Life is not a static thing, neither is a blog. Kintsugi project to fix broken pottery

Not sure if you're a regular of this blog, or if you've binge-read a whole bunch of posts. But I've been looking through my old posts and fleshing out the stories within them, and adding updates, photos, and videos that I've created that fit along with the blog page themes.

So, if you have read the blog a long time ago, you might be interested to go re-visit some of the old pages. Think of it like a virtual Easter egg hunt. Except without chocolate.

A few years ago I traveled with my sister to Mexico for a week. We had a great time, and I bought a couple of pottery bowls. Unfortunately when I got home, one of the bowls had shattered into a number of pieces.

Upset, but not deterred, I decided to fix the bowl. I read online about kintsugi, the Japanese method of fixing broken pottery to make it useable again, and creating more of a one of a kind piece than before. The word translates to "golden joinery." I think they use nails to actually fix the pieces together and real gold, but I didn't want to try anything that detailed.

The neat thing about kintsugi is that it sometimes is considered a bit fashionable, and I read about some people/potters that would purposely break their pieces just to fix them and create a unique piece.

So, I bought some good glue, and gold paint. Not real gold paint, and it's probably not food safe, but I used it anyway. I decided I would not put the bowl in the dishwasher and it would be used more as a decoration.

I started by gluing the pieces together, and then adding the paint to finish sealing the pieces and fill in the gaps where the pottery had turned to dust.

Piece by piece, the bowl came back into shape. I was pleased with the final result, as it has a handmade look mixed with the handmade painting. A bit rough, but I wanted it like that.

It's now a cool decoration in the living room, and I use it for chips and other non-liquid foods. The other bowl is still intact, and is one of my favourite bowls for making my morning oatmeal with.

After finishing, I also ended up making another small fix on a small Japanese cup decorated with a cherry blossom that I had inherited from a friend a long time ago. The handle had broken off, and so I glued that back on. It turned out pretty good.

You never know what you can do until you try.

What do you think? Have you used kintsugi to fix a broken item? Would you try to do it, too?

February! Hand feeding Wild Birds & A Poor Left out Squirrel

Wow, it's February already!

Time really flies when you're not doing much outside of working and living a simple homelife.

Not that there's anything wrong with it. I still have a strong desire to go traveling somewhere. Lyndon and I have been watching a lot of documentaries and shows featuring places around the world. Like the Scottish comedian Susan Calman and her series where she travels around Scotland (Secret Scotland). She really cheers me up, and cracks me up with her endless enthusiasm. I started following her on Instagram and Twitter for that reason.

I've also been going for walks regularly as I can. Some news in my life - I've finally managed to hand-feed wild birds. Something that I've always wanted to do, but either never got around to it, or just don't have the patience to do. As a child I remember feeding seagulls in the front yard by chucking out pieces of torn up bread. Sometimes I wouldn't have the patience to wait, and left the bread pieces on the lawn unattended, only to be told later that the seagulls showed up and ate them all. Sheesh.

But it always seemed like something that I could do, but just had to plan for. Bring the seed, make sure you're ready, and have the time to wait for birds to show up. A few pointers for those who haven't done it, it took a few tries before the birds either got used to me or realized that I wasn't a danger to them. I also avoided looking right at them, but more of peripherally watched them at first just so they wouldn't freak out at having this bug-eyed human with those giant things on her face that make its eyes even bigger and scarier. Having the seed in hand and ready to go really helped too.

Anyway, I made a few videos of my experience.

That was my first attempt. The next couple of times things got easier, and the chickadees seem to recognize me now. Maybe it helps I'm wearing the same clothes? I'm not sure. Same walking poles for sure, so they can hear my poles squeaking in the snow.

I made this video as well, as a humorous observation of the squirrel, which was not really my target animal to feed, but obviously wanted some food, too. I found it interesting the chickadees really wanted him to go away, because as soon as he started to eat, they started to alarm call. I'm not sure if they were alarm calling for it, or the two people who were walking by the lookout point, or alarm calling for me. Either way, the squirrel eventually left, and the birds managed to finish eating.

The other hilarious thing was that I ended up feeling bad for the squirrel being kind of left out, and then ousted on top of that by the chickadees. When I walked back to head home, I stopped by the feeding station again, and this time left two almonds that I carry around in case I get hungry on my walks. I figured the chickadees are too small, they wouldn't try to eat the almonds and the squirrel can have a decent snack. As I started to walk away, I glanced back and saw one chickadee land and pluck up one almond and fly off, and a second later a second chickadee landed and picked up the other. Ah well, it's just fate then.

Can't wait to see what happens on my future adventures feeding the birds.