small miracles, continued

 hammering the leaves into the cloth, it felt like a rather violent act, but then I said to self: you have poured boiling water over leaves in the past for dyeing (although I must confess to having had qualms about it if I'm totally honest, not that those qualms kept me from it)
it is an interesting, very direct dyeing technique I learned about in India Flint's book Eco Colour; I used three different types of leaves here: hazel, ivy and sorrel of which the last two gave the best results, especially the ivy; the sap content has a big influence on the result it would seem, all three leaves were freshly picked. I folded the fabric double and sandwiched the leaf in between, hammered the leaf on both sides on the fabric, which I had placed on a piece of wood, using both a small metal hammer and a wooden one

in the case of the hazel leaf there were also lice on the leaf, they alas perished in the process and added to the overall look: they became the spots; I wasn't thinking about them when hammering it was only later that I realized what had happened, what's done is done

I decided not to wash the cloth, will wait and see how it develops....the cloth I used was a previously dyed one where I had experimented with flour-resist and black bean dye (of the latter I am unsure) It has a waxy feel to it
for more inspiration on the subject of leaves: visit Susan's blog fiber art and craft

 the weather has been just perfect these past couple of days and life is lived mostly on the verandah 

 after dinner I went for an evening walk, the light is so enticing

without asking I picked him up to make this picture and when I wanted to put him down he fell to the earth! I was aghast, what had I done? Thankfully he landed on his feet and he hopped away from me(back to where he had come from, so maybe the wrong direction...) okay it seemed he was unhurt; relieved I got up off my knees to continue my walk. No sooner had I turned my back on him than a dog wandered past me in the direction of the toad and I was like: oh no, be careful, watch out for the tiny toad, please don't step on him. All these thoughts in my head mind you. Around the next bend two girls on horseback heading towards the tiny creature, oh my was he going to survive? All of these dangers on this his first crossing of the footpath, I checked on him when I came back: there was no sight of him so I'm hoping this one got away safely

stood here at exactly 9:08 pm
west

north

east

south