may days

It is small but mighty...I love imagine peace so much. Pinned onto a small bag for now, it is one of the exquisite peace offerings created by Liz (I'm Going to Texas is her blog name) as part of a personal outreach practice...completely dyed and stitched by hand. I am honored to have it and know it was successfully imbued with the intention of peace because I can feel it when I hold it to my heart. Thank you, Liz. (Details on mine here.) 

A linen drum case is taking shape at last. The moons are made with home-dyed cotton and the bag itself is a large scrap of natural linen. The drum beater is rolled up in a vintage dresser scarf. The top of the bag will either be a drawstring or just bunched up and wrapped with a strip of cloth. I tinkered around with this quite a bit but in the end simple is best.

 

Slips of coleus and passion flower vine rooting in a glass of water...looks like a branch of May will be carried over into 2018 as it has lost top billing in the sewing room. 

The chive blossom vinegar from early May was strained, decanted and labeled. I looked up shades of pink online and found congo pink matched perfectly.

This is the strongest color I've seen in any of my chive flower vinegars. Maybe it was the weather.

Chive blossom mashed into softened butter, rolled and sliced. Good.

An easy before and after. Before.

After. Enjoyed it immensely, ironing's not so bad anymore. Liked the quiet-slow-and-steady of it all.

This last month of spring has been wild here in Denver, Colorado. There have been several nights below freezing with snowfall (3-12" depending on which storm) and one record-breaking hail storm. On the other hand, the random 70+ degree days we're having now are glorious and it is very green outside. 

Thank you, friends, for visiting and happy weekending. And imagine peace. xx

I want this: 

May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity. 

                                                                                   Excerpt from A Blessing for Beauty by John O'Donohue

a may cloth

The May cloth was started a year ago as part of my "bringing in the May" seasonal ritual. This year's ritual was a continuation of stitching, bringing in flowering branches and making chive blossom vinegar. 

Traditionally the branch of May is from a hawthorn tree but mine is honeysuckle because our hawthorn has already bloomed.

This honeysuckle bush is huge, gorgeous and fragrant. The leaves are blue-green and insects can't stay away from the light-pink flowers. The entire bush buzzes with happy bees and wasps and even flies. It has stood up to our erratic weather including snow and rain and wind. If I could choose what flavor air I wanted to breathe, it would be this. I've forgotten the variety but do know it was created and grown by Denver Botanic Gardens, different from other honeysuckles with brighter pink flowers and less fragrance.

The cold frame houses mostly things grown from seed and some I dug up from my gardens. There's well over a hundred plants in this little space but over half will be donated to a fundraiser sponsored by a gardening group I belong to.

The chives took a beating from the weather along with everything else in the garden. These scruffy flowers are presently infusing a jar of vinegar -- chive vinegar gives food a nice kick.

Our Korean lilac is in bloom -- always a few weeks later than common lilacs, it was still hit hard by snow. It's tough.

Flowers, crystals and a candle -- I'm good.

Not sure if this piece will be finished this May either but progress has been made. I collected all the green threads from my thread nest to stitch the words and sort of like the varying shades of green. I think some blossoms might fall from the tree and maybe even swirl around the moon. A branch of May we'll bring to you is a line from The Cambridge Song here.

And I hope the month of May will be a lovely time for you whether it be spring or autumn. xx