Ornamental and More

I picked this grape leaf at Newlands yesterday morning. I was there for the Community Quilt project, which I'm working on with their Arabic speaking women's group. There's a rambling ornamental grape vine in one corner of the garden at the Community Centre. The women were enthusiastically gathering leaves to use as wrappings for the bite-sized bundles of rice and meat which they love to cook. Just now the leaves are fresh and tender. I had a different purpose in mind for my leaf. I'd like to see if I can make a print from it. Unlike the women in the group, I have very little experience with grape leaves. And the characteristic tenderness at this time of year which makes them perfect for cooking, is not so useful for printing. I'll wait and see how firm the veins on the back of the leaf are when it finishes drying out. At least I know I can easily go back for more, and as the vine matures with it's summer foliage, the leaves will be more robust.

Speaking of robust, I'm about to go out the back and dig myself a ditch. It needs to be 600mm--that's two feet--deep and a couple of metres long. It will carry the electrical conduit to my new shed. I can't say I feel up to much ditch digging just now, but I'm hoping that once I get started I'll be able to push on a bit at a time. The weather is finally warming up: forecast top of 28 today and 32 later in the week, so I'd better get out there before it really starts to get hot. Alright, here goes, water, sunscreen, hat, gloves and I'm off.