Repairing Ceramics with Epoxy Resin

Repairing Ceramics with Epoxy Resin:

One of the surprising facts about ceramics is that objects are almost infinitely repairable.

Remember in 2006 when a visitor to the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge tripped over his shoelaces and smashed two rare and priceless Chinese vases.

Smashed

Repaired.

It has been a constant refrain in my own ceramics class. "Oh, don't worry about that. We can fix that."

Therefore, I have always been confident that the final wall of my Boulevard Haussmann building could be fixed. It cracked in two after its first firing some months ago.

Prior to manufacturing its FIMO window frames it would be necessary to glue it back together. This was done yesterday with quick setting epoxy resin.

The two pieces

Epoxy resin

Applying glue to one of the surfaces.

Compressing the two pieces for a few minutes.

Total success.

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Currently listening to:

A mixture of all the downloads purchased from iTunes since the beginning of the year.

Ranking Trevor

And the latest compilation of tracks provided by the Tango Class I attend.

 

I have to say, that I'm surprised at how parsimonious I've been on the iTunes front in 2013.

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Last night's dinner:

I wish I could kill this tendency, when shopping, to buy the most expensive item of food on display.

Yesterday, as usual, the counter in the fishmongers was a joy to behold and pride of place, and rarely seen, was Turbot.

As I bought it (£23 - including pensioner's discount - for one large fillet) I knew that I was being gripped by greed, But I couldn't help myself.

There were many other species of white fish there; all vastly cheaper. And, frankly, I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart in a blind test.

The offending item - pre the cooking.

Served with a leek and two fennel and potato croquettes

Washed down with draught Italian Merlot from a new shop off Byres Road, Glasgow.

 

KNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Knee report:

Instead of going to the gym for knee strengthening exercises (which I find very boring), I went for a long walk around the streets of the West End of Glasgow and, for the first time, I was wearing the McDavid knee brace that I have, up until now, and for the past 5 years, only worn when playing squash.

I wanted to test whether the brace, by eliminating the lateral movement in my knee, would make walking a more feasible activity.

The experiment was a great success but after 2 hours, when I removed the brace, my leg was extremely hot to the touch.

An expert friend of mine is requisitioning for me a lighter model of brace.

My current brace

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Currently reading:

Chapter three concentrates on the element of  'simplicity'. One should aspire to a single-mindedness in one's approach to life ie single-mindedly Christian.

I'm a million miles away from achieving that. Looks like I'll be adopting that cross-legged position sooner rather than later.

Mention was also made of the Rhineland mystics, among them John Ruusbroec. I'll find out more about them and him.

Does one need a master?

Window frame update:

Have completed the FIMO window frames for two of the three walls and glued them with PVA to a backing of purple card.

Here is a reminder of how the walls will join together.

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Currently listening to:

The new Eels album, released last week.

All in preparation for seeing them play in Glasgow next month.

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Last night's dinner on a shoestring:

Home made lamb Bhuna and boiled rice.

Forgot to take a photograph of it.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Meditation: where to begin.

When I was in my twenties and again, sporadically, through the next few decades I did dabble in meditational practices and attended a few lectures on the subject.

Never really got beyond sitting on the floor, cross-legged. Tried silence as a background and also various Eastern influenced soundtracks - but, basically, to no avail. Nothing happened.

Textbooks on the subject warn one not to go looking for something to happen and that one should not be discouraged when at first nothing happens. It takes practice and patience.

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Over the last week or so, I have learned that Christian meditation cf Buddhist meditation seeks to make one more acutely aware of the presence of God. Buddhist meditation seeks to make the practitioner one with the universe.  Christian meditation does not aim to make the individual one with God.

From the little I've read about Christian meditation, far from emptying one's mind, one should focus on something God-related eg a religious Icon; a passage from the Bible; a recitation of the Rosary.

The chanting of meaningless syllables eg "Ommm!", which I recall was recommended for Buddhist meditation,  is  all part and parcel of this idea of escaping meaning and emptying one's mind.

Christian chanting, I suspect, would definitely have a meaning - a Christian meaning.

A Christian would not be attempting to escape meaning but to intensify his understanding of meaning: the meaning of the Christian message.

Having said that, speaking in tongues, which is a Christian practice does seek to escape meaning and embrace the Holy Spirit which is presumably beyond human language. Mmmh. Will have to think more about this.

The point is: should I be struggling away on my own with these issues or should I seek a Master or Guru who can lead me in a productive direction and thus avoid wasting a lot of time?

Buddhist meditation

Christian meditation

Apologies all round if I have hopelessly characterised these two positions.

FIMO and Meditation

Made another two rows of FIMO window frames: a miserable, fiddly job.

Next they go into the bottom oven for approx 20 minutes to harden.

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Meditation and FIMO:

One of the positive spin-offs of meditation is, apparently, that one learns to adopt a Zen like acceptance of what life throws at one. So, far from being irritated at the fiddliness of making these FIMO window frames (part of the irritation was due to its sticking to my fingers and also to the tools I was using to bend it into shape; part was due to the slowness of the procedure), I should have calmly executed the task and deemed it a pleasure and a privilege to perform.

Clearly, such acceptance of life's little foibles would be a great spin-off.

A) I wonder if it's true. B) If it is true, can it be achieved as a stand-alone benefit OR must it be part and parcel of a greater achievement eg oneness with the Universe?

Many decades ago I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. I did so with much skipping of the Aristotelian philosophising but on the whole enjoyed it as a road-trip book.

Since then I have on more than one occasion re-opened it  with the intention of  re-visiting the Aristotle stuff. Unfortunately, was completely unable to re-kindle my interest in any parts of the book.

Anyway, great title and great cover.

Note the sub-title, "This book will change the way you think and feel about your life."

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Last night's dinner wasn't really on a shoestring:

Chicken curry at the Shenaz, Glasgow.

And, this morning, after squash went to a cafe with my squash partner for a coffee and a pain aux raisins.

And then had a lunch of two salad rolls, and tonight will be having another curry - this time a home-made Lamb Bhuna.

It's so easy to let a diet creep away from one.

But equally, I don't want to become extremist about it.

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St Peter's Partick:

After the coffee etc we dropped into St Peter's, Partick. My squash partner had never been inside it despite having lived only 50 metres away from it for the last 15 years. He said he'd always been too scared to just step in.

He was gob-smacked by what he saw.

My phone camera simply cannot do justice to the grandeur of the church's interior.

The old.

The new.

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Currently listening to:

Leftism by Leftfield.

KNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREPORT

Knee Report:

When I walk down stairs my right leg bends laterally at the knee. My left leg bends backwards as it is meant to do.

I've always taken this lateral movement to be a further sign of the malfunction of my right knee.

But, I read an interesting article on the internet by a researcher who passionately believes that such lateral movement is a result of a malfunction in the ankle.

Now, I badly sprained/twisted my right ankle 30 years ago - it was a spectacular sight afterwards and it never fully recovered.

Perhaps it would be worth taking seriously this analysis of the situation and the recommended exercises that the researcher claims can address the problem.

In particular, he claims that dorsiflexion should be practised to a) strengthen the ankle at that point AND b) to stretch the calf muscles. He emphasises the latter.

Spent yesterday looking for all sorts of exercises to achieve a) and b).

One of them is walking around the room in bare feet on tip toes.

Meditation

Made two rows of window frames from FIMO - an utterly tedious business.

The wall to be filled with white frames.

The top two rows of frames

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Indian Classical Music:

Attended a lunchtime concert of Indian classical music at the University. Went by bus using my free pass and the concert itself was free.

The so-called Concert Hall at Glasgow University is really just a big room in the old building.

Photos were not allowed but I took one of the Indian instruments on the floor before things got going..

As I say, basically a room.

On walking into the room one was greeted by a single and completely unnecessary joss stick, just a 6 inch vertical wire, that had been stuck into a block of wood. It was  feebly burning away and yet filled the room with its perfume. Rather amateurishly, I thought, considering this was an event organised by the University itself, the joss stick had been placed on a wooden table, as if one would normally expect to see one there,  alongside all the information sheets and programmes - a bonfire waiting to happen.

The concert lasted for 50 minutes and was performed by a British woman, Joyce Terret, on Sarangi and Hardeep Deerhe (who sported a huge white turban and bushy black beard) on Tabla. There was also a young child with them who had been equipped with an instrument but didn't seem to play it.

I've heard this kind of stuff before, but never live. I was expecting to be bored but hoping to be transported.

From the very first note, the performance was fantastic. It was hypnotic. What really struck me from the very beginning was the special and wonderful quality of the sound.

This is a picture of Joyce on Sarangi  accompanied by somebody else on Tabla.

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Last night's dinner on a shoestring:

Spouse-made macaroni cheese topped with tomato and courgettes.

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Meditation:

The British comedian, Russell Brand, was on a chat show last week talking about his meditational habits. On being gently teased by the host about how much of each day he seemed to spend doing it, he retorted, self-mockingly, that when one was communing with the Universe one could hardly look at one's watch and say, "well, I've had enough of that for one day."

Apparently, it is this notion of making oneself one with the universe that is at odds with Christian belief.

Christian meditation aims to make one more intensely aware of the majesty of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit and aims to intensify the separation between man and God.

Ash Wednesday

Productive evening at Ceramics class yesterday.

1) Completed the carving and shaping of the HO scale model of St Paul - St Louis.

Actually, another couple of decorative pieces had been added after this photo was taken.

It will be left to dry out naturally over the next few days and then fired - hopefully ready for next week and the application of various coloured glazes (or, to use the correct term, 'underglazes').

2) The slab which forms a row of Parisian tenements (can think of no other word) had been fired and was ready to be underglazed. The goal was to replicate, with black and gray underglazes, the appearance of the cardboard prototype with which I'd been really satisfied.

Amazingly, I think I achieved that replication.

The cardboard version and the ceramic version with one coat of gray.

The technique was to rush the brush across the clay to capture the feel of the cardboard version.

Then mark in the windows and doors in black.



The finished version - plus gable end.

Fictitious French billboard - the 'e' needs an acute.

During the week, this will be returned to the kiln for firing. There is  always a degree of uncertainty as to how the underglazes will turn out. I'm willing to accept that element of the unknown. I'd be surprised if it emerged from the kiln much different from gray and black.

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A reminder of how the above two buildings will relate to each other - the church will be at the end of a street lined by the tenemental row on one side.

Here's the cardboard version.

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Eels:

Great excitement in one half of the Morris household.

One of my favourite singers of the last 18 months - see blog postings of 2011 - Mark Oliver Everett aka Eels is coming to Glasgow in March and I've got tickets to see him. Not only that, because he is not a hugely popular artist, I got the tickets at their face value, and didn't have to use one of those e-touting companies.

Mind you, if I can't get anyone to go with me then I'll have no hesitation in using one of those self-same companies to sell my extra ticket at a profit.

Mark Oliver Everett

BUT, I haven't  listened to any of his recent recordings. He strikes me as an artist who doesn't rest on his laurels and perform his back catalogue. So, for the concert to mean anything to me, I'll have to spend some money downloading his more recent stuff from iTunes and then familiarise myself with same.

Started today with 'Tomorrow Morning' from 2010:

Sounds extremely promising.

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Last night's dinner on a shoestring:

Standing up and dipping a few pieces of bread into a pot (literally) of spouse-made tomato soup.

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Ash Wednesday:

Attended Mass this morning at St Paul's, Whiteinch, and received my Ashes. Very well attended considering it had been snowing continuously since the middle of the night.

Fasting:

For the last 4 or 5 years I have not felt like fasting during Lent. Prior to that I gave up sweets and alcohol for 6 weeks - and with no difficulty whatsoever. I felt no guilt or regret about this failure of the last few years - I needed the alcohol to survive and I know that God understood that.

This year, I want to mark Lent by some fasting. I hardly eat any sweets so there's no point giving that up. But, I will cut down my alcohol intake. Not entirely, though - couldn't face that.

So, the plan is to abstain from alcohol mid-week unless there is a pressing social event that requires it (and there are 4 of those coming up in the 6 weeks of Lent) and only have alcohol on either Saturday or Sunday at the weekend.

I only ever drink with food, and only at night. I find a dinner without wine to be a tedious event. The exceptions are curries or fish and chips or Chinese cuisine or meals with my brothers and sisters and their families. So, we'll increase our intake of these over the next month and a half.

For me, the purpose of Fasting is to intensify one's awareness of God.

St Therese of Lisieux

Despite best intentions, no time for model railway today.

So, instead, here are some photos of the railway station at Lisieux in North West France.

A dozen years ago, we visited the Basilica in Lisieux. Opened in 1954, it is devoted to the early 20th Century French Saint, Therese of Lisieux.

The town is small, the basilica is worthy of a city.

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Currently listening to:

Haven't had time to listen to any music today although I have found myself singing this old ditty by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren.

 

GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME

Her: Oh doctor, I'm in trouble.

Him: Well, goodness gracious me.

Her: For every time a certain man

Is standing next to me.

Him: Mmm?

Her: A flush comes to my face

And my pulse begins to race,

It goes boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom-boom-boom,

Him: Oh!

Her: Boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Him: Well, goodness gracious me.

 

Him: How often does this happen?

When did the trouble start?

You see, my stethoscope is bobbing

To the throbbing of your heart.

Her: What kind of man is he

To create this allergy?

It goes boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom-boom-boom,

Him: Oh!

Her: Boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Him: Well, goodness gracious me.

 

Him: From New Delhi to Darjeeling

I have done my share of healing,

And I've never yet been beaten or outboxed,

I remember that with one jab

Of my needle in the Punjab

How I cleared up beriberi

And the dreaded dysentery,

But your complaint has got me really foxed.

Her: Oh.

 

Her: Oh doctor, touch my fingers.

Him: Well, goodness gracious me.

Her: You may be very clever

But however, can't you see,

My heart beats much too much

At a certain tender touch,

It goes boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom-boom-boom,

Him: I like it!

Her: Boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Him: Well, goodness gracious me.

 

Him: Can I see your tongue?

Her: Aaah.

Him: Nothing the matter with it, put it away please.

Her: Maybe it's my back.

Him: Maybe it is.

Her: Shall I lie down?

Him: Yes.

Her: Ahhh...

 

Him: My initial diagnosis

Rules out measles and thrombosis,

Sleeping sickness and, as far as I can tell,

Influenza, inflammation,

Whooping cough and night starvation,

And you'll be so glad to hear

That both your eyeballs are so clear

That I can positively swear that you are well,

Ja-ja, ja-ja-ja-ja.

 

Her: Put two and two together,

Him: Four,

Her: If you have eyes to see,

The face that makes my pulses race

Is right in front of me.

Him: Oh, there is nothing I can do

For my heart is jumping too.

Both: Oh, we go boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom

Boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom-boom-boom,

Her: Goodness gracious,

Him: How audacious!

Her: Goodness gracious,

Him: How flirtatious!

Her: Goodness gracious,

Him: It is me.

Her: It is you?

Him: Ah, I'm sorry, it is us.

Both: Ahhh!

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Last night's dinner on a shoestring:

 

 

Plaice from the freezer, black pudding and a cheesy concoction of skinned peppers, asparagus and courgettes.

 

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St Therese of Lisieux:

Commonly known as The Little Flower.

Her basic thesis is that we should approach Christ with a child-like trust and simplicity.

 

 

I see this kind of religion (I use the term loosely) as the opposite of the intellectual approach of Thomas Merton. And, I am very drawn to the doctrine of simply trusting in Jesus. Another favourite Saint of mine is the Polish nun, Saint Faustina whose motto was, "Jesus, I trust in You." Is there any need for a more complex or esoteric approach to prayer?