notions

I took this photo of the back of a building while walking home from the library yesterday. I've got a notion to post it to the There goes ya neighborhood! group on Flickr.

We went to the library in search of a book about gorillas and came home with My Body is Private, a borderline-age-inappropriate, random pick off the shelves that Iris then would not let go of. So we've been doing a lot of reading and talking about why Julie does not want to sit in Uncle Ted's lap. (In case you're wondering, Uncle Ted didn't do anything wrong; Julie just didn't like it, so it was okay for her to say "no.")

Almost a full week since I've updated here. Where has the time gone? We're all hale and hearty again, so I can't blame the viral plague that felled us last week. No, this week has been all about slogging through circumstances beyond the edges of what I'm comfortable writing about in public, mainly, a protracted family crisis. Fortunately not in my immediate household, but still, a situation which has placed heavy demands on time and emotional energy.

So I've been pretty distracted and not very productive, at work or anywhere else. I do, however, hope to get in some craft-therapy time this weekend, or at least some furniture prep. Last weekend was perfect painting weather, so I got the little table and chairs primed. Now the dresser awaits. I'm still waiting to be visited with the perfect vision of how that will look when finished. Though it's for a child's room, I don't want it to look childish. Ideas are percolating, but I haven't had that "aha!" moment yet.

So, since I don't have much to show for myself, I'll share some other recent sources of crafty pleasure.


These banners hang from the ceiling of our local Whole Foods grocery store. Each panel was made by a different person or group, and the whole thing was sewn together. Say what you want about Whole Foods being "Whole Paycheck," etc, but I've never known a national chain to interact with the community so much like a local business.


I picked up this 1970s Danish DIY book for $1.49 at the thrift. While some of the pictures are quite dated, even lurid:



Others I find very appealing. Check out that patchwork baby sling-swing. Meets modern child safety standards? I doubt it. But prettier than the commercial ones in Disney prints or standard-issue Baby Navy? Heck yeah.



And this embroidery, while rocking the rustic aesthetic of the 70s a bit too hard, appeals to my love of streetscapes, real or illustrated.