Wednesday is when I recover from Tuesday.

Beautiful walk this morning, a bit bitey because all the insects decided to keep me company.

Home again, here's a view down the street

And look who showed up in the wandering dude.  A wandering morning glory.

And tributes to Ukraine. Here's the patio version

Wildflowers (?) in blue and yellow.

Then the new bracelet, which has two sides 

In other gripping news, I read recently that goldfinches nest very late in the year and use thistledown in their nests. My thistle has dozens of flowers maturing to down now, and yesterday I saw a goldfinch in brilliant yellow mating plumage. So I  guess it's true. I hope they'll find the thistledown. They do fly around the deck now and then.

Also I had a hummingbird sighting this week, so I guess it's all life in the fast lane right now.

I was reminded by Textiles and Tea about community art projects and a couple I ran back in the day. 

One was the Great Birds Nest, which I organized at the annual Township Founders Day. On the field where events took place, I had the Works Department drop a truckload of brush and branches.

I also volunteered other artists to attend with clippers, and the general public happily helped build a giant nest, big enough for humans to climb in (and take pictures!). 

We decorated with ribbons and various colorful items, and all ages plunged in, little kids wildly excited to be in a giant nest. 

It was about 10 feet across and I kept the sides low enough for people to climb in and out. Everyone wove branches and tied brush and generally created the artwork. No pictures, it predated digital cameras.

Another was the Great Tin Quilt Caper,at the library gallery, which I spent months preparing. I cut, hammered, pierced and embossed dozens of pet food cans which I cut into 6O° angled diamond  shapes, to create a tumbling blocks design.  Inside tin cans there's a beautiful range of colors, it's marvelous art material.

Then I built a backing of foam core and plywood and gessoed it black. 

All the pet care clients whose cans I'd used were invited to the opening/workshop. I had created the tumbling blocks center then everyone who wanted could attach the many  extra readymade pieces I brought, to the outer sections. I provided hammers and panel tacks, and it was a great party. The library gallery was heaving! 

We ended with a wall mounted quilt about five feet square, and displayed it for a month, with a lot of people admiring their own work (!) and their pets' contributions.

On the catalog (flyer) I acknowledged the name of every contributing pet and I was hysterical at how seriously everyone scrutinized it to make sure their Fluffy and Barnaby and Boots were included!

I've done other group events, but these were the biggest ones, open to the public.

Such larks!

Happy day everyone, just do it! You'll be glad you did.

Resistance reading, Tuesday Knitting group and Textiles and Tea

Today's resistance involves reading Malcolm Gladwell 

The gist is that the powerful figures of our time aren't as fearful as they seem. And that the smaller people can defeat them. We need to remember this when it seems the oligarchs are winning.

We have examples from our own experience of resisting. Target,  boycotted by the people, is now struggling, the price of denying diversity and supporting a tyrant. 

Citizens Bank now starving ICE prisons of funding after massive public pressure. There are so many more. They all need us to stay brave and do our bit. None of us is exempt from trying. Wr have more power than we know.

Meanwhile I'm reading Gladwell for tips on strategy as well as encouragement.

The Tuesday knitting group was fun as usual, my bracelets admired and the Ukraine one under way 

Wearing one project while embarking on the next 

The embroidery continues, but she'll soon be teaching again so we'll only see her occasionally 

This work goes on until all the yarn is used up.

Chat ranged over birthdays and death days, Shakespeare productions, cat behavior, baking, age, birth order, socks, travel, quilling, glasses and more.

Home to Textiles and Tea with 

A young New Yorker from Venezuela whose work in textiles expresses resistance, narrative and the impact of economics on the individual. 

She runs community events creating large textile installations, often with braiding, where anyone can show up and participate.

She also creates intuitive woven gallery pieces, with great color sense and high energy. Look for her teaching a workshop in Queens NY in September, and a gallery show in New York in spring 2027.

She's worth following, so young but she's made her mark already in North and South America.

Happy day everyone, Tuesdays are always full of things happening here. 

Eye doctor and cake and bracelets

The eye doctor pronounced my eye health as excellent, no need for new glasses, and Handsome Son and I went home to chocolate cake and tea and he did a couple of tasks which were beyond my power though simple.

One was to unfangle the hooks on the door curtain, I couldn't get that high, and the others was to unscrew the bathtub stopper which I couldn't unscrew though I knew how, to fix a clog. Done.

After a great afternoon of chat he departed to a shore concert, taking away half the remaining cake, birthday privilege. He left me a piece or two. 

That was a successful day, and I completed another bracelet for my collection.

That may be enough for now.  Maybe.

All Creatures continues to be good and I'm now a bit concerned that I'll soon be caught up. Blogistas, do you have any recommendations for future viewing on the PBS Passport?

Happy day everyone, hoping for good medical news all round.

Sunday morning, cool, with dragonflies

This morning is so great for walking to the pond 

I don't have to carry water to the flowers, always a plus, because there's rain in the forecast.

So I moseyed down to the pond noticing new fungi and dragonflies. We have many species and here are two from this morning 

This one's harder to see because he's so transparent, perched near the top of a daylily stem, about halfway up the picture.

And the early signs of seasonal change, leaves coming down and the sighting of goldenrod 

I made it to the pond and here's the wind blowing the beech leaves about. Ripples in the water where frogs are moving.

Happy day everyone, great sleeping weather with windows open. Perfect.

And here's a little bouquet with today's additions 

Tofu ahoy and video joy

I'm having such a good time with the daily short YouTube videos, a good reason to get up each day. Bare bones simple production, minimal editing, it's not the contrast, framing, cutting etc, it's the content. There's an idea or vision or feeling behind every tiny short. Anyway that's the plan.

I'm so bored by wannabe producers on YouTube who get all excitable and technical when they're not conveying any interesting content.  I've blocked a lot of copycat channels, too. You can't copy your way to the pleasure that comes from creating from your own vision, even with less techie skill.

Meanwhile today I remembered one more cooking task I'd forgotten -- red lentil tofu. I'd washed the lentils and soaked them, then, this morning, realized I still need to make the tofu.  Here it is cooling in the fridge in s glass pan

And here's the process after you blend lentils and water, and I added in Better than Bouillon to season it.  This is half a cup of lentils, one cup of water. Stay tuned till it shows up on my plate. 

Meanwhile here's the cubes, ready to become tofu katsu.

One big reason to soak lentils is to make them more digestible, particularly green and brown lentils. The red is more tender but it's still a good idea to soak it overnight. And definitely wash it well first, like rice, a ton of dust and debris washes off.

Yesterday despite a dewpoint in the 60s, uncomfortable, I did get a walk, and tossed a couple of golf balls back onto the course. 

Under the beech trees there's a variety of fungi, evidently a symbiosis going on, shoe in pictures for scale 

And at home, despite the heat and humidity, this is really a beautiful August.

I had a hummingbird sighting a couple of days ago, rare in this neighborhood, so that was exciting. There are hummingbird clearwing moths, butterflies and bees all over the flowers and shrubs. 

I finished the current bracelet, still need to do the fastening. As you see, this is a two sided pattern.

At this rate I'll have an armful. 

They're so light in weight you hardly feel them. I'm not pushing to make anything significant just now, it being August after all.

Happy day everyone, those of us who push ourselves need to try not to, at least for now. I need your solidarity on this.