Corona Virus Means Staying Home Now

As of this morning we are staying in way more than going out. It was odd not to be in the gym this morning but I dressed for it and came down to the office/gym here and did my workout. Still need to work out the details of fixing breakfast for Lee beforehand and getting it through to him that I am here and not there….but everything takes time.

Thank you to my Australian friends and students who have kept me in the loop even though I am not there. They even sent pictures of them all waving from their workshop desks. It will be great to see their projects and hopefully skype with them over the weekend from the house we have shared together after the workshop. Big hugs to them.

I don’t think I would want to be traveling outside of the country right now. Some people are stuck in foreign countries and may not get home for weeks and many others have had to change plans and are stuck at home. Tough times we are in right now with very pathetic leadership here in the United States. But we don’t need to talk about that.

I took the silk shirt scraps and gave the last pieces another go in the pot.

I rolled the pieces up on PVC pipes instead of folding between tiles. Cooked for two hours and then taken out to rest for three days before unbundling.

And as usual the wrap strings make the best marks.

Here they are rinsed and ironed.

I think they came out a bit better on this second processing. Here is a detail.

The weave of the silk pattern is quite a distraction to the prints. Now, as always, what do I do with these pieces that smell so wonderful….

I am tempted to cut them all into smaller pieces just to stitch them together again if only for the feel and smell. A wonderful friend in Australia gave me a whole spool of fine silk thread, a tiny, tiny eyed needle and a silk hand-sewn Eucalyptus leaf to keep it in. Maybe I will get a very large magnifying glass and thread that needle with the silk and give it a go just following along the woven pattern in the silk…..maybe.

Another great picture sent this week from where the conference is in the Grampians, came from a friend who has a solo show at the Kookaburra Restaurant where I shared so many meals. Besides lots of pictures of her work hanging, she showed me the guest’s comment book. It was one of my small hand done sketchbooks that I gave her last year for always making me feel so good from her kind words when I need them the most. She told me that I am now with her work in the Kookaburra until the show closes late next month. I can already taste the lovely red wines with their superb spinach crepes. Wasn’t  that a thoughtful thing to do?

And I am keeping up with the drawings a day…..

I think we gave up

the use of fondue forks for

dipping directly.

 

This is a muddler,

meant to crush small leaves and fruit

in your next bar drink.

 

My most favorite

chopsticks ever are waiting

for a Chinese meal.

 

We bought these chopstick

holders made from carved bamboo

on our Japan trip.

 

This haiku is making me a bit dumbed down I think. Seems I am just writing in syllables and not words…and I find myself counting only to seven.

But after the next two days the books made from my old grey pants will have been all filled up and it will be onto the the next four books made to hopefully take me to the end of the year.

Til later. Wash your hands. Stay home. Drink Australian wine.