Tuesday 17 July 2012

where the day went...and a New Plan

where did the day go?
i composted the contents of a forgotten cauldron -
Oxalis pes-caprae had been festering away
since the last week of June
oops.


you have to admit that whatever-it-was
that was thriving in there
looks quite pretty.
but you have to be careful with mould
wouldn't want to be incubating a new and improved
Legionnaire's disease, for example

then i made up a wee book.
the person who showed me years ago
[whose name i have sadly forgotten
...it happened in the very long ago]
called it a 'Diamond Book'
Velma Bolyard calls it an "origami book"
[however if you google origami book 
there's some spectacular stuff 
none of which looks like this one]

however
what never occurred to me
before i took Velma's class
was to prepare a version with pre-printed text

i always have my students make it up
and then just dye it

so now i've put together
"9 things to think about"
stuff about working with plants
that i think is important


and i will be handing them out in class
- thank you Velma!
[if i have them laser-printed
we may still be able to over-dye them]


here's something else that's exercising my brain
the liquid above
was left over from cooking the meal below
which involved purple cauliflower


the liquid left over from steaming the vegetable was purple
so i put some paper in it overnight
to see if it would take colour
it didn't much
but the liquid turned sea green 
[i didn't photograph either the purple or the green versions, bother.]
anyway
this morning it was a screaming pink.
i'm guessing the kaolin in the paper
changed the pH sufficiently to procure the green
and then
the jar sat in the warm overnight
and fermented
causing the pH to drop
and the colour to change again.

magic.

and now the New Plan.
i have decided that from time to time
i will invite people i like and respect
to contribute a guest post.

the first one will come soon.






9 comments:

  1. oooohoo, the alchemistry of vegetables.
    and if you use rag paper the dye uptake may be spectacular!
    origami name came from the esteemed claire van vliet

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    Replies
    1. thinking of having a batch done professionally
      vegetable inks on nice paper
      but
      am a bit too late for this trip!

      and
      thank you for reminder about name

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  2. i have just received Second Skin in the mail, so looking forward to some quiet time with this treasure, thank you for creating this

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    Replies
    1. and thank YOU so much for buying it! i hope it offers a few useful threads to follow

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  3. brilliant idea.. how much fun is that vegetable dye water..
    hugs

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  4. I found something looking like that first piccie at the back of my fridge this week..... I didn't proclaim it 'magic' - but the dogs who scored it did!

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  5. what a beautiful image even if it might be dangerous. Nature is so amazing. glad you are at home and have a "restful" time for a bit. xlynda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. four more restful sleeps ....and then i'm out the door

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