Daily Notes- June 8th

Serenity.  In a world where little seems to be serene.

An article in this morning's paper about Mainers and money.  Flaunting it, hiding it and faking it.  We have quite a few very wealthy people living here in Maine.  Wearing old holey clothing, driving wreaks of cars and and looking like they need a couple of good baths in a row.  But they have money.
I'm going for that "look".   Not the one the guy who walks along the highway has.  Super starched collars, good wool suit and the habit of collecting the days cigarette habit off the sides of the road. Half smoked butts people tossed out the car window.  No Dauphin Eurocopters near my house but up further North-that's the only way one knows people are "home".

But I don't dress up.  I wear my dirty stained garden or painting clothing to the grocery. Sometimes I remember to comb my very short hair.  Or just make sure it looks like I combed it. I assume I am getting a reputation for being a "local character". Hell, I would go shopping after 8 to 9 hours in a hot greenhouse.  That was not pretty.  Or clean.

My friend M was driving from Sacramento to Nevada this afternoon and when she's driving alone-she calls and we talk for the entire drive.  We lost contact at 7200 feet.  Even with the uncommon May rainfall-California is bone dry again and the electric company is planning to cut power this weekend because of high winds.  So they don't spark another big fire.  My friend's son is with the country sheriff's department in Sonoma and he spent time last fall in Paradise.  Looking for missing persons. No one wants to ever do that again.

Now that both of us are not working--we have no schedule for anything.  G had dinner last night at 8 pm and then watched a movie until 2 am.  I went to bed at 10:30 and skipped dinner as usual.  We did go on the the Family Walk together.

Yesterday I worked on some cloth for Jude's class.  I'm not sure it will be anything I ever show you. But I used quite a few of the "new to me" techniques from class, so in that respect--it's like a workshop project. I also found, while cleaning, a book I had made in a book making class held at the Portland Art Museum years and years ago.  All my supplies and the finished book were in one package.  Perhaps in Time I will open another package and find the cloth from Jude's class and all the materials.  As of today my cloth is made up of five segments.   Usually the works have 9 or more pieces.   And there is no "story" as yet.

I have only made one successful story cloth and I think I based it on something Grace was making.  Not like hers at all but I was following the "try this cloth-try that cloth" and adding lots of stitching which is my own thing, not Grace's. I gave that cloth to my son for his new apartment.  There was a house, a moon and a lizard and lots and lots of history-layers of history under the house.  Of our time together-my son and I.  That cloth was cut up, sewn back together, re-invented etc.  It was always changing until one day.  I could find nothing to change.  And I mailed it to him.

So this cloth on the ironing board right now?   Well, it is too floppy.  It needs support from something and I don't know what but do know I don't want to use batting.  Perhaps it's just as simple as another layer of cloth.