first flower

this morning the first daffodil from my garden

is curling up and going away.

i need to bring daffs and narcissi indoors, also black eyed susans.

 yes, they are.

 and this one is blurry, a low light photo

about 8 pm i htink

i cleaned up my perennial border this spring,

uncovered the heavy maple leaf "mulch"

and the flowers are so happy, 

wild and cultivated alike, they are flourishing.

and because there aren't that many

they are very special to me. 

and there are two daffodil clumps over the wall

relocated, perhaps, by enterprising rodents.

this weekend i saw two amazing sights,

a bald eagle hunting, an egret lifting off a marsh.

egret is a bird i've never seen here before.

turtles are about

as are silly old porcupines

i'm preparing for PBI and i found i had to do some "stuff"

 flax paper, still quite wet,

ready for blotters and pressure again

do:

~clean off my work table

~locate all my appropriate spinning devices for this workshop

~loom choices?

~make lists and pack (i have the entire outback to fill with stuff)

~make 1.5 pounds of flax pulp into small papers

~make some books (!!!)

~sew bindings for a friend

~meet with a special collections librarian to talk 

do you see where this all is going?

it's like i have to tie together all the sloppy bits of my life 

in order to travel and teach. 

i even did a wild mend on a glove i tore while working last month.

i also washed them.

(this was about half way through the mend)

it's almost a frenzy. 

i gave myself a week but really,

i've been at it for a while.

 my tea kettle develops a thick layer of mineral deposits every so often.

this time there was a big break-up

and look what the large pieces had!

letters! words!

i save these pieces and throw them in the dye pot.

when i return unless i have time before i leave.

are you tired yet? 

it's wonderful to have energy

this will change once it gets hot and i slow down.

oh, and this:

i bought this

in order to have a travel wheel

and because it's so darn cute.

i don't know if i'll love it, but i do like it.

i'll photograph it put together sometime, 

but for now,

i must get going and make some STUFF.

toad in the hole and other miracles

the shifu workshop

working with drop spindles

using totally new skill sets

comes down to twisting a spiral

controlling that spiral enough to make a thread

thread to hold together

but not tight enough to break apart or snap.

my students 

every one

got it.

emma, 

extraordinary assistant,

was always there when i needed her,

and one day she dressed

 to match our markmaking

or

the marks made their marks matching emma.

 we used some leaves of indigo 

and 

some spent day lily blossoms

thoughtfully 

provided by emma

 to make some marks, too

what happens in a five day workshop is that

you really get to know each other and

a level of trust and adventure overcomes all.

that happened with my other summer art institute teacher

nancy diessner

who was the best housemate ever.

nancy and i went to bed early one night, 

and my students, int he studio under us,

heard us roaring with laughter a little later than the 8:30 to bed attempted time.

(grin)

 our indigo dipped lokta skeins

dried on the garden sculpture

the indigo vat prepped 
and left for us
as well as japanese indigo

planted for us to share

all prepped by chris petrone
who has worked at wsw
for 10 (or so) years.

  a clothesline in the papermill

held marks on kozo, lokta, and flax 

made with

 osage orange, madder, bengara, indigo

and black walnut

taken from the pail of aged brew in my mill

(called wake robin)

 kate searching her stash

 i climbed the outside porch stairs

and placed my hand on a little granite stone sitting on the railing...

which was surprisingly soft

disappearing quickly

into emptiness!

 there was a moment of weirdness

and then i looked closer.

there was a fantastic toad

who'd found a place to hunt

sunbathe

 and surprise the humans around the place

 and 

 looking up from ms. toad

i found the back of an ear

melissa has been here...

and ms. toad was photographed many times

 walking at wsw was always a treat (except for mosquitos)

the path had mountain bikers and an equestrian

trotting in shorts

(yikes)

 these were amazing relics from the days

when this whole area

made the cement for 

new york city

i drove home on friday afternoon

in order to beat a morning of thunderstorms

(big rain on busy roads is a bad combination)

and found myself plenty hydrated

and using public outhouses

called, in the proper old adirondack towns,

pit privy

 it was a bit later than this

and there really was no light show, 

only clouds and muzzle

but i felt like the joy here was appropriate.

oh, 

and here

at the place becoming home,

not connected to the plumbing yet,

we are nearing kitchen.

my cup is full

indeed!