Fantazzle

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:09:00 +0000

I'm on hiatus because I have the flu. I'll be back as soon as I recover.

Dye Pots

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Look at this! I hit the Mother Lode at the UCLA Thrift Shop. I found a tin-lined copper pot, a pure copper box, and a brass pot. Each metal reacts differently with the plant dyes, and creates different colors. So this is a real find! I can't wait to try them out.

Morning Glory

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Morning Glories are in bloom right now. They're one of my favorites. The flowers bloom in the morning, and only last one day. By the evening their color has faded, and by the next day they're dried up and gone.

Modern Hieroglyphics

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Cryptic sidewalk graffiti in my neighborhood.

Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This is me (second from the right) and my friend Joanie (second from the left) at school in the fourth grade, when we were ten years old. Weren't we cute then? I'm reading Anne Lamott's book, Grace (Eventually), and she says that we always realize too late how beautiful we were, and never how beautiful we are now. So true.

The 11th Hour

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

If you haven't seen the movie The 11th Hour, I highly recommend it. Even if you've seen An Inconvenient Truth and you think you know all about the impending environmental crisis, you must see this movie. The 11th Hour has more information about how we got into this mess, how we can turn things around, and what we each can do to make a difference.

I get it now -- I get what I personally need to do. The most important thing for each of us is to focus on our passions -- those things that interest us the most -- and rethink them to be sustainable.

For me those two passions are art and healing. I am no longer interested in making art that doesn't respect the environment. I only want to create art using natural materials and processes, and that's a real challenge when people still want and expect bright synthetic colors and shiny surfaces.

As for healing, the best that we have is homeopathy, and I'm in the process of learning everything I can about it. It's inexpensive, natural, and provides a true cure, unlike conventional medicine, which palliates and suppresses symptoms.

Rent this movie today! Its available on DVD through Netflix and other outlets.

Possum Update

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

The baby possums were out early last night, and it was still light enough to get one of them on video.

They've grown quite a bit in the past few weeks. Must be all of that cat kibble!

More Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

You know how I adore the cats, and I can't resist posting cute pictures of them! This is Luci's favorite sleeping place when the weather gets warm. I guess the sink stays cool.

This is a video of Alex pouncing her own tail, something she has just recently become aware of. She won't do it if she knows I'm watching, so I have to photograph her from a distance and through the plants. That's Nelson's scratchy meow in the background.

Huntington Library

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Here's another picture taken using my fisheye lens with plastic wrap over it to obscure the image. This is one of the mythological statues on the North Vista lawn at Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

Luci and Printer

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Here's a short video of Luci messing with the printer while it's printing. She likes to stick her paw into the paper intake. She's going to be awfully sorry when it feeds her paw through one of these days!

Woolly Blue Curl

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

I was excited to find a Woolly Blue Curl at the nursery the other day. They're native California plants, and it's rare to find one in a regular nursery. The leaves have a wonderful fruity smell, and I'm hoping it will be happy here.

Possum News

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Here's an update on the possum family that lives in my studio. It looks like mom and the babies are all doing well. This picture isn't great, because it was taken at night through the back door glass. But there they are -- all eating cat kibble together, and they look healthy and fine.

Sunflower Demise

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

A squirrel discovered one of the sunflowers, and pulled out most of the seeds, even though they were immature and not very substantial food yet.

This is all that's left.

It still looks beautiful, though.

Oyster

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This is Oyster, a cat who lives down the street and comes over to visit everyday. All of the neighborhood cats eventually end up here. This is cat heaven. Fresh catnip growing on the patio, scratching boards, cat trees for climbing and sleeping, several different types of cat food, cat treats. If I were a cat I'd want to live here, too.

Eco Colour

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This is a fabulous new book that I just got in the mail yesterday. It's titled Eco Colour, by India Flint. Unfortunately it's not available in the United States, and you have to order it from Australia, but it's worth it. The photographs in the book are beautiful, and the information is invaluable. India gives ecologically sound instructions for using natural dyes (with and without mordants), making eco prints with leaves and flowers, rust dyeing, mud dyeing, solar dyeing and more. She layers techniques and gets very rich colors and designs that way. It's a must-have book for anyone interested in a natural way of producing color on cloth.

Considera

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This is interesting -- a website with information about treating plants with homeopathic remedies, amongst other things. The plants are strengthened so that they aren't susceptible to insects and disease, rather than using pesticides and other toxic sprays for the disease. If you register, you will find a complete materia medica and repertory for plants. What a good idea!

Earthquake

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Yesterday was a lot more exciting than I had expected! We had a pretty good earthquake around noon. At first they reported it as a 5.8, and then it got downgraded to a 5.4, but it felt stronger than that to me. This is how my brother's clean and shiny black car looked when we got back to it:

At first he thought it was paint, because of the splatter effect and the way it was dripping down onto the bumper. Then he realized that it was birds. I guess the earthquake scared the you-know-what out of them, too!

No Car Can't Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

My car broke down yesterday, fortunately when I was really close to home after having driven to Long Beach. How lucky is that? It's in the shop, and won't be ready until Wednesday night, so I'm without a car until then. Being without a car in Los Angeles is difficult, because we don't have very good public transportation. Today I'm going to attempt to take a bus to Malibu for an appointment, but I have to walk a couple of miles just to get to the bus stop. Or else take two other buses to get there. I think it's faster to walk. It's good though -- it's forces me to exercise, which I'm usually reluctant to do!

Haunted Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Isn't this a great-looking tree? I found it at The Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, and I took the picture using a fisheye lens with plastic wrap over it to obscure the image.

Urban Prankster

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Check out the Urban Prankster website. This is another good one for those days when you need to find something you can laugh about!

Leaf Sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

I love the pattern that bugs have created in these wisteria leaves by munching on them. It almost looks intentional.

Bumper Cars

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This is one of my pet peeves -- people who park inches from my bumper on the street. It doesn't happen to be my car this time, but it has been plenty of times, and it ticks me off. How do they expect me to get out? Doesn't it seem like they're asking to be hit? It's not like there's a lack of parking space and they have to squeeze in tight. I just don't get it.

Debra Lynn Dadd

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Are you familiar with Debra Lynn Dadd's website? She's an expert on food, chemical, and environmental sensitivities, and also writes about how to live "green." Her free e-newsletters are full of good information, and you can search her archives for information about everything from electromagnetic fields to table linens.

This is a great resource for everyone who is dealing with sensitivities and anyone pursuing a green lifestyle.

More Sunflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of the volunteer sunflowers in my backyard! Which is good because I'm still catching up after my trip to Albuquerque. Look at how different this one looks now that it's fully open.

And look at how different it is from the other one in the yard.

It's amazing how each flower is so unique.

Cat Scan

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Does this look comfortable? And yet this is one of Luci's favorite places to sleep -- on top of the flat bed scanner with her head on the slide scanner. She seems to prefer the scanners over the other peripherals.