There’s something special about Friday afternoons to me, especially late on Friday! The weekend is right around the corner and I still get a bit of that “just released” from school/work feeling. Though really it’s been a long time since I had a “proper” Monday to Friday job and even longer since school days!
This Friday brought a treat! My drawing buddy and his partner were going to be threshing the wheat they had grown and I was welcome to drop by and see it done. There was no long car trip to farm land involved, this is the wheat David and Kelly had grown in their garden right here in North Vancouver, who could resist!
They had harvested the wheat and invited other growers( or should I call them farmers?) from around the city, there’s allot more people growing wheat in Vancouver that you would think!
The wheat is then run through a wool carder to separate the wheat berries from the chaff. It’s the most unusual use of a wool carder I have ever seen! but very efficient. After running through the carder a few time everything is then sifted into the large blue bucket on the right.
This was the group using machinery to help them along but out on the lawn was another group. They had the wheat spread on a sheet and were hitting the heads with sticks to separate the grain, a very satisfying feeling!
They then gathered the edges of the sheet and separated the wheat berries from the chaff by winnowing. Now it was a still day so some ingenuity was required!
The results just about ready to be ground into flour. What an amazing project and a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the week.
David is one of my life drawing buddies but little did I know he is a brilliant glass artist as well! he has been working on a panel ( not the proper name I know but I can’t remember what you called it!, sorry David) ) for their deck. It based on the poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens and is absolutely stunning!
He’s got 7 panels done and 6 more to go, it’s amazing with the setting sun coming through (and without as well)
and I couldn’t resist this fellow perched on the roof of David and Kelly’s studio!
Bye for now, Catherine
ravensthread 
What fun. I wish that Fraser could have seen that. It is a long way from
his sheaves, stooks, threshing machine — and then the new
fangled combines. Great glass work. Very nice blog
Fun Friday. Think I will send it to my sister who lives on a farm with multiple combines, trucks and a grain dryer. We used to grind wheat for bread. Lots of interesting things going on in Vancouver.
Oh and thank you for sharing your photos of the deck sculpture and raven. Beautiful. Judy
I loved it! Was there with you all. Many thanks.
I am new to your site & post, but will be following you from now on.
Be well, have fun, life is to be enjoyed and gasped at in awe so very very often. Write all about it for us who do not have that talent but still share the feelings 🙂
Wonderful panel and a brilliant corvid.