Bounty

I knew it was a bad idea to avoid posting because I was weaving too much. Now there is too much to share. Like this 46cm pizza that comes with a ruler printed onto the box to prove it!

My teacher and his wife brought this back from Wonju last Friday (he teaches there twice a month and it takes at least 3 hours each way).

The neighbor from the house below came to help with some crop and came in for coffee. To show her that the lacquered teapot that my teacher made really works, we added water. This one is especially amazing because it has a tea leaf strainer inside!

Harvested and drying on the veranda.

 Just the tiny ones.

 Acorn harvest from the mountains.

They need to be dried, shelled, ground, and then soaked in water, with the water changed constantly to remove excess tannins, before the meal is heated with just the right amount of water, to cool to a jelly.

The chilis take forever to harvest, slice open, de-seed, and dry.

This batch was covered in flour and maybe some sugar and then steamed outside, but the pot was too full and not all of it got properly steamed. Now it's out to dry on the lawn.

On our walk this morning, my teacher's wife picked two red tomatoes for us. I'm pretending I just picked the one but I didn't.

Today's lunch. Beautiful and delicious. Broth made from dried anchovies and kelp.

This was a few days ago. I love the mist everywhere, always.

So many of these leaves have fallen! This is one of my favorite spots on the hike.

The gingko tree on the way home (the final incline is brutal!).

Meanwhile, the teapot, my nemesis.

All its leftover cords. But we're only a third done, as it needs a lid and handle. But those are not as hard as the body. I learned a LOT and am getting schooled in what I think in knitting is called short rows (and of course I can't knit those...yet, hopefully!). The spout, of course, is the hardest. There were times I wanted to kill something because the weaving gets very difficult in cramped spaces. But it looks not as bad as it did while I was working on it. The base of the spout is entirely too big, but that's because I was learning from making large mistakes.

Also, I was a little distracted (with weary hands) because I have been secretly working on another crooked gourd. My teacher had done a bunch of the other one for me, AND he said that it should be two layers, so I figured I would take offcuts and attempt a smaller version. This one is a little rounder (also something I wanted to practice) and though I'm worried that the second layer will make it too thick, still want to try.

I couldn't keep my secret from his wife because I am bad at keeping secrets, so when he left to go pick up Bum (he ran away to find a dog in heat—he had been howling for her at nights—and has been gone for almost two days. Turns out he went to a neighbor's place, so at least we know where he is), I ran outside to take a few pictures of the gourd before the first layer disappears.