Gin's Place

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10-17--07  No, Vista did not eat me alive and spit me out, though at one point it came close.  Due to a program malfunction (Windows Easy Transfer Program, which failed 90% of the way though), I was forced to do a return-to-factory-settings (thank you very much for that capability Dell!).  Now all seems well.  And having just tempted fate with that statement, I'll return to journaling. 

**This past weekend I did a demo at the Kentucky Guild Fall Fair.  From 1971 until 1996 I did the Fair as an exhibitor, but this was my first time just demonstrating.  Because this was a paid demo, I wasn't allowed to sell, but that suited me fine.  It took that element of pressure off and allowed me to interact with the patrons in an entirely different manner.  Loved it.  I took the beater and set up a start-to-finish exhibit - raw material (an old hickory chair bottom), a pile of cooked and rinsed hickory, the beater, fully beaten pulp, the wet sheets I was pulling, pressed/dried sheets and finished artwork.  The exhibit really worked well promoting conversation, particularly about the beater.  Had to laugh.  Twice, while I was actually pulling paper mind you, I was asked "what does he do with that thing?"  Granted both times the question came from older people, but still....  Very few people who came through knew anything about making paper from plants, though there was one woman who had taken classes at Arrowmont.  For the rest of the crowd, it seemed to be an amazing process, that plants could actually be converted into usable paper....amazing! :)  My booth was right beside the stage, which concerned me because of the beater noise.  I volunteered to shut it down during performances, but the musicians checked it out from the front and said they couldn't even hear it.  I've written here several times about Charlie, my basketmaking friend.  Her daughter daughter, Callie, her husband, Louie, and Justin from Tourism were one of the groups that played.  Callie is a little doll, just as sweet as she looks, and her daddy isn't bad looking, either.  (BTW, did you notice the can of Bag Balm in the picture beside the beater?  I forgot the stuff that first day and paid for it dearly by the end of the day.  I can't say I'm fond of the way it feels on my hands, but it was a real relief to have it that second day.)

10-19-07  Yesterday we had 3/4" of rain, the first measurable moisture we've had in a month.  It came too late for many plants, but just in time for me to get the Peruvian daffodils out of the ground, which to this point has been so hard it was impossible to get a fork into it..  I'd been worried that frost might get here before we had enough rain to soften the ground.  Even with the rain, it wasn't easy.  I didn't count plants, but there were bunches of them, and there were three more rows just like that one.  And lest you think I was being wimpy, those bulbs are huge and they're usually very difficult to dig up because the center roots are as thick as my little finger and about 8 inches long.  I was surprised this year to find them short and not that big around.  The bulbs had made small "feeler" roots just under the surface of the ground, making it much easier to get them up.  I'm sure the drought had something to do with that, but I don't understand the reasoning.  Whatever.  They're out of the ground drying, and as soon as the tops die back, they'll go in paper sacks and into the garage.  As long and as large as those leaves are, you'd think they'd be good for paper, but they're not.  They're a form of daffodil, fiberless and totally useless for paper, except as an inclusion, and I'm not willing to fool with them for that. 

10-20-07  Today was the second half of the indigo dyeing workshop.  I went for the morning session, but left at noon.  I've come down with a cold, probably caught during the Guild Fair last weekend.  As my father-in-law would have said, I don't feel like squat. 

10-29-07  I'm back in the land of the living having survived the cold that mutated into bronchitis.  **I'm trying to deal with a computer issue that's presenting journaling problems.  My camera isn't Vista compatible and I doubt that Sony has any plans on developing a driver update to correct the situation.  Puts a damper on things.  I can still move the images to the laptop, but it's a hassle.  But then, perhaps this is for the best.  If I could post pictures, I'd have to share the dumb stunts that caused me to take them.  We'll see....