Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

I was shuffling through some stuff on my much-piled computer desk this morning, when I saw it: the business card on which Sande of River Gallery had written her email address and telephone number.

After coming home from a space shuttle landing party at the university (yes, I know I’m an über-geek now, but I’m loving every minute of it), I found myself staring at that business card and realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been out to Sande’s.

In fact, I think the only rughooking-related activity I’ve had since my classes started was a quick visit to Deanne Fitzpatrick’s shop and studio in Amherst, on my way to Antigonish, NS. I’d picked up a couple of pieces of recycled wool to bring home and cut into strips before hooking. I love the idea of recycling (repurposing) wool to create something new.

Reading The Mountain and the Valley (Ernest Buckler) in university was torturous (I found it painfully dull), but the one thing I enjoyed was reading about how the old woman was hooking a rug from the family’s old clothes. In essence, she was weaving everyone’s stories together. That really resonated somewhere inside, and I’m sure that planted the seed for me to be a hooker.

I’ve discovered that cutting wool into strips is very relaxing for me, too. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the model of my cutter is “Bliss”. I took a break from studying earlier in the week to cut up those few scraps picked up in Amherst and just feeling the wool between my fingers made me feel so much better. I didn’t have a sookie blanket as a toddler, and I’m surprised. This wool makes me happy.

So when I found the business card today, I took it as a sign. Money is super-duper tight right now, especially now that teaching is over for the year. But I remembered that Sande had a shelf full of used wool shirts for sale — just waiting to be cut into strips and hooked. And they were cheap. So I looked at the gas gauge and debated. Forty-six kilometres each way. Do-able? I decided to find out.

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that the stats course is stealing my soul. I figured a trip to River Gallery would go a long way to feeding that part of me which has been sorely neglected of late.

The weather is gorgeous today, and the drive up to Glenwood was wonderful. Such blue sky, and indigo river … the grass is so green, and the lupins were everywhere. Aside from that 2.5 km stretch of dirt road (we have two seasons in New Brunswick: winter and construction), it was absolutely heavenly.

River Gallery is one of my favourite places, and as soon as I got there, I remembered why. Sande is a total sweetheart, an old friend I’ve only known a couple of months, and the place is just so full of colour and inspiration. My little road trip was exactly what I needed.

Well, I just got home (with a quarter-tank of gas to spare), and I have some great plaid (maybe even tartan — I’ll have to look) shirts to cut up. Cutting wool is dusty work, so I’m going to take them outside and do the tearing apart and strip-cutting on the back step.

I will get back to studying — once I do some recycling first.

After all, the planet needs me. *grin*