Monday-5:30am

This is what the tangle of plants looked like floating on the top of the aquarium.

This is how it looked after I trimmed the plants.

I laid them out to dry. Saved them for papermaking, of course. They ended up in the "dead plants" box in the hall closet--hehe!

Later on I practiced my orchids on the brown paper towels some more. Then decided to try to paint some orchids directly onto some watercolor cardstock that I had. Was so weird! After working on the absorbant paper towels, this felt dead and unmoveable--hard to explain. I will not try sumi-e/Chinese brush painting on watercolor paper again. I'll have to use oriental paper, tear them out, and glue them to cardstock.

Anyways, obviously my arm is feeling better. Today I am hoping to clean the aquarium with the Python when the sun comes up. The light will shine in onto the tank and I will be able to see well (you can't have the aquarium light on while you clean). That is my goal for today. The poor fish have needed the tank cleaned for some time. Then I won't feel guilty about other things I should be doing while I play with my art projects--hehe! The only thing that would stop me is if it is a dark day. I need the sunlight to see what I am doing in the gravel.

I am still on slightly strange hours--working my way around the clock. Slept from 7pm till 4am. I have to admit I am sleeping really well--for me. :) Dreaming a lot, too. After thinking about using the dead plants yesterday--I was dreaming about making my little booklets for letters with the handmade paper this morning--sewing them together with embroidery thread. Guess I should be doing that one day here pretty soon. Really need the arm in good shape for that! Looking forward to it!

Happy Monday!!