quilt show - Hillsboro

on sunday, Pam and i went to the West Side Quilters Guild show in Hillsboro.  we wandered thru the exhibit room for a couple of hours absorbing inspiration and taking photos of favorites to be able to jog our memories later when we tried to remember what it was that inspired us!  these were some of my favorites.  seems i have some sort of thing about houses.  have made one with "liberated houses?, Gwen Marston style and will prob. make more!  and color!  love the bright  colors.

this was one of Pam's favorites and she is probably at this very minute working up something in this style.

the black and white caught my eye, too... and then one with purple thrown into the mix.

harvesting

i feel like a freakin' manic squirrel getting the harvest gathered in and getting ready for winter.  i do love the harvesting part... and up to a point, i enjoy preserving it for winter... but there is always a sadness about it for me.  i know it's the end of summer, which means the grey, wet days are ahead for the next several months.  for me autumn = sadness, winter = gloom, spring = delight and joy, and summer = happiness.  and despite all that, i love living here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, and i love my life and there is very little i would change!!  ok, one thing i'd change is:  i'd hire maid service and i'd have a gardening assistant (for weeding and carrying heavy things and pruning trees and bushes ).  since there's little to zero chance of either of those changes coming about, i'll just do as i always have... ignore the dirt and the weeds for as long as i can.

 

this has been a year of abundant tomato harvest and i've been slogging my way thru doing something with them.  spent yesterday making and freezing tomato sauce and making salsa.  will try freezing some of that and see how it is when thawed, but i fear it will be very watery.  have also filled one drawer in the little freezer with perfectly beautiful red ripe tomatoes.  will use them in soups, etc... dip in boiling water, slip skins off, place on cutting board and stab with sharp knife, put shattered pieces in soup.  apply first aid if the stabbing knife missed the tomato and a finger was in the way.

it was so windy today that i decided to take hanging fuchsia  baskets down before they blow down.  they are on the ground on the patio so the deer can reach them easily and finish their nibbling of the blooms. at this point it really doesn't matter.   i've been amazed at how many different flowers they like.... nasturtiums, cosmos, dahlias, geraniums, roses of course but i moved 3 yesterday so they are all now in the garden behind the 8' fence!!

and now the wind is blowing hard and the rain is pouring and i will forego all the platitudes and cliches about the need for rain.  time to get a drink and settle in front of the tv machine and knit on that second baby jumper dress for one of our baby girls in Vamos.  see you on the flip side (whatever that means...)

spinning new stash

this polworth/silk fiber looked so luscious that i had to start spinning it and i was not disappointed... soft, shiny and spins so easily!  mmmmmm... very happy i am!

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

 

once again the yearly pilgrimage to Canby for the OFFF.  this year i woke up to a beautiful sunny saturday and felt very very happy that i did not have to get up at dawn, drive an hour and spend the rest of the day selling fiber!  (can you tell i'm feeling content in retirement... and perhaps a bit smug??)  I spent the day with my grandkids while their parents spent the day in a booth at the fair.  late afternoon we all went to a bbq and celebration of the autumnal equinox.  huge crowd of people and loaded tables of food.  there was a labyrinth which the kids enjoyed.... esp. when they got to the middle and found a supply of bubble blowing stuff!  i reconnected with some local folks i hadn't seen in a very long time, enjoyed meeting some women who had been to OFFF earlier in the day, and promised i'd show up at the monthly craft night at the library where spinners and knitters meet.

and then on sunday it was one of those typical fall days around here... first a short period of sunny, followed by drenching rain.. repeating itself thru the day.  not the best kind of day for an outside fiber booth, about which Chris commented that it was the last time he'd have a booth OUTSIDE at OFFF!  luckily he had sides for the booth that he put up and took down thruout the day.  not all outside vendors were so fortunate.  anyway, i took the kids and went there about noon, did lots of browsing, seeing a lot of people who i love, dashing into one of the buildings when the pouring rains came, did a minimum of actual buying.  i left there feeling very happy that Kate and Chris have taken over my business, and extremely proud of what their creativity and dedication has done for Woolgatherings!!

this is my stash enhancement ~  beautiful bright dyed silk cocoons (a gift from Janis Thompson of Dye Lots), a bump of alpaca roving (25% off sale), a braid of Woolgatherings polworth/silk that i've been dying to try, and a bundle of merino/bamboo top from Knitted Wit in a soft and shiny lavendar... yummy!  the button and beads in the top photo were from a new vendor i found inside the main building (where i was during one of the downpours)

knitting and garden

it's going to take me forever to weave in all the ends on my "Justify"... so i took an unfinished photo.  isn't the model fabulous?  this was a real stash buster project and really did involve NO new spun or purchased yarn.  i'm happy with how it came out... now just gotta get the ends done.

i saw one of my favorite most fascinating creatures in my garden this morning!  i've been watching for her all summer... check out this info.  i just read that praying mantids can be kept as pets... who'd of thought......

we've eaten a few of these eggplants and there's still more to come.  yummy, indeed!  this is the first white eggplants i've grown and i'll wait a while longer to see if it gets any bigger.  haven't had much luck with growing eggplants, but keep trying because i totally love 'em!

tomato information

back on sept 5 i was mentioning a tomato i really really love and couldn't remember its name.  i tried adding to that post and it disappears.... so, the name of that heirloom tomato is Japanese Black Trifele.

dyeing, spinning, knitting content

i dyed some superwash BFL (SO perfect for baby clothes!), spun it up in ~worsted weight 2-ply, and knit up this little jumper dress for Iris (in Vamos, Crete) for her 1st birthday in november.  i added the triangles on the bottom because i thought it would look cute.  I have lots of yarn left so will prob. make a cardigan sweater for Daphne (also in Vamos) for her birthday in january.  i surely do love knitting for babies... it goes so fast!

also finished (well... except for weaving in all those many many ends) the Justify , Lynne Vogel's pattern at Knitty.com.  and i like the colors in this one much better than the first one i knit, which i gave away to someone who liked it!  anyway, photo to come soon.

goal for today...

more baby love!

sweater for Naomie... proving that i actually DO eventually finish knitting projects... esp. when pushed by a deadline.  i love this yarn.... wool, cashmere and silk.  so very soft!

  yesterday Sonia and Ryan and their 5-week old baby girl, Naomie came for a visit.  so, i had another opportunity for baby love and thoroughly loved it!

Jim is trying to get a smile from the baby...

Ryan, Sonia and Naomie.

a sunflower in my garden ..

this.. obviously... is a sunflower!  i love sunflowers almost as much as poppies.  or maybe as much as.  whatever, they give me smiles  and i always wish i'd planted many more.  maybe next year....

and this is a plate that Zylie made and gave to me.  it's an owl with reverse image on each side.  it is guarding  the flowers and buried duck in one of my flower beds.

it's finally happened!

yes... summer has arrived in my queendom!  yes, today is sept. 4 which does not really qualify as "summer" by most calendars.  and finally there is a bowl of red ripe tomatoes on the kitchen counter.  they are really much redder than shows in the photo.  and it's just too bad i can't convey by photo just how sweet and juicy and delicious they are... and likewise, how luscious was the BLT i had today.  in "my" garden (as opposed to "Jim and James big garden") i've planted several heirloom tomatoes, and one of them called a black something-or-other (i'll need to look at the tag again)  (it's that damn slipping memory thing again...)  (good thing i can still remember my name, where i live and where is my yarn and fiber stash... the important things)  oh, yeah, that black heirloom tomato ... i've had 2 of them and they are my most favorite of all.. so sweet (and good on BLT) and i must write its name down so i can remember who it is and plant it again next year.  i'll put it in my desk calendar.  remind me next June that that's where i can find it.  


and about fibery things... i'm about 4 edging triangles away from finishing the Justify wrap (not counting all the yarn ends i need to weave in).  whew.  that was alot of knitting and a lot of stash used up.  next up is a jumper/dress for one of the baby girls in our Crete family.  she'll be one year old in november and maybe i can have it done by then.  the yarn is bright colors in BFL superwash.  details later.....

also fibery related was my panicky freak-out 2 nights ago when i saw a MOTH flying around the living room.  i went after it with vengeance and a dish towel and must have offed it as i didn't see it again.  but that was enough to send me into a "protect the wool" mode and i went thru every bit of yarn and fiber in the vicinity, plus took my 2 little turkish rugs (WOOL) outside, put them on the drying rack and beat them severely with a broom and left them in the sun for a day.  also, the WOOL Tibetan weaving of the Deity of Protection hanging on the wall came down and got a thorough vacuuming  front and back.  and the turkish rugs got the vac treatment, too.  happy to say, i found no evidence of MOTHS, and now all is clean and stash is organized (somewhat) and in bags and i'm done with my freak-out.

astounding..

this amazes me!  not only is my 11 year old grandboy taller than i am,

but in his new suit and tie, he looks closer to 16 than 11.  they were here getting ready to go to portland for an event, and he was mighty like a peacock strutting around the place looking fine.  that smile stayed on his sweet face as he posed for photos... here with his sister (she's almost 9),

and below, with Papa.  (can you tell that Jim isn't getting ready to go anywhere except back outside to his labors in the dirt and among the grape vines.

i was sitting on the sofa when i took the photos, so the angle is kind of weird.

what time is it???

it's that much anticipated time for BLT with fresh from my garden red, ripe, warm, juicy real tomatoes!  makes me oh-so happily filled up with goodness... sigh.  this really nicely tops off what's turned out to be a good summer.  Jim and James' BIG garden is producing over-abundance of vegetables, much of which goes to the local food bank.  we got the message from friends and neighbors that they'd received enough already of cucs and zucs, but not answering their phones or doorbells was going a bit too far.

(what time is it???  did you think i was going to say "it's howdy doody time, boys and girls")

spinnin' sistahs

it doesn't get much better than this!  some like-minded women, spinning wheels, an abundance of fiber, food, show-and-tells, lots of stories and laughing and the bonus..... a 3 1/2 week old baby boy!  that's the kind of day i had and all is good in my queendom and i'm feelin' happy.  (and suddenly the old old song "Feeling Groovy" has come into my head)

Carole - happy about the sweater she's knitting with her own hands-spun yarn, and Crystal - happy about the yarn she's spinning.

Lynne called from TN so she could be part of the gathering of sisters and Laurie is having her turn on the phone with her.  we all miss Lynne SO much and wish she'd find her way back to the PNW!!

we all agree that Lynn is a wicked-fast spinner... the fastest and most prolific we know!
Jane loves her new Majacraft wheel!

i'm knitting the Justify wrap for the second time.  it is a Lynne Vogel

pattern and can be found on Knitty.  it's a mobius and is impossible
to get a good photo of it at this stage... so will get one when it's finished.

i got in some serious baby lovin' time.  Rachael got to spin and i got to snuggle Donovan!
oh, the sacrifices i make!

friday

aren't they just too cute??  10-day old goat kids... bottle babies because their mom rejected them.  there were 4 of them...... one died and mom kept one.  anyway, my friend Lisa was at the farmer's market in beautiful downtown Banks at the same time i was and asked if i wanted to see some babies.  of course i did!  and i didn't even ask if i could bring one home with me!

however... even the goatlets couldn't ease the bitchy reaction i was having to the damn airshow going on at the hillsboro airport.  unfortunately, i had to go shopping very close to the airport and right under where major antics were going on.  and i didn't know what i was getting into!  i'm aware that there are people who find entertainment and amusement by watching the airshow.  i think it's an evil waste of my taxpayer $$, causes considerable air pollution and waste of gas to run the damn things,  causes snarled traffic on the freeway with idiots who park their cars on the shoulders, pull out their picnic lunches and watch the show.  nincompoops!   and the repeated extreme noise is beyond annoying and not healthy for sentient beings.  i hate the fucking airshow and want it to go away.  and that's the end of my rant.  unless i think of something else i don't like about it.

sailboat followed by baby love!!

that was a really fine enjoyable day.... whichever day it was this past week.  well, hey, i remembered which week it was!

Pam and Larry are living on their sailboat on Hayden island since they returned from Turkey (and other places) and they invited us to have lunch with them.  i was hoping Larry would meet us at the gate with a life jacket for me... he didn't... so i mustered up my courage, convinced myself that the walkway to get to their boat,  over the water in the marina really was not as narrow as it seemed (looked about 18 inches wide to me).  i like boats, especially sailboats, but can't enjoy being out on the water in them unless i'm pretty well wasted.  this one was tied up in the marina, so that was doable.   anyway, lovely salads lunch, merlot wine, cookies and turkish apple tea.  yum!  and so good to see them again.  we were neighbors in Vamos, Crete for a couple of weeks in april (or may??).  good times!

------->>  Larry standing beside the boat and Jim on top of it.

pretty boat, huh??

and Pam inside the boat lookin' fine and feisty

and then, following Rachael's most excellent directions, we found Rachael, Matt and Donovan's home (somewhere close to St.Johns)  and we got to meet Donovan!  what a cutie and cuddly too.  i got to snuggle him for awhile (ahh, babylove!)  and i'm sure he loves me, too!  when he woke up he shared with me some of his surplus meal.  poor little guy got more on himself than on me.  so... the bonding is complete and i'm in love!  he will be here tomorrow with him mommy, so i'm counting on more snuggling.  i might have to fight off his gramma and some twisted sisters, but i'm up to it and i'm fully capable of pulling rank!

isn't he adorable?  and his mom is looking beautiful and happy!

summer!! bounty!! garden!!

ha!  i beat the birds and the deer to blueberry harvest.  i wonder if it has anything to do with the rotten egg/garlic solution that i've been spraying around lavishly....  gotta say it smells pretty awful for an hour or so after applying, and then is just faintly there.  if that's what is keeping them away from berries and fuchsias it's worth the time and effort.







and what would summer happiness be without zucchinis and beans?  (also, yellow crookneck squash
 and peas)  some of this harvest is from the gigantic garden that Jim and James planted.

s

a baby olive tree that Jim planted and if you look really close you can see the teeny tiny baby olives in the pic on the right.  bravo... someday we just might have our own olive crop!

see that almost ripe tomato?  i can hardly believe my eyes and now my taste buds are getting anxious for BLTs.  must go get some bacon so i can be prepared.  hope that's not the only ripe tomato this year....... (it's an Early Girl... tho mid-august isn't the usual "early")


and in the garden of Jim and James, there are all kinds of wonderful stuffs ... here's ------> a pumpkin and it's vine is trying to take over the place, with many more pumpkins and squashes coming along.

resident deer

and one of her twin spotted fawns.