Interesting | Judy Dominic Fiber Artist

May 2, 2014

Seems the police…

… were just in for the day as they were doing random alcohol testing on drivers going through town. First time ever according to one source. They headed out early Friday morning and vacated the unit at the Saltbush Inn. Sigh. We had such a fun rumor started about drugs and red lights…

My newest neighbor is a gal who has come in for the mudcloth workshop which starts today. A number of the students from yesterday’s gut class are staying on for mudcloth.

Everyone had a good play with the gut. We had a couple rinsing stations set up outside the Art Center, which is upfront and center in downtown Lake Grace being a renovated (and still in process) former grocery store. Lots of community members stopped by to check out the action including the local butcher. He seemed a bit taken aback when he realized what we were working with but quickly recovered to say he would be expecting a run on casing!

Dinner last night was at the local sports club which has field and court space for bowls, footie, tennis and basketball. The bar serves up great fish and chips on Friday nights. Entertainment was our group jokes and conversations, although one little tyke stole the show when he dragged off his dinner order across the floor.

Not sure whether it is the water, the excess salt from the surrounding lakes, the flocks of gullahs winging around, the brilliance of the stars or what, but I have been having extra vivid dreams here. Lots of familiar faces in very strange locations and activities…

April 22, 2014

Perth adventures

If I wait any longer to write in the hopes of getting pics up first, you might never hear from me! Multiple pics seem to undo me, so…

Perth is quite lovely, weather, location and people. Martien and Geri have fully welcomed me into their home, along with the ever present Clementine.

We’ve been full swing into the Easter holidays here since my arrival last Thursday. Friday was the annual Pétanque tournament – didn’t win but also did not come in dead last! The best part of the tourney held along the Swan River, besides the great group of friends that I became part of for the day, was the numerous stoppings for tea and lunch and more tea. (Tea here means a whole lot more than just something to drink!)

A good part of Saturday was spent op shopping (think Goodwill and St Vincent shops) for items to be used in natural dyeing and/or mudcloth.

Sunday saw us enjoying Kings Park as well as a park further east on the Swan River where we also did our bit to keep fires to a minimum by gathering up various leaves and plant material.

Monday Martien got the fire going under a large stainless steel roaster and, after some rolling and tying of cloth/plant material/sticks, we gave the whole bit a go in hot rusty nail water for several hours. Patient waiting overnight before checking on the outcomes.

This morning held a bit of crisp chill in the air; it has warmed up very nicely. Our bundles have been unwrapped and magic has happened

We will do more dyeing next Monday when Wendy comes over. ITMT, casing calls as we prep for the class tomorrow.

Posting pics will happen, just not promising when!

April 10, 2014

Moving Day

Yesterday was a most deloghtful day in that it was sunny – for the most part – and full of good things.

Started the morning wih poached eggs on rye accompanied by the sauteed saffron caps (mushrooms) from the other night – yum! Played with the resident dogs (Ooshi does like to catch balls!), experimented a bit more with the mushrooms that Kath and I collected the other day, hiked down the trails – including the 500 Ferber Steps – into the Katoomba Falls area, rode the railroad up the steepest incline in the world and ended the day (after many lovely conversations with Kath) with a lovely meal of prawns, rice and stir fried veggies.

Today was a drizzly day – perfect for repacking all my stuff. Jude scooped me up – after a scrumptious tea of cheeses, hummus and smoked salmon – and delivered me to the vacation home in Leura that I am sharing with three other tutors. Quite spacious and right in the midst of a gum forest. Took time for a bit a walk into the town center hoping for an internet connection, but ended up just drinking a smooth iced chocolate.

Pics next time I can get online!

March 26, 2014

Woo Hoo!

I beat out the snow showers yesterday by cooking up some contact dyed clothing on Monday. Unbundled them yesterday and am loving the results! Still need to be rinsed/washed.
The real surprise came from the avocado skins and seeds. Normally I get a nice green from the skins and a salmon color from the cut seeds. This time – blue with just a hint of salmon! Thinking it might have something to do with the egg whites I dipped everything in, but that is not clear just yet.
I so love the magic and surprise in the dye pot!

March 24, 2014

Took advantage …

… of the lovely day of weather that we had last week and pulped my banana chunks. They were finally thawed out and wonderfully retted. Probably against all advice, if I had gotten any, I skipped the cooking stage and went directly to beating.

Banana pieces, being so nicely ‘plumped up’ and curved, don’t like to go through flat and close beaters. So I persuaded them a bit by tearing them into smaller chunks. That helped a bit. A very little bit. More persuasion was needed.

Out came the bats! No, not the kind we found on the basement step, but the hard round kind in the form of thick dowels. After some serious pounding, during which those juicy banana pieces squirted all over the garage floor, the flattened banana fibers slipped right into the beater between the ‘teeth’ and in no time I had pulp.

The pulp still needs some beating time to finish it properly before pulling any sheets, but it is now in a manageable size freezing again (this time in the basement chest freezer) until I have time to work with it. And it has been saved from being dumped in the woods by my love had it remained in the kiddie pool when I head off to Australia.

All is good. Especially since I know he won’t be inclined to pull things out of the chest freezer for dinner.