The title is, as many of you know, Gollum's last cheating guess of three (because it was two guesses) at what was in Bilbo's pocket(esses)(precious).  

I am hugely relieved at the cooler weather. The horses are also hugely relieved at the cooler weather and have demonstrated this with cheerful forward motion. The mosquitos cannot breed in a drought, although the corn is suffering and the river is way down.  We have rain forecast for Monday – it might damp down the dust, but I think it won't make a dent on the low water. 

Imagine, if you will, making Jello extra strong and wibbly, and then painting ink or fabric paint onto it, placing interesting things onto the paint, then placing fabric over the paint and pressing gently. That is gelatin plate printing. My bestest table-mate ever from Haystack (hi Cami!) said it was a fun process, and she was exactly right.

There are some very good sources out there, which I will list tomorrow once I've got them straight.

This is my first piece – purple fabric paint from Jacquard with a piece of Queen Anne's Lace flower and a fern. The plates keep for a while in the fridge. I'm entertained by the idea of printing with Jello. Now all I need is use Kool-Ade dye, thickened with marshmallow fluff and I'll have a pleasures of childhood trifecta.

Crow feathers always feel like a message. Actually, most feathers feel like a message, generally telling me I should look up more often. That is one of the things I learned from my mother – look up. You'll see amazing things. In town, you'll see architectural details, and interesting things on fire ascapes. You will almost always see interesting clouds. At night you can find friends in the constellations. And as Alice has found, you can see a lot of different birds. She has a knack for spotting the really big ones: eagles, hawks and herons.

I also finished this piece today –

I can't remember where or when this particular feather arrived, so I'm reduced to titling the piece Mystery Feather. It might as easily be a chicken's feather as a red tail's – and I'd hate to guess wrong! This one will be mounted and framed and taken up to the gallery at the end of the week.

Alice's last day of school was today. They had a field day in the afternoon, so I went and retrieved her early. The woman behind the desk raised her eyebrows over skipping Field Day. I told her Alice would rather eat nails than have forced academic fun, and after a little thought she agreed with me. I haven't been so startled since Aerin first started middle school – I thought she was completely humorless.

The best thing about school vacation for me is not setting my alarm. Not having to wake up sleepy, grumpy children is also very nice.

via www.flickr.com

Two circles, because I feel bad about missing one yesterday.

I was home with Alice today, who I think was poisoned with some allergen last night. She was sick last night and wibbly today, but seems much better now.

Red Kate – I promised you a blue heron, and I swear I'll do it tomorrow!