news from n.y.c. and the north country

poems seem to fall out of the murky november sky

along with watery snow

snowy rain

misshapen pod 

for sophie 

and wendy, that little scamp

went on a toot through the brush

before supper yesterday.

this is what she used to do

before she got sick

and today she's coughing, 

symptom of her heart disease.

after school

most days

i've been dyeing

 abaca ecodyed

detritus from the first big dye job

two very long pieces of 

heavy japanese kozo

printmaking papers 

gift from yoyo

about 7 x 42 inches each

several more in the pot

right now.

~~~

jude says two more weeks without electricity

~~~

moving slowly

sometimes it feels like your own work is moving slowly, sometimes it plods along like a good ox team, and sometimes it's like the amazing pair of belguims i saw trotting a wagon down the highway on my way home from work. so quick they were with their young amish men driving that i hadn't time to dig out my camera. the team was high stepping with brilliance. i had a few ends to weave in on this milkweed shifu square. which drove me to prepare more lokta for spinning.

a well loved and much used reference. i have a only few dye books i reuse. india's is much marked. i'm on the verge of making notations in the book! this book is the perfect reference, the only criticism i have with it was a publisher's glitch, my copy has the paper grain running perpendicular to the spine, so the pages curl a bit. 

last night's violas and pickle juice (vinegar) on my sister's old linen pants. (thank you, claudia)

same jar of dye... border leister from andrea

unwrapping from the copper pipe. it's still this color today after drying.

i'm getting the mill ready for mark's class to come on wednesday to make paper. i am working on the stone book pages. i like having several projects going at once, only need more hours, those few at night (for sleeping) would be handy right now!