cloth.paper.string

spring up and down

After a week of each and every flu symptom cycling its way through the family, we finally were all able to get out of the house together.   The sun called us outside.

Friday we went up.  Up to the ridge to walk through the woods.  The snow was deep off the trails, but the creeks were flowing strong with muddied green water.  The snow was pocked by leaves, stones and pine cones warmed by the sun, accelerating the melt.  The willows were pushing forth their furry buds.

Today we went down.  Down to the point to walk by the lake.  The last bits of sandied ice were melting fast, lapped by the cold blue waters. The sand was soft, almost calling for bare feet.  And the grasses in the dunes were donning shades of green.


Tonight thunder, lightning and snow.  Spring indeed.

inside and out: celebrating spring

Inside, homemade chocolate croissants from the neighbors, delivered while still warm and gooey.  Eggs dyed with red cabbgage, turmeric, beets and coffee - and just about every combination thereof.   


Outside, more new snow.  Melting ice boulders on the shore.  The far-off horn of one of the shipping season's first arrivals into the port.

May the weekend have brought you and yours many signs and much celebrating of this new season.

six days

Six days passed between visits to the lake with my camera. 
As to be expected, nothing is the same.

Ice fisher-folk and figure skaters.  March 9th.

A very different place.  March 16th.

And, Jeanne, fear not.  I promise there will be plenty of ice for you to experience next week. 

fresh air

More textures from the lake.  I really can't get enough.

Wind-driven sheets of ice along the rocky shore, glowing with the midday sun. 

Rocks bigger than baseballs resting just offshore on melting sheets dusted with the morning's snow.  There are more images over on flickr.

My gocco swap stuff is finally on its way to my fellow swappers.  More on that soon.  And too, on the gocco goodness that is coming into my mailbox.

So many thanks for the get-well wishes.  The flu is lingering, but its grasp isn't nearly as strong and normalcy appears to be on the horizon.  I say that as if I actually know what normalcy looks like... maybe a little something like this week's contribution to Six One Way.

textural studies

There's a spot by the lake that I've been making a point to visit this week.  While the vantage point is the same, the vista rarely is.  The textures alone are phenomenal.


The ice has been moving in and out with the wind, with the current.  As if the lake is breathing. 
Yesterday, open water filled the same spot beyond the knobby point where ice houses had been set out earlier this week.  Tomorrow, it will surely be changed again.  Even once the head of the lake freezes solid, it will continue to be in a state of flux influenced by wind, light and snow.  I know it is this lake that keeps me going through the longest season; the constant reminder that the world is very much alive, even in the dead of winter.

catch and release

Recently caught bits of light released out into my new favorite flickr pools:

Peels and peeks for Six One Way.

Dusted driftwood for ::fleeting::

three by

I've been a big fan of Six One Way since Stefani and Eren started chronicling the weeks with three photos, each one telling a small piece of the story of life as the mama of three young boys.  Their simple yet stunning photos speak for themselves, both separately and together. 

I was thrilled to see that they've invited others to play along in sharing a week in the life of the family in the form of a photo triptych.  I was looking for a photo-making spark and I think this might be just the thing that prompts me to point my camera around my house, despite the lack of good natural light this time of year.

That said, I've found the mosaic maker to be a bit addicting.  I couldn't stop with the one for Six One Way tonight, but instead had to piece together two more crazy quilts of images from the weekend. 

Between liquid and solid on the calm grey lake.  Special thanks to Nana and AJ for the babe-sitting that allowed for the slow and carefree meander along the beach with my sweet.

At the start of the John Beargrease sled dog marathon - the 400 mile race honoring the man who delivered mail along Lake Superior's North Shore by dog sled in the early 1900s.  Once again, I'm amazed by the outdoor happenings in my hometown.  And, I'm so grateful for the recent gift from E -- Jan Brett's new book featuring Aloo-ki, a Inuit musher.  My little one was thrilled to have a chance to ride, chattering about Aloo-ki and the huskies all along the kid's track.

blues: inside and out

Outside, steam rises off the deep blue lake.  Heat is all relative when the air temperature is -18 degrees F.  Needless to say I didn't stay outside for long.

Inside, the blue cable sweater is finished.  For the second time.  I ended up getting help at the local knitting shop, thanks in part to all of the encouraging comments and emails.  Picking up stitches isn't that scary after all.  Even if there are over thirty to pick up...

the inspiration...

There's so much of it around me these days.

The almost-frozen but always changing lake and those resilient birds that must know that the days of floating are few.

My inspiration wires.  They have finally made their way onto the wall upstairs.  I first saw one years and years ago in Pure Style Living and was immediately taken by the idea.  Since then I've seen them popping up all over.   My new favorite spot to see that which inspires others and how they bring it into their spaces is the inspiration board flickr group.  Definitely worth a visit.

That special embroidered piece from Marnie, now framed thanks to Ikea and a little creative mounting (colored canson paper, a few stitches in the corners).  I'm certain it's not archival in any way shape or form, but it works.  I'm so pleased with having a little handmade inspiration next to my sewing table.

And the gocco swap -- I'm amazed by the turnout.  Simply blown away.  Check out the list of participants!  And in the coming weeks stop by to the swap's flickr group to see the gocco'ed goodness that is being shared.

lake effect

Before the big lake freezes each winter there seems to be a stretch where it serves as a giant snow-maker.  Cold water, colder air and driving winds whip up a frenzy of frozen precipitation that comes without warning.  There has been plenty of forecasted snow this week with back to back storms dumping over two feet; but the lake effect snow that has been falling intermittently is providing a continual fresh coat of powder. 

I'm itching to get out and play -- the first storm found me in bed with a stomach flu while the second caught me on the road stretching my two hour drive into a white-knuckled five hour trek.   And those flurries in between have only made for more shoveling, sweeping and stomping of boots.  But tomorrow will be the first real day of the snow season for me.  The first day to get out and play.  Snow shoes?  Skis?  Sleds?  Snow angels?  Oh, the possibilities...