Tired to tears

Goldenrod at the farm.

I was going to wait until this week to harvest on Case's property again, but on Friday, after driving east to help my host with a car repair, I decided I had to harvest RIGHT AWAY to enjoy the colors and be outside and feel a bit more grounded because I feel my life has been lifting away in a hot air balloon. Which is wonderful, but also unnerving. So, dogbane, it is.

My birthday moon reminded me that the Hunter's Moon was approaching, and it was a stunner. I spent that day enjoying the colors, harvesting dogbane, and attempting to tie up loose ends in the studio. But there are entirely too many, and I was entirely too scattered. Eventually, it was time to visit 78th Street Studios for the first time, where I bumped into at least four Morganites and a past student. It was nice to see a bit of the west side, too.

Not even close to enough sleep Friday night before I showered in the dark (too early for lights!) and got myself over to Case to prep for my workshop. Sharlane, Gail, and Rachel did an amazing job prepping and helping during the event. Sharlane cut boards for cutting mats, used old book covers to make triangles, and sourced all kinds of affordable tools for the bookmaking class. I was really stunned. Aside from being surprised that I was going to teach in an all face the teacher setup. We had a ton of registrations but they didn't all arrive: rainy Saturday mornings are made for staying in bed! But I was so pleased to see friendly faces (there are Kris and Patrick) and to make new friends. Case provided a generous breakfast and lunch as well, though I ended up heading to the museum for lunch with a couple, friends, and their friends, a couple. LOTS to discuss, and then I showed them the miniature Native American baskets before I rushed to the Morgan...

...to continue loose ends. Here, dogbane seed pods to open. I want to test a batch with just seeds and silks. But when I arrived, a huge leaf bag full of giant milkweed stalks and paper bag of pods were sitting out in the rain for me, from the Case archivist. She brought them from her garden and it was the mightiest milkweed I've ever seen. I was so touched. Plants walk over to me, harvested! I'll do a test with seed silks and seeds for the milkweed because I had to cut down on processing time. Both dogbane and milkweed basts need to be stripped. Can I do it all this week AND make paper?

Dogbane seeds/silks. I did this until my hands were too cold and left to meet Yuko and Pam to visit Achala, who now has an amazing lake view. I am so grateful for this new circle of female artist friends, enjoying food and drink and ideas and laughter. After yet another late night, I dragged myself east to help Judy at her booth at a wearable art fashion show. Met lots of interesting people and saw plenty of familiar faces, got to get friendly with Judy's work, and later was able to meet her son and grandson for dinner. I was so pleased to model her work while ringing up sales and helping customers because it worked! I saw a woman look at the rack, walk away, then come back and slowly start to ask me about what I was wearing. So I stripped, she tried it on, and it was hers.

Five days until I get to meet my niece! Which means nonstop work. But before all that, some real sleep tonight.