Window-shopping for Art

The Virginia-Highland Summerfest was held last weekend; to be brief, there's nothing quite like scoping out great art while eating carnival food, and listening to the banter of the overcultured. Here's a listing of the artists whose work I found the most impressive: Andy Costine (URL 404'ed): woodworking Bill Herb (website): raku sculpture Charlie Weeks (no website): custom wooden boxes Felix Berroa (website): Painting (Abstract/cubist) J. Ashley Kirby (website): Painting (watercolors) John Coburn (website): Pottery Lisa Mote (website): Glasswork Lucinda Carlstrom(website): paper/thin-fabric quilts Mary Barbara Hixon (no website): Painting (multiple sytles) Rudd Montgomery (website): salvaged-wood furniture Song Jinsheng (website): Painting (multiple sytles) Tali Almog (website): Painting (Abstract-Oils) Thomas Spake (website): Glasswork Timothy Boyd (website): Painting (Lowbrow/Comic)

posted at: 14:27 | permanent link to this entry

A Voice from Summers Past

I haven't bought a solar cooker yet, but I should. There's enough really good sun out front, to cook just about anything smaller than a roast. But then I remember: when the weather's too hot to boil water for tea, put the tea out in the sun. Of course! And I have just the jar for the job. Thinking beyond tea, however, there's something to be said for preheating water in the sun, as opposed to either water heater or stove-driven heating. Basically, I like the idea of getting the first 30 or 40 degrees (at least) of heating out of the way without using fire. So, I'll play around with the sun for a while this summer. I expect to at least not run the stove against the A/C as much.

posted at: 14:20 | permanent link to this entry

Green Thumb, gone Brown

The past two weeks have brought hard times for the plants. I forgot to prune them ahead of summer, then let them go too long without water, and they partially dried up. So out came the pruning shears, and I ended up with a few baking sheets worth of herbs for drying. As it turns out, a gas stove is not conducive to drying things, as demonstrated by a baking sheet full of scorched oregano. So, I ended up placing the remaining cuttings in the sun the next morning, and that did the trick. More on the sun, later. As for the remaining plants: Parsley is blooming, and will die off shortly; I'm finally started two new basil plants, and I'm going to try a cucumber vine again, if I can make room for it. The squirrel is now exonerated, as I've seen chipmunks digging in my plants. If I can get a picture of one of these critters, I'll post it.

posted at: 11:15 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

Four-part harmony.

posted at: 10:05 | permanent link to this entry