A Tight Timeline

I got the pin out of my foot last Tuesday morning and immediately I began a battle with swelling. It was originally scheduled to be removed tomorrow, which is six weeks post surgery, but they took it out early so I didn't have to wear the boot on our car trip. 

I remembered how successful I was with recovery after knee surgery by spinning for a little while each day.  It's been a long time since I've used my wheel, and in fact, it's been in a closet for almost a year.  But it's like riding a bicycle; you don't forget how.

Joe Winter's pottery works is just a half mile from our old house and only four miles off of the highway.  We decided to stop to buy Christina a graduation present and pay Joe a visit.

He just had his spring open-kiln show and had a lot of inventory, plenty to pick from.

So we got a mug for her office and a splurge for us, this spectacular pitcher.  It's beginning to appear that we collect pottery.

We had originally planned to stay with my daughter's family but after consideration we decided to take a motel room in case I needed to ice my foot in the middle of the night or sleep with my foot elevated on pillows, both of which happened. But we stopped by to say hi before checking and to give Chrissie her present.

We did a quick check-in at the motel and got a bite to eat before returning to the north valleys because it just so happened that granddaughter Alexia's spring concert was that evening. This is the first time we've been able to hear her play in a performance, and what a performance it was!  We were exhausted and turned in early, plus by then my foot was really swollen.

The next day was the star performance and the reason for our quick trip - Christina's commencement ceremony!  She had earned her master's degree in Higher Education Administration as a working mom and wife.  There should be an award for that accomplishment too.

And there's my happy girl, beaming like the sun.  We finished the day with a late dinner at our favorite Reno restaurant, Golden Flower, along with some of Chrissie's special longtime friends.

Christina had been sick and her husband was still sick in bed so the party Saturday was cancelled.  Instead, Ian took Alexia out to Red Rock to visit friends and Crissie and I sat side by side at the table, her with her laptop and me with my iPad and elevated foot. She's done genealogy for over 20 years and taught me how to use Ancestry.com.  We had a blast. Since returning home I've spent at least eight hours on the program - with my foot elevated :-)

We left Sunday morning and I drove about a third of the way, choosing my favorite part from Alturas to the Summer Lake rest stop.  The high desert in May, especially a wet month like this one, has it's own rugged beauty.  

We got home about 3:30 and I puttered around, getting my things put away.  I know that doesn't make much sense but I don't feel like I'm home until my things are where they belong.  That's when I can settle down and put up my feet.  Someone was waiting for me do that very thing.

We realized why this pitcher caught our eye.  We had originally chosen a different one, but this was the winner, and I think we were subconsciously attracted because of our chair. 

This is Delaney's first Mother's Day, or maybe I should say Julia's first Mother's Day.  Tomorrow is our first day to watch the baby because Julia has to go back to work.  We offered to watch Delaney two days a week so she's just going to work those days for now, Thursdays and Fridays.  And so we enter a new chapter in our lives.

Mid Something Summer

Here it is the middle of July and we still have wildflowers.  These are Prickly Poppy.

I was driving by and had to take a picture of these - Composite.  It's been such an unusual weather year.  It was muggy again today with late afternoon clouds and thankfully, so thunderstorm activity. 

At the same time we're getting early rabbit brush flowers, which means that I need to start thinking about whether or not I'm going to have them in a dyepot.  Hey time - stop crowding me!

I decided that I need to take some downtime and follow the example of my dogs.  It's been a busy spring.  I'm very excited though following our guild board meeting on Friday.  I followed up on the suggestions and met with the library managers since the library was right on my way home.  We have a for-reals weaving outreach event in the spring that the library has adopted and will advertise for us.

In the interim, I've had some grandchild knitting to do.

Changes

The mornings are miserably dark and we can't wait until this weekend for the time change.   Why don't they pick a time and leave it alone like Arizona?  Anyway, I've dug out my "happy light" (multispectrum light for S.A.D.) and am back to morning spinning once again.  This is another attempt at art yarn.  It's some silk I had and then I plied the single with 60/2 silk to make it strong enough to go in a warp.

I wove another sample scarf, but this time it's 20 ends per inch and so the warp is evenly distributed at two threads in each dent.  I wanted to compare it to the sample I wove at 24 ends per inch which produced some interesting striping.  I also measured to know how much I was losing to the loom so I'd know how much longer to weave it.  You lose so many inches when you remove the tension and again and when you wash the scarf.

Here they are side by side.  You'll have to click for big to see the striping on the blue one, but even though it's hard to put on the 24 ends into a 20 end reed, I really do like the striping on the blue.  I'm ready to put on a long warp and weave away.  Pink?  Sorry Amy.  It's Alexia's favorite color so you know where this scarf is going.

And speaking of Alexia, I got to have lunch with her and her parents yesterday.  She has a new and wonderful haircut.  After lunch we went shopping for my much anticipated purchase, the one I've been saving all my craft money for.

I came home with an iPad 3.  It was so late by the time I got home that I really didn't get to play with it much but I did play with enough to know that it is going to be everything I had thought and probably more.  All the recipes that I've indexed in Pinterest will be right here for me when I'm cooking.  The keypad was an extra.  I bought it today at Best Buy, recommended by both Grover and Lindsey Cleveland, my iPad pushers.

I caught this on my way to town early this morning.  In a crazy mad turn of events, I got an email from Substitution Services at the school district and suddenly found myself in an interview yesterday morning, was fingerprinted and scheduled for an orientation this morning, which is where I was going when I took this picture.

I have a classroom management class next week.  Technically I could start subbing tomorrow but I realized that I was the only one in the orientation who hasn't had classroom experience and though there is plenty of information online, I'd prefer to have that additional session under my belt. 

A Fallon Woman

Kerry and I drove to Fallon today along with our neighbor Gretel to visit Carol who was just hired as the director of the Churchill County Library system.  She found this adorable house two blocks away and walks to work.  She still comes home on weekends.  It's 95 miles and an hour and three quarters one way.

I'm always amazed at the dynamic in their household.  Carol and Harry grew up with Kerry in the town of Rosetta, PA - if you read Malcolm Gladwell's book the Outliers, then you have a sense of the family loyalty here.  

She's certainly got her work cut out for her. It's a charming library, built in the 60s but it's plagued with an asbestos problem that's so pervasive that they're raising to money to build a new library and raze this one. These old IBM Selectric should give you some idea of the age of the building.

They have a fantastic Friends of the Library bookshop and we all brought books, but I loved this sign.  Someone has a sense of humor. 

We wanted to see Carol's house and her library but we also wanted to visit Lattin Farms. Kerry and Gretel wanted to pick raspberries for jam

They picked for a couple of hours while I lolled in the car, reading a book club book on my Kindle, me and the flies.  I'm not a canner and I knew what I came for - tomatoes.  I got 60 pounds of beautiful red orbs for $20.  I'll blanch and freeze them as two cup per freezer bags.  It's been a bumper crop for them this year.  Lattin Farms is where our CSA box comes from and Mike the delivery guy told me last Tuesday about this three-for-two deal.
This is how they get so much food in this inhospitable climate.  They use hoop houses that are Washoe Zephyr wind worthy.  The one on the right was filled with basil and other herbs.  The one straight ahead is all tomatoes.

I came across these ladies, shucking garlic.  I know they're grateful for the work, but the lady on the left told me that stench never leaves you.  It permeates your clothes and your skin.  She said her sister told that she makes her eyes water.  Nevertheless, they were cheerful.  All those boxes are filled with garlic.  This farm is completely organic on an impressively small footprint, contributing to their local economy and I love being a part of their enterprise.

You might think we were at just another fruit stand but the place was teeming with activity.  People popped in buy two melons and then were on their way.
They had many displays of Halloween pumpkins, gourds and squashes.  We learned last year these crazy things are delicious and seeing this, I assume we'll get squashes in our CSA box very soon.

Gretel's husbands has a large greenhouse and she cans about 200 jars of food each season.  She was along for the visit and the berries.  She's offered to loan me her dehydrator so I'll pick it up Sunday.  I bought six melons from the very ripe discount table and would love the dehydrate them.

Years ago when my parents lived in Fallon I had a dehydrator and would dry all the fantastic produce my folks brought to town.  Nothing was on the dehydrator shelves by the time the cycle was finished.  My kids kept "sneaking" it in advance.  They thought they pulling the wool over my eyes and I was thrilled to see them eating so much fruit.  I appreciate Gretel's offer and her advice.  I think I might need one.  Dehydrated minced onions??

So this post was done on the new blogger interface which I'm a long way from understanding.  I bought a new laptop on Tuesday and I simply couldn't find the old interface.  I can find it on my old laptop but that defeats the purpose entirely.  I hope I get better.

Knitting

Vickie and I drove down to Yerington today to visit our friend Diane. We all used to work together and became friends in spite of being coworkers. Vickie and I have wanted to make this trip for a long time so set the date, and it ended up being the date of a freak spring storm. We had a mixture of snow and rain all the way down, at times just plain dicey. Scenery was not available, but we visited the heck out of it anyway.

We all went to lunch and then back to Diane's, where we chatted and laughed for a couple more hours. Girlfriends are so important. I'm reading Anna Quindlen's new book and she devotes a whole chapter to how important we are to each other. We are good medicine.

On the way back Vickie and I drove into Weed Heights, a former Anaconda mine site. It's just eerie. Vickie said she felt like we were driving through a movie set and the former company residential areas, now rentals, we decided was ala Stepford Wives. She had never seen Ft. Churchill either, so we did a drive through there too. The major thrust of the storm had passed through by then. She took a picture of my sweater at the Visitors Center. It's from the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern, Top Down Boatneck Pullover. This was a first outing for my sweater.
I was surprised leaving Reno north. The traffic was fairly heavy this evening so I had a wait to get waved through the agricultural inspection station. I drive through California to get home to Nevada - yeah weird. Thank goodness they know my car because coming home with plants from the nursery could be awkward. I see them look at my license plate - Bookist - and no, I'm not a bookie - I'm a readist. They wave me through.
I love the clouds over the Sierras and caught both shots while rolling forward - there were so many moments that I almost pulled over because sometimes it just takes my breath away, but it was already after 6:00.
I didn't pull over to take storm cloud pictures because I figured I do it when I turned onto our road, but the storm was all to the south of here.


This is our canyon, coming from the north end of Red Rock Road. We had absolutely no storm, no rain, but all the pictures I had expected to take in Mason Valley and couldn't because of the deluge, I guess were pent up and I took them here.
This is my current project. I have obsessed over the white being a three-ply and the gray being two-ply and I've finally decided to knit the project and wear the jacket when I'm done. This is from handspun and I just need to bite the bullet, knit my handspun yarns and stop being so critical. I'll get that attitude in shape tomorrow. Tomorrow - make bread or make soap. I'll think about that tomorrow.

BTW, we had to light a fire in the woodstove today. I don't know what the weather is like where you are on May 25th. Today we got to the mid 40s and will be close to freezing tonight. I live in a very strange corner of the world. Pioneers - how did they survive? I think about that a lot since I live on a pioneer route.

Mim's Farm

The last day that Alexia is with us is always the hardest. She under-
stands that during the week, no one is home and that's why she's here. She knows she gets to see her mommy and daddy today and so I am thrilled to have Mim to the rescue. One of her does had triplets on Tuesday. Lex is holding a three-day-old kid. Mim breeds La Mancha goats and there are four kids in this dog crate. Mim has two of these crates in their enclosure because they love to snuggle in small spaces - I'll say!

Mim had two sets of twins born last Thursday and now Alexia gets to hold one of them. This kid was too large and was a hard birth but everyone is doing well now. Mim has six kids under a week old. She always finds buyers. If you want to have milk goats, you have to breed - that's how it works.

This was my favorite of all the kids. She seemed to enjoy the attention and so we gave her lots of it. I love to watch the kids play. They are so full of beans and gave us plenty to laugh about.
After we watched the kids play outside, Mim asked Alexia if she would like to hold a rabbit. Years ago Mim had many rabbits in many breeds. She down to just a half dozen now, none fiber animals, but she does have a very tame Netherlands Dwarf that Alexia was able to hold for a very long time.

That wood beam mid-
center used to anchor Mim's sheep shed which she purchased about four years ago. It took her several days after the cyclonic winds a couple weeks ago to locate it. It had blown north over the neighbor's house and to the next neighbor's property line!

And then there's her emu shelter which also lost its roof.  We don't have a storm in the immediate forecast and she says she's made calls to get these repairs done. 

This is the only remaining shelter with a roof!  I told Mim it reminded me of the sod-busters.  You can see the shed "roots" to the left of it.  She has a barn but it doesn't accommodate all her animals, which is the point of the supplementary shelters.  These winds were shattering - our neighbor lost all three of their horse shelters.  They exploded and were strewn hundreds of feet.  We've had our turns and I'm glad we were spare in this recent storm system.
I stopped to catch this photo on our drive back to the house.  I'm always amazed at how huge our valley is.  As were driving to Mim's, Alexia said - Grandma, you live in a really pretty place.  I couldn't agree more Alexia.

Tieing up Loose Ends

This the part of soap making that I like the least - everything is covered in oil and is slippery. I have to be careful to not let things slip out of my hands. I made soap again yesterday and when I starting cutting the block into bars today, I could see that the soap had serious problems, so got out Cavitch's and started trouble shooting.

It's so hard to make soap this time of year when the garage and the supplies in it are so cold. I came to the conclusion that the lye had cooled way too low and saponification simply didn't happen -it needs heat which is why the soap is wrapped up for 24 hours immediately after pouring. She said to throw it out. Ouch! Ian did it for me $$$$$$$ to spare me more pain. I can't make anymore until the coconut oil gets here from the Soap Salon in Sacramento - I'm out. It's only the second time in over 12 years that I've had a batch fail. The thermometer I've used all these years broke while I was making the lemon soap so I was trying to use a different one. You know why they say, live and learn? Because it's true!
Oh well. I did get a decent picture of the scarf by putting it next to the dining room window for natural light. It's only been cold enough twice this winter to need a scarf. I hope I get to wear this one.

I caught this while walking Buster this morning. It's a beautiful lovely day when it shouldn't be, but I'm hearing that from just about everyone.
I thought I would explain why there's an 1850s barn loom in our backyard. It had been in my brother and sister-in-law's gift shop in Washington but was taking up too much room, so Bob disassembled it and brought it to me. He thought I'd like to weave on it, but I have no space for it either. The pieces sat on the ground for a year or two. In the end it turns out he didn't bring me all the pieces.
Finally Laura and I decided to find instruc-
tions and put it up in the yard. We found pictures online but nothing really specific. We finally discovered that the pieces have notches and we just had to match the correct notches together. We never did find the pieces for the beater bar.
The pieces were really heavy and in our struggle to erect and stabilize it at the same time, the beam slipped off on conked me squarely on the noggin - it about knocked me out. It has weathered badly in the last eight years so Ian reinforced it with t-posts. He's added bird feeders and Christmas lights.
I've started weaving on the towels. This is my first experience with a block weave. I made mistakes right from the start so decided to relax and just keep this towel which gives me the freedom to treat it as a sampler. I'm pretty sure I'm beating too hard so when I can get back to this on Saturday, I'll try to change that. This really is too busy for my taste, so I thought I'd experiment with more weft shots in a block and also fewer colors. I'd also like to do one with a solid weft, in fact, maybe a couple with solid wefts. I'm using the same five colors in the weft as in the warp - too much. Hmmm, maybe since I've just started, I'll made the middle a single color and then put these same blocks on the other end. Or just make it solid from here on. Rae Stuart says she only puts her pattern on one end since only one end gets displayed anyway.