[landscape jasper in heavy duty sterling settings]
How can stone depict, so clearly, the land that owns me, the wild spaces that sustain me, the rugged slopes and wide valleys of my own soul?
Bless this mess!
November 12, 2016 by
Well, I know it’s been a confusing six months with regards to where the heck I have been living, where the heck Robert has been living and where the heck we have been living together whenever we are lucky enough to be together.
To keep it simple for you, we’re currently living in the strawbale house, because the farm house is mostly looking like this:
True to Jillian and Robert style, we’re doing a reality TV home improvement style house renovation. TAKE IT DOWN TO THE STUDS!!! That’s seems like our life motto. Yay for us.
The farm house is a really cool ranch style 70’s home and while there’s a lot of great stuff about it, it did need some work (buying turn-key homes is apparently not our talent). Rob and I agreed that we did not want to have to live in a demolition site so we have kept the strawbale house rental while working on the farm house. There’s a commute. We don’t care (but sometimes I care).
What was going to be a complex kitchen renovation turned into a terribly big complex kitchen renovation when we discovered that the attic space above the kitchen was a rat, mouse and pigeon labyrinth at one point in time. Former owners must have had an exterminator deal with the issue because under all that insulation above the kitchen was a literal catacomb of dead creatures, crap and various critter nests. The vision of mummified rats the size of Penelope will forever be seared in my memory. It was heinous.
Ok, so we had to hire a company to come and vacuum out that revolting mess. It took them a week. I felt so badly for them! The attic contents were horrifying. Robert was so traumatized that he tore out panels of dry wall in the other side of the house to make sure there wasn’t a rat catacomb above the bedrooms, too — there wasn’t (by the way, the bedrooms are also quasi-demolitioned at the moment). Suffice to say, the kitchen demolition part of this renovation has been exhausting and extensive but the project is now moving forward. This is an example of how sometimes it has to get real bad before it starts to get better.
Rob’s dad was here for a full week to help out with installing the new main support beam in the kitchen which you can clearly see in the next image. It looks gorgeous! Beyond the beam, you can see into our enormous living room with it’s cozy fireplace, kooky windows, vaulted ceiling and exposed cross-ties.
I can’t wait for the day we finally get to move into this place but until then, I am continuing to cherish living right on the river, above the rapids, in the strawbale house which has been such a beautiful place to live and I am sure I will look back so fondly at this time in our life.
Viva la home renovation revolution! Hopefully you’ll be amazed (me too) next time I show you images of progress!
Lastly, did you find Tater Tot and I in your mailbox last week?
November 11, 2016 by
Leonard Cohen passed away yesterday. The life work of this Canadian poet and songster actually meant a lot to me and I am sad about losing him. It is Remembrance Day in Canada (as it is Veteran’s Day here in the USA). This day is usually a sombre one at home, cold and grey. I should check the weather for Saskatoon and see what the skies are like there…it looks windy and cool. Appropriate.
We survived the election but we’re still sick of it and nothing has changed — the left hates the right and the right cannot stand the left and everyone is terrified of everyone. The hysteria is exhausting and the journalism is still revoltingly biased (Where are our real journalists? Where is the truth? Am I clinging to a romantic ideal???).
That said, nothing seems especially hopeless to me. There will be no doom and gloom in my space regarding politics. Here’s what I do have to say though, there’s this notion that change can only stem directly from a government mandate. I don’t think that’s true. Change begins small and then goes viral as our communities alter themselves and connect with other communities on the same path.
Change your own heart, broaden it, expand the way you see the immediate world around you. Believe and treat others as though their suffering is greater than yours. GET OVER YOURSELF. Know your neighbors. Care for the needs of your neighbors. Invest your heart, soul and life in your community. Provide, however you can, for those who need extra help. Stick up for the little guy. Stand up to the bullies (despite what you’ve been told, they come in all shapes and colors, they aren’t just white men). Teach your children right from wrong, show them how to be courageous and how to work hard, encourage their imaginations, impress upon them the importance of beauty, help them to love nature. Work hard, stay humble and be honest. You don’t need a federal government to legislate any of this. This change comes from within you, as a result of your choices and how you decide to use your time, your days, your life.
Lastly, here’s Leonard Cohen reciting “In Flanders Fields” — prepare to be moved by his voice, the poem itself and the imagery to go with. This poem is always recited in Canada on Remembrance Day and it always makes me weep, unabashedly and very publicly. I think some of the most terrible suffering for the planet and humanity occurred in WWI and WWII…all those generations of beautiful men lost, the extermination of millions of Jews, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the trench warfare, the bloodshed, the biting winter cold, the shell shocked soldiers coming home and living out the rest of their lives as different people…mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters living their lives anxiously, nerves rattled daily, working themselves thin, wondering if they’d ever see their loved ones again or if they were going to receive a death notice by telegram that day…such terror I am not sure the modern world will ever comprehend.
And so I leave you with Leonard. Be moved. Allow yourself to be moved. Forget your own problems and suffering. Look at the world around you and quit adding to the cesspool of darkness — there is darkness enough. Be filled with hope. Spill your hope into the lives of others. Watch your mouth. Quit alienating each other (there is always common ground). Set your heart right.
Love thy neighbor.
Thank you to our veterans who took all the bullets, took all the shrapnel, survived the terror and lived through hell or died on the battlefield so that I would not have to. I will carry your torch. I will keep the faith.
You are never forgotten.
Late Bloomer
November 9, 2016 by
The Late Bloomer Ring — be here now and you’ll find you’re right on time.
I have seven of these rings made and I’ll be listing them in my shop tomorrow at noon, MST. Sizes range from 7 to 11. First come first serve!
I am preparing a larger shop update for the not so distant future. Stay tuned for details regarding that jamboree!
X
November 1, 2016 by
I’m working on ten things at once in the studio, letting the spirit lead and simply going with the flow, bouncing back and forth between projects, falling back into the sketch book for reference, and then winging it and going totally off the reservation. It feels nice. I managed to finish this ring tonight, just before sundown (Is there something symbolic about that?) — it’s a combination of a schwack of elements I’ve been using in my designs for over a year now: moon, heart, bird, wolf and turquoise cross.
It’s a hopeful start, a joyful meander, a re-entry into metal after a while away. It’s so good to wander a little. I’ll sleep well tonight.