More Tea and Simple Abundance

A collage of last Friday evening at AntiquiTeas, Londonderry, NH

All this summer, on the first Friday of the month, Trudie is hosting a light-hearted and thought-provocative evening of tea, discussion and craft activity. Inspired by Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance, Trudie’s Living Six Graces workshops focus on downshifting from the fast pace of day-to-day life. Sipping tea out of real china, seated in the feminine surroundings of one of AntiquiTeas’ tea rooms (there are 3!), it is easy to slow down and be present in the moment.

“Creating Your Toy Box” was the topic last Friday evening. One lady brought hers — it’s a repurposed old-fashioned hat box — and shared her 64-pack of new Crayolas with another participant who fondly recalled from childhood the heady scent of a new box of crayons. I have more than enough interests to fill my own toy box at any one time. (Too many, in fact.) But if you’re scratching your head and wondering what is a grown woman doing talking about making a toy box, I just want to share something I learned from Dr. Christiane Northrup. She advises that by remembering the things that we loved to do when we were ten or eleven years old, we can shed light on our true passions.  And isn’t passion where life sings and time evaporates?

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved making doll house rooms on my book shelf. A clear plastic box with snap closure became a fish tank when filled with blue tissue paper. Jewelry boxes were transformed into tables and sofas. Bottle caps functioned as dishware. My family of troll dolls sported many outfits (sleeveless–their arms were very short!), cut out of colorful pieces of felt and sewn by hand.

So I was pretty excited about the clothespin doll activity last Friday night! My little garden fairy is the one in vintage lace with a rosebud hat, sitting amongst the pink impatiens, in the photo above. We both skipped to the photo opp!

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us in August.

How-to: Make Your Own Fairy Garden

When I saw the miniature arbor, wheel barrow and watering can at the garden center, I knew what I had to do next: make a fairy garden. Words cannot convey the delight I felt as the completed container garden became the  centerpiece for a display of  children’s books. Fairy house guru, Tracy Kane, was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon reading and workshop.

If you’d like to lure the fairies to your own garden, here is a list of the plants I used:

1 fuchia
1 asparagus fern
1 shamrock
1 miniature African violet
2 creeping thyme

Miniature Fairy Garden Miniatures:
1 arbor
1 bird house
1 wheel barrow
1 watering can

Have fun! And maybe you’d like to post a photo of your creation with this flickr group pool. See you there!

A Good Day for Chocolate

Drooling is calorie-free. But the relentless rain has me looking for relief and I have to admit, chocolate is a most reliable comfort food. May the force (of self-control) be with me when I stop by Swan Chocolates for a coffee later today!

Happy Hump Day

 

Between the Rain Drops

It’s Wednesday and I’m excited: this evening is the monthly Writers’ Group get-together. I’ll be sharing June’s writing submission for the MFA program (which also marks almost one year completed). Feedback on these 30 pages from my mentor was thrillingly positive and no matter who one is writing for (it’s supposed to be for ourselves first and foremost, right?), it feels great. The plan of the program is that by graduation, each grad has a complete book manuscript and has received guidance and advice on query letters and nonfiction book proposals. If you can’t already tell, I l-o-v-e this program! The quality of teacher response/feedback surpasses anything I’ve ever experienced.

Our writing group is small (4) and we are flexible bunch. Although I am working on a book manuscript, someone else may be developing content for their business web site and someone else is having a writing lull but painting instead. Whatever the contribution, all is welcome. And if one of us is in an utter dry spell, then we’re glad they’ve shown up and hope they’ll feel inspired afterwards. After three years of monthly meetings, the trust level is high and the friendship deep. Tea (one of us is British) will be served, chunks of dark chocolate will be consumed. I can hardly wait!

 

When is summer going to make an appearance?

Work at the garden center has gotten sad with all of this rain.  We’re all wondering *when* the sun is going to show itself. Meanwhile, my heirloom Brandywine tomato plant (she’s an only child), charges forth, producing blossoms, promising fruit to come. All in spite of the gray days of June. I am encouraged!

Have you tried “plein air” writing?

Writing outdoors is one of my favorite things to do at this time of year.

The seasonal weather of New England makes all the more precious the dry, temperature-perfect sunny days of spring/early summer. Although I am a purist in many ways, I do not do my creative writing by hand, ink on paper. I love the speed that is possible with my fingers tapping on a keyboard.  I am addicted to the ease of endless editing that is made possible with the cut-and-paste function and backspace and delete keys.

Being outdoors with my flowers and the birds and trees is inspiration all on its own. And the momentary visit of a hummingbird, who I felt before I saw him — twice! — , was nothing short of thrilling.

I highly recommend writing “plein air”, just as the painters do, when at all possible. Of course, my laptop battery requires regular recharging, but the benefits of writing outdoors far outweigh the logistical challenge of finding an electrical outlet within range.

Where do you like to write? What is your favorite creativity scenario?

Comfort Drawers and Loose-leaf Tea

Comfort Drawers and Tea at AntiquiTeas with LivingSixGraces, originally uploaded by MyArtfulLife.

My friend Trudie is running a monthly series of Simple Abundance themed events at Londonderry’s AntiquiTeas Tea Room. Inspiration, unlimited cups of tea, and thought-provoking conversation. Like an artist’s date in a group setting.

Give me a magazine, a pair of scissors, a glue stick and a blank sheet of paper and I will entertain myself for hours. Call it making a vision board — this evening it was for my personal interpretation of a “comfort drawer” — or collaging. Whatever. I just love cutting and pasting pretty, inspiring and/or motivating images and phrases.

I’m kind of embarassed to admit it, but I am often the last to leave a party. Trudie’s Living Six Graces events are no exception! If you live in the southern New Hampshire area and would like to join us for the next event (first Friday evening of every month), we’d love to see you.

Eating Clean is More Fun with a Friend

I love the idea of healing from within — with nutrition. So it’s always fun to visit one particular friend who is doing just that and making great strides with her health. Since purchasing a Vita Mix several months ago, she’s been whipping up all kinds of veg-fruit concoctions.

Upon my arrival on Friday afternoon, she offered me a fresh green drink.

The formulation is simple:

Kale (she discards the stems to save wear-and-tear on the Vita Mix)
Spinach (sorry, none left for the glamour shot)
1 lime (peeled and seeded, unless organic)
1 green apple (peeled and seeded, unless organic)
1 chunk fresh ginger, peeled (about the size of your thumb should do it)
Water, until you have desirable consistency

She recommends layering your ingredients in the mixer with the wetter foods first: apple and lime. Whir. Pour. And serve. … Delicious! And what an easy way to get in a few servings of dark greens.

We scooped up the foam with little silver spoons you might expect to use for a latte or hot chocolate. But no, we were slurping up bright green veggie foam. And extolling on its deliciousness. This requires a very special sort of friend. It’s not everyone who shares my excitement for the nutritional benefits of green drinks. I certainly don’t mind drinking alone but  it’s definitely more fun with a friend.

Any other favorite veg-fruit Vita-Mix’ing combinations out there?

The Joys of Social Knitting and then some

We’ve been meeting regularly (well, almost) for years. Our knitting group began with five of us who were also part of a grassroots entrepreneurial support group. Membership is casual and unofficial. Sometimes only two of us have shown up and on other occasions there have been as many as ten or twelve of us. We used to meet at a local bookstore but hard chairs and a couple of long commutes led us to one member’s living room for our monthly gathering. Fresh eats and wine and tea followed.

One of the things we’ve all learned the hard way is that social knitting projects are recommended — that is, one that doesn’t require careful counting and attention to pattern. Without one ready and waiting in my knitting bag, I made a gauge swatch for a pair of Elizabeth Zimmerman mittens during this month’s get-together. But I don’t know if I feel like knitting mittens in June. So now I’m thinking about the February Lady Sweater on Ravelry. Or Mason Dixon knitters’ mitred blanket squares. When I finally stop scratching around and settle upon a project, the only other requirement is that it should be made out of my stash pile.

BTW, two members of our group went on a knitting and fiber vacation to Ireland last month. They’re now hooked on needle felting — that’s in the photo above left. More roving (red) in the photo above right.

More on Writing

Today is Tuesday and I’m back at it: staring off into space so that I might return to a time and place long past. And write about it. The people, the places, the events, and above all else, the emotions.

It’s like taking that first cold ocean swim of the season — uncomfortable. So instead of diving in, I can (and do) find all sorts of reasons not to:  things that need doing or various research items that could benefit from googling. Not to mention numerous trips to the kitchen for snacks and cups of tea.

But I’ve got Corabelle at my feet to keep me cozy, so I’d best get on with it.

my writing companion