A Summer Day

Today I was able to let summer in. One of the things that I love about this season is its slow pace. Slow is not what life has been like this year. Top that off with taking a new position at my out-of-the-house job and the days have flown by.

We leave for our summer vacation next week. One thing that a faster pace life has taught me is to appreciate each quiet moment. Here are some moments from today.

This pot is my little piece of Paris on my balcony. Last year my attempt at creating a pot like this did not work. This year the geraniums and verbena are happy, which in turn makes me smile. My balcony flowers always bring small joy.

Tea and reading on the patio. I watched wild bees gathering pollen from my flowers and dragonflies in the sky.

We walked down to one of our neighbourhood parks today. Played basketball and sat in the shade.

This piece is going to be full of memories from this year. I doubt I'll be able to look at it and not think of the challenge that 2018 has been. It will need to be finished by the end of November. I plan to bring it with me on vacation and stitch a piece about the Pacific ocean while gazing at the Atlantic.

Some quiet stitching time in the shade.  Photography by my sons. They are getting quite good with cameras.

And for the first time this summer I was able to hang laundry out on the line. This is a ritualistic summer activity for me. The balcony is too hot in the summer from 11 am to 5 or 6 pm for much else but drying laundry. A small thing that makes me smile.

Wishing you quiet summer moments too. 

JJ

Summer Schedule

As an artist with two school age children I have come to rely on the hours that my boys are in school. This potentially uninterrupted time is easier to schedule and I am able to get into a rhythm each day. Granted this took several months to establish after my youngest went to Kindergarten last fall, and after starting part-time work in March I had very little time to luxuriate in my new found quiet studio time. Regardless, of where I may have been this summer, I had personal deadlines in the back of my mind. That meant stitching happened in several places that are unconventional.

While waiting one and a half hours on a bridge ramp after a serious car crash shut down the roadway.

Or at the public swimming pool during two weeks of daily half hour swim lessons. There has been campfire side stitching, park bench or blanket stitching and while it may not have the solitude or focus of studio work, it allows me to feel a sense of accomplishment in the busy days of summer with young kids. I am grateful to have this time with them and for myself.

JJ

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