Gardens, Textiles and Tea and art

The start of the heatwave kept me away from the needlearts group today, and since another member was stuck waiting for a service call, and another was out of town, I wonder if there was a quorum.

I was out early visiting plants and admiring my solar lantern, now hanging in the Japanese maple. It casts lovely soft interesting shadows around in the dark, very pleasing.

Indoors I checked out my favorites, succulents and the offspring growing in a miniature pot, fingernail nearby for scale.

Some weaving happened and as usual gave me ideas for more weaving. 

Then I thought about maybe painting a bit or drawing and said self, you're waving your arms,  giving unwanted advice to Mitch about trying a different art form, why not stop weaving for a minute, and do a bit of something else yourself?

So I did. First drawing I'd done since this time last year. A kind of rusty here goes nothing few minutes.  This is my entire watercolor setup. Little painting then a little drawing.

That was a nice little interlude and my hand started to remember how to do this. It's so much more subtle movement and closer observation than crafting work. Maybe I'll do it a bit more.

Later came Textiles and Tea with 

She's a weaver and mixed media artist, Caribbean tradition, who uses artificial hair as her main weft material. Her warps are cotton.

This was a commission for a special event 

She takes part in Carneval, and these pieces reflect her costume 

 

She's very young and I think we'll see a lot more of her work,  already appearing in juried shows and good galleries. She'll be in New York in September, check her website for details.

So that's today around here, happy day everyone, do something different to take your mind off whatever you need to take your mind off.

And while you're at it, US blogistas, please call or message your senators to urge passage of the bill before them, S4814. 

This bill restores and extends temporary protected status to Haitian residents. It's a workaround against the misbegotten SCOTUS decision to rescind it. 

It occurs to me to mention that every time I urge you to take some action, I've already done it myself. It's not just doasIsay! Just sayin.

I have some ideas about the hilarious range if Lyft drivers I've met recently, and the weird bosses I've had. I was reminded of bosses by some revenge fiction I've been hearing, terrible writing, so bad it's funny. But since the bad guys are exposed and shamed and the good guys win, it's clearly fiction. Another day for that.

Riddle, flowers and farmer's carry

I was out early this morning, watering the seedlings, now growing nicely. Gary gave me a bunch of gallon juice jugs last year, for watering. 

They work nicely, a gallon of water weighing about 8 pounds, a good weight for me to carry, one in each hand, doing a farmer's carry, great resistance exercise.  From sink to patio is a good distance for the purpose 

Later I checked the forecast which reported rain to arrive later this morning.  Too late, I'd already done the watering.

I think there are two kinds of gardeners. One kind loves to go to the nursery and buy plants to arrange in their garden or indoors That's Gary. 

The other has no interest in letting someone else have all the fun of propagating, but likes growing from seed or cuttings. They're likely to practice gardener's larceny, stealing cuttings and collecting stray seeds wherever they find them. That's me.

Both kinds have been known to rescue plants from the dumpster and give them a new life. One kind, Gary, would keep them. 

The other, me, would bring them back, maybe creating several offspring plants and, once established, give them away to eager recipients who are less familiar with plant care. 

I did get out for a walk to the pond before the rain arrived, passing neighbors busy gardening and doing inadvisable things to their patios. 

There was a team on one patio,  breaking up the concrete apron, to lay down bricks instead. I doubt if this is a good move the apron being designed  to carry rainwater away from the house wall, but they didn't ask me.

And I have a riddle for you. A walker takes a stroll past a public golf course, and finds a number of golfballs well outside the boundary and in next door's property. What day is it? Answer at the end.

There's a lone daylily in the trees.

And a natural bouquet near the pond 

It never gets old walking down here to see turtles sliding quietly off the logs and into the water while frogs leap right over them shouting, great big drama queens.

Answer to the riddle: Monday, of course.

All the duffers are out at the weekend hitting wildly all over. The other day I found three balls nestled together near the houses. Whatever that golfer's doing wrong, at least he's consistent.

During the week the retirees,  seasoned players, are out, very few balls out of bounds from them.

Happy day everyone, now you know when to score a few balls for your own frugal use. 

Plans for weaving, my soulbird and more

Here's who I plan to come back as in my next life

There's a bird who knows what's what.

I had a cardio checkup this morning, new cardio meeting for the first time, who declared me fine, vibrant (!) and said everything's stable and maybe this will be an annual check, not more. All good. 

He did the usual double take when we met, since he'd only seen records and probably expected me to creep in on a walker. But to be fair, probably most of his older patients are in fact creeping in on walkers, so he gets a biased view.

I had a great pond walk when I got home, marveling at how this time last year I couldn't get that far, mainly because of fall risk and hip giving way. Now it's just a nice stroll. 

There were two pairs of Canada geese out, watching me suspiciously, but not aggressive, so I guess not nesting there. 

And I have plans for patterned bandweaving this summer. Longtime readers  will possibly remember the Summer of the English Paper Piecing EPP, when I got into a frenzy of stitching ending with a suite of great pieced pillows and tired fingers. 

This year it's the Summer of the Patterned Bandweaving.  The forecast is for a very hot summer, time indoors, so this might work.

I've sent for the Durham Weaver's book,

meanwhile here's a design I can try out.

But first I'll finish the second sock to go with this one  

I like how the pooling formed a spiral.

Back home the spice bush is blooming and the scent is starting to float about.

What's this below? If it's an amaranth please say, then I'll yank it out before it makes a million seeds.

Speaking of home, Gary started talking patio yesterday. I had let it go because of weather and his back, laying heavy pavers, but he evidently is still on it. We'll see. 

After the daffodils have bloomed I'll need to dig up and move a couple that would end up under pavers. Otherwise I'll just see how it works out.

 Happy day everyone and here are various wishes and statements

An all-purpose statement! For all social justice contexts.

New sauce, art opening, patio redux

 It was crunchy tofu time, and I made a different sauce. Yogurt, garlic, salt, dill 

It would have been good to remember the art opening before I ate a lot of anti social raw garlic,  but oh well.  It went very well with the tofu cubes. 

And in the course of crushing the garlic my folk craft cat cutting board came apart.

So it's still an artwork. Now it's Cat Crouching Behind Pillows. I always like a cat in the window, but usually it's a live one.

The opening was crowded, very happy event with speeches of thanks to everyone, and reminiscences.

E with her mixed media work 

Old friend Susan 

Really pleased that a lot of younger people are taking part 

Our leader, Tatiana 

The librarian who routed spammers trying to disrupt our communication before the show 

Paula who led the group before Tatiana 

Tatiana with her own work from a while back. 

I've been recruited to help think up more ways to show art in different parts of the building. Serves me right for showing up! 

And back home Gary was out measuring for the patio! He's buying the blocks tomorrow. I had thought he might not be well enough to do it, and hadn't mentioned anything about it but he seems fine with it.  The next door neighbors are going to match it, so we'll have a unified effect. I am really liking this.

Later he brought over his sad shefflera for a consultation then two hours of repotting, choosing pots, drilling holes to upcycle them, while I made suggestions and a lot of encouraging sounds. Later still he showed up with this nest which fell out of his tree. What bird,  do you think?

Never a dull moment chez Boud! Or in town

Happy day everyone, treasure your dull moments if you get any.