finding out that your hands know something

this water is part of the grasse river.

taken two or three days ago, 

there is more green now though you might not notice.

 what am i thinking?

i went over to school last night and beat another pound and a half (more or less)

of flax.

i'd like to make some more paper.

before pbi.

there was this on the way to the library

 for the life of me i can't remember what the white things were.

 some kind of installation.

ceramic, maybe.

 you can just barely see the rigging that holds them in place.

 i've been doing a LOT of stitching on flax as well as cotton paper this winter.

you may remember me going on and on about it all.

(which is what my book Flax Notion is all about).

once the holes are punched

and the stitches made

i like to burnish them a bit

nestle them into the surface of the paper,

i needed a burnisher,

one that fits my hands and feels just right.

 did i take a before photo?

nope.

but this was a deer leg bone that i harvested

from a carcass heaved aside.

 i had already cut it to size with a band saw, 

but i could have just as well used the hatchet

which i did use to hew out the general shape.

this little sampler of kami-ito

on st armand cotton cover stock needed to soften a bit

 so i used my new burnisher on it.

the stitches flatten nicely, you can feel it make itself more of a whole.

 i'm showing you lots of photos so you can see the delicious curves and shapes

ready to be used.

though i was tempted to decorate it some,

i left it plain.

 the slight color irregularities are particularly evident in deer bone.

when i learned this skill from jim croft

i carved with elk bone as well.

 there's a small and a larger end. 

even the edge can be used.

i took the surface down to a 400 sandpaper sheen

but i now have 600 and a really fine steel wool

that i've used a bit. 

I don't need this to shine, just almost.

now my hands know this tool, it knows me.

the oils in my hands will help it get to know me and me it.

i'd forgotten how satisfying it is to make what you need to make something else.

and to make it well and have it be

appropriate

and

beautiful.

 this morning i was outside working

and i found that i'd forgotten to brush my hair.

 it's curly again, now that my underactive thyroid is boosted,

and the resulting hair loss has subsided some,

and my energy levels have returned,

i am so happy.

 last night sunset was enormous

after days of rain.

 today has been very productive.

and

over at the new place there's a woodcock hen on a nest very close to the house.

i watched her today, shuffle around and move. 

she's so close i can see her beak 

and her eyes.

but my photos didn't land in my inbox, so i'll show you later.

today, tuesday, may day.

what a day!

it's wednesday and here they are:

 mama woodcock on her nest.
first: rear view, 
second: head view.