Chatting Away on Valentine's Day

A rosy posy rat, with her circle of flowers, and a tiny bouquet, all painstakingly stitched on an old and very thin handkerchief. I began with the ratty, and I thought two strands of floss would be too much for the fragile fabric. But it would have looked better with a double strand. By the time I got to the flowers, I felt more daring, even making French knots, and those longer knots, with the floss wrapped around the needle many times. If I never do anything with it, the handkerchief might not tear.

I'm not sure what use any of these creations are. And I still haven't learned to think up a plan. For instance, the moon was going to be a floral wreath. I drew a circle, then thought of the moon, and made it a crescent in the circle. Then I thought, it could still be filled up with flowers, and I made one little criss-cross base for a rose, something I'd seen on Pinterest. I didn't bother to study how the roses were made, and my first criss-cross was all wrong for their method, but I was reminded of simple twinkle stars, and filled the moon up with more stars. The floss is palest blue, and looks silvery. On Instagram, an artist acquaintence (I should say friend, though we haven't met, yet. We did share a Zoom call, and we are collarborating. So, yes, I should say friend...) My friend, Lola Argemi was painting in her IG stories, accompanied by Debussy's Clair de Lune. I loved the serendipity of the moment, me in California, stitching moon light, and her in Mexico City, painting to Moon Light. I added the words in chainstitch... Clair de Lune.

It finally rained. Truly, I mean finally. It's been a dry winter, and it's frustrating to see rain in the forecast, and then see the days reduce from 3 to 1, from 1 to none. I've been hand-watering all the seeds I sowed in anticipation of showers. I was out on the bedroom balcony, where I paint, and where I do weekly cardio with BounceBhangra. And, by the way, me doing a cardio class is one of the single most unexpected, surprising, out of character activities of the year, and possibly of my life. Diana and I coax and encourage each other, and she even got me a shirt. Somehow, I am hooked... probably because these guys make it so fun, so free of pressure, and because no one can see me. Wow... I am really far off topic, again. I was on the balcony, getting ready for a Cardio Party, when it started to rain. I was worried about the rain blowing into the room. The sky was dark, and there was even the whistling sound that comes from real storms. I love watching the sky and distant views from this room. The rain stopped as suddenly and dramatically as it began. The sky was clear in no time, and the sun was shining immediately, making the dripping wet branches glisten, even looking as though they were covered in icy snow.

I stole this picture of Muta from Janece's IG stories. Muta is looking particularly handsome, irresistible. Yesterday, Janece and Paul shared a driveway breakfast visit with us. And at one point Maria carried out each of our kitties so our friends could see them. Two of them, Sakamoto and Feynman, were the new kittens when lockdown began, almost a year ago, and Cairo they've known very well since he was palm-size. It's strange to realize what we have been managing, how we have been living, for the last 11 months, and hard to sum up all the ways we have been missing out. I miss so much. And yet, something else... I am too comfortable retreating from the rest of the world, and in many ways, I feel anxious about what back to normal will mean.

The other day, I came across some of my ratty paintings. I have every interest and intention of getting back to painting, especially because I have the collaboration with Lola to work on, (or play at?) I am no good at delegating my time for more than one or two things. I start reading a book, and only sleep will let me put it down. If I am stitching, I want to go until I see it all done, before the vision can slip away. And, then there is the weather. Painting is all set up on that balcony, but it's cold out there. I can sew from my bed, cozy, safe, warm. I put the rattys back in the drawer, and grabbed the cross-stitch box, to bring outside for our distant driveway breakfast. The box already needs tidying up, again. But it's got just a bit of everything, and while we sat around campfires, Geoff, Maria and I, with Janece and Paul, I began making flowers... the roses I first attempted when I ended up making a starry moon. And I kept going. Back inside, I continued listening to Lord of the Rings. The party of nine, less Gandalf, has come through Moria, a sad chapter. I stitched on, and soon we were in Lothlórien, recuperating with the People of the Trees. It was soft and hopeful there, in spite of the path ahead, and I thought of Galadriel's gifts, especially the grey wooden box, with earth from her orchard, and a single silver, nut from a Mallorn tree. I kept going, stitching, until I fell asleep.

No one's asked for eggs. I sent our friends home with some, and they can have more, if they'd like. What I should do is start making quiches, and freeze the ones we don't eat today. And, maybe I should be a Valentine Egg Fairy, and leave gifts at friends' doors! Happy Valentines Day! Make an omelette, with love!