flattened

flattened

woke up with an evil sore throat the other day and it turns out that was the easy part.  my eyeballs hurt, specifically the backs of my eyeballs.  luckily the dishwasher makes the most excellent chicken soup known to man.  and he bought me a slanket.

flattened

flattened

woke up with an evil sore throat the other day and it turns out that was the easy part.  my eyeballs hurt, specifically the backs of my eyeballs.  luckily the dishwasher makes the most excellent chicken soup known to man.  and he bought me a slanket.

the Monk’s necklace

monk necklace

my friend the Venerable Monk Ben Kong makes the most amazing necklaces i’ve ever seen. he uses a macrame knotting method that makes them surprisingly strong. he’s been beading in this manner for many years, makes them from beads donated to him from his friends and congregation from his temple in ny. he has a wide wide wide circle of friends from all over creation and everyone donates beads and baubles that he adds to these works that he then gives away. if you give him beads he’ll then ask you your two favorite colors and your favorite number and from this he creates a necklace for you. each one takes a long time to make and i marvel that he gets more than one done a year. he works on more than one at a time as well as keeping a full schedule at the temple and studying and translating. he’s fluent in mandarin. he’s also nutty as a squirrel, his most endearing quality. he visits with us every year and we always look forward to having him here.
if you’re in ny and want to buy a Buddhist monk some pancakes, he’s your man.

monk necklace close up

ben kong necklace

the Monk’s necklace

monk necklace

my friend the Venerable Monk Ben Kong makes the most amazing necklaces i’ve ever seen. he uses a macrame knotting method that makes them surprisingly strong. he’s been beading in this manner for many years, makes them from beads donated to him from his friends and congregation from his temple in ny. he has a wide wide wide circle of friends from all over creation and everyone donates beads and baubles that he adds to these works that he then gives away. if you give him beads he’ll then ask you your two favorite colors and your favorite number and from this he creates a necklace for you. each one takes a long time to make and i marvel that he gets more than one done a year. he works on more than one at a time as well as keeping a full schedule at the temple and studying and translating. he’s fluent in mandarin. he’s also nutty as a squirrel, his most endearing quality. he visits with us every year and we always look forward to having him here.
if you’re in ny and want to buy a Buddhist monk some pancakes, he’s your man.

monk necklace close up

ben kong necklace

nesting

lair

the nest is getting dolled up for thanksgiving. shown here is our lair. THE spot to be here now. weather permitting and it permits a good part of the year but it’s almost time to shut it down for the rainy winter months.
more pictures of the garden here

nesting

lair

the nest is getting dolled up for thanksgiving. shown here is our lair. THE spot to be here now. weather permitting and it permits a good part of the year but it’s almost time to shut it down for the rainy winter months.
more pictures of the garden here

november morning in the garden

collards watched over by the wooden rabbit.
collards

green-chairs

the green chairs in front of the lair are showing some wear. the abutulon behind the chairs has grown nicely but has got a serious scale problem. what to do?

Buddha behind the lair

the buddha behind the lair

lair

the lair, cleaned and ready for thanksgiving.

another journal page

journal page

on thursday mornings i drag myself out of bed at 5:45 to cook breakfast at the inn. there are several problems with this scenario one being i have breakfast at 6am and am then famished by 10 and ready for a nap by noon. the dishwasher’s coffee gets me going pretty well for a few hours but then i get grumpy and sleepy and i call the rest of the day pretty much shot as i don’t get over it. so today is perfect because it’s chilly and rainy outside so there’s no way i can work in the garden. that leaves stitching in front of the fire watching a movie and wandering out to the new studio to admire our handiwork.

another journal page

journal page

on thursday mornings i drag myself out of bed at 5:45 to cook breakfast at the inn. there are several problems with this scenario one being i have breakfast at 6am and am then famished by 10 and ready for a nap by noon. the dishwasher’s coffee gets me going pretty well for a few hours but then i get grumpy and sleepy and i call the rest of the day pretty much shot as i don’t get over it. so today is perfect because it’s chilly and rainy outside so there’s no way i can work in the garden. that leaves stitching in front of the fire watching a movie and wandering out to the new studio to admire our handiwork.

studio remake # 589

studio

here we go again. i know it’s crazy and yet i can’t help myself. the very definition of crazy. the studio is moving again. just when it was fantastic especially with the new light fixture and the new closet shelves…

there are reasons. perfectly sound ones and i’m sure there will be perfectly good reasons for the next time as well. for the moment i’m just grateful that tearful dishwasher is my partner. he just looks me dead in the eyes and says “whatever you want baby” no matter what madness comes out of my mouth.

i’m a lucky girl.

studio remake # 589

studio

here we go again. i know it’s crazy and yet i can’t help myself. the very definition of crazy. the studio is moving again. just when it was fantastic especially with the new light fixture and the new closet shelves…

there are reasons. perfectly sound ones and i’m sure there will be perfectly good reasons for the next time as well. for the moment i’m just grateful that tearful dishwasher is my partner. he just looks me dead in the eyes and says “whatever you want baby” no matter what madness comes out of my mouth.

i’m a lucky girl.

tic tac toe

tic tac toe

last night i had a dream that i was visiting my friend Allene who in for real life lives in the desert but in the dream she lived by the ocean which she loves. we were laying on the sand and the water receded and opened up to a cave that was filled with boxes of all sizes and we grabbed at the smallest ones right at the entrance to the cave and they were filled with…something. i can’t remember what! argh.

it reminded me of this http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10mind.html?_r=1&ref=science
especially since i was looking for a box yesterday to send her something.  i didn’t find the right size box.

yet.

the stitching continues…

tic tac toe

tic tac toe

last night i had a dream that i was visiting my friend Allene who in for real life lives in the desert but in the dream she lived by the ocean which she loves. we were laying on the sand and the water receded and opened up to a cave that was filled with boxes of all sizes and we grabbed at the smallest ones right at the entrance to the cave and they were filled with…something. i can’t remember what! argh.

it reminded me of this http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10mind.html?_r=1&ref=science
especially since i was looking for a box yesterday to send her something.  i didn’t find the right size box.

yet.

the stitching continues…

monday

paper-bowl

again?

already?

i’m pretending it’s snowing outside this morning and we have no heat. the no heat part is not pretend. brrr.

monday

paper-bowl

again?

already?

i’m pretending it’s snowing outside this morning and we have no heat. the no heat part is not pretend. brrr.