Trusty Water Can No More

Trusty red watering can broke its handle, fell to the ground and exploded

I still can’t believe this and Caroline may never recover from her shock – we may sue someone. With our favorite little red watering can full to the brim with plant-nourishing water, Caroline as on so many other days for the previous 10+ years, went out to water her plants. Today though, would not be the familiar routine we had grown accustomed to. The handle broke right off with the bucket, still full of good clean American water we paid for, falling to the ground and exploding with a loud crash. I raced to the front balcony to witness the look of distress on my wife’s face and a red lonely handle still in her grip. She may have been crying, although it could also have been some of the splashing water from the ripped-open now-dead watering can.

You can imagine our anger that this cheap Chinese-made water bucket only lasted a year or so more than a decade. I am certain had we been able to buy a good old American-made plastic bucket, it could have lasted 50 years because our plastic is superior to that foreign stuff. American plastic is only made with oil drilled in Texas because it is big and tough, like gristle from an old cow. We decided not to sue this time, but if this $5.99 plastic water bucket we replaced our beloved bucket with doesn’t last at least 20 years, there’ll be hell to pay in China.

Towels

Caroline Wise and her 8 feet of hand woven towels - her first ever.

Last year Caroline took possession of a floor loom, a big contraption used for weaving cloth. Back in July 2010, she was on the verge of making her first sample weave, but with our monumental Grand Canyon trip that put everything else in the backseat. It would be a while before she could return to learning the craft of weaving. Well, here we are in June 2011 and her first fully completed project is now off the loom. This almost 10 foot length of dish towels are yet to be cut up and washed the first time and already Caroline has taken possession of a more sophisticated tabletop loom. If only it were the 17th century and she had these skills, we’d be making good money with what is now a fading hobby only practiced by a small minority of men and women who are keeping the art alive.

50mm

Combing Churro fleece prior to being able to spin it into yarn

Yesterday I purchased a new Canon 50mm 1.4 lens, this is one of the first photos I shot with it. You are looking at Churro fleece being combed. Combing fleece is the step taken after the sheep have been shorn and the fleece washed. Combing aligns the fibers which are instrumental in preparing the fibers to be spun. With the fibers aligned, they are able to wrap around each other allowing them to lock together when being spun so the spinner can make a strong yarn. Caroline is combing this particular fleece before she spins it into yarn for our friend Celia – the Barn Goddess. The lens was bought for those low-light scenarios and with the idea that it would make for a nice lens when shooting video on my HDSLR.

Threading

Caroline Wise threading her homemade 4-shaft counter balance loom

Here’s my wife, Caroline Wise threading her 4-shaft homemade counterbalance loom. She’s on her way to making her first cloth with a purpose, cloth that will be in the form of kitchen towels. Previously, she made a test piece of cloth, but that was just to determine if the loom worked and if she could figure out the process.  It was just a little more than 3 years ago that Caroline and her mom Jutta took a Navajo rug weaving class with Sharie Monsam over at Fiber Factory in Mesa, Arizona. Since that time, Caroline has developed an ever greater interest in weaving and the fiber arts in general.

Fibery Day

Jessica Aldridge and Caroline Wise on our balcony where Caroline was teaching Jessica how to dye roving that Jessica would later spin into yarn

Today would be dedicated to Jessica and Caroline spending time together. It started out on our balcony where Caroline taught Jessica how to dye roving using acid dyes that she would later learn how to spin into yarn. Jess had the opportunity to spin on a drop spindle and also on Caroline’s wheel. The next lesson was how to knit. With those two busy in their world of fiber, I was free to make one of Jessica’s favorite meals she was first introduced to on a previous visit, I made Pani-Puri. This Indian snack popular on the beaches of Mumbai (Bombay) makes for a great dinner – if you have a full day to prepare everything.

Rabbi Wise

John Wise of Phoenix, Arizona

The tragedy of it all as the day has come when the beard must go. Not all of it, but what is left could be construed as dirt from a distance. For months I was certain that I would careen through the Grand Canyon with a beard befitting a mountain man. Sadly, the reality of not being able to properly bathe for 18 days and a couple of experiments here at home with letting the thing get nappy convinced me that I would probably be better off reducing my responsibility of facial hair maintenance. But, this is certain – I am not going to trim my beard again before my next big backcountry journey, which happens to be next September when we are scheduled to do some horseback riding in the northwest of Yellowstone for ten days. Shalom Aleichem.