to drape my freshly knitted and still damp from “blocking” scarf on my electric heater…


i was just going into the house for a minute but then i got distracted.  realized the clothes needed to be put in the dryer and i got hungry so i had to heat up the noodles scottie made the night before and then the phone rang and then i went back out to the studio and smelled scorched fiber!  
two giant scorch marks on my pure white mohair scarf.  blast!  i thought to save it by throwing it in a black dye bath even though it’s a synthetic fiber i knew it would at least stain.  and stain it did, to a beautiful lavender color but the two giant scorch marks are still quite visible.  think i’ll try a brown dye next.  or i could try making the scorch marks the star of the show and add some more with a really hot iron.

or….



i’ve been thinking about my friend Katherine whom i haven’t seen or heard from in a long time.  strange as she always calls every few months with reports of life on the road.  i’m starting to worry a little.  i found this label in a box of sewing paraphernalia she gave me a long time ago.  it was her mom’s.  she sewed them into all of Katherine’s dresses.  

From Planting Along The Verge

the pin is one i made a while ago. 

“a color known as dragonsblood is red.  this color is used occasionally on parchment, for illuminating.  but leave it alone, and do not have too much respect for it; for it is not of a constitution to do you much credit.”

page from one of my books.  photo transfer on muslin, cheesecloth, map, paint and buttons.

no dragonsblood red was used.

“a color known as dragonsblood is red.  this color is used occasionally on parchment, for illuminating.  but leave it alone, and do not have too much respect for it; for it is not of a constitution to do you much credit.”

page from one of my books.  photo transfer on muslin, cheesecloth, map, paint and buttons.

no dragonsblood red was used.

last night when i stumbled out of bed.

From Planting Along The Verge

even though she’s been there for years.  










we walked the ranch today and got a few things figured out and now there’s garlic and tomatoes roasting in the oven and the dishwasher went and changed his gray fading to green fading to threads t-shirt and is wearing an orange pebbly one and he’s sporting a gash on his head from fetching christmas lights down from the attic because i mentioned i might want to put them “around”.  i had an idea to put them on the mantel or the floor around the edges of the room.  






all these notions…









they don’t mean anything do they?

last night when i stumbled out of bed.

From Planting Along The Verge

even though she’s been there for years.  










we walked the ranch today and got a few things figured out and now there’s garlic and tomatoes roasting in the oven and the dishwasher went and changed his gray fading to green fading to threads t-shirt and is wearing an orange pebbly one and he’s sporting a gash on his head from fetching christmas lights down from the attic because i mentioned i might want to put them “around”.  i had an idea to put them on the mantel or the floor around the edges of the room.  






all these notions…









they don’t mean anything do they?

i don’t think so!

lulabelle is all snug in her bed today.  mad because it’s raining and there will be no walkies on the ranch which always happens on saturday and sunday morning.

but there will be salmon chowder #198 in our recipe box and bread and homemade ice cream sandwiches.

i don’t think so!

lulabelle is all snug in her bed today.  mad because it’s raining and there will be no walkies on the ranch which always happens on saturday and sunday morning.

but there will be salmon chowder #198 in our recipe box and bread and homemade ice cream sandwiches.

From Planting Along The Verge

from The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino d”Andrea Cennini

“You must know what bone is good.  Take bone from the second joints and wings of fowls, or of a capon; and the older they are the better.  Just as you find them under the dining-table, put them into the fire; and when you see that they have turned whiter than ashes, draw them out, and grind them well on the porphyry; and use it as I say above. “




he goes on with these mixing instructions




“take less than half a bean of this bone, or even less.  And stir this bone up with saliva.  Spread it all over the little panel with your fingers; and, before it gets dry, hold the little panel in your left hand, and tap over the panel with the finger tip of your right hand until you see that it is quite dry.  And it will get coated with bone as evenly in one place as in another.”

or you could go buy some gesso but the idea of the spit and bone is strangely appealing to me at the moment.  

From Planting Along The Verge

from The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino d”Andrea Cennini

“You must know what bone is good.  Take bone from the second joints and wings of fowls, or of a capon; and the older they are the better.  Just as you find them under the dining-table, put them into the fire; and when you see that they have turned whiter than ashes, draw them out, and grind them well on the porphyry; and use it as I say above. “




he goes on with these mixing instructions




“take less than half a bean of this bone, or even less.  And stir this bone up with saliva.  Spread it all over the little panel with your fingers; and, before it gets dry, hold the little panel in your left hand, and tap over the panel with the finger tip of your right hand until you see that it is quite dry.  And it will get coated with bone as evenly in one place as in another.”

or you could go buy some gesso but the idea of the spit and bone is strangely appealing to me at the moment.  

and we are now proud owners of a working furnace!!!!

the plan is to stitch and knit and then make a bowl of shrimp and roasted vegetables in a balsamic butter sauce to serve over a bowl of pasta.

here is an old nine patch i did years ago


everyday charms for a simple life…

and we are now proud owners of a working furnace!!!!

the plan is to stitch and knit and then make a bowl of shrimp and roasted vegetables in a balsamic butter sauce to serve over a bowl of pasta.

here is an old nine patch i did years ago


everyday charms for a simple life…

and so glad of it.  it was like tasting too many wines or trying to smell too many perfumes.  after a while it all jumbles together and i can no longer taste or smell and in this case, see. 
we went to the Getty where my mother-in-law took a wonderful class and the Norton Simon museum instead of the Huntington because it was pouring rain and i really wanted to walk the gardens more than anything.  we had a $50 breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the 17th floor and listened to movie execs talk about Denzel. we had drinks at the bar and watched the garland of red and white lights that was the 405

From Planting Along The Verge

if you go to the Getty don’t eat any donuts…

From Planting Along The Verge

but do try the banh mi at Pho City in Westwood.






i feel stunned and unmoored and grateful that my body knows how to carry on without me, that the sun comes up and the garbage truck roars by and the dog asks to be let out only to ask to be let in when she registers the cold, that the dishwasher makes my coffee and smells delicious when he puts his lips to mine, and that the furnace guy is coming today and we can finally heat our house! that so many of you shower us with your love and support.


thank you.

From Planting Along The Verge

and so glad of it.  it was like tasting too many wines or trying to smell too many perfumes.  after a while it all jumbles together and i can no longer taste or smell and in this case, see. 
we went to the Getty where my mother-in-law took a wonderful class and the Norton Simon museum instead of the Huntington because it was pouring rain and i really wanted to walk the gardens more than anything.  we had a $50 breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the 17th floor and listened to movie execs talk about Denzel. we had drinks at the bar and watched the garland of red and white lights that was the 405

From Planting Along The Verge

if you go to the Getty don’t eat any donuts…

From Planting Along The Verge

but do try the banh mi at Pho City in Westwood.






i feel stunned and unmoored and grateful that my body knows how to carry on without me, that the sun comes up and the garbage truck roars by and the dog asks to be let out only to ask to be let in when she registers the cold, that the dishwasher makes my coffee and smells delicious when he puts his lips to mine, and that the furnace guy is coming today and we can finally heat our house! that so many of you shower us with your love and support.


thank you.

From Planting Along The Verge