Buddha Garden Weaving Day #3

I came out on the porch and examined my progress--with just one more day to weave.
I am pleased with the amount I have left to weave. I am also pleased that there are not gale winds and rain today. I didn't take any images until I was ready to cut the weaving from the loom. (It was then that the sky darkened and thunder and lightening filled the sky). This is the big moment. I used to say that the reason for weaving was "having woven". Although it may not be the reason, it is a very good part. I know it is the journey-- not the destination, and this has been one amazing journey.

Here is comes!
I just accidentally erased the picture of my hands untying the knots that attach the weaving to the front beam. Oh well....

I never can resist mugging with cloth. I wonder what it means to have that dark cloud hovering over my head? I just noticed that (grin)

I am sitting in Butterfly Herbs in Missoula taking advantage of the wireless connection. I am running out of time, but I will post some more tomorrow. I am not able to connect from where I am staying, so I will have to get used to becoming more efficient. Tomorrow I will attempt to upload more than 5 pictures as per Connie's suggestion.

Buddha Garden Weaving Day #2

Did I mention that my daughter in spirit is weaving a rendition of the Dalai Lama's horoscope in Hyderabad India at the very same moment that I am weaving at the Buddha Garden in Montana?

Here is just one of several pictures that she sent me. Isn't it wonderful! We think this is a great way to have a "peace demonstration"
Meanwhile, back in Montana the wind was howling and the rain pouring and people dropped by to watch and to weave. I was glad I brought a turtleneck jersey and socks although it did warm up in the afternoon.
There young weavers.....
And not so young weavers.....
For some reason blogger will only let me upload 5 pictures, so I don't have picture of the woman on the right weaving. Nor did I get to put in an arty picture of the woven part.

The day ended with thunder and more rain followed by a nice rainbow. I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow. It was a fun and exciting day. I should have no trouble finishing the weaving tomorrow.

A lovely woman from the Ronan newspaper, The Valley Journal, came today and took lots of pictures of me, so I will be in the news. I will put in a link when it comes out on Thursday.

Buddha Garden Weaving Day #1

Wow is the word of the day! Check out my Facebook page and see the daughter of my spirit, Sharmila ,weaving along with me on the other side of the world. I haven't figured out how to lift those pictures and put them on my blog, but perhaps it will come to me tomorrow. I shared the Dalai Lama draft with her, but I didn't know she was going to weave along with me---what a treat!

If anyone would like a copy of the Dalai Lama draft, I am happy to share it with you. Just contact me via my email with your contact information. Although I am saying this now, I have no way to doing this until I get back to Seattle after the 19th.

At first I was concerned that the cashmere was going to cover the silk too much, but not the case.
The colors are rich and subtle. My little visitor seemed like a good omen.

About a year ago, I sent Connie Rose some skeins of white recycled cashmere to over-dye. I am thrilled that I saved it for this project. The variegated skeins look very rich, indeed. Thank you Connie!

And then my friend Linda, from out of the past, showed up to weave a little bit. Actually there were a half dozen folks who stopped by to weave. I wish I had taken pictures of everyone who sat down at the loom. I will be sure to ---if people stop by on Tuesday, although I suspect tomorrow will be a quiet day.

Interestingly, I taught Linda to weave 25 years ago when we both lived in Seattle. Linda now lives 3 miles or so from the Garden. It was sure great to re-connect with old friends. It feels more and more like I am "coming home".
I easily got 1/3 of the weaving done. At about 3:30 we had a huge down-pour which cooled everything off. Then the wind came up and we had to batten down the loom for the evening.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Warping in the Garden

It is a most interesting experience warping a loom outside on a windy day. I had to give up trying to keep the threads aligned as they went around the back beam.

It is equally interesting to realize I forgot to bring the lease sticks I usually use to support the cross while I thread through the heddles. Those of you who are weavers should find it somewhat amusing that I used the breast bar and the beater bar to support the lease. Fortunately I brought lots of rope and string to lash everything up tight (something I don't usually do)

I also didn't bring a low stool, so I was sitting up a bit higher than I usually do which made threading a bit slower.
And although it was a hot bright sunny day, you can see it is actually somewhat shadowy from where I was sitting. But it was divine having the prayer flags flapping in the breeze all around me.

Can you see the figure of Yum Chenmo off in the distance? It's quite a bit different than my apartment in Seattle. (grin)

Knots are tied and I am all ready to begin tomorrow on the first day of the new moon.

First Visit to the Garden

Even in a picture, it is hard to imagine the scope of Garden, the amount of work that has already been done, the amazing speed in the which the garden is taking shape, and the vast amount of work yet to be completed.

Seated at the center point of the Garden of 1000 Buddhas is the 25-foot figure of Yum Chenmo, or the Great Mother. In the Sanskrit language she is known as Prajnaparamita, or “Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.” She is depicted in feminine form because it is said that it is this perfect wisdom that “gives birth” to all of the Buddhas, as well as the bodhisattvas,those who are striving for enlightenment to benefit all beings.

Here I am with Konchog Norbu, the Buddhist Monk who is overseeing this grand project. He gave me a most welcoming tour of grounds, and took me into the barn where the 1000 Buddhas
are being made and stored.



Here is a Buddha still in the mold.


And here is the just shy of 600 Buddhas.

Although it doesn't look like it, it does smell like a barn. Konchog told me the property used to be a working sheep ranch. I just found out that the land for the Garden was acquired 11 years ago, and it has taken all this time to get to this point in the process.

We unloaded the loom in the garage, and I will be back on Sunday to thread the loom to be ready to begin the weaving on Monday.

To read all about the Garden, click here to tour the beautiful website.

The Journey Begins---

Where is the line between excitement and hysteria (grin)?

Grace is happily packed and ready to go.


Onward into the future....

The trip was somewhat of a blur, and in the next post I will be of my initial visit to the Garden. I didn't take a single picture during the drive over (must have been because I didn't get more than 3 hours sleep) However, if anyone really wants to see some road shots, I will fish some out from previous drives to Montana. I promise to post pictures of Arlee, the Jocko Valley, Flathead Lake, and the Mission Mountains as my Montana saga progresses.

Weaving in the Garden--- Final Preparations

I wound the Dalai Lama warp all the way back on the warp beam. I wrapped a nice towel around it all and secured the lease sticks in place. I have never done this before. It should work though.

Awaiting the arrival of the chariot.
Grace and Gary have changed places. While I am weaving the Dalai Lama on Grace in Montana, Breanne will be weaving her horoscope on Gary---her first weaving. I left her Peggy Osterkamp's new book, so she should be just fine.