return of the dye muse

drying fiber
i was able to resurrect my dye studio from the disarray into which it had fallen during the last few months.  unbelievable the amount of dog hair, dirt, piles of miscellaneous unrelated stuff that had accumulated on the counters and floor.  the exit path for the dogs to get to their yard goes directly through my studio, so their hair, muddy feet and outdoor debris adds up to a mess.  and then there were the cups and jars of dyes that had been sitting there unused since early sept. and had become dehydrated and/or a thick, jelled glop.  amazing what some boiling water will do.  i always do a few "test pieces" to check for the fastness of dyes after reconstituting them and am delighted that they react with the fiber just as they did 3 months ago.  don't throw away those gloppy, neglected dyes, i tell ya. 

pouring color on white fiber

i needed bright color in my fiber life!  going thru my yarn stash and spinning fibers, i found not a lot of bright.  there's some in the current knitting project (the poppy sweater), but that's all dedicated.  so there's some fiber and yarn with attitude comin' up.  and i do need that to ward off the cloudy, gray winter day goblins of gloomy.  also, have on the dyeing agenda, a bunch of that sock yarn with the silver, and plan some sexy black, magenta, bright violet, turquoise for that... plus other bright combinations!  hmmm, bright seems to be the operative word here.

tgiving at Jen and Maggie's

i love that Max likes to dress up for parties

 and a lovely and filling day it was!  for anyone who knows and/or loves and/or is related to any of these folks, you will probably enjoy the photos.  anyone else, maybe not so much.

one might ask where are the women folks... short answer is in the kitchen fixing the feast, hangin' out and enjoying each others' company!  sorry none of those photos were worthy of posting.  we really missed those who were in other parts of the world and hope they also had a wonderful day.

power - or not

just when it seemed life just couldn't get any more exciting at dome central... we decided to get a generator for when the power goes out, and we KNOW it will go out because this is predicted to be one of the coldest and worst winters in a long long time and that means that our fragile electrical power source will most certainly go out and often, when it is gone, it stays gone for many days because we are far enough out and so at the end of the line when it comes to crews getting out to make repairs!  so, we got one powerful enough to run the small freezer, refrig, microwave, coffee pot, maybe a part-time space heater.... and charge the batteries for our laptops.  so, if the dire predictions do come about, and based on the percentage of accuracy in previous forecasts and "weather alerts", this past week could be the only adverse and way below freezing, power-outage possible bad weather we'll see... but however, we are prepared!!!  and after considering where this generator might be safely housed in order to prevent a human who is tending to it being overcome by carbon monoxide fumes, he decided to build it a little house.  here is the framing of the generator house.  it will have a roof and removable sides (probably tarps).  and this is the exciting news in my queendom.  seriously tho... it will be lovely to have some power for some of those conveniences that make our lives comfortable.  i'm so over that pioneer woman crap and so past the time where i want the challenge of preparing food on the top of the wood stove.

chanterelles

got a call from a neighbor last night saying he and a friend had picked 2 grocery bags full of chanterelle mushrooms and would we like to have some! i've always liked neighbors Don and Carol, and now they are even higher up on the good neighbor list!!  these are a highly prized gourmet treat, tho i can't say they look very appetizing to me.  i know that they taste yummy, so guess what's on the menu for tonight.....  The instructions are to brush them off - DO NOT wash them - i just don't know about that.

it's snowing and predicted to be very cold with more snow in the next few days.  we have snow tires on the Prius and cable chains for it but i surely do wish i had my 4WD toyota pick-up!  i loved that truck and felt very safe in it, no matter the weather.  ~~sigh~~

what i did on my winter vacation

of course i started making my fiber nest... looks pretty puny.. but it's just the first day and i hadn't unpacked it all.  stay tuned.  more to come.

now after a couple of days it's beginning to look more like "my nest".

it's reallly realllly cold here and always looks like it's going to snow... kind of grey.  i'm perfectly content to stay inside with spinning, knitting, reading, computering, grazing and wine drinkin'.  we did venture out yesterday in search of the thrift store which supports the nature center and it was packed with all sorts of stuff... from furniture to books to kitchen stuff to a crafts corner where i found a dandy little package of 1/4 yd pieces of fabric and a like-new book on making small quilts and projects.  we have cable tv here, but i'm sad we can't get MSNBC or comedy channel, so no Rachel or Daily Show... but however, we also have wireless so can watch those shows on the computer! 

this is the view from our porch.... we did get some sunny days, tho it's cold and i've been unable to keep my feet warm, even with wool handspun and knit socks!

cute bear in the main lobby at the grand lodge at Sunriver.  he feels all soft and like a plushie,  and i wanted to bring him home with me.  didn't happen!

  

hope we can get back home before there's any snow!!  we'd planned to leave on thursday, but forecasts of big dumping of snow over the passes brought out my inner weather weenie and we'll leave Wed. a.m and scoot across them mountain passes before the flurries are flying.  will be happy to be home again!!

where i am, Terry, is Sunriver, close to Bend, OR.

new again

not to sound like pollyanna, but... sometimes memory lapses/brain farts/losing my mind turns up good things! in the basement under a shelf, packed in a big box i found a lovely fleece which must have been brought to me by the wool goddess as i have no idea when or where i bought it. and it's a gorgeous bag of wool with no miscellaneous pasture debris mixed in the wool!! so... i washed some of it and it comes out brilliant white, perfect staple length. so... i dyed a small batch and it is totally wonderful and makes me very happy!

Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear

the rally will be tomorrow, saturday, october 30 in DC and i'm sad to say that i won't be able to go! very sad... so my tv machine is set to record it (9a.m. PST). and in the afternoon several like-minded neighbors will gather here at dome central to drink some wine, dine on snacky things and have our own rally as we watch the recorded rally in DC. evidently, according to Jim, there will be a carry-over group who will stay to watch some kind of game... don't know if it's fball or bball and don't care much either way as i'm sure i'll be able to find something else to do and will enjoy my ipod at sufficient volume to drown out any of that irritating game noise! i'm so wishing for more sanity and less fear in this country... and on the planet!

in the words of Jon Stewart:

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Who among us has not wanted to open their window and shout that at the top of their lungs?

Seriously, who?

Because we’re looking for those people. We’re looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it’s appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles.

Are you one of those people? Excellent. Then we’d like you to join us in Washington, DC on October 30 — a date of no significance whatsoever — at the Daily Show’s “Rally to Restore Sanity.”

Ours is a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) — not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence… we couldn’t. That’s sort of the point.

Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagreement; the Million Man March, only a lot smaller, and a bit less of a sausage fest; or the Gathering of the Juggalos, but instead of throwing our feces at Tila Tequila, we’ll be actively *not* throwing our feces at Tila Tequila. Join us in the shadow of the Washington Monument. And bring your indoor voice. Or don’t. If you’d rather stay home, go to work, or drive your kids to soccer practice… Actually, please come anyway. Ask the sitter if she can stay a few extra hours, just this once. We’ll make it worth your while.

pumpkin

here's the best use i've found for punkins! clean it out and stuff with a mixture of cooked rice, sauteed onion, celery, garlic, seasonings, dried fruits (craisins, apple, pear, etc) chopped nuts, apply EVOO to the outside and bake about an hour at 350 or til the punkin shell is cooked. cut into wedges and.... mmmmmm!!

The Birds

here in my queendom it's sounding like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds ... the grapes in the vineyard are ripening and the birds have come from everywhere else to feast on them. Periodically, the bird cannon up in the vineyard booms... sending all that swarm of birds into the air yelling at each other about their interrupted meal. it reminds me of my dad's story from years ago before they had the cannons. he was walking around the vineyard with a shot gun trying to scare them off and fired off one that didn't actually go just up in the air as usual, but ricocheted off a tree and hit a deer that was wandering thru in search of a grape snack. unbelievably, it killled the deer! Dad was mortified! he's not a hunter of animals, so being an upstanding citizen, he call the dept. of wildlife and asked them what to do with it.. and they gave him instructions and said they'd be out to get the deer. they arrived, gave him a ticket for killing a deer without a license or permit or tag or whatever it's called.... and told him he'd have to go to court... AND they took the deer away. he had to appear before a judge, tell his story, get a lecture and pay a fine. too bad he didn't know about the SSS creed i lived by when i had sheep and lambs in the pasture and saw a dog trying to get in with them... nah, i never did the shoot, shovel and shut up thing. i only had a bb gun, but did threaten... and there were neighbor dog-owners who seemed to believe me.

the noise is taking a toll on Tasha-the-dog-who-is-scared-of-her-shadow (really!!), so i moved her pillow to a place where the sound is muffled and she lies there with Meika on the floor beside her keeping her company.

Tillamook

Last Saturday noon we went to Tillamook. one of Linda's customers had invited her to come to a knit-in there and have a Twisted Sister book signing... and also told her to bring some yarn, patterns, fibers etc to sell. there were 4 of us to do the signing. there were probably 50 or so people sitting around tables in the Public Market

knitting and chatting. the market is in a restored old building in downtown Tillamook, and has been set up to accommodate vendors and food and drink sellers. it is a really nice venue for small business/home businesses to sell their wares and at $200 a month rent is a good way for them to see if they have a saleable product or even want to do retail.

Jan gave me some sort of idle warning about not putting a photo of her here.... but i did it. i ain't askeered. so... here's Jan, Steph and Linda.

oregon coast

last friday Linda and i went over to Rockaway Beach
for a 3 day weekend which we'd thought would be a twisted sister weekend... but we were the only ones who could go... so we did... and it was really a fun and relaxing 3 days! we'd rented a little house with a back yard which connects to the beach. it's got an upstairs sitting room/tv room/den with large window overlooking the beach and therefore great light to spin and knit by... so we did! i established my fiber nest and surrounded myself with yarn, fiber, books, drinks, snacks and settled in. Linda had a similar nest.

we had warm and sunny days and great sunsets, did a little bit of shopping at Flamingo Jim's, drawn there by his big sale signs, cruised around the Trash and Treasures shop, found an ice cream shop and made the most of our time there.

the view from the porch.....

i brought a 3 of the few garden-ripened tomatoes we got. the cut up one is Purple Cherokee and is my most favorite!

inspiration

from Echo Valley Farm

"I wrote the piece below about 10 years ago. I had been working with my Navajo mentor and friend, Annie, and I recognized the preciousness of what she was sharing. Happily that learning continues.

As I heard of The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and recently listened to some of them speak via phone conference, I was again touched by the simple and heartfelt request for Love and Peace to return to our people and the earth.

To these Grandmothers and to all who hold the candle of Remembrance, I offer this:

There was a time when a council of Grandmothers was called to decide if war was imminent.

There was a time when women knew the herbs and the healing rhythms of song.

There was a time when the monthly cycle of blood was honored as the mystery it is,

And a time when menopause was called the "Second Spring".

There was a time when women gathered for support and comfort...

There was a time when the earth was revered.

There was a time we honored all that we took from her,

And did all that we could to remain in harmony.

There was a time we knew we were one people...and then we began to forget.

We are being asked to remember.

The Old Ones are passing.

They hold out their hands.

It is time."

OFFF - second day

here's an understatement - Sunday was not as nice as saturday. it started off with drizzle, turned to rain and later in the day almost stopped dripping water from the sky. needless to say, there were far fewer people wandering about. fibers had to be crammed into the interior of the booth except for one rack which stayed outside with plastic covering it most of the time. nevertheless, there were still diehard fiber fondlers there, touching and buying.

it was a great weekend tho! when we went home saturday night, Jim had prepared a feast for us weary travelers (100 miles RT from here to Canby). so we had good food and wine and enjoyed the evening. Symeon came home with us and joined the chaos at dome central with 2 kids, 3 big dogs and 4 other adults and seemed to fit right into it all.

Kate's fibers and Symeon's book.

i love my Prius! this is average MPG for about a year. it gets around 48 in the winter because of using the heater, lights and windshield wipers. all in all, even tho i miss having my toyota pickup, i do like this car. it's comfortable, easy to drive, moves right out with attitude when i need it to and has great MPG.

OFFF - first day

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival - and a wonderful first day it was!... with many many people wandering around the fairgrounds, more vendor booths than last year, fibers of every color and type imaginable, and of course i'd have to say (without ANY bias at all) that the Northwest Wools/Woolgatherings booth on the lawn under the big old maple tree was without doubt the most splendid of them all! the fibers were all totally amazing... and then we also had the "fiber dude" there as a knowledgeable and very helpful salesman! in all.. a fabulous day and i'm exhausted!

first photo is Symeon North author extraordinaire of Get Spun who came across the mountains from Bend to sign books and show and tell her beautiful art yarns. and Alex watched it all carefully!

Linda and Chris, the fiberdude in the booth.

Bethany sporting one of Symeon's hats.

Alex seemed to enjoy holding a very fluffy bunny, tho he did look a bit nervous about it!

it was a fine day!

words

words I never thought i'd hear!!

on Huffington Post:

Karl Rove On Christine O'Donnell: 'She Handled The Witchcraft Issue Great'

so, maybe i have a weird sense of humor... but this is funny!!

Dharma Quote of the Week

Dharma Quote of the Week

People harm others only when they are unhappy. No one wakes up in the morning and says, "I feel so great today! I think I'll go out and harm someone!" When we can allow ourselves to know the depth of the pain and confusion felt by those who have harmed us, compassion--the wish that they be free from such suffering--can easily arise. Thinking in this way does not mean whitewashing or denying harm that was done. Rather, we acknowledge it, but go beyond amassing resentment, because we know that grudges help neither ourselves nor others.

--from Working with Anger by Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications

fibery fun for OFFF

i've been doing some serious stash diving this week, including crates of fiber in storage which i had kidded myself into believing were personal stash for future spinning! HAH! there is no bloody way in hell i could ever spin all that if i spun every day for 8 hours for as long as my gnarly hands are able to spin. does that give a picture of the vastness of my fiber holdings?? so, i've been putting some of these fibers together to have in the OFFF booth (which is actually Kate and Linda's ) booth and i'll just be hanging out there sort of as default.

i've been recycling (cleaned) plastic food containers... like the ones that designer lettuce and greens come in... and my favorite for more than 1 reason is a snack mix container from Costco. i think the fibers look pretty cool in these and hope fiber shoppers won't find it tacky.

among rediscovered treasure is sari silk thread waste, angora, tencel, glitz, mohair, lots of silk... and lots of these have found their way into fiber mixes.

i'm looking forward to OFFF next weekend and hope it won't be wet... but it is what it is and will be fun no matter what.

Kate is back from her Australia and New Zealand adventure and is fiber dyeing like a mad woman and will have a booth filled with her beautiful fibers and yarn. Linda will bring a variety of blank yarn and spinning fibers ready for dyeing and lots of yarn and goodies from her shop.

Dharma Quote of the Week

Dharma Quote of the Week

Life is a party on death row. Recognizing mortality means we are willing to see what is true. Seeing what is true is grounding. It brings us into the present and, eventually, into presence. It also brings us into our bodies, especially if we combine meditation on impermanence with an energetic awareness at the base of the spine. At first, the important thing about impermanence seems to be the limited time we have in this precious life. This is crucial and foundational, and yet it is not the whole story.

The teachings on impermanence concern the death of a self that never existed. Our sense of such a false and finite self, which initially is inseparable from our wish to practice, can dissolve. Understanding impermanence, Khetsun Rinpoche says, will lead you into the natural clarity of your own mind. To know impermanence is thus not only a path leading to what Dzogchen traditions speak of as "unbounded wholeness" (thigle nyag cig), it is also integral to that wholeness.

--from Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission by Anne C. Klein, foreword by Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, preface by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications

good times

dear diary - (well, sometimes it feels like a "dear diary" kind of thing) - had a fabulous visit to Boise and good times with my very dear long-time best friend, Anna! she had planned some activities for us - and gave me this wonderful bag she'd made for me. it is destined to carry lots of yarn and fibers! i love the colors and the scattered embellishments....

one of the adventures was Art In The Park, a well-established art museum

event. there were at least 300 vendors, with pottery and jewelry the most represented, and a huge variety of wares in those 2 categories, covering all degrees of interest and desire for me.

and what's an art event without artful biffies?

music can be a highlight at an art festival.... this one had a one-man band. interesting.......

we did our best to get to all the vendors, but had to give up barely 1/2 way thru, when both of us had glazed looks in our eyes and were past the point of enjoying the journey! the only thing i bought was a cheezy ring which i wish i hadn't.

then we went home, put our feet up and had a cold adult beverage.