We needed another modification to my youngest’s coronet case. She was carrying around her lesson book because it wouldn’t fit in the case. So we used command strips to attach a plastic pouch to the outside. Now the music stays with the instrument, but if we need to remove the pouch, the command strips should allow it to come off cleanly.
I am working on the weaving, really. Bits here and bits there, but apparently this little spider thought I needed more assistance, or maybe a model of an efficient productive weaver, as she set up shop right behind my loom. Saucy.
My eldest needs a journal as a prop for a play. The play is set in the 1920s and we didn’t want bright white crisp paper in the leather bound journal (I’ll get to the assembly of the journal in another post). I searched the internet and only came up with tea and coffee stains (and one that recommended burying the paper in the ground for two weeks). I needed eighteen sheets of paper aged; and the paper won’t hold up to handling when wet (we tried the tea method, no go). We also tried using a flame to slightly singe the paper, which was also time consuming with spotty (literally) results. I remembered a science experiment with invisible ink made from lemon juice. Could that work to slightly brown the paper? Yes, yes it can.
The method I found that worked best was to heat the oven to 350 degrees F, put a large cookie sheet in the oven, lay one piece of paper on the cookie sheet and mist it with a 50/50 mixture of lemon juice and water, and leave it in the oven for 3 minutes. I then flipped the paper over, misted again, and baked for 3 more minutes. An eye cleaner spray bottle works great for mist. The technique also wrinkles up the paper, so I needed to give the sheets a quick iron to get it to lay a little more flat. The results were exactly as I hoped! Now to finish the cover so I can assemble the journal.
No, we didn’t add one of those clear boxes full of ants to our household menagerie, but I did find the ants themselves farming aphids on my melon vines! I have heard of this symbiotic relationship between ants and aphids but have never knowingly witnessed it. The aphids produce honeydew, which the ants eat. The ants protect and herd or move the aphids to the juiciest parts of the plant, then stroke the aphids to “milk” them to produce honeydew. This is information from searching the net. Most of the articles were enthusiastic but not very scientific, and give the same information I just gave you. The end point of all the articles was how to treat the garden plants to make them not good for ant farming. The result is probably from my chosen search terms “ants and aphids”. Ah, add “symbiotic” and you at least get to a Brittanica article eventually.
I don’t let my jar candle burn for very long; mostly just long enough to seal the end of cut ribbons. Because the wax doesn’t have a chance to volatilize much, the wicks get lower and lower. I tried running the molten wax along the edge to get it away from the wick, but that just made deep holes around the wicks. Then I had an experiment that needed flame for a little longer and the melted wax enveloped the wick and put out the flame! Oops. So to fix it, I buried birthday candles down into the soft wax. Not only did I have flame again, but the wick from the birthday candle could draw wax from the jar candle when it was low enough. Two new wicks rather than throwing out the candle! And quicker than melting the wax and re-pouring the candle.
