This year…

Jun17

Is it just me or is this year even stranger than the last few? Weather wise it’s more than halfway thought June. 40 years ago the last frost date for our area was June 1, a few years back it jumped back a month to May 1. Yesterday and tonight we have frost warnings, all the frost sensitive plants are already in the garden! I can only hope they have exaggerated this warning. But it is cold this morning. Well, I am getting old, 46 is a long way from freezing but I was almost thinking of building a fire this morning! lol Instead I just bundled up in housecoat, afghan, and a warm purring cat on my lap! After a couple cups of coffee I was warmed up a bit so managed to get dressed and make breakfast which warmed up the kitchen, too. Sour dough French toast & applesauce. It was good. Himself drowns his in syrup, of course. I like a little real maple syrup now and then but rarely buy it because he does, too, and I hate it when his plate comes back to the kitchen with a pool of expensive syrup on it, so he gets the cheap stuff. He doesn’t care, he just likes a lot of sweet. My applesauce I make with apples and a bit of water and it’s plenty sweet. But now I need to make bread again!

Yesterday I got the patchwork yoke assembled. Today I have to full it in the washer and hope it does not shrink too much! It’s kitchen cotton so that hope is slim. It’s the first time I’ve used that for this project. It’s a little on the heavy side, too. It may not work so I’m not sure what will happen then. I hope it does, I’ve got these two shirts that I bought a few years ago for this purpose and they as still waiting. It’s not that I don’t have plenty of demo woven 7″ squares I could use. It’s just one of those things I’ve been putting off.  I wove these squares out of Rosy’s stash while I was up there. Something to do in the evening while she slept. So probably not a rational choice for this project, but it’s done now. I’ll let you know how/if it works!

Our fellow residence was back this morning for an easy breakfast of pumpkin seeds. These Stellar Jays have been nesting in the trees and bushes at this cabin since before we bought it from Randy’s dad who bought it from his grandparents. Their line may even go back to the gold mining days of yore! We enjoy watching the young ones grow up. I can’t tell one from another but I know they are mostly ‘our’ babies. Some people don’t like them, say they are noisy and chase off other birds but there was a pair of new comers, Robins, the other day trying to chase the jays off!  And if the grackles are nesting around the yard or garden, you’d better watch your head and they will try to run everybody off, no matter species! lol And the jays have personality & like crows and ravens are quite smart. We don’t have crows here and we try to discourage the ravens who only come around in the spring when there are nests to rob. Yeah, everybody has to eat, but they can forage in someone else’s yard.

Randy is cleaning the cabin this morning, brought me a pile of sheets and towels. The young men who just rented for the weekend had a great day fishing in the lake on Saturday morning and headed to Whiskeytown Sat afternoon to try there and nearly had a disaster.  A hot rodding boater nearly ran them down in their kayaks. He swerved at the last minute just barely missing one but his bow wake swamped them and he kept going. I call that hit and run! They lost equipment, including  the drivers car keys, into the lake. We were concerned when they didn’t come back that night but got a message later that they were okay but stranded. They came back up Sunday afternoon, we offered them another night as it was not their fault they missed one but they declined as they both have jobs but said they’d be back. Our cabin guests usually say what an interesting time they’ve had here but  it is not usually as “exciting” as that! They’d better stay with Trinity Lake, now that it has water again!

Well, it’s nearly 9:30 am so I guess I’d better get started on my Monday.  I seem to be blogging more now that I don’t have Rosy to email with. I still find myself wondering when she’ll be back from her “trip”. It’s weird. But my other sis and my daughter have been emailing and I do enjoy hearing from them.

It’s warming up a bit out there but the wind is blowing again. It’s cold enough that Katt has come back in. He usually spends most of the day out and only comes in to snack and at dinner time. So it’s not just us old ones who think it is cold for June!

      

Hope you’re staying warm. But not too warm!

Hazel

 

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.

  

 

2024… so far.

May14

“Cheer up, look for the bright side, they told me, things could be worse. So I cheered up, looked for the bright side… and things got worse”.

   

My baby Sister died May 7, 2024.  I was able to spend her last month with her but that did not make it easier. My sister and best friend, we emailed daily, sometimes several times. She ignored my advice on important subjects and I ignored hers but we enjoyed sharing none the less. She was a spinner with a huge stash of fleeces and yarn. I have her handspun now and will treasure using it. Her wheel I’ll sell, I hardly spin anymore and have my own anyway. She was also artistic and the best cook in the family. She loved animals and her little dog, Evie, will live with Rex and miss Rosy as the rest of us do. Our brother John is making the urns for her ashes, I know she’d be pleased with that gift.

and 

So now we have to move on. That means Fiber Shows. Fiber Fusion in Monroe, Washington is the first one this year. Two classes, Weaving a dishcloth, a beginning class,  and on Sunday it’s Beyond Plain Weave, but the link does not seem to work for me today. I’m sure you can find it if you are going to be in the area. Our next one at the end of May-first of June is Black Sheep Gathering in Albany, Oregon. I don’t have a class there this year. Then we get the summer off before OFFF and Lambtown in the fall. I’ll have classes listed at both of them & some new projects. The summer means, of course, garden and canning so not really a summer off!

 

Dishcloth and more… and beyond plain.

  And a new loom! Peg, Jr.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. This morning I am canning Rhubarb, something I have not done before, and putting pins in Fine Sett looms. And will try to get a walk in at some point. The sun is shinning and it’s a beautifully warm day here in Coffee Creek. I hope your day is bright as well.

 

Another January about gone…

Jan29

February coming up. That’s Spring in some places. In other places it means winter is underway. Strange how the world works. Just random thoughts generated by the weather these days. We’re having another sunny day. We didn’t even have have a fire last night. I slept great! When he stokes the fire for the night he doesn’t want to get up to a dead fire so I roast all night with the covers kicked off while he’s bundled up to the neck. Go figger. Ah well, they do say opposites attract. I think that must of been the case with us.

But Cat thinks they are soulmates and loves it!

But on other subjects, we’re threatened with heavy rain this week leading to lowering snow levels on Friday. Sun’s shining today, tho. We took a ride up the road  so Randy could check on a customers place for them, all’s well there. Coffee Creek is roaring along nicely, raising the lake level daily. Well, I haven’t been up that way recently but it’s probably getting a little help from Trinity river. But so far they are not sending it elsewhere so the possibility is there that we might have a lake once again this summer! That’ll be good for everyone here as well as visitors. Which are also good for everyone here!

But I guess we ought to talk about Weaving. We have a couple new looms in the works, not ready for debut yet. But I can show you one. I call it Peg, Jr. I’m think of offering a class at one of the fairs using the peg loom and thought it might be fun for parent and kid so we came up with this one with just 7 pegs. Kind of like straw weaving but with a base.

I had him shorten the pegs since this photo & wove a long 3 pin belt which I then rolled up and stitched in place… a pin cushion! And a scarf in the making.

Anything else? Well, I’m thinking it’s about time to get the coles started. I did buy a new seed tray and a bag of potting soil. Now I just have to find space for it. The biggy. I guess maybe the xmas cactuses will have to move next door. And I have a lot of pumpkins in storage that need to be used pretty soon. Can’t seem to find much to use them for. We don’t need a regular supply of pies and we tried pumpkin soup and, while it was not bad, it didn’t really inspire more.

But Valentines day is coming up. That’s always fun! Mug Rugs!

So that’s it for the end of January. I hope you all got the year off to a beautiful start.

An ideal life!

 

 

Since we’ve no place to go…

Jan6

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!

Cat wanted to go out and see but 15 min was enough!

He went out again but it was getting heavier.

So now he’s enjoying the view from comfort! Me, too!

Got bread rising & crossing my fingers that the power stays on at least until I get it baked. We went through the last loaf faster that I planned.

Hope you are all enjoying whatever weather you’re blessed with today!!

I’ll add a little ps here: I’ve been trying to get my blog editor on my tablet all day and if this works… it’ll be the first time! So crossing my fingers… I’ll give it one more try. Snow, by the way,  has quit.

Hollyhock… Looking to next summer.

Dec22

I have seed for back and white hollyhocks & maybe some red ones. If you are interested send me an email and I’ll send you some. There’s a limited amount of the black, enough white to seed a couple acres, probably! and the red ones were quite prolific, too, I just can’t remember if I harvested seed from them. I’ll have to go check my stock and it’s too cold today to leave my warm fire side. If you like red as well just say so and I’ll see what, if anything, I can find.

I don’t seem to have a picture of the white one, but it was just white. I have a picture of the red one but it’s not a close up. That one grew in the middle of the veg garden, he liked it as it was always busy with bees. I guess it was a clump rather than a single plant.

 

Sold

Dec8

I have a couple of 6” square Multi Looms in the steamed cherry that we can’t get anymore. They have hair line cracks at the nail base on one side. The nails are all firm, I’ve been using mine for years, this is just a little cosmetic flaw but I need to make some space here. This loom sells for $41.40 and I’ll price these two at $28 ea plus shipping. I’ll include a 7” needle and the instruction booklet. This would be a nice gift for a weaver!
Email with your shipping info for total cost, if interested. Don’t forget your name! 🙂

Christmas Cards, weaving your own.

Dec2

These are fun to make tho if you have a lot of people- Special people- on your list you might want to start a bit sooner than December 2!

But I’ll share a bit if what I’ve done here. You can take it and run with it on your own. You can use this same method for making cards for birthday, Easter or any other celebrations, of course. Or a pretty patch on an item of clothing.  Maybe pretty patches like we used to make back in the day, once this ugly fad for torn up jeans fades! You can reclaim these garments!

But I did this on the 4″ Multi loom. First you need a graft to fit your loom. I did this for you so you can just print these out and design away! The red dot is the center of the loom to help place your design so that it will fit. You want at least one stitch as a border, more is better, especially of you plan to attach these to other squares. I made a baby blanket using this and some cute little animal pictures. I also added the one with the centered circle in case you ae doing round ornament type projects.

Here’s a couple  simple charts you can start with to give you an idea how to go about this. Penguin is worked on a white background, the gray squares here should be black, the snowman needs a color to let him stand out. I just suggest weaving the square with some pale aqua, an icy color then stitching the white for his body. You can do it the other way if you want, stitching the back ground to outline  him. You can also use a running stich to kind of outline him. I arbitrarily added a bit of bright pink in his scarf but I have to say, it can and should be done better, You decide!

You can work these with a cross stitch, even a single ‘cross’ might work,  like needle point. This will depend on the size of yarn you are using. You want a solid coverage without distorting the pattern. When you are looking for patterns search Free Cross stitch Christmas patterns. Also look at the same but needlepoint. Like this one. You can work any of these either way, just be sure to coordinate your yarn sizes.

  

I worked the little penguin using the half cross, or needle point stitch. I think it turned out okay except some of my colors are not the best choices but what I had to work with. His feet and beak should have been a darker yellow, more ‘school bus’, and my green is a bit too dark. I worked little French knots for his berries and I like that. I think I may do a bit of detailing on this one. He also looks very sad, It’s his eyes, not sure how to cheer him up but I’ll make a few sketches and see what I can work out. Since there is a limited number of squares here details are a little difficult to fit in. I also worked the stitches in his white parts. I was thinking about letting the back ground white do it, but I thought that looked too unfinished.
Hoping someone else will work him and share!

Here’s some I have done, I didn’t keep track of them all, tho, too bad. If you are unfamiliar with embroidery There are lots of instruction on line, I expect. Also Gabi had a WAL on the subject some time ago and she may still have links to that information. Here’s the one I made in that WAL & c couple Xmas squares. The gnome is  on the 4×6″.

       

This was a mug rug for my MIL. In case yo can figure out my symbolism its the sun coming up in the coffee cup.

These were for my baby blanket, (except the last one) which I also can’t find a picture of.

Well, I hope you get some inspiration out of this post and will let me know what you make, I always love to see your projects! Let me know, too if something is unclear more info is needed.

 

Thank-full!

Nov26

Yes, We are thankfully full of turkey, ours was on Saturday as the bird was still frozen on Thursday so we had ham then, which made Himself happy as he much prefers it. Costco has a good ham, too, so I enjoyed it as well. And I am thankful that there is ‘punkin’ pie left over. This one was made out of one of sis’s butternut squashes, yummy. But mostly I’m thank full that the job of cutting up the carcass is done and the meat in the freezer and the bones  in the soup pot! My favorite part of turkey is a big pot of soup! I’ll be canning some of that later this week. As mentioned he’s not a great fan of turkey or soup, both of which I love so I can it in pint jars and have lunches for half the winter! Well, maybe not half, but there is another turkey in the freezer!

 

I have been doing a bit of weaving. Did some domestic stuff, dish cloths. Needed some new ones and wanted to try them on the 10 1/2″ loom. It’s been popular with weavers but I’ve always used the 12″ for my dishcloths. So I figured while I was doing it I might as well use up some of the cotton stash and weave a couple fancy ones. The first two I wove on the 12″ using my “grease rag” colors. That yellowy looking one is actually brown but my camera decided to “improve” on it I guess. I used the Random pattern (which you can find in Pages) for the blue one and the Red and white is the small hounds tooth, which is just two rows of each color, repeat.

   

And then I decided to get out a peg loom and my big bag of selvages from Pendleton Mills and weave a couple chair pads. I haven’t done much with this loom so they didn’t turn out too well. Pretty wonky in fact! neither the same size or the same shape. I need to work on my tension on this loom. I am thinking about weaving a third one just to see if it might match either of the first two! lol I haven’t woven in the ends on the last one yet.  Sis suggested they are correct because they have two different sized butts to accommodate!

 

Other than that I’ve been working in the shop a bit. He’s been making peg looms as we’ve had a bit of a ‘run’ on them lately. We had to make a trip to Medford, Oregon to buy the thick oak boards to make them and just about bought out dowels at Lowes. It takes a lot of dowels to fill the 36″ peg loom and he makes & drills each one by hand. Not a job he looks forward to. He says he gets cheated with these looms as they are labor intensive and my part is just sanding and oiling the big part. Well, that’s okay as my labor on the rest of the business makes up for it, I think! But together we get it done. Today he spent the early 24 degree morning in the shop and now he’s working on the trailer ramada again, trying to get the roof done before the weather changes for the worse. He  wants to get the trailer under cover before snow fall if he can.

So life just goes on. Cat is getting a really thick coat, ready for winter. He has grown into a big heavy  man, no longer the cute skinny teen we first adopted. Himself says he’s fat, but I think he’s just Big. Come spring he’ll have enough ‘angora’ to stock a spinner! I have never seen a cat with markings like his but yesterday I ran across his near twin! This one is shorter haired and not as cute ;-D and his markings are not identical but the same sort of pattern. I like the child’s drawing, too! She captured the cat’s sad expression very well! I wonder if it was a foundling, too.

 

   

Well, I guess I’ve been chatty enough for one morning. I hope you have all been able to find something to be thankful about and are looking forward the December! I’ll leave you with one last bit that we all need reminded of occasionally.