Archives

Finished.

May28

I finally have the baby blanket finished. Nearly have the mixer cover finished but ran short of yarn with only a few to go. I’ll get to town this week and hopefully Jan with still have another skein in her shop.

ducks finihsed

We’re  getting ready for our trip to the Big Sky Festival. This is our first time for this show but our second trip to Hamilton Montana. Then we have to hurry home and do laundry then off to Eugene, Oregon for the Black Sheep Gathering. Haven’t been to that one for years and am looking forward to it.

I am hoping to have a few new projects to show as examples.

Things have been busy around here. Randy is making looms, trying finish our new porch, getting the composts piles ready for the new bed and trying to keep his construction customers happy, too. So far, so good! Except for the porch… Now that he has the roofing off the house, Mother Nature decided it was time for a couple days of rain. Well, it’s Memorial Day weekend… bound to happen, huh?! I’ve been in the shop, too, trying to keep up with him, plus projects, printing, getting the garden going, and all the domestic fun that has to continuously be done as we all know. But it’s been a pleasant month, too. And my little peach tree has a whopping big crop this year! Had to thin some off and may have to thin it again. This is the most it’s ever had!

Okay, enough chat. I made a determination to keep this blog more up to date than I have been doing. I’ve probably lost my three followers already, huh? lol Hope you are all having a wonderful and warm, windless! spring.

 

A Late Christmas Visit

Jan15

We finally made it to Randy’s Mom’s for Christmas. It was not quite the same but we have an really enjoyable visit, even if it was halfway thought January! We met Katie, who waits here for me to toss her monkey so she can chase it. We didn’t do any big events, other than watch the ‘Niner’s beat Green Bay, which was rather fun. But we spent a lot of time talking, eating, and catching up while Randy took care of a list of “Honey Do’s”! lol Now we’re back home where it is just as cold and a lot whiter. I don’t think any snow has melted since we left. Oh well!

Katie

Rain?

Oct13

Our promised rain… well, they said 60% chance…. turned out to be 40% that it wouldn’t. Not a drop. Very disappointing as we really do need it and our rain is very late this year. This storm all went north of us it looks like, tho we did have our first little fire last evening. I’m going to have to turn the water back in the garden. But it’s been cool enough nights that all but the Kale and the other few cool weather plants have done. I picked the last of things yesterday.  There are still quite a few tomatoes that I’m hoping will at least show a little color before frost so that they can ripen indoors. A late cold spring and a long cool dry fall do not make for good gardening. But here’s yesterdays harvest. The little green melon would have been a cantaloupe but the vine died so it was only starting to show some orange. Bummer. The apples are windfall, those on the tree are better after frost.

We are getting ready to leave for the next show. It’s near Seattle, the Northwest Fiber Fusion, on Oct 20-21, in Winston at the fairground. If you are in the area do come by and see us. And Randy wants to visit Grizzly Tools, which is in the area, so I get to go to the American Girl Doll Store! I’ve never been to one so I am excited. I am going to take Addy and see if they can do something about her hair in the salon, there. Meantime, I made a couple Halloween outfits for them. The knitted Sweater is a pattern from a Ravelry knitter,  Jacqueline Gibb. The woven one is mine, ‘stealing’ her Boo idea, but Kanani doesn’t need a heavy sweater in Hawaii, after all! Hope your autumn is going as it should!

Home again… for a bit

Sep12

We had a great time in Arcata at the Natural Fiber Fair but I came home with a ‘gift’ from someone.  Sore throat, coff, head ache… Not bad, but certainly not good.  I’m sure I’ll be over it soon. Meantime, I am working on projects as usual.

And the tomatoes are getting ripe at last. I think I have an orange one, too. These are heirloom Oxheart. They average almost a pound a piece & are very tasty. There’s also one early girl, a roma type, and some cherries.

This is the basket I made for Momma to pick her asparagus in. It’s long a narrow, I used willow and our native blackberry vines.

Wishing everyone safe from fire and storm.

 

End of summer?

Aug28

It’s been down in the 80’s all week and in the 40’s at night. I love it but my tomatoes don’t. They are ripening a couple at a time, slowly. I have some veggies in the dehydrator today, zucchini,  peppers, green beans, a roma type tomato, stuff to make into my soup mix. I dried the Asian pears that a neighbor gave me, those we didn’t eat fresh, that is. Good stuff! And the black berries to deal with tomorrow. I made some dill relish using up the excess cucumbers. It’s pretty good, I have a half pint left over that I just put in the fridge to use more or less fresh.

But today I also finished up a little doll dress. I say a kid version of this in a knitting magazine but this doll one is woven on an assortment of little blooms. Here’s Samantha Whirling and twirling in her new dancing dress,

Real Strawberries

May26

Randy found these when he went to town. Locally grown in Happy Valley by the Vietnamese farmers who do this so well. There were vendors out a few weeks ago but they had the grown in Mexico supermarket berries, you know the kind- huge, hollow, half green, tasteless! Ugh. Only fell for that once. These are the real thing. The car smells heavenly by the time you get them home. They are smaller and red and juicy. Yummmm! So today is for strawberries and canning the chicken soup I made yesterday.

I am also weaving some new kitchen curtains. The last issue if HandWoven featured an article on Transparent weaving where you can work a picture/pattern into your weaving. I think that would be a great one for the valance at the kitchen window. I wanted to work in a hen and rooster but my first attempt was not up to my standards! lol Trying again!  If you’re on Ravelry, drop in on Looms To Go and  take a look at the curtain a member shared.  It’ll have you at your looms in no time! I hope to have something worthy to post shortly.

Meantime, I go to Medford this week to have my vision improved.  Doc says I have a cataract and he’s going to fix it. Sis just had hers done and seems to think it’s a big improvement. Hope so. Read the brochure with all the warnings and just about back out! lol So maybe when I get back my weaving will look better. Or worse! lol

Have a fun, sunny and safe memorial weekend!

Solar Eclipse

May21

We drove up to Slate Mountain to view the eclipse. Haven’t been out that way in years. Nothing much has changed except that the county has recently graded the road so it’s in pretty good shape and the trees are starting to crowd the road, making it nearly a tunnel in some places. Not dangerous so they don’t spend any money clearing them back.  It’s kind of pretty and reminds us of how soon our works would disappear if we did.

Back on subject! We had a great view of the eclipse and as we were front and center for it, we got to see the whole ‘ring of fire’ thing. Pretty neat. It got a little darker, kind of like a thickly cloudy day but forget the movie thing, you are not going to impress any natives with your magic. But we had a nice picnic and enjoyed getting out in the woods again. Don’t have the right kind of filters on our cameras so they refused to see it but have a couple of stunning sun pictures. The view from up there is great, too, in spite of the rather hazy air.

Looking back toward Bonanza King on the right and the little bump on the horizon to the left is Billy’s Peak, at the foot of which is our place. It’s not as far as it look in the photo, I’m guessing maybe 10 or 12 miles as the crow flies.

This one was taken by an internet friend in Arizona. The thick smoke from the forest fires they are suffering now acted as a filter for this eclipse. Is that looking on the bright side?! lol They were not in the right line to see the full ring but I found this effect very interesting.

So we’ve had two sky events this year already. I think that’s enough! No need for too much excitement from out of space for us. Our sky event today is the likelihood of thunder showers. I’d rather like to miss those, too. But I am making a couple of weaving videos for youtube so a bit of cloudiness is good for the lighting out on the deck. Get out your looms and weave with me!

 

 

Feburary!

Feb15

I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I posted! Sorry ’bout that! We have been busy, tho. Randy has under taken a new project for me, and maybe for sale once we get the “bugs” worked out. It’s a doll storage and clothes trunk. He calls it a steamer trunk. The first prototype gave us a clue about what we need fro the remodeled one. For instance, this one has no room for the doll.  Since I tote a couple of these with me to shows they do need a safe way to travel.

And I finally finished my toaster cover. Had a time getting it to felt. I used Noro sock yarn and I have found Noro easy to felt in the past but this sock yarn has silk so maybe that was the reason. Anyway, it’s done and I’m happy with it. I am working on one for the mixer now.

And  I’ve been ‘inventing’ clothing patterns for the little 6″ American Girl dolls, too. Those are such fun, fast and easy, even with tiny needles and yarns. You can find those on Ravelry, tho there aren’t many posted yet. I have a couple of knitters working furiously testing my creations! lol

And I have gotten a bit of canning done as well.  Bean soup! And I don’t know why this blue line is here…aauugh!


But in the meantime… The snow is starting to melt tho we keep getting threatened with more, none has fallen recently. But it’s cold! The wind keeps it icy in spite of the bright sunshine we have today. Hope you all had a Lovely Valentines day and are looking forward to spring. I see a few bulbs starting to push up some green!

Apple Pie Season!

Dec1

I finally got the last of the summer’s tomato crop (in the freezer) canned up and faced the buckets of apples waiting in the washroom. Got one pie in the freezer and am about to get the second one int here, too. Then the rest will become applesauce.

Haven’t done any weaving but I have been making looms. Not quite the same but needs to be done. Have to go to town tomorrow to pick up my stuff at the LYS and see who won the doll and her wardrobe that we’ve featured there this summer. And I’ll get my hair cut on the way home, I’m getting downright shaggy!
Hope your preseason chores are going well!