home late

so i hastened to walk

remembered the camera

 it's cold 

and it looks it

 these stiff birches support

a few crystals of moisture

evening cold air

 twilight comes on

as we hurry up to keep away the chill

wendy runs,

canters really,

until i turn the camera on video 

 and. she. s.t.o.p.s.

finally, these little bubbles

cling to grass leaves

and one brave dandelion.

by morning they'll be iced up

for sure.

december

i woke to a morning 

of a tiny snow fall

cold northern fingers 

reached down to surprise us

dazed as we were from 

perpetual autumn.

 branches reach 

into the sky

or not?

a little bit colder now.
~~~
and later...
book/library/thoughts/images/words
espianage
go here
to see the whole tale

!!!!!

 last thursday the light show after school was amazing

 hooligans and staff alike were anticipating friday, 

they had a day off

we had "staff development"

i couldn't capture the sky, 

the blues and wildness

were almost fearful

friday's huge headache morphed into a cold

all weekend i have been taking things easy

feeling under the weather

my friend mark is a letterpress printer, 

and this gift is appropriate

for a nasty cold, saps energy, leaves chills and fever,

aches and pains

and fog for brains

i love letterpress 

 the maples are almost bare

 there is still a great deal of green in the landscape

not much happening for me

rest and lemon/ginger/honey 

crazy cold

i haven't experienced this kind of cold since the early 80s when i lived in the five ponds wilderness area of the adirondacks. wendy tried her best to walk without putting down her paws and was not happy with me when i insisted she "do her business".  the paper mill isn't frozen, the kitchen hot water and the bathtub hot and cold are frozen. the furnace runs frequently and i'm wearing hannah made wool socks. school was delayed, now closed. the table my sister sent over looks like deep winter...wishing all you in winter safe travels through this cold snap. i'm fine, and i hope you are, too.
and i forgot earlier--three chickadees were talking when i was out, gossiping about the weather, no doubt.

weaving, sunday evening, and onions sauteing

from dreadfully cold and frozen kitchen water (hot, actually!) to art show to a bit of art work accomplished, this weekend has been full and productive, a wonderful change for me. an anticipated visit from a friend was snow-cancelled, unfortunately, but we have rescheduled. seems like i've been in a tunnel for a while and have emerged with new enthusiasm and ideas. 

see how fluffy this youngster is? there are two 2009 fawns who hang around my back yard. why? no different food there, but perhaps they like living on the edge. sometimes they dare  wendy who will chase them, but only in an attempt to herd them. wendy will give up after a while in the deep snow. a bit before this was taken the thermometer read 15 below 0. 

this is a modest piece of shifu that will become, i think, a book cover. it is not large, but the bits of japanese green paper that were a gift from carol (of warwick press) which i hand-twisted into short lengths to be inlaid into a plain weave web.

a similar in color skein of spun paper. from the little i have read, shifu artists differentiate between spun fiber and twisted fiber--paper that is prepared for weaving is called twisted. i try to understand the difference, but i actually do not. the twisting seems to me to be the same as single ply handspun fiber, except that the fibers are already made into paper (even if cut into thin strips) rather than being separate fibers that have been prepared for spinning by a combing (or arranging as in flax preparation) or carding process.


my little schacht four harness loom (a table loom rigged up with treadles) is fun to use, but a bit finicky compared to my lovely large floor looms. but it is easy to move around! and it helps to weave shifu on this because i tend to make much smaller lengths on it.