recycling

I really like this collaboration piece on waste by artists Ellliott Mariess, Lewis Woolner, Ashley Maine, Lauara Bowmna, and Jamie Breach. I have already said that plastic will be the death of us all! 

Sometimes moths get to your sweaters and you can't really walk around with giant holes in your sweaters. Well you could, but for me the holes let in too much cold air! Since I had a sweater to wash, I wanted to mend it first.  I have made some really clumsy attempts at mends before but decided to go ahead.  I got out all the possible tools required (mending wool, embroidery floss, and an actual darning egg!)  I looked in my old Home Economics book which included a digram on how to mend a run in your stocking (!) and how to darn a sock. Helpful. Being able to darn was a big deal in the past and girls would do entire samplers of darning stitches.  

I had a sweater that was sort of medium weight which would not require anything too fancy, just a back and forth weaving over the hole to close it. I used embroidery floss becaue the color was a better match than any of the wool I had.  And, I looked around online and found some good ideas.  It worked!  The holes are mended with little puckering and the stitches are not too obvious!  Probably would not wear to meet the Queen or anything but it has life in it yet! 

My grandmothers, bless them, are rolling their eyes and laughing hysterically that this is a news flash.  Duh. I am glad that I can recover from a moth attack and stay warm this winter.  I shall wear it with pride.  And when that no longer works, I may felt it and make a stuffed monster out of it! 

I told you of my realization I could make dressing rather than buy it, thus re-using all those dressing bottles I had acquired. What I did not explain was that I had a mild addiction to Annie's Papaya Poppyseed Dressing.  It is really good.  

Since I had committed to making dressing, I decided to scour the web for similiar dressings.  Funny, it was not among the vast repertoire of knock off recipes.  And I kept finding recipes using papaya seeds which was not at all what I wanted.  The papayas in the stores here are the saddest of tropical fruits.  But wait!  Why couldn't I substitute mango for the papaya?

It is not too hard to find sweet dressing recipes or poppyseed recipes. From the wide range of recipes, here is what I cobbled together.  And, I think it is really tasty and it does satisfy my craving for the old Annie's!  

Tangy Mango Salad Dressing

1/3 cup vinegar  (use the one you like best.  I uses red wine once, reaspberry once.)
2/3 cup oil  (I use less and add some water)
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs dijon mustard
1 mango

Put in blender and blend.  Add poppyseeds last, if you like.  
Makes a little more than one salad dressing bottle full. 

Miina Äkkijyrkkä is a Finnish artist and dairy farmer.  She creates these massive cow sculptures out of salvaged car parts.  She is genuinely a dairy farmer---she completed Equine College and Dairy Farming School before attending The School of the Fine Arts of Finland.  Her herd serves as her models and she expertly captures their moods and movements.  

I am blown away by the idea of being both a successful artist and a dairy farmer at the same time.