Tea and Tears

In tears, I watched the Remembrance Day ceremonies this morning broadcast from Ottawa. I have no idea why I find the veterans so moving. And not just the veterans. Faces in the crowd, lines of living etched into them, a trembling lip, wet with tears; younger faces, smooth, enthusiastic, innocent, brave...

I spent most of the day with my spinning group in Gamebridge yesterday. I should have stopped and done a sketch of the church we meet in. Hopefully, I will get back to do a sketch of it another day soon, while the autumn light still gives me this particular feeling.

I bought some beads to start on Christmas presents. Right now, I have already completed 2 of a set of 6 beaded snowflakes I plan to make. I hope to post a pic of the result soon.

Besides my family, I want to participate in the little gift exchange we do at our spinning group. The group agreed to exchange something handmade at our potluck/meeting in December, when we will just share and gossip. We plan to do no work then. Usually, our day is filled with learning, sharing tips and our informal leader, Mary Grant, gives us assignments to work on for the next monthly meeting.

I have had trouble getting the assignments done, feeling quite bewildered at times by how much there is to learn in the world of fibre, spinning and weaving, etc. The pros in the group are very kind. They participate in every assignment as if they had never done these things before. And when I describe my lumpy, bumpy spinning efforts, they reassure me that it fetches big bucks in the shops as "novelty" yarn. They also claim, that now that their spinning has evolved into a more consistent product, when they desire "novelty yarn", they can no longer intentionally produce the very effect I'm struggling to eliminate from my spinning. Aren't they sweet?

I picked up a very helpful book on drawing buildings. I will be working on the exercises in that book for sure, because whenever I drive anywhere -- city, countryside, village-- I find the old barns, houses, churches, warehouses, mills etc beautiful. I long to capture them either in photographs, or drawings.

I had a nightmare about being in my best friend Debbie's house. It was empty. I could look around the living room and there was only the wall to wall beige carpet. Somehow I understood in the dream that my friend's parents were in Colorado and were allowing me to live there for several months. The kitchen had been renovated and a pair of deep stone sinks were where the gas stove used to be when I was a kid. I had the sensation of approving the changes that had been made to the kitchen. My youngest daughter was with me and we were trying to do something very urgently, but were delayed by my cutting a finger which started to bleed copiously, as cuts on digits are wont to do! As often happens in my nightmares, I couldn't find the words to explain to my daughter why I could not catch up with the task at hand. I tried to lick the blood off my finger and stem the flow and my mouth was then filled with blood. Anybody out there interpret dreams?

I felt a disturbing dream like that called for a cleansing tea this morning! I really enjoy the "Bija" deep cleanse tea I found at the local health food store. It is a spicy blend of cinnamon bark, dandelion root, burdock root, ginger root, licorice root, yellow dock root, fennel, nettle leaf, and oatstraw. With a dollop of honey, it is delicious. This, with a bowl of mixed berries, toasted multigrain bread with butter and thinly shaved smoked provolone cheese was breakfast.

Current Mood: determined