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August- is it just me or is autumn in the air already?

Aug4

The trees are not turning, The geese aren’t flying over head but it just feels fall-ish to me. But it’s pretty much mid summer. I have the canner going with green beans this morning. Tomatoes and zucchini to go into the dehydrator and relish to make tomorrow. That’s summer for sure! I guess I am just anticipating. Not that it’s been such a painfully hot summer this year. We did have a spell of “Arizona summer” earlier but it’s been pretty moderate lately and no (knock knock) fires so far.

Himself is tending the garden and is doing a nice job of it this summer. He has a healthy crop of carrots, something we haven’t had any luck at growing so far. And the corn is tall and fat, too, so we’re looking forward to some nice roasting ears in the not too distant future!

Carrots! He’s thinned them now and they are out-growing their shade cloth!

As for the looms and weaving, I’ve been working on the class for this fall and projects to go with it. I have classes scheduled at both Lambtown and OFFF. Check then out. I really haven’t done much other weaving this summer so have nothing to share. I just got a little payment from Little Looms who are republishing my Evergreen Hat in a new Ebook so if you missed that issue you can find it now on the Interweave site.

My youngest sister came down from Oregon in July and spent a week with me and we played with dyes! It was fun. Randy set us up a table and a portable gas stove in the yard off the kitchen and we mixed and matched! I dyed some yarns for one of the class projects and she had a lot of her handspun that she dyed, too. It was the first good visit we’ve had in almost a year. I really enjoyed having her here.

So I guess that about covers it for this time. Can’t think of much else. Cat has been hunting Lizards which has Randy upset. Some cats are hunters and I guess this one’s stint at having to feed himself last winter has encouraged that trait. He gets plenty of food now but I guess I need to fatten him up more!

Okay, looks like I’ve just won a contest from Harbor Fright for a bunch of tools and a heck of a lot of money from Publishers Clearing House. Pretty good for someone who has never entered any contests, huh? lol It always amazes me how anyone can fall for these things!  Ah well… I’ll just hope I never reach that state. Meantime, he does buy a lottery ticket now and then! lol

Okay, gotta go tend a pressure cooker full of green beans! Hope your garden is producing heavily, too!

Yarn fun!

Jul14

Well… Sis is  on her way home after a couple of fun days. I don’t count the day she arrived or left as they weren’t full days and today was not really all that much fun waving good bye! But on a brighter note, we are already thinking of the next time! That will be at her place.

But did we play?! You betcha! There’s more but she took a bunch home with her, too, and , as usual, I got so involved I forgot the camera! That’s almost unheard of in these days of cell phones, huh? I guess it comes from not having one of those little devices! But now I Have Ideas! It’s going to be more fun playing with my new colors. I’m thinking of making Art with those paper towels we dribbled tests on! lol

 

And Sis sent a photo of her part of the pretties! All hers is handspun. Most of mine is commercial.

Dh is busy bringing in the early fruits of the summer squash. So it looks like I’ll be getting the dehydrator ready a little sooner than I figured. Everything else is starting to bloom so it won’t be long. I see some fruits on the winter squash and fancy pumpkins. The green beans, the peppers, the okra… the peas are putting on another go just in time for the 100+ summer heat. Off we go.

So now its back to everyday stuff and staying cool. It looks like the extreme heat is going to be fairly wide spread so I hope you can all manage to stay cool. Reasonably so at least! And spend your in-door time with your looms!

Hazel

It’s June!

May31

I don’t need a calendar to tell me when June arrives!

My roses know!

The iris are more about mid May.

They are still going strong but their reign is nearing the end for this year. I have marigold, nasturtium, sunflowers. zinnia, another whose name eludes me at the moment. Some planted some just in seed trays. But these are the summer flowers coming up quickly. And according to this morning’s weather forecast, just in time!

Himself has the veggies garden under control. He is putting in a sprinkler system that can run off timers when we are on the road for a week or so. It’s a modified version of my sisters system what he admired. It has to have some special changes for our situation but it looks like we won’t have to have a garden ‘sitter’ this summer!

Meantime, I am canning soup today. My favorite lunch. It’s just my version of a ‘dump’ recipe. Tomato or V8 if I have it, chicken broth, veggies broth, and whatever veggies are available fresh or canned. Beans, split peas, and  lentils, barley. A good hearty soup! And the bread is in the machine, the weekly regular loaf.

I know this is like posting a photo of your dinner, but I was delighted to get a full canner, 16 pints, and still have about 3 lunches worth left in the fridge! It’s not real photogenic but I like it! lol

But I have not abandoned weaving. I have the squares woven for my scarf and am going to start assembly today in between these other projects, and some shop work. Maybe. That might have to wait a day. I am also working on a couple tutorials for fixing weaving problems  after the fact. What to do once they are off the loom. A neighbor gave me a link to a editing program she says is “easy”.  I plan to give it a try but, well, she is much younger and used to internet apps and programs. I saw the things she was doing with her teaching videos for her glass works and, frankly, I am just a bit intermediated!  But I’ll give it a try. Maybe you can “:teach an old dog new tricks”!

Meantime, if you are having problem with assembling, you might want to check out this blog. Even if you decide these methods are not for you I think you’ll agree they are creative!

   Have a lovely spring!

 

 

April in Trinity

Apr18

It’s been beautifully sunny and warm this last week. The “glacier” on front of my kitchen is disappearing rapidly, bulbs coming up and blooming, trees starting to bud, birds and animals coming out of hiding!  This morning at 28 degrees there was new snow on the deck! Not much, but just April making sure we know it’s not May yet! But the sun is up again and that white is melting rapidly.

A crocus, reluctant to open in the frosty lawn and one of the first primroses blooming under a budding mini rose.

     

We are getting ready to leave for the Great Basin Fiber Arts fair in Utah next week. In spite of all that has come together to make this as difficult as possible I am actually looking forward to going. The latest disaster, in case I haven’t mentioned it, is his truck. The one that pulls the 5th wheel, is in the shop. It’s brain dead. It’s computer died and has had to be sent off to a company in New York that rebuilds/programs these units. We were told a month. I didn’t want to disappoint weavers there who’ve signed up for my classes so we’ve rented a U-Haul van and an airBnB and are going anyway. It is going to be an interesting trip!

I haven’t gotten a lot of weaving done this month, most has been more mundane stuff but things that needed to be done. I did work on some rectangular stuff, nothing finished or ready to be shown. And made a couple scrubbies for the house. Stuff like that. Did I mention the Cat?

I must have. I still haven’t been able to find his family or anyone who can give him a home.  He seems to be happy asking to be let out when he needs to answer nature. That’s fine as we really have no place to keep a littler box. We have been planning to take him to the shelter in Weaverville if I cannot find another home for him. At my age I really don’t need a cat under foot, and he is really good at the ankle twining cat thing! But it looks like we may end up keeping him after all. Randy talked to the temporary animal control person and was told that they are at capacity for cats and can’t take anymore. I’m not going to dump him or let him starve. He’s a very loving guy, also quite handsome and well mannered. He’s also a long haired white cat. So far in this cold weather, he has not been shedding but that’s one thing my last white cat did in abundance, I still find her “angora” on my black coat and stuff like that! But we’ll see.

We’re never going to be Vegans but I’ve been trying to be less carnivorous.  It’s much easier for me than it is for Himself but he rarely complains. He did comment on an article he read saying people need to eat less red meat, saying, “That’s not a problem around here.” I just agreed! lol It’ll be easier once the garden gets going again and we have lots of fresh veggies. Winter is hard since produce is limited and the grocery store is an 80 mile round trip. I can as much as we have for it in the summer but it’s starting to run our by this time of year. We’ve planted onions and peas. He’s says he had to replant some of the onions. I think it’s the jays who pull them up. Everybody is looking for fresh greens this time of year, he put wire over the pea row, just in case!

Well, looks like I’ve been a bit chatty this morning so it’s time to say Have a Nice Day! and get to work on the days chores! Hope you’re seeing signs of spring where you are!

 

 

 

February again…

Feb18

But don’t worry, it’s not spring yet! More snow in the forecast on Tuesday and through the week it sounds like. I’m okay with that. We have gotten quite a bit of precip this winter but are still not caught up with the last dozen or more years of drought. Garden started to thaw a bit this week with the highs in the upper 40’s but there’s still plenty of time for that , too.

I’ve done little yarn things this winter, knitted myself a scrap vest. This is all the scraps and snippets saved from projects over the last decade, probably. Tied together in an overhand knot. Will that hold? Ask me in a few years of wearing it!

And played with a few weaving techniques, that’s about it. Just did this one yesterday. From a photo posted on the pin loom facebook group.

Randy is planning our trip to Utah next month to take part in the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair, Friday April 28 and Saturday April 29
The Legacy Event Center – Farmington, Utah. I’ll be teaching a basic class on the 4 inch Multi loom, we’ll make a little needle book to learn plain weave and a texture pattern or two. The other class is the dishcloth class on the 10.5″ Quit Weaver Square. We’ll start with plain weave and see how far we get. The class schedule hasn’t been posted yet but should be soon–keep checking!

We’ll be at the Black Sheep Gathering, June 23, 24, & 25 and the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival,  October 14 & 15. Both in Albany, OR. I think we’ll also be at Lambtown in Dixon, CA, Oct 7 & 8. We’re also looking at Fiber Fusion Northwest in Monroe, Washington.  June 4 & 5. Maybe. Sounds like a lot, beginning to feel like a lot as well. I think I’m getting old as these affairs are a lot more stressful than they used to be. I suppose it’s good for me. At least that’s what Himself keeps telling! lol

Did I mention that we can almost see the lake again? Yes, indeed, it has been coming up rapidly this winter. Authorities warn us not to expect it to fill this spring, tho, Partly it appears, because they have other uses for the water up here. I don’t mind sharing but it would be nice if we had some lake. Our local businesses mostly rely on that body of water to draw the tourists that they rely on to stay in business. We’ve lost a few already who weren’t able to tough it out. That’s rough on us all.

Way in the back, that thin line of blue is the lake. The rock piles (a remnant of the mining days) show the river wending its way to join that pool. This is the view across the Lake(bottom) from Trinity Center where we had tp go last month to get internet and cell service from the Verizon tower there.

And my little Fox friend is still coming for dinner each evening. He doesn’t get much, I want him to still hunt but while the snow was still frozen on the ground hunting was difficult and I wanted to keep him around. He’s my best mouser!

I guess that’s all for now. I hope it’s not too Winter where ever you are. Spring isn’t far and we can all be outdoors grubbing in the dirt again!

 

Carrots & Radishes

 

Another year gone by…

Dec22

…And I’m still alive and comparatively healthy for my age group. That gives me plenty to be thankful for right from the start! Last week was Very Cold, the snow frozen solidly. This morning we are supposed to see temps into the 40’s and rain. This reminds me of a couple of photo’s I took a few years ago to explain snow to those who don’t live with it. It’s pretty as it falls and for a while after, but we do live here! It’s not usually this bad but the loader was broke down just then so he wasn’t able to plow us out. I still enjoy the snow, more so if the power stays on.

   

But no rain so far today. Sis says they have ice storms predicted up in Oregon and my walking buddy is traveling to Chicago. I have to laugh, it is all typical winter stuff! as much pain as pleasure!

But ‘my’ little fox still comes for dinner. I give him just enough that he doesn’t go hungry but he is still doing his job with the mice. Have not had one all winter, a rare thing when the fox is not around!

I have nothing new to add to the mini WAL. There are a few more under projects on the web page that you are free to download and make in case your tree has a bare spot yet! The candles are fast and fun as are the elf shoes. You can make these in any size, from table center piece, filled with fir boughs and berries to a pair to fit your American Girl doll!

 

Anyway, I hope you all have a happy and comfortable Christmas day. And even if you don’t believe in Santa Clause I hope you can enjoy the holiday in whatever way you do enjoy it and enjoy it for all your friends in their ways, too!  And join me in hoping for and working for a wonderful peaceful and kind 2023!

Best wishes from Hazel and Randy.

Another winter…

Nov11

We started out this month with some early snow. Is it early? Seemed so, the trees also thought so as almost all of them still have their leaves. We had no damage here other than a few broken branches but there were long stretches of power outages which very likely mean some other trees along the way weren’t so lucky. I felt for the PUD guys out in that weather but they did a good job of getting us powered up again and I appreciate it! Yeah, we have a generator but it’s a noisy contraption so don’t engage it unless the fridge and freezer start to suffer. We can hear all the neighbors machines well enough!

It’s been awhile, as has been pointed out to me, since I posted here. Things have been happening but not interesting stuff to write about.  Gardening and canning, cooking and cleaning, you know that kind of thing. I have been weaving but mostly it’s all for Little Looms magazine which I can’t share here. If they don’t take it I can share but if they do it’ll be sometime next year. I’m not as fast as I used to be, especially at the writing it up part, so that pretty much covers my weaving time.

We’ve gone to three shows this year, Black Sheep Gathering last June, Lambtown in first part of October and OFFF in the last part. He’s looking at accepting the invitation to go to Utah for the Great Basin event. We’ve never been to it. That, of course, set him off looking for other events of this nature that he might want to attend! There’s are a lot of them scattered around but it all involves timing and the size of the event, too. And the distance! But that’s all day dreaming right now.

He’s got the wood shed full, says he thinks he has next years wood already, too. About the only good thing to come out of last years fires, there’s a lot of dead wood. So we get to burn it again. The woodshed below is full but he still has room for his drop cord collection and a few other items of manly interest. And they yard out there still has more. The unsplit pile next to the splitter is madrone. It’s a hard wood for those of you who don’t know it and makes a really hot fire. There’s lots of it after last years event. The best thing about madrone is that even tho the tree was burnt and died of it, it will come back from the root nearly every time so they aren’t really lost. I don’t want a Madrone in the yard, they are a messy tree, but I enjoy them out in the forest. They are also handsome and have white blossoms that make pretty red berries in the winter.

My broken Hyde King apple tree is making a come back after it got smashed by the fallen alder a couple years ago. It had one apple this year, which was not bad as the crop on all the apples this year was negligible. I got one pie and no applesauce.  Got some nice winter squashes off my couple of vines. And the woodbine was once again brightening up the yard.

   First Hyde King!  

  One of many tasty winter squashes.

So now I guess it’s time to settle in for the winter. We have a couple more guests for the cabin and we’ll close that up. It’s already in the Twenties at night and we don’t need any frozen pipes! Thanksgiving will be just the two of us and probably Christmas, too. I have a little turkey and a little ham so we can have our celebrations here properly! I even bought a can of cranberries so we’re all set! ;-D  Hope you are all doing well and getting ready for a cozy winter!

 

Back from Black Sheep Gathering!

Jun29

Home from Black Sheep without many pictures. Didn’t get a chance to roam around and take interesting ones but I have a few. It was really nice to be able to get together with fiber folk again and talk weaving knitting spinning all the fun things we do and share our projects, successes and failures! My class on Sunday was great fun and everyone managed to complete their little needle book. That was 4 pages; a plain back, a patterned front, and at least one center page using the sild stitch. There were 6 stitch patterns to choose from. It’s a lot to learn for first time weavers but they all caught on rapidly. And if they need a reminder later they have the work sheets and the you tube video to visit.  Weaver Hazel

I’m showing them the Quilt Weaver square.

Grace from Graces Cases made these charming little purses from woven squares. She used the 12″ square Quilt Weaver to make these. The small flat bags are one square felted. They are lined and zippered. The larger one she told me she “…Just cut the big square in half…”! The bottom is faux leather, they too, are felted, lined and zippered. This one is not flat, it’s about 2″ wide at the bottom.  Pretty and well made! I was loaned one to show with the looms, Grace trusted that I would not pack it up with my projects!  Tempting…. lol

A weaver took a Blue ribbon using the 6″ 3pin loom to weave a lap blanket. She belongs to a guild and wove the squares each of a different breed of wool for a guild project. Each one is labeled on the back, too. I even have a couple of photo’s but I lost where I wrote down her name and of course, my knack for remembering names is working as usual.  So if you recognize the project I’m talking about would you please email me with her name?! This just shows half the blanket. Each square was woven in a different textured pattern. I have a photo of the full blanket but as she is in it I don’t want to post it without her permission.

A P.S.! Linda York, the Weaver who wove the blue ribbon lap blanket posted a comment below  and gave me permission to pot the photos. Thank you, Linda!

 

But now we are home again with a new set of tires on the 5th wheel. But that’s another long and expensive story! The wad of wire he is holding is what the tire shredded into and that beat out the floor in the trailer bathroom and took out our water lines. So Randy had to do some mechanics and some plumbing as well as the show stuff. This took place on the shoulder of a Very Busy I-5 just north of Medford, Oregon, canceling our dinner with my sister. But we made up for it and got our visit on Monday on the way home. One lady did turn around and come back to check that we were okay and didn’t need help. It was very kind of her! We were okay, if not very happy! lol

 

May… as in maybe spring?

May6

It’s hard to tell what season it is. One day it’s 80 degrees and sunny, nest day you wake up to 31 degrees and frost, nest day back to warm and sunny then a week of cloudy, dark, cool, and rain showers that don’t really add much to the water table. Today is one of those. I worked in the garden this morning, cut a bunch of kale off my blooming kale plants and finally let him dig up most of them. There a bunch of little seedlings to make a new patch. I hate to give them up, suck pretty plants, but it’s time for a new generation. They don’t seem to mind the weather, in fact judging by the number of  plants coming up. I’d have to say they like it.  But my tomato plants won’t and they are starting to out grow their quarters in the house!

So I’m weaving little triangles today. Don’t know what I’ll do with them. Maybe a quilt design. But they’re easy and fast using the Tiny Weaver Tri.

PUD called awhile back and told us the poser would be out last Sunday from 8 am to 4 pm. Si I made a picnic lunch and we headed up to take a look at how the winter had left Mt Meadow at the end of the road. Seemed a good use for a powerless day. I hadn’t seen the burned area since they started the “clean up”. The clean up consisted of tearing up and hauling off the burned structures, leaving the woods pretty much the way they were. They’ve cut “hazard trees” along the road, those they deem a danger of falling on the road and/or whoever happens to be there at the time. And a few private landowners have logged the burnt timber. on their property. Federal property gets left as is… natural.

But once up the road a few miles the fire did not come down to the canyon do the view along the road is green and thriving. You can see the burn up on the ridgetops, rows of standing poles that used to be trees. The fire came down to the meadow in a few places but by and large it stayed safe, as did the old historical Mt Meadow Ranch. We saw three bear and the trip. Going up, a sow and a yearling cub ran across the road ahead of us. Bright cinnamon colored. Coming back a young black bear was munching grass in the meadow. I guess the bears are hungry this spring, with all the old rotted logs having burned up, taking with them those nice fat grubs the bears like, there’s not much to eat up there this spring. Randy got a shot of this one also munching grass on his hike up Union creek Saturday.

 

He wasn’t interested in visiting, tho, once he spotted Randy he departed the meadow in a hurry.

But we enjoyed our picnic and hiked around a bit indulging in what is now days called  “Forest Bathing”! lol Ah well, I live in the forest but i still enjoy getting out in the woods.

The alp’s I’m afraid didn’t fair as well as the meadow. We didn’t cross the river but had a depressing view that way.

 

We walked down and took a look at the meadow from the bottom, The fire came down into the Aspens, but didn’t hurt them. We only have this one patch of them in Trinity Co. That I am aware of, anyway. Here’s Himself contemplating the view. Yo can see the brow trees. But there’s still green ones, too. Still birds and a nice sized deer herd so lots of things survived the fire.

I guess that’s about all I have to day today. Guess I’ll go weave a few more triangles, maybe I’ll get inspired!

 

April Oneth!

Mar31

Yep! It’s that time again. I’ve had a lot of them but I’ll tell you, I am just delighted to be having another one! I’m hoping to have several more. Hope all of you keep on having them too! So what am I going to do on my special day? Probably the same sort of things I did today, just keep on keeping on. No big plans. We’re signed up to go to Black Sheep Gathering and later to OFFF so those will be our big trips this summer. I’ll get to spend a day or two with my sister in Oregon as well. If fuel prices happen to go back down a reasonable amount we might take a trip just for fun. Not holding my breath.

It’s about time to get the garden started. I’ve planted peas, both eatable pod and shelly. That’s all so far, tho. I ought to have cucumbers starting and winter squashes, too, probably. No frost lately tho the night temps are well into the 30’s.

I thawed, roasted and canned up the extra turkey I bought in December . We had a couple nice meals from that 24 lb bird, and now I have pints of meat and turkey soup filling the pantry shelves so here’s a lopsided photo of some of the shelves. I could have sworn I had the camera lined up correctly! lol I guess I need to get out there and Organize. There’s more pints in their boxes that could be on the shelves where they are seen and remembered.

My housebound geraniums are glued to the window, trying to get out in the sun and the red one even put on a flower!

  I took this from outside the window and the yard is reflecting on the glass so the geranium has the bare stemmed maple tree superimposed on it! I think this must be an Art photo! But this is the first red one I’ve managed to over-winter. The pinks and white I’ve had for years! In fact that’s been 20 years! I’m not saying they are the same plants I brought home from my classroom at the school, but are at least clones of them! I hadn’t realized really that it had been that long. oh boy! There are some things you’d rather not think about too deeply!

Ah well… We’re onto another year of Little Loom magazine projects. I just submitted my spring ideas and will get to working on summer. Already know what I’ll be doing for the winter issue, I think they’ll like it. Sometimes these projects get pretty stressful but I usually enjoy them and it keeps me motivated.

I hope you are all keeping your looms well dusted! Like anything else, you’re looms will look their best if they are being used. Remember, I like to see your projects! Post them on Ravelry or the facebook group or just email them to me if you feel like sharing!

Well, hope you are having a lovely spring!