DALTON GHETTI

I am amazed at the talent of Dalton Ghetti, a 49-year old carpenter from Bridgeport, Connecticut. Dalton has been carving the most incredible miniature sculptures for over 25 years without the aid of a magnifying glass. His canvas? The tiny tip of a lead pencil.

Dalton started carving tree bark when he was a child and experimented with everything from soap to chalk before settling on graphite. It’s second nature now, and for 90 percent of his work, all he needs is a sewing needle, a razor blade, a sculpting knife and a carpenter’s or No. 2 pencil.

“The pencil tip is great; it’s like a pure, very homogenous material,” he said. “It cuts in the same direction, not like wood, which has a grain. But when I tell people how long it takes, that’s when they don’t believe it. That’s what amazes people more, the patience. Because everything nowadays has to be fast, fast, fast.”

Mr. Ghetti often takes years to complete pieces, especially since pencil carving is only a hobby. A standard figure will take several months however the alphabet carvings below took about 2.5 years!

BAN ON PLASTIC BAGS

San Francisco is debating whether to extend the ban to cancel plastic bags to include all retailers, including bookshops, clothes shops and department stores, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The California Legislature currently is debating a statewide barring of disposable plastic bags and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed his support of the bill.

Current San Francisco law requires large supermarkets, such as Safeway, and chemist chains, such as Walgreens, to give customers only three types of bags at checkout: compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags and reusable bags. Single-use disposable bags are banned completely.

MELANIE PORTER

I am loving the work of Melanie Porter. Creator of a stunning collection of contemporary & unique knitted chairs. This knitwear designer has turned her expertise to furniture, creating one-off contemporary designs from chairs sourced from auctions and markets across the UK. The chair is painstakingly stripped back to the frame, before being restored and reupholstered using traditional techniques. This blank canvas is then covered with a series of hand-knitted panels, especially created by Melanie for each chair. To see more of Melanie's work have a look at her website HERE.

Aluminium Cans

Last Saturday we borrowed a van, filled it with crushed aluminium cans and took them to Whip Street Motors, where they were weighed and then unloaded, ready to be crushed and baled.
We were paid--another £180.00 for the recycling fund. When we have another load, Whip Street Motors will supply a skip for the recycling centre, free of charge, which will make life a lot easier for us!!

I have banned steel food and drink cans, as too many were being left at the recycling centre with the remains of their contents inside and although they are heavier the alu-cans, they are not as valuable.

We still save aluminium foil, which we give to The Sudbury Resource Centre. They collected the load below in the pouring rain yesterday