tiny happy

I worked on this free-form embroidery slowly, over the past couple of weeks. I'd not done any stitching in ages, but listening to podcasts and radio news and finding some moments for thinking gave me the chance to make something from my heart, like this.

The phrase no justice no peace can be traced back to the 1986 murder of Michael Griffith in NYC but it's still equally relevant in Aotearoa as much as anywhere else. I'm not sure what I'll do with this piece of embroidery – maybe put it up on the kitchen wall.

You can also see, in the fourth picture above, I'm nearly finished making that second Vertice Unite shawl I wrote about in my previous post. It's one for my sister Tamsin, and she said she'd love it in shades of green and grey. It feels like it's been a long, cold winter (and we're only halfway through, truth be told), but working on this project before going to bed has been a daily bright spot for me. 

In less happy news, I lost my own Vertices Unite (you can see it on Ravelry here) one afternoon last week and have unfortunately been unable to track it down. I think it dropped out of my bag or the car near the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. I'm still holding out hope that it finds its way back to me, because I loved that shawl. 

I've found comfort in some familiar things, lately: re-reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, re-watching The Flight of the Conchords with the kids and listening to Bill Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, this song, in particular.

And because I just love marigolds, I've included a photo of one in a ferny damp corner of our garden. I think this variety is called 'French Vanilla' or something like that.

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Last week Tom, Keira and I went out on a stormy night to hear the NZ Symphony Orchestra play a Beethoven piano concerto ('The Emperor'), which was a beautiful experience. Towards the end I looked across at some of the strangers in our row of seats and saw a middle-aged man with tears quietly streaming down his face. The concert was streamed live to the world, you can listen to it here if you need a bit of epic pastoral music in your life right now.

Things are really hard in nearly every place on earth right now. I wish you all the very best, wherever you are,
M