Hello pipsqueaks!
Hope your weekend was pleasant. I heard from some of you in Finland, Saskatoon, Austria and a few glad hollows in the USA over the weekend and the news sounds similar here and there: A lovely weekend, fine weather indeed, cool nights and busy fingers with knitting and stitching and so forth. I also heard it through the grapevine that there’s been a jam, jelly and canning revolution. I won’t pretend to be the Pied Piper when it comes to the revival of domestic arts but I’m proud of every lady who did a bit of canning this week past! Way to put up some tasty goods for the winter ahead!
I spent the weekend tending my neglected yard as well as clipping grapes!
The first batch of concords is cut and the scent of purple is wafting out of the kitchen as I type this. I’m tempted to do a quick batch of jelly though it’s 11:11PM here (make a wish)…it wil be one or the other:
concocting jelly or writing letters to friends while laying in my nightie in bed.
Truly a tough call. The grapes are hard to deny but so is my stationary.
The rest of the weekend was spent tiding up a disaster of a home, fighting with the laundry pile, walking and running the dogs in the hills and across town, baking, harvesting veggies from le jardin as well as reading a bit and catching up on long overdue correspondence. Boring. I know. I am, rather admittedly, a serious homebody. I love catching up with time in the sanctuary of my home and gardens; in the quiet of my living room with a book and a red leather couch.
I had some tasty and tremendously fresh meals that revolved, for the most part, around blazing red garden tomatoes and newly baked loaves of whole wheat bread.
I cut new flowers for every vase in the house and surrounded myself with them while I feasted on my gardeny bits and pieces at the kitchen table.
I snaggled up a new house plant when I ran out for groceries and I started a new avocado pit in a canning jar. I’ve never grown a successful avocado but I have a good feeling about this little guy. He’s over in the laundry room on a shelf by the back door but I can hear him humming from here. He’s singing all about ascorbic acid and the like — a sure sign he’s planning on a sprout (I’m praying for a cotelydon or two).
And lastly, my most sincere apologies for not listing new work in the Etsy shop today! I became distracted when I strolled out to the studio and 6 hours later I walked out with this in my hands:
Built of sterling silver and 14 carat gold from scratch. All components, excluding the chain and clasp, were sawed and forged by my hands. The pendant is a shadowbox that features a landscape of a freshly ploughed field (complete with linear perspective), a suspended golden moon and a person, strolling in the distance. With fall coming on strong in Idaho and with so many of our North American farmers counting their yield — bringing in the bounty, myself included, on a very small scale — I was inclined to make a Landscape of thanksgiving today.
Well, the good times come and go, but at least there’s rain
This won’t be barren ground when September comes around
And watch the field behind the plough, turn to straight dark rows
Put another season’s promise in the ground…
This won’t be barren ground when September comes around
And watch the field behind the plough, turn to straight dark rows
Put another season’s promise in the ground…
[Stan Rogers]
I miss home this time of year. Autumn is when the Great Northern Plains are most glorious. The fields are swathed in flocks of snow geese and the sky is filled with the triumphant squawk of Canadas. The air is crisp and fingers begin to fumble in the fall winds. The poplar bluffs burn with a last gasp yellow and all things prepare for the season of sleep. I, on the other hand, can feel myself coming alive in this season of decay and change. I love it. I truly do.
What magic! What a weekend. Sigh. That is one gorgeous piece indeedy. I love fall and the combines and canola fields and flocks and turning and ripening and bursting and movement.
xo
I too, miss my home this time of year. I really can't complain with the beautiful weather here in SoCal, but…I miss the changing leaves, the brisk air, and the smell of autumn.
that is one of my favorite stan rogers songs!
fresh grapes sound glorious! i'll have to resort to store-bought concords while listening to stan rogers in surround sound. i'm happy to hear about your fabulous long weekend and cannot wait to see more from your studio: the new piece is splendiforous indeed.
ahhh sigh. Im moving out of my lovely little house in 2 weeks to university halls, 4 floors up into a tiny box. Im already aching for some greenery to see from my window. Its down by the sea, close to a pretty harbour but frankly Im a country girl and I like grass and cows.
The new necklace is terrific (good word eh) it reaminds me of the little prince just before he dissappears.
Have a lovely day Jillian!
your pendant is profound, I grew up amidst wheat fields and there is something that gets into your soul, the wind , the rhythm as they toss there golden heads , the silence. ; ) Laura
oh man, you KNOW how i feel about fall…seems to be fast approaching here as always (it comes on ferociously most of the time doesn't it?). It's only 8C here this morning, i drove stevie to the airport wearing my MEC down vest! I'm also contemplating how to layer myself when i set out for the morning jog…anyway, I was up at nemeiben this weekend – caught 2 fish (so did steve, and of course i netted, killed and filletted all of them…because that's what i do), ate TONS of good food (too much), went skinny dipping (last of the season), had a weenie roast and some smores, slept like a log, read some, played some games…all in all, a PERFECT Indian summer weeekend!! canning still to come…we're making pickles!
Yes! I was reading about the canning revolution in the Globe & Mail this weekend, and I thought of lady Plume.
Jilian-you are amazing! The new necklace creation is worthy of a gallery, all on it's own. The creative path you are on this very moment is just incredible!
Got in one last camping trip, and it was just spectacular. The aspen trees are just beginning to turn color, and the fall grasses are in their full glory! I didn't want to come home, it was so beautiful!
I'm ready for brisk morning walks, sweaters and the crunch of leaves under my feet! Have a wonderful week!
YOWZA! I better be on my toes today!
That necklace floored me, a landscape for your northern hemisphere. Here in St. Louis the soybeans are turning gold, and the corn is being plowed. We still have ours out back proud and tall. You may not have started the domestic revolution, but you certainly are making it cool. Today I will think of you when I bake my bread and attack all our dust bunnies. Enjoy the day.
Nothing like a boring weekend if that's what it is called… Lovely pics, gigantic Zucchini, king zucchini, and what a lovely piece you made…tootles for now Plumerelle!
xoxo
I am already breaking my self-imposed rule…but that necklace is too gorgeous not to comment. I love it! It's absolutely amazing. I grew up with corn, soybean and winter wheat fields across from my home.
Your weekend did not sound boring at all. I love those simple pleasures you mentioned and the bread looks delicious. It has been some time since I have baked and this weather is perfect for it.
Oh, and I love Stan Rogers (and his brother Garnet too!) I think I need to break out one of my CD's to listen to on this cool, overcast day.
Ah, Autumn…I've been dreaming of cozy arm warmers and jeans instead of shorts, and Macoun apples…and best of all an upcoming trip to one of my favorite places on earth.
xo
Kim
We are sooo looking forward to beginning our journey today and watching as the lovely leaves turn their autumn colors outward- what a great life we all live – hugs, Sal p.s. your new creation is leaving me speechless!!
adding my own voice to the accolades…
you are an amazing woman indeed, that shadowbox(er baby) necklace is beyond this world amidst the heavens, and i love you a lot (and miss you more). what more could i say? the rest is above words.
we had a great weekend! Got engaged now the fun begins.. or so I've been told. I do love the fall can't wait for the change of seasons here…. thanks for sharing your weekend with us all! Love seeing how you spend you time!
xo
Hi Jillian – the reason your avocado pit doesn't sprout is you have it upside down! You need the pointed end down to make it work – I have 3 and one of them is 6' tall! Love your new jewelry, it's gorgeous. I guess I was on the same wavelength as you this weekend – picked 2 bushels of tomatos and canned for 8 hours – tiring but rewarding work. This is my busiest but favorite time of the year. There's nothing like opening a jar of fresh summer tomatoes during a winter storm, is there? Or having a sweet pickle sandwich!
YEE GODS!!!!!!
UPSIDE DOWN????????
NO WONDER I'M AN AVOCADO FAILURE!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the tip!
XO
Hey Birdie,
Your nesting is a goodly sight.
1. The answer is yes, this is what evolution feels like – a stretch and a snap and a huge burst of new inspiration – this new pathway you are forging is breathtaking.
2. I'm baking bread today (I've been two whole weeks without – eeks!), ready for the slathering with [horded] raspberry jam.
3. Nesting makes me joyous, and to see you choosing grapes or roses or uninterrupted studio time is the very best choice I think you could make.
4. I can't believe you are growing an avocado. We are so CT it's freaking ridiculous.
Jillian of my Heart,
I am going to make Mint Jelly with my Mom when she visits this week and I will tell her about the magical grape and plum jelly from your kitchen.
I salivate just thinking of it. And that necklace is just inspired by God.
I love you,
Allison
You made me cry.
You all make me cry.
That pendant is just amazing. I wish I had the talent you have in your little finger. Just beautiful.
Pam
Oh Jillian. Again, your work leaves me breathless.
I don't know if I would want to wear that necklace so much as hold it in my hands to look at it from every angle and touch the man and the moon and the fields.
I would get no work done while wearing that piece of art!
I sported it today while working and running errands. It feels so good on and when I spot a reflection of myself, it's as though there's a small window on my chest that lets me see into my soul.
had to giggle at your Avocado escapade. i did that with some tulip bulbs (Blush)…i'm sure somewhere my tulips are being enjoyed…on the far side of the earth!
The beauty of a necklace like that is that one can hang it on the wall near one's desk while not wearing it…and then delight in looking at it, and taking it down and holding it.
Apart from the glowing photos, this is one fine piece of writing, J!
I love Autumn.
XO
The big question is, are you going to list that insanely gorgeous piece of art, the shadowbox field of plenty, in the Etsy Shop? It burns the soul with a strange and beauteous power.
Hey Jillian,
I'm loving reading your blog. You do have quite a way with the English language that makes anything you write about fun and enticing to read. It took me most of my life to learn that it is okay to be a homebody and now I am enjoying it to the fullest with my three little girls. There's so much of LIFE at home, so much comfort and peace and so much of what makes the world go 'round, like the domestic arts done well and enjoyed. Keep enjoying the seasons! It is fun to watch them through your eyes.
HMck: Tulips in China!!! HA HAAAAA!!!!!!
Sylvestris: I actually have it hanging on my storm window jewelry rack in our foyer at the moment. I stop to look at it a lot. It does double duty as wall art — that's for certain.
Diana: Well that IS a good question. I'm not ready to part with this piece yet. I tell you, most of the pieces I've made in the past couple of weeks have been strong vessels holding huge portions of myself. To part with them, is to feel a slice of myself ripped away. I'm not being dramatic here. This is how I truly feel. I'll let you know when I'm ready. But until then, a few of these pieces have to stay with me…I know you understand.
Katie: I totally agree with you! AND it's an honor to have such a queen of domesticity commenting on my blog:)