Sonoma International Film Festival

We are at the Sonoma Film Festival this weekend!  Spent a full day watching movies yesterday and today is going to be similar hard work!!!

We love this festival and go every year.   It's all in walking distance of the town of Sonoma and glasses of wine and nibbles keep you going between the movies.  All the films are independent movies - and it's great to see what people can create - sometimes with practically zero budget.

Yesterday I particularly enjoyed "Outsourced" which is about an American online catalog company that outsources it's call center to near Mumbai, India and sends the American manager to train and coach the new workers in American ways!  There aren't really any big surprises in the plot - but it is a funny and sweet movie!



My other favorite yesterday was "The elephant in the living room" which is a documentary about exotic animals being kept as pets in the US.  A lot of the film focuses on this one man who keeps 2 African lions - which then have four cubs!  Gosh - quite an eye-opening and balanced movie - and sad and tragic at times.  There was a Q & A session afterwards with the producer and that was great too to hear some of the background and what happened next.



Today I'm looking forward to seeing "Bomber" - I practically cried at just the trailer for this one - and do love sad movies - although this one seems to have humor in it too - so hoping it'll be a goodie!

I'll let you know if there are any that shouldn't be missed!  But time to head to the movies now!

Oscar the Osprey finds Harold! - Friday's fascinations, facts and folklore

When we lived on Sanibel Island in FL, before moving to California, there were loads of ospreys to be seen. We even had them nesting in our garden and it was lovely to watch them. 

Soon after moving to Sanibel, I wrote a children's short story - never did anything with it, but it was all about Oscar the Osprey and Harold our pet parrot.  I was inspired to write it because shortly after moving there, Harold was on top of his cage in the screened porch area one day and a large osprey flew over the screen roof, very close to Harold's cage!  Poor little Harold was scared with this large shadow overhead and fell off his perch onto the floor! 

And so - I wrote this little story about how scary it is to move to a new place and not have any friends and how to make friends etc.  Yes, as you can imagine, Oscar and Harold became fine friends in the story.

Well yesterday, I saw that Oscar had come to see Harold - all the way from Florida!  I looked out of the window and there was Oscar on top of our willow tree by the pond!  He was looking as handsome as ever, perched right on the top.  After getting my camera and taking a few shots,  I, of course, told Harold he was here to see him!  Naturally Harold was very excited....but I can't tell you the rest because maybe that will be another little story one day!  The further adventures of Harold and Oscar - all about how to stay in touch with your friends not matter how far away you live!!

Oscar looks like he's had too much fun with Harold here - and is taking a little nap!!

What stories are happening around you today?

Experimenting with "White Bronze" clay

The last couple of years have seen an influx in new metal clays, including bronze, copper and steel made by different companies.  The latest in these is a new "white bronze" that Hadar Jacobson is making.  She supplies her metal clays in powder form and so you mix them yourself by adding just water.

I liked the look of her new white bronze clay so thought I'd give it a try.

As I often find with Hadar's clays, when I mix them according to her directions, they seem to slump when making thicker sculptural pieces and this is what happened with my first try with white bronze.  As it dries, it just doesn't hold it's form and flattens out.  So I decided to cut that piece into three and use them for some test firings to check what temperature is correct for my kiln.

Here's what one of the cut up pieces came out like after firing - finished only roughly - dark silvery grey color:

I then made up a new batch and added less water than Hadar suggests so that it wasn't quite collecting in the bowl.  Then I rolled this, adding the tiniest more bit of water,  and it came together and didn't slump as it dried.  It is on the verge of cracking but doesn't quite - so it is not the satiny feel that Hadar uses for her pieces and shows in her videos.  Anyhow - this drier form seems to keep sculptural pieces in their shape.

I made two of the drier batches and have just fired those.  The kiln settings seem fine - but both these pieces came out quite yellowy.  Here's one of my little birds -  not as yellow as traditional bronze but still a lot yellower than the test piece.  (I tried firing niobium wire embedded in him but it seemed wobbly which is what the little blob on his head is!):

So the final color of these last two pieces - each made with a different batch of drier clay - is quite different from the test piece and also from Hadar's work on her blog.  I can't imagine that just adding less water would take away the "white" coloring so I wonder what it was?  I'll see what Hadar has to say.

Here are three pieces for comparison.  The bird on the left is silver, the test piece in white bronze is in the middle and the yellowy white bronze bird is on the right.

Maybe it's just me and bronze! The prometheus bronze came out pink and now the white bronze comes out yellow????  Anyone else been trying this out?  what did you find?

Time to bloom

It's so wonderful to see all the flowers starting to bloom and the blossom in the trees....so I had to make some new flowers.

This one is a fuchsia (often incorrectly spelled fuschia but that spelling looks much better!).  Fuchsias  always make me think of ballerinas with the stamens and sepals looking like they are on their toes and then the frilly skirts.....  Fuchsias used to be my dad's favorite flower - wonder if they still are? So we always had fuschias around and I still have some in my garden here. As a child I always loved popping open the petals - just before they were ready!  Then the ballerinas would appear even quicker - or so I thought!

The soft pink in this one just seems to add to the femininity of the piece.

A new friend for Nate and Kate - but he needs a name!

You may remember the little octopus earrings I made a couple of weeks ago, called Nate (N-8) and Kate (K-8) because they each had 8 wiggly legs!  They now have a new friend who is a necklace...but he doesn't yet have a name.... I tried thinking of other names with "8" in them but got stuck....Any ideas?

To be honest, I haven't checked whether the latest octopus is male or female as I'm not sure how to sex an octopus...and can probably get through life without knowing.....but no, now I've typed that, I have to go and find out.  Did you know that you sex an octopus by looking at it's third arm to the right (clockwise).  In males, this arm has a suckerless tip and a channel for delivering spermatophores!  Well - now you know!  And if only I knew where to start counting from, I guess I could check on my little octopuses!  But where is number one?

Anyhow - hope you come up with a good name for him or her....

Business Matters - NeatReceipts

I've just started a couple of new ways to keep track and monitor my business accounts.  I like them both a lot, so thought I'd share them with you here.

First up is NeatReceipts. Basically it's a small mobile scanner and software that reads what is scanned.  So all you do is put your receipt in the scanner, press the button, brrrrrrrrrrrr it goes through and the key information is extracted and automatically entered into an easy-to-use database.

I feed in my post office receipts to keep track of shipping charges, and all other receipts that I don't pay for on Paypal (I use a different system for Paypal which I'll tell you about another day!).

With NeatReceipts you can:

• manipulate the database and sort in a variety of ways to produce reports and searchable pdf documents.
• use it on both windows and mac
• export data to Excel or Quicken
• assign tax categories to receipts and keep digital copies for tax records(accepted by the IRS)
• create expense reports
• use it for either business or household expenses
• use just the scanning software and data filing system if you currently own a compatible scanner

The scanner is small and "neat" so you can take it with you on business trips if you do that sort of thing.  It is powered by a USB connection so can just go into your laptop and before you are home, you can have a report of your expenses.

I like it.  Before I just kept everything in a drawer and year end had to go through it all. Now, it's much more manageable.  The system is quick, and also kind of fun - which encourages me to do it! 

Occasionally when the receipt is difficult to read, you have to enter some of the data manually into the database. 

Anyhow, a few people recommended it from the Etsy Metal Clay team and I'm happy I gave it a go. Maybe it'll work for you?  Or do you use something else that you like?  Let us know ...

Sunday's spotlight - Easter Surprise

By guest blogger Pete.

It may very well never materialise.  I'm writing about "T.T.", which, by the way, stands for "Teenage Talk".  I still can't find the list that my grandson, Peter, made out for me and he is, as I write, on holiday with the family in French France.  If and when I get it then rest assured that you'll be the first I bore with its contents.

Easter has come and gone; well Easter Day has.  The weather forecaster (local variety) promised us a pretty dreadful weekend with plenty of rain.  Fortunately the rain missed the bus and so didn't arrive.  It was bitterly cold at times but, at least, the sun shone.  If there is reincarnation I'm going to put myself down as a weather forecaster for the next time round.  It's not that I have unfulfilled talents in this field but it strikes me that you just write what you fancy; i.e. "Chance of rain, could be snow, possibly strong wind maybe gale forces, might get a bit of sun and I've heard there could be some snow."  See!  That covers most eventualities and no one can expect you to be right every time.

Another more accurate thing the weather forecaster told us was that we have had more snowy Easter Days than we have had snowy Christmas Days.

That previously unrealised fact immediately reminded me of an event that took place when I was Chaplain/teacher at a boarding school in Warminster.  It was, probably,a couple of Sundays before Easter but we had had quite a bit of snow - in fact inches of the stuff.  Two of the pupils decided that it would be fun to throw  snowballs at Pam and me, which they did and then beat a hasty retreat into the near bye Parish Church.  About the time the service finished Pam began to keep an eye out for the two of them and when they came out she slipped - not literally -  out into the garden.  The garden was surrounded by a high wall and listening for footsteps she pushed all the snow on top of the wall onto the walkers outside.  Image he surprise when she went outside to gloat at  two snow covered pupils only to find that she was faced by two snow covered elderly nuns.  The two girl pupils were in danger of harming themselves with hysterics but, fortunately, the two nuns thought it quite funny as well.

Regular readers of this blog will remember that some time ago I recalled for you the adventures associated with my buying a Christmas tree.  Just to keep you up to day, you may be pleased to know (or perhaps you couldn't care less) but the Christmas tree remains a healthy specimen and has seen through the cold winter with no ill effects.

The new plum tree that we have is now showing buds.  There'll be some plums on it this year - even if we have to buy some and tie them on!

This week's photos are not of snow covered nuns but rather are kaleidoscopes of some of the photos of the Church - St Augustine, Kilburn - that I wrote about last week.

Watch out for the snow!  Scotland has quite a lot last week.

Knitting time....

I keep thinking of knitting.....

So I've hunted out one (of several) half finished projects and am determined to try and get back into it.  It's always much more fun to start new things - but I'm going to be good and try and finish this cardigan first.  At least it's in one of my favorite colors - a limey/citron greeny yellow....

The yarn is called cotton gima and made by one of my favorite yarn producers - Habu Textiles  - a Japanese textile company.  They have such interesting yarns made with lots of different things like paper, stainless steel, bark, bamboo, fine silver, as well as cotton, cashmere, silk etc....

We'll see how it goes.  I used to knit alot before I got so involved in my silver work....but the Habu yarns add a different dimension to it all, making it interesting to work with.   Maybe it will be a short lived knitting phase...but maybe not?  We'll see......And first of all, I've got to try and figure out where I'd got to......

A bird's perspective on recycling - Friday's facts, fascinations and foklore

I saw a perfect example of recycling today - by nature itself.  (Unfortunately I was watching through glass doors so the photos aren't that clear but here is a glance at how non-humans also participate in recycling.)

The scene is outside my office.....We have a little table and on it I have a collection of last year's nests that I took from the vines, trees, birdhouses etc....

Along comes a pair of house finches.  The male lands on the table and the female is out of view of the camera but she is on the floor.  Here is how the conversation went:

Remember the little things....

You may remember my "Remember the little things" bracelet that I made a while ago - which depicted a little bird doing 9 different actions that we should remember to do. They were:

• play a little
• love little
• work a little
• entertain a little
• stop a little
• indulge a little
• pamper a little
• care a little
• celebrate a little

I've had a couple of enquiries lately to make individual pieces of these for necklaces.  Here's "Play a little"

and here's "work a little:

I always loved the sentiment of these....everything in moderation....finding balance (so elusive!) and feel inspired to make something else in this vein.....I wonder what it'll be...

Bud break in the vineyard

Bud break has just started in our vineyard.  This is the time when you first see the tiny little leaves unfurl.  It starts at the top of the slope of the vineyard and only the very top row is showing those little unfurlings.

It'll be a few weeks before the rest of the vineyard catches up - especially the vines on the flat ground, but it's a lovely  time to see all that regrowth.  We've just had what look like dead sticks since November - and now, signs of new life!

We also had other "signs of life" spottings today in the vineyard.  John was on a conference call - but while he was paying attention to the call (!!!!!) he spotted what he thought was a mountain lion just outside the vineyard.  So I got the binoculars out and had a look and it was in fact a bobcat.  It looked pretty big though - but with the obvious markings on it's body, black tipped ears and a short tail. 

It looked like it was taking a leisurely stroll......Every few minutes, it would sit down and take a rest....which meant that we could watch it for over half an hour while it walked just a short distance.

A little later, we drove out to a meeting and I jokingly said to John "watch out for the bobcat so we don't run it over" and 2 seconds later, there it was on the lane.  To begin with we both thought it was a different bobcat - as it looked so small!!!

The one above the vineyard had looked like this biiiiiiiiig cat - but we then had to face it that in reality, it was just a cute little cat!  We stopped the car -and of course, I got out to have a closer look.  It stood watching me for a while - really quite close so we got to see it so well.  Then it ambled off over the creek.  Unfortunately I'd only had my camera with me when it was outside the vineyard and not on the lane so the photos aren't that clear!

So a good vineyard day today!

What new signs of life have you seen today?

Spring Cleaning Day

I'm busy sorting and cleaning my studio today.

At the moment, I'm trying out quite a few different media and with my limited studio space, I need to be a little bit more organized so that things can go away in drawers (and have room in the drawers) to leave space for new things!  As my husband will tell you, I'm not the tidiest of people.... I love starting things and then get distracted by something else and so the putting away part doesn't happen very well!  I'm also getting some new lights a and new stool for my studio too...so it deserves a little sprucing up.

Luckily I do have one little helper:

Anyone can do the dusting!

Anyone else want to come and help?? 

Monday's Millinery Musings - A fatal fascination with feathers

By guest blogger Jennifer.

I was once in the San Francisco airport on the way to boarding gate 23 when I came across a number of glass cases filled with hats - new and old, vintage and Victorian. Hats! I was in heaven until my eyes fell upon one particular picture hat. It was a large brimmed felt in a dusky hue, the brim edged in silk, and all around the crown in a veritable morgue lay several dozen preserved hummingbirds. I stared in fascination at their tiny dried bodies, their feathers still glowing with traces of rich color after nearly a century. I could imagine when the hat was new the hummingbirds artfully wired in such a way as to make them seem to hover lightly about the hat in and amongst the velvet leaves and satin ribbon.
But, I must tell you, I felt sad about them.

Hummingbird

Feathers have held sway the imaginations of people throughout history - from Aztec kings with their sweeping capes of hummingbird and quetzal feathers, Wahgi tribals of Papau New Guinea and their red and black feathered ceremonial headdresses, to La Belle Epoque ladies in picture hats elaborately trimmed with the extrordinary emerald, spice, blue, yellow and cream plumes of the birds of paradise, or mountainous froths of pink or purple tinted ostrich feathers.

Lesser bird of paradise

Resplendent Quetzal

Although La Belle Epoque, a brief and frivolous time, covered only the first decade of the Twentieth Century it was long enough to nearly bring to extinction numerous species of exotic birds worldwide.  The demand for elaborately feathered hats, boas, fans and aigrettes (feathered hair combs) was unprecedented. Huge quantities of feathers were imported from the Americas, South Africa and all corners of the British Empire. Most of the feathers found their way to Paris, where there were 800 plumassiers, feather-making workshops, which employed nearly 7,000 people. Feathers were very big business and the cry for more and more exotic feathers could not be satisfied.

Osprey

Finally, dawn broke in the minds of some - including Britain's Queen Alexandra who agreed to ban ladies from court who wore osprey feathers in their hats - and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in England and the National Audubon Society in the United States came into being. Their mission then and now is to conserve and protect bird populations worldwide. They have done well for the birds.

Ostrich

Today there is one plumassier left in Paris, M. Andre Lemarie whose mother started the business over 100 years ago. I imagine every so often Monsieur Lemarie opens the tattered tobacco colored boxes and looks lovingly at the long saved and treasured birds of paradise and osprey feathers among so many rare and fine feathered treasures that make up his vast collection.

Marabou Stork

Hatmakers everywhere still love feathers, but we have learned to use farmed ostrich, pheasant, duck and cockerel feathers - and to great advantage. Milliners have always been able to adapt to change, and indeed welcome it.

Blue Bird of Paradise

Sunday's spotlight - One of London's Hidden Secrets

By guest blogger Pete.

As I get older I find that my forgetfulness increases.  Just before Pam and I left our elder daughter, after a recent visit to her, my younger grandson gave me a list of "T.T."s for me to use in this blog.  When I arrived home I put that list in a safe place.  MISTAKE - BIGBIGBIGMISTAKE.  I can't find it now because I've forgotten where that "safe location" is. Sorry, Peter.  If you will email me another list of "T.T."s then I'll be able to use it next week.  In the meantime; "T.T."means..............  Well, I'll tell you next week.

Some of you have probably come to realise that I am a photography nut. (John knew this years ago).  A couple of years ago I spent a day in London and roamed around the old city area surrounding St Paul's Cathedral.  I managed to get some great shots of interiors from some of the very old churches there.  A few weeks ago, whilst on that visit to Mary, I decided to investigate some of the churches in the city of Westminster.

As one does - why do folk never say "As two do"? - I googled "City of Westminster churches" and this produced a whole list of places for me.  Thus it was that I came across one of the most beautiful churches that I've ever visited.  It's not on any tourist map and it's a few miles away from the city centre.  You could well say that this is one of London's hidden treasures.

The church I am referring to is St Augustine, Kilburn.  It is an easy church to find if you approach it from the London Underground.  Kilburn has two underground stations - the one I used was Kilburn Park.  As you leave the station you can see the tower of the church quite clearly - terra cotta red in colour - and it is about 5 minutes walk away.

The interior of the church is a Biblical art treasure.  There are wonderful wall paintings, mosaics, tiling, colour, stained glass - you name it this place has got it.  St Augustine's Church is an Anglo-Catholic COE Church built, I think, in early Victorian times. 

The whole of the interior - wall space and floor space - is a continuous work of art.  I haven't finished the photos that I took when I visited  but I'll post some with this blog to give you an idea of what the interior of the building is like.

The Vicar, a really helpful and friendly man, dare not leave the church open and unattended.  The last time he did this two very valuable paintings were stolen.  The building stands in a deprived area of the city and its exterior is showing signs of vandalism and damage.  The Vicar is willing to arrange access to the church at mutually convenient times (the Vicarage is in the Church grounds).  If you're a tourist visiting London or someone who likes photographing churches then contact me through the "comments" section of this blog and I'll let you have his name and contact number.

Have a great Easter.  This is the most triumphant festival of the Christian year so "ENJOY"!