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.