~ Inspiration & Needle Night ~

Good Monday Morning

Friends & Folk ~

it is a beautifully rainy Monday here at the farm...

perfect for a bit of inspiration daydreaming ~

while I'm printing, folding and packing things for the upcoming

Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whenever I have the chance to visit my birth state of Connecticut

I try to get at least one walk in at an ancient graveyard....

the old headstones with their curious carvings

have held my fascination since I was a small child.

those in particular,

my very favorites...are very very early 

- like the 1600's early.

towns in CT like Guilford, Trumbull 

& Stratford all have these archaic 'people-gardens'...

the naiveness of the carvings,

some more prolific than others

continuously creep into my imagination

even this long after visiting them...

I hold them in my memory for future reference.

it's funny though,

to look at some of them now,

you would have thought that as a child I would have been scared of them?

nope. 

... not me.

I would race home from school and then ride my bike down to the library where the best one was.

and I would lay on the grass amongst the stones and watch the clouds overhead

and chase the wild-rabbits that lived there by the hundreds....

i never considered a cemetery to be a scary place.

i thought {think} they are peaceful and beautifully serene,

with so much interesting history ~ 

mostly forgotten now, but meant to last Eternal.

to read their epitaphs, 

the names of small children passed so young ~

and almost feel them standing there next to you 

while you visit their sometimes hidden 

and more than likely forgotten resting places.

I'll take my cue once again,

from my past and the past of other artists ~

and turn their works of stone

into my works 

in needle and thread.

And

speaking of needle and thread ~

tonight is our

"NEEDLE NIGHT"

here in the farm shop.

We will be open from 5:00 - 9:00 for all you stitching night-owls...

we will have sandwiches and drinks to keep you fortified while you work,

so grab your basket, your work in progress and come create with us ~

and enjoy the rain.

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ A Sunday Mourning in June ~

Took a walk this morning

~ before it got too hot.

found myself at our little graveyard

that holds the plots

of the former inhabitants of our farmhouse and land... 

under the canopy of an ancient holly tree they rest

~ peaceful and serene ~

if you have visited our home or farm shop, then you have passed right by them.

they are located just off our long dirt road that leads to & from our old homeplace...

in fact, 

you can stand by the graves 

and look through the trees 

and see the farm shop in view 

~ across'd the big field.

there aren't many headstones, just a few.

and two metal markers which show a more contemporary style of burial.

I prefer stone.

this time of year

the yucca are blooming.

~ folklore here says that these 'ghost lilies' are always near a grave

...hence their nickname.

there are more buried here than we know, though...

some are in unmarked graves,

others in graves with head and footstones 

but without names or dates etched upon them ~

seemingly lost in time and to memory.

and one in particular bears a beautiful dove.

that one belongs to Judith ~

"the sunshine of our home"

as it tells on her stone.

I have taken her advice 

and am punching a project in memorium of this woman I never knew

~ but who shares our land and home with us still.

life exists even where death is very present.

green and growing from the ground up.

a cycle that never ends it seems ~ 

I love our little graveyard.

& I say hello and goodbye to these neighbors 

... each time I come & go 

from this old farm. 

here is our Asiatic lily in bloom ~

another flower which represents life eternal ~

this one is near our front door garden.

 I love headstones, graveyards and such.

walking among them, reading them,....feeling the coldness of the stones.

 If these were the Victorian times, 

we would all be immersed in thoughts of death 

and practicing strange customs

in which we would honor our departed loved-ones.

we would be making wreaths and wearing jewelry fashioned from the locks of their hair...

or wearing black clothing for a full year.

and having our photographs taken 

with us facing away from the camera or holding a handkerchief to cover our eyes.

We might even choose to commemorate the dead by having their photo taken as well.

...and you think we live in strange times?

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori