I've had such issues with my computer these days...a big "boo hiss" to dropbox, internet explorer, and all the other unfriendly programs/browsers out there in ether land that have made me stay away from my blogsite.
OK, so now that's off my chest.
I've been on my annual spring, northern migration for the last three weeks, now settled back in beautiful Refuge Cove. The garden is bursting with growth, Tom is out catching salmon, and grandson Alden is here to help us out and enjoy all the good things this place has to offer.
Our home is for sale and currently we have an interested party that makes us wonder if this is going to HAPPEN. The thought of the BIG MOVE is getting me to explore boxes and bins, corners and closets, and start deciding what to take, what to give away, what to leave, and what to take to our friendly FREE STORE on Cortes Island. Oh yes, and I'm sure there will be things that head straight to the dump!
Yesterday I unearthed a box of quilting projects and there I rediscovered the above piece. It is basically just a sandwich here, with individual pieces representing a young boy with two fish, decking, water, mountains and sky, all basted on to a background of gray. It had the beginnings of handquilting. Let me repeat - BEGINNINGS. Since I know this is something I will never complete, I decided to deconstruct it. After all, it is about 4'x3' and that's a lot of good fabric and batting to repurpose for another project.
My grandson, now 18, was about 10 when he caught those two dogfish. He loved fishing and we allowed him to go out by himself to jig for bottomfish as long as he stayed in sight of the docks at Refuge Cove. The community here is one of those "it takes a village" types, and everyone watches out for each other, particularly when there are young ones around. (Now a teenager, he's not so happy about all the watchful eyes!) Since he was pretty good at fishing, it was not uncommon for him to bring home a lovely rockfish for dinner.
But on this day, I heard footsteps on my deck and the call of "grandma!, come see!" I opened the door to see dear Alden with 2 huge (relative to his size) dogfish, which in my mind are NOT good eating, and I wondered why he would drag those fish all the way up our hill. I know I should have been a gushing grandma and lavished him with fishing praise, but I did just the opposite: "I'm don't want those fish. Get rid of them!" His poor face, once excited, took on a sad look. "But John Campbell told me they're good to eat."
I proceeded to tell him that I didn't care what John said...those fish were not coming in my kitchen. (Yes, some people eat dog fish but the trick is to filet them immediately...which didn't happen.)
So out to the garden we went, Alden with the fish and me with the shovel. They were buried about 2 feet down.
Thankfully that didn't squelch his love of fishing...he continues to bring them home to this day...but no more dogfish.
So, seamripper in hand, I deconstructed that quilt, thinking back on that story and many other great memories we've had here at Refuge Cove. I thought about that fun-loving, adventurous young boy who now is a wonderful young man, contemplating the influence this place has had on him.
Already, one day later, half of the batting and backing is repurposed to make some small purses, but those individual pieces that are major characters in the life of my grandson's days here at Refuge Cove - the docks, the water, the mountains, the sky and FISH - are carefully folded and placed in a small ziploc, headed for a box to SAVE.
