BUY HANDMADE!

i know many of you out there take part in the "buy nothing day" the day after Thanksgiving. i understand that and have participated in the past. but i feel there are exceptions. call me a hypocrite but many of us artisans and craftsters rely on sales from craft fairs around the holiday season. Many of these fairs fall on "Black Fiday." Such as the one i am participating in this weekend in Mendocino.
i ask you, i urge you, i jump up and down and yell at you- to support your local artisans and craftsters and buy handmade gifts this holiday season. most towns have craft fairs but there are also many awesome websites out there that make it very easy to buy handmade wares- such as Etsy and 1000 markets. here's another website if you want to take the "buy handmade pledge." click here too.
okay-enough ranting- hope ya get my drift!

gotta run-but i wanted to let you know that we found a home for one of our banty roosters!

FDR is going to live at Avalon Gardens up the road from here. I hear he is doing well and the girls love him! he is handsome isn't he? thanks mimi and jori!

fungi & pie

first of all- i need to share with you a card i received in the mail! a real card-made of card stock paper-with a real stamp on it!!! it sure made my day. thanks milissa!!! the card even had a real handwritten letter in it! how wonderful-so much better than an email or electronic card. in my younger days-letter writing was a favorite past time for me. i think i just might have to revive this old favorite pastime of mine. yes! here's the card-grand isn't it?

i also got a bundle of postcards to share in the mail for our holiday craft/art fair in mendocino.

i'm too busy right now to be blogging as i have much to do to get ready as for the show. so the rest of the post is more of a photo essay of what's going on here -besides all the fibery goodness.


view from the front porch. we've been mushroom hunting lately. the recent gentle rains have brought them to the surface. lovely bolete:

here's more we saw on a walk:

it's been a long time since i've made homemade pie crust. gave it a shot-not too bad. made apple pie from our rogue wild apple tree that never gets watered.

cute vs. Eeyore

this morning i had about 5 minutes to read some blogs-never enough time to read them all. i managed to catch up on birdsong's blog and the picture of her new granddaughter was just too cute! then i traveled to scotland to check on magnusmog. she also had cuteness all over her blog with a photo of a wood mouse. i'm sure other blogs were full of cuteness as well but i only had time to read these two.

as i started stressing and focusing on everything that isn't going very well right now-i felt myself slipping into the dark land of "Eeyore!" i pulled myself together and decided to focus on"cute." cute makes people smile. cute makes people feel warm and fuzzy. everyone needs a dose of cute now and then. so i'm going to try my luck at 'cute'.

acorns to me- are really cute. i've posted many pics of acorns so i won't bore you with more- but check out what i got on etsy. actually soxchik turned me on to these cuties and i HAD to have them....

they are hand blown glass with real acorn tops-and they are tiny! cute huh? i think so. if you need a pair as well- go here.

blue was cute today. he actually sat with kitsie on the outside couch without attacking her.

now here is some real cuteness- remember blue as a puppy?-the cutest of all puppies ever!

check out these oh so cute baby booties knit from rowan felted tweed. NO! i am not pregnant- at 46 yrs of age with a "fixed" husband-this would not be cute!

instead-i've been wicked busy dyeing wool and yarn and knitting things for our upcoming show. sorry no pics of the other stuff-yet. i do hope to photograph later.

how's that for cute? that's all i have for cuteness today-it did make me feel better to focus on that instead of whining. i did want to quickly update you on the banty bungalow-i did finally finish the nesting boxes and even painted them before yesterday's rain!


the bantums are very excited about this and are laying in them instead of the floor.

on a completely different note-our family loves the "film noir" genre of movies and last night we watched a great one. "gun crazy!"


need to go play "clue" with the family- don't forget to add a bit of "cute" to your day.

Happy Samhain!

Last night was a fabulous treat or treat fest! Trick or treating in our little town is always special. like the ole days. Liam dressed up as Judge Van Cleef-a poker playing judge from the 1800's.

here's part of our motley crew:

Birdsong's house is always the best-how's this for spookiness:

i dressed as a crazed zombie knitter. while getting ready i realized i don't own a stitch of make- up. how could i make my face zombie-esque? i can tell you what doesn't work- face cream and a dusting of flour-definitely does not work. burnt wood chips from the burn pile didn't work either. what a dilemma i was in-no stores for face paint or make up. i had to make do- oil pastels from the art box! at least i could put on some stitches-

red modeling paint on my knitting needles worked great!

can you see the blood tipped needles? should have done a close up. oh well. Liam brought in a haul- jeez we only eat this stuff once a year. some houses gave out full size candy bars! and one even gave fancy italian truffles-wow!

check out the baby ruth bar-i totally snagged it. i can't remember the last time i had a baby ruth bar. all this candy brings back memories. liam got a huge score of kit kats. did you know the Japanese are REALLY into kit kats and they have tons of different and unique flavors.


i leave you with a fabulous image......the book in the buggy is "rosemary's baby"

I'm gonna kill him!

This is not the first time "blue" has wrecked a valuable skein-i know it's my fault for leaving the skein at his level-but......i feel like weeping. but i can't. my tear ducts are completely dried up after last night's friday movie. I watched the 1969 version of "david copperfield" and just sobbed and sobbed. Okay i admit to having a slight case of PMS. But why did it have to be my chartruese skein of targhee wool yarn from "sweet grass" and not the cheap-ass "knit picks" skeins next to it-sigh. nothing against knit picks yarn-i use it all the time! but you fibery folk know exactly what i mean. at least it was not a skein of cashmere, buffalo or quiviet. (uh-right steph-you don't own any of those luxury fibers....guess i better not get any.)

"blue" in action

here's blue checking out a praying mantis.

for the love of gudrun!

okay- can i just say i'm gaga for Gudrun! She is such an amazing designer and she has the coolest name! GUDRUN- it's so fun to say! GUDRUN GUDRUN GUDRUN! say it-just give it a try:GUDRUN. okay okay enough weirdness. i found her on RAVELRY-of course! she also has an awesome and ever inspiring blog. i need to add her to my blog list!

normally i focus on the free patterns that ravelry offers- believe me there are tons! but every once in awhile i just have to buy a pattern-and they make it oh so easy to do and it downloads right to your computer!-oh for the love of technology. which is where i found GUDRUN'S "moch" sweater pattern- it was an instant "have to have!" no debating here! check it out! i even have some yarn in my stash for it!! hubby will appreciate that! here is Gudrun modeling her creation:

isn't that just the cutest sweater ever? i think so! and as soon as i'm done with the thanksgiving show and holiday gifts-i'm going to embark on this-really! and i will finish it! really!

been dyeing up a storm- only a few pictures though. here are some BFL rovings for spinners.

LOOK at that crimp~! dreamy,eh? okay-some of you non fiber folks maybe be thinking "what the hell is BFL?" it stands for a breed of sheep-Blue Faced Leicester. glorious stuff i tell you! here's the magnificent creature the fiber comes from:

here's some more fiber-you can see the rovings on the left are BFL by the amazing crimp!

hope to get more pictures but i need to get them ready to take to meadowfarm tomorrow-so we will see if time permits.

on the garden front-it is done except for the 2 kale varieties-dino and purple, garlic and a special kind of boc choy-can't remember the name!

liam loves making my kitchen window above the sink esthetically pleasing for me. he cleans my insulators for me, arranges them and always puts fresh cuttings from the property. i think this cutting is from the coffee berry. and course some oak!

good news and new shoes!

as usual life has been way too busy. we had our first storm-it was a bit of a let down as the weather folks made a huge deal of it-but i shingled the roof of the banty bungalow and got many winterizing chores done-forgot to clean the rain gutters though-damn! our front porch was bombarded with acorns and oak leaves-
chicken little would have been totally freaking out at my house that night-total universe destruction from his point of view. sounded way worse than it was. but my freshly planted garlic got a great watering!

the good news of the day-rhodie and i got accepted to the mendocino arts and craft fair thanksgiving weekend. totally psyched but freaking as we have tons o work to do. business cards, booth design etc. we have a general idea-but need to fine tune it. and we need a cheap motel!!!! not an easy find in mendocino-might have to lodge in fort bragg.

i've been away from the ocean way too long! i can't wait to go!! been dyeing yarn:


here's some dye day results:

bummed that this skein below has some light spots in it! i was not liking the colors at all-i got fed up and disgusted and grabbed some orange dye and sponged it all over and loved the results-i love transforming ugly colors by mixing unusual combinations and seeing what happens-the result is not always pleasing to the eye but most of the time it is. the problem-very hard to recreate colors when i put my mad scientist coat on.

the following is a result of a new technique i tried called sprinkle dyeing. where you just sprinkle dye powder onto the wet yarn and spray it down and bake. i solar cooked it in the last of the hot summer sun.it turned out a bit grainy for my liking. i did a few more of these but have no pictures. been dyeing roving as well but was without a camera for awhile so missed many kodak moments. will try and catch up. need to get back to work- oh! almost forgot- i'm so loving my cheap-ass $15 dollar new shoes. check them out-sorry there is no calico to go with them..yet! neo-amish photo shoot has to happen.

i leave you with a picture of the Blue dragon- so worried i'm goin to go somewhere without him he has taken to napping on my shoes!

fiber celebs and missing the boat!

i think i'd like to rewind my life a bit and post on happenings in my life that i have not yet blogged about. many weekends ago-seems like a lifetime ago-my LYS ("local yarn store" for those of you that are not fiber minded)-MeadowFarms Yarn Studio held a champagne "GALA" affair celebrating and honoring some local celebrities.

the fall issue of "spin off" featuring an article by our very own famous & fabulous Sara Lamb!!!!! "the fall leaves shawl saga-make 1 shawl 11 ways!" there were a lot of shawls and scarves to knit so she called upon 4 more of our "local" (as well as one other out-o-stater-that be you deb!) talented knitters that spin as well as dye their own fiber to help her in this conquest. (note-autographs below)

the "Gala" was also celebrating a new book which featured 2 of Sara's knitting patterns! yes, i had to buy both!

Sara is pictured below on the left along with Eileen Lee-one of the celeb shawl knitters!

here is Sue Flynn below- dyer, spinner and knitter extraordinaire (on the right) after autographing comrade Rhodi's magazine! Dee Jones was there as well but Lindsey Cleveland did not grace us with her presence. where were you Lindsey?

MeadowFarm was full of life and color that Saturday! here's Kate and Barbara Sue always ready for a good time!

now, i debated with myself quite awhile whether to put this next bit in or not. but i figured-ah, what the heck. why not-being that i'm rather low on the spectrum of fiber celebrity-ness a little bit of notoriety couldn't hurt. it's my 15 seconds of fame! ha!

Okay-i'm not used to this but..........see the green yarn below:

pictured on page 67-yes that's page 67-in the new fall issue of Spin off- is green wool i dyed! yes, it is really true. see below:

how cool is that? trying not to brag here. BUT how lame can i be? now check this out:

on page 72 at the end of the article are the Resources-(see above) my etsy shop in print for all to see! guess what? my shop at the moment is empty-ZERO, NADA, ABSO-EFFIN-LUTELY EMPTY! heavy sigh! can you believe it? missed that boat! better get off this machine and get me arse busy!!

happy equinox!

we celebrated equinox with an evening naked swim at strawberry hole- it was a delight! No one in sight, cold as hell(despite the hot day) but awesome anyway!!! once you're numb you can swim and swim.

photo credit:Liam

the sweetness in life

we got our first bantam egg today! it's the sweetness in life that keeps me going!

we're #37!

fiber blog?

okay okay! i know this is suppose to be somewhat of a fiber blog. life in these parts are just so ever consuming and busy that knitted items and other fibery goodness go un-noticed, un-photographed and un-posted! this is a disgrace, pathetic, and down right slanderous!!! i am SO going to try and be a better post-er. i actually do more fiber stuff than is shown but with time constraints and a funky computer-pictures and post just don't always happen-then life takes over and just forget IT! not gonna happen.

but i actually did finish the Gaia shoulder hug shawl back in august. was worried about having enough yarn for the picot bind off-so i stopped early but ended up having enough for a bigger shawl. oh well, it's a nice small shawl and being that i am hobbit like-it fits me perfect!
this picture makes it look way bigger than it is! don't want to bore you with 20 pictures of this shawl-i'll just post a few. even though i have about 20 pictures of this thing! why?

haven't sewn the ends in yet-so you can see some stragglers.

now if i only had time to post the pics on ravelry!!!

on a much delighted note-for hubby. we found a home for zeemic. what a swell rooster-beautiful crow, sweet disposition and he had the effin biggest wattles and comb i have ever seen. wish i could have seen how big he got. he's only 4 months old. the girls are missin their man-as he was such a gentleman! hope gaia decides to raise him rather than eat him. but thank you gaia what ever you choose! if you do eat him-his meat is gonna be sweet! no nasty rooster meat there!

i leave you with a picture of the dragon-

this is his state of being during the day after keeping the foxes and coyotes away from the property at nite! also wrestling with "montana" the alpha female great pyranese/anatolian mix in the early morning-he loves/hates that she visits every morning. the minute i tell her to go home- blue is on it and gets so mad that she doesn't care what he says. later!

summer time-the fair!!!

after listening to prarie home companion's minnesota state fair episode last night on the radio, i realized i still had time to post about our country fair-even though it was weeks ago.

i actually crawled out from underneath my rock and spun in "public" for 4 hours. i don't usually do this. i'm more of a behind the scenes kinda gal- love helping with set up or tear down. but generally don't do things that involve communicating with the general public-yes, i'm a true hermitess at heart! but spinning with friends made it easier for me. i can't believe i did not take one picture of the fiber area-so lame!

my most favorite part of the fair is always the animals. i should have been born on a farm. in fact visiting my aunt/uncle's farm when i was a child was the best time ever for me.

COWS-love 'em- here's holly she was my favorite-wanted to take her home!

the animal bonds were sweet:

and of course the merino sheep-the fiber we would sell our children for...are so magestic and regal! gee- he looks a little stoned. california happy sheep!

this guy is blowing the hair off his steer for showing.


horses-what can i say? wish i could trade my car in for one. my fav-the work/draft breeds. the gentle giants. riding them bareback-always a joy!!!! nice neck!!!

liam scored this year at the fair. carey-is 17.5 and didn't want to enter anything this year.

5 blue ribbons-2 photos, a poem, a hand carved power pole, and a bottle collection. his bottle collection brought in best of show:(note the wool roving under the bottles!)

here's a close up of the power pole model:


i will post his poem later as you can't see it. okay enough mama bragging.

the fair is always fun for us. no deep fried butter for me. we always go back every year to see our favorite stuff-the mobile beehive, checking out the tractors, animals, leering at the republican booth, we always hit the "beef-it's whats for dinner" booth, the narrow gauge project-the local model train diorama, no veggie brats this year:( i'm so lucky my kids are NOT into rides and we can avoid the midway totally- liam won't even walk thru it. bummer for me as i love the people watching and checking out the carnis. the boys saw more of the fair than i did as i was spinning. carey and girlfriend sage hung out at his favorite booth-the vita mix! they know him now! i so want a vita mix but jeeze- they are the price of a spinning wheel!!!! you can never have too many spinning wheels.

what? i gotta make dinner-later!

just because

okay- i have like 873,860 things to post about.....think i'll just leave you with this. just because.

that time of year.....again!

yes, it's that time of year again. happens every end of august! i must post a picture of someone freaking out. why? schooling begins. don't get me wrong-i love homeschooling but after months of doing non- academic things my brain gets mushy and lazy and the thought of starting school again is like dragging your ass out of bed on a cold, dark, winter rainy morning and you have clean sheets and a big feather comforter with a flannel duvet cover! i want to moan and cry-maybe become two again- have a good kicking and floor pounding tantrum.
but alas- i come to scenes put my big gurl panties on....and face the day! and try not to think about what i didn't get done this summer.

cool foods for hot days!

i am no longer living the zombie life-i'm happy to say that teadog finally got one of my drugs of choice back in stock!!! and not a moment too soon-i'm sorry but what's with that stuff they call tea and tastes like warm wet bandages? now this is a cup o tea!!!

despite the fire we are going about life as usual. saturday we attended our local gardeners' market(eat your zip code!) i wanted cucumbers for lacto/fermented pickles and tomatoes for gazpacho as mine are not ripening!!! we spent $20 on cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and corn that tastes like corn. probably more but my memory fails. forgot to take a picture of the score! the boys picked a bit and were dubbed the "corn pickers." hubby is trying to get liam over his shyness of playing in public.check out this beautiful eggplant-i didn't buy it as i'm the only one in the family that likes eggplant. i guess i could have made a huge batch of baba ganoush!

one of my favorite foods is lacto- fermented pickles-i can eat a jar in one sitting. that's not so good on the pocket book. after researching i found this recipe online-great blog for healthy recipes!!! thank you winnie!!!!!

started with cucumbers:

lots of garlic from our garden :)

the recipe is so ridiculously simple makes me wonder why raw lacto-fermented foods are so expensive in the stores. it's basically veggies and salt-you can add whey if you'd like-check out the recipe link for more info-winnie has kraut and kim chee recipes too!

i chose to buy the expensive 250 million year old himalayan salt over regular sea salt-just got a bit crazy with the thought of 250 million year old himalayan salt-i may not be able to climb those babies but ingesting something from there just seems magical to me.

nice huh? decided to try the wax beans i got at the market as well-thinking of trying beets next!!!

then i made some gazpacho(cold soup)- great for hot days. another ridiculously easy recipe-if you have a blender.

just throw in tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, parsley, garlic, bell pepper, onion, spicy peppers if you'd like, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar-give it a whirl-yum!!

fire update

thanks for all the fire concern. the fire is close but we are not in danger at the moment-let's hope the wind remains quiet. last night hubby and i went to town on a date- i took these pics on the
way.

this morning a big DC-10 tanker circled over our house for about 30 minutes. liam got some shots.

the fire is about 15 miles away-the winds are picking up which is a total bummer-blowing smoke our way. liam took a photo of our view this morning.
this is our view now-can't even be outside the smoke is too much!

updates at yubanet.

ashes are falling

ashes are falling here at my house-soft and subtle-like snow flurries. yes, we've been lucky this summer so far-but alas fire happens in california. i drove about 5 miles down the road and took these pictures.i'm wondering if that is one of shirley's ospreys?

poor town of dobbins-always blasted with fire! evacuations occurring and campers fleeing. i was going to cross the reservoir to take pics for the "courier" but heard fire fighter traffic was being inhibited by traffic- so i kept my distance. i'm a lousy "press" person i guess. a DC tanker is on the way!!!! hang on!

more information and pictures at yubanet. great picture grover!!!

folks gathering at the rebel ridge market that have been evacuated-caged birds and dogs in tow.
sadness.

spinning summit 4000 feet

most of you fiber folks out there know that the big "sock summit" happened this past weekend in portland, oregon. there was a lot of jealousy going around these parts-pertaining to not being able to attend the summit. my buddy birdsong got the fabulous idea of hosting a spinning summit at her mountain house in forest city . forest city is a historic ghost town that is inhabited by very few. check my old post on "sunflowers and art" there are some great photos of the museum in the old dance hall.

as seen in my previous post-i packed up "jimmy" on friday and headed up to forest city-a bit over 4000 elevation feet i believe. i was the first to arrive. here's birdsong's most wonderful house built in 1864.

it is an amazing walk back in time-almost kind a sorta like time travel being there. we quickly set up my tent after unloading all my immense provisions-food, fiber and beer! spinning and knitting chairs-and of course my wheel.

we were soon joined by barbara sue(damn i forgot to have her sing "oklahoma" in hebrew for us-it's totally amazing), rowen and maizie(her delightful 4 year old girl), claudia and a bit later luci arrived. unfortunately she got an unplanned tour of the whole area-as the road sign does not exsist anymore and she continued up 49(instead of taking a very crucial right hand turn) ending up at the north fork of the yuba! after realizing she'd gone too far turned around found the right road but missed the forest city turn off and ended up in allegany. they don't take too kindly to strangers there. but she made it!!!!!

above is rowen and maizie. wish i got photos of everyone but i was having way too much fun to remember to shoot away. below claudia is knitting a pair of socks-

unfortunately she is not making them for herself.

i know what to make claud for solstice!!!!!!!! she made an awesome needle felted finger puppet to help teach her waldorf inspired kindergarden class. we all coveted spider woman!

liam loves forest city-he especially loves birdsong's old truck-which we adorned with a bag and t.p. for the gals that chose woods over the outhouse.

i must admit the outhouse was quite comfortable for those "special" times.

we stayed up late eating, spinning, knitting and laughing our butts off! when we retired i was the only one camping-everyone else was in the house. i was doing okay listening to the animals scurrying about-thought once or twice about attracting bear as i was on my period and bear poop did abound. i usually have my whole family in the tent with me and i was having a bit of trouble falling asleep. soon i heard off in the distance dirt bikes approaching. the buzzing got louder and louder till they were zooming right by birdsong's house. now, it was well after 1:00am and we are in the middle of nowhere. i have an intense overactive imagination and i saw way too many horror films in high school-they never leave your psyche. i saw them all-friday the 13th, nightmare on elm street, texas chain saw massacre etc. the reoccurring setting in most of these movies-----can you say "RURAL"- middle of nowhere places. you get my drift-i was imagining the drivers of these bikes wearing hockey masks, brandishing chain saws and ice picks- i tried to remain calm and talk myself down but when the bikes stopped instead of driving away in the distance-i grabbed my sleeping bag and pillows and ran tripping and stumbling into the house and slept on couch. the house folks never heard a thing!

on to calmer, sedate and nicer things-this is the awesome stove we cooked on all weekend-it wasn't hot enough to use the solar oven-although birdsong tried! check out the authentic 1930's wallpaper!! many different spinning wheels came and went thru out the weekend as not everyone could stay the whole time.


rhodie and mary lou joined us on saturday bringing yet more food and beer and the much needed toilet paper! cheryl joined us, sunflowers in tow for evening laughter (she is 1 of the 3 year round residents.) i slept inside again :)

sunday morning we took a nice hike and found the new mountain bike bridge-i love rock work!! what a beautiful bridge-want to come back and walk the dragon here.

remember my lisa souza roving? i finished it on sunday. i was thrilled.

there is another skein as well! i was also able to start my crosspatch creations-in the wolf creek(thanks b. sue) color way.


i also started my box car willie socks-my best imaginary friend soxchic sent me this sock blank she hand dyed-i'm using toothpicks to knit the damn things(size 0)and they are still coming out big- dear luci helped me to adjust the pattern-i hate being such a loose gurl-i just can't help myself!!!

sunday brought jan and angela venturing up to spinning summit-

no, jan is not trying out a new yoga position or checking to see if her deodorant is working-she is spinning on her drop spindle and angela (pink shirt) is knitting an amazing fitted jacket. rhodie-periwinkle dress-kintting lace hat. a fine photo of the back of mary lou's head-she is working away on a ultra soft tam, claudia still isn't knitting socks for herself and birdsong seems to be looking at something in her lap? a bobbin perhaps?

the weekend was fabulous and i want to thank birdsong for being a most marvelous host!!!! check out her blog for more photos and stories.

woo woo!

WOO WOO! i'm heading out for a fiber retreat-loading the car up. liam says it looks like i'm leaving for a week. ha!!!! it's all about comfort these days. if i'm camping i'm going to be warm and cozy-done with roughing it! in the big ass bag i have my feather comforter and my self inflating air mattress. a gurls weekend of spinning and kntting! well, i better get outta here!

i wil leave you with liam's garden bounty harvest this morning:

wild blackberries abound-hope to make jam when i get back!

hey soxchic- wish you were coming. i'm gonna start my boxcar willies!!!!! so you will be there in spirit!

baby blanket done!!!!

i finally finished the baby blanket! 65% cotton and 35% alpaca.

garden calamities

it's been an unusual gardening year this summer. perhaps it was the cold spring and early summer and then getting blasted with heat suddenly. i don't know. as you remember i planted for the first time a soil building cover crop in my raised beds last fall. i was hoping to improve my soil which has a lot of clay so amending the beds every year is a must and can get pricey.

well, i'm not sure what i think about the cover crop-it was a lot of work hand tilling it in and i'm having weird funky things happening this year. although the japanese eggplants are doing well-they love the heat.

the yellow squash took off like gang busters-we had tons of yellow spaceships invading the garden. although i did have a bee mishap-i had tons-o-honey bees happily buzzing around the garden before i had flowers-but as soon as things started blooming they vanished!!! perhaps they found a better hangout or got tired of waiting.

so i had to hand pollinate with a paint brush-taking pollen from the male flower and putting it into the female flower- aiding in act of flower sex was a new experience for me. it sure worked- i think their was some fireworks happening.

we were getting so many i was having to give them away-friends ran from me when they saw me coming! then a weird thing happened-i'm only getting male flowers now-no females at all. they keep blooming and then they die. same with my zuchini and petty pans.

it is also happening with my melons.

we only have one watermelon growing(out of all our melon plants) even though the vine is full of flowers. but all the flowers appear to be male. same with my cremshaw, lambkin and cantaloupe. total bummer!!! the fruit needs to be growing by now!!!

peppers at our place always seem to take awhile to get going. i've harvested some serranos. the jalapenos and orange bells are slowly coming around. we tried a new heirloom this year called the nordello.

from italy-a sweet pepper. they are red when ripe but don't seem to turning and they have been on the plant for ages. now the plant has stopped producing flowers-i know if i pick the peppers they will flower more. dilemma-do i pick them or wait for them to turn red?

i planted basil through out the garden this year-the heat is finally getting it to grow.

i just love potatoes-as you can see-i love all the niteshades -damn. my potatoes were not a success this year-i've been harvesting as the vines are dying and some totally dead. here's some russian fingerlings:

as you can see-they didn't all get big enough. they should be the size of the bigger ones. but the vines died before they finished growing. more questions. while harvesting-i had the pleasure of picking this guy up instead of a potato. when it started moving in my hand-i grossed out! potato bugs freak me! here's what he was eating-he was about 1 1/2 inches long.

he died the terrible death of being pulled apart in two different directions by lily and lucie. the chickens love a good game of tug-o-war!! then they chow down!


leaving the tomato discussion for a different post-that's another situation.

on the fiber side-i did get much merino roving dyed for my LYS. i gave a felter friend first dibs on it before i took them to the store and she bought 10 rovings-ha! i had 14. four bags was not enough to restock-so i need to get on the ball and dye some more!

almost done with the log cabin baby blanket-!!!!!! then i need to burn the midnight oil and get something done for the fair-always the last minute no matter how hard i try to be on top of things. i should be making holiday gifts-but hey-why not wait till november-as always-stress on!

100 books

i got this from birdsong's blog. it's a list of important reads compiled by the BBC. they say most folks have read about 6 books from the list. put an X by the titles you've read. i've decided to also include audio books which i will put an A instead. interesting list-i got 26. i only counted the Xs. it's better than 6 but i think i need to read more-i see tons on this list i have always wanted to read but have forgotten about.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte- X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling- A
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee- X
6 The Bible -NOT THE WHOLE THING-DOES THAT COUNT?
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte- X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell-I THINK SO-EONS AGO!
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - A
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - X
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - X
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis - X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne - X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -HUBBY READ IT ALOUD TO THE FAMILY
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery- X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood - X
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon- X
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - X
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck- X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - X
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac - X
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett- X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt- X
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker - X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White- X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery- X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

happy reading-i nead to get my eyes checked-haven't since i was pregnant with liam(he's 11 now! gads)-i know i know!!!! too much time has past-need to do it. mybe that's why i don't read much anymore. makes my eyes itch.

the reclamation of my bathroom!

once school is out for the summer i think to myself-yeah! i'm going to have so much free time to fill my life with fibery goodness. ha! i forget what summer entails- all the usual chores PLUS gardening, building projects, property work etc. leaving very little time for other things.

great news! i have reclaimed my bathroom. it is no longer a chick brooder. you would not believe have much dusty dander chicks produce-it's rather disgusting-it's everywhere-i wouldn't even brush my teeth in there. the chicks are now fully feathered pullets and can be outside at night-yahoo!

Gads! can you say "rooster?" the chicks are supposed to be sexed at the hatchery but it's not 100% accurate. liam named him zeemic. as you know we are anti-rooster around here-so he's free to anyone who wants him-he's a catalana. originally from spain but popular in south america as they are heat hearty birds. much needed around these parts-maybe you could breed that trait into your flock. otherwise mondy's gonna eat eat him for dinner. let me know if you want him!!!!

these 8 chickens are living in an adjacent yard to the our original flock so they can get accustomed to one another. chickens are vicious and new comers are never welcome-it can get bloody. i want them to get bigger before i put them in with the nasty gurls! then they will share this coop with them:

we also have 8 new bantams. very excited as we've never had the little chickens before. they are too cute! they come unsexed so we will definitely end up with some roosters. we've identified 2 so far. being that banties are miniature chickens the roosters can sometimes be even nastier than the big guys-little man complex? or the napoleon complex? one is particularly mean already bites real hard-liam named him adolf then changed it to napoleon. dinner anyone? or maybe we could do the recommended procedure of just letting him free in the woods and wish him luck!! hey all you PETA members-you are more than welcome to come over and take him off my hands-just bring some wicked ass leather gloves.

the banty bungalow is near completion. they are living in it-but they are confined to it as fencing has not happened.

building anything sucks when you live on a hill. there's my power tool "rosie"-i love my dewalt!!!!!

liam helped dig these fence post holes 18" deep! actually he did most of it as i was having hand issues again. what a great worker he is. thank you so much liam. post hole cement is god's gift to making my life easier. i hate mixing cement in a wheelbarrow and having to transfer the mess into the hole. post hole cement is just awesome-you just put your pole in the hole add the mix, level and pour in some water-set for 5 days!!! schlepping the 60 lb. bags around is a pain though.

see the boarded up window on the left-that will soon be nesting boxes that come out of the coop-so you can collect eggs from the outside. you can sorta see the nesting boxes sticking out of the left side in the above picture of the old green coop. they are very fun to make! the bantams won't be laying for another couple months so i left that project for later-i just needed to get them out of the bathroom!!!!

here they are inside the new bungalow-on a bed of madrone leaves. i had gotten some rice straw that was incredibly dusty-worried about their little lungs and eyes. the bantams are suppose to be buff wyandottes-but check out the whitish one-huh? that's the one that was crippled for about a week. and the one right by the feeder has dark grey legs and skin-feathers seem to be more like a frizzle-plus she had deformed wings. not sure what is up with her-she seems happy and is eating and drinking so we'll just let her be.

i am so relieved that we don't have to transfer the birds from the garden cage to the bathroom every nite and then back out in the morning-what an ordeal that was. still need to shingle the roof as well as fencing, making a gate and nesting boxes-getting close to being done!!!!

OMG! i just realized it's been forever since i've posted a gross picture for you all. as you remember-i've posted photos of the time i had to stick my fingers up hazel's vent( butt) looking for a stuck egg, dead rat in bottom of stove, dead mouse in pet drinking bowl, bucket-o-worms and many other goodies. so i leave you with-what the dragon threw-up the other day.

yes, it is an entire sock! just be glad i didn't post the picture of when he ate an entire red bandanna and did not throw it up-it came all the thru!

i'm off to clean and disinfect the bathroom.

july 4th-happy independence day!

it's been our family tradition to attend downieville's july 4th celebration since we moved to camptucky(long story). we just love it-it's about a 45 min. drive thru the beautiful north yuba canyon. the parade is small-they close the highway 49 so the parade can go thru town and turn around and go thru town again. my camera was out of batteries so i had to borrow some pics that liam took.
after the parade the crowd is encouraged to join in the fun and create "fire-less" fireworks-as we can't have real fireworks up here in the tinderbox. two big rolls of plastic bubble wrap-rolled down the street f0r the masses to stomp on- the sound is deafening but glorious at the same time.
after the the fire-less fireworks there was a firefighter competition between 3 teams-the forest service, downieville vfd and camptonville vfd(YEA!) what fun-wish i had more pics-liam had some great videos but i'm having trouble downloading them. lot's of water play, screwing and unscrewing hoses, bucket races, capturing water in a big metal garbage cans from the water moniter! balancing a basketball on the spray and keeping it balanced while you shoot it high in hte air.

we had 4 members from our camptonville vfd-we won 2 out of 4-yea!!!!! you guys rock!

and of course a dip in the north fork of the yuba is always a must on a hot day!!

i almost forgot the races and tug o war- last year i ran the races and nearly killed myself-this year i stuck to the tug o war only-my favorite event. and yes, i'm proud to say the mountain gurls won once again against the flatlanders!

st. john's wort oil

summer solstice it is tradition for me to go out and harvest some wild (non-native) st. john's wort(hypericum perforatum) for my healing oil. thought i'd share it with you. the benefits are many- tea or tincture from the flowers can be used for minor depression and massage oil is wonderful for nerve damage such as sciatic issues and also general muscle aches and pain. the oil can also be added to healing salves.

st. john's wort is usually ready to harvest around the summer solstice around these parts. i was so lame this year-i knew harvest was approaching and waited a day-the flowers went from perfectly bloomed to most of them dead the following day. hiking around our property i found some blooms that had not died yet. be sure to harvest this variety and not the landscape type- refer to a book if you are confused. if you hold a leaf up to the sun you will see tiny dark dots-this holds the precious medicine and helps you to identify.

i cut the flower as well as about 4-6 inches of foliage. do not wash!!!! you don't want excess moisture on the plant as it will cause mold!-so pick after dew has evaporated. i also let the plants wilt in the shade or house for about 4-6 hours to help aid in getting rid of moisture! here's my pile:
once the herb is wilted i roll it in my hands and squish and squeeze to break the cell wall. some people use knives or food processors-i prefer my hands -works fine for me. i then stuff the st. john's in a jar leaving about half inch to an inch from the top. pour olive oil to the top-always use olive oil- it does not go rancid as quickly. i then use chop stick to release air bubbles.

let alchemy do it's magic by placing the jar in the sun-it always amazes me that the oil does not turn rancid. shake the jar daily and you will see the green oil turn a beautiful shade of ruby red! it usually takes about a month and will be ready..strain thru cheese cloth and store in amber bottles in a cool dark place...i've had the oil last for years before going bad!you can see the olive is starting to pink after just one day!!! i love this stuff. but as with anything there are cautions- some folks experience a photo sensitive reaction from touching the plant-if this happens-do not use in any form. the herb is not good for livestock either.

liam sings!

yesterday-liam, blue, hubby and i headed to north fork of the yuba for play. i was able to catch a recording of liam and hubby playing "in the pines." blue watched and listened. sorry the visuals arent's better-but i needed to point the camera with the mic in their direction. we found a new swimming hole- we named it fishing eagle as we saw an eagle swoop down and catch a fish!

bass pro celebration!!!!!

last february at stitches west soxchik astounded rhodie and i with her bass pro shop finesse(bait) binder that was stuffed full of everything a knitter could possible need. i SO wanted one-but could not find one near by...and looking on line was way too confusing. this week at the post office what surprise i had waiting for me!

soxchik made my day! thank you!!!! i am now the proud owner of my very own bait binder! yipee! i can't wait to get organized. here's an inside peek:

i'll give you an update when i actually get it all set- i know you are just drooling waiting for this phenomenon.

liam has been very excited about selling our "rebel hen ranch" eggs.


he hand makes labels and just started including a recipe.

lot's to post about but no time-so i leave you with a picture of my first garlic harvest.-the garlic has to be cure before i clean them. i learned a lot and hope for a better crop next year.

stay tuned.. update on all our recent adventures!!!

Fourth Annual World Wide Knit in Public Day

yesterday was world wide knit in public day...my fiber guild was meeting at the farmers market in town to do their duty. i, on the other had another agenda. liam has been waiting eagerly for the annual dobbins vfd flea market. i had planned to knit there. but my god there was so many treasures to unearth i never had a chance! here's our score:

you might not be able to tell what some things are:-2 hard covered poetry books-emily dickinson and edgar allen poe, shelf brackets, brass fire extinguisher, tools, old matches, antique quilt, videos-the thin man, and "call of the wild"- with charsleton heston(ha! do you think he'll bare his chest in this one?) here's some close ups! antique rosaries from slovenia for my mom:

insulators for liam-50 cents a piece

after the flea market we headed to the hardware store for yet more chicken coop materials! damn i need to complete this project! later after lunch we decided to head to humbug days at malikoff diggins. that's where i decided to knit public!!! a celebration of the mining days. what a wonderful celebration! old time music, activities for kids-including candle making and even jump roping! i made camp at the stage to knit and listen to music-one of my old miner favorites "alkali" was there:

note the anderson family in the background up next-another local band. i settled in with my homebrew to knit in public and listen to music.

liam and hubby decided to explore and hike as liam hated the crowd(he's used to having the diggins to himself.) they were to return around closing time to get me(4:00pm)about that time i went looking for the spinners-but they had already left. i decided to take some pictures while waiting for the family to return. the drug store:


an interested building that called my name:

closer examination revealed- chicken coop-check out the nesting boxes!

and my favorite... my personal steph dream house.....just for me-i could live here.

meanwhile time ticks on.......no family. my overactive imagination kicks in once again and my mind is full of all sorts of scenarios- the clicking axle on the car finally broke and they are stranded somewhere, hubby slipped on the rocks(a common occurrence) and really hurt himself this time. liam desperately trying to find help, or they found an old mine shaft and fell in and they are stranded deep in the earth......the crowd had completely emptied by now and there were like 2 rangers left-it' 5 :30 and i was beginning to freak!

trying to remain calm-i told the ranger my predicament. they weren't much help. but i figured i could hang with the clampers who were camping there-they are always a lively and fun bunch. i always thought about starting a whole new chapter...E knita vitus. i mentioned that once at casey's place in allegany-they were not humored.

as usual-the boys showed up shortly after i began to weep slightly(okay-i had just started my period and was a wee bit sensitive-okay!) they were exploring a mining tunnel and hiking-they didn't think the sidewalks would roll up right at 4pm.

wanted to post a picture of an old door i found- i love old doors-wanted to steal it but my catholic upbringing keeps me inline-sometimes. the computer keeps rotating the picture on it's own accord-bizarre!!!! it's suppose to go the other way-tired of fiddling with it. but get the idea!


the funny thing was-while i was knitting during the event no one talked to me. but afterward-i moved my chair by the side of the dirt road and knitted waiting for the boys return and everyone was heading to their cars-many stopped and asked me what i was doing. i inspired a european knitter to knit a log cagin blanket as that was what i was working on. a young punked-out gurl excitedly approached me a told me she was starting high school in the fall. the school offered knitting as a class- she really wanted to take it but heard it was really hard-i encouraged her and told her she could do it-she beamed and told me she liked my nose ring. i felt real good!

dye day results

last week-jeez, i think it was last week-i decided to dye wool instead of being responsible and check off things on my "to do" list. here's a sampling of what occurred. the pictures as usual are not true representations. my favorite-below:


ha!the roving doesn't look anything like this!!! it's quite beautiful in real life!

with this roving i tried to create a real ugly color combination-i can't wait to spin and ply and i think it's gonna turn out cool!

i promise to post about our high sierra adventure real soon!

life is a bowl of cherries.....NOT!

life has been a pyre in a gyre-too much to post about these days. did i mention it's cherry season? okay that is equivalent to hell in our household. for those of you who don't know-hubby works for an organic produce broker. these cute little bites of delectable bliss cause total caos in our home!!! cherries are well, quite a pain the arse......the wind will bruise them, the rain will crack them and they perish at the speed of light. madeline engelbreit was clueless!!!!

the rebel hen ranch report: we lost the second golden penciled hamburg chick-a few days after the first one. otherwise the rest of the chicks(all 16 0f them) seem quite healthy-except for the brief worry of mareks disease when a banty had leg problems-i think it was a case of slipped tendon though-as she is walking fine now after some vitamins. that was a big stress-as mareks could have wiped out my new flock. the chicks enjoy being being in the garden cage during the day-still to cold for them at nite. they are still losing their baby fluff and getting feathers-the awkward stage! can't wait for warm nights- i want my bathroom back!!!today we decided to get away instead of working at home as hubby had to leave again to the packing shed(remember-cherries) but we had a grand day despite of it all-a hike in the sierras- all 4 of us!!!! we actually pried carey away from his 17 year old self and made him come on a hike with OMG-the family!!! we had such a blast that liam and i have decided to return tomorrow and continue the fun.

now i'm not a very organized person and while i was making dinner tonight liam was very intensely occupied with making a list. afterwards he said, "mom, here's our schedule for tomorrow." it was quite the schedule. i feel the need to post it...as it shows..kids are there own person. he didn't get it from either of us: here it is-but he wrote it in cursive!!!!!

6:30am- wake up and get dressed
7:00am-start breakfast
7:15am-eat breakfast
7:30am-do morning chores
7:45am-leave(gee-he only gave us 15 minutes for this!!!!)
8:15am- reach downieville
8:30-8:45am-reach trail head in sierra city
11:15am-finish hike
11:30am- order lunch(red moose cafe)
12 noon-get lunch
12:30pm-finish lunch
12:30-1:30pm-random acts(this one cracked me up!)
2:00pm-reach downieville
2:30pm-second trail head
3:00pm-finish trail
3:30pm-leave
4:30pm-reach home

jeeze! talk about pressure!! hope i can live up to it! hahahaha-where do these kids come from-really?

happy birthday dear dragon!

His royal BLUENESS turned "1" yesterday. wow! what an experience it's been! no, i didn't get him a shock collar for his birthday-he got a big fleshy bone instead and tomorrow liam and i are taking him to the high sierras for hike. look at him:what happened?no, i didn't need to take liam to the hospital after this play session....actually he's very gentle with him. it just looks and sounds bad!!! they play a great game of soccer as well! i survived his first year! i wonder what the second year of dragon rearing will bring!

gnome butts and insualtors

geez! where did the time go? in fact....i started this post quite awhile ago. let me finish and move on to more current stuff!! i guess you can call it springtime. but one of the best things about spring is the beginning of yard sales!!!!! liam and i found a few scores up the street from the post office. liam scored some insulators and i found some chicken fabric and my very first garden gnome that was not stolen!(someday i may confess on a blog post) i have many kitchen window gnomes but this little guy named "hoppy" is my first garden gnome here in california. check out the score:

here's some recent spinning: no time for details(remember it's spring) but here is my cottage creations all plied and another skein- my first 3PLY! a very soft merino!!!

here's my latest spinning project....BFL from Lisa Souza i purchased at stitches!


gorgeous! hopefully i have enough for a small shawl.

on the chick front- we lost lost the other "hamburg." she was so tiny!!!! i will post soon about the chick adventure but yes, it is spring and here is the family's weekend to do list:
1. rack beer
2. fire pack....pack important stuff ready to go at a moments notice
3. garbage
4. work on banty bungalow
5. garden
6. rocks at the base of the new chicken fence
7. put up shade cloth on front porch
8. weed wack
9. trim tree
10. put up screen door
11. suzie- chicken butt bath
12. clean nesting boxes
13. camptonville courier

heavy sigh....yes, it's spring! have a great weekend!!!!

R.I.P. little one!

let's get the depressing stuff over with first. we lost our first chick. she was one of my favs too! we've lost older chicks(more pullet size) in the past-due to a neighbor dog-in fact it was our first flock- he killed 7 out of 8 our teens....devastating after raising them from newborns. we still have lucie the lucky....the soul survivor-she's our special gurl.....remember she's the one that used to ride on my shoulder till she pecked my eye!! (steven king needs to jump on this!)

here's the one we lost. it's hard for me as i feel i did something wrong. she is.... the speckled one. she was a golden penciled hamburg. a breed native to holland-just like my first spinning wheel.

she was so tiny! smaller than the bantums!!!! (see below.) we separated the bantums for breed identification-as we seem to have some ufos in the batch.

on a lighter note.....i had a great mother's day. liam and hubby made me huevos rancheros for breakfast--yum yum!!!

we worked on the bantum bungalow..i love building-hubby and i managed to do it without too much fighting. more like small bickering. sorry no pics...but the bottom frame is done and the linolium laid!!!!

then we went on a walk-down the road at the reservoir. that last rain really filled it!!

here's liam by our favorite ponderosa!

my favorite part of the day was liam woke early and picked some wild lupines and made me a card.....the best!!!!!! he put the flowers in one of his old bottles! i love my boy!

thanks for a great day roy and liam!!

i leave you with a picture of ..........my laundry room spy!

i think he was sent out by Tide. i despise that crap! i use natural stuff(unscented for sure!)....i'm so sick of getting clothes at thrift stores that i need to wash a million times and hang them on the line for weeks cause the smell makes me effin sick!!!!!! i'm sorry...but there is something really wrong with laundry detergent that has to leave a scent that lasts till the next century. what is it made of???? what's with those nasty stinky dryer sheets...we are killing the planet and ourselves!!!!

gee....okay, i said i'd get the depressing stuff over first...i'm sorry. have a beer and a cigarette instead of doing laundry. :)