Saturday, November 8, 2008

shower curtain art, mosaic and mandala

It goes like this...

You get a phone call from your friend who lives down the street.

You tell your wife the woman from Texas is on her way.

She arrives with two things in hand--- her most highly favored shower curtain, and her medicine cabinet door.

She tells mosaic woman to match the colors.

You cut strips of glass that match the colors. You make a pile of the glass in case more strips are needed.

The mosaic....






You draw a mandala and need to pick colors. You see the pile of glass you had made. You could put it away, or you can use it as inspiration. The shower curtain Mandala comes to life...




side notes...

to see our ETSY shop click here.

another glorious trip to Willow Creek Orchards... they still have peppers and tomatoes from PA! we also got Chinese cabbage, radishes, cheddar cheese, milk from pasture fed cows, maple cream, sweet onions, potatoes....

I am going to make bread tomorrow. I've been itching. Mosaic Woman has been craving.

I am going to see The Turtle Island String Quartet tonight play some standards favored and written by John Coltrane. Here is story on NPR about the Love Supreme with links to their music.

Searching for a cassette by The Cure, I found another memory from 1986: a sweet voice that led me down the road of folk music...

The album ends with a song that is sad yet hopeful...

Nanci Griffith: The Wing and The Wheel


The wing and the wheel... they carry things away
Whether it's me that does the leavin' or the love that flies away
The moon outside my window looks so lonely tonight
Oh, there's a chunk out of it's middle... big enough for an old fool to hide

Where are all the dreamers... that I used know?
We used to linger beneath street lamps in the halos and the smoke
The wing and the wheel... came to carry them away
Now they all live out in the suburbs where their dreams
Are in their children at play

There's a pale sky in the east... all the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers... may our open hearts find rest
The wing and the wheel are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company... long after the songs are gone



14 comments:

  1. Lucky texas woman!! Both pieces are beautiful!!!!

    I am just finishing up a potato leek soup with the mentioned veggies from our CSA....oldest offspring says "smells delicious!" How encouraging...soon we will know if she is right... (cross your fingers!)

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  2. Giggles-- hope the soup was as tasty as it smelled to the eldest. I have leeks in my backyard to go with the bought potatoes

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  3. The pieces are beautiful. Wow! The mosaic around the cabinet door is an interesting idea.

    I looked at the website for the farm - farm markets are a drive from here but my CSA has been amazing this year. I am unfamiliar with Nanci Griffith but the lyrics are haunting. What is the style - folk music?

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  4. Kathryn-- it is folk, in my opinion. She is a highly favored musician. I am glad I pulled the CD out. Did you listen to it?


    Giggles and Kathryn-- I used to belong to a CSA.

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  5. Blooming Glen CSA.... love being a part of it... love the thought that I am supporting local farming in the small scheme of things...doing my part in saving the earth, in the bigger scheme of things.... I share 1/2 a share with my neighbors and even then, we don't make it through all of the veggies.... (And yet, I eat way more veggies than I ever did as a kid....)

    Nancy Griffith? Love her sound and songs, though I own not a speck of her music... SHe was either just here at the Sellersville Theater, or is due to be very soon.... (Rather expensive tickets compared to the usual, so I passed, but now maybe sorry that I did?)

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  6. As I said on Flickr - it gives me joy every time I look in the mirror - especially at 6am in the morning when I'm gerding my loins for another day in the classroom.

    I am blessed to have friends with many talents.

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  7. giggles---we saw Nanci G twenty years ago in Northampton, MA. She would be a person who would show at Sellersville. Ran into a UCC church friend at the concert last night who works at that theater.

    msklem-- I read your comments to the maker of the mosaic who was glad to hear and laughed.

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  8. Ruth--- thanks.

    Just read your post on books--- I have been enjoying using the science books I bought for my teaching. couldn't imagine reading a book that was on a screen.

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  9. Wow... the mirror and the mandala are both gorgeous! Great job, both of you.

    By the way, I may pick your brain next year on growing leeks. I keep thinking that as much as I love leek and potato soup, I should grow my own of both.

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  10. Blackswamp Girl--- (I love that name)

    thanks for the kind words, and it very cool to have you stop by for a visit.

    as for Leeks, why wait... this year I bought sets (since I plant so many at the school). I have started them by seed and tansplanted them--- succeeded and failed. Those tiny seedlings can get taken over by weeds in no time. I still scatter scallion seeds, but onions and leeks I spend the money for sets. feel free to ask more.

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  11. Ah... that was going to be my main question. I saw sets at the garden center last year, and kept on passing them by, thinking I would just buy seeds... and then by the time I felt like the seed-starting window had passed, the sets were already gone, too.

    The only reason for me to wait is that my mind is not what it once was. I have probably forgotten more than I remember (as have we all) but I like to ask questions closer to the time when I plan to use the information I will gain from them. That way I have a better chance of success. :)

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  12. Thanks for the memories--my dad loves Nanci Griffith and put this one on for me and my husband as we drove away from our wedding reception.

    BTW I used to be Mother Laura but have a new online identity and blog, Sophia's Call (sophiascall.blogspot.com)--going for less googleability for job search purposes.

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  13. Sophia-- understand that identity concern thing, always floating through my mind, but I think I would have to change my name, move to another state, shave my face, and cut off my pony tail at this point to escape my name on the web.

    glad I could bring back a good memory and that you stopped by for a visit.

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