gardening and things

today on my walk, i passed by a water tank that is a pretty large reservoir for watering gardens around it, the tank was half empty and from quite a way up the hill, acoustically projected was the gleeful sound of frogs fucking - the dog was beside himself as he could not see over the wall of the reservoir where or what was making this tremendous noise.

spring, the smell after rain of the pine trees, the wind dropping to a gentle stillness and... warmth.

johns been out doing his vegetable garden, things are starting to grow and besides that he cut the jungle that was out the back of the house, where finally after all the years of being here the trees have turned it into a secluded shady place.

so not only is it the most beautiful time of year to be out, but i also received not one but two terrific packages. the first is from beatrice and is a glorious blaze of colour and ethic materials, actually theres lots more but i'm infatuated with that density and hum of colour

the second is yet another bundle of surprises from steph, whose gorgeous ceramic beads always come with so many other goodies, but this box was megalo!

then the things i've been working on - the earrings have already sold, which is very nice, again its working with some stuff from treasurehider, and the other pair is a new way i have of suspending the beach stones, which i'll be playing with more - it kind of keeps their shape cleaner than drilling a hole through - i was also really pleased with the photo of the second pair

and this pendant which i'll maybe list tomorrow, its an artists pendant [no shit sherlock] and has been hanging around in pieces for ever, getting longer and shorter umming and ahhing about itself til it finally bit the bullit. the ceramic wizards cappy look alike thingy comes from an olive grove that at one time must have been a place where they made water urns and is now a rubbish dump of ceramic bits and parts. its gold leafed underneath. the 3 brushes are used calligraphy and water colour brushes and its all been sealed. the rope is a 4 string [hemp] round plait thats been painted and rubbed like you would a rawhide braid and wax sealed, its actually soft and supple now

orthodox easter

strangely it seemed to almost not happen, perhaps the weather, which was nice on sunday but has been pretty blustery since the last full moon. still my mum made her easter eggs, using some of the eggs from john's little silkies. i just love how these eggs come out, she dies them by slow boiling them in onion skins and water where she has drizzled some oil. slow means barely simmering overnight, and when you take some eggs out you put some more in. the whites of the eggs inside are a kind of purple colour and they take a flavour from the onion skins. i wanted to try doing something like this to cloth.

and just before easter i got a beautiful package in a swop i did with kim rogers over at numinosity, these are a few of the things, that lampwork on the rusty metal is really something in real life. i love it.

then there is a beach shot i took last autumn, that i kinda like, this is just outside where my mother and her partner have a restaurant. the fisherman is a regular feature. its the geometrics again, thats coming up in some of the jewelry i'm making.

hasselblad - ilford delta 400

i've been moving half my work bench up to the summer shop we have in a very beautiful mountain village - which is why i have had very little time for blogging or anything really. its also pretty confusing at the beginning with what i have where.

and finally some work in progress, the earrings i already listed and they sold which was sweet. the pendant is along similar lines. a kind of simpler geometry is what i'm after with these. i love the fossilized bone i got from treasurehider, the piece of ivory - which i believe is off cuts from piano keys - steph from vladthebatsattic sent me to try some scrimshaw on but i liked its white smoothness too much - so maybe with another piece

the 2 bracelets are using techniques that fanciful devices has devised and shown on her blog and now has as downloadable pdf tutorials that i've heard are very good and selling like hot cakes. she is a real whirlwind of creativity and ingenuity.

and thats all folks - kinda counteracts the image hiatus thing, and is like 3 posts together cos i just dont have time these days to sneeze.

image hiatus

just a quick note to say that the horse is ok and gone to a better owner, thanks for your comments and concern, it rarely gets to me these days but when it does it really pisses me off. 

i was also pleased by a recent invitation to do an online exhibition of photos here:

591PhotographyBlog

lots of images there. what was interesting was seeing a selection made entirely by someone else, after a difficult winter with very little film photography, it was nice to reengage with those images Ulf picked.

days like this

with guys like that

animal abuse

about 3 mths ago i took a short cut through the olive grove behind my house with Perry  and we came across the little stallion that belongs to the goat shepherd a bit further up the hill. both dog and horse freaked out when they saw each other. but as the horse was tethered by his foot we circumnavigated him and continued on. about a month later the horse was tied up 2 narrow terraces further up to some bushes and was badly tangled up. he also had his bridle halter hanging from his neck in a way that he could easily put his foot through. i thought then he was a bit skinny, but they usually are in the winter, though the people here don't have them outside they prefer to keep them stabled in pitch black up to their necks in shit for 6 mths considering it a healthier option. admittedly a tethered solitary horse has no means of keeping warm and without food he stands very little chance. but i figured the shepherd was throwing him some straw and water now and again so i untangled him after i tied up the dog who might have run onto the road from fear. 

well damn him if the first thing he did was get as close to the dog as possible while the dog pulled back as far as possible and sent a resounding kick in the general direction of Perry's head, catching him slightly just above the eye. mmmm i thought thats gonna do wonders for perry's equine relationships, so i avoided the path. snow fell, rain fell, cold north winds blew and then spring finally came. so i think - i'll take the shortcut again as the shepherd has gotta have moved the horse by now. 

well the poor little [despite the kick] bastard was tangled up on 50cm of rope with his head almost tied to the ground in exactly the same spot as a month ago. i was really shocked by how bad he looked. even for here. so i untangled him again and was in 2 minds to just take his rope off - though the one round his foot would probably have to be cut off. i took him 2 terraces down where there was a bit of grass coming through because he had overgrazed the whole area. and down there was a tiny 10 cm wide 3 cm deep trickle of water from a winter source - he drank sipping in the dips for a solid 5 minutes. he also had not had any water for some considerable time.

i called Gabi when i got home as she had known the shepherd since he was a boy and asked her to talk to him and find out what the hell was happening with the horse.

as it turns out the horse had kicked him or something like that and he had tied him up there to die. Gabi hurled all kinds of abuse at him - not that it would have any effect - as she told me later an old story about a dog he had that was badly burnt, all of its face and ear was raw meat, she had asked what happened to the dog - he said - it bit me so i threw a pan of burning oil at it.

and so where do you go from there?

this was the day after i moved him and gave him some water. we have since moved him again next to a tank of water and cut him some grass also. but this is not a long term solution.

one of the things mentioned was that a gypsy was going to pick him up for 30 euro's to sell him on as dog meat, thats the standard price they give, though if the horses are in better condition - ie meat on them they are shipped to italy live in terrible conditions for human consumption. that incidentally is where a lot of racehorses go, as only 1 in 1000 make it. 

They don't shoot the horses here - they have a policy of tying them up usually next to a big hole dug by a bull dozer and leave them to die. i'm not really sure what the shepherd was planning to do with the carcas. there is no animal police and the police would either just laugh in your face if you report it or say they would do something about it and do nothing. 

things have improved considerably for dogs and cats on the island - due to an animal shelter run by a dutch couple and surviving on donations. but as yet there is nothing to help horses and donkeys, and they are very badly treated especially now that they are no longer a necessity but merely a hobby - and that in itself is another chapter entirely.