Books!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here: we’ve had company and been away. But today I took a very fun bookmaking class at Six Loose Ladies. The instructor was Pang Ting who makes beautiful paste paper, hard-spined books with leather bindings in an artful mix of traditional and innovative techniques.

To make our book we got to choose from an assortment of her lovely paste paper, book cloth, liner papers, signature papers (pages) and linen thread for binding. It was good to learn the proper process, especially since I have dabbled in bookmaking for the last eight years, gleaning information from the internet and books from the library.

My book is about 7 1/2″x 6″ and 1″ thick.

Front …. and back.

Now all I need to do is acquire some essential tools and supplies and learn how to make my own paste paper.

Beautiful wings

Last night there were two very large reddish moths flying around the outdoor floodlight. It was hard to get a good look at them because they wouldn’t sit still very long. But this afternoon we found this one warming herself in the sun on the deck. The Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Moths shows that it is a female Promethea Moth, one of the giant silkmoths. Her body and legs are covered with “fur” and she sports two fabulous plumed antennae. It was a treat to see her and watch her for a little while before she fluttered away.

Sunshine on a cloudy day

We’ve been having some much needed rain. And it has been a good, soft rain over several days. We put in our garden right before it all started – good for us. But the weatherman has been predicting warmer temps and sunny skies which haven’t materialized as yet. So just when I’m feeling sorry for myself in the gloomy dampness, I spot several bright spots in the garden.

How could I forget that the rain brings these little guys out into the open? To my delight I found oodles of them when I went to look: large bright orange ones and a little tiny brownish one that looked more like the adult form with his darker coat and bright orange spots. These little red efts make me smile and I’m choosing to be content with gray skies for another day.

The Bear Comes Back

Back on April 21st I posted about a bear who visited us overnight, emptying our bird feeders and bending the wrought iron pole to the ground. Last week he returned, having made the rounds of the community buffet I suppose. The scene pretty much looked the same as last time: mangled feeder on the ground and bent over pole. But this time I almost caught a glimpse of him. It was late at night and I was coming back to the house from my studio in the barn. As I opened the outside door, I heard lots of scuffling in the yard, not the deer-gracefully-bounding-away sound, but some heavy moving. Of course, at the time it was too dark to see the feeders, especially coming from “well lit” into “darkness”. Only in the morning did I notice the mayhem, and recognize the noisy visitor.

So the feeders are gone for the summer – not a bad thing, but I am missing my goldfinches and nuthatches. However, we’ve noticed that the hummingbirds are sipping at the rhodies in the yard and I’ve set up their feeder, hoping that the bear doesn’t have a sweet tooth. This photo was taken through the screen so it has that brushed appearance, but you can still see his ruby red throat and long bill. These guys will provide much entertainment as we head into summer.