I'm back stitching, some. First Thursday mornings is the Japanese Embroidery class at the Hyde Park Art Center. I lost a piece of my frame stand (I left it at the art center and didn't notice for a month, so it's gone!) and haven't gotten a replacement, so I worked on my Oriental needlepoint (shown here, the design with the black background). We had two other needlepointers, a knitter and four people working on Japanese Embroidery. Ruth gave a great lesson on pasting up a finished design. I'm working on the or nue leaves in the needlepoint design. They're tedious (but the effect is worth it). I completed two leaves this morning.
I'm still taking my morning walks. It's easier now that the walkways are mostly clear. I have some rules now. (My husband will tell you I always have rules!) I get up, dressed and head out--no sketchbook or camera and no glasses--Just me. I can see okay and the no-glasses made sense on snowy days but now I kind of like the just-out-of-focus view. Down the street to the corner, cross, up to the other corner, cross and back home. We're on a small hill, so it is up and down. I have to watch my step, too--we're an old neighborhood with lots of trees. Big trees that have heaved up the sidewalk here and there.Last weekend I completed my walk, went in and grabbed the camera and went out a bit. I'm learning a lot about the many textures of snow. (This morning it was crystalline with the nappy texture of suede.) I had watched this leaf gradually melt into the snow over the course of a week. It's gone now--this was an unshoveled part of the sidewalk and foot traffic has erased all sign of the leaf.
These are the bushes in front of our house. The snow was icy around the edges and sparkly. It didn't photograph too well, but the photo acts as a memory aid to me.I'm finding I'm about 50/50 observant of things around me and looking-inward contemplative. I don't have any goals (or rules) about that. I am amazed each morning by how loud the nearby expressway is! Yikes! I never really noticed before.
