the day

 large hands can manage a few boro stitches

boro and sundowners

(for you who know)  

 melissa reminded me

though she didn't know it

dogbane

 there were a few seedpods left

 so i harvested a packbasketful
in the meadow
(the hill mist and i used to charge up,
jump a fence at the top,
continue on...another life ago)
noted: a large scat. coyote?
bear?
certainly canine-like

 then went to get some wild grapes
i've encouraged them in front of my house
for birds
for privacy
for pleasure

 for a bundle or two

or shifu dyeing

i may take a big chance 

dye a larger shifu cloth

what do i have to lose?

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

i'm beginning to get over the huge sleepiness that's overwhelmed me for a couple of days. i swear that this chair was no where near the grapevine that has tried to claim it for it's own.

it had also climbed up my porch screening and begun to boogie along the roof. this summer is galloping ahead of itself.

not an amish farm, but definitely an amish style sign. new since i left.

some p.b.i. samples. melissa showed us several traditional fine binding techniques that transfer over to thick/artists' books. i was entranced with this spine sewing, and went overboard with these little presentation booklets.

you can see that i used a precious object that i found in machias, and built a home for it. this little book swings easily and we had fun (i was sitting at the FUN table) swinging it and pretending to be police. book geeks.

this checkerboard spine has many many possibilities, and i think i'll be exploring this one more. melissa learned this from betsy palmer eldridge. 

the three books, in different stages of completion. the ones presenting pebbles are leather trimmed. i am learning, and you can see many mistakes.

melissa's class was all about incorporating objects that are not necessarily found in books into the structure. we made thick board books, using several techniques to bind them. we did a lot of experimenting and everyone's book(s) were unique. melissa managed this chaos with grace and ease. i have a new way to present textiles, and unfortunately the photos don't really show much, so i guess i'll have to make up the thing in order to share it. number 25 on my list of things to be done immediately. after trimming the grapevine, that is.