a phase, not a year, not a future.
Be well, however that looks. xo
People can tell you to be this or that but really you need to feel comfort how ever it happens. Sickness is not familar to me. I suppose if it ever becomes a long term thing, I will have to redefine what I need. And how to create a comfort zone.
I find my life mirroring yours in lots of small ways. I dreamed a long dream about my mother too last night. I think she was trying to tell me about all the sentimental stuff I hang onto. It isn’t her. I guess I just miss her more than I allow myself to be consciously aware of. I agree the cold drains our energy . We need to re balance. Inner work is productive too
Our lives mirror each other, people think they are more unique thsn thay are , I see the thread more clearly over time, maybe things just wear away…
I think colder months with shorter days drain us of our energy. I have been struggling with that too more this year than before. I made a conscious turn into a new direction this past weekend, and it seems to be helping me regain my energy and become more productive. Hoping that you regain yours again soon with the warmer days.
Yeah, I think I am back.