natural disasters and thank you

the beeswax book was in this shape,

more or less,

yesterday morning.

 the mail came

and with it paperwork pertaining to retirement

so i had forms to fill out and

financial people to speak to on the phone.

the iphone works best,

when it does work, that is,

on my screen porch.

where trace willan's xanthorrhoea resin in solution lives.

in a jar with a not very tight lid.

it must have eased over

by preoccupied me

all 12 ounces of it.

and i didn't notice until i saw evidence

 after i used up all the spillage

to decorate the book

there was a huge clean-up,

using the only solvent i had that worked

nail polish remover. 

 they went out into the sun to air.

 and as the book cover dried

it morphed into something else altogether

 inside pages got a bit of mark making

thanks to 

the bolyard xanthorrhoea spirits spill

 aromatic is too nice a word.

 this morning

 i will try to sew the signatures to tapes

and lace in the tapes.

 it has a wonderful surface now

and it's 

 no longer sticky!

(sorry about the darkness, 

i was too excited to go noodle around in iphoto)

i don't recommend bookmaking 

by chance

but i do recommend

making hay while the sun shines.

thank you trace!

frustration

ok, i know i've been spoiled rotten by summertime in australia.

but geesh!

snow and snow and cold and cold.

you should see the end of my driveway!

and the kitchen cold water is frozen.

and i still don't have a camera replacement.

i got one--too big--

returned.

i got a second--

too fancy--

returned

and today i ordered one almost just like my old

plain old

powershot.

the kicker?

it's cheaper! and RED!!!

 so here, trace, is my photo

taken by YOU!

which proves that i do not always break cameras and 

that my good friends put up with me

 as i look at the melbourne now exhibit.

i can say 

in all honesty

that australians are among

the finest, friendliest people i've met.

and the north country, dear place,

it's time to warm up

just a tiny bit.

please.

moaner groaner

that's me

groaning and moaning 

i've had flu, and am 

s.l.o.w.l.y.

getting better

five days and only 

a tiny stack of shifu pages

but i did get gorgeous wool gauze from 

long ridge farm (under the shifu bits)

 swathes of color (thank you barn & trees) have been like food

 and still the dogbane waits to be pulped

 today: a slim package

from trace

 she took my shifu 

and made a dye concoction

 and there's red.

RED

and once again i'm photographing in light that washes out the color

there is actually richness, tones of burnt umber

i have no patience

to fuss 

these photos are pathetic

i made it through a half day at school today.

a book came from gary frost

but i couldn't wrap my fuggy mind around it

reading gary is always a treat

the man thinks 

about the bookness of books 

 7 pages

1 folio

5 sick days

and upon recommendation

i also purchased this

which i have only briefly looked at.

maybe tonight.

how have i made it through?

you tube and lewis on the macBook

yes, i'm an anglophile mystery nut

if i could be any heroine in fiction

i would be harriet vane.

more snow and more snow

a bit of (washed out by my bad light, though it is) color in this colorless, snowy weekend, text block with sewn down tapes 

so i had to be plowed out, and the guy made a mess of my side and back yards. gone are the days of ted, the snow plow driver from heaven. ted showed up one year and asked me if i wanted him to plow me out. at $10 a shot it was a deal. he expertly cleaned exactly where my driveway was, pulled up honked the horn and i hurried out to pay him. he had a growly voice and explained he couldn't get out because, "i lost my leg last year" and pointed to his left side. where indeed the leg was missing. he smiled and explained his truck was an automatic so he could still work. he came whenever the snow was deep enough to need plowing. the next year he showed up and showed me the next bit of surprise, he'd "lost his fingers", again to diabetes. he plowed expertly again. this continued a few years until ted never showed up again. i think i "lost" ted. so the guy who came butchered my yard, the same as the last two plow guys. only this one charged me $40. 

there was a LOT of snow. at least another eight inches. it's snowing now.

 i ordered a wonderful blank dyed felt covered cloth book from trace willans at soewn earth. each page is a treat, and trace added a gesso base so i can paint (or whatever) on the pages.

what i like so much is that it stands alone or can be worked into. 

 it's beautiful, every detail perfect. she sent along a couple of wonderful things, including the above and below pieces of her experimental work with dyeing, wax and color. i am so happy, trace's work surpassed the photographs, and i am tickled pink that something went well this weekend!!! a bit of raucous color in the bleak midwinter.

this small piece photographed a little washed out. it works from any side (i like it upsidedown from this photo, better). i should have shot yesterday during the few hours of exquisite sunshine we had. but i forgot. today, it's gloomy, quite warm, in the 30s. 

and as i said, it's snowing.

in the forecast this week? 

snow.
postscript: my partner and i shoveled it today. two middle aged, determined people can get the job done. but i do ache a little--