Wednesday, March 10, 2010

porcupine precedes paper


5:58 am, i wanted to find the little whippersnapper...
that burl-like nodule...that's the critter...

busted

this is one unhappy found-out porcupine.

and then a surprise at the end of the day, waiting for me. the yahoo handpapermakers 2009 swatch swap X anniversary book.
yep, it came with all those little hearts. 
it's always fun to see the swatches in this book. and akua wrote a poem for it, so i have lots to read, touch, smell, and look at. no, i will not taste any.
this gentleman is my neighbor, arizona (i think his name is arizona) a big half draft, half quarter horse. he's been here since i moved here, 23 years ago. he was so excited when i stopped my car to take a quick photo this morning. i was foolish and had no carrot. an alliterative red letter day, porcupine procurement, horse happiness, and papermaking pleasure. 

17 comments:

  1. I love your blog - I find it quite inspiring as you write about your everyday life in such a different place to where I live.

    The wildlife - the weather - the livestock - your wonderful dog, Wendy - and of course the hand papermaking.

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  2. HA! you caught the prickly thing! that is satisfying.

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  3. and hopefully i can dissuade prickly from returning, the maple is lost, but the doberman may visit and she'll attack prickly and there will be hell to pay. and quills to remove.

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  4. Velma, Your blog is just beautiful! You are my blogging idol!

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  5. thank you! i'm enjoying this journey.

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  6. I bet the swatch book is beautiful. I's love to participate in something like that. Glad you finally got a shot of the porcupine... I've never seen one. I pass by several stables on my way to work.. One raises beautiful draft horses. They are colored like paints, but heavier. I just love their long flowing flax colored manes and tails. As usual, beautiful blog post.

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  7. a helper to tap the sap!
    the paper sample book is wonderful.

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  8. yep, neki, but s/he eats the bark while working! i think the tree will have to be felled, there is extensive damage. i would love to pass by horse farms on the way to work... better that i don't, i might not get to work.

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  9. I remember the havoc the 'porkys' did to my greatuncles apple orchard. Oh, he cursed those vermin! Boy are they smelly! Raccoons are the beasties that I worry about now.
    Happy Spring adventures.

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  10. i have never seen a real porcupine, and i have never seen a paper swatch book, but i have seen a horse up close, he is very handsome.

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  11. well, jude, we will have to remedy that! handsome horse has a bad-burdock-tail issue. (notice i omitted that)

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  12. i was wondering if you could lead me to some place on the internet that would explain how i might use saw dust to make paper? i have plenty of saw dust.......but i am a bit of a pure spirit when it comes to these things and i want to go through the whole process and avoid "recycling" old paper. it might be a good lesson for my students.... your hickory sample got me to thinking....most places on the net show me only how to recycle old paper..

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  13. An explanation to all the little hearts that I vacuumed up yesterday. I thought maybe you'd had a ranging party while I was at work. Not my mum.

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  14. oh, dear, no chuck, no sawdust will NOT make paper. NOT!!! inner bark will because it is a bast fiber, but only some barks have useable bast, hickory, slippery elm, basswood (though i haven't tried basswood), mulberry, leatherwood and other shrubs like willows. many plants, too. a good resource is the yahoo! handpapermaking group, and also gin petty's journal (www.ginpetty.com).

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  15. The sample book looks great. And I second what Colleen said - it's good to read your observation from such a different place to where I live.

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  16. Hi Velma, congrats on the Handpapermaking inclusion. Your work is beautiful and inspiring. Catherine

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  17. alas, catherine, no stray quills (i looked!)

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