my queendom and what's going on...

where to start?  it is almost TOO tempting to rant about my intense feelings of disappointment in our congress and sadness over what's become of our country.  shame comes to mind.  i will, however, not give in to that temptation.

spring, beauty, new growth are showing up around here.  the greenhouse continues to give us an abundance of salad greens.  my tiny kales are filling up their eggshell first home... and some have been put out into the cold, wet ground and are doing well under their circumstances.  the bad news is the huge invasion of aphids and ants in the greenhouse.  thought i had the answer with a bag of lady bugs.... but they betrayed me!  i released them from their net prison into an ideal environment of sun, warmth and a huge supply of food... and the damn little buggers jumped ship.  i still see a few on the plants in amongst the aphids... but there were hundreds!  where the bloody hell did they go??  my backup plan was a preying mantis cocoon and it's just hanging there among the greens and i'm still waiting for their appearance.  i don't want to spray poisons in there to get rid of pests.  did try a citrus based spray, which did totally nothing!

they appeared to be trying to increase their number... or maybe just having a bit of an afternoon fling.  (is this one of those NSFW  things?)

and in the kitchen, the hoya plant is having one of its infrequent and gorgeous blooming events.  it has a very faint, very sweet aroma... love it!

here we have a souvenir of a small get-together a few weeks ago here at dome central.  perhaps i should feel shame and embarrassment about my lack of interest in housekeeping/cleaning/keeping the dust at bay.... it made me giggle!  i'm thinking it was my great-nieces, and whoever started it, there's an additional signature from Anna when she visited from Boise.  Maggie and her VCF (very close friend) Jake from Brooklyn came out for lunch (they even brought the lunch!!!), Maggie's girls, and Judy, Robin and Amelia also came.

Jordan and Maisy in a tree..

Maggie and Jake.  Jake will be moving to pdx this summer!

the latest agricultural adventure here is the planting of an olive orchard.  these are the small ones for crushing into olive oil.  there are 2 or 3 Kalamata trees, too, tho and those are the ones i'm more interested in.  i just don't think i'll still be around to see much olive oil production.

Meika had another adventure with Steve the vet.  Jim took her in for her post-op visit and to have a runny, goopy eye checked.  Steve found a small growth under her eyelid and lasered it off, which required anesthesia... the first shot didn't work, so he gave a 2nd and by the time she got home i think she was feeling the effect of both shots.  took her a long time to get over that!!  but she was soon back to her sassy, opinionated self.




so, there ya have it.  trying really hard to find my zen place.  have had Andrea Bocelli playing for the last 2 hours and even with Amazing Grace, still not there yet.  

quilt borders and mildred

ok, first it's one of those "i just can't help it"!  one of those finds on facebook that i could not resist.

and then we're back to the never-ending-quilt.  i can't even count the times at this point that i've created problems for myself and creativity because i just cannot seem to plan out a whole project before i start.  so everything is going along just fine until i get to that point where i have to start correcting for lack of planning.  if i ever get this completed, it will be a fucking miracle.  i had to remove the back because i'd sewed it on crooked AND hadn't planned for how big the finished thing would be after i added some borders.  i won't go into details because it gets too depressing.... plus can't even remember them all.  this isn't a style and color combination that everyone would like... but i totally love it and want it to be finished!!  so, the borders are sewed on, i've added pieces to make it fit, am trying to figure out mitering the corners and then will add the new backing.  so, what i've learned is that my casual approach to creative projects usually works out with knitting, but is not working with quilting.  any bets on whether i'll change my ways and have a quilting project planned out before i start cutting??

yes, there is a man on an extension ladder in my living room.  i can't see a superman or spiderman costume, so guess it must be my dear hub-unit.  we live at the edge of a woods and have long battled carpenter ant invasion.  they are insidious and we finally hired a bug man to come out every 3 months to spray around the base of the house to keep the ants out.  in early spring, tho, they go into super invasive mode and the flying ones start swarming.  it drives me totally batshit crazy to be sitting in the living room and suddenly have one of the buggers land on my knitting or book or arm ... seemingly from out of nowhere.  so, their main gathering and launching place is the skylight.  and, by the way, if you ever build yourself a dome home and want to have a skylight, it would be a good idea to have an easy and safe plan for accessing said skylight.  we did not do that.  so, periodically the extension ladder gets brought in and while i stand by with the phone in hand and ready to dial 911,  Jim goes up to the skylight.  i hope this is the last time he does it... he is almost 75 and that is pretty extreme activity.  the center of the dome is 26 ft up and he wasn't quite that high... but close to it.  what you can't see is the vacuum cleaner that he has tied to one of the upper steps on the ladder... so, he got a whole bunch of the ants sucked up and got down ok.  and the bug man is scheduled for next week.  there are many things in life that i'm fearless about... going up ladders is not one of them.  but i will say that when we built the house i went up the scaffolding to the very top and put in the final bolt in the framing.  that was a long time ago when i was much younger and more fearless and crazy than i am these days.  that feat may have involved a glass or 2 of wine... not sure anymore....

is it spring yet?

well, not really... but there sure are some signs that it's on the way!  like several days in a row of sun (!) and 60's.

this is a gallon size plastic bag filled with water and hanging from a rafter in the greenhouse.  Carla hung it up there during her first stay here with the dogs while we were in Crete.  we had always had a really bad problem with yellow jackets in there... they seemed to move in as soon as there was any sign of sunshine/warmth, built their nests, invited their friends and multiplied, making it an unwelcoming place for humans.  Carla had read/heard that if you hang a bag of water, it messes with their radar and they stay away.  i had my doubts, but it's been there for 2 years and there have been NO yellow jackets.  so, i'd say that for whatever reason, it keeps them away.  she also put one in my studio with the same results, tho the problem had never been as bad as the greenhouse.

little insecty flying bugs are starting to show up in the salad greens in the greenhouse.  i've been meaning to buy of bag of ladybugs, and haven't done that yet.  in the meantime, i happened upon 2 of the cute little bugs in my rose bed and quickly transplanted them for a feast among the greens.  this one set off exploring the around the soil and seemed inclined to stay in its new home.  the soil looks pretty lumpy, but the photo is greatly magnified.  so, instead of watching the grass grow, i watched the bug explore for awhile.  ah, i do love retirement and having the time to enjoy watching bugs and smelling the roses.  the rose bushes are putting out leaves, so i do believe that there will be roses!!

somewhere i saw a gardening tip suggesting saving egg shell halves and planting seeds in them, then just plant the seedling in the shell so the fragile little roots aren't exposed to transplant trauma, they grow, the shell disintegrates and nourishes the plant!  what a plan.  so, i planted some kale seed and i can already see the beginnings of plants!  wheeee.  fresh, organic kale will be most welcome since i started making that weird looking green drink in my new juicer, and it pisses me off that i have to pay $2 or $3 for a bunch of kale at the grocery and i don't know how fresh it actually is or how it was grown.

friends = life treasures!

it's a bit humbling, really, to have a friend who would knit a lace scarf and give it to me.  and it's so soft and so beautiful and feels SO luxurious and feels so fine around my neck.  she knows that i struggle with knitting lace and using tiny needles and fine yarn... and that makes it even more special.  that friend is Jan Prewitt.  she was in one of my spinning classes a LONG time ago and became a friend and twisted sister.  thanks, Jan, for a lovely gift!

after i saw Jan on saturday, i went shopping for clothes for the upcoming trip.  lo and behold... everything i bought works well with the new scarf... hmmm... how did that happen??  this trip will involve a LOT of dragging ourselves and luggage thru lots of airports and to several destinations... so, i need to pack "smart" (ha! me?) with lightweight clothing, wrinkle resistant, easily washed and dried, and fit into one (1) medium-sized suitcase and one carry-on. so i did some mega-extreme shopping.  prices were rather shocking, so i tried not to look, but did note that one pair of pants that i bought on SALE, was almost 4x what i usually pay for britches at good will.  oh well, i was working with a secret stash of $$ and went balls to the wall on this shopping extravaganza.  and did this excursion feel good??  oh, yes it did.  didn't buy a lot, but bought what i wanted.

most definitely an outstandingly good day.  and also when i got home, found that Pam had been here and had cleaned up all my flower beds... i mean... what a good day.

a whole flock of stuff

 feb. 24 there was a "vineyard work day", which was organized by our friend Ryan in an effort to help Jim get grape vine stuff done and introduce folks to the process of getting from taking care of the vines to drinking the wine.  Ryan and Sonia brought their little sweetie, Naomie, and Rachael and Matt came with Donovan.  both these kids are about the same age and we enjoyed watching them together, which did not involve much "together play", but the interaction and toy grabbing was interesting (all is totally normal for their age).  the kids didn't get involved with any of the vineyard work, but everyone else did!

 from Wildwoman Creations Art and Craft Gallery
"There are no boundaries except those we create in our mind..."

i saw this face on facebook and am fascinated by her.  she looks to me like she's got the secret to all.  beautiful.  makes me want to know more about her.

pink flamingos!  21 of them now living at the Oregon Zoo.  sad to say, they are all male so no prospects of increasing the flock.  i'm looking forward to an in-person viewing of these beautiful and colorful creatures..... soon, like next week!

and in my queendom, definite signs of spring, which makes my heart sing.  also makes my back hurt and my hands ache.  i spent a few hours yesterday pruning some plants that Jim put in the garden a few years ago... in the garden that is now my domain since he started the HUGE garden out in the pasture behind the barn.  anyway, there's an Oregon Grape totally out of control, giving too much shade to areas i want to plant and not pruned in a long long time... until yesterday.  it is not in the right place and drops nasty sharp pointy leaves... and has now been pruned within an inch of its life.   some of the branches were really too big and thick for my puny clippers, but i persevered and have to show for it many sticks with sharp pointy leaves and achy hands.  i'm still waiting for comments from the planter of this bush-which-became-an-out-of-control tree, but so far silence on that subject.

the ever faithful primroses which keep on giving, year after year and are a really cheerful presence... and don't demand much attention.

another sign (and easy keeper)... the violets are popping up everywhere.  their sweet fragrance is intoxicating, as is their delicate form.

ah, spring!  it cheers and bring joy to the gray, wet,
ever hopeful depths of my soul.  our earth mother goddess rocks!!

Humans of New York

here's a recommendation for a blog written by a guy in NYC who is a wonderful photographer and seems to be a man with style, talent and lots of class.  many of his photographs make me smile, some tug at my heart and all of them seem sensitive to the person in the photo.  he's someone i'd like to know.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

my recommendation is that you check out his blog.  he is also on facebook.

life, etc and the blue footed booby

Meet the blue footed booby. Yep, you pronounce that exactly like it's spelled. They are found from the Gulf of California down along the western coasts of Central and South America to Peru.
Their bright blue feet are a sexually selected trait. The brighter a males feet, the more attractive he is to a female. To attract a female, they have an elaborate dancing ritual to 
display their feet, first lifting one foot and then the other.


that is one of the cutest critters i've ever seen!  
that face is enough to send me into uncontrollable giggles.


ok, i've joined that group of folks who spend uncountable amounts of time juicing vegetables and fruits.  til now the thought of "green drinks" was enough to make me gag.  not much better when i saw that bile green in a glass in front of me.  but, i have to say it's not all that bad.  i bought a juicer last week... a big intimidating piece of appliance and then yesterday went shopping for a variety of green veggies.  today was "launch day".  so, not quite sure what i was getting into... just knowing i needed to do something that would raise my energy level... i started pulling the green stash from the refrig and prepping and washing 2 kinds of kale, carrots, celery, ginger, an orange, and lemon...then began stuffing them into the feeder chute of the juicer machine.  Jim was fascinated enough by all this activity that he agreed to try some.  the happy surprise for me was that it really didn't taste as bad as it looked.  the advice in the instruction booklet (yep, i did read it) was to start slow with this healthful madness as it would take the body some time to become accustomed to receiving all this goodness.  seriously, i believe this routine will be a good way for me to get the recommended amounts of veggies and fruit.  oh, dear goddess! what's next? a 2 mile walk every day??  well, i suppose it wouldn't hurt.... after all, i do need to prepare myself for all the up-hill walking when we get to Greece in may.

 the purple kale really is pretty!!  i'll be starting some plants in the greenhouse really soon!  paying $2 for a small bunch isn't working for me. far better to have home grown organic... and lots cheaper!

yum!  green and frothy!

saturday word - Courage

nothing else to say... just gonna do my one brave thing.

a good thing

and a bad thing....

but good first!  our most wonderful house/dog sitter came out today and it looks like she'll be able to make it work for her to be here while we are gone this spring.  her life has been a mess of challenges so far this year, but it looks pretty good for her to be able to be here.  one of the best things about this is that she "gets it" about being here.  she loves the dogs, she really loves the life here at dome central... like being in the quiet and peace and watching the hummingbirds at the feeders in the early morning, sitting under a tree and watching the grass grow, getting the seeds for the garden started and watching over them.  so why do i want to be away from this?  sometimes i really don't know the answer to that, but there's always that tug at my heart and soul to go back to Greece.  there is a peace and simplicity and genuineness there, too, that feeds my soul and that's all i need to know.

and then there's Meika (here she's guarding her food dish just to prove she is the alpha, even tho there are 2 food dishes and lots of food, but Tasha just might get uppity and try to eat from the other food dish).  anyway, Meika has had a pee problem for the past few months and been treated for urinary infection, which did nothing to improve her random pee puddles, and urgency and frequency of her need to go out.  so back to the vet and discovery that she has a rectal growth/tumor that has a 60% chance of being malignant and in any case will continue to grow and press on her bladder and might eventually affect her poop elimination.  so, on wednesday a.m. she will have laser surgery to get rid of the thing and hopefully fix the problem.  our local vet has the laser set-up and has been doing this kind of surgery for several years.  i've known him for many years and have  so much admiration for and faith in him that i'm just sure he can walk on water.  even tho she is 12 1/2 years old (Husky's have a life span expectancy of 10 to 12 years), she is otherwise really healthy and fit.  her  3 mile daily walks keep her in good shape.   i want her to be ok.  it's hard to imagine our household without her... tho she does sometimes make me a little crazy.  she has that typical Husky trait of independence and stubbornness and attitude so when i give her a "sit" or "lie down" command, i get that look of "well... i'll think about that and get back to you".  unfortunately for her, i have "attitude" too!  so i'm anxious for surgery day to get here and be done with!  and i hope this isn't the beginning of health decline for Meika...

life is short!..

and in an effort to enjoy every moment... our plans are made for travel this spring!  in May we'll go to Denmark for a week to visit Soren and his family, our 4th visit to Denmark.  Soren lived with us during his student exchange time in 1988  (has it really been that long ago???)  and happily, we've stayed close thru these years.  he has made several trips back here and we went there for his high school graduation, wedding and again after he'd had 2 children.  part of the joy of the trip this time is that Chris, Kate and kids will be going with us.  we'll spend 2 days in Hamburg, Germany on the way.  after Denmark we fly to Athens then drive to the Peloponnese and spend a week there (time share exchange - yay), go to Olympia and see where the Olympics originated, plus other ancient sites, maybe some vineyards and wineries.  from there we'll drive north to Arachova and Delphi and i'll try again to find the Oracle... at least i'll be listening.  we were there on our first trip to Greece 9 years ago and thru an agro-tourism website got in touch with (and ended up staying with) a wonderful, warm, and welcoming woman named Frosso.  she and i connected in such a memorable way!  she is very involved with fiber arts and is active in the art workshop in Arachova.  tho she speaks only a few words of English and my Greek was zero at that time, we shared our love of spinning and fibers... she showed me her mother's hand spindle which she uses, and gave me an armfull of yarn she had spun on it.  i showed her my knitting and yarn, and of course, gave her some of my yarn.  we were bonded for life!  and exchange greeting cards several times a year... hers come written in Greek, which i take to my friend Denny at his Greek restaurant and he translates for me.  when i write to Frosso, i send it in English with a translation which i get from an online translation site... who knows how my words come out thru that to an accurate translation into Greek.  i keep on getting cards from her, so i guess the translation hasn't been something insulting or weird.  i am really looking forward to seeing my friend, Frosso, again!!  ok, so then we drive back to Athens and fly on the Hania, Crete on May 21 and back to my other home in Vamos for 3 weeks.  and looking back at what i've just written... i'm exhausted with that much travel!  dear Goddess...what have i signed on for?  but the thing is, i want to do every bit of it.  so when we get to Vamos i'll collapse for a day or 2.  well, i say that, but know that we'll walk down to the taverna for hugs and raki as soon as we've got our stuff loaded into our house.  and thanks to Klio, we'll be in the same house as the past 2 or 3 years... happy.  i really shouldn't be wishing time away... but i'll be so happy to be back there that i wish i were there now!!  ~sigh~

and i hope that by then i've conquered blogging on my iPad which has flummoxed me in the past!

love this guy!  he's got to be really secure in himself, don't you think?

passion for pink flamingo

i have the extreme good fortune of having been blessed with several good friends who are excellent enablers in helping me pursue my passion for the pink flamingo... the tackier, the better.  i opened a package from my dear friend, Anna, recently and what to my astoundedness, did i find but this drunken flamingo, whose purpose in life is to hold a bottle of wine.  (no shortage of wine bottles around here!)  this bottle was a gift yesterday from friends who came for dinner and brought this fine wine which they made and has their own label on it!

somehow... drunk flamingo reminds me of "drunk uncle" on the evening update of SNL.  if only he could talk.... or maybe better not.

and more on the pink flamingo theme... here's a portion of the collection serving as decor in the guest bathroom of dome central.  sad to say, some of the outdoor flamingo residents are either roosting in trees, buried for the time being in leaves and a bit of mud, or otherwise not available for photos.  their day will come... as will spring, blue skies, warm and no rain.  i'm ready already!

someday i may get them all together for a photo shoot.

tagine

it's a clay pot and can be used either on the stove top (medium low), in the oven or over a fire.  we first saw one on (i think it was...) an Anthony Bourdain show done in Morocco in a very rustic setting.  Jim said he wanted one, so i filed that wish away and brought it out again at xmas and got him one.  a rather selfish thing on my part really as i thought it would be a good addition to our kitchen.  he used it (finally) this week and cooked up a really fine meal of chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, and olives... and it took about an hour over medium low on the stove top.  it was a great meal!  and now i'm on the hunt for some recipes!  highly recommended after just one experience with it.  thanks, Tony!

i'd love to know about any recipes that anyone has for this!

here's a link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine

new music

Last week Stephen Colbert's guest was a young musician named Benjimin Gibbard.  it was a typically awkward interview by Stephen... but the music was great!  Ben was promoting his new CD "Former Lives" and was joined by Aimee Mann (well, ok, i don't really know who she is except that i've heard her name before) when he did his music.  so... next day i ordered the CD and am really glad i did... really enjoying it.

part of the "awkward" was Stephen's reaction when as part of the interview he asked Ben what else he liked to do... and the answer was something like "well..... i don't do anything besides music".  kind of left Stephen with no where else to go.  and i saw on the interwebs today that Stephen's sister will run for the senate from south carolina as a democrat, probably against the (loser) former governor... yeh, the one who was in Argentina with his lover while he claimed to be hiking the Appalachian trail... while he was governor and left the state without telling anyone where he was going... yeh, that loser.  so there's your little bit of random trivia for today.

snow came to Duvall

i spent 5 days with my grandkids while their parents went to Las Vegas.  we did make a good effort to get to go along with them and got an unequivocal "no", but that's ok... we had a good time!  there was some snow and Z was so anxious to go out in it that she didn't bother getting out of her nighty first... just kind of dressed around and under it and seemed warm enough.  and made some fine snow balls!

they don't seem to mind posing.

part of the fun for me is unlimited use of Kate's electric carder and access to several bins of dyed fiber that she has deemed unworthy of selling.... some of my favorite fibers are in there!  blueface leicester, silk, silk, silk, alpaca, merino... and on and on.  so i made several lovely blended batts.  mmmmm - some happy spinning ahead.



















the weather stayed really cold, so the snow hadn't totally melted before i left on tuesday.  this is the view from the deck.  i kept watching for some wildlife like at least some deer, if not bobcats or bears... but none came by.

good morning, deer

 


definitely a treat to see deer from my bedroom window first thing in the morning!  a nice way to start the new year, i'd say.

scattered stuff...

adorable felted (Whimsical Ewe) little sheep.  a gift from Kate.  she got it at OFFF and i was SO envious because she got the last one.  so i was very happily surprised to find it under my xmas tree.  it is for hanging on my spinning wheel and holds one of those little oil bottles in the hole in its back.  so cute!!

and these are buds (or something) on a tree in my yard that are weird and charming.  they almost look other-worldly.  i can't remember the name of the little tree... which was labeled as a "bush" when i bought it and i expected it to stay small... it did not, so gets heavily pruned.. occasionally.

it's New Year's Eve, a very laid back, stay-at-home evening for us.  thank goddess i'm well past those wild and crazy new year's eves of heavy partying and being out on the roads with those crazy drunken folks.  for years now i've deliberately avoided going anywhere on this night.  so we had chinese take-out at 5pm and settled in for a wild night of MSNBC.  if i did make resolutions for the new year, the top one would be to watch way less politics on the tv machine.  i find myself so totally pissed off at these people that we hire to work for our benefit and well-being who are NOT doing the job they were hired for and are making a huge salary with benefits far and above what the "ordinary" person has.  i just want to find a "you are fired stick" and wave it at so many of them.  oh, but i digress ... i wish for all of us a 2013 that is filled with joy and love and success and happiness!