gifts and work

 nature has been generous with gifts

while i was reading on the porch

i noticed a movement

and a graceful, leggy visitor came along.

i was able to sneak off for the camera,

and caught her on the other side of the house.

this morning's visitor(s)

however, 

were NOT welcome

two little brown bats

playing tag in my bedroom.

up at 3:30, tending to bats.

not fun.

 i have been working

 stitching 

on silk and 

on cotton

 and when i need diversion

 i "knit"

the thing is well over a meter now.

~~~

and one more of nature's gifts:

a tiny warrior

who couldn't outrun a car.

day two of break

hannah has named her louise. the photo is shot through my studio window (and screen), but she has the sweetest little mouth, dainty and a little silly. see her teeth? and she has burdock on her right ear. a scar on her neck. 

this is what became of some of the eucalyptus and one cotton bandana.

leaves removed from stems and laid on wetted sown cotton, folded over once.

bundled up and tied tightly, steamed in a shallow water bath. 

then it rested, and steamed again, after i added more water. also, a bit of washing soda. a flake of red onion skin hanging around.

after sitting on the counter a few days, i could wait no longer.

there are hints of green, gold, rust

this was the somewhat disappointing cloth hanging wet on the window. it is now a bit deeper in color, much yellower, with pink tones. i didn't rinse, not even yet.

this experiment was strange because i used new cotton bandanas that i purchased, pre-washed, but didn't pre-mordant at all. old cottons, especially my favorite old bed sheets, dye so much differently. in any case, i have a bandana with some interest, in the rusty-gold family, with a few pink undertones. all that green? mostly gone. but i'm thinking that, too, may change.