Traditional Embroidery

 Over the past week, while listening and learning, I was stitching and meditating.

The designs I stitched on this sampler bookmark are from the Palestinian Embroidery book by Widad Kawar and Tania Nasier that documents the embroidery indicative to 5 different regions in Palestine. 

The word fallah means farmer and fallaha is the farm woman so this type of embroidery is called fallahi because it was traditionally made by village women.

I chose to work on designs from Gaza.

I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the past's fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare.

(Howard Zinn)

Have a good Monday.

Love and Care

 I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.

(Pablo Casals)

Spreading love.

Caring for kitties.

And picking up trash.

A part of my every day, most days.

Sunday blessings.

In Other News

Quite often, I choose to distance myself from the news of the day in order to preserve my sanity.  Unfortunately, I did not feel I had the luxury to look the other way when events began to unfold in Palestine and Israel more than a week ago.

Moon over Old City Jerusalem, November 2019

If you follow international news, then you might be aware of the military assault aimed at Gaza (though possibly not all the events leading up to it; that, I guess depends on the coverage of such events where you live).  On the other hand, you may be like me and doing your best to stay away from all news that is bad news.

Further proof of my love of the moon, Jerusalem, November 2019

For those of you who don't know or might not remember, my husband is Palestinian-American with a large number of family still living in Jerusalem.  We normally would go there once or twice a year to visit them, especially his aunt (whom he talks to nearly every single day by telephone) who is 90 years old, but obviously that's not happened in awhile.  Our last visit there was November 2019.

When the pandemic and lockdowns started, she kept asking when she would see us again (note: she has been blind since the age of 2 because of some sort of explosion; we don't really know the exact story).  It took a lot of explaining for her to finally realize that it's not that we didn't want to come, but we literally can't because of everything going on.  We had hoped that with vaccinations, at some point things might start to open up and we could maybe, possibly get there by the end of this year, but with the recent attacks and unrest, that seems highly unlikely.

Damascus Gate

This land, considered holy, has been subject to much strife for centuries and yet I've never delved into the true history of the area.  So, with everything that's been going on there and across the world, I've decided that it's time to educate myself on matters of importance rather than sitting on the sidelines feeling that there's nothing I can do.

On Thursday, I finished reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle and The Age of American Unreason, both of which opened my eyes to moments in history that I might have heard of briefly and others that I knew absolutely nothing about.  A Map of Absence is short stories and poems by established authors and emerging writers from the time before and after the Nakba which was the mass expulsion of approximately 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948.  This is the first time these writings have been translated from Arabic into English.

Some of my recent posts have mentioned the anxiety I'd been feeling, like a dark cloud was over my head and a low grade depression was seeping in, but I have to admit that a fire has now been lit to learn, grow, evolve.  That's my misson each and every day.

Sending many blessings and good wishes your way.

Take care.

Checking In

 Hello again Friends.

Well, my commitment to blog every day in May crumbled when I learned of Teresa's death (see previous post if you are not aware of who or what I'm talking about).  It really threw me for a loop and I still really can't believe she's gone.  We both shared a love for taking pictures of the moon.

Yesterday we learned that a longtime family friend died of covid.  He was sick for a week and in ICU for three days.  

And today we found out that our neighbors right across from us are currently quarantining.  The father has had both vaccine doses and the mother had her first.  Last week, they decided to have family over for the Eid holiday which was obviously not a good idea since one of the guys there wound up having corona.  A day or two later, the mom started to not feel well so was tested and told she had the virus and could not take her second vaccination until she's quarantined for 10 days.  They have two girls, ages 15 and 11, and they seem to be doing okay.

My youngest son in NY said a friend of his knows someone who lost both his parents a couple of months ago.

When will this virus loosen its grip on the world?  People seem to be letting their guards down and that's going to prove disastrous, I think.  Restaurants have been closed for months for dine-in but will re-open on Sunday.  Most school children are now on summer break from the virtual learning they've been doing for over a year which means parents will probably be wanting to take them out to cool places for entertainment.  And by cool, I mean with air conditioning since it's 110 F during the day.

Last year my plumeria did not bloom in April as it normally would.  Instead it dropped all of its leaves and it's only been in the past months that it started to grow back.  It's been blooming all this past week.

Where flowers bloom, so does hope.

(Lady Bird Johnson)

Be well and stay safe.

Heartbroken

I've been making it a habit every morning to visit a few blogs before starting my day.  Sadly, this morning, the first post in my sidebar was from dear Betsy The Simple Life of a Queen that our mutual blog friend Teresa Kasner unexpectedly passed away yesterday.  She had a hospital stay the end of April where she was diagnosed with stomach ulcers and even though still unwell, she optimistically posted to her blog on April 30th with an update ... and now she is gone.  I still can't believe it.   Although we never met in person,  Teresa has always been a faithful, constant support in my life for all of my blogging years.  We have corresponded and exchanged handmade gifts through the mail.  I so very much enjoyed her blog posts; her positive, down-to-earth attitude; her beautiful collections, her joy of sharing her surroundings, her knowledge of Multnomah Falls and love for boats; how she cared for her flowers and her family and sweet little pups; how every special occasion and holiday was clearly celebrated on her dining room table; her beautiful crochet work and all the other handicrafts she did.  I could go on and on.

These are just a few of the things she sent me over the years.It's a true reminder that we really never know how much time we have.

These flowers are Limonium a/k/a Sea Lavender.  Teresa loved the water and was an accomplished sailor who lived on a houseboat for many years.  I remember when she posted about selling her beloved Stargazer, the sailboat she and her husband owned for 25 years.  

Dearest Teresa, you will be missed.

May you rest in peace.

And may your family find comfort in all the beautiful memories.

Thankful Thursday

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. 

(Ralph H. Blum)

Thankful for nature, wherever and however I can get it.

Thankful for our balconies where plants grow, birds find sanctuary and Tofu lives most of the year.

Thinking of Jingles.  These pictures were taken May of last year when she was still with us.

The balcony was one of her favorite places to spend time.

Have a blessed day!

Spirit and Splendor

 When the spirit of nature touches us,

our hearts turn into a butterfly.

(Mehmet Murat Ildan)

Did you happen to see April's full pink moon last week?

Apparently it was also the first of four super moons expected this year.  

 All that brightness tends to make my camera go a little haywire.

The moon was reigning over their world, glowing its full splendor to all those willing to look up.

(Irina Serban)

The month of Ramadan started three weeks ago with the sighting of the crescent moon; now only one more week to go and then it will be the Eid.   Normally it would be a time of celebration, visiting friends and family, going out to eat, but restaurants and cafes have been closed for two months now and we still have an evening curfew.  Wonder if any of that will change after the Eid holiday.  

There's not much we can do but take each day as it comes.

    One day at a time.

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday.

Talking Trash

 Tuesdays for Trash is an account I follow on Instagram; not that I limit my trash picking to Tuesdays only.  It's definitely an almost daily occurrence.  I easily find plastic bags blowing around so just grab one and start filling it up.  The hashtag #plalking stands for "picking up litter while walking".

That picture bottom left is a food wrapper that has started to disintegrate into so many tiny little pieces.

Last month, I had some fun with some of the packaging I found on the ground.

The trash was speaking to me and had a message to share.

Earth Day is every day! (Not just annually on April 22nd.)

Wishing you a lovely day!

Flower Power

 The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

(Nhat Hanh)

A sampling of some of the many flowers I saw on two separate walks last week.

May your Monday be filled with beautiful moments and blessings.

A Beary Good Bookmark

 Today has been a very cloudy day with extremely blustery weather since late afternoon.  My husband usually watches a little t.v. in the evening but when he turned it on, there was nothing but a black screen.  It seems that the wind has taken out our satellite dish.

Last night I joined a #saturdaynightcraftalong on Instagram by posting the cross-stitched bookmark I finished yesterday.

Many years ago, when I couldn't find these in the market, I gave some aida cloth and trim to someone who cut and sewed a bunch up for me. 

 I did stitch a few in the past, but still have about 10 to make use of so I dug them out the other day and this was the first one I made.

It still needs to be ironed and backed with felt.  I've started stitching another one but am missing one floss color.  A craft group friend has it in her stash so I will swing by her place soon to pick it up.

Have you read any good books lately?

Wishing you a beary good day!