simple pleasures
I guess I am a simple girl. Here are some things I am excited about right now. I'm going to put this behind a cut, because most sane people are going to find this incredibly boring.
First: My maidenhair fern. I didn't bring my fern from Seattle, so I had to order a new one from a local florist, the smallest they could get. I want it to grow up to fill my bell jar. I repotted it in a small bonsai pot (from my first bonsai, which passed away a few years ago) and it's sitting on a red Asian-style tray, so I want to find a small goldfish statue to use as its "mountain". I also put in some genuine Northwest moss pulled from one of my two bonsai--well they are really just little trees--that I brought with me to Ioway. The fern is doing fantastic in the indirect light from my window, and the bell jar keeps the humidity in and prevents Grim from eating it. It's sprouting all kinds of roots and new fronds, and I'm hopeful that some of the new fronds may grow as tall as the jar.
Next: Bonsai. I buried my two little trees in leaves outside for the Iowa winter. I really don't think either of them will make it, but I thought I'd try. One is a small laceleaf maple that sprouted in our old firepit in Renton (obviously during a time of disuse). The other is a tiny oak sapling I took from Matt's late grandmother's home. I have this tendency to attach a lot of sentimental significance to plants, which is sort of a bad idea for someone who keeps moving like this. (I had to leave behind the fuchsia I took from my late friend Sharon's garden.) Anyway, it's possible they'll live through the winter, but if not, I gave it my best shot.
Assuming that they won't make it, though, I have been trying to hatch a plan. You see, last week I got dreadfully bored as well as sad about missing Thanksgiving. The only way to get out of my funk was to get excited about something. That's when Matt found the Mississippi Mud ceramics studio, which teaches all levels of classes. I took ceramics in junior college and absolutely loved it, especially throwing on the wheel. The result was a big collection of heavy, chunky, and basically useless plates (12), bowls (lots), a tray, and a teapot that I don't like because somebody mislabeled the glaze and so it turned out an ugly color. A lot of this is now at my mom's house, because I couldn't justify hauling it to Iowa but I also couldn't bring myself to get rid of it completely. After it hangs out in my mom's garage for a few years maybe it can all go away. ANYHOW I'd love to get back into ceramics, but I sure don't need any more two-ton plates, and I don't drink tea. So what can I make on the wheel? This was around when I put the maidenhair fern into a bonsai pot, so it was on my mind. I wished I had a larger, round pot that would go better with my bell jar. Maybe I could throw one on a wheel? In fact, maybe I can make several real bonsai pots. They would be whatever exact size and height I wanted. They'd be challenging because they would require carving (bonsai pots have feet). I could make an ideal one for my bell jar maidenhair moss forest, as well as a few for fun. And maybe next year I'll finally collect a bonsai from nature and train it for real in my own pot. I found an interesting site that explains some of the techniques, including thread grafting, which looks really cool.
My favorite thing from college ceramics is actually this boxy vase sorta thing that I use as a pencil holder. I picked up the clay on the beach one summer (Moclips, I think)--which should show you how much I like the idea of ceramics--and so I thought I'd pinch it into something and fire it (unglazed). Here's how it turned out. It still lives on my desk (a very exclusive spot).
Goodness. If you're still reading you must have a lot of time on your hands. My third (maybe fourth?) current interest is birds. I really miss my hummingbird. If you have been to my house you know about my hummingbird, because I pointed it out to everyone every time it came to my feeder, and that was about every two minutes. I just adored the little guy, what can I say? He even stayed in my front yard all winter long. I sure hope he found somewhere else to get food. ANYWAY if I start thinking about that I will get depressed. The point is, they have cardinals in Iowa. And bluebirds. Both are lovely to see, but according to Wild Birds Unlimited's site, bluebirds don't frequent feeders. Cardinals, apparently, do. So I got a tray feeder (cardinals' preferred style) that hangs from suction cups and put it on my window. Dunno if any of them will actually come over here. And I dunno if they will be able to stand Grim staring back at them. But I hope so! I also hung a pipe feeder from a chain (before I found out cardinals don't like pipe feeders). So come springtime, I'll put out my hummingbird feeder on the chain and cross my fingers.
Okay, last but not least is astronomy. I don't need to go on and on about this one; I just posted about conjunctions and Planet Narnia. But you can actually see the stars and planets here in the countryside. I am going to get my star maps out and re-learn my constellations. I also need to get some really strong binoculars. I left the telescope behind because it was too awkward to move and also I had very poor luck trying to focus it. But with good binoculars you can see Jupiter's moons. Although, I need to find out whether binocs are good enough to see Saturn's ring. That's the one big success I did have with the telescope. An added bonus of binoculars is that I can look at the birds (turkeys as well as bluebirds), deer, and other fauna with them. Besides, I like binoculars.
The end.
Oops, not the end. There was one more thing I wanted to mention: I made a toile mousepad. It matches my footstool--too much?
THE END.
P.S. Between working from home and frigid outdoor temperatures, I spend a lot of time in this room. Maybe I'm going a little crazy.
P.P.S. My desk is all scratched up and dirty looking because it is an old chemistry lab table salvaged from a school.
First: My maidenhair fern. I didn't bring my fern from Seattle, so I had to order a new one from a local florist, the smallest they could get. I want it to grow up to fill my bell jar. I repotted it in a small bonsai pot (from my first bonsai, which passed away a few years ago) and it's sitting on a red Asian-style tray, so I want to find a small goldfish statue to use as its "mountain". I also put in some genuine Northwest moss pulled from one of my two bonsai--well they are really just little trees--that I brought with me to Ioway. The fern is doing fantastic in the indirect light from my window, and the bell jar keeps the humidity in and prevents Grim from eating it. It's sprouting all kinds of roots and new fronds, and I'm hopeful that some of the new fronds may grow as tall as the jar.
Next: Bonsai. I buried my two little trees in leaves outside for the Iowa winter. I really don't think either of them will make it, but I thought I'd try. One is a small laceleaf maple that sprouted in our old firepit in Renton (obviously during a time of disuse). The other is a tiny oak sapling I took from Matt's late grandmother's home. I have this tendency to attach a lot of sentimental significance to plants, which is sort of a bad idea for someone who keeps moving like this. (I had to leave behind the fuchsia I took from my late friend Sharon's garden.) Anyway, it's possible they'll live through the winter, but if not, I gave it my best shot.
Assuming that they won't make it, though, I have been trying to hatch a plan. You see, last week I got dreadfully bored as well as sad about missing Thanksgiving. The only way to get out of my funk was to get excited about something. That's when Matt found the Mississippi Mud ceramics studio, which teaches all levels of classes. I took ceramics in junior college and absolutely loved it, especially throwing on the wheel. The result was a big collection of heavy, chunky, and basically useless plates (12), bowls (lots), a tray, and a teapot that I don't like because somebody mislabeled the glaze and so it turned out an ugly color. A lot of this is now at my mom's house, because I couldn't justify hauling it to Iowa but I also couldn't bring myself to get rid of it completely. After it hangs out in my mom's garage for a few years maybe it can all go away. ANYHOW I'd love to get back into ceramics, but I sure don't need any more two-ton plates, and I don't drink tea. So what can I make on the wheel? This was around when I put the maidenhair fern into a bonsai pot, so it was on my mind. I wished I had a larger, round pot that would go better with my bell jar. Maybe I could throw one on a wheel? In fact, maybe I can make several real bonsai pots. They would be whatever exact size and height I wanted. They'd be challenging because they would require carving (bonsai pots have feet). I could make an ideal one for my bell jar maidenhair moss forest, as well as a few for fun. And maybe next year I'll finally collect a bonsai from nature and train it for real in my own pot. I found an interesting site that explains some of the techniques, including thread grafting, which looks really cool.
My favorite thing from college ceramics is actually this boxy vase sorta thing that I use as a pencil holder. I picked up the clay on the beach one summer (Moclips, I think)--which should show you how much I like the idea of ceramics--and so I thought I'd pinch it into something and fire it (unglazed). Here's how it turned out. It still lives on my desk (a very exclusive spot).
Goodness. If you're still reading you must have a lot of time on your hands. My third (maybe fourth?) current interest is birds. I really miss my hummingbird. If you have been to my house you know about my hummingbird, because I pointed it out to everyone every time it came to my feeder, and that was about every two minutes. I just adored the little guy, what can I say? He even stayed in my front yard all winter long. I sure hope he found somewhere else to get food. ANYWAY if I start thinking about that I will get depressed. The point is, they have cardinals in Iowa. And bluebirds. Both are lovely to see, but according to Wild Birds Unlimited's site, bluebirds don't frequent feeders. Cardinals, apparently, do. So I got a tray feeder (cardinals' preferred style) that hangs from suction cups and put it on my window. Dunno if any of them will actually come over here. And I dunno if they will be able to stand Grim staring back at them. But I hope so! I also hung a pipe feeder from a chain (before I found out cardinals don't like pipe feeders). So come springtime, I'll put out my hummingbird feeder on the chain and cross my fingers.
Okay, last but not least is astronomy. I don't need to go on and on about this one; I just posted about conjunctions and Planet Narnia. But you can actually see the stars and planets here in the countryside. I am going to get my star maps out and re-learn my constellations. I also need to get some really strong binoculars. I left the telescope behind because it was too awkward to move and also I had very poor luck trying to focus it. But with good binoculars you can see Jupiter's moons. Although, I need to find out whether binocs are good enough to see Saturn's ring. That's the one big success I did have with the telescope. An added bonus of binoculars is that I can look at the birds (turkeys as well as bluebirds), deer, and other fauna with them. Besides, I like binoculars.
The end.
Oops, not the end. There was one more thing I wanted to mention: I made a toile mousepad. It matches my footstool--too much?
THE END.
P.S. Between working from home and frigid outdoor temperatures, I spend a lot of time in this room. Maybe I'm going a little crazy.
P.P.S. My desk is all scratched up and dirty looking because it is an old chemistry lab table salvaged from a school.