Personal Archives - Page 7 of 10 - Sherri Woodard Coffey

Category Archives: Personal

Habit

Just off the loom. Colors are way off in this pic, taken with phone.

The real color

It seems as though habit, either good or bad, has been a constantly running theme for me. We all have them; they’re necessary for accomplishing anything. It took me a while to develop my studio habit of working consistently and not getting up and doing something just because it flitted through my monkey brain. Keeping a notepad handy and writing down the thought helped with that. I have read books, listened to books, thought about articles…you know how that goes. Plus, and I’m really excited about this, I am doing the finish work on pieces as soon as they’re cut off. This is a really big change for me–patting myself on the back.

One thing that seems to be consistent with habit change is to identify the cue and to substitute an new activity for the old one. The habit that I am working on now is to walk and work in the yard on a consistent basis. I have been setting the alarm, getting out of bed, getting dressed, and walking out the door every morning. 6:15 and I’m on the street. Every night I ask myself if I really want that alarm to go off so early, but I know that if I miss one day, that will be it. No more walking. I’m such an all or nothing person! So the alarm stays.

Before heading outside, I do allow myself to have my coffee and newspaper after my walk. But the shoes do not come off, because that will mean that I don’t go outside and do whatever Brush-tarp tasks I’ve set for myself. Coming up, my outside chores are to learn how to use a chain saw. The tree branches overhanging the roof have been trimmed, but the wood is too good not to cut up for firewood. To say nothing about how heavy they are to drag anywhere! My makeshift wagon is a tarp, on which I pile the smaller brush and drag to the street for disposal. Why didn’t I think of this years ago!

I first heard about the book, The Power of Habit from Lisa Call. She has some great online workshops. I’ve also done a little Googling about habit:

Power of Habit graphic
Zen Habits
Lifehacker
NPR article–This article took me to another type of change–making decisions quickly. A topic for another day!

Gardening

Saturday was the annual Herb Festival, something that I haven’t gone to for the last several years. Other times, it’s been hot, humid, and crowded, so I made sure to get there when they opened the doors. Walking to those doors was a real treat. Yards and yards of petunias. Until this little stroll to the door, I had not idea that petunias had a scent, and a pretty darn nice one too! It was wafting over us as we waited for 9:00.

Walk ing through the door to the sale area, I’m a goner. These baskets are my nemesis! I spotted one right away with perfect colors and a not-so-usual shape. Well, I needed a basket for shopping, didn’t I? Basket

One of the plants I wanted to get is pineapple sage, and a herb festival is certainly the place to find it, plus many others. In the fall, the red blooms from the sage are beautiful and welcoming. At least that is the way I remember them, pulling into my driveway and seeing those plants blooming.

DeBaggio Herbs http://www.debaggioherbs.com/garden.html

Driving home, I realized that I’m going to have to do some reconfiguring. The big galvanized trough is not working for me, probably because I didn’t add “real” soil to the mix. I’ve got one more bed outlined, so I’m going to empty that trough of compost into the new bed. Yes, a lot of work, but no more than hauling all those bags around. When the trough is empty, I can put it up on bricks and refill it.

So, what’s in your garden? What’s on the loom?

Goals

Definite line from the two different dye baths.

Not perfect, but improved

A lot of thinking has been going on in my head the last few weeks, about goals, what I want to do, etc. I know I want to weave and have a decent garden again, including a vegetable garden. Plus, there’s a desire to go to Machu Picchu, a place I’ve always wanted to see. That little item will take some serious getting into shape. Not only is the area challenging because of the trek, but also because of the altitude. Two times I have been in the Andes and both times I got a little tummy problem. The first time I just placed the blame on traveling, but the second time–well, maybe there’s a pattern here. So, this physical readiness becomes a goal. I liked the me that used to walk 5 miles a day, rain, sleet, wind, everything but lightning. So today, I got out and hit the street, then I worked at taming the climbing roses, before moving on to the weaving. The yarns I’m using came from two different dye pots, and there was a definite line in the weaving. So, I took out a few inches, then worked at blending the old color with the new color in that section. Now I’m just hoping I don’t run out of yarn!

Now about the little graphic at the top, yep, it’s the stick to it part that gets dropped. You?

ArtWalk 2014

Here’s how I spent my time over the weekend. ArtWalk in Fayetteville, Texas.

One of myneighbors was photographer Carol Lyon, who had this little guy in her booth. Meet Yarn Ball, who came home with me. I took this picture with my phone through the cellophane wrapping, so to see a really good picture, got to her website. I am in love with here bird abstracts. Going to have to get one next year. YarnBall

Everything went so smoothly this year that I kept thinking I must have forgotten something. The reason it all was so easy is because of Asana and my list making. Last year I used Asana to make a list of every possible thing I could think of that might be needed. When I got home from the show, I added to or deleted parts of the list. I even included a reminder to myself to make my hotel reservation. And it worked! No reinventing the wheel every year.

I’ve also been using Asana for other projects, like house renovations or garden changes. It’s a way to keep everything together in one place. Love it!

Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens of Fort Worth are a beautiful treat close to downtown in Fort Worth.

Enriching people’s lives since 1934…

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Texas, is a lush 110-acre tapestry of dappled shade and vibrant splashes of color. A peaceful haven nestled in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, the Garden is home to over 2,500 species of native and exotic plants that flourish in its 23 specialty gardens.

Currently they have a special event, Butterflies in the Garden. Several years ago when I went, the conservatory was filled with beautiful butterflies. When I drove in last week for my qigong class, the entire road to the gardens was strewn with giant, pansy-covered butterflies. Another treat. Quite a sight with the dead grass below them.

In other news, the outside stuff continues, which means I am feeling the effort by the end of the day. Plus, I have decided what to weave. More about that later.

Habits are hard to change

Entirely understandable because of the events of March, 2011, I slipped into a habit that I don’t like. During that period of time, I zoned out in front of the TV every night as a way of numbing myself (also with the help of a margarita), hiding from my thoughts, who knows. That habit is no longer useful to me, and I am trying to stop it (the margaritas left after the first year). Saturday was Day 1 of no TV. During the day, that’s not a problem, but at night I would start to turn it on almost unconsciously. Amazing how habits work, isn’t it? Entirely understandable because of the events of March, 2011, I slipped into a habit that I don’t like. During that period of time, I zoned out in front of the TV every night as a way of numbing myself (also with the help of a margarita), hiding from my thoughts, who knows. That habit is no longer useful to me, and I am trying to stop it (the margaritas left after the first year). Saturday was Day 1 of no TV. During the day, that’s not a problem, but at night I would start to turn it on almost unconsciously. Amazing how habits work, isn’t it?

The weather turned on us again, even after I had declared that winter was over. Guess Winter wasn’t listening. I even bought some plants, although I know it’s too early to put them out. Cold, but there was a chance of rain, and we do need it, so I stopped complaining.

Then Sunday arrived, a beautiful day, much warmer, with sunshine. So it was definitely a day for working in the I-will-have-a-garden-this-year spot. It has become much grown over, so I’m doing the down and dirty method. It comes from an article in Mother Earth News about no-till gardening. On their Facebook page, there’s a link for another no-till garden article, but I can’t seem to get Mother to come up today. Maybe they’re having a problem, so here’s the link. My plan is to lay down a layer of newspapers, water them, and cover with mulch. When I get ready to plant, I’ll just plant seeds in the mulch. When putting in plants, just poke a hole through the newspaper layer. At least that’s the theory. With no TV and daylight savings time (grrrrr), I should have time to weave and garden. By the way, the article that I actually read is by Lee Reich. His blog is here. I also like to read A Way to Garden.

Hooey, but still fun

For my birthday last September, my daughter gave me a Groupon deal for getting a psychic read of my palm and tarot cards. We had planned to do this during the Christmas vacation, but couldn’t fit it in. When Megan sent me a frantic sound text about the Groupon expiring, I made an appointment and went.

I’m kind of superstitious about this kind of thing. Years and years ago, the children went off to camp, and I went to Spain to study Spanish. There were women on the corner asking to read our palms. I wouldn’t do it because I didn’t want someone to tell me the plane was going down and I’d never see my kids again. Silly, I know.

Back to the psychic–Yes, I did go, and it was really kind of interesting. Unfortunately, in the center of my cards is the Hermit. Not good, I was told. And that actually didn’t surprise me at all. I am perfectly happy staying home and doing what I do, but I also know that I shouldn’t, for healthy body and mind reasons. And I really have been working on this aspect.

She also told me that my spirit is tired and I need to meditate. That’s something else I’ve known, but can’t seem to do, so she suggested visualization. That might be something I can do. Or try tai chi. That’s supposed to be meditative. Another we’ll see.

Lost territory

I posted this on my Facebook page: Goals for the week that’s already half over: finish piece on loom, continue outside work (porch, compost leaves, weed garden area), do the finish work on “grasses.” This is probably more than I can do, but I’m going to try.

Fuzzy picture, but you can see where the big gap is above the colors.

That went pretty well yesterday. I wove five inches out of the 28 that I have left to do, finished with dragging all the leaves into the compost bin. Today I even got to the loom earlier ad was moving along nicely. That is until disaster struck. A warp broke! And it didn’t break in a nice, convenient area, but very close to the fell. So I took out several inches, including some that I wove yesterday. That means that today is a wash, as we say here in Texas. (Is that common everywhere?)

Now I have revised goals:

Outside–

finish cleaning off the porch, which also means hauling stuff to Salvation Army.
Weed the garden bed

Weaving–

Get 10 inches woven on the piece on the loom
Do the warp finish work on “grasses.”

We’ll see how this goes.

The old fashioned way

The days are busy. After a period of much inactivity, I’m back on track. As much as I try, I can’t always figure out why that happens. Sometimes it’s obvious, others not. The warp is measured to go on the Baby Wolf for a series of small pieces or experimentation. I’m still trying to decide on the next big piece, but the choices are getting fewer.

To do the warp, I hauled out the warping reel, something I haven’t used in ages, wondering if I even remember how to use it. It really doesn’t matter very much if I do make mistakes. The warp is narrow, 8 epi. The reel had lots of webs all over it. Dragged out the card table too. Now to take that warp off, and load the loom.

As an aside, I started to say drug out the card table (instead of dragged), which prompted me to look it up. Isn’t it amazing what information is out there for us to find? Anyway, turns out that drug is not really wrong; it’s dialect. But more formally, one would say dragged. A couple of good sites: Grammar Girl and Grammarist.

Piddling

Seems that it’s almost impossible to get focused right now. I think part of the problem is that I’m trying to find a direction that I want to take next. Maybe some really small things? I may attempt that, but it means finally getting the small loom set up. One glance in that direction, and I walk off, although it would be really good to do, if only because it has a raddle. I’ve never used one before.

In the meantime…it’s winter again. My new-found embrace-the-weather attitude is being tested. So what do you do on a cold winter day? I played with apps. One it called Waterlogue. You can take one of your photos and the app will turn it into a “watercolor.”

I also was the program for a really nice group of garden club ladies. They asked me to do a program on natural dyeing, since, after all, they are gardeners. I got out the projector to make sure everything worked, when I discover that I have no way to connect the projector to my current compute

Rescued!

r! Yikes! I got changed for a trip to town, when I thought about my accordion folder for all things computer, including printer info, etc. Now I’m not usually so organized, but this time I was. In one of the pockets were several wrapped items, and lucky day! One was a dongle. Rescued!

More about focus later. One day it’s there, next day it’s gone.