adrift in a cloud of Aesop

 i think we can say it has been a mixed week

during which i discovered that a silk jacket

[pre-loved Liz Claiborne]

did not dye well.

suspect it has been coated with stain resisters

 

the lesson is not to purchase in a wild rush

but take time

do the drink bottle test

ie splash a tiny bit of water on the surface of suspect silk

if the damp silk has a whiff of gas station

or worse still if the water rolls off 

leave the item in the store

the lesson is, in fact, to s l o w down

and smell the flowers

it's spring

 just be careful with Geraldton Wax

they seem to harbour a lot of flies

 happily some other things yielded better results

 i have been wandering the paddocks

gathering up bones

that are the remnants of cattle and sheep 

who have shuffled off this mortal coil

mainly due to age and infirmity

 it is not as gruesome as it might appear

and is in a good cause

in a week or two i will be taking them to the 

Arid Lands Botanic Garden

where they will form a bonecairn 

anyway after my gathering

i tottered off to the Post Office

where a delightful parcel awaited me

         

thank you Aesop

for sending me a sample of your new perfume

it mingles bergamot and orange

jasmine, rose, clove and cardamon

and two things i had to look up

Fusianus spicatus [which turned out to be sandalwood

...i always think of Santalum album together with that common name]

and

Cananga odorata [ylang ylang]

     

it smells so much better than bleached bones

that it had me dreaming

of places and people faraway

in the way that certain fragrances do

and though i miss their old fragrance

which has been discontinued

i will say that this one is quite delightful

thank you, Aesop!

+

that scent makes me want to take a tent

to the far paddock

wrap myself in teasilk

and dig a natural swimming pool

mercy it's June already

i suspect the first six months of this year slipped while i was looking the other way

because 

quite suddenly

it appears to be June

i should be pruning my roses

instead, i have been smelling other people's [er, roses, that is]

i headed south from the mango forest

stopping only to assist with a dyepot

and

plumbed new depths of ingenuity [sacrificing a bit of alfoil in the process]

to keep a fire going in torrential rain

[yes, i got wet, but this time i had the sense not to wear my cowboy boots]

at Tamborine Mountain we found blue skies

and more glorious greens in the dyepot

[my friend R murmured something about that being Queensland in winter]

i am treated to perfect coffee

and drink it standing on the red earth AND by the trees

that it grew on

i think that pretty much defines 'terroir'.

once again we had canine guidance

[there are so many lovely dogs around the whirled]

inspired by the bundle above, we unfurled the dresses to the tune of

'do or die' [spelling it differently in our heads] 

from the album 'teeth and bones' by John Fohl

i could happily have hung around here for a while longer

but

it wasn't possible

+ + +

heading much further south a day later

i turned up at Glenmore House as the sun was setting

in time to filch a few leaves from the roadside

we spent an intense day

working colour into winter wraps

using local windfalls

and

in the evening

i found another friend

but now, by way of something completely different

 i'm on the way home

to sew and dye

for a trunk show in Hollywood

[no, not dreaming!]

pigtures

it's quite exhausting

having to help with the bundling

sometimes

a pig just has to get away from it all

and have a good wallow

 

from here you can see Afrika

when my chillun were small

this phrase was their indication of distance

...'from here you can see Afrika'
[usually announced from the top of the willow tree]

i've been in the Far West

where [if you eat enough carrots and can see around the curve of the earth]

that might even be true

it was a splendid few days

with a delightful fire to heat the dyes

and plenty of leaves for gathering

Jane Flower [an excellent organiser!] found me a wonderful place to stay,

organised a selection of lovely fabrics for students

[all the way from Beautiful Silks]

and

we were fed royally at lunch by Karen

the sunsets were fabulous

and the magpies serenaded me every morning

dashing back to Perth airport today

[after giving a talk and demonstration for the Bunbury Felters]

i stopped to fill up with petrol

weary and well content with my week

but

not quite as tired as this mouse

piglet report

in case you were wondering

Kowhai [the piglet]

is doing just fine

somewhat comatose in these pix

from a day of romping with assorted dogs, cats and humans

[the top pic shows her snoozing on her favourite mattress...my lap]

felt stone part the third

i am writing this post with a lapful of sleeping infant 

fulfilling my grandmotherly duties because

my soft-hearted Eldest performed a rescue at the local ag show yesterday

[that's a 'fair', for North American readers]

but as she's working interstate this week

and can't possibly get the documents required when transporting livestock

i have volunteered to mind the baby

i don't know why the picture is upside down

but

you can see how charming she is

i'm also very proud because my son-in-law

came first in his class of the Speed Shearing

and was also awarded a trophy for Best Butt on the Board

...yes, dear reader, there is such a thing.

all the shearers line up with their backs to the audience

and take a bow.

Rangi's posterior was judged the prettiest.

but enough giggling, back to the matter at hand.

if you recall

we had left the pouch and stone

bundled and redyed

hanging to dry

with a stone inside to keep the shape

the straps turned out just as i had hoped

and the pouch was quite sweet

[seen here with magnifying glass on an extra strap]

but clearly there was still room for improvement

so i gathered up a few useful bits

and a small bead tray

[my cats love me for buying these special beading trays]

and began to play

here's a closer view

and here's the key to all the bits

and where they are from

i'm not entirely sure i have quite finished

it is such a joy to stitch on felt

which has good body

and in which loose ends can be so nicely hidden

it is also a very good sign

when i get excited by new teaching ideas

and can't put them down myself

hmm

amulets and landskins 

could go rather well together too

and now i'd better prepare a bottle for the baby.

it was quite cold and limp yesterday

and had to sit on its great-grandmother's lap for some  

Reiki

and bonding

now it has a voracious appetite.

+  +  +

in case you've only just joined us
the rest of the story can be found here

part one
part two

good honest work

coincidentally also good honest fun.

one man's weed

one man's weed is

another woman's dye experiment

spotted Berberis darwinii on one of my perambulations

around delightful Edinburgh

...at Massey University back in 2007

this berry yielded a lovely purple dye

when mashed in hot water

and then turned a rich indigo blue in the presence of copper

[substantive on wool + silk, the samples are still very pretty]

here are some berries crushed into my travel amusement

in local water {from the Novotel tap]

it looks like this

not at all purple or blue

but

when smooshed over an area

previously anointed with mud from San Francisco Bay

it indicated there are probably alkalis [certainly there are salts]

in that lovely goo

it went blueish on the crossmark

which was stencilled with mud

the splodges at top left

are from the blackberries at Fort Mason [SF]

anyhoo i thought it might be interesting to see if copper made a difference

fortunately

i'm carrying US pennies

and a handy magnifying glass, necessary in order to sort sheep from goats - in this instance pre1982 pennies from the others [the old ones are copper, the new are some kind of trickery]

 so

i added some pennies to the mix

and a sign to deter over-zealous cleaners

we'll see what tomorrow brings

meanwhile on another note

i made friends with a local resident

while toddling down a set of stairs

[i love cities with hidden stairs]

s/he is bottom right in the bigger picture