An Adventure in Ink

I bought a calligraphy pen and ink set from a thrift store last week, and Monday night, I decided to try it out.

Being the over-thinker I am, I first punched into Pinterest and read a few tutorials on beginning calligraphy with a nib and liquid ink. It was maybe a bit much, but also, it did help me to figure out where to start and how the dipping pen works. I had never lettered with a dip pen before, but my experiences with marker calligraphy and faux calligraphy were definitely useful in giving me enough confidence to jump in and give it a go!

(please excuse my knee lol)

It came with like a wax-seal press thing, too? Maybe that will be the next new crafty thing I will try, haha

I only did a bit of practice lettering, to get the feel of the pen and explore how the ink ran. I seemed to have to dip the pen every letter (and sometimes halfway through!) for the big letters, every third for the medium ones, and every fifth for the smaller letters and numbers I used in the date. It seemed kind of a lot of dipping to me. I don't know if I didn't shake the ink bottle well enough, or if the previous owner adding anything to the bottle that wasn't supposed to be in there, or if I just don't have the technique right. Anyway, I could see that the way I was doing it would be quite an annoying way to write a longer piece, like a letter or a poem.

In case you are wondering, the double g and y are because, even though I was letting myself be okay with the total imperfection of this page, I really could not stand the first of these two letters that I made, haha

When I took the nib apart to clean it, I saw that it was marked with the size and whatnot, although I cannot read it very well. It does not matter for now, because as it is the only nib I possess, I will not need to identify it in switching it out.

It's also kind of scratched up.

I shall experiment with this calligraphy set some more someday soon, because it was definitely fun, even though it was a bit of a messy and unknown process for me!

Homemade Herbal Skin Tonic

From the Kitchen and Garden

By some research and various trials, Maria has perfected her own natural skin tonic.

Here is the recipe she shared: 

A dose of liquor - she uses Kirsch

A quantity of strong herbal tea -she uses mountain herbs

Proportion for her is 1:6, but can be reduced to 1:10 or whatever works for one’s own skin

Some fresh herb leaves - she chose sage, for soothing

A glass bottle

 Each herb has its own qualities and effects, so the interesting part is researching and experimenting to find owns own best concoction from the bounties of creation.

Then one goes to pick wild blueberries on her moorland alp and enjoys a cool summer morning brunch.

Moon Eclipse

BlutMond Finsternis 

The blood moon total eclipse - a once-a-century phenomenon. It happened last night. The world’s best viewing was at our home, but we were away in the hills, so we didn’t the beginning or the total eclipse. The moon went through the half shadow, then the full shadow for the dark eclipse, then out the next side half shadow. It was finally (just before 11:00 p.m.) above our hills for the last part, so we saw that. It was just regaining light on one side. Eventually even Mars was visible, quite small, below and to the right, some time latter. One would have to have special photography equipment to get a decent photo, so I did a little watercolor this morning to remember the event.

So, that was historic. Now we don’t have to be awake a hundred years from now.

Where Do They Go?

Another One...

...of those days where the sun sets before you get even a quarter of the To Do List done.

But tonight is a special night, astronomically speaking. In our part of the world we are to see a once-a-century total eclipse of the moon.  We are presently waiting.

Eco Dyeing 4

One More Set

With a sister and nieces here, we decided to do another batch of papers in the well-aged water, before throwing it out. We had some lighter weight paper, which was susceptible to tearing and didn’t take the dye quite as well as the heavier paper, but they still got some nice prints. The papers still need to be ironed.

The image on one sheet and its “ghost” on the other.

Colorful 

Eco Dyeing 3

Getting Better

I did a third batch of leaf printing, this time with the pages wrapped around copper pipes (which are part of the original instructions, but I didn’t have any until my Better Half rounded some up). The copper really helps set the prints. Also, the water in my big pot had more time to absorb rust and vegetative matter, so the prints were stronger this time.

Here are a few pages.

I like them.

Appenzell Walk

Before Breakfast

All hills all over

Do you see her?

Little roads following the curves of the terrain

All livestock has to be like Paul Bunyan's: one pair of short legs and one pair of long.

A town on hills beyond hills

Those nicely mowed areas are hay fields – yes, really.

So, when one is raking his grass from the hillsides, it is convenient to windrow it on a flat surface, of which the only available is the road. Nobody minds.

Summer wildflowers

And One More

Meditation Way Chapel

After leaving the St. Martin and cave chapels, and the monks house.....

The monk's hermitage and garden

..... One follows the walking path to another chapel.

past the crosses

To this house and church

The door into the church

Looking toward the chancel

Floor tombs of the family who built this chapel long ago.

Statue on one side of the chancel

The altar

Behind the altar is this box structure, with a very low door. It represents The New Jerusalem. One needs to be humble to enter.

It is bare inside except for this.

Then one walks on to a restaurant and a shed with a huge rock wagon that used to be used in a nearby quarry.

The END of this excursion