At least a dozen reasons why

Seems I have a bit of a problem.

Time for true confessions and since this blog is mainly my online journal,

today I'm setting down in black and white [sort of]

what I intend to do about it.

You see, the issue is, I never seem to actually

finish

any of my textile pieces ...

it's a mystery really ... all these piles of un-dones, everywhere.

I'm not sure why I keep putting them down & skip off to something else

before I can say, "Finito"

and pass them along.

Friends have asked to buy, and trade ... I have even wished for one or two pieces on hand

for special gifts.  

The whole sorry subject has been bugging me for quite some time.

Can I blame it on being a Gemini?

How about the little issue of not having a  "proper"  studio/work space?

Yeah right.  Those sound like excuses to me, too.

Truth is

I'd dearly love to see them completed and then

go away

out into the world so that I can

free

my

mind,

my shelf space,

and venture forward, unencumbered.

Amen.

I ask ya, have you ever seen so many pins?  Once, I called these cloth components

"landscapes for beads"

but most are either partially beaded

or have become pin holders instead ...

So I've pulled out twelve of these unfinished stories - twelve favorites

that I'd love to see completed

[please don't ask

how many more are lurking about] 

because I am going to do again what I did two years ago

[which helped me  focus  in the very best way]

and that is

I am going to choose 

a word

for this year.

An ever-present reminder of intention.

I know the whole word thing has fallen out of favor for many

but I'm game to stick with any thought process

that culminates in fruitful results ...

isn't any positive movement forward better than

all this un-doneness begging for a turned edge,

or a bead,

or a dye pot to dive into?!

So there you have it ...

my twelve good reasons

why I need to

finish

what I started.

You are all welcome to hold me accountable.

And as a small treat for embarking on This Road to Completion,

I signed up for a year of advertisement-free Pandora ...

have been enjoying the most glorious - uninterrupted - listening pleasures.

The best part

has been discovering musicians I'd not heard of before

 like this splendid pianist, Ludovico Einaudi.

I was learning to play the piano once but didn't finish that either.  Nevermind.

If I still played, I would want to play this.

[tis splendid with the volume turned way up ...]

Dietro Casa  =  Back Home

this moment :: down by the pier

{  this moment  }

A single photo

~ no words ~

capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

~ SouleMama

:::

inspired by the Friday reflections at Amanda's

:::

MarbleCam

Really, truly listening

These two girlies aren't friends and they probably won't ever be ...
they're as different as salt and sugar, with different needs
and quite opposite approaches to living in this world of humans
where they depend on us for most everything.
They both crave human companionship
but you won't find them trying to acquire it in the same way.

What do you see when you look at this photo ...
how would you interpret Quinn's busy-ness with her stick
while Isla stands nearby on such high alert?

They are about six feet apart.
I'm inside the house with a long lens - Quinn is watching me through the window
because she knows from past experience [see that light green ball in the right foreground?]
at any moment, I may come out the door to play fetch with her.
Isla, on the other hand, is ruled by a fierce prey drive
and has her attention focused on the lower branch of a nearby tree.
This drive - stronger than her drive to play - keeps her fixated on her "prize" ...
which on this morning is the resident bald eagle who's just landed on the lower branch
of the fir tree on our southern boundary.   She's prepared for a chase.
[Don't worry ... this game has been going on for years ... the eagles pay her no mind.]

What struck me today when I re-found this picture from winter 2012
was how these girlies communicate so perfectly via body language.
How they read each other [I know you're there, but I need some distance],
read humans [I know you're there, wanna play? ... or ... I'm busy right now],
read their environment [it's a cold, frosty morn but I'm so happy in the sunshine] ...
all the while watching for signals to interpret and react to
in one millesecond.

They speak Dog     and
I speak English ...
but I ask you, what language do we ultimately speak together?

Something about dresses

Quite unexpectedly

three dress forms have come into my possession.

This might not have surprised me as much as it did if I hadn't been wondering 

just last week

how I might find one

if it turned out I needed one

in the not too distant future ...

not necessarily this year

but perhaps next.

And there they were.  Lined up in the back sorting area of the thrift shop

where I volunteer.  Were these spoken for, I asked?

You mean someone might actually WANT these? was the reply,

We weren't sure what we were going to do with them - the shop is full.

Is it silly to say my heart started racing?

The wooden bases are a bit dinged up,

the paint is scratched and one is a tad wobbly

but they go up & down easily enough and the linen canvas is immaculate.

So I bought them on the spot.  Even better, having more than one leads to sharing.

Guess I'll confess ...

I have this thing for dresses 

which is so odd really, because I don't even wear them.

I described this fascination to my friend as best I could:

it's like being the tomboy who secretly loves lace curtains & silk pajamas.

Those who visit here often already know about my love of [scruffy] lace ... but 

you may not know I also love flounces,

swathes of ruffles,

over-the-top haute couture,

courtly wear from the Medieval Ages [especially velvet]
and also ... the most simple, contemporary A-lines.

Should you wish to see examples of my obsession

[uhmm, around 2,968 of them at last count - crikey, how'd that happen?]

'I don't wear dresses'

is a Tumblr blog I started about three years ago.

It's been a handy way to explore one  unexplainable obsession  subject, over time.

[note: clicking on "Archive" will bring up the entire collection in scrapbook format

by month & year]

Hopefully I won't fall short of inspiration when my "someday" arrives.

And now there'll be a shoulder to pin to,

a waist to acknowledge

and visions of a skirt won't just be dancing in my head.