Trying something new

I've been sick and every time I'm sick it gives me a big urge to bake. It is something about being home and wanting to give comfort. What's the best comfort? Baked goods of course. I usually can resist the urge till I'm on the mend and no longer contagious, like this time. Good thing my body planned ahead and demanded I buy frozen blueberries beforehand. So I tried my hand at making some mini muffins using a new recipe. You're supposed to layer the berries then batter, but then I missed the multiple layers item. So I had to convert them to upside down muffins. No worries they still taste great. 

It's new sock Friday! These little buggers are finally done. I started knitting them way back before D's accident in 2016. I got halfway through and thought they did not want to be socks, but I didn't know what they did want to be. So they sat on the needles and they moved into the new house and sat some more. When I finished knitting D's new socks (pictures coming) I wandered into my Rhinebeck room and none of the yarn called to me. I know right?! Then the half finished sock said "Uhm maybe I do want to be a sock, and another sock. Yes being two socks would be nice." So I took up my needles and now socks!

 This is Bumblebirch Heartwood in Celestial.  I bought this in 2015 in Portland on a visit before we decided to make the big move. Full circle and what not.

So now I need some different socks on the needles. I'm thinking this pair needs to be called Your Mother was a Hamster. You all have seen Monty Python's Holy Grail, right?

Burt says, I know how to keep my socks clean. Will you knit me a new pair sometime Momma?

Dreaming

I've been dreaming about my dad a lot lately. I'm always surprised when something I think that I have dealt with keeps popping up like a whack-a-mole game. Do you ever really deal with the death of a parent?

This time I think I know why. I'm forming a plan for the backyard, it involves garden planning. I keep hearing dad's voice in my head discussing plants with my mom. I know he wanted clematis and columbines. He always liked bachelor buttons. He planted snapdragons for me, because I loved playing with their little flower mouths. We had a huge strawberry patch in the middle of the garden.

I loved walking behind Dad as he tilled the garden. I always tried to step into his foot tracks in the dirt, never quite managing to do it with my shorter legs. Guess I'm still trying to do that now.

Last summer I faced the same issue with trying to figure out what to do with our backyard. I started small. I found a local nursery and bought four or five single plants, based solely on if I liked them, no plan to speak of. Ok fine I bought a few to plant in teacups but that was not really planning more of a random idea. I bought some containers a few weeks later and some Snapdragons and Marigolds. And some dianthus because that was the first flower I could hear Dad and Mom discussing in my head. I remember thinking what an odd sensation it was to be remembering decades old conversations.

Again I had no real plan other than I wanted them to surround the back patio. So that's what I did I plopped them in the ground or container and wished them well. It was interesting to watch them develop. The marigolds didn't get planted that first day and dried out. One of the six showed stunted growth from the trauma but they really did fine. My snapdragons made me smile each day I saw them. I made sure to test a few dragon mouths, you know just in case. 

 

I now know that I want to put this lovely lemon thyme in around the porch. Lovely green and it grew so well, hey it is still green and growing in January. I think it is supposed to be a bug repeller which is a big plus for me. I'll have to check on that. Also who doesn't want more thyme in the garden. 

(See it is even good for bad puns.)

Burt is campaigning for his own grass allotment. He solemnly swears that he will keep it trimmed back. Now there is a plant that I thought was dead, so I plopped it in the ground, gave it some water and wished it well. Sure enough the green shoots popped back up and Burt found he likes to garden too. 

I'm fighting off the tendency to add too much, too soon. I'm thinking of a couple of raised beds of veggies and adding a few more flowers. I'd dearly love to finally have a clematis for Dad. I'm looking into lavender too. I've always admired CrazySheepLady's lavender garden, although I don't know how much of an effort I want to make. Again if I start small with a plant or two...

An acer, Japanese Maple, is one thing I said I would have if I ever moved to Oregon. Have you seen those things? They are beautiful! And Bamboo is on my mind too, how can I grow it without having it takeover and without it costing me oodles of cash. Ferns, we have a nice shady corner that I bet would grow ferns.

But mostly right now I'm thinking about what veggies to plant. As a farmer's daughter, I really should be growing things to eat. And we all know Hubby will eat any and all tomatoes that I can grow. I'm going to try my hand at lettuce too. I think I read somewhere that they are companion plants. I should plant some peas and Swiss chard too.

Oh and an herb garden, and a tea garden, I know they sell camomile plants here...  The garden I'm growing in my mind is huge and wonderful. If I can manage to get one percent of it planted in real life I'll be doing all right.

Now if I can manage to not put my name on every seed catalog list. I remember how Dad would pour over those when we lived on the farm. Surely a catalog or two won't fill the mailbox too full or be too tempting for me...

Little Sisters

Burt and I were trying to take some sock pictures. Burt says part of the reason he picked me was to advance his knitwear modeling career. Momma's trying to update her Ravelry projects. 

Somedays little sisters can be so nosey, and knit model horner-in-er-y.

No Mellie! This is my career.

Quick Momma take the picture before she comes back and horns in again.

Christmas Yarn 2018

Hubby likes to get me yarn for Christmas, possibly because I like getting yarn for... any occasion really. He says he now tries to pick yarn colors that he has not seen in my stash. Brighten up and diversify the stash is most welcome.

First up we have Dream Smooshy in Kyoto Sunset.

Then we have Blazing Fibers, which likes to name the yarn after popular pot strains. This one is Crystal Coma. And while it does not contain pot it does contain yak which is a first for me I believe.

We were out driving one day and passed by a sign advertising alpaca yarn and fiber for sale. So I picked up some yarn for me. And maybe even found an eventual knitting/spinning group. One of the things I miss most from NY, my fellow fiberistas.

To feed my soul

So as the new year rolled around I found myself looking back at the last couple of years. It was only the second Christmas we've had after D's accident. I think for me it was more of a contemplation anniversary. I think I was so focused on getting through 2017.

In 2018 I was recruited for a more than part time volunteer position at church. On top of that we bought a house and moved again. It was an extremely busy time, no wonder I'm looking back with some fatigue. 

Of course we also picked up another yarn inspector.

So I've discovered that I've not knit as much as I would like, but then again I don't really think it is possible to knit as much as we would like sometimes. Some of my limited knitting time has been stolen by spinning but really it is mostly life that keeps us from knitting.

I now have a lovely kitchen that I'd love to bake and cook in more. And blogging where did my blogging time go? I know a little bit of it is not wishing to face some difficult memories and adjust to the new us. Plus I have not figured out where my pictures should be taken. Maybe I will have to take my pictures on the front lawn on Saturday morning. The new neighbors probably think I'm weird for all different reasons. People are going to think what they will of me I just don't have the time to worry about others. I'm just amazed how time just gets ticked away minute by minute.

So looking forward small steps in the right direction. I do have knitting to show you. This is one of the skeins of 2017 Christmas yarn from the extremely loveable hubby. Good thing he can pick out his own yarn. I get to play with it for a while then he gets to wear them. How much more practical and enjoyable could it be?

So looking forward I'd like to knit more and blog more. Small steps in the right direction.

I already ended 2018 with more time in my kitchen. Tasty homemade food is already making us feel better.

Speaking of feeling better this helps. My soul feels better looking at these last two photos. I am loved by these two furry fiends and their daddy. Life is good even when it needs a bit of tweaking.

Burt says...

Burt says, Momma you should show some of the knitting you've been doing. People will think you don't knit anything anymore. Oh and Momma? We could kickstart my knitwear model career again.

Your Momma is going to love these new socks you made for her.

And Daddy will love his socks too. Those are some great tweedy socks Momma.

Oh Momma this new Imperfect Produce does not seem so imperfect to me. Does this mean we have to start eating more veggies?! Oh just you and Daddy have to eat them? That's good, but then again that beef stew smells kinda good.

And speaking of spinning...

I don't just buy fiber, I spin yarn too.

Meet my batch of lovelies.

I see several Christmas ornaments coming from these. I've got to start knitting with them so I can understand the yarn I'm making, or rope.

My class at OFFF started off asking if any of us had made rope. My hand went right up and I said I just made some last week. No pictures yet as I've been having fun washing the skeins that I like instead. My little success stories first then I'll go back and take some pictures of my learning experiments, maybe.

First up a Polwarth Tussah Silk blend by BJS Fiber Creations. I had just found out that my first wheel was not going to be my spinning friend. But I had faith and bought fiber anyways. I thought I could spin it by spindle if nothing else. Now I don't think of myself as a silk kind of girl anymore but man was this fun to spin. I thought I would have to fight it because silk is slippery but nope. I blinked and the bobbin was full. Love the blue green color!

Ahh fiber that almost stayed in the stash... When you're new to doing something the worry is that you will ruin something with your inexperience. I stayed away from spinning because I thought it would be too technical to pick up easily. As with many things in life spinning is as difficult as you make it. If you want to learn the technical words and stats, you can. If you just want to spin a wheel around and watch fiber changes to yarn, if you're lucky and rope if you're not, you can do that too.

I had held onto this fiber for a couple of years because it was bought from the shepherd and such a beautiful natural silver/gray. Then I opened the bag and touched it. If I want to learn how to spin I've got to spin.

 This yarn just makes me happy. The fiber was bought at one of my last fiber festivals before the East to West move. I thought I should be learning on all the natural fibers first. Then BI urt reminded me that I only have to do what I want. I am the boss of my spinning... he's a smart cat!

This yarn is round, bouncy, elastic and sproingy. I just love the feel of it. It is a three ply that makes me want to spin more.

Burt? He's ok with my new hobby. 

As least Momma is not bringing home any more sisters.