Thursday, May 9, 2024

elf patterns

 I thought Daisy was asleep on my bed, when she suddenly got up and went to the window, obviously seeing something. I looked out - a rabbit. She actually heard a rabbit, eating grass (or whatever). Well, everyone knows rabbits make the earth shake. But really - she heard a rabbit hop in the lawn and eat grass. Amazing.

It rained and stormed yesterday evening, and I saw a rabbit sitting in the rain - they like it, I've noticed, and they like eating the wet grasses. And I like watching them. You knew that.

I'm sorry to say I've made no progress on my dress, as there's been other sewing to attend to. One of them is this pretty blouse.


It has a wide-ish neckline with elastic all around. It's fine when it's on, and it covers my narrow shoulders all right, but it makes me nervous, because if the neckline were to get caught, who knows what would happen? I thought if I made the area stable, it would be better.

I took a double strand of embroidery floss and stitched on the inside all around, into the folds, to inhibit the stretchiness.


You see how I did it, and it was just like basting stitches, but it really reduces any stretching, and the neck is wide enough that I can easily put it on and take it off. So I didn't really sew on the elastic, I just stitched the bunched folds together so they can't open out again. 

A friend gave me a Lenten Rose (hellebore) and I want to put it on the north side where I can see it from my window, but the stockade fence there is partly collapsed and we have to decide on if we'll change anything over there first. 


From the defining conversation between Tolkien and Lewis:

You look at trees, and call them 'trees', and probably you do not think twice about the word. You call a star a 'star' and think nothing more of it. But you must remember that these words, 'tree', 'star' were names given to these objects by people with very different views than yours. To you, a tree is simply a vegetable organism, a star simply a ball of inanimate matter moving along a mathematical course. But the first men to talk of 'trees' and 'stars' saw things very differently. To them, the world was alive with mythological beings. They saw these stars as living silver, bursting into flame in answer to the eternal music. They saw the sky as a jewelled tent, and the earth as the womb whence all living things have come. To them, the whole creation was myth-woven and elf-patterned.

                                                  - The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, by Jason M. Baxter

the emphasis is mine




2 comments:

  1. What an attractive way to make your neckline safe! It is all very well for young people to have stretchy necklines; they have no real fear of accidents. For us ladies of maturer years it is as well to be safe than sorry. We have no wish to reveal 'next week's washing'!
    I am enjoying the quotes from your 'Lewis' book! This one decribes so beautifully the more than child-like awe our ancestors felt when they regarded the world about them. We are usually so world-weary and cynical that it takes something special to jolt us into a feeling of wonder. Which reminds me that I completely missed the Aurora last week! Someone from the next village posted glorious photos of a pink and green sky overhead and I missed it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I missed it, too! I looked around at bedtime, didn't see anything and that was that. Later I heard about a pinkish sky which didn't look like much but really showed up in photos.

      Delete