Category: Family

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Berries and Pulp

I’ve been munching on blueberries since Monday morning! The first bushes we picked from gave very tart berries – which my love is loving! – and eventually we found some sweeter berries to pick. I’m glad we waited to do the picking – Monday’s weather was much more pleasant than the rainy day we had last Wednesday.

I’ve also been pulling sheets of paper whenever I can. I have one bag of corn husk pulp left to use, a lump of linen, some daffodil and…….that may be it! The bags now all fit on the second shelf of the refrigerator which gives me room to put some berries on the bottom shelf.

ITMT, my stack of sheets that are drying is rising! I know I’m not drying them the ‘correct’ way, but I figure if they dry and stay flat, it really doesn’t matter how it happens.

While picking berries with my sister who has a huge garden, I mentioned some of the plants I have used: leeks, daffodil, onion, corn husks, asparagus. She got all excited and started rattling off a list of what they grow and would I like them?!? We’ll see how her excitement transfers to reality when it comes to harvesting the plants/leaves and drying them. She may need her own hollander!

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And the pulp goes on…

A perfect rainy day – love it!

This was supposed to be a blueberry picking day with a couple sisters, niece and grandniece, but that has now been postponed till Monday. Instead, I get to play a bit more with the paper pulping I’ve been doing.

The corn is still beating as I’ve decided to give it more time. ITMT, I’ve pulped leeks, daffodil leaves, linen and garlic and have a pot of tender willow stems and leaves cooking at the moment.
The garlic really stank while it cooked – and I think my hands may still smell a bit from pulling sheets. Only got three sheets out of the pulp (with a bit of leftovers going into an overall leftover vat) and they look really nice – we’ll see how they dry.

The daffodil sheets also look nice! I gave most of the pulp a bit of bleaching and that helped a lot as the pulp is almost black. I also noticed a bunch of gunk in the pulp so I did a second straining after pulping and came up with two sets of fibers. The second string fibers (the stuff that washed out of the strainer) is really gritty and very dense – not sure how that will hold up to being handled as a sheet. It also left a mess on the mould/deckle and me while pulling. The first string fibers were much nicer with no mess. I’m debating on whether to add some cotton to the second string or just to forget about it!

The linen came as sort-of halfstuff from LW who had some linen material from her mom which disintegrated when she washed it. It felt like silk after handling the corn husks!

The leeks pulled nicely, too. Amazing how you have this big bag of leaves and they cook down to almost nothing. Maybe four sheets that look really nice.

I’ve had some palm pulp in the freezer, so I’ve got that out thawing and we’ll see how it pulls and forms.

I might even get some sewing in today – if the pulps run smoothly!

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Variety show

I’ve been remiss in posting this month – sorry about that!  A variety of fiber projects have been keeping me busy:

– Spinning for a contest project for Schacht Spindle’s 40th anniversary. Started out doing four different colors of wool on Navajo spindles (which are Schacht-made) and have since switched to a Louet wheel once I learned that any spinning to be submitted as Schacht-spun needed to be done on one of  their WHEELS – which I don’t own. Oh, well. The wheel does goes faster than the thigh spindle. Plus my hand and thigh were starting to feel the effects.  I can at least do the weaving on a Schacht loom – my Baby Wolf.

– Taught two library-for-kids programs and had all the accompanying prep for them. The morning downtown program was mudcloth – prepped for 60 kids and 5 showed up!  The afternoon Westwood program was gut masks for teens – teens and summer don’t mix well for adhering to schedules and/or commitments although we did have two show up.

– Did a bit of sewing on a bicycle project for my love – he wanted a waterproof pouch for his Garmin that could easily attach to the handlebars and be visible while riding. He supplied the waterproof map case and I modified it. He is all set now for RAGBRAI.

– Had a friend over to do some gut play – was supposed to have two friends show up but the one who had been after me the longest to do this passed away unexpectedly last week. I’m hoping Sharon can play to her heart’s content now.

– Using up the leftover soy and mud mixtures from the kids’ class and the extra silk scarves I have had on hand. Trying to duplicate an effect I got on some scarves this past winter, but so far no luck. Of course, I did not make notes on what I did the first time through and my memory of events is obviously not on the mark. Either that or it was only a fluke that will never happen again in the universe.  (Or as my mom would say, I didn’t hold my mouth right.) Anticipating these scarves will find their way to either the Weavers Guild Fall Sale or up the Indianapolis Art Center’s gift shop.

– Working on using up some yarns for the Weavers Guild. Two scarves down and a hat in process. Diagonal knitting on the scarves. I expect these will be in their Fall Sale in November.

– Visited the Cincinnati Book Arts Society’s exhibit BOOKWORKS 10 at the main library. My “Gourd Book” is in the exhibit. Nice to have a piece in such good company!

– Submitted – and was accepted – several outdoor installation ideas for the “Earth” exhibit coming up at the Kennedy Heights Art Center. I’ll be creating random woven orbs on site this coming week and installing in time for the opening on Saturday, July 18. Maybe even have a bit of hands-on orb-making during the reception.

And I’ve started to think about a redesign for my website. Will need lots more thought…….and then the effort……..

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A good one gone

Just a week ago our local basket guild heard some unsettling news about one of our members. Sharon, who drove down from Dayton each month to join with us, was in the hospital on a ventilator and not expected to recover. A bizarre set of circumstances did her in.

This evening her friends and relatives gathered to celebrate her life. She was never one to want anyone to fuss over her or even notice her, so I’m sure she was squirming with all the good things being said. I also think she was likely smiling, too, to see all those she cared about come together.

Sharon, we’ll miss your care and concern, your smile and smirk, your laughter and love. Rest easy, my friend.

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A dose of red

I’m sure we hit a record – my love picked his first ripe tomato of the year!  We haven’t had ripe tomatoes before August – ever. It wasn’t huge, but big enough to satisfy. Maybe not his favorite kind – he’s got four different plants growing right now – but at least it tasted like a tomato.  And there is another one just about ready.

They are liking hot and steamy!