i love the mornings i am awake too early. i watch the trees become visible against the lightening sky. and i sit with my thoughts. and with edgar's deep sleepy breathing. and a cat or two leaned against my leg. but i think it's the stillness and the doing-nothing-ness of these mornings that gives me the fuel to make creative decisions for the next 10 hours. these early mornings are a luxury of quiet self-directed thoughts. this is when i like to write here in my blog. sometimes my mind is so empty and tired that i just write what i see around me. this morning is like that. but as i write my mind and my eyes open up.
i warned tom last night that i wanted an early morning bath this morning. so off i go.....it will probably wake him. but my day has started now. my mind is racing with all the quilts i need to finish.

yesterday was a complicated, but beautiful one.
i limped through most of the day in a little cloud of worry. worry for a few people dear to me.
but near the end of the day, as our sale was quiet and empty, a car pulled up. i watched a woman get out of the car. and i squealed. i recognized immediately the little red haired girl in the woman crossing the street and heading to the door. for here was my best friend from childhood, who although we bumped into each other 17 or 18 years ago, we haven't had a proper visit since we were in grade 8. i was giddy and girly. i may have hopped up and down. all the names and faces that flooded through our conversation. it was incredible. her children's pictures. our husbands. our parents. our work. an entire lifetime.....so much unknown and yet so much familiar as well. i am so thrilled she found out about the sale and made the effort to come. we will re-kindle the childhood friendship now. it was a special afternoon.
and afterward, i was giving naomi a quick goodnight cuddle and i told her that i had seen my best friend from when i was little like her. she looked up at me with wonder in her face and said "what did she look like?" and i said "she looked like a little girl and old like me all at once". and she giggled.

when i first was building things from fabric, i had a stall for the summer in our beautiful downtown market. i sold totes and quilts and aprons. but i ended up falling away from the aprons in recent years. until today. people have been asking me for aprons again recently. and i do love making them. and wearing them. so i'm making some reversible, flat front 1/2 aprons for our sale this week. the colors are fresh and elegant and fun. perfect as an affordable gift, or a just-because purchase for yourself!
we are also welcoming liv again, with her amazing goats milk soap and lavender sprays. for any return customers who are ready for more spray, bring your empty bottle for a refill at a $1 savings.
sunday the 25th of march, the little white house at 55 mowat ave in portsmouth village is open for visitors and sales. 10 - 4. see you then!

i am a slave to the lake. sometimes it feels like she breathes for me. i wake up beside her and she keeps me moving all day. she is magnetic. our dance is at once, grave and dreamy. sometimes she roars and cancels out all other sound, so my thoughts are singular and safe. and sometimes her stillness is my balm. whatever she is is what i need. that is our agreement.

the streetlight outside my bedroom window is burned out. i like the feel of the real night. the night is black and the stars are bright. and i'm cradled in darkness. soothing and thick, the night. our weather is still treating us to august in march. and because of the warmth, edgar was bathed this afternoon, on the porch in the sun. all the stink of winter washed away. he is soft and sweet smelling. and tired out. he has slept hard all evening. it's these lonely dark nights that i wish his long wobbly legs would still carry him upstairs to sleep with us. and crowd us out of the bed. but i have stella. she guards me as i sleep. when the hour grows late and we haven't headed upstairs yet, she doesn't leave my side. she takes her job seriously and i know she's happier for it.

i wanted to go straight to the studio when i got home from the bookstore last night. but it was almost 10.30 and i hadn't seen tom since 8.30 in the morning when he left for work. he was in bed. i went up to talk a few minutes and say good night. i told him of my plans to set my alarm for 5.30 this morning. he groaned. i understand. i hate the alarm and i'm usually awake before it anyway so it only serves to start off the morning with a little punch of annoyance. i said i'd forget about the alarm and hope that edgar barked at 5.30 instead. and exactly at 5.31 this morning edgar thought he should go out for a pee. my wish came true and i was up with the music of the birds. but i dawdled on the computer and when i went back to the bedroom to get dressed, the bed looked so warm and cozy that i couldn't resist another little nap and cuddle. so although edgar did a marvelous job of waking me at the exact moment i asked him to, i still didn't get to the studio until 7.15. and when i arrived with the orange morning light pouring through the east kitchen window and onto my sewing table, it was my favorite spot in the world at that moment. i am a fortunate one to walk in the door and be in love with my work.

and just a reminder.....we are sharing the studio with you all this sunday, march 25th. the little white house at 55 mowat ave in portsmouth village will be open for you to explore and buy it's treasures. and we have the added bonus of liv simple farms joining us again. we'll be there from 10 until 4.

we slept with the bedroom windows open last night. we still have the storms on downstairs, but thankfully we leave the screens on all winter in the bedroom...i like to be able to open them, and it's the cat's preferred entrance in the middle of the night.
the night air was heavy and hot and moist. like august. in march. and tom got up at 4 am to close it because the birds were too loud for him. i've been hanging laundry on the line for days. quilts. sheets. tea towels. skirts. it's been phenomenal and odd and very lovely. it's giving me a sneak peak at summer and i'm ready! tom is busy with the yard clean-up. and he's loving his basketball and beer after work.
i'm ready to start sewing on the back porch at the studio. i've straightened up the chaotic sewing room so i'm not drowning in fabric scraps. it's been a cleansing few days.
and on sunday march 25th, we're having our next sale at the studio. come by and pick up some items to add some springlike colour to your home. 55 mowat ave in portsmouth village, from 10 until 4.