I’ve been coming and going so much these past three months it has been impossible to really sink into any fresh ideas in the studio. I’ve found it best to simply embrace some small scale production work. It’s so much fun! It’s straightforward. I sit down and I make a batch of one thing. I make as much of it as I can until I am ready to make a batch of a different design — I go into beast mode. These are rings and necklaces and earrings that I cannot seem to make enough of. I fall into an easy rhythm. I’m past the point of persnickety calculations and problem solving. I simply make. I make, over and over again and the making is a meditation. My mind wanders towards the light. I talk to myself, the dogs, the cat. I miss him. I think about my impending late evening run in the grasshoppers and gold. I think about swimming in the river, feeling the smooth green run over my pulse points to cool me, vein by vein.
I’ll probably carry these designs into the fall and probably into part of the winter, too. And gladly. I love them.
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Idaho is beginning to burn. The sky above the Snake River is heavy with smoke today. I watched it drift in and turn the sunset deep orange last night while I was running the dogs. I begin to worry for him this time of year. Just a little. I fret. Just a little.
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I finally acquired a very grown-up thing — it’s called a coffee bean grinder. I like it. I grind my cute little coffee beans in the morning, make a squatty little French press, add my milk and enjoy the heck out of that cup of coffee. The sun rises over the canyon wall in a terribly beautiful haze, the river swirls, the herons (the herons)…
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Tater has been starting his day by rolling in some heinous carcass somewhere so once he comes home after his death-bath I drag him outside and shampoo him with dish soap because nothing else will strip the stink of decay from his fur. He’s disgusting. But I love that about him. He’s so much more macho-wolf-y than the other dogs.
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We bought a farm in June. We closed on it in mid-July and the people we bought it from are so great. There was no penny pinching niggling negotiation. There was only straightforward neighborliness. One day we were standing in their kitchen with them celebrating the official sale and purchase of the place and they simply said, “Hey, do you guys want the washer, dryer and fridge? We don’t need them.”
Yes!
We will move in sometime in October after all this fire season madness. I’ll be able to sneak in, by the end of August, and begin painting and gleaning furniture. Our bed is in the Airstream in McCall so I have, quite literally, been sleeping on a Thermarest since May. I’m over it. I’m really over it right now because it has a hole in it and I cannot seem to find the time to patch it. It’s ok. There are worse things. I just pretend I am always sleeping out under the stars with a stone for a pillow and the huge loft window kind of makes that a not-pretend thing anyway. That said, I look very forward to having a bed and sheets and blankets again.
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I read until I cannot keep my eyes open at night. It seems a good way to fall asleep. This summer, I have liked:
The Journals of Grace Hartigan
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And finally, copper Birks. How could I resist?
You are like the goddess Nike in her golden winged shoes in those Birkies!😊❤️❤️❤️
They give me superpowers.
When do we see pics of the farm? Can’t wait!!
Not until we get moved in! It’s a long wait still.
Also, thanks to you both for leaving comments on what is probably the worst blog post I have ever written. !!! :/ I’m trying to get this space up and running again after months of neglect and I’m finding my skills have gone to rust and ash. Thanks for continuing to be here.
Always, Babe! ❤️❤️❤️
Love your blog and I’m always happy to see you back again. You’ve had a busy time lately! Any chance that Robert is fairly close? I’ve been keeping tabs on the fires burning away in the Jackson area and thought of you both.
Copper Birks! How did I miss those? (My latest pair is black, with white flowers all over them.)
He actually has tomorrow off so I’m headed to McCall!!!
XX
Congrats on finding your farm & I’m so looking forward to seeing and reading about your upcoming planting roots experiences there! Honestly meant-to-be for you and such a good, good blessing! Crikey, the washer and dryer too!?! Lol!
I’m thrilled you may continue to create your current silver & stone collection through the fall…I’m selfishly coveting a “Come Home Necklace”…Apropos!
XoX
They even let us have the KITCHEN SINK!!! 🙂
X
“….the making is a meditation.” i like that. i really truly do.
[and, i DO like this post. it ain’t horrible and i found it rather sweet for the reading.]
Xx
Well it WAS.
I posted it and then the WIFI here kicked off for a few hours and it was this rotten, festering, horribly written thing. Once the WIFI came back on I deleted a bunch of paragraphs, re-wrote what needed re-writing and it was better looking after that.
XX
I like the post! You’re checking in! At least you’re checking in, right?
I can’t believe it…your very first bean grinder!! Oh, you’re a grown up now! Hehe
Mass production of Bison & wolves…mmm..mmm.
Kathleen Norris!!!!!!! Yes MA’AM!! Oh yesss.
x
SO grown up.
I’m the queen of the beans now.
Kathleen Norris. I know. How did I not know of her until this year of my life???!!! Now I’m reading all kinds of other things about the Benedictines…it’s so beautiful.
X
Love the pic of that macho/stinky dog and your shiny Birks!! Welcome back to the virtual community…
I AM SO THRILLED FOR YOU! (And also envious of you buying an already established somewhat furnished farm- this bush adventure is fun but moving things like fridges cast iron bathtubs with a canoe is growing tiresome.)
Also, how do I reserve a wolf necklace!? Can I bribe you with a trade of goods? A quilted northern lights tea cozy? And some wildcrafted labrador tea and wild sage?! XO
Good luck in all your adventures!
Your fellow lover of a death steeped dogs,
Rian
I’ll trade you a bed (ok it’s a futon)for a real shower! The solar shower gets the job done, but a gallon of water doesn’t really help sore muscles. I think that’s what I look forward to the most when we get the house built. And an oven. Cheers to you Jullian!
Barbarian Days was such an exquisite memoir with Finnegan’s masculine, but not macho, voice; Norris is a dove. Thanks for sharing your reading list.