Mystery plant, moringa and oakgalll ink

This morning's wander in the early morning cool revealed another sudden mystery plant, probably another escapee from next door. 

I'm guessing some variety of squash, but if you, or your app, know better, please say. Beautiful leaves, perfect for leaf printing..

And my moringa, grown from a seed from Arizona, is doing well. I started another as a houseplant but the winter light levels were too low and it eventually gave up. 

In the much higher light levels of Arizona, they grow as trees up to 90 feet I'm told. So this is an infant.

And the thyme is flowering now, woody but persisting.

Back indoors, full disclosure, I made a few inches of Iris string

I had unwrapped the fibers, kept damp in a napkin in a plastic bag, in case they were mildewed from waiting, but they're fine, so I tried a bit and will now desist for a few more days or resting the shoulder.

Anyway there's yet another adventure to add to my plans: oak gall ink. 

I've made walnut ink, as you know, and given it to students. But I supposed oak galls were attached to trees. Not so, as I found from Sally Pointer, who has gathered them from among acorns on the ground.

Having found that out, i checked further online, in the British Library and Getty museum YouTube channels, highly recommend both.

Turns out it's not a big deal to make oak gall ink, just takes a bit of time. It's indelible, permanent, waterproof, and if you don't make it right, corrosive! It can eat through the paper or vellum. 

Which means the ink makers who provided for the Canterbury Tales and Magma Carta and Declaration of Independence knew their stuff. As well as all the other mss.

I've often wondered what happens if you make a mistake on a manuscript. You can use the knife you used to make and sharpen your quill pen to scrape it out! Phew.

And yes, in the past I've made rather rough and ready quill pens from locally found feathers, and used them to write and draw a bit.  Need you ask?

Anyway here's my fall plans, as soon as acorns fall, to make ink and maybe a quill pen or two. This hot year might have been good for galls, which result from wasp attacks. You can see the hole in the gall where the wasp departed, no danger of bringing home an irritated wasp.

Always good to have something to look forward to, as well as cooler days. You can order galls online if you don't have local oak trees.

Today I'm baking the chocolate cherry cake.

Later I'll deliver the card and enclosure so Handsome Son gets a nice surprise when he arrives home late tonight from work  

He lives a couple of minutes'drive away, I can do this. This way it will be there in time. My tiny baby is going to be 55! Unbelievable.

Happy day everyone, make plans for adventures in everything, play and work and rest and we got this.