birdcage

No. 4

Off to camp.

From The Lawrence & Houseworth Albums: Online Photographic Database

Fallen Leaf Lake

Excerpted from Wikipedia
Fallen Leaf is approximately 415 feet deep at its deepest point. The average depth of the lake is around 240 feet, and the bottom falls away rapidly as one moves away from the shorelines. The bottom can be seen from the surface for a quarter-mile offshore. Along other shores, the bottom may be hidden in as little as 100 feet offshore.
The water quality is extremely good due to the lack of commercial development. Visibility runs around 40-50 feet under most conditions.
After the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency banned two-stroke outboards in the late 1990s, pollution from these engines was virtually eliminated.

& it's so pretty.

Fisher Price Play Family House Set

This page has links to photos of all little people, parts, pieces, & sets -

Here's what they are doing today:

Wish I were here.

Glass Beach, Fort Bragg CA

(shhhh...I like to imagine it's a bit of a secret.)

Sock knitting & its many challenges.

This is my first attempt to use a short - row heel in my sock knitting. I really like the way this heel looks; however, I do not have it mastered. It was difficult for me to do the wrapping & turning, difficult to avoid creating a little hole at each turn. I've done lots of heels with a gusset, they fit well but don't look as much like a real (commercial) sock heel. I've also done quite a few afterthought heels, so easy & convenient, but of the three have the poorest fit & look kind of inelegant. Since I learned to knit socks on two circular needles I enjoy the process. It moves along quickly. Making socks on four double pointed needles, while old-fashioned & cute & most impressive in complexity to non - knitters, is prickly & not fun to work. With the four needle method, I cannot stick the project in my pocket or purse without having stitches slip off of the needles. I am most susceptible to Second Sock Syndrome using four needles. A quick google search will yield many ways to avoid & even conquer SSS; for me, knitting socks on two circular needles & making little socks have proven the best defense against this curse.

I wonder if sock knitting could be compared with golf.

ultra tiny

I'm frustrated because I've been unable to figure out how to embed a Yahoo video in my blog post. I certainly dedicated ample time to the effort. It would have been an accomplishment, but I've scratched that dream for today. I'll opt for the more pedestrian use of photographs to accompany this post. The following article is from Willard Wigan's website. I heard about this man several years ago, but was told at the time that the life story that accompanied an exhibit of his microscopic sculpture was a complete fabrication - urban legend. His work really speaks for itself & is almost disturbingly small - hard to fathom the process.

Former England Davis Cup captain turned entrepreneur, David Lloyd has purchased the remaining Willard Wigan collection of micro sculptured art, which has been insured by Lloyd’s of London for £11.2 million.A long time private and, until now, anonymous collector of art, David Lloyd’s latest purchase is regarded by many in the art world as a very significant coup.
Due to receive his MBE on 12 July 2007 for his services to art, Willard’s work has been described by many as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’.
By commission, Willard has spent the past four months replicating the iconic Lloyd’s Building as designed by the award winning architect, Lord Richard Rogers. The completed Lloyd’s piece, which will sit on the head of a pin, will form the showcase to the David Lloyd exhibition and will be auctioned by Eric Knowles (Bonham’s Fine Art) at the Lloyds Building on 24 July 2007.
The David Lloyd Gallery will shortly be exhibiting Willard’s, and other exquisite pieces of art at the prestigious Birmingham Mailbox. Thereafter a touring exhibition will be announced to take place throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

birdcage & friend.

no. 4

Not yet complete.

Vintage-japan singing girl, headed somewhere.

She believes that her suitcase is vintage Samsonite,

but it's really Playmobil.

Cord Pulls

I'm a little unsure about the term 'cord pull', or is it blind cord? cord lift? shadepull?blindlift?blahblahblah...

This small project was like a Lego mindstorm - - instantaneous, decisive, & brilliant - -yep.

I have a couple more projects for this room that are lengthy, uncertain, & potentially hazardous.

The solution must not! consist of something flamable, a toothbrush & putty knife arghhh!

(stripping completely & refinishing)

complete redo - wiring, spring, switches...finish?

Junk Drawer

It is reasonable to assume that contents of my junk drawer may not pique the interest of many. Even this highly edited selection of junk may generate apathy. I'm not a fool. I do not flatter myself that others are truly anticipating my cleverly arranged junk; but I thoroughly enjoy my junk, & hope to convince someone else of its merits. Don't most packrats* like their own junk? Don't most packrats keep things because of perceived value - - or hypothetical value? I have featured dubious collections before, & while it's true that I was not bombarded with comments on my box collection, grouped together they made a pretty picture. The sight of those little boxes stacked one on top of another made me smile. (On an interesting side note, four of my boxes are very small; all approximately 1.5" square. These tiny boxes offer the extra appeal of all things mini. Most packrats are intuitively drawn toward 'mini'.) There was one comment on my box collection. A friend remarked in a bemused way; 'I never thought about how one accrues items like that...I never thought to call that sort of thing a collection.' I smiled and handed her a small gift packaged in one of my boxes (one of my lesser-favorites; in the wrong hands it would no doubt be regarded as garbage). Often it's better to say nothing.

*packrat
noun
1. A collector of miscellaneous useless objects
2. Any of several bushy-tailed rodents of the genus Neotoma of western North America; hoards food and other objects.

There will always be more to say on the positive effects of sorting, grouping, ordering, itemizing, classifying, cataloguing.

Vintage Wardrobe Items ~

evening bag beaded with with bronze glass bugle beads

This is a small clutch bag that belonged to my husband's grandmother. She was a glamorous lady to be sure; although I saw very few old photographs, there was material evidence throughout the house of her former high style. She lived to be 89 & I knew her primarily in her grandmotherly golfer incarnation.


I inherited several garments that were left in her closet; furs (don't know what to do with), what I'd call a beaded Liz Taylor dress (plunging neckline), an allover beaded & sequined sleeveless top, and a pink beaded raw silk dress with mandarin collar that could only have been worn with go-go boots...yes! The theme today is beaded.

'Liz Taylor' gown- yesterday's

size 12, today's size 8

The bag shown above is in need of repair, the priority number assigned to that task is somewhere in the high hundreds. Sadly I do not have many occasions to use a bag like this, but I've kept it nevertheless. I did not keep most of the other bags. The simple, elegant style as well as the workmanship on this one made it a standout & caused me to hold onto it despite the low likelihood I'd use it. It doesn't even match the Liz Taylor dress, which is light blue sateen beaded with silver sequins, faux pearls, & crystal. It would work well with the ermine stole; snow white & very lovely if
entirely useless to me.

my favorite beaded change purse by Delill