Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Stones and Steampunk

There are lots of different kinds of rocks and stones and pieces of lava in our garden.  Chester, my late father-in-law,  was a collector of obsessive compulsive proportions.  He brought  truckloads  of  them,  as well as a  lot of other things home,  from his frequent trips.  I have arranged many of these rocks around our citrus trees, and a bunch of smaller ones in  piles or "pagodas".

They are loose: no glue or cement.

These are constantly changing in configuration, because unfortunately, the cats find it a continuous source of entertainment to knock them over.  Especially when I have precariously balanced a bunch of them and they stayed in place against all expectations.  Then, in barrels Dotts the bruiser, or Inky the little lightning flash, or Smoky the deliberate doofus, and this feline wrecking crew is swift, and thorough.  I swear they then run off, chattering triumphantly.  They are all "talkers"; must be the Siamese in them.

I finally glued some of the  small ones, below,  together with some plumber's putty  - again Chester, the collector, had tubes of that in the garage, along with  all sorts of "handyman" items I haven't even really examined or figured out yet.  I understand that Chet, if not on the road, spent most of his time with his head under the hood of a car, or under the sink.

My husband, who is brilliant, is not at all interested in tinkering with tools.  So he has no clue  about all these collected old things either, or the large amount of "powerless power" tools.  By which I mean drills etc., that can be used without electricity.  One of them is  more than a yard long and is called a "yankee", which reminds me of a rather bad joke involving a Chinese Laundry.  But I have used it to build some book cases, and it is a handy tool to have, expecially during blackouts.


There are also jars and boxes with all sorts of nails, and bolts and nuts, and whatallnot other rusty iron stuff.  More than enough for a good collection of Steampunk  jewelry and embellishments.

Now there's an interesting new (for me at least)  concept: Steampunk, Google it.  I thought it was just jewelry, etc., but  there are also clothes, lingerie and accessories, for both men and women.  Sounds great.  Must try to incorporate some of that in my fabric journal and other projects in future; but no nuts in my unmentionables, thank you very much....
~ Tranquility and Tolerance ~

2 comments:

  1. turtlewise (leather0615@yahoo.com)May 1, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    I just spent 10 minutes writing to you then "poof" it all went away. So to shorten it up this time you should look into:

    http://inuitinukshuk.com/http://inuitinukshuk.com/

    I think you will find it interresting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much! I love the site. I am very fond of any art form by members of what the Canadians call so appropriately: "First Nations". If only the pilgrims had taken the time to learn from them we might be in much better shape today. Especially ecologically. Thanks again for the referral:

    http://www.inuitarteskimoart.com/index.php?cPath=81

    ReplyDelete