Bergamot bowls and intervening activities

Friday I achieved quite a few tangential tasks. To wit: I was going upstairs to assemble, that means find, the various tools and materials needed for the Decoration of the Bergamot Bowls. 

On the way up I noticed ny new boots that I'm trying to get used to. They're new, stiff and I haven't worn boots in years and have to get used to something up around my ankles. So I've been practicing a bit each day.

Then I remembered there are stretchers that will help. An online search revealed that the expensive ones are almost as much as the boots even without shipping, and the cheapies don't work. Oh. But there's a stretching spray the posh people use with the expensive stretchers. 

Another search, I was still on the stairs, revealed you can get pretty much the same spray product arriving anywhere till mid January, and costing any old amount plus any old equal amount for shipping. Then I tracked down the same spray, free shipping, arriving in the next couple of days. So that's set up.

Then I continued upstairs, original goal still in mind, and while I was rummaging around for a brush, found a retractable pen with a dry ink thing. Set it aside because I had an idea about it.

Then found various metallic paints, tissue paper for papier mache for the Bowls, white glue and a spray bottle with dilute white glue in it that I'd used to apply handmade paper to lampshades, you've seen them.

Finally made it downstairs, replaced the ink thing with a spare I had which happened to fit well enuf fer gummint work and I have a new pen.

I washed out the spray bottle and kept it for other uses. 

And then, not before time, set up the Bowl Decoration Department.

The procedure is to tear up the tissue paper, which happens to have arrived wrapped round the boots I started with above, to everything a season, and apply using the dilute white glue and a decent brush. 

It's okay because the glue is water soluble, no harm to the brush if you wash it promptly.  And, pausing only to bathe my eyes because I'm sensitive to white glue, I got the first coat of papier mache applied. 

This needs to dry, then another coat, before I get to the painting. I'm thinking gold metallic and black. So far, so fun. I love this process as you see the tissue blending in to make a new surface.

Other important issues, I'm listening to a guy on YouTube getting all happy about words and language in Shakespeare. This was after I'd been hearing Dr Reyes,  Filipina professor of language and meaning schooling a BBC presenter who, if he had only one foot, would have got off on the wrong one. She was calm, excellent and very cool.

I love etymology, always looking up word origins and tracking down trains of thought. When Handsome Son was here, somehow Henry VIII and chicken got into the convo. Don't ask me, I only live here.

Whereupon I said that reminds me, I watched the Bishop's Wife again. HS looked completely baffled at this leap, which seemed obvious to me.

So I explained, Charles Laughton played Henry in a classic movie. He was married (complications there, but anyway) at one time to Elsa Lanchester who plays Mildred in the BW.  See, quite clear.

My mom used language in her own way, not with unfathomable pathways of meaning but her own stamp on words and expressions.  

She would say he was so startled he sat up boltright!  Or, that spider's harmless but he can give you a nasty bite. And oh, there was such a human cry!

As Dr Reyes says, language is flexible, adaptable to culture and people. Especially some people.

Happy day everyone. Remember it pays not to stick to doing one thing at a time. Around here anyway. Fluffinia says dryly, yesh, that's her mantra, until she gets another.