1 Simply Home: October 2013

Although the house is built and has electricity, there is no internet or cable hookup yet. We decided that we will wait on that and concentrate on getting other things done first. Weeding the thistles for one.

Thistle and No Bee

I warned the Thistle Warrior (Herr) that he would have to fight the Bees. They love the thistles. In fact, we thought some were impaled and dead after a long time of no motion. Then suddenly they would buzz off as if awaken from a drunken stupor! I love thistle flowers, but they can get out of hand. They were in the middle of my native plant meadow of Pacific Coast irises, rush, grasses, etc.

Drunken Bee in Our Thistle Field

The passive solar idea of this house has surprised us. It remains around 66 degrees indoors. Outside it can range from 37 to 80 degrees. The wood stove is effective to getting the house up to 74 degrees. Turning on the fans in the cupola pushes the warm air that rise back down. And if that doesn't do it, we have wool sweaters, felted slippers and blankets. A nice comfy quilt will work, too.

The last quilt I made was about 20 years ago. At least, one that was all hand-quilted. My life then was very hectic and my attention span very short. It took a while to finish. There is one thing about working in clay---it will teach you patience. Most days. Now I can think about a project, the timing and process with full knowledge I will not tire of it if not completed in a day.

When there is no distractions--no laptops, no phone, no television, no studio---there is time for details. Time for thoughts to unwind and thread carefully. I also had hands with nothing to do. The simplest thing I could do was hand sew. It was then I decided to make another quilt---MoMo's Weedy Garden Quilt. All I needed was paper, scissors, pins and a needle, thread and bits of fabric.