handwork

Rug Hooking

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Late in Life Pleasures I want to tell you about a surprising new pleasure. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have a wealth of fiber interests to pursue in my off moments. Weaving, Knitting, Spinning, Embroidery, Quilting, to name some. Much as I love learning, the thought of taking up a new craft (in this case rug hooking) was out of the question. But ten years ago when I saw a poster in a local store offering a one day …

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The Gift of Handwork

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The Gift of Handwork My beloved grandmother gave me gifts to guide me on my life’s journey. Her main wish was that I would practise a faith “because it would be a comfort to you”. And in my own way I work at that every day, and it has become my foundation. However what I am remembering here is that she also taught me to prize handwork, both as a survival skill and a steadying pleasure. Her own needlework came …

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Still the Same
Still the Same My dear, very old aunt Tigger, clutched both my hands and hauled herself up in her hospital bed so she could pull herself closer to scan my face. Satisfied, she whispered “Still the same,” as if that was all that needed to be said, as if it was high praise indeed. In […]
A Different Kind of Valor
A Different Kind of Valor Today I’m thinking of the unspeakable courage of elders. I see it everywhere, and I am in awe watching the everyday bravery of so many. After all, I am one of them, and I am beginning to understand the challenges. There’s none of the glamour we admire watching a ski […]
A Sense of Home
A Sense of Home My childhood home, painted by my artist father, Ken Phillips It begins with my beloved childhood home, the little, brown-shingled house which my father and grandfathers and uncles had built in the heart of a small, 3-acre woods. It was the centre of my world, and I loved it fiercely–the wind […]
ADHD and the Pursuit of Smallness
ADHD and the Pursuit of Smallness Before I share more stories about the many passions which brighten my days, I want to explain how lifechanging it has been for me to understand the new thinking on ADHD. (I’m writing this in hopes that it might resonate for you, or for some of those you love.) […]
Fog Forest
Fog Forest [Recently, I was fortunate to live for a week within the power of the tides and fogs, and even now I remain haunted by a week where all was movement and change.] Slip off the twisty coastal road in Maine and you will be heading for the sea. Your excitement is mounting. It […]