Just a note to say I'm away from home and my studio for a while, visiting my parents. My mother is having a tough time regaining strength following surgery for cancer, and we siblings have been taking turns caring for her. I have a couple of posts in draft form, but need to get more photos taken before publishing them. Here's Mom in her favorite place in the house, the sunroom:
She made this table back in the 70's. It is a cedar root she found along Cayuga lake, filled with cinders from the nearby railroad bed and totally grayed by water flowing over it for decades. It took 3 men to load it in a pickup truck to haul it home. She thought she'd be able to sandblast it, to remove the dead, gray outer wood, but that didn't work, so she spent most of a winter scraping and sanding to bring it to the naturally colored wood. After leveling it, she traced a pattern for the oval plexiglass and had a pice cut. That one shattered, so she later had a thicker one cut. Glass would be ideal, but probably quite expensive. This is my favorite object in the house, for sure.
Dad has stepped up to the plate admirably for an 85 year old. He's learned to wash dishes, run the vacuum, and make beds, which is quiet comical to witness, since he's never done these tasks in his life. (He went from living with his mother to living with my mother, so he never needed to learn.) But Mom needs supernutrition, and while Dad does his best, he's not quite capable of handling this on his own for more than a day or two.
While here in Ithaca, I've been able to get out to the yarn and fabric shops. I made a nice fabric purchase yesterday that will undoubtedly show up on these pages in the coming months. I brought along several knitting and hand sewing projects, so I can work at them as time allows. It's too cold to knit on the porch, but the rockers are still there, and the sun is shining today (for the first time in days!), so I might get out there for a bit.
The pond and the treehouse, photographed on this glorious fall day:
Edited on 10.28, to add photos.
Dixie, all the best to your Mum and Dad, and well done for stepping up and caring for your Mum! Hang in there. Love Ruthie xxx
ReplyDeleteDixie, my blessings are with you and your Mother; I will gladly be an ear if you need one, sharing my own experiences.
ReplyDeleteAnd whatever else you do, be sure to take care of yourself!
Thank you, girlfriends, for your kind thoughts. My mother is doing better, although she has a long way to go before having the energy she used to. I'm back home now, worked today at Sawyer Brook, and hope to be in my studio tomorrow!
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