Sunshine!

So... a few days after the fog, after months of dreary overcast winter skies.... the sun came out to play on the weekend.

Compare this picture of the front fenceline to the foggy one of the last post. Sunshine is good, but the colours in the picture just aren't as interesting.... the lights don't stand out in the same way.

Much less snow 'though.... this is a good thing.



On a sunny day, I guess the birds don't mind as much if I take their picture while they are eating...



My hubby gave me flowers for Valentine's Day (and took me out to dinner - twice!) - isn't he the sweetest?

Foggy day, and fiber

We had a foggy day a few days ago. It created some fantastic shots.

But first, getting something out of the way that I've been meaning to post for a few weeks now.

Nina (and any other fiber artists out there) - this is the wall hanging that I did for my hubby's office a few years ago. The warp is junk yarn, and the weft is unspun roving. It's the inspiration for what I want to do next - lots of thick thick yarn. But I'd like it in both warp and weft, and much better colours.

I want to get something up on the loom that is simple and quick - something just to get me started again. Any recommendations for the right kind of fiber? Think really really thick...



This is our front fence line - interesting the way the coloured lights stand out in the fog, even turned off.



The birds tried to hide in the lilacs, waiting for me to go inside so they could help themselves to the freshly re-filled bird feeders.



Freshly re-filled, since the squirrels seem to love getting at them and dumping it all on the ground! Could anyone recommend a good type of grease for the pole?

Boat Burning

Friends gathered, camera settings were played with, tripods were needed. Wishes were made, memories guarded, and family remembered.



And a boat was burned, keeper of our thoughts. What was once, and will be.

Do I have enough hats?

Left to right.....

Crotchet, crotchet, knit, knit, knit, naalbinded, and naalbinded.

Unknown wool, acid dyes in spinning class.
Cotton/aycrlic, commercial.
Cotton/aycrlic, commercial.
Variegated aycrlic, commercial.
Variegated aycrlic, commercial, and it now (after the pic was taken) has a pom-pom on it. What can I say? I'm a dork. :)
Icelandic lopi, dyed with madder and I forgot to loosen the skein knot in the dye pot so it's got these little undyed spots that make nice polka dots in the hat.
Icelandic lopi, dyed with.... something natural. I forget.

My husband prefers the second one, and I'm currently wearing the fifth one. I like the red one too, but I find the lopi a little itchy.

The brightly coloured one in the middle that I was working on last week turned out too small.

Karen

I'm doing it again

I think I've picked up an additional hobby, rather unintentionally. Knitting seems to be contagious.

It's not that I don't already have 5 or 6 hats around the house in a variety of naalbinding, crotchet, or knitting. But but but....



Oh, by the by....some recently acquired knitting knowledge:

Ripping back one's knitting to fix a mistake is considerably less satisfying then ripping it back because you have an artistic difference with reality.

New tricks for some Auld Phartes

The new year is bringing in a few new tricks for some of our favourite folks at Treheima.

My big strong man takes things into his own hands....


....and made this step stool for our aging doggie. He's having trouble getting up on the bed these days - the arthritis in his hips is sometimes troublesome.


I took up my knitting needles for the first time in 25 years.... and made this scarf and hat, inventing what passes for a pattern as I went.


Karen

2008 in review

Once again, Alda at the Iceland Weather Report leads the way and I shamelessly theft an idea. :)

It's 2008 in Review!

January

Tired of being frustrated by the spinning wheel that Anti-V had kindly loaned me (to create space in her own house), I decided to sign up for lessons. Although I started the classes in December 2007, January finds me reporting on what I'm learning.

February

February was all about the new elliptical machine and a recommitment to exercising. I wanted to be healthier for my trip in May. Yo... husband, stop laughing out there in the background.

Not blogged about at the time but I also started a new job in February. More on that through the summary.

March

March saw us in Toronto for Canada Blooms, and a stay at our favourite sinfully luxurious hotel - the Cosmopolitian, an annoying confrontation with NYPD helicopters, and the single finest meal I think I've ever had.

April

In April, I'm sure there was a lot going on in the garden, but apparently I was too busy getting ready for my trip in May to blog about it. My big excitement seems to be updating my blog with a gorgeous picture in the header bar.

May

May saw us heading off to Scotland and Iceland for the whole month, for our long overdue honeymoon. Perfect weather, lots of ancient places to explore, and just so much to see and take in. Iceland even gave us a rather memorable send-off with an earthquake on our last day there.

Believe it or not, I'm actually rather shy, so I didn't introduce myself to distant relatives in Scotland, or to Alda while I was in Iceland.


June

June saw me getting back into the garden, and trying out the One Local Summer thing again. I eventually got off the One Local Summer thing - while I was still eating locally, I found I didn't have the stick-to-it-ness to blog about it weekly. The whole year has seen my blogging diminish considerably from previous years.

The new job mentioned in February is a mat leave position, and I ran into the first major kink in June when my assistant moved on to another position. I can't blame her - this was temporary, and what she moved to is permanent, but it did create some instability and extra work for me.

July

July gives us some reporting from the garden, and the fiber side of life. We held a get together in the backyard to make glass beads in a new smelter that Neil's working on, and I co-opted the firepit to put some dye pots on.

Ahh yes... and Darrell delivered the bird feeder.

August

Birds, gardens and squirrels - oh my!

I also started with that Facebook thing - very absorbing.

And then there's that pesky job thing. The person hired to replace the assistant who moved on, moved on himself! It's August, on the cusp of the single busiest time of the year and I'm training someone new again!

September

September disappeared into a black hole. Literally, I have no memory of anything but getting increasingly short of hair available to pull out. I was very very very busy.

October

Marginally better, work-wise, in that the new fellow is working out well. But my laptop at home started to malfunction and it took weeks to get fixed. Actually, we finally discovered that the repair place was nuts, and it was just easier to get it replaced entirely.


November

November brought a new challenge at work when the guy that my position is a back up for, got sick. Very sick. Of the not yet back variety. And I've been doing two jobs for two months now.

I'm surprised that I blogged at all in November, but I'm not surprised that it was a meme. Brain power is something I that had little extra to spare.

Oh, and the snow hit us early and hard. We still have mulch in the driveway that wasn't distributed and leaves that never got properly collected or mulched into the lawn. I didn't get a chance to plant bulbs, and the two trees that came down are still largely in piles in the back yard. I'm going to pay heavily for this in the spring.


December

December was better job-wise, mostly in that the students all start to get focussed on exams and leave us alone for awhile. Perhaps somewhat in that I might now have the hang of a few things. And I got some reason to hope that things will get better in the new year - but more on that in the New Year. :)

At home, Neil bought some skyr from Palssons in Manitoba - the only place that we know of that makes skyr in Canada. I've been trying to make more at home, and not having a great deal of success.

More on making Skyr at home

But first, a recap - here's a summary of all previous posts that mention Skyr, including the recipe that I'm working from, and previous results.

We get our skyr shipped from a small grocery store in Arborg, Manitoba, by the name of Palsson's. As far as we know, it's the only place in Canada that makes and sells the stuff. They make it in their dairy section.

When I have it, I keep trying to make some more. I just tried again yesterday - draining the results tonight.

*sigh* Let's just say I don't have the hang of it yet. 4 quarts of milk reduced to approximately 2.5 cups of something that only vaguely resembles sky and tastes ...... Neil kindly says "not bad". I didn't like it.

Seven things

Nina tagged me with a meme (bless her heart, I did need a kick) - 7 previously unknown things about me.

1. I've never bought a gadget direct from one of those tv infomercials.

2. But I have been tempted, and found at least two of them in a store later and bought them there. The indirectness of finding it in the store later saves my geeky pride.

3. The Perfect Pancake, and the Quick Chop, in case you were wondering. One's been useful and the other a complete flunk.

4. I don't own a Klingon dictionary. ;)

5. But I do own at least two of the Nitpicker's Guides - a) for Deep Space Nine Trekkers and b) for Next Generation Trekkers.

6. I prefer the term "Trekkie".

7. I just started knitting again, after nearly a 25 year hiatus. And I blame the Yarn Harlot. :)

Darn, it's October already

I swear that I'm still here.

The first two weeks of September were a blur - all psychotic work stuff, all the time. Things are calmer now, but my laptop starting freezing and went to the shop and it's been more then a week now and I'm going crazy.

Yes, there is another computer in the house but it's in the smelly boy infested basement office and all of the settings and bookmarks are different, not to mention the weird keyboard and mouse thing.

The husband in question has kindly been letting me use his work laptop in the living room (we really need to renovate the basement) and it at least has a normal keyboard and mouse but all the settings and bookmarks are still different! My husband and I really have different brains about what works for us on computer settings.

I really really want my laptop back.... soon, I hope. I have pictures on the camera, but I can't blog unless I go down to basement office. His office laptop doesn't have Easy Thumbnails or Adobe Photoshop. *sigh*

Karen

August flies by

I know, I disappeared into a black hole again for a bit. It's my brother's fault, loosely speaking. :)

He was home visiting - he lives way over on the other side of the country - and I happened to ask him if he had a Facebook page. I had signed up months ago for a Facebook page so I could see the pics that my boss was posting of her new baby while she was on mat leave, but eventually I found I was wasn't using it. Of course when my brother told me he did indeed have a page, I had to start using it again! Must keep in touch. And then there were all these people I knew and .. well, one thing lead to another and I've been gone.

But don't worry, I still prefer blogging. Facebook feels very ....invasive. Young. And overly structured. In blogging, I think I have more freedom, and there's a design element to the page that I can control.

Anyhoo.... back to my world. It got quite crowded at the bird feeder for a bit....



But lately, they've been staying away. It's quite strange.

Found these in the yard a week or so ago.... anyone know what they are? This is WAY out of my experience!



Well, we're off to that traditional Canadian activity on the long weekend - camping! It's another SCA thing so maybe I'll have some pictures when we get back. If my increasingly psychotic work schedule allows me the time, I might even be able to post again.


Karen

Perception Personality Image Test

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NBPC - The Daydreamer

Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

More Garden, and Birds

Ecineachea in bloom. I think this is the original variety that is supposed to be good for the immune system. I find it amusing to grow a bunch of medicinal herbs that I'll probably never have time enough to learn how to use properly.



House Finch. We think. We looked it up on a website somewhere.



Blue Jay.



Squirrel, oh so innocent looking.



Squirrel, caught in the act.



Funny squirrel. Must find some grease for that pole.

Garden, Birds, Fibre

Sometimes they look pretty even not fully open....



Sometimes they look pretty when the sun catches the stamen just right...



I'm afraid of bees. But I've learned, finally, that these ones don't care about me at all. As long as I don't get between them and their food..... I don't have to run away squeeking, I can stay and watch.



Even dead and dried, these alliums are interesting.



Golden Marguerite is another great dye plant. I need to start collecting the dead heads. Apparently you can freeze them without ruining the dyestuff.



Darrell, our friend the blacksmith, made this very pretty bird feeder for us. Darrell's work can be found at Wareham Forge - http://www.warehamforge.ca - or if you want to talk to him in person, he'll be selling his stuff at the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival on August 8 - 10th.

The feeder on the right is many times more popular, but these little creatures are very messy eaters and leave much of it on the ground. The squirrels are very happy campers.

By the by... if you happen to be a bird watcher, please let me know what kind of visitors I'm getting?



I'm pretty sure that this is a golden finch.....



But this fellow.... I have no idea. He's much larger, in the same size class as a blue jay (they are not hard to identify!) and prefers the sunflower seeds.



Just to round things out.... remember that lovely peachy colour from the second soaking of woad leaves? Here it is carded and fluffy....



And spun.

Dyeing, Flowers

Pretty delphinium - all gone now. Big rain last night killed many of the older flowers.



Foxglove - all gone now.



This pink ecineachea is blooming, and survived the rain.



This regular old purple variety is about to bloom. Ecineachea has interesting shapes, even pre-bloom.



Lily, also recently deceased. They are such fragile flowers, even at the best of times.



White cosmos. Very pretty. At moment, I think it's my favourite annual, in all of it's colours.



What I did with my most recent weekend - dyeing woolstuffs with natural dyes. I invited a few friends over - Nina and Vandy. We used madder roots, madder plant tops, ladies' bedstraw, alkanet root, and two different dyebaths from woad leaves - all from my own garden!

We were busy!

Darrell brought us this tripod to hang our dye pots on. That's the madder tops and alkanet roots in those two pots. Their colours turned out somewhat disappointing so I have no pictures of their end result. Both the alkanet and the madder tops gave us a distinctly boring beige.



The woad results were mixed. I've never used woad before but it has such an air of complex mystery that even this little tiny bit of blue was exciting, but it was such a tiny bit that it was a bit disappointing too. I think I just didn't have enough woad leaves, or abundantly healthy plants to clip from, to produce enough pigment for the really exciting results.



Although, it's interesting..... this secondary colour from the leaves turned out quite nicely. It's bang on the results one is supposed to get from a secondary dye bath from the woad leaves - a pretty peach.



And madder is always a show-stopper. There are so many different ways you can use madder to get different results. For that straight up WOW of watching wool turn a different colour - just harvest roots that are at least three years old, rinse them well, chop them up......



.....throw them in water and simmer and add your wool stuff and simmmer.....



.......and watch that magic! Bright orangey red!



Karen

One Local Summer - Weeks 3 and 4

Life keeps getting in the way, ya know?

Not in the way of local eating - one does have to eat, after all. We might as well do it locally.

But it does get in the way of blogging about it.

So.... since I theoretically missed Week 3's deadline (yesterday) - I give you Week 3 _and_ 4. Just to get caught right up so I don't have to worry about it again for another week.



Meat pie - it's possible that some of the ingredients aren't strictly local, but the trick here is that the beef is Black Angus cow from Well Fed Food in Ayr, our favourite farm store. The family that runs it raises the Black Angus cows right there on the farm, and feeds them properly (no chemical additives) during their lifetime. They also sell their neighbours' farm fish, chicken, turkey, pork, venison, wild boar, eggs, honey, and milk.

Anyway, these lovely farm folk want their business to make a go of it so they recognized that folks want convenience, and they have hired a professional chef in town to make up these meat pies, which they then sell frozen and waiting. Good ingredients go in here - the meat and the creation of the pies are local, and although I haven't actually asked, I'd betcha that most of the vegetables and spices in it are local as well.



Meat, again from Well Fed Food, aspargus and potatoes from just down the road at the other nearby farm store - Herrles. Herrles is a little closer in that we drive by it every day on the way to work. Even the marinade on the aspargus is local, though I can't remember where it's made.

Karen

Skyr!

Skyr is a delicious Icelandic treat, that theoretically goes back as far as Viking times. It's sort of a cross between cheese and yogurt, most of it with a .5% fat content.

It's very difficult to find commercially - there's a small place in Gimli, Manitoba that makes it in Canada but the shipping usually doubles the price of it.

The largest Icelandic skyr company - skyr.is - has recently started making it available in the US at Whole Food Markets. Unfortunately, Whole Foods can't make it available at their Toronto store - I've asked. Something about the Canadian Government being fussy about milk products.

Just recently back from Iceland, I have to have continued access to this delicious treat! So I've decided to try to make it myself at home.

Understand that it's also difficult to get english language information on how to make skyr at home, and that I have no concept of chemistry, and have never done anything even remotely like this before. :)

Basic recipe that I started with:
Bring 4 quarts milk to a boil, and cool to lukewarm.
Add 2 tbsp starter (skyr) to 1/2 cup of the lukewarm milk.
Stir back in to the rest of the milk.
Add 12 drops of rennet.
Store for 24 hours in a warm place.
Drain liquid through cheese cloth.
Remove cloth, put in bowl, chill.

Nothing about what kind of milk.

I tried 1% milk first. I heated it til it got bubbles. Bubbles = boiling, right? I've always been a sort of fly-by-seat-of-pants kind of cook. Measuring is for wimps.

Added the starter, and the rennet, and turned the heat off and ignored it for 24 hours.

It didn't turn out so well - gritty and dryish.

Read some more - bought skim milk this time. Paid attention to the thermometer this time - didn't judge by bubbles alone. Brought it to 90 degrees celsius, and then let it cool to 40 degrees. Added the skyr starter, and then the rennet. I used less rennet this time (only 9 drops) - other recipes suggested an inverse relationship between the amount of milk and rennet. More milk, less rennet.

I also had trouble finding rennet. I ended up with a vegetarian rennet from a health food store. I don't know enough about the chemistry to know if this matters but I do know that rennet in it's original form is certainly not vegetarian!

I made more effort to keep this second batch warm during it's waiting time, not ignoring it entirely.

The first batch, I squeeze dried. This second batch, I just found a way to hang it in it's cheesecloth and let it drip for a few hours.

Second batch - skyr! Soft, creamy, tasty!

Pictures? turned out awful. Either the flash overexposed it, or turning off the flash underexposed it, and I didn't like the "fixes" in the photoshop.

One Local Summer 2008, Week 1

Bacon and Eggs for lunch.

Bacon is from Well Fed Food in Ayr - it's a neat little farm store that is gathering meat from local farmers that it believes feeds their meat decently during it's lifespan. Ayr is 25km from us.

Eggs, cheese and tomatoes - Eggs are from Elmira, tomatoes are greenhouse grown in Elmira, and cheese is both organic and from Millbank.

Millbank is 28km, and Elmira is 26km.

Spices used in the eggs: basil, organo, paprika, rosemary and fennel. The basil and oregano are from my own garden - 0km. The others are not local, but by the end of the year, the fennel will be from my own garden - the plant is enormous already.

Later this week, I'm going to ponder the idea of local eating and how I define local, and talk about my first attempt to make skyr (an Icelandic delight that we can't easily get in Canada).

Karen

Home!

We're home again and the garden is full of riotus colour (and weeds) to greet us!



A garden party has been suggested, and I like the idea, for mid-July. At the moment, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it happen or be content with my garden by then.

Time will tell.