Category: Uncategorized
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This Little Piggy Went …
I don’t usually pay much attention to my feet, but in preparation for this walk, I researched foot care on Google and selected a ‘sock system’ that was supposed to prevent a range of possible foot issues. The system combines thin Merino liner toe-socks with two Merino hiking socks, preventing rubbing and hence blisters. I…
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Warming up
On the first day of this warm-up walk, following the Voi de la Nive, we passed through an area famous for growing the espelette pepper. We saw drying peppers hanging under the eaves of the houses and other signs of mass production, including hectare after hectare of stubble. As farmers’ daughters, we are both interested…
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High School French
It is a good thing that Susan and I are not relying on my high school French because it is slightly worse than ‘nonexistent’. When I was twelve and in year 7, I studied one term of German and one term of French at The Rock Central School. Five students chose languages as an elective,…
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Condensation
Step out of a Bangkok train and your glasses immediately fog up, just like opening the oven to check your cake. The key difference being that we stayed in the oven for nearly 48 hours! En route to Paris and the beginning of a Camino pilgrimage, my cooking companion is my sister Susan. We haven’t…
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New Female C7: A Vipassana retreat
My intention was to fully surrender, to the Vipassana method, Seriously, ardently, patiently, and persistently Emptying and observing, And accepting what insight ten days of practice might bring. Day 1 Adjusting to silence, averted gaze, and predawn rising, fifty tired women, new and old students, queue for lunch. Careful to gather sufficiency, for there is…
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Home-spun wisdom.
[Just make a start] I planned to start this blog years ago. My intention was to write autobiographical stories or short reflections about my love of sewing, embroidery and spinning. The blog was going to be about the role of craft in my life and relationships, and how I create a meaningful life. Like spinning…
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Susan’s spinning wheel
I learnt to spin in junior high school, in Textiles and Design class at The Rock Central School. It must have been 1983. I was fifteen and sufficiently impressed with this new skill to ask for a spinning wheel for my sixteenth birthday. Mum and Dad ordered an Ashford from New Zealand. It arrived in…