gone to the lake

One more time.  Sauna, swimming, hardtack and butter.  Back next week!

good weaving days

I walked up to the quarry this Sunday afternoon, in a perfect breeze, a perfect light.  I wanted to take a picture of the ferns that grow across from the quarry, and there they were, in softly filtered sunlight. Some butterflies were dead along side the road.  I've woven two new plain scarves, in linen and combinations of silk, alpaca, and cotton, but mostly unbleached linen. One is ferny,  greens and browns. The other is dark teal blue, browns and charcoal gray,  lakey.

old north

Pictures from a family album I hadn't seen before.  My grandfather, John Anton, ca. 1920, on a Minnesota lake.  A picture of my grandmother as a young woman in Bessemer, Michigan, ca. 1920, before she married. There aren't many pictures of her.  The farm in Bessemer was on a high bluff, and Lake Superior could be seen from there.

at the lake

 

 Now we are home from a visit to my parents at the lake up in Ely. We had a few swims and a sauna,  hiked a trail, drank some beer, and looked at the lake.  My mother has woven a pretty new rug in wool, with a violet stripe and some black and white checks.  She said,  "I wanted to let that violet wool be the star of this rug."

The design of this rug is so good.  She knows how to use plaids to good  effect, avoiding  dizzying optical effects, and creating a simple and clear graphic quality.  My mother has also been stacking in her winter wood supply for her weaving shop, which has only a woodstove for heat. Minnesota winters can be -40 degrees, and the snows are deep.

The pine woods smelled sweet in the mornings.   After the sauna, the lake water felt so  soft and silky on our skin.  The feeling is exquisite, and something  I look forward to  all summer.  The two ancient yellow folding chairs by the lake shore haven't collapsed yet!