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New Year’s Traditions and Rituals

Apparently, part of my NY’s tradition is to wear my gray vest and favorite hat. It is the hat my brother gave me at our sister’s wedding. The vest was a gift as well.

NY 2014 and 2015

I was even wearing the same scarf this year, but removed it before walking to the beach. It was too warm for it.

What does that say about me? Two years, two photos, nearly the same?

Pretty sure it has something to do with loving my hat and always feeling comfortable wearing my gray vest.

Both have been with me for nearly 14 years. Why replace something that works so well?

And there is a high probability that at least day a month I will be wearing the vest, and more often wearing the hat.


Black Bamboo and Other Finds

This morning I went to visit a friend who offered to let me take some cuttings of his black bamboo.

Black Bamboo Detail

The cuttings are nearly 9′ long.

Black Bamboo

I found loads of cypress pods.

Cypress Pods

I found a piece of mesh that has pant parts growing through it.

Mesh

And a piece of twisted wood.

Twisted Wood

I also found some cuttings from a cypress that sustained storm damage. I am thinking that it would be fun to shred the wood and bind it to the exterior of a box.

New Materials

Then I noticed a cypress was weeping. It was sad, but lovely. And a bit sticky…

Weeping Cypress


On the way home, stopped by to see the goats. They are working goats. They have been tasked with clearing a field near the airport. Apparently it was break time.

Goats

One of the goats wears a bell.

Goat Wearing Bell

Today there was even a watch dog. He gave a long deep howl.

Watch Dog

Now it is studio time.


What Is It? A Soy Candle???

I bought soy wax flakes when I was attempting to use wax on wool. I didn’t use the wax molten. I added a solvent to it. Then I applied the cold wax to the wool pieces. I wasn’t happy with the results so I thought that it would be fun to use the soy wax to make candles.

After reading several tutorials on making soy candles I thought that I could make easy peasy gifts for the holidays. I was looking forward to binding cinnamon sticks and pine greens to the jars.

I found a great tutorial on Hello Natural.

I followed the instructions. Poured the candles. Everything went well or so I thought. Then an interesting thing happened. The soy wax started to change and grow as it was cooling. Looks a bit like mold growth which I actually like, but not good for a gift.

Soy Candle

I googled the results, but couldn’t find an explanation as to why the soy wax changed. Probably it was a temperature issue. Perhaps the wax was too warm when it was poured. I was working in my studio space in the garage. While it was not cold, the jars were definitely much cooler than the wax. But maybe it had something to do with the addition of the spices. Could the oil in the spices that I added have altered the wax?

I broke off a chuck of the wax. The interior was very dry and powdery.

Powdery Soy Candle

I have used a variety of waxes over the years and have never experienced anything peculiar. I used wax for prototypes, as molds for dried plant parts, casting, and molten wax to integrate and age materials.

I don’t look at the result as a failure. It is a problem to be solved. More research is needed. Maybe in the future I will have a need for wax that looks a bit like mold.


Crystals and Lack of Control

I recently read a post on Christine Mauerberger blog regarding growing crystals on leaves. Got me to thinking about several pieces that I made a few years back. One of the pieces was really beautiful, but became annoyingly ugly.

This is the original piece before salting. The piece is composed of fired stoneware, metal, and fiber.

Original Piece


Detail of the piece after being submerged in a solution of hot water and borax.

Crystals


And two details of the crystals on the piece today.

Crystal Changes Detail 1


Crystal Changes Detail 2


Curious why the change so I googled it. Found Andrew Dominic Fortes’ Crystal Growing page. It has some great information.


Not a Hummingbird

Last night my family called for me to come and see the really small hummingbird in the courtyard.

Yeah, not a hummingbird. It was a Sphinx Moth. How did I know this? A few years back my neighbor gave me a dead moth he found on one of his potted plants. It was a Sphinx Moth. And then I found one in my garden. Again not alive. I placed them in tins and they are resting here–

Sphinx Moths in Tins


I tried to get a photo of the one in the garden. Unfortunately, the photos were all very blurry. This is the best one.

Sphinx Moth


I found this great image taken by Raymond Christensen and posted on Butterflies and Moths of North America.

Christensen Sphinx Moth Photo

Some Information on Sphinx Moths
United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Colorado State University Extension

North American Moth Photographers Group (Gorgeous Photographs)


Everyone Loves Brugmansia

I love Brugs. I became aware of them when we were living at the beach. We often would take walks to the beach in the evening. I kept noticing a lovely fragrance and found that it was Brugs. The plants were cut like trees and had large white bell flowers.

When we moved to SLO I decided to have a Brug garden. I bought one plant. I loved it so much, I started buying seeds of different varieties. At one point I had over 100 plants. And my gardens smelled great!

The Brug flowers are white, yellow, peach, white with a blush. Some are double flowers. They all are beautiful.

Then I realized I wasn’t the only one who loved Brugs. Everyone loves them. No matter how much I fertilize the Brugs and give them systemic, damage occurs.

Brug Damage 1

This is damage typical of cucumber beetles. The beetle looks a bit like a green ladybug.

Today I found this wormy guy on one of my variegated potted plants.

Wormy Guy

You may not think he can eat much until you see this–

Leaf Damage

I think that Spider Mites are the worst of all bugs. They are difficult to see and an infestation can occur rather quickly.

Spider Mites

Spider Mites on a Double White Brug.

This is an image of a Brug that was a cutting from a Brug that I grew from seed. It likes to grow tall, about 20 feet. We try to keep it pruned to about half that height, to allow for an easier removal of spent flowers.

White Flowers

When I prune my Brugs I always take cuttings. It is a superstition thing for me. I tend to be rather aggressive when pruning. The cuttings will be my back up plants just in case the parent dies. These are a few current cuttings that are ready to be planted–3 Brug varieties and Solandra Maxima.

Brug Cuttings

The Solandra Maxima has large flowers with a lovely fragrance. I bought a plant from a fellow at the Saturday Farmers’ Market. He told me that it is a vine. Actually it does not behave so much like a vine. I have found that it is somewhat shrub-like. I took cuttings and have it growing in four different locations in my gardens.

This is the result of a cutting from my original Solandra Maxima plant. The plant is filling in a corner niche quite nicely.

Solandra Maxima Plant from Cutting

Soon there should be flowers that look like this–

Solandra Maxima Flower