My Birthday Week!

a little of this...

... and a little of that

Yup! It is my favourite month and this is my birthday week! I’ve had so much on the go and have lots to share, but don’t even know just where to begin.

As you can see from the photos above, I’ve been busy pumping out some ‘Bull’s Eyes’ blocks and have made about 30 or so. I’m aiming for 42, I think, but will just play it by ear until the scraps run dry. I’m using those bigger pieces that were tossed into the scrap bucket just because they had been lingering in the stash far too long. I have to admit that some pieces were leftovers from long ago garment sewing and there is one piece of green floral print that I’m pretty sure was a maternity top! Oh! Yikes! I just want them gone from the stash and this is the perfect project – almost like a viral type project if you’ve been checking out any blogs lately. 2019 will be known forever as the year of the Bull’s Eye quilt 😮

I’ve also been incredibly busy making some new sketchbooks but I’ll get to that later. I really need to share some poetry with you:

“the journey

one day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice – –

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do – –

determined to save

the only life you could save.”

Mary Oliver September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with

your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

One of my favourite poets has left our world for the next and her words mean more to me now than they ever did… inspiring me to live life to the fullest, be brave, and take the first steps on a new journey.

I’ll be ticking some things off my bucket list this week as I travel to Mexico City on Friday to begin my Frida Kahlo ‘pilgrimage’. I’ll post for the next few days before I get on the plane but after that…

well, I’ll do my best to keep you up to date.

until next time, love carol xox