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It’s November already….

Nov15

The summer had flown by. I dunno how these things happen. Maybe we can blame Einstine. Seems he was always fooling with time and space. I never seem to have enough of either of those. But I think we are ready for winter, in any case. No more traveling except maybe a couple shopping trips. That’s good.

Looks like our semi planned trip next spring is off. Won’t be going to Great Basin or on to Yellowstone. That park is going to have to wait for a little later in the year from the looks of things. Oh well…

But I have been getting a few things done like trying to organize (if I can use the term loosly) my yarn and project stash. He has promised to redo Le Shed so I can actually find things out there. That will be great! I can barely get into it at this time and I don’t have to fear falling out of bed as there is almost no place to fall too, there is so much Stuff stacked in there. It’s pathetic, actually. Now I think of it, the whole house is like that. Can hardly eat dinner as the dining table is stacked full, can’t find anything in the fridge tho I am sure there’s hardly any food in there! I did get in the bathroom yesterday and clear off the counter top. Filled the trash can with expired and dried up stuff. Guess that’s what I ought to be doing other places now instead of typing and griping here, huh?!

Well, the outside world is lovely, anyway. Maybe I can be a bit more cheerful once I get the house in a more friendly condition. Frankly io am delighted that I don’t have to plan for an early spring trip or classes. I already feel more relaxed! I think I’ll go clean somthing!

Thank you for putting up with my grumpy post, I’ll do better next time, promise!

Okay, I didn’t even get this one posted but am in a better mood today so will just leave that but add some more cheerful stuff. Like this afghan. I thought I could put it out on the deck to dry for blocking. We swept off the oak leaves that were piling up but it’s still very wet and tho the sun is shining it isn’t getting in past our trees to dry the deck.  So I gave up and layed it out on the LR floor. Himself has a nice fire going so it ought not take long to dry.

I seem to have a differnt blog editor than I usually use so not sure what this is going to look like! lol I am hunting for technical help and will hire someone if I can find someone I can work with. That’s the tricky part, being the old (       ) that I am!

But reading that first part again, I have made some progress at Organizing (if I may use that word freely) my house. The kitchen got a little work over. This end of the little room was piled high, every time I needed something it would start an avalance so I gritted teeth and tackled it. He helped me move the microwave and built the little spice shelf. A lot of stuff got taken out to the washroom/pantry and I can actually find what I need! I hope to be able to keep it up. Today I tackle the fridge. The turkey has to come out of the freezer and into the fridge to start thawing for next week.

You might think this still looks clutered but it is lovely! My kitchen is tiny. On the left is my stove and there is 18″ of counter after that then the proch door. On the right next to the dishwasher is the sink, 12″ of counter, and the fridge. There’s a couple cupboards on the sink side and a window above the stove. That’s my kitchen. But I get breakfast & dinner made daily and all the canning done in the summer so you can say it’s big enough. Okay, I need to be working on the fridge instead of talking to you.. Remember, that’s need, not want! I hope you are having a sunny and cheerful day!

Hazel

Looking forward to Fall!

Aug16

We had a couple trips in the spring, to Great Basin Fiber Arts Festival in Utah and to Washington for Fiber Fusion and then we had the summer off. Well, kinda. There’s the garden! Don’t want to be without my fresh, pesticide free veggies, which means canning in the hottest part of the year. But it’s worth it when I see my pantry stocked so prettily!

Made cucumber relish yesterday. For today I’ll put some of our huge crop of green & yellow beans in the dehydrator,  already canned plenty of those, and make a Buckle. I found a recipe for that old fashioned dessert. I have peaches for it unless he brings me more black berries. I have a stock of blackberry jam, of course, and had to tell him stop! lol But only temporarily until I got caught up with what he has already brought. I have them for lunch with toast or in my breakfast cereal.

        

Too many beans and cukes, they out produced all the rest! I am pleased with my onions this year. I’m sure Rosy is proud of me. I always got my onions from her as I never had any luck with them. But now I have to do it on my own so tried extra hard. They aren’t going to win prizes at the fair but they are the best I’ve grown so far! There are red ones in the bottom. We’ve used quite a few already

  And I actually grew some okra this year. I thought that this big it would be tough, but it was not!

But back to trips! Heading to Washington again end of September! I have the kits ready for the Spokane classes. If you are in that area, check out https://spokanefleeceandfiberfestival.com/. It’s a new Festival but Katrina is working hard to make it a good show. I have two classes but there are other good teachers having classes there too, not to mention a flock of vendors with fiber goodies you’ll want to check out!

 

Well, it’s clouding up which makes it a nice cool day. Which after the heat of last week is rather enjoyable! But I have to spend some time in the shop, too.  Weavers are waiting for their looms!

Hope you are seeing signs of fall at your place! No red leaves yet but the asters are blooming!

Wishing you happy!   Hazel

 

 

 

A little Post Script.

Apr12

It must really be spring this time!  Look at all the sunshine and blue sky! It hit 79 today! The cottonwoods are leafing out. So is my weeping willow. The oaks are always conservative and wait, just in case. Phooey on them! It’s spring!

 

We planted the tomatoes out this morning and planted peas and beets, too.  Onions and Kale next as soon as he gets the bed ready.

     

Yes, I know it’s early yet. We will have covers for the toms at night, just in case. But it’s nice to sit on the garden bench and feel too hot!

The other thing is packing for the Great Basin Fiber Festival in Farmington, Utah. I think we leave on the 20th.

  

Okay… Hope you’re having some spring at your house!  (or fall if you’re in the other half of the world!)

Hazel

Oops… I have been slack again. Sorry!

Apr6

It’s already April. My birthday is passed. I thought I had a post for that in the files for later but if so it seems to have disappeared. Oh well… But I had two parties this year! My Bunko to host is in March but only a week before my birthday. So I used the occasion to give myself a Surprise Birthday Party! I was a little nervous about how the 11 would take it but they all seemed to get a kick out of it and helped me eat my self-baked birthday cake and sang the traditional song to me while I blew out the single candle! I wanted to put all 84 on it but as the event was held at the Fire Hall I was afraid I might be arrested for arson!

Happy Birthday to me!

My 2nd party was lunch with two friends at the Trailhead café. It was two days before my April 1 birthday since the café is not open full time yet. That was fun and I got a Chocolate Cherry torte with another candle on it and gifts, too! The best gift was lunch with friends, of course! And on my birthday, Hubbie made breakfast for me to start the day right. It was a lovely day, too. I hope I get another one next year.

Lately I seem to have mostly been dealing with business emails and teaching at fairs stuff and email program fixes so spending too much time on the computer. I have ignored all work related stuff the last couple of warm sunny days and have been out pruning and pulling weeds and trying to clean up the mess in my flower beds. This winter was hard of growing things! But there are daffodils and crocus blooming in the lawn. The snow last week pushed the daffies faces in the mud, as happens every spring about this time! Tradition, I guess you could call it, but they sprang right back up when the sun came out the same day and melted it all off again. The last puff of winter, I hope! We’ll still have frost but the white stuff should be staying Up Top now.

Himself is getting the garden ready. He does the heavy work out there. My tomatoes which I planted a good month too early need to go in the ground soon. They’ll have to be covered but I hope they’ll survive it.  Other than that I am trying my hand at making Orange Marmalade. Never tried this before but I ended up with more oranges than we are likely to used before they start drying up. And I do like it so it seems a good idea. I hope it is!

It now has to set for 12-18 hours my Ball Blue Book says. Interesting.

As for weaving, I’ve been working on getting things ready for the classes I have signed up to teach.  Several peg looms classes this year and a few others. Our first fiber fair this year is in Farmington, Utah. The Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. We missed it last year but this year I will have two classes, Beginning Peg Loom Weaving and Beyond Plain Weave, a class for weavers who already know how to use the continuous weave looms. We’ll take a look at pattern weaves, colors, a bit about how to design your own patterns and some lace weaving, too.

The next fair is Fiber Fusion NW in Monroe, Washington. I’ll do the same two classes there since this is further from Farmington than most weavers want to travel, it’s not going to be a double for weavers. Then Lambtown and Oregon Flock and Fiber Fair in October. But between all this will be a bigger garden this year. The garden did not do well last year so I didn’t get much canning done. I don’t really look forward to canning in the hottest part of the year, which is when stuff gets ripe, of course, but I do like to have the pantry full come fall!

We stopped at the going-out-of-business sale at Joanne’s, of course, and while I was looking at potentially useful sale items he bought this rose for me. He says he went though them all to find the most real looking one. I guess he found it, as my friend  thought it was real when she saw it the other day. Of course she was across the room from it, but still, it is a lovely rose. And a lovely thought from Himself!

I hope you are all enjoying some signs of Spring where you are! My Sis in Florida is moving into summer already! I’m not ready for summer yet, gotta work up to that but will be delighted to see Spring!

Meanwhile, keep your looms polished and your garden gloves dirty!

Another Monday

Oct14

Well,  My sister who set up my original Blog named it  “My Life in the Country” so today’s post is just that. Everyday stuff here in the woods.

More chores today, but household, not shop. Making bread, more on-going laundry. I washed sheets and the napkins. Somehow they all got in the trailer and all got used. We had to resort to paper towels for dinner last night! Cleaning bathroom was so I could put down my new rugs! I got new rugs for in there because the backing doesn’t last on these things. After what seems a few  washings and it starts to peel off. Maybe I am going to have to find some more expensive rugs.

 Cleaned up the corner by the bayout window because its time to move the house plants in. I lost my oldest one. One that moved from Florida. I’ve given starts all over but didn’t have one going this summer. Too bad. Still have two I brought with me, my String of Hearts & the Drunkard’s Dream. That one almost died from too much water last year. The Angel Wing Begonia died from a lack of it this year. Both I blame on him, tho I should have watched closer. He’s supposed to be in charge of the auto watering systems. Oh well, there is no lack of plants. I have three big geraniums. They’ll need pruning, and a small pot of starts I “collected” from the Dixon Fairground. Plus two plants of Rosy’s. My little corner of limited winter sunshine will be full!

The drunkards dream, the little one Is the start I gave Rosy. The big one is mine, recovering but not well.

I also printed out a bunch of photos for the travel journal. That’s his project mostly these days. I started it when we first got the 5th wheel, but seemed to have lost interest at some point. He adopted it a couple years ago. Our style is totally different, of course! I wrote about scenery and things that happened or that we did. His is more about routes from hither and yon and best free campgrounds, with some scenery and some notes on trailer maintenance. How long it took and where we fueled up. And he wants a photo of each camping spot with the trailer in it.

He’s getting the woodshed filled. There’s a lot in there but not enough for the winter, apparently, so the spliter is getting a workout, as is he! I don’t do wood anymore. My back says no. I can bring some in if I need it but the stocking up is left to him these days. When he can’t do it any more we’ll have to rely on our cheap electricity.

And the Woodbine is turning red!

He used the weed eater to mow the meadow– our lawn– as it is too wet to use the mower. We’re hoping this will help it dry a bit. It needs it’s last ‘haircut’ before winter. And he’s exploring ways to put power out in Le Shed so I can see what I am doing out there. It is badly in need of organization. A lot of that will be getting rid of stuff and yarn. If anyone is interested in some misc.  yarn  it’s free but you’ll have to come get it.

Okay, I guess that’s enough life in the country for today. It’s nearly time to start dinner. I think that’ll be beans and maybe corn muffins. Sounds like something fitting for a cool evening. Hope you have a nice dinner and a lovely week!

After Lambtown

Oct12

We headed up into the Sierra’s looking for some cool! It was hot in Dixon that weekend. We found some, too. Our last morning at just under 6000′ it was 29 degrees! That was cooler then our first night at just under 7000′.  I wanted to get a picture of the 8000′ sign but there was no place to pull off the road so had to compromise with this one!

It was lovely up there, I haven’t been since Pop took us all when I was a child.  We explored a lot back then. But even for a mountain girls, this was an adventure. Our mountains are also lovely but not nearly as rugged as these and our rocks are different, tho also plentiful!

We got lost a few times so saw some country we would have missed otherwise and there was this, of course:

Standard for summer since it is difficult to do road work in the winter. Up there it would be impossible! The snow will hamper that just a bit! The small green sign says 7000′. They were putting in culverts.

 

   

Quacking Aspens in full color and a nice breeze to set them shimmering. The Ponderosa forests are impressive, too. I didn’t get a really good pictures but here’s one. I love the red trunks.

   And some shots just for the Beauty of them.

We came down into Nevada on the way home. We had a nice surprise there, too. Diesel at $3.49! If you’re in California, you’ll know why that was exciting!

 

Nevada and back into California. Janesville is near here somewhere!  This lake has always been dry when I’ve seen it before but is nice and wet this year!

We enjoyed the trip and have the trailer mostly unloaded. The groceries are hauled in and the laundry has been washed, the looms and teaching stuff is put away for next year and he’s working on firewood. We had rain last night and it never got over 60 today. Time to bring the houseplants in. Winter’s on the way.

Hope you are having a lovely fall and missing all the exciting weather they’re having back east.

 

It’s June already

Jun8

Well, this month didn’t start out well, with sis dying on the 7th. Ten days before her 78th birthday. The day she shares with my son’s 56th. Well, life does not go as it ought, does it?

But we went to Fiber Fusion in Monroe, Washington, and did well. I taught two classes and had 15 students altogether, all of them quite enthused about learning to weave and learning more about weaving on their square looms. Marion, who is vendor chair, took time off from her busy days to take both! Thank you Marion, I’m glad you found the time for some fun in all your hard work for us!!

 

The trip went well except for a couple small adventures. Every trip needs at least one of those, right? On the way up there was a loud crash-bang and we were showered with glass! I thought we’d been shot at! Randy pulled off the freeway and we discovered that a tiedown strap had broken and the buckle had hit the back window of the truck. It took out the whole drivers side slider. So we ended up with a garbage bag and some cardboard as a back window for the rest of the trip. And sometime during the return trip the brakes started malfunctioning. They worked, but not like he thought they should but we made it home safely and when he took it in to the shop yesterday they found the problem and fixed it. On the way home he ordered the new window, so we ought to be back in working order before Black Sheep Gathering the end of this month.  The only other thing of note was that when we left Monroe it was 63degrees and raining. when we got to Coffee Creek it was 99 and bright sunlight! But we’re adjusting!

We stopped at sis’s on the way home. I promised to help BIL with Rosy’s stuff. Started cleaning out her pantry. Rosy was a adventurous cook and there are products and seasonings that he will never use, some even I had never heard of. I brought some home  and some will be offered to his neighbor who has been cooking for him now and then but what David doesn’t want will be offered to the food pantry. And I picked up a fleece that I want to get ready to try to sell at BSG. There are a LOT of fleeces, Rosy was a Spinner. I loved that as I got a lot of very nice yarn. She knit and wove some but spinning was her first love. She was generous with her yarn, too. Her wheel is a Schacht Matchless double treadle and she has all the accessories to go with it. She has even more things to go with it than I guessed! And she has an Ashford traditional as well. We’ll have to pick up the wheel on our way up to Albany as the trailer was full on the way home. I still need to deal with her clothes, too. I’m putting that off. So if any of you are interested in these wheels and are going to be close enough to pick them up at one of the shows, let me know. I’ll figure out a price meantime.

Since we got home we’ve also been working on the getting the garden in. It’s late this year. but it is what it is. Or will be. and yesterday a doe got in the yarn (somebody left a gate open) and ate off my prized and babied tomatoes so all I have left of this is a stalk with one leaf each. Not a happy camper! They may come back but very late. I started these from special seed and we took them along on the trip to make sure they got enough light and water. They were doing fine so I put them out in the yard in a partly sunny spot to harden off. Very not happy! But I got a lot of other things planted today. And pulled my kale. I just planted it this spring, had not gotten one cutting and it has gone to seed. It was a new variety but should not have done that, so I guess I’ll go back to my old one, if I can remember what kind that was.  I don’t think I saved any seed but maybe there’s a couple volunteers out there, I’ll look this evening once it cools off.

Okay, enough of The History of Our World Part I. I hope your summer is starting out better than ours and will continue in a happy state!

The yard got a bit overgrown while we were gone. It’s  not a traditional Lawn yard, anyway, it’s our meadow but still usually a bit neater than this! But everything is blooming and happy so I guess that’s okay.

 

On the right is where our houseplants spend the summer. Usually safe from marauding herbivores.

  

 

Heading into winter now…

Nov8

When I go back through my photos, looking for inspiration for this blog post I find the same thing all summer and it’s not weaving or yarn of much any kind. Garden, canning, veggies and fruits, even a few flowers and lately apples and pears and apples and apples and…

                   

There’s more apples. These are the Romes, best after a bit of frost. The Hyde king as the earliest, good for eating and baking and making applesauce. The unknown from the neighbors tree are a good firm tart cooking apples but also tasty if you like a tart apple. There’s a few more what I call wild trees, that produce good apples. No telling their linage but they all produced magnificently this year! As did the pears. It’s the same with them. There are a couple we know are Bartletts but there are others that are older trees. The pears are good but they do produce stones, those hard little “rocks’ that form around a bruise or the core so their use is limited if you don’t care for grit in your pears! However, there are plenty of good ones so we mostly leave these for the bear and whoever else likes a sweet fruit.

I could have posted more baskets of green beans, they were another prolific producer this summer. Along with cucumbers! Way more than we could use. I dried some and added them to the mix. Rehydrated and added to soup or a scramble you can’t tell them from anything else. I dehydrated most everything that grew in the garden this year. I put 11 quarts of dried Veggies in the pantry  a couple weeks ago. The garden is pretty much gone now. There are still carrots and the celery plants Sis brought me are still looking happy. They haven’t really made stalks as we think of them, but lots of tops which have a good celery flavor. I’ll dry some of that, too. It’ll serve as parsley if nothing else!

But there has been yarn happening.  This spring there was a happy class of beginning weavers making dish cloths over in Farmington, Utah, and five weavers joined me at Lambtown in Dixon Ca in October to weave Tartans. That was interesting and fun as well.  The skirt is a project of mine. Not entirely successful, still not finished, I just have to give a little more thought to it! The scarf is more successful and a lot easier project! The samples shown from the class are family tartans the weavers wanted to copy. It’s challenging to take a floor loom woven tartan pattern and translate it into diagonal continuous strand weaving, but these ladies were doing a good job of it. I’ve recently heard from one who is still working on her project. I hope they all are!

  

The fiber fairs are over for this year. We’re looking at next year, thinking about adding one or two. Himself wants to “take a trip” in the spring. He’s exploring via Google Earth to find the interesting places to go within our reach. Our reach has a time frame as we do have stuff to do here as well.  It would be interesting, I think, to be one of those vagabonds who live in their RV and just go from place to place. But not in the present 5th wheel! We’d need  a larger and roomier ‘home’. And even the ‘previously loved’ ones are pretty pricey, not to mention Big. We need a Tesseract! But it’s not practical, anyway. We have to be here to make looms, I don’t see being able to take the shop with us! lol And Cat wouldn’t like it. He likes his outdoor time which he wouldn’t get on the road. So we’ll take a week or so and then come back and take care of the garden and the rental cabin and the shop, and get ready for the next fiber fairs! And I might submit to magazines again, maybe, that takes up a lot of time.

But meantime, we’re heading into winter. What that will be like is anybody’s guess. The weather/climate experts are so far covering both sides! I love it. You might be cold and wet or you might be warm and dry! I think I could have predicted that! But hey, they are trying to predict nature so I guess we have to give them a break. They have fancier equipment to work with now days but Grampa’s arthritic knee was probably as accurate at predicting. But whatever it is, we’re ready. Wood shed and pantry well stocked. What else do you need?! I hope you have a lovely cosy one whether warm or cold! i’m looking forward to some snow… but not before Christmas!

 

 

It’s October– time for Lambtown and OFFF!

Oct1

Fall Fiber Fairs are Fun! 

Sometimes it’s cool enough to have us thinking wool! Sometimes not quite that cool but we can feel it in the air and we can see it in the leaves of the trees! Stores are done with Halloween candy and stocking up on Christmas! lol A sure sign it’s autumn.  Apples are ripening and it’s time to make pies and can applesauce for your winter oatmeal. But hey! we’re almost ready and it is time to start weaving your gift list.

  

We’re heading to Dixon and Lambtown in a couple days. I have 10 weavers joining me for a class on Friday. It’s my first all day class so something new to look forward to. We’re going to have fun! I hope! The scarf is just the start! We’ll be real Scotsmen before we’re done! and almost immediately after that it’s Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Albany, Oregon so if you can’t make Dixon I’ll see you at OFFF!

 

 

 

 

Must be fall, the poison oak is turning red!

Sep14

 

And while the bush beans are about done, the pole beans are just hitting their stride! I’ve already canned around 120 pints. Now I’m bagging them to take to the local Food program, along with some cucumbers which are also turning them out. And he just picked 4 lugs of pears and says that not all on that tree and there are two more trees! lol This is kind of funny in a way as in the past few years we were lucky to get 6 pears off the three! But I have pears in the dehydrator now and will be canning pears and making pear butter. They are ripening rapidly. I had two for breakfast. Delish, I have to admit. I just wish canned pears were as tasty as fresh.

And just out of curiosity, I looked up the nutrition comparison between apples and pears. It appears they are a lot alike but pears seen to have just a bit of an edge. They have more fiber and only just a few grams more sugar. I always thought of pears having a lot more sugar but at least the ones they tested did not seem to. These are Bartletts that Grandfather planted many years ago. But speaking of apples… They are about ready to pick, too. I want them to be ripe but we have to get there before the bear does! I’m surprised they haven’t hit the pears yet. Maybe because this has been such a productive year, they are finding plenty of food elsewhere. I hope so!

One of 4 lugs I have to deal with!

Other than that I am working on my class stuff for Lamb Town next month. Took Cat to the vet so get him the rest of his shots so he could spend a week or two in the Pet Motel while we attend the last two shows of the year. If you are in the area we’ll be at Lamb Town in Dixon, CA. and also the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Albany, Oregon. I had intended to let him just live outside as he’s used to doing but there is rumor of a lion in the village so I guess that wouldn’t be fair. He is pretty good at hiding in the snow but stands out pretty good in green grass. And I think that’s probably true even if you only see in black and white as I understand some/most animals do. He’s not going to like it but I doubt he’d like going to “dinner” with the lion, either!

Speaking of Cat, he was getting bored with his toys so I got the Cat Burglar out. It was a favorite of past critters and was a hit with Cat, too. He went from his pink Tribble to the cat burglar and had a great time! The stuffed squirrels that you can see under the dining table have lost their place for awhile!

          

So meantime I am trying to keep Sis cheered up after her knee surgery. It isn’t much fun for the first couple days.  I haven’t heard yet this morning and am hoping that means she’s getting some good Zzzz’s. Mine is still working and hope it will continue doing so. I have been able to lose a few pounds this month which ought to help it some.

Okay, I guess I’d better get back at it. Hope your September is not too hot or too wet! It’s pretty nice here in the Trinity Alps!