Bright side?

Editing my report from Japan has been excruciatingly slow, and it didn't help that I took a break to weave a basket from re-soaked kaki-coated kozo bark. I mean, it didn't help the pace of getting the report done. But it DID help me feel a little more sane and gave me another thing to do with my scrap bark. The bottom I wove while still damp, just to test.

It dried as I worked up. I needed a little container for my lip balm so I can reach for it next to the tissues. It's entirely possible it serves a different need later, but for now, right here by my side. Another unexpected but lovely surprise: May spontaneously wrote a generous and lovely post about me! I was touched. I also took a trip to a HUGE industrial resale warehouse with Pam and was amazed by all the things that exist in the world. I was also tremendously proud of her for winning a prize at the Morgan's new exhibit, which looks great and is up for a month.

Julie is in town briefly for the midwest chapter of the Guild of Book Workers meeting! She climbed into the vat with me to help sand (I only got out to get my camera but I swear I was working and you can see the chisel I left on the floor of the vat, scraping out silicone caulking). I miss having her around, and generally wish I had more people like her around: hard working, smart, dedicated, and uncomplaining about doing the dirty work. After we did this for a while, we cleaned the paper studio. It's a very "mom" kind of thing to do, but we have guests! The upside of the vat repair: there seems to be a consensus about a stainless steel liner. I just need to convince the powers that hold the purse strings to make it happen as soon as possible.