Massive blow to my image…

PiaChit Chat

landskab02

I’ve not bicycled for years and years, in fact not much since I got my first car. Which is not as long ago as you might think, I lived in the city for about 10 years and didn’t need one (they’re also rather expensive to buy and keep here compared to for instance the US), so I was over 30.

My knees aren’t always too happy, so I had a good excuse, but now that they’ve been scanned and no damage to the meniscus like I feared with all the clicking and sharp pains, I really don’t have one anymore. It’s just a sign of oncoming osteoarthritis, slack tendons, and well, I should use them more. 😉

So I decided I’d get a bike for the odd days when I need to go to the library in town or the post office (they don’t provide hitching posts for the pony), rather than drive G to the station in a farther town and back home (repeat in the afternoon) in order to be able to do my errands. And, well, I’m hoping to make a few camera field trips too. And get a bit fitter. It’s not a happy purchase, really, just a sensible choice.

Problem is, I like sporty bikes. I’ve always had slimline, semi-race types aimed at getting places, not sightseeing. And that’s a problem because with my neck/back condition these days, I can’t lean on my arms like that anymore – even just sitting still on bikes in the shop made this very clear in an instant…

So I needed to get a granny bike. I know they’re top fashion at the moment, but that is just not how I see myself. What’s next, flowery dresses, pearls and straw hats? Keeping my hair in a bun? (wait – I already do that, nevermind). Oh larks and deary me….

I also needed to get it in a junior size, because otherwise the frame is too high and long for me. And I wanted gears at least. In other words, not a whole lot to choose from, because I’m rather cheap when it comes to such things too. After all, I don’t know if I’ll ever actually make it into town or collapse halfway.

So here she is, and I suppose I can safely say that I’ve definitely hit middle age! Basket and all. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it. 😉

cykel

Der røg mit Imagedanish

Jeg har ikke haft en cykel i rigtig mange år. Når man bor på landet og handler langt væk eller skal have plads til 50 kg hestefoder og 2 store hunde, så bliver det bilen hver gang. Mine knæ er heller ikke særlig glade for hverken at løbe eller cykle, så det har bare været rigtig nemt at lade være.

Nu er der bare lige det, at jeg IKKE gÃ¥r rundt med flækket menisk, som jeg frygtede, det er bare lidt artrose og løse ledbÃ¥nd. Og da jeg bÃ¥de trænger til motion (blah!) og samtidig skal spare, sÃ¥ giver det ikke mening at køre 4x 12 km til stationen med gemalen, bare sÃ¥ jeg selv kan komme en tur pÃ¥ det lokale bibliotek eller posthus. Og egentlig kunne jeg jo tage pÃ¥ fototure ud i landskabet ogsÃ¥… (hvis bare vi dog havde cykelstier i stedet for 2 m dybe afvandingsgrøfter – jeg føler mig lidt dingelvorn nÃ¥r lastbilerne suser forbi lige i knæhaserne)

Problemet er så, at jeg altid har haft sporty letvægtscykler og det er dem jeg synes om, de er smarte, og jeg er ikke hyggecyklist, der skal trampes til, så man kommer frem. Desværre er min ryg og nakke ikke enige, bare det at sidde stille på cyklerne i butikken gjorde det klart for mig at jeg ikke kan tåle at holde min vægt i armene/skuldrene.

SÃ¥ nu har jeg været nødt til at købe mig en konecykel. Der var ikke sÃ¥ mange at vælge mellem, nÃ¥r man bÃ¥de vil have gear og juniorstel. Hvad bliver det næste, blomstrede kjoler og perlekæde? HÃ¥rknold? (nÃ¥nej, det har jeg jo allerede) Jeg kan bare slet ikke forlige mig med, at jeg nu officielt er midaldrende. Tror faktisk aldrig jeg kommer over det…. 😉

Plant watercolours

PiaPainting

Heidi told me about making water colours from plant dye, so I just had to give it a go even though I don’t really have the time or energy right now for another project.

planteakvarel4

I still need to work on getting a more concentrated solution, the day I did this I had to go out, so I couldn’t let it sit on the stove to steam for hours. There’s also a matter of how long it’ll keep, my first jars were too tall for the fridge, then I managed to not have time to test the liquid for days. Then it got cold and rainy and not good for picking flowers… you get the idea.

So I’ve just been doing some washes, layering the solutions to see how dark they would go, adding iron and copper as well as soda ash and vinegar to modify. Nothing happened in fact, it may need to be heated – again, no time. And then I noted several days after, that my swatches had changed colour. So there is a possibility for modification, but a high rate of unpredictability or a steep learning curve in knowing what you’ll get eventually.

planteakvarel1

I started out with coreopsis and tagetes, meant to do a batch with weld also. But, well. The tagetes turned out very greenish yellow and the coreopsis nearly brown, so I’ll have to do perhaps birch for a warm yellow (or Dyer’s chamomile, which I only have in a dried variety by now)

Then there’s coffee and tea, tea with iron. I’m thinking mainly backgrounds for illustrations, to start off on something not white.

I tried getting direct prints from the flowers by “hammering” them into the paper, but just got brown smudges. The colour is not waterproof after drying, so wetting these papers again for eco printing would probably wash most of it away.

I’ll investigate some more, at some point, for now I hand over the torch in case somebody else has the urge or would like to share their knowledge. I used 10% alum in proportion to weight of the liquid.

planteakvarel2 planteakvarel3

Plante-akvareldanish

Et meget kort og forhastet forsøg pÃ¥ at lave akvarelfarve fra planter. Det fungerer – men er lidt upÃ¥lideligt mht farveændringer via kobber, syre, base, jern osv, da farverne først skiftede pÃ¥ papiret flere dage efter jeg havde malet det pÃ¥. (og allerede smidt varianterne ud). MÃ¥ske det virker bedre at opvarme hver enkelt variant eller lave dem mens det oprindelige bad er varmt.

I virkeligheden havde jeg hverken tid eller ork, skulle i byen den dag jeg kogte blomsterne, så jeg kunne ikke lade dem stå på blusset og dampe mere ind, vejret blev skidt til blomsterplukning og jeg har bare for meget at se til.. Men hvis nogen skulle få lyst og måske endda dele deres erfaringer, så er bolden hermed givet op. Der er brugt 10% alun i forhold til væskens vægt.

Jeg brugte tagetes og skønhedsøje, egentlig ville jeg også prøve vau og birk, men det er det så ikke blevet til endnu.

Tansy take 2

PiaPÃ¥ dansk

Last year I only did a few skeins – and this year the situation is the same, only I did it differently.

I did two with iron in the dyebath (mordanted with alum and one not) and one with leaves only.

Then I read that the best colour is from the leaves before the plants bloom. Well obviously that’s too late, so I guess I’ll have to do a teensy test in 2014 as well.

rejnfan2 rejnfan3

Grøn med Rejnfandanish

Sidste år blev det til gul med blomsterne, i år forsøgte jeg mig med bladene samt med jernvitriol. Sidstnævnte både på alunbejdset uld og ubejdset. Bagefter læste jeg så, at planten rent faktisk giver bedst farve før den blomstrer, men så har jeg jo noget at prøve igen til næste år.

1/3 gone

PiaBooks & reading

This month seems hellbent on getting done! Ok, a third sounds a bit more than just over a week somehow, but still. Not sure I’ll be able to keep up!

So it’s not Wednesday for wips and reading, but here at the cottage it’s Fiber Friday, so there.

This is what I’ve got home from the library this month and my still not very advanced holey sweater. I think I’m getting to the beginning of the end of the first two skeins, though.

wipread1

I managed to dye a bit with Japanese Indigo today, not a lot as my plants were pretty limp from the drought. I would like to do a couple of really dark blue, as well as remember to bring my silk outside too. If nature doesn’t water the garden soon I guess I’ll have to!

japindigo1

I also washed a tiny bit of fleece, the green stuff from the other day. Seems to have cleaned up well enough!

fleece

The weather forecast says this might be one of the last sunny, warm days. The coreopsis is running amock, there’s no way I can pick all of them!

coreopsis10