Wildish

Being resourceful gives me great pleasure. It is satisfying to overcome obstacles and find ways of doing things that hadn’t been thought of before.

Today Dan sat down to work on some drawings and realized that we had run out of felt tip pens. To make matters worse we’re low on cash so we can’t easily run out and buy more. (Hey, it’s a recession after all.) No problem, I thought, if I can’t buy pens I’ll just make some,  so I dug into my collection of found feathers and picked out a sturdy one (I am a treasure seeker, I like to pick up little natural things and ephemera). A couple of cuts later and Dan was back at his drawing, and happily  surprised by the flexibility and  line quality of his new quill.  They were much more flexible than metal pens and very light and comfortable to hold.

Tonight we are going to use some of the other feathers to make pens with a variety of tips. We both agree that while using a quill and ink can be a bit messier than felt pens the results were much more interesting.

There are also the environmental factors involved, feathers are completely biodegradable!  I used to work at an art store and during that time I became aware of just how damaging and toxic many art supplies are.  It dawned on me as I watched hundreds of plastic pens and makers flow through the cash that most of them were not refillable. They were designed to end up in the landfill fast so people would come back and buy more. What a waste (and also expensive!). I’m switching to feathers. This will also gives me an excuse to use some of the cash I’ll save to buy nicer inks in the future. Ha ha! ; P

I can’t believe I hadn’t thought to do this earlier! It’s amazing how necessity can make you come up with a solution that actually turns out better than what you thought you wanted!

How to make your pen:

you will need:

collected feathers, a small sharp knife and scissors, a knitting needle and tweezers.

To Prepare: collect feathers any time you find them, the bigger the better, and set them aside. This way it won’t cost you a dime, won’t hurt our environment or any animal in any way, and it will have more personal meaning. Collecting them also fosters respect for the local creatures that provide for us.

Clean your feather and let it dry out. You may also harden the tip if you’d like.  I didn’t bother with this step, but it is an option for better durability. You can do this by soaking the tip in a jar of water overnight, then submerging the tip in a container of hot sand or ashes.

Step 1 : Insert the knitting needle into the shaft of the feather. It is necessary to break and remove the inner structure of the feather to allow it to hold the ink.

Step 2: With a sharp knife cut the feathers tip at a shallow angle, less than 45 degrees. Remove any excess inner membrane around the tip with your tweezers.

Step 3: cut a thin split in the point of the feather. This will be the centre of the nib, the point that is in contact with the page and releases the ink. You can further shape the tip of your nib with sharp scissors.  It’s a quick project, so I suggest making a few with various points.

Your pen will dull with use, but the nib can be re-cut  several times before the quill is toast. Happy drawing!

Dan tested out the simple quill we made to draw a cute little rat for a comic book panel.

This is the first part of the first epidose of Mushishi. I love this show! It follows the wandering character Ginko, a loner and  “mushi master” who deals with “mushi”;  a form of invisible life that is kind of like a cross between fairies and microbes. It’s a lovely anime centered around the natural world and reminiscent of folktales.

So, I got a call back from the lady in charge of planning here in Halifax, she said she was going to make sure the developper knows about the Orchids and that she would encourage them to keep as many as possible. She speaks with authority and it sounds like she genuienly wants to help. The message I left with the Condo company has gone unanswered.

Obviously I wish that they would all be spared, but I am still  glad to see that some other people are at least taking their existence into consideration. It is really easy to simply give up on these things, but even a slim compromise is worth working for in these situations. I hope that the developer will take this seriously, so some of them can be saved. This orchid is beautiful, showy and complex. Finding one plant alone is special, but this colony as a whole is really stunning and only something you can only truly appreciate by being there.  I think most potential condo tenants would love the idea of being able to go out back to the “Orchid garden” and sit under a tree. I can tell you from experience it is a lovely way to spend a summers day, especially with a good book.

There is also a lichen colony growing alongside these orchids, this lichen is what I used to dye this silk. I think it’s amazing that the silk looks so much like the  lady slippers! This particular dye takes a year to make, so it’s not something I would try at home.The lichens themselves are sensitive to pollution and very slow growing. The lichens I use are collected from the forest floor after stormy days. I never remove any from the rocks so I never run out of lichen .(I was lucky enough to be taught about lichen dyes by Karen Diadick Casselman, expert dyer and lichenologist. Her dye books are available on the internet, they are a fantastic reference. I highly recommend them.)

Unfortunately it’s not just loss of habitat that threatens the orchid gardens survival and that of other lovely spots in our neighbourhoods, it’s also human carelessness. People throw their bottles and garbage down the hill from the condo that towers behind it. Some kids burnt up most of the biggest lichen colony last year with a fire extinguisher. I think they’ve also been picking the orchids, I found a lot of broken ones this year. Since their blooming period has been interrupted, these ones will never grow back.

It just goes to show that as a society we should be more mindful of our effects on other living things and their interrelationships. The kids are just playing and they don’t know better because we haven’t done enough to set a good example. I don’t think they realize that common object’s are often dangerous and full of chemicals. It is easy to assume that plants and mosses will pop right back in spring, but that is not always the case. Some parts of our ecosystems are really fragile, in order to responsible it is important to familiarize yourself with the natural world around you before you decide to change it. We also need to cultivate and nurture a stronger reverence for the life that surrounds and sustains us

 

This is a little sneak peek at one of the many pretty things I’ve been making to sell at a local gallery. I’ve been sewing and starching lace and I can’t wait to show everyone all the new designs I’ve come up with.  All of the new pieces are made with fine silver which I shaped myself. I should have them photographed and posted here in the next day or two.  The details on where you can pick them up in town will follow (as long as all goes well, fingers crossed).

There is a lovely colony of wild pink lady slippers (cypripedium acaule) near my house here in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately there is going to be a condo built on this location, and I fear that they will bulldoze the whole place. It is a magical little space that I will miss greatly. I am going to do everything I can to try to save some of these wild orchids. It seems that they aren’t protected here in Nova Scotia (regardless of what the wikipedia article says). I spent a couple of days calling around to various societies and departments to be sure of this. They are endangered in some places though, and it makes me wonder what the stat’s are about their local population.

This particular lady slipper is very sensitive and is nearly impossible to relocate. It’s roots are fragile and grow one to 2 feet underground. They are dependant on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that lives underground and in it’s roots. Without the presence of this fungus it will die, it’s seeds also need this fungus to germinate. On top of this is needs a particular amount of light and shade, acidic soil and is often found on stone outcrops. People are often tempted to dig them up for their garden, but since they need the fungus they will most certainly die if they are moved. In places where they are in danger their major threats are habitat loss due to development and exploitation by people. These plants are so sensitive that if their blooming period is interupted, for example by picking them, they will not grow back. This is pretty horrible considering they take many years to mature and produce their first bloom. If you see them in the wild, please admire them, but do not pick them.

These plants also do not get fertilized easily, so they are slow to reproduce. They trick a bee into entering the labellum, then it must crawl out the top depositing the flower pollen on the bees back. There is no nectar inside, so bees rarely make the same mistake twice and climb in to another to  fertilize another plant. You can even help out the orchids by carefully cross pollinating them by hand.

I called the group builing the condo today and left a voicemail.  I can only hope that they will decide to keep some of them in their landscaping plans. I would think having rarish orchids on site would be very attractive to tenants, but as of right now they are planning on bulldozing it all.  I also called HRM planning devision to try to find out what the status is on the application. No one picked up, so I left a message there too.  I will keep you up to date on what’s going on.

Molasses Chocolate Cake Batter:

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 1/2 stick (3/4 cup) butter
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 whole eggs
1 egg white
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch process cocoa (I used Cocoa Camino fair trade cocoa =)
1 cup of buttermilk (or skim with a tsp of white vinegar, I was out of buttermilk this time so that is what I used instead.)

1. preheat over to 350f. Prepare two 8″ pans or two cupcake tins, it will make about 24 cupcakes, if you are using dark pans lover the oven temperature to 325f.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. Warm the milk and eggs to room temperature. Eggs can be placed in a bowl of hot water and left for a few minutes to warm up. If they are too cold the batter will separate.

3.Cream the (room temp) butter, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy, this will take a couple of minutes with a mixer on high. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing gently and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add half the dry ingredients followed by half the milk, scrape down the sides and repeat.

4. Spread into pans or cupcake trays, bake for 20-30 minutes. They are done when the tops of the cupcakes spring back or if a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Chocolate Coffee Frosting:
I always make it by consistency and taste, so the icing sugar amount is approximate. Adjust it to your liking.

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
strongly brewed coffee
3 to 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar

Cream the butter on high until light and fluffy. Add 2 tbsp of the cooled srong coffee, followed by the other dry ingredients a little at a time. Adjust the sugar content and the consistency of the frosting by adding more coffee if necessary.