Weekend

Well the guys went fishing this weekend, leaving us girls all alone!! We went to the soccer game on Saturday and froze. It was 49 degrees with 10-15 mile per hour winds which means it felt like 36-40 degrees....cold. She quickly recovered from the cold and went with her friend to a school dance. I sat at home and thawed out.
Sunday, she went to her friend's bowling tournament and I walked up to the top of the mountain with my oldest daughter and my brother. The color's weren't there but the view was still awesome. Their is a small cabin on top of the mountain. In the early 70's a man from New Jersey bought an acre off my neighbor and my father put in a road thru our pasture to this site. The man built this kit cabin on a cliff. He probably wanted to get back to nature (no water, no sewer, no electricity or cable can get to it) but he was not a builder. He use to buy lots of firecrackers and throw them down thru the cracks in the floor to scare the rattlesnakes away. The road washed out time and time again and he had to walk up to his cabin. I remember he would park his car in the pasture and when he came back the cows would have licked the heck out of it! I also remember he carried a pistol and killed any snakes he saw on his walk to his cabin. This house was to be his retirement home but he never did retire there. Eventually my cousin bought the property as it abutted his, and they use the cabin to warm up during hunting season. Other than the running water I would love to live there. It has a field right behind the cabin for a garden and my goats could eat all the brush. My kids would hate it!!
But you ask did I do any fiber while they were gone...yes, I did. I had a pair of sideway gloves that needed to be sewn and I did that. Then I finished the main color on the tree skirt. I have to get the yarn for the trim to finish that. Then I picked up a keyhole scarf that I started and worked on that! I guess I am over the fiber funk!
And then you will ask did they catch anything...Well my brother did but he only wants a couple of steaks from it and gave us the rest of the 42 inch salmon. My boys had a great time. This was the oldest ones first time and he was awed by the size of them. The little man went once before and following tradition he spent most of this time in the water...they now call him Slip and Trip. They may go again this year depending on time and weather.
Well it is 25 degrees outside and since I am out of my fiber funk I need to go knit something to keep us warm!

The first frost

Jack Frost took his paintbrush
as he sailed across the sky
so every morning as the sun comes up
his artwork greets the eye
there’s reds and gold’s and yellows
all of a breath taking view
but no matter how hard he tries
he can never make leaves turn blue
so when you’re in bed sleeping
and outside everything seems faint
just remember at midnight
Jack Frost begins to paint
© By Carl Jessee

We have been very lucky this year and didn't have frost before now.
The http://riverrim.blogspot.com/ didn't get any yet but thinks they will tonight. Our average first frost date is September 24 but we have had it well before that some years. My sister who lives in Puerto Rico is up and it is quite the shock to her system! I don't think I have seen her with less than three layers on while outside. You would think we were in Buffalo with the 21 inches of snow!!










The guys have left on their salmon fishing trip to Pulaski and #2 daughter and I are going to have a girls night and watch the movie Click. Stay warm!

The last of the leaves

Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
Singing the glad little songs they knew.
~George Cooper

We got rain this morning and a cold spell is coming so I decided to get what will pry be the last shots of the season. Unless I walk to the top of the mountain on Sunday when there are no hunters in the woods.

The reds...

The yellows...

The oranges...

The greens...

The purples

The white/tan

For your amusement, NOAA just released their predictions for this December to February (You can find your predictions here http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2716.htm ) My area supposedly has a 33 % chance of being warmer than normal. Now on the precipitation...we have an equal chance, which means there is a 33.3 % chance of it being wetter than normal, a 33.3% chance of it being drier than normal and a 33.3% chance of near normal, very decisive wouldn't you say!

On the fibery front...I finished the "Five hour baby sweater"It took more than five hours for me but it is done. Then I started crocheting a tree skirt. I am on a fiber blah. My mind is seeing all the good things to make, and I am feeling the wool and mohair and loving it but the doing it part has gone on strike. And I mean all parts of it, the knitting, spinning, crocheting, dyeing, carding, you name it. I actually force myself to work on the tree skirt in the morning and when waiting in the car for the kids. But the guys are going on a salmon fishing trip this weekend to Pulaski, NY and little girl wants to go to her friends house at least one night which means I will be alone with no demands for my time...hopefully I will be out of this funk and will get something done. And the leaves will pry be off the tree's and I won't be wasting my time getting pictures!!!

Harvest moon

Listen! The wind is rising,
And the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings,
Now for October eves!
-- Humbert Wolfe (1885-1940)

And last night we had our Harvest Moon.

I was exhausted but when I got into bed it was so light out and then I remembered the moon. So I grabbed the camera, shoved my feet into slippers and ran out to take a picture of it.

Here's a picture of something that didn't get home before the sun rose Friday morning. The dogs were barking at something up the tree and we went out and looked and there he sat. We put the dogs inside and the man got him out of the tree and he went on his way. We were told we should have shot him since we have chickens and ducks but we couldn't do it. If he were in the coop with them that would have been different. We live right next to the woods so we have animals walking in our yard all the time. This guy just had bad timing!And here is a picture of what I am doing today. That is a piece of the fleece I got off my sheep. They are little finn girls that I got from Grace http://antique-spinning-wheels.blogspot.com/ . This was their first haircut and they didn't particularly like it! But it is gorgeous and I love it. I was going to send it out to be processed but today I took it out to skirt it because I didn't have time when I sheared them. Then I had to have some of it to play with. So I started washing it and now it is drying and tonight I will spin! :^D I might still send the other one and the goats out it depends on the time I have to play.I actually got to spin yesterday. I did a craft fair at our fire house. There were four craft shows within a 1/2 hours drive from us so I didn't make a fortune. I sold enough to pay for the table, my meals and take some home. It was a day out and a day of spinning so I don't mind. If I would have been home I would have been doing all that homey stuff that has been keeping from spinning so I will say it was a good day.

Now I am going to fluff my fiber so it dries fast!

Farm country

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm
country slowly changes from the summer
cottons into its winter wools. ~Henry Beston

Yesterday while sitting at the barn waiting for a friend with a trailer to come and take the pigs and steers to the butcher I had time to take notice of these changes. The road to the barn with leaves brushed to the side by the truck...

The evergreens full of pinecones...

The back field holding it's own...The squirrel getting ready for winter... And back at the house the nature daughter has successfully "hatched" her monarch butterfly....And for some reason this time of year makes me think more of family, even those that are gone. These are hops that my grandfather planted. I found them after I had gone out and bought some. I don't know what kind they are, why he bought them or if he ever made beer from them I just know they have to be over 50 years old and they will stay where they are. I tried to make a simple hops beer with mine....I need a better recipe, enough said!These are farm implements that we found while cleaning up the farm. I didn't want to throw them out as they remind me of those that used these tools, so I started hanging them on the side of the milk house. I am the third generation to have animals on this farm. The barn, most of which fell down and we cleaned up, was a one room school house. The chicken coop was the coal shed for the school. My mother has the deed from the school board to my grandfather, it was only a couple of dollars. Alot cheaper than today's prices!!So the food is canned, the garden is done except for the weeds. The sheep and goat are sheared. The pigs and steers went to the butcher. And now the frost and snows can come and I can sit inside and spin and knit. Another good harvest year put to bed.

Trying to catch up

Last week we were so busy with doctor visits, boy/girl scouts, school dances, soccer and canning that by the time Saturday got here I needed a break. So Saturday morning I took some Chai tea and the wheel and sat outside and spun. I spun up the metalic looking mohair that I dyed, then plied it and wound it off. It was heaven on earth!

By the time I finished it was time for the kids to go to their soccer game...they won! That's not something they do on a regular basis so they were wired. Not long after finishing the rain came again.

The weather is up and down but no frost yet. But this just seems to have spurred on the "so much to do and so little time to do it" feeling. Last week we canned salsa and tomato soup. Today we made three batches of green tomato relish and tomorrow we are going to make blackberry jam. If there is time we will also make salsa with the last of the tomatoes. The man is going to go pick the highbush cranberries tomorrow and we are going to try making sauce and jelly with them the next day.

We also got the sheep and the goat sheared today. Everytime we wanted to shear them it rained and you can't shear when they are wet. The weatherman was calling for rain today but lucky for us it held off and it is suppose to be warm for the next couple of days so they won't freeze their butts off. I went and cut some of this years blackberry canes down and gave it to the sheep and goats to appease them for the torture I put them thru today!

One good thing about driving around is that you get to take pictures of the season coming in.
Here in the river valley the leaves have lightened up but haven't really changed color.

Even at the top of the mountains looking out you don't see much change in our area.

But 20 miles away you can see more and more trees showing their colors.

My sister is coming home for a week. Fall was always her favorite season but living in Puerto Rico she hasn't seen falls display in years so she will enjoy this. If we get frost it will speed the color change along a little and also get rid of the gnats which are awful right now!

Monday Blues

Maxine says it best!I saw that and just knew what she meant. We are feeling kinda blue today because my computer's DVD writer/CD writer is not working. So I called Compaq, as it is only 8 months old, and ask them if they could get this working for me. So I did this and that like they said and nothing worked. Then they offered me an extended warranty for two more years, "special price just for you" for only $129.00 "that's one-two-nine". I say no thanks lets just fix what is broken now and so they tell me I have to do a complete system recovery and bring my computer back to "just like day you bought it". I said that means I lose all my pictures (LOTS), documents (lots), favorties, and address, right. "Yup, just like day you bought it". I said I don't want to lose all that. She says to "take to company and have them make back up for you". I said "I have to drive a 60 mile round trip and pay someone to backup my files and then what" She said "then we do system recovery and bring it back to just like day you bought it" To which I ask "Then it will be fixed"? To which she replied that if that didn't fix it they would give me a new DVD writer. I said why can't they just give it to me so I am not inconvenienced because they have a shitty product. She puts me on hold and then says "my senior technician told me you have to do system recovery to get new DVD writer"
By this point I am now seeing red. Now I am sorry, this product was $1500 of my money, it is only eight months old and I barely ever use the drive. It is still under warranty, but unless I spend my time and money or unless I am willing to lose all my informtion I can't get it fixed under the warranty!!! So you ask how did this end....Well at this very moment they are putting gi-normous red lettering ...Psyco Bitch, talk to with caution!!! all over my file.
So I call the closest computer place and ask how much for a backup....$66.99. So I have to pay $66.99 or lose my info to get this fixed under warranty. And what are they going to repair it with ...someone else's repaired piece of sh*t. Oh and here is the catcher, I look up Lite-On DVD writer/CD writer combo (which is what is in my computer now) at http://www.bizrate.com and I can get one *new* for $35.00.....Hmmmmm what is wrong here? I think I will just buy an external one and write a nice long letter in English and hope they understand they are all a**holes! No wonder they offer you the extended warranty mid-stream. If you wait to the end and find out the one you have is worthless who would extend it.

More dye jobs to document

So I know what I did next year I will write this out. I will of course not add measurements as I never measure, but at least I have the general idea of how I got what I got.

I redid the pokeberry dye. I clipped the berry branches into a steamer about 3/4 full. I added about 3 inches of water and put them on the side burner of the grill. I let them cook for about 20 minutes on low. I let them sit overnight. This AM I strained it, added some salt and a glug of vinegar. Then I added some white cormo wool, the fleshy color from yesterday, and some gray mohair roving. I put that on the burner on low and left the lid off for about 30 minutes. I let it cool down and then put on some gloves and rinsed it. And this is what I got...
The white is on the left, fleshy in the middle and the gray on the right. I love the way the gray came out. I took more gray roving, wrapped it from my hand to my elbow and put the one end in the pot to soak and left the other end out. Tomorrow I will see what it looks like and maybe simmer it for a bit to add more color if needed.
Then I was still in dye mode so I took some of the gray mohair and used food coloring...
I love the results. This picture makes it look real bright and it isn't. It came out teal, green, bronze metallic-y looking. The man says it looks like chrome illusion paint for cars. I said it looks like oil on the road when it has just rained. Whatever you want to call it I will try to make more of this.

Now I guess I should get spinning some of this. I finally realized I had more than one bobbin even though they sit right in front of me so now I have no excuse. In knitting news I finished one of the sideways gloves. Hopefully I can finish the other tonight.

Dyeing to find out if it worked!

Okay instead of spinning yesterday, I reorganized the knit stuff and looked thru patterns to find what I want to do in the coming weeks. I also messed with some more dye.

First was the kool-aid dye. I took lemon-lime and added water and a glog of vinegar in the bottom of a jar. I added some gray mohair roving and then mixed the grape kool-aid with water and vinegar and added that to the top. Here is what it looked like in the jar...

And after it had sucked all the dye out of the water and was rinsed it looked like this..

And here is the goldenrod...
Boiled, strained, alum added to dye pot, dry cormo added while still hot and left to sit all day and night. After rinsing this AM this is what I had

When I was done hanging out the goldenrod cormo, I took some of the gray mohair and added that to the left over goldenrod dye pot. This picture doesn't do it justice as the red plastic Folgers can is changing the color in the pic. It actually came out a nice green color and I like it.I would show you a pic of it when it was done but the green doesn't show up in the picture I took.

Then I did the pokeberry. I clipped the berry branches off into a pan, then boiled them. I strained it and added salt to the brew and added dry cormo roving and this is what it looked like. I let that sit all day and night and this AM I checked it and when I squeezed a little bit the roving was just slightly pink. I dyed lincoln last year and it came out gorgeous but I remember that I simmered it so I simmered this and still only got this...

Then I went and got some Hopi Red Dye Amaranth. I didn't use this last year but I replanted this year just in case. So I saw it when I walked into the garden and thought okay we are going to do something with this instead of it just taking up room in the garden. I tried calling Cyndi because she has used this before but she wasn't home so being impatient me I fudged it... I cut the flowers and stems into pieces and put them on to boil. I poured off a gallon and added alittle more water and let that boil. Then I started thinking about the alum they recommended for the goldenrod and the vinegar they recommend for the plants. So I put vinegar in the first jar and alum in the second and added the dry cormo. The left jar is the second cooking with alum and the right jar is the first cooking with vinegar. This AM they didn't look like they were accepting the color so I decided to simmer them and this is what I got with the vinegar - it ended up looking like butternut (which I liked) and with alum it ended up looking like a pale flesh color. I don't like it so we will overdye that one. I went and clipped more pokeberry and boiled that up. Tomorrow I will try to get the same color that I got last year. I think I will add the salt and vinegar this time. I guess I should have documented it but that ranks right up there with swatching!!! I guess I like banging my head into the wall!