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Bubbleologist on the job ........ playing

Just past sunrise on the last day of October and, wishing  to both acknowledge  the appearance of the sun and the last morning of October,  I released bouquets of bubbles.

And watched how they behaved in autumn early air;  how they rushed out without the hesitation that cool weather can produce in their departure; how they lifted quickly and dispersed;  how some scooted east and then north;  how others drifted lazily south and then west;  how the bubble wand took only a dip or two to hold enough solution to result in crowds of bubbles.

Then, facing east as I was,  sun direct,  I noticed that there were hundreds of tiny bubbles in the midst.  I did not know how to capture these in a photo;  perhaps they are camera shy.  But they were there.  An awesome audience for the last day of the month and a splendid  sunny fall day.

In a dream ......

I am walking along a city road and suddenly the ground becomes bumpy and icy.  I find myself leaning  back on my heels and propelling myself effortlessly and smoothly along the surface.  The person I am with, not self-propelled,  comments on this which makes me think of what I am doing and this thinking affects the momentum and the ease. Which wakes me up. And leaves the feeling that I could do it again if I let go of the thought and went with the feeling.

Later I wondered if this is the major issue around replicating - 'proving' - events outside the physical.  The influence of observation.  Hello, quantum physics. Keep on dreaming,  dreamers.

Btw - is a short blog a blogitter?

Pestle - no mortar

A glass pestle from a church sale was going to be hung in a window and shimmer in the light.  Then these lovely flowers presented and as I put them into a vase ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....  I wondered what the pestle would look like nestled in with them.  They nicely nestle!

 I also wonder what the mortar to such a pestle must have looked like.  

Flea market find ...... what is it .... ????

This was in with some tools at the weekly flea market but when I asked the seller what it was he said,  "For darning socks."  I was curious as to why he had put it with the tools but implied criticism is never a good idea before one has inquired about the price in such a situation.

And, besides, I did not think it was for darning socks, although the encircling piece might be a good idea for holding mending in place.  But it seemed the wrong shape:  an egg shape is more needed for darning, more like a heel.  

Awhile later I encountered an acquaintance,  a fellow fibre artist, and dug this out of my bag and asked him.

He said it was for stamping (or blotting?) and the clamp would hold paper taut so one could stamp (?) or blot.  The question marks are mine because, on later reflection,  I could see that a soft, bendable paper like blotting paper might lend itself to being pressed around the end and contained there while one used it for blotting real ink writing. I'm not sure what he meant by "stamping".

A further thought is that I could put a piece of fabric in it and then hold it and paint something on the stretched surface.  But why would I want to hold it like that.  I tape fabric down flat to paint upon.  

Any information?  Any ideas?

 

 

 

Pencils from newspapers

There is something about pencils that delights me and always has.  For years I wrote letters, stories, poems, dreams, journal entries, even a few of my books in longhand on lined paper with a pencil. 

There are still pencils in every room in the house, in the glove compartment of the car, in my knitting bags, in the garden with a pad or roll of paper for notes or thoughts or scribblings or sketchings.  

Finding these at a church sale had me replacing all of the above with one of these.

They write really well: the lead is the right shade and density:  they are a good grippable size: the eraser works!  

They are made from newspaper.  The fact that they are made from newspaper is clearly evident and I like that very much.

There were eight in the box from an original dozen (one is already in the car).  I got them all for a dime.

Mini mandarins

A few of these boxes were in the local supermarket in the midst of hundreds of boxes of the non-mini (maxi?) mandarins and I asked the produce man how they compared with their 'older cousins'.

He said he had not actually tried them but parents - and grandparents (he added that with a nod to my age) -  seemed to be buying them.  

They are delicious and no need to separate into segments.  They do have pits and are a bit harder to peel.  They are disappearing fast.  I imagine they will go even faster if once the grandkids see them.  

Early morning enchantment

Streetcombings:  what the tides of humanity wash up overnight on city street shores.

There is nature, human and otherwise, and this offering by the 'otherwise' part - a spider, I believe - provided me with a visual street find.

 

 

 

 

 

And there was this delight - a spider's, for sure - when I finished the walk and got in the car.

Weave-It Looms and A (Virtual) Installation

If you google  Weave-It Looms you will find oogles - I mean, oodles - of  information about these nifty little looms.  

Stephanie can whip up a square in not much more than ten minutes;  that is including the three warps as well as the one weft with the long needle shuttle.

It is really quite meditative.  

This is my first square and I used linen which has very little give so it was a challenge as far as tension goes.  But I am pleased with the result.

 

It pops off the loom with no need to tie the ends.

  I got to thinking that it might lend itself to Performance Art.  

Imagine all those pegs represented by people standing in a square - outdoors would be nicest.

And then one person could load the loom by walking the warp back and forth around the 'pegs' until all three layers were completed.  

The final weaving would be interesting and could involve a person climbing over and under, over and under etc. 

The fibre?  Hmmm.  Wonderfully preposterous things come to mind like double dutch skipping ropes and bicycle tire tubes and old bed sheets knotted together and double-knitting yarn leftover from hundreds of projects wound into a huge ball and then finger knit and wound into another ball.

Bravo, buffets!

Back in university days, the studies that showed that babies, given their choice of food, would choose what the body needed and their method of doing this was usually at odds with convention or the advice of 'experts' on a proper diet made quite an impression on me.  As did Molly Groger, years later, with her book Eating Awareness Training,  which suggested waiting until hungry to eat and then letting the body, guided by hunger,  choose what and how much. As do more recent books like Gary Taubes  in Good Calories, Bad Calories (the Epilogue is a good precis !).

Choice and hunger and the satiety factor.  Buffets are one way of providing us with the choice.

Buffets have come a long way from the deli selections of potato salad,  five bean salad,  jellied salad,  cole slaw.

A local grocery store has a large selection of fruit and vegetables and  cheese and meat and eggs and nuts and seeds and leafy greens and pickled items and interesting salads,  all displayed in a long counter around which you can walk  with a container and choose what you want in whatever amount.  It is paid for by weight.  The quality of the food is wonderful and it is kept scrupulously clean.

It is an experience to  view  all that is offered and respond to the visual effect of food ready to eat.  It isn't an all-you-can-eat buffet so the greed/guilt aspect is absent.

I would like the option of a non-disposable plate and will begin to take my own cutlery and cup.

This was breakfast a week or so ago -  with bacon, eggs and toast ordered separately and with options as to method of preparation and style.  Peas in the pod and cole slaw and I think that was an ancient grain salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was another time when fruit and cheese were wanted.  I am intrigued by how three orange pieces felt right, and two honey dew and one cube of feta and so on.  And how this changes, time to time.

This morning I wanted two black olives with the fruit and they proved a perfect accompaniment.

I like how this gives the opportunity of experiencing satisfaction after eating,  of hearing the body's 'voice' which is then stilled until it gets hungry again.  Quite liberating.

 

 

Pictures from ball chains

There are a number of reasons why I enjoy taking some lengths of ball chain and letting them drop on a surface and seeing what pattern or image occurs:  it is fun;  each one is different;  some ancient memory of divination, perhaps;  the sound and sight and feel of the medium is satisfying and somehow akin to the magic of fibre;  it is a portable form of entertainment and can provide amusement in a restaurant for a restless child (of any age);  it can be worn like a necklace;  in a pocket it can act like worry beads;  it can serve as mantra beads;  I can finger knit with it.

Here are some recent throws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They lend themselves to story telling.

And if you wish to save one - I've done this on greeting cards - then brush some white glue on the card stock, the kind that dries transparent, and lay it on top of the image,  press firmly,  maybe wait a bit for it to adhere and dry, and then turn carefully over, adjusting and adding more glue if necessary.

Haven't done this 'card trick' for awhile ..... hmmmm.......