Archive for February, 2008

Seeds planted

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Only up to a brief stint in the garden, but the mild and beautiful weather calls for an examination of the growing things.

Parsley is thriving. The pansies have aphids. The Daisy-like shrub is blooming. Buds on the hydrangea (which i always think i have killed). It’s possible a tomato has survived, ditto the pepper. I cut those way back, though, and believe they might actually be gone.

The planters across the five gallon water containers may not be working. Some sagging. Could the water containers be leaking?

I trimmed back the lemon grass (aggressively).

From previously unopened “Renee’s Garden” seeds:
planter 1: Long standing spinach Summer Perfection (packed for 2005) & Container Chard Pot of Gold (packed for 2008)
planter 2: Fragrant sweet peas Perfume Delight (packed for 2008)

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Neck Tie Crochet

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Neck Tie Crochet

Originally uploaded by Elaine with Grey Cats.

This was the beginning of a test project, a proof of concept for a larger project i was considering. I used crochet thread to create a base strap — the blue stripe down the center. That then became the carrier thread when i began crocheting the short strips of scrap necktie silk (or polyester). To reduce some of the bulkier aspects, i only looped the carrier thread under the previous row, so the neck tie scraps were almost like a chain.

The technique seems to have worked, but i’m not interested in completing the larger project i had in mind with this techniqure (a phoenix costume made of neck ties). And i’m not sure i’m even interested in completing the purse i had in mind with this.

Cutting up the ties is mildly tedious.

neckties, neck ties, crochet

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Ravens at Live Oak in Joshua Tree National Park

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Ravens at Live Oak in Joshua Tree National Park

Originally uploaded by Elaine with Grey Cats.

I’ve the gigabytes of photos taken at Joshua Tree to go through, and some of these actually please me as a photographer. I am particularly delighted with a series of photos of a pair of ravens. I managed to catch some wonderful in flight images, they allowed me to be close enough that I could take photos with some detail — and the black birds on the sandy stone with the bright blue sky makes for powerful contrasts.

I think this is the best composition of the bunch, although other images capture wings and flight and other profiles.

I am a bit overwhelmed by the other photos. I am slowly sifting through, trying to identify when the image captures something well (documents a feature or the aesthetic of a contrast or the details from which i might identify a plant or stone).

Another challenge is with bracketed images. My bracket range was a little too large. I wish i’d been more disciplined about using a tripod, and that i had bracketed so that i could try HDR. As it is, i bounce back and forth between partly over and partly under exposed images. (“The rocks are great here, the branches have great detail here, rocks, branches, rocks, branches….”)

Going through the images is a lovely distraction for the evening.

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