And speaking of useful...
I posted a pic of this bag on Instagram yesterday. Didn't say much about it except that it is nice to make something useful.
This is not something new, it is one of my original pieces from way back in 2009. I've mended it several times. I use it a lot. I looked back and found the original photo from Flickr, I really love how it carried me back.
I think useful has risen to the forefront since my move. Having had to carefully eliminate so many belongings for the move, I have new appreciation for what is needed vs wanted. And not just making just to make but , well nothing new really, just reconsidering all of that as I begin again, in a new place with new needs. And a new sense of the changing world we live in. I suddenly began linking kindness and usefulness in my mind this morning.
I also shoveled. A lot.
I am so happy to be able to do this at my age. My lips are chapped though.
Whoeeee…that’s a lot of shovelling….keeps you warm during the doing, but then the cooling after!
I remember when I first ‘found’ your blog…(about a year after you made that beautiful bag)….I loved that making art useful was your practice…as was kindness ♥️
I used to make bread twice a week when Jac was a baby and toddler. All that kneading is such good exercise ☺️
Gosh, I’ve gone on a bit!
Be safe and warm.
Cariad MAWR x
I have to keep reminding myself what’s important and how those things are woven together.
hot water bottles in the bed before you get in the bed♥️
or mason jars filled with hot water.
I have one with fur! Ha!
What a Nice post….seeing you sleep under the pils of quilts…
It works for me in so many ways. I fall into story dreams.
thinking about your link between usefulness ‘n kindness gives me JOY! is it the love we invest in what we make that truly makes it useful? seeing creations on the wall as i pass thru a day (both in my cottage ‘n yours!) sparks deep satisfaction. thanx for your on-going kindness… x
I’m really caught up in this consideration today.
Have you heard the snowmobiles prowling yet?
No, not here, very quiet!!!
You are a warrior woman Jude! Love the bag and love your posts. ❤️🙏
Onward!
Useful is good💙💪
I can smell your bread making way down here! 😋
Useless is wasteful. 🙃
Good work with the shoveling—-that’s a loooong driveway. It’s always good to be able to do a thing for oneself. Often the ability to just call someone to come in and do it for you suddenly is no longer an option then you find yourself not equipped to do it. Keeping moving as one gets older is a terribly important thing to keep in mind and hard to envision when you are young and hardy. Also looking out for your back, an extremely weak physical point, is too often overlooked. Sounds like you are on solid ground in all of those situations. Keep going!
My dad always emphasized exercise and to just keep active. Now when my muscles are sore, I just go out and do it again!
Really I think extreme heat and cold are both exhausting in their own way…they consume attention. We rarely get dry snow. It is so much easier! I’ve moved it with a broom. You know how I feel about useful/purpose. It’s the way to go! 🙂
Yes, been sweeping the snow…
And I certainly do!
I made a green chili pork stew a few days ago and have one portion left for dinner … thank you for prompting me to consider making bread rather than potatoes to go with it … I’ve got a no-measurements “recipe” for making bread within three hours that is my go-to for everything from focaccia to cinnamon rolls … but I’ll take a hard pass on shoveling snow (gotta love Texas in that regard)
I’m experimenting with the bread thing now, so many ways!
yesterday it was -14 in the morning today it is 20 degrees, the warm up is coming your way.
I know !!! yay! Funny how 20 seems warm!
Baking is the best medicine for my soul!
Love your bag.
Haven’t done too much in recent years, the cold has inspired a revisit.
The thing about snow is that if you have not grown up with it or live where it comes ever year, you have a fairy tale notion of how it is. Living in Leavenworth, WA near the Cascade Mountains, I got to know the realness of snow AS IN shoveling snow every day for five months. Since I am an early riser, I would shovel the driveway very early in the morning, only to have snow plows come down the street and toss it all back, creating berms in our driveway ! Once, I even chased the driver holding up my shovel and he just laughed! A neighbor across the way saw me doing this so she got her husband to come over, now and then, and use his snow blower to help me…kindness is such a great and useful tool!
Very familiar! I take a regular garden shovel with me when I go get the mail. The plow makes a compact pile that the snow shovel cannot handle. And here the plows come by so often, I gotta keep on it. I could hire someone to plow but I’ve begun to enjoy it. Heavy wet snow might change my mind but for the most part it is powder.
Took me 3 days to shovel us out of our igloo here in Kansas. I too am grateful for the ability to shovel. I am restless with the need to put this winter behind us… but comforted by my man’s lentil curry and my little log cabins. I worry for the furry animals we help feed and am grateful every day to the giver of all life when they show in the back porch for food and water… peace.
The deer came right up on the porch yesterday. And I see so many trails and footprints in the new snow each morning. I try to guess who they belong to.
Deer love potatoes and apples cut in pieces
Yes, they pick out the peels from the compost.
Hello, Jude. Beautiful bag. Like everything… 🍀
I like how it is wearing out, I will add to it.
Taking my comfort in brown rice and quinoa, since I can’t eat wheat or gluten any more.
I do miss sourdough bread.
And I’ve been weaving tapestry and loving it.
Brown rice is a staple for me, just because I love it. And it keeps me healthy. Which is useful. I eat the short grain type.
Tapestry is close to happening here. Just a lot of chores right now. But I will get to it.
I’m another who loves the peeks into your life but comments seldom. The link of usefulness with kindness is wonderful, something I shall ponder for a while. Soul’O is such a comfort as is homemade bread – I shall get my tins out, they were gifted me by a long-gone friend. Memories!! Bless you Jude!
Baking is a really great idea right now, since the heat in the kitchen is not good. Muffins are on my mind today.
Hmmm, your post makes me think that bread bags would be a lovely thing to make: handmade bags to have on hand to gift homemade bread. I’m feeling really grateful for polar fleece–I’ve been living in it 24/7 for the past few days. The sun today was beautiful, though.
great idea!
And fleece , although frowned upon by many because it is synthetic, can be a lifesaver. It is indeed very useful. I got a fleece snowsuit type thing and it keeps me warm no matter what. Plus it is much lighter weight than 7 layers of clothing, ha!
Hi Jude,
I don’t often comment but so love reading your posts. We are in Slovakia helping family right now and are knee deep in snow and we understand our North Florida place is under a blanket snow, too. I fell on the ice face first recently )thankful nothing was broken) and know you are being extra careful when you are out in the snow.
Unfortunately, out little cat died a couple of years ago and used to sleep with us. Everyone who lives in snowy weather should have a cat heater to sleep with them on cold nights!!
I hope your kitty brings you warmth and comfort, too. Your bread and bag look heavenly!!
Best wishes,
Jane
oh falling on the ice, I did that years ago when on my way to take care of my mom. my ankle has never been the same. It taught me to be very careful.
My cat heater is working like a charm!
And oh! maybe I should make a sleeping bag?
Bread and soup, cats and quilts. Who needs more?
Love your useful bag; my sister made mine from the top of her husband’s jeans. Lots of pockets. It’s gone everywhere for the last 40+ years.
this one could use some inside pockets, maybe it’s time.
I love your posts but don’t comment. I just want to say how much I admire your strength and resilience in the face of so many profound changes in your life. You are indeed an inspiration to many.Thank you and may many blessings follow you in all future endeavour and experiences💖👍
Hey thanks, I don’t always feel strong but I am a fan of just going…
You shoveled all that? Yikes, go you!
Last night was cold. I slept with a hat on. I was just right under my down quilt, in my yak wool socks (they are SO WARM and cozy), and in flannel sheets.
Love the bag.
I did! The snow is very light and fluffy, I can just push it really.
Yeah it was really cold last night, but it looks like the temps will be rising after today.
I don’t bake bread at all. Owned a hometown bakery and Boar-Deli Sandwich Shop for years,
I am in northwest Florida.. and have for the first time I am
experiencing Snow.. yard in covered, two of the porches are covered and my truck has snow up to the hubcaps. Wow.. How Do You Handle It All?
We are expecting about 6 more hours of snow fall.
Homemade bread??? wonder if I have the right ingredients.. think I will check out recipes. Thank you Jude, for another inspiration! I love the bag also! Stay Snug!
I grew up with snow, but this is a bit much combined with the extreme cold.
Bread is easy once you get used to the process, nothing like fresh bread. And butter!
I found 4 sourdough rolls in the freezer that had been buried. Heated up some chicken soup that I made a while back. I “sopped” juice with the heated roll. There is a reason that we eat comfort food in the winter. I suppose it feels and tastes like memories.
And safety.
I, too, have been contemplating needs vs. wants. With all the L.A. fires—wow. I’ve been so used to creating just for Art’s sake, not for need.
You be careful shoveling, Jude. It can disable you, if you’re not careful. LOVE your bag!And I want to break your bread this very minute!
I’ve worked my way up to it. Little by little. I want to keep moving. Very cold so very powdery stuff for now.
Bread is just great.
Wonderful bread, Jude …and the snow shoveling!! We didn’t shovel, but we played in it …we had a record-breaking snowstorm along the Gulf Coast today, 6-8″!!
And now, the frigid temps begin 🥶😱🧊 had to rescue a tiny, half-frozen bird…
Let’s share more Kindness, yes?!
💕🤲💕
Yes, let’s, they can’t take that away.
AMEN!!!
Hi Jude
The snow is so thick & shovelling would be endless 😊good exercise though🌸 I am in awe of how we as human beings can begin again .. & again . I love your bag as I appreciate your creative work as well . Big hugs
Maria A
Yes, just going is amazing!
there is so much to ponder over in this post. and yes, bitter cold here in the midwest. my heat was having a hard time keeping up so add a wool sweater and then make tuscan bean soup!
the bread looks so good that I may be tempted to try some this year. one of my master’s is in grain science — as students we made bread virtually every day in our lab just because we could. of course, having access to flour, a proper oven and proofing boxes made it easy!!
Layers and soup, yes!
Making bread makes me remember my dad.
💙
It’s brilliant you can do the shovelling – I most certainly can’t at 68. You are an inspiration! I love making things that are useful and artistic. And homemade blankets – wow, very precious. Sounds so comforting to be wrapped in your talent and useful things that you have prepared for you for now.
I’m a bit sore but this is round two of shoveling, getting better at it. It feels good to be sheltered by my own efforts.
Jude~ Useful and let it go. I just though of finishing the last 3 stockings I have here, to let them go. Earlier, I was considering a collage prompt project started with Acey in January 2020 – I should do the rest of the prompts I though, use up some of this stuff.
It is surely a blessing to be able to do what you need to, along with what you want to of course.
xo
Oh gosh, I went off on one thought and forgot to say that I like the bag and the strap caught my eye. And is that a snail with feet?
I watched a woman making bread today on you tube…it was very peaceful and nice, considering I don’t bake bread anymore.
Yes, the woven strap! And yes, the snail. I will make bread more often now.
Was complaining about the cold in Raleigh NC At least the snow has stopped
Madison Wisconsin was -2 degrees Granddaughter is there
Suppose I can’t complain
Bag is great and also love the strap
Stay warm under all the covers and easy on the shoveling
Maybe they can become one …
So nice to see your message come in, and I’m VERY happy you posted the bag here as I don’t frequent IG too often. I LOVE your bag! And it’s freezing here too! It’s ridiculous!
💛
I think I’ll sleep next to the woodstove tonight.