Jon Katz, The Man With a Heart and January's Common Thread Give- Away Artist

I am a voracious reader and running out of room on my shelves for any more books,so for Christmas my family gave me a tablet, which can be used as a kindle. What a treat it has been to lay in bed, all toasty and warm and sample new literature through Amazon. After reading Running to the Mountain, I sampled Jon Katz's newest book and can't wait to read Second Chance Dog: A love Story about his wife's dog, Freida, "the dog who kept men away". The sample chapter available on Amazon whet my appetite and I can't wait to read it cover to cover!

Jon Katz is not only a  New York Time's Best Selling Author but our Common Thread Give-Away Artist for January. The picture above, "Morning Road" is signed and matted and ready for an 11 x 14 inch frame. In order to register to win this free give-away, please simply go to his wife, Maria Wulf's website, www.fullmoonfiberart.com and leave a comment there for Jon. The winner will be announced on Sunday versus Thursday of this next week.
                
Jon is a man that I am so proud to call my acquaintance and friend, since participating in the Pig Barn Gallery Show and Sale on Jon and Maria's Bedlam Farm a few years ago.They have since moved down the road  to a smaller version of their original Bedlam Farm, retaining all of the original creative charm of the first, a charm that comes from Jon's love of his wife, Maria and the love that they share for their many animals and community that surround them. To know Jon is to love him, and to read his work is to get a bird's eye view into the heart of this dear man.

His list of New York Times Best Selling books are not Jon's only accomplishments however. Jon's blog, Bedlam Farm Journal,(Bedlamfarm.com) starts my everyday. Unlike other news of the day, Jon's news is guaranteed to start your day with a focus on what is good and prevailing in life. His blog beckons me to see my own life differently and live it to the fullest.  Though Jon may not realize it, his writings often stimulate my thinking which inspires many of my own writings.  I think that that is Jon's gift to the world.  He is unique and he staunchly supports the uniqueness in those around him and his stories bring that to his readers everyday.

Jon's talents and abilities don't stop there. His wonderful photography captures the very soul of the animals and people that he writes about, as well as the country that surrounds him. He never tires of capturing that fresh vision of his world, sending it out to all who subscribe to his blog.  He has also been known to use other mediums to express his joy with the world. He is a man who never seems to grow tired of exploring and expanding his life and sharing it with others. He has even been featured in a special TED talk recently about his gift of living life to the fullest no matter what age. I understand that he was warmly received by his live audience, and I cannot wait to hear and see this special program.

Before I end this blog, I must share a true "Jon Katz story". Last spring, he and his wife, Maria hosted a lunch for our Common Thread Artist's group.  Jon was the featured cook, though his talent was not show-cased by he or Maria, as being the perfect host and hostess that they are, their focus was on us as their guests.  I had brought some of my felted heart pins that I had made and opened the box of them for each to choose one they liked best to keep. It was a bit of a hostess gift as well as a gift for the other members of our group. I narrowly had thought of them as gifts for the women in the group, but was pleasantly surprised that Jon wanted one too. For many weeks after that I would see pictures of Jon with my felted heart pin worn for all to see...and realized then how fitting this was for Jon, for with or without my heart pin, Jon truly wears his heart for all to see and know. I cannot think of a greater gift to give to the world Jon, nor a greater compliment to give to you! You are indeed a special gift to us all! Thank you!!

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The Winner of The Common Thread Give-Away

The winner of The Common Thread Give-Away is Jane Mintz. Congratulations to Jane!

If you didn't win this month don't despair! Come back next month. Maria Wulf will be offering a sample of her work!!

August’s Common Thread Give-Away: #2 Ode to Jon

This month’s Common Thread’s featured artist is Jon Katz.  He will be giving away a free sample of his work. In order to qualify simply go to his wife, Maria Wulf’s website, Full Moon Fiber Art and leave a comment anytime Monday, August 12th through Wednesday, August 14th. The winner will be drawn and announced on Thursday, August 15th.

For those of you that haven’t visited Jon’s website, Bedlam Farm Journal,  it is a delightful experience not to be missed.  In fact, I start most of my mornings reading it.  Jon is a New York Times best-selling author and his photography is becoming as renown. Instead of waking to the all-too-common horrible news of the day, I start my day with Jon’s blog and come away with a positive affirmation of love for country life and a sweet story to go with it.

One of Jon’s dogs, Red, has become a therapy dog.  I think that Jon is becoming a sort of therapy man himself.  His blog is balm to my soul, and his writings stimulate my thoughts, often leaving me with a smile as well as an urge to write a retort.  For those who want to “talk back” and interact with Jon and his followers, he has an interactive group on facebook that I understand is quite lively.

I find Jon refreshing and forever young at heart.  His life, and love for his dear Maria, dogs, donkeys, sheep and chickens, along with the beautiful upstate New York country-side surrounding their charming vintage farm house are captured in his writings and photographs.

His pictures of Maria and Red in action are inspiring as they do their farm chores, showing both totally focused and enjoying their work! Jon’s blog has become a little exercise for my heart and brain, opening them to the goodness of the world and setting a tone for making the most of each day, helping me see the blessings that surround me.

This is my second Ode to Jon and I’m sure there will be more to come.  To know Jon and his writings is to love him!

After the East Poultney Historical Day

Relief, the sale is over!  I was concerned about the heat and the humidity, being a creature of air conditioning this summer.  I survived it well, thanks to the shade tree they carefully selected for me in back of our tent location.  Our new set up worked well, giving more space to our customers.  Lucky for me I could sit in back of the tent where it was cool, and Hannah, my daughter just inside the tent with the tent walls rolled back for the morning.  We enjoy our contact with customers and friends, a bit of a reunion for us, and for me add to it the excitement of getting out of the house for a whole day and taking in all the new creations of our friends!

We returned home early, weary and a bit wet after being rained out in the afternoon. Seventy-five pounds of tree ripened peaches greeted us. Their sweetness was divine, and worked well to revive us, though I went to bed early, so I could be up and ready for canning in the morning.  “No rest for the wicked”, my mother used to say, and I know that I must fall into that category as no matter how I try, my energy doesn’t seem to go far enough to do all that I want to do.  Perhaps it is my greed for living life to the fullest that is my problem!

Our canning was over in about four hours, thanks to the “many hands making our work light”.  Hannah was in charge, dropping our peaches into boiling water. Then after plunging them into ice water, I took over, popping their skins. Delighted to see that their beautiful blush remained, I placed them into another bowl laced with lemon juice until they were sliced by my husband. Back into their lemon water bath, the slices remained until Hannah packed them into jars and poured hot syrup over them, and then finished them off with a water bath canning process.  Hannah and I love to can, or perhaps that should read that we love the idea of putting up beautiful fruit to be enjoyed all through the year (39 quarts). Perhaps we are part squirrel?

Our favorite peach recipe has been a fruit crisp.  Hannah pours the light syrup from the canned peaches over the other frozen unsweetened fruit that she combines with our peaches; sometimes strawberries, sometimes rhubarb, or blueberries, adding their tartness to her crisp.  A mixture of sugar, oatmeal, butter and flour is then added to the top.  There is occasionally an extra dish to have for breakfast in the morning!  Aren’t fruit crisps or pies really breakfast food? And to think of the hours I spend planning my weight loss diets! The point?

Hannah doesn’t tell us, but she has frozen a tray of sliced peaches to make into homemade peach ice cream.  What is a dieter to do? Certainly, I am not to forego this extra treat!

Our Little House is now suffering from our wares spread about in the basement and dining room, drying out from the extra humidity from our day out.  Though it poured rain in the afternoon, all but our tent and bunting stayed dry. But our quick departure means a bit of reorganizing before putting our wares on the shelf and no matter how I try, I am not fast enough to keep up with getting everything done.

No, after a sale it is time to sit in my Vacation Chair, made beautiful by its recent addition of a Vacation Chair Pillow made by my friend and fellow artist, Maria Wulf.  We were so blessed to have her and Jon make it to our show in the nick of time, as the rain shortened our day.

It was a planned rendezvous where Maria and I were to trade our wares.  I so admire her artistic free motion-quilted pillows, among other things.  They are story pillows, and she took my Vacation Chair Story and beautifully quilted it into my pillow.    I will let you read this pillow yourself, before I go on to tell you the story of my Vacation Chair.  In fact, the future telling of my story will likely be redundant, for her pillow tells it all!  Thank you Maria, I love it!

Do visit Maria on line at www.fullmoonfiberart.com and be sure to meander through her blogs! You are in for a treat, and don’t miss her husband’s blog at www.bedlamfarm.com/blog.  Jon Katz is a New York Times bestselling author and you will soon prefer reading his daily blog news each day, to the news of our wild and wicked world.

Jon’s news makes me reflect on what is really important in my life’s journey. I find his readings gentle and soothing to my soul.  It is so delightful to discover another favorite author, and I look forward to packing in more of his books for my winter reading feast and getting better acquainted with his thoughts!  I am only sorry that I have not discovered his works years earlier!

Both Jon and Maria are lovely and kind folk that will touch your heart as they have touched mine. Their rural country life style combined with their tender love of their animals and neighbors will warm you and make you feel secure, much like Fred Rogers did when he would put on his sneakers and sweater.  Jon welcomes you to his and Maria’s farm and openly and candidly shares his experiences and struggles and validates all that it means to be a truly loving human being.

Their move to their new and smaller farm right down the road is going to make for more delightful reading to be sure! I am glad that my daughter didn’t see Maria’s contest to win the terrifying shower curtain. Like Maria, I prefer something a little more friendly to greet me in the night, like my yellow ducks or rose theme bathrooms.  I am enjoying their sharing of their new “old” home decorating experiences!  It calls to mind us re-doing our rented farmhouse of years ago, combining our furnishings with the built in history of an old farm house! We are eager to pay them a visit after they get settled, and on-line, Jon and Maria will welcome us all to their new location!