Skeletization!

Just in time for Halloween..skeletization! Skeletization is defined as removing the soft tissue from a skeleton and that is just what I was busy doing today! I was making skeletons! Now before I mislead you into believing that I was creating Halloween decorations or doing something far more macabre, I will explain. I am still redoing the hallway and had a so-called brilliant idea for the floor. The floor is a sort of plywood so it is nothing that I cannot play with as to become a conversation piece. I had asked friends what they thought and all agreed.."Go artistic!"...so here I am with my artistic wheels just a-turning in my head! Skeletons! I would put skeletons on my floor! Not human ones...that would be just a little too icky. Nope! I would put leaf skeletons on the floor with some sort of border going around the edge! Yes..this is a working project with nothing etched in stone.

So, out I went to find leaf skeletons! Most of the time there are plenty of them just littering the ground under the citrus trees. I searched the area. What is usually covered with leaves was bare! Where are my leaves?? Son had decided to do more yard cleaning. He raked everything clear..my leaves were gone. I think I will have to have a talk with him or merely take away the rake! Yes..I know..most parents would be elated to have their son out cleaning the yard but hey, this was too extreme. I was in need of these leaves! I eyed the grapefruit tree. Nope..still green. No leaves were skeletized! Well..I would just have to make my own! I did find a few dead leaves that Son missed in his clean-sweep raking. These were still hung up in the branches of the tree! I grabbed them and headed indoors without an inkling of how to rid them of their fleshy parts.

I looked up all I could find (which was absolutely more than unhelpful!). Nothing, zilch, nada..I was on my own. Let the experimentation begin! I tried soaking the dead leaves in hot water...did not work! I tried boiling the leaves...did not work! Then I tried soaking the leaves in bleach...this somewhat worked! The (dried) fleshy part by this time was getting a mite mushy. The bleach seemed to eat away at some part that was sort of connecting the flesh to the veins. Nice! Now there is a saying about "Having the patience of a Saint....", but obviously I need not apply for sainthood if that is a requirement. Rubbing off the fleshy part of the leave was a time-consuming task and I wanted my leaf skeletons..like..yesterday! I suppose I could have been a bit more careful and perhaps my skeletons would not have ripped apart..but I was not. Thus, I lost about half of my leaves. The few that I managed to skeletize look nice but now I will have to revamp my idea. Plan B will come in action as soon as I think of it!