Tupelo sweet stop

When you get to where State Route 267 meets US 98 in a lonesome part of Wakulla County, and feel maybe you're on the wrong road, Preston Bozeman  makes you glad you're there.  He sells tupelo honey off the hood of his white pickup not far from the entrance to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Yesterday I bought four two-pound jars of it at $14 and some cents (I forget!) each. I heard that tupelo is scarce this year, so I want to stock up. thinking maybe I'll even give some to Mary. Mr. Bozeman told me he expects the barrels to empty before mid-April, when the season will start again. The bees make this "Cadillac of all Honey" for just a month, until mid-May, he said. Last spring's freeze killed blossoms, so this year's batch is smaller than some. You can find Mr. Bozeman on your way to St. Marks every day but Sunday and the fourth Thursday of each month, when he's in Tallahassee, on Thomasville Road just north of I-10.

Murakami's latest dispassionate novel rides on plot and fast trains

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

C was glad I finished this book, because I kept talking about it, telling him little things I was learning about life in Japan today: The crowds rushing for trains. The trains themselves --so fast!  And did you know that steering wheels are on the right side of cars in Japan ?  Last Wednesday I even ordered a tuna salad sandwich for lunch (I rarely get food out that I can easily make at home.) because Tsukuru Tazaki had eaten the same thing in the chapter I just finished. But don't get the idea I identified with Tsukuru. No, he's too emotionally distant for that kind of reader relationship.  The plot kept me reading. Why did his dear friends cut him off?  And what happened to them all, now in the thick of adulthood?  And what will happen to Tsukuru? Whatever he does, I suspect it will be less interesting than this book about him.. Murakami is one of my favorite contemporary writers, but this is not one of my favorite books.


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Wings

Wings
24" x 36"

I spent most of May and June making this quilt for the Quilters Unlimited challenge. It was supposed to show a dream or fantasy on a starry night. I limited the palette to colors inspired by Fred Tomaselli. Normally I go for brights on black, but I like the way these muted colors show up.

I was going to leave the body a silhouette, but she cried for a face and more. I called Patrice for advice, and she told me to "just draw a face." After studying and sketching, I did create a face, which I put onto the fabric with transfer paper, then embroidered it by machine and by hand, and added shading with tulle.  She doesn't have a perfect face, but then who does?

Her body was bare, except for quilting, so I remembered a poem that I wrote some time ago. It's about one of Noah's daughters, who had wings and ... I guess winged women have haunted me for a while. The poem was too long for her body, so I shortened it. I don't expect anyone to read it, but I loved writing it on her. It's like tattooing my poem on my own body.

To see this and lots of gorgeous quilts go to the Quilters Unlimited show; it opens Sept. 11 at the Museum of Florida History, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee. 

More Meow

Meow
11" x 14" mounted

I know you've seen this before, but I wanted to show you Meow at her best. I painted and stamped an 11" x 14" gallery-wrapped canvas in colors and shine that I think the kitty adores. I sewed the little quilt to thick strips of felt, and glued the felt to the canvas. That way the quilt itself can be removed easily, should anyone want to do that. I'll show you pictures of that process soon, because it's so obvious, yet I never thought of it. At that time I'll give credit to the person who gave me the idea. Because now I forget. (It's been a long day -- our air conditioner has been broken for three days, and we said it was fine but it wasn't really. The wonderful man with the coolant just left, so now the world is fine again.)

And below is the back -- rather messy but a triumph for me. You would not believe how much practice it takes to drill those hooks. With hanging wire attached and the sharp ends wrapped in masking tape, I think I've finally found a good way to make little works shine.

If you like my Meow, you can bid on her in the Quilters Unlimited silent auction at the Museum quilt show early this fall.