Hot day, tai chi, drawing and flowers

Wednesday felt very humid early, so I checked before deciding whether to walk 

This was 5.30 am. I'd got up thinking it was 6.30, no glasses on. In the high 70s but not very breathable.

So I looked around the patio and found 

As you see, blossoms all over. This hibiscus is in her second year. Last year two blooms, this year at least a dozen buds.

The morning glory is starting to flower. Zinnias, too, and while I was there I hauled the lavender plant over to be propped up in the corner. It fell again during the storm, and I don't want it falling on the hibiscus.  The coleus also fell during the storm so now it's sitting on top of a container of lemon balm and they can fight it out.

And while I was there, I noticed how bad the gate looked, covered in algae and looking neglected, which it was. So I thought while I was there why not wash it. This is an index of not having enough to do, when you start washing gates.

So off I went indoors in search of cleaning materials. Then I saw my neighbor coming out of her front door in search of the newspaper and completely forgot what I'd come in for.

I remembered something about water but not what. Retraced my steps, sat on the patio and caught sight of the gate. Ohh. Quickly ran back for cleaning spray etc before I forgot again. It was quite easy to clean, one of those jobs you postpone for months then it takes two minutes once you remember it.

Algaegate, then Cleangate! 

All this early morning hot humid activity definitely suggested a shower, but first, since I wasn't walking this morning, I did some tai chi with Don Fiore, same man I'd done qi gong with earlier.

That calmed down all my joints nicely, and one shower later, I was ready to follow up on the car and house issues.

House contractor, no response to text, but I think the contractor's on vacation this week. Anyway I've registered my need to know. 

Called the body shop, they're waiting for parts, maybe ready end of next week. So that calms the brain that's pushing to know more and not just sit there. I've done what I can. 

Then I was wondering what arty thing was next and I didn't feel like fiber arts today. So I thought maybe I'd draw what was happening on the patio, around the morning glory. Pilot pen fine, black, little drawing, about 7" square,  first in ages.

That was a nice few minutes. The paper is bright white but doesn't register that way.

Wednesday galloped by, mid afternoon before I noticed it. Audiobook, a very nice reading of Georgette Heyer's  The Nonesuch,  tea, and a snooze may have ensued.

Happy day everyone, life's a banquet! And here's a hilarious website, Than Average, in case you want to compare yourself to a lot of strangers.

Catchup all over

I got a ride this afternoon, to the food pantry to drop off canned goods before their next distribution, then to the library to return DVDs and donate a book, then upstairs for a brief reunion with my knitting buds.

The last bit was great, and I got useful ideas for my basket. Beads? A lid? A handle?  All noted.  And gave a rapid tutorial to a new member, on how to make cordage. Lucets came up, too, the spinner of the group having tried it but not with a lot of success. 

I also got renewed offers of rides, which will be great because the knitters are there as long as we need to meet. Today's visit was limited by my needing to let my ride get on with her afternoon. But it will be too cool to get back.

And interesting food has happened. Oatmeal wraps for lunches. These are fun to make, like clay time in preschool.

Breakfast 

The inner life of wraps, yogurt, spinach, walnuts.

All rolled up and a bit artisanal. One cup of oatmeal, one of water, pinch of salt, makes half  a dozen wraps.  I'm definitely doing this again, with various flours, same recipe.

The flatbread is flexible and wraps fine, so I have many ideas now about fillings.

The thing is that it's not as quick as the YouTube cooks would have you believe. This one is "five minutes". 

I wonder which five. The dough prep five, the cutting and rolling out five,  the time each takes to cook five, the filling and rolling up five?  They're nice and I have several lunches now, but why fib about how long? If people like to cook, they don't mind knowing the actual time needed.

Tuesday's garden, despite massive overnight rain and thunderstorms, serious flooding north of here, major highways closed,  was perfectly happy. The lavender had fallen over, but other plants were unworried, even budding out.

First morning glory bud in this garden's history, seed hand-collected in Idaho by Chris, thank you. A breakthrough.

Any minute now the hibiscus will open with a flourish of trumpets.

 

First zinnia flower, yay. Not many flowers get the loud greetings that mine do. And happy dances.

Gary was having phone issues before he left, new phone, unable to get contents and contacts from old dead phone, packed with pictures and videos, serious user. Then Monday night he called to check in then Tuesday texted this 

That's Billie in front. So clearly Gary's back in phone business. I texted back catalpa, before looking it up, such a smart approach, ready, fire, aim.

Textiles and Tea Tuesday featured Nicole Yi Messier, who with her collaborator Victoria Manganiello, is an artistic powerhouse, working at the intersection of fiber arts, fiber optics and sound.   She teaches at NYU and Parsons, and is the tech brain  in the weaving/tech partnership in which Victoria is the weaving driver. Their work has been exhibited in many venues, more to come.

Her works use LED fiberoptics, which respond to the movement of the people viewing them. One large installation is called Signal to Noise. Here the concept of seeing noise as interrupting the signal is changed into seeing the noise as a signal in itself. Like the shakuhachi concept, where everything is life, not an interruption of life. 

This is the Signal to Noise piece

The striped object is radio broadcasting ability, wrapped around the arm on the left, permitting transmission!

She's a great teacher, patiently explaining the concepts and intentions of the art, and you might want to go to her  website to learn more.

Every year her organization runs a fiberoptic/fiber arts tech camp for weavers and other artists. Next year it will be in Michigan in September. Worth checking!

Happy day everyone, Tuesday is usually great around here and this one came through.

Sightings and musings for Monday then weather

 Out early on the deck Monday morning before it got too hot 

First zinnia bud

Any minute now the hibiscus will burst out 

Here comes a bell pepper 

Sorrel. Those three heart shaped leaves go with it.

This is a potential lucet stand in 

I thought, speaking of fiber arts tools, you might like to see a few of mine.

A set of Schacht spindles 

Left, spurtzleur, spinning tool, right 3D printed spindle 

Some of the yarn I've spun on the 3D spindle. It has a nice balance 

Left,  hand carders, right, handmade tapestry handloom, bottom, set of hand made weaving sticks 

I wove this bag on a cardboard loom I made, and used the weaving sticks to make the strap.

Left handmade shuttles, right, silk spinning supported spindles 

I wove this scarf on the back strap loom I improvised from dowels, PVC pipe and a bathrobe belt, using the shuttles you see above.

Left nostepinne, yarn winder, right darning egg, glasses for scale. I've done quite a bit of visible mending using the darning egg.

I've used all these and taught using some. You can substitute large drinking straws for weaving sticks, good for kids, because the handmade wood ones are $$.

There's more, and more items I've made for use, but this is probably all you're up for just now.

All these tools are great to handle, especially knowing someone else made them by hand. It's all part of the pleasure in process. 

It took me, Impatient Ida, a long time to learn the joy of slow deliberate movement, and I'm still learning. As you see, three substitutions already while waiting for my lucet.

One thing that's common to all the handwork I've done including fine art, is the joy of certain moves. 

Lifting a  print and seeing the margins, likewise taking the painter's tape off a water color. Adjusting the weaving sticks as you go. Making that repeat turn with the lucet. Letting the drawing pencil drape across your hand. Giving the spindle a twist. Doing the return row of Tunisian crochet. Packing down the row of weaving. 

There's so much life in the process.

Happy day everyone, enjoy process, it's good.

Then evening happened