Embracing Simplicity: A Day with My Apprentice

Last Saturday was one of those days that reminded me why I enjoy having an apprentice. Nothing spectacular happened. There were no great revelations or major accomplishments. Yet by the end of the day, I came home smiling.

The day actually started with downsizing.

Tanneke is working on a collage project, so she came over to look through my scrapbooking supplies. I have been trying to simplify my life and reduce the amount of “stuff” in the house. Watching someone else become excited over supplies that had mostly been sitting unused on my shelves makes it much easier to let them go. Those papers and embellishments will have a second life instead of gathering dust in my craft space.

After that, we rewarded ourselves with lunch at Teriyaki Madness. Good food and good conversation are never a bad combination.

Then we headed south into the Barony of Mag Mor, better known to people not in the SCA as Lincoln, Nebraska.

Our destination was the Valhalla Bee Farm‘s shop.

Tanneke has become interested in learning reticella lace and had heard they might be able to point her in the right direction. They couldn’t teach her the technique, but they did give her the name of someone in Omaha who might be able to help. Sometimes research doesn’t answer your question—it simply tells you where to ask next.

While she was talking with the staff, I wandered through the shop. Naturally, I found myself looking at the embroidery thread.

The thread they sell is hand-dyed by three different makers in separate spaces.

I thought it was interesting that, although each dyer creates their own colors, they label them with comparable DMC numbers. That makes it easier for embroiderers to substitute hand-dyed thread into existing patterns while still enjoying the subtle variations that make hand-dyed fibers so beautiful.

After leaving Valhalla, on the way home, we stopped at heaven. For antique lovers, that is—an antique mall.

Tanneke found several items for an assemblage she is creating in memory of her father. It was fun watching her discover pieces that spoke to her and imagining how they would fit into her artwork.

I found something, too. It was a lovely wood carving.

I picked it up, admired it, and put it back down.

Not because I couldn’t afford it. Not because I didn’t like it. But because I’m already trying to downsize and I have my own wood carving of Li Tieguai.

That may not sound like much, but for someone who has spent a lifetime collecting interesting historical objects, it felt like a quiet victory. Appreciating something beautiful doesn’t mean I have to own it.

I already have antiques that deserve to be appreciated. Bringing home one more would only make it harder to enjoy the ones I already have.

Looking back, none of our stops turned out exactly as expected. We didn’t make a major discovery about lace. And I didn’t come home with a new treasure.

Instead, we spent the day encouraging each other’s projects, sharing good conversation, learning a few new things, and making a little more room—both in my house and, perhaps, in my life.

I’d call that a pretty successful day.