Today at Lillian Smith Center-June 28, 2010

First things, first... here's the red door this morning around 8:30.

This morning I put a zip lock bag in my back pocket when I started for the walk. I'm determined to keep drawing as I did the other day in Suzanne Stryk's workshop. I draw in my sketchbooks very frequently about where I am and what I see there. For instance, I often draw a view of a room I'm staying in when I'm out of town; it might be the chest of drawers with the TV on top or a softa in the room. Or even where my laptop sits in the room because I usually have it with me when I travel. But I haven't frequently collected things to draw. Especially such tiny things as insects. I spent about an hour this afternoon after my other tasks working with this little drawing:

I don't know much about insects yet... is this a cricket of some sort? He was tan with eight oval ivory colored markings on his back.

I made a trip to town today for a few supplies and bought a simple magnifying glass so I can even see what I'm attempting with these small, collected things. Here's the sketchbook and drawing tools... just a few things, pencil, eraser, pen... and now the magnifying glass.

Today, after working in the morning on the paper, I wove on the clasped weft sampler in the afternoon. I'd foolishly thought I'd finish it yesterday. Nope! Instead, I spent a bit of time unweaving what I'd earlier started with the clasped wefts using a different, smaller yarn so I could blend two colors. Well, that didn't work out because the edges began to draw in too much, even though I am using a temple and being careful to bubble. The consistency of the yarn was so different that it just couldn't work in a similar way.  By the way, I don't have the temple on the piece right now since I'm taking a photo.

So there. As I get older I don't usually hesitate to take something out and re-do, if that's what needs to be done,  it like I once did. I've got enough experience with some things now that I know that once something is off the track it will never be right, no matter how hard I try or how strongly I tell myself that "Oh, it's OK!" or "I can live with it; nobody will notice!" Well, I notice and I'm the important one here... got to know that what I'm doing is as right as I can make it. It might not be as right as someone else could make it... but as right as I'm capable of at this point in my life.

More of the morning walk photos... not many but I was surprised by one when I downloaded it and looked in Photoshop--it's coming later. I noticed the snails at the back of the cottage again today. Is this snail poo I'm seeing, these beautifully meandering lines that look like intestines or brain matter pulled in a linear way.

And, can you believe how much like the texture of the snail's head this outer edge to this vent is??

I was taking this photo as today's "what is it" shot... and when I opened it in Photoshop, surprise!  I saw the snail! I'd totally overlooked him as I was concentrating on taking the close up of the orange painted surface!

Speaking of orange, this is a close view of the road this morning after yesterday afternoon's heavy rains. Georgia red clay washed through the gravel of the driveway.

Then here's a fallen over mushroom that I spied this morning in the road. It is just amazing to me how many different mushrooms are growing all around, in the middle of the road, on the banks beside the roadway, in the yard... the mushrooms don't care where they grow, they just do it.

And this is the yellow mushroom I'd posted in an earlier blog. It was a small, yellow bud a few days ago and it has now over doubled--maybe tripled in size, has flattened out and I'm wondering how much more it will keep growing. I've really got to find a book about mushrooms to learn more about them.

Tomorrow holds an adventure that maybe I'll post about tomorrow night. Depends on when I get back here.