Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post.#3093: Road trip to the other side of the Island.
In more than ten years of being together, Brian and I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day. We don’t believe in Hallmark holidays for one thing, but also, my birthday happens the week before and we’ve already done a dinner thing, or an overnight thing for that. Valentine’s just seems like one more thing to spend money on.
But when I told Brian last week that I was taking some time off work, effective immediately, he suggested that we take a couple of days of holiday on the other side of Vancouver Island. And thus, yesterday we arrived in Tofino coinciding with Valentine’s Day.
Tofino has changed a lot since I was a kid. For one thing, there are several resorts on Long Beach, all with beautiful big lounges that look out onto the ocean. Although these resorts are out of our price range – the lounges at happy hour are not – so last night we went out and had (the pictured) fancy cocktails in the Long Beach Lodge “Great Room” and watched the sunset with all the other romantical couples. Two $6 “champagne” cocktails later and I was happy to retire to our B&B on Jensen Bay (the inlet side of Tofino).
This morning we woke up to this sunrise over Meares Island before stumbling up the trail to a little hot tub nestled in the trees:
It’s a pretty spectacular spot all around. Plus the weather is taking a break from the storms of the past few weeks. As far as I’m concerned that’s great news for this trip, but according to someone here – tourists at this time of year hate the good weather because they are here to “storm watch”. Apparently that’s something the big resorts promote as a winter pastime to get people over here.
We’ve got dinner planned for the best restaurant in town tonight – The Wolf in the Fog – almost impossible to get a reservation at but highly recommended. I’m hoping it lives up to its reputation. But even if it doesn’t, a couple of days among the big trees of the west coast feels like a good break for the brain and a little recuperation of heart time for Brian and I. Despite the fact I don’t do Valentine’s day, a renewal of time together is always well spent.
Post #3092: Another Blackwood cardigan
Last night, I went up to the studio with no real plan in mind. I’m still exhausted from my work meltdown and it’s hard to get excited about things at the moment. Fortunately, I had a project on the dressform that only needed a couple of pieces cut and sewn to finish, and Voila! Another version of the Blackwood Cardigan, this one fitting perfectly with a couple small adjustments to the width on the front band.
When we get back from Tofino, I will have to decide what to tackle next: a pair of pants? One of my unfinished jackets? Or recurring a pattern based on a muslin I just made (that didn’t work out). I find it’s best going into the studio not knowing what I am going to work on, and just let my energy level and interest direct me. Too much forcing myself to finish projects and I just end up resenting the whole exercise.
Post 3091: Birthday dumplings
Last week I turned 45, and one thing that happened was my friend Aaron came to visit me all the way from New York where he lives. I picked him up at the Nanaimo airport first thing on the morning of my birthday and we got a coffee and then went to Man Lee (the Asian grocery) before coming back to Gabriola.
Since moving here, Brian and I have felt the absence of good Asian cuisine. We are lucky that there are a couple of good restaurants on our island, but it’s just not possible to get good Chinese food here or anywhere close by. In Vancouver – good noodles are served in almost every mall kiosk and you can choose restaurants by very specific region – so that’s been a bit of an adjustment (ie: we were spoiled by delicious and inexpensive food from around the world).
As I’ve posted elsewhere (and perhaps here) – this has forced us to really up our cooking game, and I’ve been seeking out good cookbooks to aid us in not only learning to make specific dishes, but learning about different cuisines as a whole. One of the books which has been instrumental so far is Fuschia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice. So far, I have cooked about half the recipes in that book – and I plan to make the other half over the next few months – because every single one is a winner, and I’ve learned so much about cooking techniques by following them.
So, for my birthday I decided that the best way Aaron and I could spend our afternoon was in preparing a feast of recipes I’ve never made before. This included Sichuanese Wontons in Chilli Oil Sauce, Bok Choi with assorted dried fungus (her recipe calls for fresh shiitake, but I wanted a dish with snow and black fungus so I improvised), and Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage and Shiitake Mushrooms (wrapped in lotus leaves).
I have to admit that I’ve always been a bit daunted by dumplings – the making of them that is. But with a friend to help, we figured it out and ended up with so many perfect bites! This meal was also my first time steaming food in lotus leaves – which I did using the Instant pot.
I would say that this was the best meal I’ve made from Dunlop’s book – but I’m really not sure – as I’ve made so many great combinations of dishes in the last few months. One thing I know for sure, is that these are restaurant-grade meals – as good as anything I’ve eaten in Vancouver over the years – aided by ingredients that are local and fresh from the island where I live.
Post #3090: In which I catch my breath
Last weekend I finished a new top, pictured above. It’s the Cashmerette Webster top/dress – which I made a muslin of back in early December to see if I would like it better as a dress or a top. Top won – and I made this version out of some stash fabric (Nani Iro double-gauze) that I have been waiting to use for two and a half years! Since making this top, I’ve worn it five times – a clear indicator that I will need to make another top from this pattern.
I’ve got many things cut out at the moment, or ready to be, and I’ve just salvaged two unfinished jackets from the sewing basket where things to go die. If I get myself in the right mode, I will have some new clothes for spring.
At the moment, I’ve got a few days off work – taken in a bit of a fit last week, when I reached the end of a high-pressure project (and ongoing overtime for months), and my brain kind of broke, snapped or whatever. One might call it a nervous breakdown – but given that I seem to be returning to myself rather quickly, I’m going to settle with extreme burnout as a better description. I’ve got until Monday off, and if I’m still feeling foggy, then I’ll take a few more days. At this point the emotional upheaval (crying) has tapered off and I’m just feeling very slow. Not depressed – just as though my brain has come to a bit of a crawl.
I’m taking things easy and trying to figure out what steps I can take to better protect myself, my boundaries, and free time in the future so that I can get the necessary time out that I need to function. Part of the issue is that I have not taken a total break from work and union responsibilities in a year – even when I take time off I check email and often end up working – and while I thought I could get away with that, I realize now that I can’t. Also, I should always schedule a week off in February because I always need one. And I don’t need to hoard work – it is entirely possible to share my workload better with my team.
Anyhow – I’ve returned to zazen after a week without (what a mistake, I always drop it when I most need it), and am focused on going in – in order to get out of this state I’m in. There is nowhere else to go right now I’m afraid – it’s all me, or nothing. Or it’s nothing and all me. Because zen.
So I’m here, and sewing – fixing up this blog to reflect the focus of it a bit better – and packing up for an overnight to Tofino tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have more things to say on all of these topics shortly.
Post #3089: The next thing
In the world of making stuff, there is always the next thing. And you never know what it’s going to be. What’s the next thing that will capture your interest to the degree required to learn everything about it and dive in to a world of new materials and techniques?
Since I was 31 and started off sewing, small things – sock monkeys and pillows, then quilts – I’ve moved to crochet, then garment sewing, then knitting, now weaving. I’m not an expert in any of these arenas, though I have enough basic knowledge and skill to be relatively successful in my undertakings. (Relative, that is, to the time I’ve spent doing it – weaving is still a mountain I’m climbing).
I recently noticed that I’ve been collecting books on natural dyeing for the last couple of years. It wasn’t something I set out to do – but I’ve managed to make a nice little library for myself in an area of textile work that I have no experience with – which indicates that at the very least, this topic is interesting to me. And suddenly I’m pretty sure that it is the next thing I am setting myself to learn about.
To that end, I’m gathering materials for iron and copper mordants, looking forward to the first crop of rhubarb for the leaves used to set dyes. I’m looking at natural dyes and which can be found in the wild on my island – which ones are exotic but essential (like madder, and indigo) – and which mushrooms and lichens hold the best colour potential.
My studio is well appointed for such an endeavour – with a small fridge, and running water – a big deck for working outside in the sunnier months. And though I want to go straight to hand painting a warp, I’m going to start small with samples for a dye journal in cotton, wool, and mohair (all materials I have onhand). (I want to hand paint a warp this year).
I’m thinking my first project will be a dye book with fabric and yarn samples – different mordants, dyes, fibres. It’s not a one-time project, but something to build on if it turns out that I am as fascinated with this as I have been with other textile experiments. We’ll see.
Red Cedar 