Breathe

We’ve just had Woody’s post operative follow up appointment. Obviously we were able to report that the screw in his elbow has been a big success. What wasn’t clear at our last appointment was that he has a screw befitting the size and weight he was at 5 months old and he’s now a year old. It seems we both sat and listened and understood that the screw could last as long as nine years, we hadn’t really registered that it could break at any time. It’s very worrying but in the meantime the advice is to let dogs be dogs thank goodness, no reigning in of exercise and games. The muscles support the joints so the best thing is for him to stay active, not much chance of having it any other way. Woody has become ball obsessed. Every morning when we go through to the rest of the house I pick up the basket of assorted dog toys tidied away from the night before (necessary because they don’t have an off switch otherwise). I throw a soft toy out, only Arthur goes for it. I throw a canvas snake out, only Arthur goes for it. I throw a vinyl bone out, only Arthur goes for it. I throw a ball out and Woody goes for it as though his life depends on it, then circles the sunlounge in a lap of honour and he does not stop offering the ball for fetch games or making Arthur chase him for it all… day… long.

It is just as well that I’ve been spending a lot of time outside at my dye kitchen. I’m gainfully employed and the dogs are supervised. Left to their own devices there would be a lot more escaping under the fences and paying casual visits to the boggy stream below, not to mention chasing baby crows that have fallen out of their nests. One such bird must have fallen out overnight and I was dutifully presented with it the next morning. A second, much larger was half way to being gifted when I persuaded Arthur to leave it and come inside. The poor thing sat on the pavement in the shade for two hours until M came home and could help it up the garden towards the field. It probably didn’t stand much chance of surviving but the constant and loud crowing from the parents did eventually stop. There’s been a third, dead, carried around the garden for a bit then hastily rescued, this is becoming like a return to cat ownership!

I’m very organic and ‘go with the flow’ when it comes to my natural dyeing. It’s already a craft that is aligned with the seasons and I really like that about it. Currently there’s an abundance of nettles, cow parsley, birch, beech and oak leaves all in the garden or very close by. The dye kitchen is slowly being surrounded by fresh birch leaves and I’m making sure it doesn’t disappear completely by snipping foliage around it and adding it straight to a pot. It’s the closest thing to actually having a workbench in the middle of a forest, now wouldn’t that be a nice dream? Lately I’ve dyed colours specifically for a project. I spotted a crochet sunflower cushion that looked like a fun thing to make and realised that the colours could all be obtained from birch, oak, alder and nettles, all to hand. I plan to do more of this kind of thing, I make fewer things these days but they are definitely more considered.

I’m also trying to remember to put extra wool samples in with each dye pot to create a loose reference of mini skeins. I’ve dedicated a vintage suitcase to the cause. If only I had done this from the very start, the suitcase would be bulging! It’s not an exact science but being able to use the samples as a starting point when trying to obtain a specific colour will be a handy thing, not to mention being able to demonstrate the craft if I ever I had need to. I have several very messy sketchbooks with strands of wool stuck in and notes that don’t always explain exactly what I did, so I feel this will be a better resource.

Since I last wrote here I took a bit of a step back from daily Instagram interaction. I’ve never been one to criticise social media because it’s mainly all good for someone like me, a bit of an anomaly when it comes to being profoundly deaf but not at all belonging to the culturally deaf world. I’ve been editing/proof reading a book on that subject recently and it’s made me reflect on how lucky I am to have gained the education and language I have done. The book heavily criticises social media which is a shame because I think it’s there for anyone to take or leave, I’ve never experienced any bullying on Instagram and I’ve had very few negative interactions. I’ve had a break recently because selling my plant dyed wool and hand carved hooks that way is a fairly intense process. I try and keep things small and manageable but it’s often a case of spinning plates. The reflective and creative side of me often wants time out to stand back and see where things have gone and where they might go. This time round I happened to start working on some hooks that I’ve been wanting to make but might not necessarily be as popular as my usual style. I’ve so enjoyed making them, picking up woods that previously had challenges and didn’t feel commercially viable but managing to work out how to overcome those challenges. I plan to stock these when I have a decent sized batch of assorted sizes and woods.

Well, we’ve had the Platinum Jubilee weekend and also acquired another old vehicle since I started writing this so I guess I’ll have to start another post!