slow start

So the first pysanky of the season always finds me a bit rusty.  I played with the kistka and cleaned it out and taught myself how to draw 40 triangles on the surface of the egg.  This one is not to give away because it has too many mistakes.  I searched around under the glass cupboard and found the dye jars.  Then the rest of time was spent on emptying the contents of several eggs.  There is something nice about giving eggs with the yolks still intact, but I have lost many eggs to "sudden explosions" and have changed my mind (contrary to tradition).

With the snow and ice finally melting off, the first snowdrops of the season show themselves on the hillside.  I saw my first wasp today and thought it was rather cold and windy for it to be flying about.   There are signs that it is time to start getting the seeds together.  Peppers and lettuce and tomatoes are at the ready.  The lettuce can go directly in the greenhouse, but the rest will have to go under the grow lights on the windowsill for at least 5 or 6 weeks.  Gives me time to rake off the winter in the garden!                                                                

time to

So many things have to do with good timing. When to pick the peaches, is one of them. They look ripe- but they are still a bit too firm. On the other hand, they may ripen on the counter after picking. The birds and squirrels and chipmunks are watching them for readiness, also. They test for ripeness, just as I do. And so, it becomes a matter of timing. Who will get to them first?



The Black Hollyhocks are showing off. These were a gift from a fiber friend, years ago! Their petals make a lovely dye bath, and with an alum/cream of tarter mordant, will yield soft greys on skeins of white wool. This year, I have elected to enjoy the show, and save the seeds, as well as the dye bath, for another time.



Meanwhile, the timing is right for harvesting garlic scapes and dill weed. Mixed with some Philadelphia Brand, they make a tasty dip for spreading on a cracker. This batch was served up and enjoyed by the spinners/knitters/weavers over at the Hatton's last week.

making more

Tying on to the previous warp, I wove a few more small towels with the Gebrochene Twill draft.



I changed the weft color three times.



There is still hemming to be done before they are completely finished. These are 100% cotton and should be nice and absorbent. Hemming and hawing with the idea of winding one more warp with my handspun linen, and weaving the weft with the handspun hemp in the same twill pattern. We'll see.



The wood-thrush and the eastern phoebe have arrived, with the snow buntings still hanging around. Outside, there have been repairs being made to the "grow house". Inside, seeds are germinating. And the seasons turn again.

"I have said that there was great pleasure in watching the ways in which different plants come through the ground, and February and March are the months in which that can best be seen."
- Henry N. Ellacombe

returning

It has been a long time since I've seen so many honeybees on the corn tassels! Today, they were here in large numbers!



Standing nearby, I could hear the humming of their wings.



I could see the little puffs of pollen falling from the Staminate flowers down to the silk (stigma).



I could see their corbicula or pollen baskets... and thought of the bees returning to their hives with the pollen from my corn.



Welcome back, bees!

almost

The first frost has yet to arrive. The last of the summer sun is savored.



Short walks and long shadows.



Ghost bugs are there, and then not.



Green peppers change to orange.



and beans to seed.



Potatoes are dug and moved from one underground storage to another.



...black walnuts, generously given by a friend, await the hammer.



the rafter of turkeys grow larger by the days.



and september projects are finished in october.



it is time for bonfires and almost the beginning of november!

a garden walk in June

The chickens will escort us as far as the garden gate, so be sure to lock it after you enter.



The garden demands a lot of time to keep up with the growing season. There is always something that needs work. This year, a new frame and netting were constructed to protect the currants and blackberries. On the opposite side of the garden, another frame protects the blueberries and cherries.



The peas are finally coming into blossom. It is tempting to add the flowers to a salad....



especially, since they are growing next to the lettuce and onions...



The next row is full of potatoes.



And the next row is full of potatoes, also. There is another row of potatoes up near the rhubarb. There are a lot of potatoes growing along the riverrim this year!



The Russian Red Zinna are so bold in their color and fortitude. The cool nights don't seem to bother them at all and I'm surprised to see flower this early in the season.



Two rows of bush beans are doing well. There are Verts and Wax. One row is from saved seed, and is healthier than the newly purchased seed. Always something interesting to observe and wonder about! Behind the beans, there are two rows of peppers. One row of Sweet Hungarian, and another row of Bell Peppers. Some are red, and some will be orange and some will be green.



Walking down to the hill to the last bed, we find the corn starting to take hold. There are six rows of corn, with the last two rows planted with winter squash. I'm hoping the winter squash will take off and grow up the fence.



And here is a promised photo of a monster hosta. I don't recall the name or where it came from...but it is happier growing inside the fence where the deer cannot nibble on it.



Finally, the ox-eye. For my mother. The wild areas are full of their white petals and gold buttons. They are tall this year, taller than I've ever seen them before.

chambers

The icicles that surround our cabin are slow to melt. I see the world outside my window through frozen bars of ice. Ice Jail. I am ready to be freed from my indoor chambers.




Even though the morning thermometer readings are close to zero, my calendar helps keep track of the days, and gives me encouragement. Spring will come, and it will be time to plant. I need to be ready. I reach for the jar of Hungarian Flax seed that I rippled from the plants I raised last fall. It is time to free the seeds from the boll.

The USDA sent me only 200 seeds to start with. Flax seed is generally self pollinating, but cross and even outcrossing can occur. I'm not sure these seeds will all be true to type. There was another variety of flax (Elektra) that was going nearby, and though most of it matured earlier, there is a chance they cross pollinated.



I open each boll by crushing it with a spoon. The base of the boll shows the different segments (they look like little chambers), the wall that separates the segments is called the septum. On average, I'm finding about 7 seeds per boll, and have found as many as 9. Occasionally, there will be only 1 seed in the entire boll.



The color of the seed is lighter than I expected. See the shiny coating? That is the mucilage. If you soak the seeds in water, the mucilage is released and makes a sort of jell that is silky and slippery. Flax mucilage is used when spinning flax to smooth down the wispy ends and hairy surface of the spun linen thread. The mucilage maybe also be used to dress or treat the warp on the loom when weaving with linen. The dressing (when dry) helps to prevent the warp threads from sticking together.

After about an hour of this task of crushing the bolls, I have counted 370 seeds. I have only removed about half of the bolls from the jar so far....so I am very happy with the number. I at least doubled the count that I originally started with. Now remains the test of germination.



So, yes. Spring is coming and although the landscape outside does not show much of a change, the extended daylight hours are upon us! The sun gives me great pleasure on those days that it chooses to shine. I find a spot to soak up the warmth and light and bathe in its goodness.

agelenopsis pennsylvanica

It has been hot and humid around the riverrim. There is a fog mist on the mountains at sunrise. I woke to seeing the lawn covered with many webs from the agelenopsis pennsylvanica (american grass spiders). They had been busy the night before.



Their webs looked to me like so many silk hankies, scattered about on the lawn, just waiting to be collected and spun.



The bite from agelenopsis pennsylvanica is not harmful to humans, because the spider's Chelicerae are too tiny to pierce human skin....and the web itself is not sticky...

..I wonder..if...



I reached for an empty spindle to try to spin the web. Living in the wood without neighbors to watch me attempt this task, saved me the embarrassment of having to explain what I was trying to do. Well, I did have to explain to my husband, but he has become rather understanding of my ideas.



My attempts were unsuccessful. I was not able to spin more than a few inches at best before the webs broke. Maybe they were too wet, or just to fragile, but I did have fun giving it try.



I love to watch the spiders spin. I wonder if they have success and failures. Do they spin a perfect web every time? Being a spinner, I've gained a great deal of respect for the other spinsters. There is a special comradery that exists between those that know how to spin silk ...and other fibers.

I took my own spindle and distaff to the garden, and wondered if the spiders were watching me, but web spinning spiders cannot see well at all, despite the fact that they have several pairs of eyes, they navigate mostly by sense of touch. Maybe that is why they are so very skilled at what they do.

black-caps and white tails

She thinks I don't pay attention to what she is doing.



But, I see her, and I know what she has in mind to do.

During a brief moment of sunshine today, I noticed her. She dropped off her fawn for a nap in the meadow on the hillside.



... and then she takes a little nap, too. After a time, she decides she wants to eat a little snack.
The Black-caps are starting to ripen...they will do just fine.



Yum-Yum! That is what I named her.



Yum-Yum has been snacking on almost everything in my yard. I think she likes the variety that is available.



Don't forget to close the garden gate.  Yum-Yum has been leaving hoof-prints all around the fence!