Jack’s Walk

There’s not a trace of snow left in town, but out in the country we saw highlights of white persisting in pockets here and there in the fields. In the forest, the fallen branches and trees were frosted like cupcakes and the leaves on the ground were wet and nearly silent as we padded along. All but a very few leaves are down now and the trees stand like scratchy wire sculptures against a foreboding gray and gloomy sky. Late autumn has arrived and with it has also come the November blahs and blues. Even Jack seemed tinged with ennui today.

Jack’s Walk

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.
– Alice Walker

Transformation

Kestrel has finally shared some of her jewellery making with us and it’s phenomenal. What starts out as a pile of horsehair becomes ordered and ultimately beautiful at the hands of a master artisan. I’ll let kestrel explain the process…

I’m working on my website and one of the things that needs to be done is to re-shoot all the photos. Since most of my work is custom (in other words, people send me hair from their own horse, and then I make stuff out of it for them) I don’t have things in inventory, and that means I had to re-make all the items in order to take new photos. One of the things I like about my work is being able to transform my materials, whatever they may be but in this case a messy pile of hair, into something orderly and worth having.

Some of the braiding was done before it occurred to me to take a photo, but that messy pile of hair is going to be turned into 6 bracelets: 3 that are an 8-strand braid, and 3 that are a 25-strand braid, one each of white, chestnut and black. In case you are wondering: that messy pile of hair is made up of 1,761 individual hairs. That I had to count. On purpose. I don’t usually sit down and figure out things like that, because I just really don’t want to know; it’s a little depressing. But, if one is going to braid hair, one must first count it.

Part way finished, you can see the 3 8-strand bracelets are done and I’ve just started on the black 25-strand bracelet.

All done! It looks very different from how it started out. Now what I have to do is take good photos of each product so that hopefully, people will want one of these made from their own horse’s hair as a keepsake or memento. Just another day (OK, actually it was about two weeks) in the life of a braider.

Thanks for sharing, kestrel. I’m astonished at the precision and beauty of the finished product. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of work involved, especially the counting! These are surely cherished keepsakes. Why, it’s enough to make me wish for a horse of my own.

Jack’s Walk

“This oak tree and me, we’re made of the same stuff.”
― Carl Sagan

Monday Mercurial: expressive sealion

Some more of the Patagonian sealions, the big bull.

Jack’s Walk

We woke up this morning to the first snow of the season and it was such a pretty sight. I love when the snow first falls and covers the dull browns and grays of the world with a crisp blanket of white. It gets so quiet and today even the sound of passing cars was muffled. We had a lovely, slow stroll around our neighbourhood and the falling snow was mesmerizing. It won’t last, though. Already it’s turned into rain (again!) and soon there won’t be a trace of it left.

Friday Feathers

From David, an early morning Kookaburra. In German they’re called “lachender Hans”, laughing Jack in English.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I came across a small spaceship this morning. Jack barked at it a few times, but there was no response. We decided that the aliens must be out reconnoitering and tip-toed up to the craft. It was smaller than it first appeared and there were multiple antennae on top that were connected to a central axis giving the ship a look similar to a satellite dish. The body of the craft was of a soft, malleable metal unlike anything I’d seen before. We examined the exterior and could find no doors, ports or knobs that would allow us entry. Knowing that the aliens were out here somewhere, Jack and I decided to leave, but we kept a close watch for the rest of our walk and found nothing else of note. (Alright, it’s really an umbrella, but Jack and I like to pretend we’re on grand adventures)

Is this a Dinosaur Tooth?

I found this fossilized tooth in my yard several years ago and I’ve been curious about just what kind of tooth it is ever since. It’s big, about 4 cm x 2.5 cm x 2 cm and it looks to be a tearing or biting tooth. If it were human I’d say it looks like an eye tooth. The bottom edge has been worn down to the dentin and the top end has no attached bone. It’s possible that it was buried in my yard, but it’s more likely that it arrived with a load of rock gravel that we ordered in. I have no idea where that rock originated so I can offer no real clues about its provenance. I know it’s difficult with only a few photographs, but I’m hoping someone out there can tell me a bit more about it.

Jack’s Walk

Still raining. That’s all I can say without swearing except that I hope the world is drier where you are.

Wednesday Wings

These pictures and a heart warming story are from Nightjar:

This isn’t just a cute photo series of chicks, it’s a heartwarming story of the kind you don’t expect out of chicken! At least I didn’t. To cut two long stories short, we recently had to join two broods of chicks born one month apart. The younger ones had to be taken from their mum the day they hatched, which always breaks my heart to do, but in this case it was for their own good. She wasn’t a good mum and their siblings died as a result. So we joined the three survivors with the older chicks, made sure everything was peaceful and they were warming each other at night, and hoped for the best. To our surprise, a few days later, we noticed that one of the older chicks had adopted the three little ones, she was behaving as if she was their mother. Calling them to her side, teaching them how to eat, opening her little wings to warm them. You can see that in the first two photos, the head of a little baby underneath her wing. She’s giving me that look, “do NOT even THINK of touching my babies”. They follow her around everywhere and she never leaves one behind. Just like a mother hen would, except this hen is only a month old!

Cheers,
Nightjar

Very cute, but I must say, those feet really tell you about the dinosaur foremothers.

Jack’s Walk

Drizzling. Dreary. Drab. In other words, the weather hasn’t changed. Jack and I decided to go to the forest hoping the canopy would help keep us dry, but too many leaves are down and there was really no protection at all. I’m normally a fairly easy-going person, but this constant damp has me feeling irritable and out of sorts. At least Jack doesn’t seem to mind and his wagging tail and happy smile sure help to make being outside passably tolerable. Still, it’s good to be home and I might just hide out here for the rest of the day.

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Jack’s Walk

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Jack’s Walk

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Transformation

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Jack’s Walk

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Monday Mercurial: expressive sealion

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Jack’s Walk

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Friday Feathers

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Jack’s Walk

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Is this a Dinosaur Tooth?

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Wednesday Wings

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Jack’s Walk

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