Saying goodbye to summer

 The Color Confidence workshop with Sarah Jackson ended last Friday and my head is stuffed with information.  She is my favorite designer in Handwoven and I hope to put what I learned to good use.  Our summer and winter sampler had a section of colors we chose from a inspiration photo and wrapped yarn on a cardboard strip to help us plan placement and value.  Another time I'd choose something less vigorous than zinnias, maybe.

I finished Sarah Jackson's prayer shawl weave-along, my first time to weave with the shadow weave structure.  I've warped my loom and am weaving another one to help cement what I learned on this one.

I think is going to become a gift as I'm just not a shawl person.  Maybe I can weave this as cloth?

Our kitty is seven years old now and has always eaten Iams dry cat food but lately her coat has looked ragged and her vomiting more frequent.  At the suggestion of a friend we switched her to grain free food, the logic being that cats are carnivores and wouldn't eat grains if left on their own.  The improvement is remarkable.

Ian also read that raising their dish helps to eliminate vomiting and promote digestion.  I can't tell how helpful it is since we've also changed her food, but she's a less messy eater now.

The same friend who suggested the change in our cat's diet also got me turned onto making my own kimchi.  My first batch was cabbage and chard from our garden.  I'm soaking the greens in saltwater in this photo.

It turned out so good that I made a second batch today.  If you're interested, the author says the recipe is from her mother-in-law and you can find it here.  

The earwigs were ferocious this year.  I want to plant cabbage again next year but set out soysauce/oil traps right at the beginning.  One of my friends insists she killed thousands with the traps.  I find that hard to believe but any would be better than this.  I'll figure out a way to avoid the raccoons next years - maybe just cottage cheese lids.  If you're wondering why the cabbage head is in water, I'm drowning earwigs.

The geese are gone, much to my relief.  They're pretty to look at but miserable to share a trail with.  The canal is still flowing, but I noticed this morning on my walk that there's a drop in water level.  It's been a rough water year for farmers so no doubt they're filling their stock ponds anticipating the end of the irrigation canal for 2020.

We've had the first killer frost and said goodbye to the garden.  Our maple tree is an early harbinger of autumn and October arrives this Thursday, my favorite month of the year.