shhh, keep it a secret, Odocoileus virginianus

This little fawn was first noticed by the chickens! I had not seen the mother come to drop it off, but I did hear my chickens clucking that "I am telling on you" sound. It is not an alarm cluck, but it is more of a "something is not quite right" sound. I walked out onto the deck to see what was going on and I saw that several Black Stars had surrounded something on the hillside under the tree house. There, on one of the big rocks, was this little fawn. I shooed the chickens away (they will go anywhere for a bit of scratch)...and then I slowly walked down the slope to get a picture. The fawn stayed very still and allowed me to get quite close. I could have reached down to touch it. It was so very beautiful, and I marveled at how well it was camouflaged, the spots on the fawn blended remarkably with the dappled shade.

A newborn fawn has no scent (or so they say). This is to protect it from predators...mainly black bear in this area. I snapped a few pictures, and walked away. I could observe the fawn from the deck as I hung my clothes out to dry, and I continued to check on it throughout the day. I wondered if it was Sweetpea's fawn. She has been a good mother around here for the past few years, but I had not seen her lately. She is easy to recognize, as she has a broken leg that healed with a big knob at the knee. She is also quite tame because my neighbor took care of her when she was lame. She comes to him, but I try to discourage her from hanging around. She may become to used to people and this is a sure death sentence for a deer during hunting season. I waited all afternoon for the mother to fetch her baby. She did not show up. It started to rain late in the early evening, still no momma, and the fawn just stayed right where it had been all day.

After supper, we went out on the deck to check on the fawn, and it was gone! Mamma came and collected her little one, just as secretly as she had dropped it off. I saw them in the grass across the street the next day...there were two grown does and one fawn. I could not tell if one of the does was Sweetpea, because the grass was to tall, but I expect to see them again on their daily walk down to the river.

I am STILL working on the lace socks. It should not be taking me so long. I think to myself that it is because the stitches are so tiny, but I think I am making excuses. I have completed one sock, and now I am halfway down the cuff of the second one. I have also started another shawl on the 8 foot triloom. This time I am using up some stash merino leftover from an afghan that I made some 18 years ago! Think it has aged sufficiently? I have not given much thought to the design of the plaid, but sometimes I figure I just have to let it happen by itself, that is the fun of it. I wanted something to work on that was mindless...I have had to much counting pattern rows with the lace socks!

I received a nice package in the mail from CW. I had traded some Hopi Black Dye Sunflower seeds for some wool rovings to sample. She sent me some Border Leicester, Corriedale, Llama and some plucked satin that I could compare with my angora. I am so happy to get this fiber, as it will give me more experience as a spinner working with different breeds to add to my notebook. There is so much to learn, and it is so nice to have someone help me along the way. I have never met another spinner without learning something new...and that is part of the fun of this craft.

nest building

This beautiful bird is quite endearing to watch. She has been building her nest for the past three days, and I have been helping her. At first I just put a few strands of leftover yarn out on the railing, which she readily accepted. When she used all of that, I dug around and found some more scraps. She used all of that too. I remembered reading that Baltimore Orioles like white string, so that was what I was supplying. But then I started to wonder about if she could tell the difference, and that was what started my experiment. I proceeded to place different types of fiber lined up on the railing. Some were cotton, some were flax, some wool, some angora, some llama, in short, I placed little strands of past fibers that I have spun. I had adorned the deck railing with many colors and textures of yarns for her to choose from. Now I just had to wait. When she flew down to the railing she seemed hesitant, chittering that warning call they make. Then she took a stroll..hopping from one yarn to the next...picking some up in her beak, then dropping it. It was really very funny. She reminded me of the way I feel when I shop for yarn! Very choosy, picking up one, then the other, then back to the first. I was very happy when she picked up some of the navy blue flax (ah ha! she went with a color instead of the white!) I spent way to much time watching her, but the experiment proved that she would eventually accept each and every piece of fiber I put out there! Now if I can only find the nest..but she flies way out of view into the tree tops, and down the river. She did not come for more fiber today, as the pieces I put out this morning are still on the railing, so I imagine the building is finished and she will start laying soon.

I am still working on the lace socks. I have turned the heel (had to have complete silence and full concentration for that one) and it has formed a very unusual gusset, unlike any other sock I have made before. At this point, I have memorized the 7 rows of pattern, so the next sock should be easier because I will not have to keep checking the book to see what comes next. This afternoon I went to spinning group and finished spinning all of the Targhee. Grace was there and mentioned that Fred has made some more spinning wheel threading hooks for the antique wheels out of the exotic woods. He does beautiful work, and this time they are selling them on the house cleaning pages. The library is gearing up for a big book sale this weekend, so I had to buy a few more goodies for my shelf at home...including a great wildflower id book.

CHAUSSETTES DE DENTELLE

(lacy socks) This project is from Nancy Bush's "Folk Socks", The History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear. I am making them out of Targhee that I spun last month. The Targhee roving was a gift, so I do not know who to give credit to, but it is by far, the cleanest and prettiest roving I have ever had the pleasure to spin. This is "first time Targhee" for me, and I discovered that the that the staple is relatively short (maybe 3 inches) but soft and fine with a tight crimp. I read that most people would spin Targhee with a great deal of twist, and ply it. I broke the rule, and spun it with just enough twist to hold a fine single with about 20 wraps per inch. I had also read that Targhee is excellent for constructing anything that will be worn next to the skin (including babywear!)...and so it was my choice to use it for the lace socks.
The pattern for the lace socks can be found on page 83 of "Folk Socks", and it looks much harder to knit than it really is. I must admit that knitting these socks is both inspirational and motivational. The original sock, made of linen, can be found in the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington DC. There is no information available about who designed it, or the date etc., and so I find my imagination wondering about these things as I knit. And I will have much time to wonder, as these socks are knit on 4 size#000 double points. The pattern is worked on 102 stitches over 7 rounds.
One more thing about the targhee...I had knit a swatch to check my gauge, and when I finished, I unraveled it and cut it into 6-8 inch lengths and draped them in the Quince bush and on the fence railing. I have been delighted to watch the Baltimore orioles, Common Yellow Throat, Catbird, and Northern Parula all collecting these bits of handspun to incorporate into the nest. They used up all the targee, and I dug into my felting basket and came up with some cotton I had spun years ago. They have been using that as well. The Yellow Warbler is the snob, preferring only bits of Angora that it collects from the rabbit hutches.

Jack in a basket

Jack got a haircut because the weather is getting so warm! Now, I have my work "cut" out for me. I have started to spin a bit to test it out, and I love working with it. I am very happy with the staple length, and the color. I think I will continue spinning it without blending it with anything else. This is his "baby" hair, and so it is very downy and fuzzy. I think he is much cooler now.

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Almost finished

with this latest weaving. I still need to take it off the loom, but at this time I am still undecided as to the edging that I want to use around the neckline. This shimmery wool is a combination of the merino/mohair roving that I purchased at Countrywool this past February, plied with the fireflash roving that I purchased at Misty Mountain Fiber Workshop last month. I must admit that I didn't really get a thrill while spinning the fireflash. It was a bit like spinning Saran wrap or something plasticky, however, it has it place when you would like to add a bit of shimmer or glitz to a project. Another added plus was the way it made it easy to weave on the loom. Usually, while weaving with a mohair, it has a tendency to stick to itself, and require the use of a shed stick or something else to clear the shed with. Not sure how it happened, but I did not have any trouble with it this time, and the only thing I can think of that I did differently, was to use the fireflash.

Equisetum arvense

Equisetum arvense, or plain old horsetail is coming up all over the place around here. When I first moved to this area, and I saw these mushroomy looking plants, I thought they were one of the strangest plants I ever did see. A quick check in my Rodales Encyclopedia of Herbs revealed that Horsetails are really really old. These plants were around 200 million years ago! (they once stood like giant fern trees). My horsetail grows about 4-8 inches high. They start out looking like the picture above. Then, inside of a few weeks, these spikes open to into a feathery frond of green. They look like soft little Christmas trees, but gather some in your hand, and they feel oh so scratchy. This is due to the fact that this herb absorbs large amounts of silica from the soil. Because it is so abrasive, I have used it to wash out the water fountains in the chicken coop, and the flats from the greenhouse, but I am told it is a "campers helper". When dried, it may be used to polish copper and brass. This herb also has medicinal and cosmetic uses due to the silica. I have heard of people soaking their fingernails and rinsing their hair with an infusion of horsetail. (WARNING: if you plan to use horsetail in a medicinal manner you should check with your physician) I have other plans for my horsetail. I will use it to yield a nice yellow green dye bath for my wool. If I choose to, I will use an iron mordant and get a deeper green. One thing is certain, I have to use it somehow! Horsetail is like a fern in the sense that it will spore on a windy day. Once it takes hold, it is almost impossible to eradicate because it grows on a thin creeping rhizome. And so, this time of year, it appears all over the place. And I will pick and use it all for something....knowing full well it will return next spring. So what if it looks a little weedy in my iris patch, it is a useful plant with a long history.

email me

Many thanks to the good folks over at Google for offering me a Gmail account! I understand that I was eligible because of the fact that I am an active blogger. So, all you other bloggers out there in blogger land, sign up and lets see what it can do. You can now email me at my new gmail account that I have listed under "send me an email" (scroll down the side bar and the link is under the tag board.)

finishing something

I am finally finished with a project. This is the rhomney bag I have been working on.
I received this rhomney roving as a gift from a friend of mine who purchased it off of ebay. When I started spinning it, I discovered that it had many shortcuts mixed in, and so I decided to take advantage of this, and so I spun a slubby yarn that was thick and thin. After spinning it, I wove 4 separate pieces on the 3ft. triloom. I assembled these to make the pouch of the bag. Then I wove 2 other pieces on the foot long triloom. I fringed these and used them as the flap to cover the pouch. I made the straps for the bag from the lucet, and attached them using a simple whip stitch. Then, I got up my nerve, and tossed the entire thing into the washing machine to full it. The shrinkage that happened was enough to make the weave structure disappear completely! The button is from a cedar tree that had a purple heart (or core). I cut it in half, sanded and polished it with wax, and drilled 2 holes into it so I could sew it down. The finished bag measures approx. 12 x 18 (not counting the straps which would make it 12 x 24).

a triptych from my trip

This is a picture of the triptych that I made to deliver to my sister while I was away on my trip. The art history of the triptych is interesting to me, and I enjoy making them. I have been thinking about embellishing the outer panels with found objects, and will try this on the next one I make. The hardest part of the construction is finding hinges that work properly. When the hinges are so small, and the wood or paper so thin, they have a tendency to be flimsy, or not as secure as I would like. This triptych was constructed of pine, and then covered with handmade paper. The embellishment on the exterior panel is a found button, and then the entire exterior panels were foiled. The script on the interior was first designed on the computer, then embossed, then decoupaged onto the handmade paper.

Spinning Group this week was very much fun. Grace arrived late, but she brought a visitor along. It was a baby lamb, born that morning. The mother had given birth to 4 lambs (I believe that Grace raises Finnsheep) known to have multiple births. This little lamb was so small that she would not have survived on her own, so Grace will have to bottle feed her. At the time, she was feeding her every two hours! But I have since learned that she is now eating every four hours.

We also have a new member to the group. She is from India. She is learning to speak English, so at the suggestion of the librarian she joined the group to perfect her speech. She knits, so she brought her knitting along, but I am not sure what she is working on. I did not get much time to try to talk with her, as I was busy teaching someone how to do a Navaho Ply on the wheel.

I planted my tomato seeds yesterday. I have a total of 12 varieties this year. For those of you who are interested in this sort of thing, and for my own reference, I have listed them below. I am hopeful that this season will be a better one for the tomatoes than it was last year. What a bust!

Sanibel Fruit Shape: Deep Oblate Shoulders: Green Weight: 6 - 8 oz Days to Maturity: 75 Determinate Jointless stem attachment Smooth, extra-firm fruit Very high yields
Stupice (Heritage) A Garden Path favorite! An extra early potato-leafed variety from Czechoslovakia. medium-sized tomatoes. These semi-determinate plants have a long season of production - the tomatoes even increase in size as the season progresses
Burpee 4th of July H Each plant is loaded with 4 oz. fruits that bears early and continuously all summer; productive; indeterminate 44 days (can you believe it?)
Roma VF Hybrid Meaty, pear-shaped fruits and few seeds make this the one to pick for processing. Sets a generous mid-season crop. Determinate. 75 days VF-Perfect paste tomato!
Yellow Pear (OP) 75-80 days. loaded with hundreds of small 1-2 inch yellow pear-shaped fruit. Indeterminate, heavy production. An old-time favorite from Grandma's garden. F1, F2, V.
GREEN ZEBRAHeirloom 78 days Very unusual variety! The ripe fruits are bright green with light green stripes. The 2-4 ounce fruits have a delicious, real tomato flavor. Very vigorous determinate vines
Elberta Girl H, det, 100 days, bright red fruit striped in gold,3-oz plum shaped fruit this one is VERY tasty.
Golden Jubilee- Heirloom Attractive, bright orange flesh with few seeds, this tomato was the All-America Bronze Medal winner in 1943. It has a mild flavor, although a very good one. It produces well. It is a favorite among people who cannot tolerate the high acid content of most red tomatoes. 6 oz. fruit, short stemmed plants. Indeterminate. 72 days
Pineapple Tomatoes (Endangered) Heirloom An large irregularly-shaped tomato which ripens main season but is well worth waiting for. Semi-determinate bushy plants yield golden yellow tomatoes with beautiful red/gold bicolored flesh inside.
Monte Verde OP Large, indeterminate vine with non-curly foliage. Fruit is medium-large, green shouldered, firm, very smooth and very resistant to cracking. An early midseason variety that is a top yielder. Disease resistant to VFFStA. 85 days to harvest after transplanting.
I also planted Heinz 1370 and a Juilet Grape Tomato, but had trouble finding information about these. I grew Juliet last year, it looks like a combo between a large grape tomato and a small roma.

a favorite place

I have returned from my trip to the city, and one of the first things I did was to go to one of my favorite sitting spots along the riverrim. This time of year it is mossy and clean of all tall grass and leaves etc., as the high waters of spring have cleared most of the debri and deposited it elsewhere. I like to sit and think and pray at this spot, and sometimes I just like to listen to the water and wonder where it is going.

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things to celebrate

I am going away for a little while, so I shall leave you with a few things to celebrate while I am gone.
March 20 is the first day of spring! The vernal equinox will arrive at precisely 1:49 a.m. EST so you can celebrate by standing some eggs on end, or not!
March 21 is the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. If you like classical music, you can most likely tune in to a local NPR radio station that may be playing his music. You can also check out this link
For a list of other things you can celebrate during the Month of March go here.

See you soon!

getting all mushy about mud

With spring only a few days away, I awoke to a fresh blanket of snow on the ground this morning. I know that fresh snow in March will not be around for very long, which is why I do not reach for the snow shovel. March snow is always heavy and wet and slushy...and turns the ground to MUD.


I used hate mud season around here. It means extra mopping in the mud room. The streaking of brown smears on the bluestone floor would make me feel like the house was just plain dirty. Muddy boots, muddy cars, muddy chickens..mud mud mud. But I have grown to really like mud season. It means that spring is coming. When the Phoebe arrives, she will use the mud to build her nest...so it IS good for something. And so I have resolved to be glad during mud season- and to celebrate I went out an brought myself a new MOP! For more musings about mud click here

The rhomney bag I am working on is about the same color of mud. I am almost finished with the construction of it. I still have to add the straps and flap before I full it. I was hoping to have it ready for a trip I am taking, but that was not to be, so I will finish it when I return. I will be making the straps on the double lucet. I find that working on the lucet is a nice change of pace. It also provides a very strong cord which should lend itself nicely to a shoulder bag.

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.

morning coffee

There is a busy day waiting, followed by a busy week of chores to accomplish before I go away....but these girls wanted to share a cup of coffee with me this morning.
Everyone is talking about the snow that is coming our way later this week. I wish it would not come. I have been carting seedlings out to the greenhouse (during the day), and into the house (for the night). They are getting too leggy, but the temps at night are still to low to risk loosing them. I am going to hook up a heater out there for a few nights this week.
Tried to spin yesterday, but the guys tore me away from the wheel to go to a St. Patricks Parade in the City. I was glad they did because I heard two different pipe bands, and one traditional- also saw some great step dancing and beautiful costumes with Celtic Knot embroidery.

The added daylight is giving me more than the daily dozen!

spinning group

Yesterday we had a nice meeting with the spinning group. I was working on putting together tri's that I had woven from the Rhomney that I had been spinning. I have been weaving on the small lap size tri, and assembling them in a fashion that will eventually become a bag. I am using the double lucet to make cording for the straps. I also purchased a lovely spinning wheel threadhook from a friend whose husband is making them to sell on ebay. I brought one that is made out of cocobloa wood. It is very beautiful, and Fred is a very talented master carpenter. Still no luck on the brioche stitch, as Freda was not able to attend.

seeding

I worked on finishing up a cap I have been making out of my handspun angora from my grey doe. It is currently filled with those blue walmart bags while it is drying by the woodstove. It seems a bit large to me, even though I swatched the gauge before I started.

I started flats of broccoli at the end of last week, and today I started peppers, and lavender and mesculan lettuce. The remainder of my afternoon disappeared into my seed basket, shuffling through old packs of this and that. Most of them are saved from years goneby, in little brown paper envelopes with dates scribbled on them. Some are from my garden, some from family and friends... I was reminded of a poem that a friend had given me. It is a useful poem written by Lawrence D. Hills ...

You have in your drawer since Christmas Day,
All the seed packets you daren't throw away.
Seed Catalogues cometh as year it doth end.
But look in ye drawer before money you spend,
Throw out ye Parsnip, 'tis no good next year.
And Scorzonera if there's any there,
For these have a life that is gone with ye wynde.
Unlike all seeds of ye cabbagy kinde,
Broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, cabbage and kale,
Live long like a farmer who knoweth good ale.
Three years for certain maybe five or four.
To sow in their seasons they stay in ye drawer.
Kohl-Rabi lasts with them and so does Pei-Tsai.
The winter "cos-lettuce' to sow in July.
But short is the life of ye Turnips and Swedes,
Sow next year only, enough for your needs.
Mustard and Cress for when salads come round.
Sows for three seasons so buy half a pound.
Radish lasts four years, both round ones and long.
Sow thinly and often, they're never too strong.
Last year's left lettuce sows three summers more.
And beetroot and spinach beet easily four.
But ordinary Spinach both prickly and round,
Hath one summer left before gaps in the ground.
Leeks sow three Aprils and one soon will pass.
And this is as long as a carrot will last.
Onion seed keeps till three years have flown by,
But sets are so easy and dodge onion-fly.
Store Marrows and Cucumbers, best when they're old.
Full seven summers' sowings a packet can hold.
Six hath ye Celery that needs a frost to taste.
So hath Celeriac before it goes to waste.
Broad Beans, French ones, Runners, sown in May.
Each hath a sowing left before you throw away.
And store Peas, tall Peas, fast ones and slow,
Parsley and Salsify have one more spring to sow.
Then fillen ye form that your seedsmen doth send.
For novelties plentie, there's money to spend.
Good seed and good horses are worth the expense,
So pay them your dollars as I paid my cents.

wood thrush

the wood thrush arrived this morning. I always mark the calendar when the wood thrush arrives, and this year, the wood thrush is about 2 weeks early. I have been keeping track since 1997, so this is a new record. I love to hear his song. It will be at least 2 weeks before he will show himself under the forsythia bush, digging around in the leaves. Right now he is busy deep in the forest, but I know he has arrived nevertheless, because of the song he sings. Welcome back, wood thrush.

happy birthday Frederic

Nothing like an early morning spar with a spunky rooster to get your heart pumping! I am really getting annoyed with the way my roo is acting lately. I need a rear view mirror keep an eye on him while he is preparing to ambush me. (seems I am not the only one with this trouble) This morning I was lucky that I was carrying the scratch pail and managed to use it to block off the attack (breaking a few eggs in the process). I guess since the temps are going above freezing in the daytime, he is feeling good and wants a little action. Next time it will be in the form of my boot. Anyway, my rooster's name is Frederic after the pirate in the Pirates of Penzance, so happy birthday!

There are signs of spring all over the place now. The slow melt has brought all sorts of activity. One look at the river is enough-you'll notice a flock of mergansers on the river daily, diving down and popping up, working their way up river as they feast. And I have a pair of mourning doves that have decided to nest in the hemlock trees...(humm..wonder if they have met the porcupine). They startle me every time I walk over in that direction to take care of the rabbits. Their wings make a whistling noise as they take flight. I must remember to approach slowly so that I don't disturb them. I enjoy waking up to their cooing at dawn...it is a soft sound that slowly draws one out of a dream instead of the buzz of the alarm clock. They are the first birds to nest, as they are capable of rearing their young on their milk crop, and do not need to wait for the warmer weather that brings the green food and insects that most other songbirds need. I see the chickadees looking into old nest boxes, house shopping early. And a sure fire sign of spring was an email that arrived from that farmer who lives down river...a picture of daffodil spears! Mine are still under the snow, but just knowing that those buds are there is like spring tonic itself...it is a promise that will show itself in April..the miracle WILL happen.."unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see". Yes, it is still winter, but the sun was out a few minutes longer today and that is enough for me.

I practiced Navaho Plying on my wheel with the Targhee I spun on Wed. Freda taught me how to do it, and I really prefer it to the regular method. Now if I can spin a finer yarn, so that the finished product is something better than 12wpi! Worked on grooming my grey doe and got a nice basketfull of beautiful combings and handplucked wool. She seemed to enjoy the attention more than usual. Maybe she was a bit jealous of the time I have been spending with the little guy?