Ink

The ink I use with the pens featured below is stick ink. The stick (long rectangular piece with silver and gold pattern) is ground with a few drops of water in the grinding stone (base piece in photo). To write, I hold the pen in my right hand and the small paint brush in the left hand, pen a few letters and then dip the brush into the grinding stone well and proceed to brush the ink on to the underside of the pen nib. For color work, I use watercolor paint.

Calligraphy

Now that we are in a new house, in a new city and a new state, I will start learning a new hand in calligraphy. Here is a photo of the pens I use to write Spencerian Script. The two pens on the far right were ones that I commissioned Bill Lilly to make. The wood was removed from the White House during renovations in 1950 and under the pens is a small brass plaque that came with the length of wood. My Mom bought the wood for $1.00.

My new course of study is Foundational hand with Monica Dengo http://www.freehandwriting.net/ and below is a photo of my new pen made by Cynthia Ellis-Petrow http://www.woodbyc.com/ The wood has been dyed with deep greens and blues and is incredibly smooth --- feels like satin.

Two Scenes

Today we took a late afternoon walk on the beach and were treated to the following.

Scene 1 - a couple of young girls were riding their horses, bareback, along the waters edge with the waves crashing at their feet. It is such a beautiful sight to see these magnificant animals running for the pure joy of it.

Scene 2 - one of the horses decides there really is no joy to be had running in the northern Atlantic Ocean as it is darn cold water. The horse stops abruptly dumping the rider into the sea. Apparently, only in movies is it easy to mount a horse without a saddle. After a few futile attempts, the rider walked the horse up the beach to the sand dunes so she could be somewhat higher than the horse. She then raced down the dune (not with the grace of Misty May or Kerri Walsh) and jumped on the horse. After a few attempts she managed to get upright and they were on their way.

A Bit of Pink

This is another feather and fan stitch scarf being knit with baby alpaca - very soft. For this piece I taught myself how to do the Norwegian purl stitch. A bit tricky at first but okay now.

After the Storm

Yesterday the waves were wonderful. Lots of folks body surfing and a dozen, or so, with surf boards.

In Circles Hat

I designed this hat to eventually knit with shetland yarn, using multiple colors. These circles lend themselves to all sorts of experimentation.

Sis, happy 29th anniversary.

Green Thumb

This tomato plant looks rather awful, but the tomatoes sure are tasty. I've been wondering if it is the salt in the air, especially the fog, of which we have had quite a bit.