Maine, The Way Life Should Be

Before I start I must confess to being one of "them" and know that no matter how long I am here I will forever remain so.  However, I could not love Maine more if I came from generations of Mainers.
This morning I looked through a pictorial book, Maine 24/7, for perhaps the hundredth time.  There is an introduction written by Bill Nemitz, a columnist with the Portland Herald and I would like to include some of the passages interspersed with some of my depictions of Maine:

"We call them "from away".  They often ask why we choose to live here in Maine, where the winters are too long, the summers too short, and the shopping centers so scarce that we actually named our largest one "The Maine Mall".  They wonder how we can get by on so little, yet still hang signs at our borders that boast, "Welcome to Maine.  The Way Life Should Be."

 Pretentious?  We don't mean it that way.

 It's simply the truth.

   Life in this corner of the country is, now more than ever, not easy.  The mills that once churned out shoes and textiles are long gone. Our proud fishing fleet struggles to stay afloat in a steadily rising tide of federal regulations.  The brightest of our children leave for college and, much to our dismay,
often never return. 

 Yet we stay.  And we adjust.  And we presevere.

 ...which brings us to the true essence of Maine-and the reason we choose to stay. 

 Maine, in a word, is beautiful. 

  

 From the granite outcroppings at West Quoddy Head, where the sun first touches the nation each morning, to the majesty of Mount Katahdin, Maine is a place where people the world over come to look, to smell, to feel the simplicity of nature as it goes about its business.  And from the lobsterman to the logger to the musician, it is a place whose people cherish nature's business as  they go about their own.

 No, it isn't easy.  And as long as we stay, with our ghost mills and wicked winters and our mall named after the whole gosh darn state ,it likely won't get easier anytime soon.  But if there is hardship in Maine, so is there pride.  And if living here is a challenge, so is it a blessing.

 Welcome to Maine:  The Way Life Should Be!

Using Scraps and Recycling

I was visiting Jackie's Art Quilts blog yesterday and she was discussing using scraps of leftover fabric.  I mentioned I used my scraps for small or mini art pieces.  Below are a few very recent examples.

Of course my lupine love continues.  Above the background is an old quilt I made probably in the 70's,  I used a breyer to paint it blue, I added some darker blue organza a bit off center, embroidered my lupines using french knots.  The leaves were appliqued and then a bit of free motion stitching.

Here I used combination of paint, applique and thread sketching.

Lobster boat, using applique and thread painting.

My depiction of the Rockland Lobster Fest  with the bright tents and foggy harbor.  Applique and thread painting.

Route 9 is also known as The Airline by Mainers and stretches up to Downeast Maine.  The moose heading onto the highway is not an uncommon sight here and there are many MVAs each year due to their wandering onto the road.

 All three pieces above were made using old woolen coats/sweaters and small fabric pieces.

 And finally, these I cut from an old quilt made in the 80's.  It has been loved and used to death, but had some pieces still good enough to use to make valentines

Click on the pictures for a larger view. I am off to finish making my valentines!

Shhhhh...Compost sleeping

We woke to more snow this morning.  Our compost sleeps undisturbed through the winter.

Well, almost undisturbed. :)

 Our path looks completely different draped in snow.   Even sound is different in the snow.

 Deer tracks crossing the path very close to the house.

 Heading back home for some hot chocolate?

Winter in Maine and Merry Christmas!

 I love winter in Maine.  I love the snow, the cold, the fire going in the fireplace. 

 I love the handmade Christmas cards that arrive in the mail.  My friend, Jan, made this one and even the envelope is pretty!

My handmade mittens from recycled sweaters have all been delivered to Archipelago.  Not as many this year as I had thought I would make, but life does seem to have a way of butting into plans.

The hat below just sort of happened, no pattern, I was playing with some interesting bits of sweater pieces and it came together.  The flower can be removed, made from organza and tulle.  This hat along with mittens and matching scarf are going to a special friend. 

Presents, cards, yummy candies and cakes, these are all such a wonderful part of the Christmas season.  I would like wish a warm holiday for everyone.  For the vet out on the street, the teen who needs a hand, the families who have lost their homes due to Sandy.  For the families in Connecticut I wish some type of comfort, no matter how small. 

Felting Play Day

I spent most of yesterday playing with dyed roving, most of which was done using koolaid.  I had an idea to felt around some sea marbles and sea glass and then cut open a window thinking it might make an interesting necklace piece.

Below is the marble placed on the dry roving before I wetted it down and started felting.

Unfortunately, while the technique worked, the results were less than spectacular.  The very cool sea marble ended up looking like just an old battered piece of glass.  Today, I am going to try some larger pieces of sea glass.  I will post these results at some point. 

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 I was able to create some small bowl and (I think) some really cool beads!  Since yesterday was Halloween and  judging from the colors, I must have had more holiday spirit going than I realized!  Don't forget, you can click on picture to enlarge.

The bowls are small, approximately 4 inches across the top.  They are a lot of fun to make and actually less physical work than the beads.  The muscles in my upper arms and across my upper back can feel that I was felting yesterday.  I will be sure and do a bit of a warm up before I start this morning.

Tools of the Trade

I am using my drum carder this morning to process more wool.  I washed the wool during the summer months when the weather was nice.  Once it is washed it stores nicely until I am ready to card and play with it.  The drum carder's sign that reads, "use caution..." is definitely for real!  After two years of using this sweet piece of equipment, I have the utmost respect for all of its sharp edges.

 The long box with nails is called a wool picker.  Wicked looking, hmmm?  I run my wool through this prior to using the carder.  It helps loosen up the fibers and also gets rid of any leftover vm (vegetable matter)

The dryer balls below are ready to go into the washer for the second time.  I "double dip" my balls, meaning I wash once and dry, add more wool and wash and dry again.  This helps the balls keep their original size although there may still be a minimal amount of shrinkage over time.

I love the softness of the fleece and no matter how many times I go through the entire process from sheep to finished product it still seems like magic to me!  Click on any of the pictures to enlarge, thanks for looking and feel free to leave a comment.

A few of my favorite things

I am a collector.  I have a collection of silver plate, driftwood and sea glass and paper and plastic. Once I collected mugs.  There was an entire wall of mugs in my kitchen. Unfortunately, I married a man who thought he could carry them off to work, break them, lose them and do God knows what with them.  Slowly I got rid of my collection of mugs and him (but that's another story).  Oh and did I mention stamps?  Yes, I have lots and lots of stamps!  I also have a very substantial collection of buttons.

 

If I were asked tomorrow to give up my collections in order of importance, my buttons would be the very last to go.  They literally map my life and the very basic act of clothing myself and my family.  I have carted around a jar of buttons since I was eighteen and now that collection is many many jars of buttons. You can click on pictures to enlarge.

When my daughter was young I sewed her clothes and it was a joy to do so.  One of my fondest memories is sewing at the kitchen table and Katie playing with the buttons.  She would spend hours sorting the buttons, by color, by size, by whatever game she was playing at the time.  It makes my heart feel good to think of her playing with the buttons.

 

Their origin is as diversified as my life has been and I can look at a particular button and remember what it had been attached to and when (most of the time).  When placing used buttons in my jar it always felt like money in the bank.  Many of the buttons were given to me and are obviously older than I am,  such as the mother of pearl buttons shown below. 

 

 Currently I am making and selling mittens made from old sweaters,  which is my little contribution to sustainability, etc.  The process takes about an hour per pair of mittens, however, the final touch is a button attached to each cuff.  This is where I get bogged down. Every Time.   This my collection, right?  Each time I tell myself, "I'm just going to find the right color and move on." Ha.  The above pair of mittens and hat have buttons from a dress I bought at a thrift shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1984.  See what I mean?


Usually, I place my vintage wash bowl full of buttons on my lap and start. sifting.  and.  sifting.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite things.  I have. :)

Penobscot County Featured Volunteer: Marti Lew

Penobscot County Featured Volunteer: Marti Lew

Caught in the trough!

I was in the process of putting out more hay yesterday and this is what I found.  Pippin in the trough.  The big sheep were leaving in disgust.  They will not eat the dirty hay that pippin has jumped on, pooped on, etc.
As fat as she is I am surprised she could jump up there, but these little lambs have built in springs in their legs.  :)

Sweet new sheep

Our latest addition to my flock, two baby ewes and the mama.  They are a cross of southdown babydoll and part shetland.  The babies were born in May and had not been separated from their mother so when I went to look at them I knew I could not bear to break up this little family.  I brought all three home with me and I am so glad I did!  They are very tame which suits me fine because my flock is so small and I love the contact.  Having tame sheep with a large herd might become annoying at feeding time!   Already the mama loves to have her neck rubbed every evening. 

This is Merry.  Of the two babies, she looks most like a southdown babydoll, with her rounded face.

My daughter came to vist shortly after I brought them home.  I had to separate them from the others because Lady was not playing nice with them, butting them, chasing the mama, cornering her and being very mean.  They are now all living happily together.

 Keeping with my hobbit theme, obsession, love, whatever, I have named the babies Merry and Pippin and the mama Belladonna (Took) Baggins who as you know married Balbo Baggins and was the mother of Bilbo Baggins.  :)  Bella had an amateur haircut before she came to me but she is a beautiful russet color and I cannot wait to play with her wool.

Looking up is Pippin.  Notice her face is thinner than Merry's.

Because Babydoll fleece is not the best for wet felting, I am hoping that the shetland in these sheep will counter that.  If not, I still have the cute factor which is most important to me. 

But What Is It?

That's what my husband asked when he saw me stitching on these.  How to explain the simple joy of sewing by hand?

 "I don't know yet", I told him

Found Stuff

Found during a walk, placed in my newly made bowl.  I used Bilbo natural and some of Precious that I dyed with koolaid.  Wondering what bird this beautiful yellow feather came from