Bertie's Report

...in which he tells you about the Wild Ride.

Hi there!

My name is Bertie. I’m a bear and I live with Genevieve here in her Workshop. My full name is Bertram Dalrymple the Third. Bertie for short. 😃 I asked Genevieve if I might write the story of our big adventure last week as she is still unpacking, sorting out all that happened and staying in touch with her family (who all live in a town greatly affected by the recent Storm). She distractedly gave me a thumbs up to tell you all about it and so…here goes.

Well, perhaps I should first tell you just a smidgen about myself. I was born in Bath, England to a family of knitting bears. Yes, we are knitted bears too, but my parents put food on the table and clothes on our backs by knitting for others. I wanted to see the great wide world and so took off on a ship to sail to wherever it might take me. The long and short of the story¹ is that I landed on Genevieve’s doorstep several years ago asking for room and board. And I haven’t wanted to leave.

You see we get up to so many wonderful capers, mostly of the creative sort. We knit and crochet. She taught me to weave on her rigid heddle looms and even one time we had a very beautiful Saori Loom. We sometimes sew and do embroidery. She spins and I try to. My legs are way too short for her two spinning wheels so I try my hand at spindle spinning and well…I’m all paws. 😵‍💫 We have such a wonderful community here of mice and birds and it’s a whole world really, which revolves around making things. Genevieve is our benefactor, our friend, and fellow creative comrade.

A couple of months ago, Genevieve applied for and received something I had never heard of before…an Artist Residency. She seemed so excited about this and was planning and making lists of all the things she wanted to take. Yarns for weaving tapestry, sketchbooks and all manner of pens and paints for illustrating a book, and books to read, and well, it really was piling up. Yet she never mentioned taking me with her, nor Macy or Purl or any of the other residents here. (Hopefully you will get to meet them all eventually!)

So on the morning of her departure, myself and Macy and Purl sat atop one of her boxes of creative supplies insisting she take us along.² Which she did with what seemed like sheer delight to have companionship for the long drive ahead. I got to sit in the front passenger seat! Macy and Purl requested to be snugly situated inside one of the boxes so that they wouldn’t roll around and get car sick. Being a bear with a very strong constitution, I knew (or rather hoped) I wouldn’t have issues with that. 😊

³Genevieve had rented a cute little vehicle, a Jeep Renegade, and we certainly felt like renegades as we pulled out of the driveway with the car loaded down and 4-5 hours of driving ahead of us before we would arrive at the AR (short for Artist Residency). The whole time I kept telling Genevieve to Look here! and Look over there! at the gorgeous clouds in the blue sky and the majestic mountains rolling by our windows. Truly it was a glorious drive across the state of North Carolina!

But for some reason, when we reached what she (and her GPS) thought was the AR, it just didn’t seem right. First of all, there was no one there and no evidence of anyone living there or visiting, nor of any other people in any of the little buildings. There were signs that indicated we were in the right place. But no sign of human life. Genevieve used her cell phone to call someone, but nobody answered. After a while it was painfully obvious that this was not a place she could stay in for a whole week. I could see the disappointment on her face as we drove down the mountain and into a parking lot so she could gather herself and decide what to do next.

You’ve heard the saying, “When one door closes, another one opens.” Or is it a window that opens? Well, as Genevieve was driving back home, a lovely opportunity magically presented itself. After 10 hours on the road, having driven the final stretch in incredible fog, we pulled into a cabin where a dear friend awaited us. Let me tell you, a friendly face and a cup of tea was just what we both needed after such a long day filled with ups and downs.

Genevieve was able then to spend a lovely week with her friend, reading on the deck and painting the view, making some drawings of amazing trees in the area, and knitting a sock. The only downside was that it rained every day, and lots of it too! Genevieve knew that all that rain in the mountains, with flash flood warnings all around, would require us to leave a day early to avoid the even bigger storm that was forecasted to arrive on Friday.

I’m happy to report that we all made it safely back home, to our cozy yarn-filled home and to Genevieve’s workshop. I am also happy to tell you that Genevieve’s family, who live in a town in the mountains, are all safe and their homes suffered minimal damage. The devastation of their town however, is enormous, and they are spending their days helping others who were much less fortunate.

I am currently sitting beside Genevieve watching her start the next sock in the pair⁴ and I can see her brow is knitted together as she thinks of and prays for her family and all their friends and so many others whose lives are turned upside down from this awful storm which wreaked havoc in our beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Every now and then she stops knitting and tells me how glad she is to have been able to draw some of the majestic trees there and wistfully wonders if they are still standing. We both name what we are grateful for in the ups and downs of our Wild Ride and Adventure through the mountains. Stitch after stitch holds each gratitude, every concern, and all the prayers for so many who are hurting.

Genevieve says that you are probably doing the same.

Well, thanks for letting me tell the tale! Til next time! (If she ever lets me write here again! 🤪)

Your new friend,

Bertie

1. All this is recorded in a sketchbook and written down for a future book one day. Genevieve loves to write down the stories of all of us who live here and make things with her.💖

2. This is not the best photo of us, nor of the chair in the background, which has been mauled by the resident cat named Milo. He really is a friend but my goodness does he “love” this chair where Genevieve sits here in the studio. 😻

3. Genevieve adds this: “I have a feeling there are some of you readers who knit and might like the pattern for this most marvelous bear!”🐻

4. Genevieve tells me to give you the link to the pattern she uses for her socks (even though she has it memorized 🤪).