[Byzantine Bindings]

Monday 28 August 2017

The price of freedom...

Going through emails
unsubscribing 
from dozens of needless invitations to waste time
discovering myself wasting the same time surfing the net
realizing time cannot be wasted 
(I would have been doing something else)
next turn my attention to mindfulness
make breakfast
put on ambient music 

and tidy the garage

...constant vigilance





Sunday 27 August 2017

Another day...


...another endband
It all seems to be getting better the more I try. The only inconsistency is at the start (left hand side) when the gap is too large between the stations.  The return is more consistent because the thickness of the thread gradually works its way round and by the time the left hand side is reached the gap is made up. Next time I will add an extra turn after the diagonal loop back in the early sections.
Note that the left and right refer to the top image which should be read reversed in the bottom image
rear view
The differences in height, the dip in the middle, is caused because the text block is slightly lower than the boards. Next time I hope to make them the same height.





Saturday 26 August 2017

Today...

no time
like the present
living in the moment
past and future no longer loom
happy

Some days it is like that
today is one of those days
tired from yesterdays hard work
clearing the years of undergrowth
revealing the bare soil
beginning to understand how it all works
in a way that leaves room
for glorious unintended outcomes
to grace moments
cleaved from eternal wonder.


Friday 25 August 2017

Finally

Turning the corner

Seems like an age, but it's probably only a couple of weeks, I managed to get this endband sorted.
I was making a tutorial to print off for myself and hit a brick wall when I got to this part. 

The problems were about consistency and infilling. I was adding extra turns at the corner to try and fill in the gaps. Turns out that at the gap just go in as if into a section and continue as normal. I know this doesn't mean anything to anyone but it's a lot to me.

The key to it was making a trial one, a board with a few sections sewn on and then keep doing it until it is right. It's a bit soul destroying having to keep cutting it off and starting again but in the end it is worth it.

Having the right thread helps too. It has been quite a journey to find the right sort. I have tried all manner of threads, and still have a few on order to try, so the journey isn't over yet.

It seems St. Benedict was right, "Always we begin again.", though I can't for the life of me find it in the Rule.

Friday 18 August 2017

When salt loses it's taste

strangely
based on living
having to forget things
looking at another layer
dreaming

turning

autumn to winter

what was 
before it was

inner searching
turning old leaved
familiar musty smell
rotting thoughts 

no comfort
when life's autumn 
turns it's seasons
towards the winter

yet

never was there such a day 
only a breath away

edging towards 
glorious inevitability
scything of mellow 
meadowed souls



always
we begin
again




Thursday 17 August 2017

It is what it is...

Round the Corner
Well, it's all there nothing missed out. Nothing another few years of practice won't sort out.
A couple of things to note In my opinion:
Thicker thread makes the gap less obvious 
Thinner thread looks better

Home straight now. 

Mantra:
Into section 
wrap round top core
in through the back - missing three threads
diagonally across
round the top core
into section...
repeat


Better

Correct (After)



I was right, as I undid the thread I discovered that the two odd looking ones were in fact not wound round the top cord after going into the section.


Missed looping round (Before)

What is interesting is how the back looks even better.

Reverse View
All the books say start by going in from the back, but now I am wondering about reversing it so the outside is on the inside. 

Now there is just the trickery of the big gap on the corner to negotiate between the last hole and the first section.


Close...

...but no cigar


Waxed crochet yarn


These were better.


Blue 18/3 linen
   




Seem to be struggling a lot with this now, the first couple of books went fine then I started writing it up so that I could pass it on to others.
Things went swimmingly until I got to the part about the endbands. I think it's about focus and consistency somehow.

The trick is to learn and I think where it has gone wrong, twice, is not going round after going into the section hole.

Always we begin again.

Wednesday 16 August 2017

Grass needs cutting on the allotment and...



things need tidying 
on the workbench
and 
I don't like it when this happens
when
working mindfully takes a back seat
and 
mania takes over
when
a million monkeys jump from tree to tree
and
instead of watching them
I chase after them.


Monday 14 August 2017

Perhaps...

God is
made manifest
in the doings of christ
co-mingled with everything
daily

Friday 11 August 2017

Nearing the End of Something

Blot

follow
nothing asked for
taking the time to be
re-cognising reality
gently


Thursday 10 August 2017

Time past...

blue sky
seeming normal
longed for simplicity
turning poems into music
beating

Imagined field of poppies
yellow corn
probably clear blue sky
crisp linen shirt  bare
feet
well worn dirt path

longing yet homely feeling
coming home to the unknown place
with low door
lowing cattle smell of bread
goodness lives here
in the tiny mullioned windows

peer in
table set with wonder
swallows under eaves
swift action silence on the wing
even roses round the porch
seat

sit
closing eyes 
better to see the wonder of it all
as singing gently
she 
carries me home

Wednesday 2 August 2017

Moments

Breathing
nose chest tummy
tummy chest nose again
going nowhere doing nothing
simple.

Constant vigilance
ensuring
awareness doesn't wander
from the task in hand
watching the monkeys
in trees
playfully jumping
from branch to branch
taking care not to wander far
from the breath
returning to its apparent constancy
knowing the truth
becoming aware
that prayer is every
breath
no more no less