It's days after the Summer Solstice and weeks since I have added a proper post, time has a way of moving so rapidly I can barely keep up at times.
The tree service actually showed up on June 10th to take down the dead tree
in the backyard and to trim some limbs dangerously close to the roof.
They did start off cutting down the wrong tree which felt like my heart
being cut out. The holly tree along the driveway that I was observing as
part of my wheel of the year observations is nothing more than a stump.
I at first thought one of the workers was trimming the overgrowth at the
bottom then to my horror the tree fell forward, when he removed his ear
muffs I told him that wasn’t the tree to be cut down.
They apologized
several times as I walked them around the yard pointing to the tree with
the orange ribbon to be cut down, the nearly dead tree, showed them the
trees that need the limbs trimmed and went inside while they set to
work.
At the beginning of June I began a little summer solstice stitchery project to make
mini goddess wall hangings. I used an enlarged plain bellied goddess
sticker from the ones Molly Remer of Brigid’s Grove provides with other
resources for the 30 Days of Goddess practice.
I traced the goddess onto yellow felt added a spiral sun to her belly
and proceeded to embroider the piece. The 2 goddesses look identical
but they aren’t I used a different embroidery stitch on each of the
goddesses.
Last Saturday we had very heavy rain which continued for several hours so I cancelled
my plans for a day at the beach with my sister and great niece and
began another little goddess stitchery.
Once again using the enlarged goddess sticker this time I traced it
onto muslin fabric and began hand embroidering it. The following photos
show my progress as I moved my hoop around and stitched. She will
eventually be a prayer flag.
The definition of a prayer flag, in this context, is a piece of cloth
that is decorated with an image(s) and/or text that has special meaning
to the maker. Making and hanging the flags is a way of speaking an
intention out loud and expressing it visually, tangibly—a way to keep
the important things in life within view. The flags hang outside for a
period of time, and I love how they fade and tatter as they are affected
by the wind and rain.
Most of the time I have an objective before I start a flag. Other
times it develops as I stitch. I find making these flags almost
meditative.
I have made many prayer flags over the decades, most of my flags were
for specific people who were going through a difficult time. Other
flags were for a trait that I wished to embody. Still others were for
far-reaching hopes: a starving country, or a universal wish such as
peace, hope, and love. These flags have become sort of a journal of my
life, and they all share the common theme of leaving the world a better
place. I’d like to believe that the wishes/intentions on my prayer flags
are carried by the wind to be shared with the person receiving it.
Here are a few tips if you want to make a prayer flag of your own:
- Use a piece of light-weight fabric so it will blow in a breeze. (An old pillowcase can be cut into six or eight flag shapes).
- Leave the edges unfinished, to catch the breeze.
- Leave a space at the top so the flag can be attached to a string or rope.
- Use any markers, art supplies, ribbon, yarn, etc., that are handy. Enjoy the work!
- The flag may be silent or include words.
- Don’t worry about the flag wearing out or raveling. The earliest
prayer flag makers hoped that was a sign that the prayers were lofting
toward the Universe!
I am making slow progress on the Greenman but I finally moved the hoop up which is a sign of progress.
I don't know why I'm taking so long stitching this piece, I did put it aside for other projects and then forgot about him for months. I started this in April of last year along with the Moon Flow piece by Cozy Blue, which I am happy to say was finished earlier this month and sent off to it's new owner just in time for Litha.
This morning while walking the yard for my Walking the wheel of the year journey I noticed a new bloom on the gardenia shrub. I don't know if it was all the heavy rain we had for the past 2 weeks but seeing the flower brought such joy to my heart.
There are several more buds on the shrub which makes me hopeful and happy, in the winter I noticed the roots were coming up out of the garden bed but it wasn't a good time to move the shrub so I covered the roots with potting soil and the stones in the bed, then all the rain came and washed away the soil and stones. I imagine all the rain was enough to feed the roots for the flowers to bloom again. I want to either transplant it in the autumn or dig her a deeper hole to keep this from happening again. When I first moved in June 2019 she was full of blooms and this year she had a few flowers in April and nothing by mid May.
I am slowly getting myself back into the garden, since moving here injury or illness has kept me from putting in the garden I want, nothing elaborate just something I can tend to through the seasons, herbs vegetables and a few flowers. So I began to propagate a few herbs and a pineapple top, 2 avocado pits and to my surprise somethings are showing promise.
Above is the pineapple top, basil and avocado pit all showing the start of some roots.
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