Nearly 20 years ago I stenciled this t-shirt with Sister’s portrait.
I hardly post my sketchbookery anymore alas, too much work to remember to take the pics. Eventually all will be revealed in a Substack video.
A good day at the library!
Screenshot
I’ll be staying in this French village for a bit in October!
Sleepover at Pam’s
Hello Gentle Reader,
It’s me, Mary Ann reporting in from the summer redwoods where I have built my tree fort, piled it with old quilts, stacks of books, a good pen and notebook, and frosty mugs of iced tea and lemonade. There’s a constant breeze, no ticks or mosquitoes, a window for looking down to the forest floor below, and some nice sort of harness contraption that functions as an elevator for smooth entries and exits. I have one of those Primus stoves that all the little old ladies in Barbara Pym books have in their bed-sits for making pots of tea. Jays, ravens, wrens, and warblers are regular visitors, each bringing their own song and language as you might, should you come visit.
Meanwhile back at Moss Cottage on the exact same day I can be found lolling about daydreaming, reading, sketchbooking, and all the usual things that retired little old ladies do. In the blink of an eye I’m back in my redwood perch watching stars overhead as they flicker in and out through the dark branches.
If, like me, you make it a point to avoid contemporary book club books and enjoy vintage literature that leans sideways into existential musings, solo-flying women, the natural world, and gorgeous writing, you can rustle up a copy of Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner or Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Booker Prize winner). I experienced small shocks of pleasure throughout both. I continue to plunge deeper into the world of spinster lit and find it rich and welcoming. Here’s a great podcast that made me want to read everything STW has written.
I enjoyed a marvelous sleepover with my old friend, Pam and took photos of various treasures including the mural she painted in her darling granddaughter’s bedroom at her house.
Keep me apprised of your whatabouts and whereabouts. You know good and well I always enjoy news from the frontier.
I’ve added another class to the FREE offerings already on tap: Stitchbookery. Enjoy it!
The only caveat is that access is entirely self-service. I no longer offer support for registration, lost passwords, login issues, or technical questions. It’s a firm boundary, born out of my desire to keep my days completely free of online class administration.
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Thanks to your recommendations, I recently finished the last of the Barbara Pym novels and enjoyed every one. I spied my copy of Hotel du Lac recently and was thinking of reading it again, and then here it is in your stack. I can’t recall if you read Ann Patchett. I’ve loved all her books, but her latest, Whistler, was absolutely wonderful.
This summer I am participating in the Index Card A Day Challenge. I never follow Prompts, opting to use the 61 days from June 1 to July 31 for self made exploring. This year inspired by Orly Avineri, I decided to explore the art and culture of various countries that were part of the slave trade. My goal is to find a country that intrigues me and adopt it as my ancestral home. This is going to be a multi-year project. I am thoroughly enjoying year 1. I “traveled” to Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo to name a few. So much Fun to “travel” by means of research.