The View Out My Window

Busy Fall

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

It's been real busy and will be more so until next week. I just got home from a beautiful wedding and now Hubby and I head to Marshall for his surgery. But I got a few minutes yesterday to take photos of our grove this fall. Some of the leaves are already brown because of our "mild" drought. But some, like the mulberries are really spectacular. So I thought I would share a few. I'll talk to you later.

Red Twig Dogwood.

Fall Mulberry Leaves.

Wood Vine.

Baby Buckthorn.

Corn Ready for Harvest.

Hubby's New Toy

2011-09-19T14:18:00.000-05:00

You know how everything changes in the blink of an eye? Well it has happened again here at Anniversary Grove. We just got back from the foot doctor and Hubby has to have surgery on October sixth. In some ways that is good news, and of course there is always a down side. The good news is his foot pain will be gone, and after 6-8 weeks of idleness, he will be able to do all the winter work around here…foot pain free. The down side: because he is on pain pills every day for a variety of problems, and because he will have to get off them 7 days prior to surgery….he will not be able to go to Rapid City for my best friend’s wedding. He cannot travel very long, nor can he sit very long without pain pills. It will be a very hard week for him.

But Hubby has a new toy that will keep him occupied for the long recovery time and for a very long time to come. Perhaps 15-18 years?

Meet Guy, a pug cross puppy.

Watching football together?

The boys will be able to watch football, tell guy jokes and generally hang out together during recuperation.

I have always thought that what is meant to happen, does; and little life experiences lead you to where you should be. So because Hubby went to the store with me when he usually doesn’t; because Hubby read ads on the bulletin board that he never looks at; because Hubby has been especially missing little Cricket that we lost last year….we now have a new puppy. Hubby’s best girl, Ren, is getting old and he wanted someone around to learn from her while she is still able to help train.

Beautiful Ren.

As most of you know, I am a sucker for animals; especially dogs and cats. So I would never say no to another pet.

And I miss Cricket too.

Fall is Coming

2011-09-16T20:29:00.000-05:00

As much as I hate to admit it, I have been very distracted for the past few months. And now I am paying for it. Summer has passed me by. Granted, we had months of cold and snow, months of flooding and rain, a whole month of sweltering heat and days upon days of biting bugs. But that is no excuse for me to hide in the house and watch my gardens get choked by weeds. Well…I think they are good excuses. My poor plants don’t agree.

But with all my neglect, most of my plants have survived and even thrived. I attribute that to my hubby and the type of plants I have; hostas, peonies, lilies and iris. All of them are very hardy perennials; lucky for them.

The vegetable garden is a different matter. Because of the heavy moisture with cool weather, then the oppressive heat….our garden and many others are not producing well. So we have had to resort to buying produce to can and freeze. Thank goodness some of the farmers around here have had good luck in their gardens. Our beans are just now starting to produce, and not many at that. So we bought enough green beans to put up 24 ½ pints. We got some great sweet corn and froze 24 cups, enough for Hubby to have this winter while I am gone. The cucumbers are hit and miss. Some have ripened, some just hang on the vine and rot. And there not even enough to share, so no pickles this year. I have harvested some tomatoes, enough to put up 12 half pints of salsa (I had to buy the green peppers). I have bunches of green tomatoes on the vine, but they are not turning red very fast. And I am not sure the weather will hold long enough for them to ripen. We are going to get very chilly soon. The only produce doing well this year are the Fairy Tale eggplants and our raspberries. Once the berries got started, they went crazy and I can’t keep up with them. So the birds are getting a good treat this year. I have already shared bunches, eaten bowls full and frozen 3 gallons for winter. And they are still going strong. Thank goodness they freeze well.

Arkansas Travelers and Pittman Valley

Fairy Tale eggplants

Hubby using the mandolin.

So the canning season is here, although not as productive as we wanted. And fall is coming, sooner than we would hope. How do I know? Because they are gone…left without so much as a goodbye or thank you yesterday. And now you ask “Who”?

Our hummingbirds are gone. After a month of scrambling daily to keep 6 feeders full (they are in a feeding frenzy before they migrate), being buzzed by up to 6 per feeder and watching them fight for control of the food….they are gone. And we won’t see them again until somewhere around the second week of May.

We’ll miss the little darlings.

PS…I wrote this yesterday, then last night we got a freeze. The cukes, beans, squash and eggplant are gone. We covered the tomatoes and they still look good. Now I need a couple more weeks of warmth to get them off the vine.

Do You See What I See?

2011-09-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

I know, it just looks like dying grass doesn’t it? Look again.

I’m not sure, yet….but it has the distinct shape of a circle. And it has pieces of cement hidden under the grass going around in that circle. So, I'm not quite sure.....I think I know, I hope I know....I will know soon.

Most of you know that the home site we purchased here in SW Minnesota has a house built in 1910. This house was a step above the ordinary farm houses. It has an entryway closed off by double doors, a beautiful newel post on the staircase. It had a separate pantry and a small alcove separated from the living room by posts and railings. The woodwork is elaborate and it had a beautiful front porch with gingerbread trim. Rumor has it that the house also had a cement pond. And I think we have found it.

The people we purchased our home from are the children of the farmers that bought this place in 1950. We were told that the wife didn’t like the pond and filled it in with dirt. I have secretly been looking for it ever since I’d heard the story. I want to find it and preserve it as much as possible. And oh I do love ponds.

You are probably wondering why I care. Most people wouldn’t. Well, I have a love of history. I love antiques. And I spent 10 years working with South Dakota’s archaeologists; 8 of those were as the assistant to the curator of all of South Dakota’s archaeological collections. I learned to dig, and learned to identify, catalog and curate artifacts of all ages. I loved my work and especially the historical (instead of the prehistoric) artifacts. My passion is of course the textiles. But to actually find the pond would be wonderful. And then there is that one memory….

When I was in about the 6^th grade I went with my parents to visit my mother’s cousin Ester that lived in Big Stone, SD. She still lived in the family home amongst all the family heirlooms. I remember her taking me outside and showing me the cement pond that had been in the yard for years. It had lily pads and koi or goldfish. I spent hours sitting by the pond watching the fish swim around in the lilypads. It was in the fall and Ester asked me to help take the lily pads and fish into the basement for the winter. She kept them in some sort of tank and would put them out again in the spring. I have always remembered that pond. And I have always one of my own. I finally got my wish around the year 2000 when garden ponds again came into vogue and were easily obtainable. Hubby built me a pond and my own secret garden with a cedar moon fence and deck surrounded by hostas. And again, here at Anniversary Grove, he has put in pond for me.

Oh, look…..now I have another one.

We found it. And I will have more pictures for you when it is completely dug out. I am so excited.

Small Changes

2011-09-02T15:11:00.003-05:00

Well, we have downsized to two vehicles. Hubby lovingly sold his PT Cruiser to our daughter Brook. He has always felt bad that we could not get her a car when she was younger. She is now a single mother raising a teenager, going to school and working. So, like many others these days, she has no expendable income. NONE. And as her old car was slowly dying, Brook was slowly panicking. Hubby sold his car for the price of “you’d be a fool to pass up this deal”. And trust me; we did not raise a fool.

Hubby's F150.
So Brook is happy with her new car, Hubby is happy with just his pickup and I am happy that our daughter is safer and that our insurance rates will now go down. It has been a good day.

New Bloggers

2011-08-08T08:22:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still alive and busier than ever. But I wanted you all to meet the new bloggers. Larry and Kathy have been our friends for around 30 years. They live in Oklahoma and travel around about half the year in their fifth wheel with the cat Allie. I have been helping them start up a new blog. Give them a few days to get use to it and then go over to meet them.

Here are some of photos to share with you. What to do on a swealtering summer day.....

Sleepy Time

Dreaming

Hello Again

2011-06-28T16:22:00.000-05:00

I have had a lot of complaints because I haven’t been writing in my blog lately. Can you believe it? Complaints. I didn’t even realize that people looked forward to reading about my life in the cornfields. So I am going to try to update you on everything that has happened since February 3.

February? Oh my, it has been a long time.

So should I give you all of it, the good and the bad? No…not today. Today I’ll give you highlights of the good. It is too beautiful a morning to talk about bad. And I’ll start there…..It is a BEAUTIFUL morning. The wind is not blowing at gale force, it is not raining buckets and there is a strange yellow ball in the sky that we haven’t seen for SOOOO long. I couldn’t sleep in today because the sunrise woke me up. Yep, we had a sunrise. It was a glorifying site. With the heavy mist in the creek bed, the land around us looks like what I imagine an English countryside to be. And it is mornings like this one that justifies to me moving out to the country. Quiet, peaceful, green….everything I was looking for.

This morning’s sunrise.

It has been so long since I’ve written that I am apt to forget a lot that has happened. I should have kept a log. Let’s see….

Work went well in Marshall this winter. I finally got home April 19th. Because of all the bad weather and snow…Oh, right. No bad news in today’s blog. Work went well.

Hubby got to see something I have longed to see since I was in high school. A whooping crane. So it was exciting and wonderful news, even though it was second hand for me. It was migrating north from the Wisconsin flock of whoopers. Hubby saw it resting by the creek a mile away from our place and as he drove by, it flew up and headed out. To be able to see one of less than 400 wild whoopers was so special for him, and by proxy, for me. We find ourselves looking at the same spot every time we drive by, in hopes of seeing it again and probably will for years.

The garden is finally in and growing. I hope the fall frost holds off as long as spring did, so we can get a good harvest. This year we have the ever present onions, tomatoes, pole beans and yellow squash. We have shifted a few things around and are not doing bush beans this year. They take up too much room for so little result. We have added more cukes and broccoli; we double the amount of peppers, both green and frying varieties. And this year we are trying small eggplant and some of my favorite herbs.

My peonies were glorious this year, if only for a short time. The high winds managed to shorten the bloom time, but since all are finally staked, I didn’t lose any plants. And I got enough blooms on most to finally identify them. Of my mother’s plants I have a Festiva Maxima, Monsieur Jules Elie, Myrtle Gentry and two I can’t identify. Of the homestead rescue plants I have a Memorial Day, Laura Dessert, Felix Crousse, Sarah Bernhart, and Shirley Temple (I think). Of the rescues there are some I haven’t been able to identify and some more that are not blooming yet. Then I have purchased a Chocolate Soldier in memory of my brother, a Philippe Rivoire and a Raspberry Sundae to replace those left behind in Piedmont and a Duchesse de Nemours because I wanted a pure white. This sounds like a lot of peonies and it is. Between what I brought from my parents house, saved from the old fence line here and purchased I have about 27 plants. Some of the rescues will be duplicates, because I dig up all the little shoots that come up in the yard and replant. After a couple years, they are full grown plants and blooming. I hope I have them all now, because I am running out of room in the sunshine. Don’t tell Hubby I said that.

Rescued Sarah Bernhart.

We finally have outside work done enough that we can go fishing. Hubby got a new (very used) little boat for lake fishing and I have my entire fly fishing gear ready. We just need a good day. Today would be perfect……

Daughter and granddaughter both have very good grades in school. Brook has figured out her majors and is focusing on Psychology. Along with work and raising a teenager, she is busy studying hard and hopes to be finished in a couple of years. I am proud of them both.
We have had some medical scares in the family, most have turned out well. But I think I’ll leave that for another day.

This blog is starting to sound like a Christmas letter, all the year laid out in little paragraphs. And as much as I like to know what is going on in someone’s life, 365 days is a lot to put in one letter. Or in my case, 145 days. So I am going to finish up and try to get this posted.

It’s good to be back. Hope to talk to you soon.

Surprise

2011-02-03T08:14:00.003-06:00

Yep, it’s all gone.

I got tired of my long hair always in my face or pulled back. I will probably grow it back just because I am not too fond of beauty shops. But for now I love it. Easy to wash and go.

Hey, you can see my earrings!

Hello Again

2011-01-01T13:03:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. I have been so neglect lately and haven’t even been reading my favorite blogs. But I did get goodies baked for Christmas, a trip back to Rapid City and a safe trip home in the time I have ignored my computer.

And now I am packed and ready to head up to Marshall to work the tax season. I was going to leave today, but the storm yesterday and the bitter high winds with ground blizzards today have kept me home. I hope to go tomorrow when the plows have been out to clear the roads. Once I get there and set up, I am going to try to get reconnected with my blogger friends. I know there is a lot of reading for me to do. And I’ll strive to even do a little more writing.

In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a few photos.

Yesterday’s storm with HUGH snowflakes.

The grove during the storm. Somewhere in there are a lot of deer.

And last, Obie and Gandalf squirrel hunting. A constant pastime.

PS. My brioche did not turn out a pretty as the earlier photo, but it was very tasty. And after 3 trys, I had good enough loaves to give some away.

Wow

2010-11-23T08:58:00.003-06:00

Look what we have. It was 7 degrees this morning with a -6 degree wind chill. And we still have sheet ice on the ground. But the sun is shinning. So it’s gonna be a good day.

Look at all that blue sky.

I love sunrises.

I Am So Ashamed

2010-11-19T11:01:00.004-06:00

Did you know that November 17 is National Home Made Bread Day? No one told me. So I was out shopping instead of observing the day. It doesn’t matter that I had no idea I should have been celebrating. I had already made plans when I heard the news. So I messed up and take full responsibility.

But I will make up for it today. Today I will bake that bread, feed a bird bread crumbs and maybe even try Bread Painting. I will make my wheat/rye bread and try Brioche again.

And it looks like it is not just a US holiday. As far as I can tell at least the UK and India also celebrate the day.

So let’s all get our yeast and flour out and go make bread. A day late is not necessarily a loaf short.

Brioche. Photo borrowed from Food.com.

Just Some Rambling to Pass the Time

2010-11-13T13:03:00.008-06:00

I’d thought I’d just talk about a few things on my mind and give you some pictures of our first “real” snow while I gab away.

Window from the grove looking south.

Definition of PROCRASTINATE: to put off intentionally and habitually. This is according the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. I was glad to read the correct definition for this word. Now no one, me included, can say I am a procrastinator. Everything that I have put off, that I have meant to do lately, was not put off intentionally or habitually. I just haven’t gotten around to it. I do not habitually (I really like that word) stop writing my blog. I definitely do not habitually stop reading my favorite blogs. But I have unintentionally done both. And although not writing for a while has hurt nothing, the not reading everyone’s blogs has kept me out of the loop and uninformed on my friends’ activities. That being bad enough, my unintentional neglect has left me hours of reading to catch up on. That means hours of sitting at the computer and going through over 2 months of postings for over 19 blogs. That’s a lot of reading. And I have no excuses and no one to blame but myself.

The opening of the grove on the southeast.

I often marvel at the scope of the World Wide Web and how people from around the world can connect almost instantaneously. Take our blogs, for instance. They are out there for anyone to see, and sometimes we are lucky enough to find out who is reading them. I was excited to have a comment from John, a man from Wales on one of my posts this summer. I found his blog, read it and then added it to my favorites (Going Gently). John is a wonderful writer and posts almost daily. So I have enjoyed reading about his life on a “farm” in Wales. But I had no idea that he still reads my blog and was even more excited to hear from him again. So….Thanks John, for the nice thought. Your blog is one I am looking forward to catching up on. I’m sorry you had so much damage from the storm.

One of our wonderful trails in the grove, heading west.

I had thought I’d told all of you about Bob. But people in the know say I never did. Bob is no longer with us. Remember the poor dropped off cat that showed up last winter. Even after all the medical attention and food, he stayed rather frail. He never got over his intestinal problems, and then he started fighting with Pickles again. Unfortunately, none of the rescues around here would take him. There are just too many stray cats in the world. So we sadly put him down. It’s probably needless to say, but I will say it anyway. I was devastated. Poor Bob, the only one that loved him was me, and I couldn’t save him. So I lost my brother, Edith, Bob and Cricket this summer. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me….

Another opening out of the grove. However, it was blowing, so you can’t see the field.

I love to bake. And on snowy days like today, there is a certain peacefulness for me when I make bread. But I just made bread the other day. So today, I think I’ll make a cake. I am a King Arthur flour fan, and unless there is none available, I only use their flour. I even buy it in large 25 pound bags and pay for the extra shipping because it is not available in our stores here. So I was very excited to recently purchase their Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook Commemorative Edition. It’s more of a bakebook really with lots of recipes for breads, cakes, pies, muffins….just about anything that you can make with flour. And a lot of history and hints mixed in. I love it. Hubby has been grumbling about cupcakes lately. So the cake I decide to make will be put into cupcakes. Later.
I just have too many types to choose from….. Maybe I need to look at some more recipes.

Remember, I’m not a procrastinator.

Sorry, No Pictures. It Was Dark!

2010-11-11T12:26:00.003-06:00

So instead, I’ll tell you a story.

I’ll start with the characters. The main character: a woman too old to be young and too young to be old….a middle aged, overweight, out of shape ex-hippie. We’ll call her Candy.
Candy’s pets: Ren, a 10 year old, 30 pound Blue Heeler cross; Obie, a 10 month old, 9 pound Papillion; Gracie, a 2 year old silver tabby barn cat. And the last player in the story: Big Buck, a large, large, very large male deer, age and weight unknown with protruding horns on his head and eyes that shoot fire.

It was a morning much like today. Dark and still. The recent rains had left the dawn damp with dew. The dogs, in their persistent way, woke up Candy and demanded to go outside. No amount of shushing would settle them down. These dogs were use to going out at 5 am. In the dark and early hours, Candy grumbled, put on her glasses and stumbled down the stairs.

Living in the country with no houses in sight, she was use to letting the dogs out the door, putting on a light jacket, and joining them to enjoy the morning. This morning started out like all the rest, with Gracie joining the group and the dogs doing their business and sniffing the clear, quiet air. But today, Obie and then Ren, started barking and growling towards the Cat House. And little Gracie went into a cat alert mode, slinking down and hiding behind Candy’s feet.

To give you some idea of the lay of the land, the Cat House is an old one car garage, converted into a shelter for the barn cats. The yard light is on the north side of it and the main house lies southwest. The bright light casts a large shadow to the front and west of the Cat House, but its east side is well lit.

Now Ren is an old expert on the farm and when she growls, everyone listens. So as the dogs were growling at the Cat House, Candy turned to look and out from the northeast side stepped a deer. A very big deer. We all know that the dark can distort our views, but she swears that deer was as big as….well just BIG. And because Ren has a habit of chasing critters from the yard, Candy grabbed quickly and put her in the house. Little Obie started to run toward the deer, barking and growling, but then stopped and backed up. This deer was not running like most of the deer do. So brave little Obie came running back to Candy, who was yelling and waving her arms, and was put into the house as well.

Now Candy has come up against a lot of questionable animals in her middle aged life. She has gone into a pen with an “evil” Saint Bernard and made a friend. She has been cornered by a “killer” toy poodle and won. She has jumped in the middle of dog fights, cat fights and cat and dog fights. She has stood her ground against mad horses, crazy sheep and annoyed chickens. All of those experiences just got her heart pumping faster and her adrenalin flowing.

But this was different. This buck, this very big buck, was not running. He was not scared. In fact he was mad. Candy stood at the back door of the house, yelling at the deer to leave, with Gracie still huddled at her feet. And the buck, after staring with angry eyes, and sniffing, wheezing and grunting for what seemed like “forever”, majestically sauntered toward the bean field. Soon he was hidden behind the tree line, but Candy could still hear him, and followed his progress by watching Gracie’s head slowly pan the dark. The last she heard of him were two very loud and angry grunts and then silence. The buck had disappeared into the shadows. And Candy took a deep breath and slunk into the house.

We’ve all heard the stories of hunters doing stupid things and getting attacked by bucks. Well, I now believe those stories. Big Buck could easily have attacked instead of walking away. So was I scared? Yes. I am still very leery of wandering outside in the dark and I now always have my heavy duty walking stick with me.

But like Hubby says…”you’re gonna need a bigger stick”.

PS. My apologies to George for always snickering when she worried about her pets being killed by deer. OK George, so maybe you were right!

Beauty

2010-09-03T08:31:00.006-05:00

The beauty you miss if you are always looking down; down at your feet, down in the dumps or down your nose.

The beauty you miss closing yourself in; in your house, in your mind, in your heart.

Wake up, look around you and open your heart. I think it's time I stopped mourning and do just that.

What about you?

Not Big Enough

2010-08-15T14:07:00.004-05:00

When is a kitchen not big enough? During canning season of course.

Our kitchen, recently redone, is more that adequate for most of our culinary adventures. But I don’t care how big a kitchen is, it is never big enough when there are tomatoes to process, beans to freeze, cukes to make into pickles, with squash, elderberries, and raspberries to deal with.

Right now I have a pot of tomato sauce on the stove. I have two sinks full of tomatoes to can. I have a dozen jalapeño peppers that we smoked, ready to finish off in the dehydrator. I have more squash that I can use, cucumbers too big to pickle, elderberries that need to be cleaned and frozen and the raspberries are getting ahead of me. WITH NO WHERE TO PUT IT ALL. So the dehydrator will have to go into the dining room. The elderberries will stay in the bucket until the tomatoes are out of the sink. And I finally got a juicer, so I can deal with the squash and extra large cucumbers. But the juicer is big too, so it will go into the dining room too.

Getting the tomatoes ready to pack. There are tons more in the garden ready pick.

The elderberries are ready. Anyone want some?

That brings up another problem. Do I use our dining room table for processing and not have a table to eat at? Do I bring up another table to use? Or do I take everything down into the basement, use the table down there, and run up and down the stairs multiple times a day to check on everything. All the while I am running up and down, I also have to keep an eye on the sauce on the stove, blanch, cut and pack the tomatoes, and strip and wash the elderberries.

Smoked jalapeños. After drying, I’ll grind them for chipotle powder.

I think the powers that be are having a wonderful time watching all of us that grow our own food this time of year. It’s probably their big joke that all the garden ripens at the same time. No one, and by that I mean no one that I know, can handle all that produce in a sane and timely manner. We will all be exhausted, cranky and crazy when it is done.

But we have the winter to recoup and enjoy the “fruit” of our labors. Then by next spring, we will have forgotten it all, plant big gardens and hope for large harvests. And next year I'll have apples too.

See, we are crazy.

Good News

2010-07-20T10:20:00.004-05:00

Little “Boy” has a new home. After a week of searching for owners that would not be found, and calling rescues and shelters that had no room, we have found someone willing to take in a homeless Pointer. With help from a local English Pointer kennel, a hunter with 2 other pointers took Boy, promising to find him a good hunting home. Shane took him yesterday afternoon and he called this morning. He has already found Boy a home. Boy will be living with a family that has another Pointer and will be out there hunting like he was bred to be. So my faith in the goodness of people was partially restored.

An adult English Pointer on point.

We are sad and happy. We really fell in love with the little guy and wanted to keep him. But we knew that was not feasible. And like Shane said, “Why do people buy a hunting dog if they aren’t going to hunt. Just go to the pound and get a poor dog that needs a home.” Now Boy will get to do what his genes are telling him to do. Life will be good for him.

I had gotten so discouraged, first because someone dumped an 8 week old puppy out in the country with no homes for miles around, not caring if he lived or died. Then, there are so many abandoned animals out there that the shelters are full and no one would take him. So even if some sap like me picks up a dumped dog or cat, they are going to be responsible to take care of it, or humanely end its life. All this trouble because of the greedy, selfish, cowardly, despicable jerks out in the big wide world that are too lazy to care for the animals they have.

Now to top it off, Hubby has asked that I quit rescuing these poor animals. Rescuing is too costly, too exhausting and too heartbreaking to go through again and again. So when I see a starving animal, or a hurt animal or an abandoned animal left on the side of the road, I am supposed to pass it by.

If you think my heart breaks now, wait until I have to ignore a helpless dog or cat.....So now what do I do?

Our Guest

2010-07-16T06:26:00.007-05:00

Well it happened again: another probable drop off. This one was found by a nurse on her way to work. I just happened to be going to the lab for blood work and ended up bringing “Boy” home. They couldn’t keep him in a medical lab and didn’t know what to do with him. He was very hungry, skinny and VERY young.

Meet “Boy” who is looking for his owners or a new home.

We think he is a purebred English Pointer. He is about 8 weeks old, very affectionate, very smart and VERY hungry. Hubby already has him sitting on command and sitting when he comes. Of course he is food driven so treats work well. But still, being so young, that’s impressive.

Skinny, but beautiful.

We don’t know a thing about him. I have called all the law enforcement, vets and animal shelters in a 100 mile radius. No one has reported him missing. Today I will take him to town to see if he has a chip. I am also in contact with a breeder in the area, and he is helping to look for the owner too.

But if we can’t find the owner, are we keeping him? The answer right now is “NO”. Hubby is very impressed, and would like to keep him. But we are not hunters. We live right “next door” to prime CRP hunting land and have always had trouble keeping our lap and herding dogs away from there. Can you image trying to keep a born and bred bird dog out of the neighbors land? We think it would be next to impossible. And being older, retired and partially disabled, it would be a nightmare. A nightmare that we are not, at this time, willing to live through.

It didn't take him long to get comfortable.

Then you look at that face, and feel the soft muzzle nuzzling you….. it’s hard to say no. But we are trying. I’ll keep you posted.

Who wouldn’t love this face?

Tour de Fleece

2010-07-03T07:15:00.003-05:00

Tour de Fleece starts today. This is a spin-a-long from Ravelry and each spinner tries to spin a little every day. There are teams to join and prizes at the end. As of this morning there are 2608 spinners that have joined up.

I joined three teams this year. Since it is my first year with the Tour de Fleece I joined the Team Rookie. I, of course, also joined Team Majacraft (Belle is a Majacraft Suzie). Then, because I will be leaving tomorrow to go west for Friend Nancy’s surgery, I joined Team Lantern Rouge for people who want to join the Tour, but won’t be able to spin every day. I am taking Belle, and hoping to do some spinning while there, but one never knows.

I will start the Tour spinning my brown Finn and Corriedale X wool. I dyed the Corriedale several different values of mauve and sent it to Kelly at Dakota Carding and Wool Company. She sent me back a bag of beautiful “Spinners Web” that I call Raspberry Patch. I hope to get most of the bag spun.

Raspberry Patch with red sparkle.

Then when I get back home, I will be washing and combing the new black Finn lamb fleece and try to spin up some of that with silk; something new and different for me.

Lofty goals, but then if I don’t push myself, I’ll never get anything done. It’s much too easy to sit out here and watch the grass grow.

Slammed Again

2010-06-28T19:29:00.002-05:00

Cricket December 2004-June 2010

Goodbye baby girl.

Grief

2010-06-26T11:56:00.001-05:00

I know I haven’t written for a while. I just haven’t had the energy. I have been muddling along for weeks: angry, sad, distracted, lethargic. The grief process makes no sense and works differently for everyone. And every time I think things are getting better: Slam! Something happens again. First Charles, then Edith, now Nancy.

I have three very close friends, all who live west in South Dakota; Jeanie, Renee and Nancy. Jeanie has been a dear friend for over 40 years. I married her brother and was part of their family for 10 years. Her mother, Edith, passed away a couple of weeks ago. In fact, right after I got home from my brother’s funeral. Edith was a wonderful woman. A second mother to me and grandmother to my daughter Brook. She, Jeanie and I worked very hard to stay friends after my divorce from her son. We did it originally for Brook, but we also did it for ourselves. And I am so happy to say it worked. I will miss her.

Nancy has been a close friend for 17 years. We met through a doctor we were both seeing. She is tall, thin, blonde and at least 15 years younger than I. We look very funny walking down the street together, like a female version of Mutt and Jeff. But we have something special between us that neither can name. It just works. Nancy called the other day…she has breast cancer.

Someone asked me “Why is all this happening to you?” And I agreed…why all this Sh….? What did I do to deserve all this pain? And I sulked and felt sorry for myself for days.
But it hit me hard yesterday. This isn’t happening to me. It affects me, yes. But I can let it go for minutes, hours, even days at a time now. Others can’t, because the grief affects them all day, every day.

Donna lost her husband, the man she had married only 3 months before. My parents lost their only son. Yes, I lost my brother. But we had been living states apart for years. I would see him a couple times a year, and talk to him maybe once a month. I’ll feel the pain when I think “I haven’t talked to Charles for awhile”. But I won’t feel it every day. Donna will. And my parents will.

Jeanie lost her mother. Brook lost a grandmother. Edith was a friend, a woman I had known for years. But I hadn’t seen much of her lately. I knew she was sick, from Jeanie and from Brook. They keep me apprised of her health. But I didn’t go see her when we were back for Charles’ funeral. I was too busy and too distraught. Both Jeanie and Brook understood. And they also understood that I didn’t have the strength to go to her funeral. But shame on me. Why didn’t I? A close friend and my daughter needed my support. The pain was happening to them and they will feel it daily. I’ll feel the pain when I think of the kind woman that is gone. And anytime I see a piece of green glass. But I won’t feel it everyday.

Nancy is now fighting for her life. I went through this with Renee years ago. So I know how hard it will be for Nancy. The surgery, chemo and radiation take you to death’s door. Then you have to work your way back to life. She’ll have to go through this pain and sickness every day. And once she is healthy again, she’ll have to hold her breath and cross her fingers every morning that she wakes, praying that the cancer stays away. I feel her pain right now. I am scared too. But I don’t think about it every minute of every day. Nancy will.

So am I a bad sister and friend? I didn’t think so. But now I wonder. I think part of the reason I don’t have to deal with their grief daily is my distance from them. Distance in miles. And distance in emotion. I can’t do anything about the mileage, except strive to go west when I’m needed. But I can work on the emotion. I guess it comes down to…you can’t distance yourself from life. If you do, you get to miss the grief and pain, but you also miss the fun, the love, and the friendships that last a lifetime. Unfortunately, sometimes you wait too long, and your chance is gone.

Mother, This One's for You.

2010-05-28T18:11:00.007-05:00

I have some exciting news to share. Well, exciting to me anyway. It has to do with flowers and my heritage. So if you don’t like flowers, specifically peonies, iris, and old fashioned roses, you can just skip this blog.

When I was young, my mother was a very good gardener. And at the house they purchased when I was sixteen she planted a hill full of iris. It was a sight in the spring when they all bloomed. But as the years passed (40+) it got harder for my parents to maintain the hill. And the iris got overgrown with grass and weeds. Every spring there would be a few blooming, but most of them could barely make it through the prairie grass. One of the special irises was an old fashioned lavender one that smelled like grapes. So the second year we were here in Minnesota (2007), I went back for a visit and dug some of her iris to bring to Anniversary Grove. They grew and increased, but never bloomed. Then the year the folks moved out of their house and put it up for sale, I went up on the hill and dug a rhizome from every iris bunch I could find. Look what I got this year!

Just a sample of the gorgeous blooms this spring. And next year will be better.

When I lived in Piedmont, SD we were only about ¼ mile from the Black Hills. Up one of the trails into the hills, was the old Piedmont garbage dump that had been put on an old homestead. When they cleaned up the dump and moved it, the area was cleared of trees. The dirt on the hill is very shallow with limestone bedrock only about 1-2 inches below the top soil. When walking there one spring day, I found a bed of iris growing almost out of the rock. These irises were yellow and smelled like lemons. I took one rhizome and planted it in my Piedmont garden. When we moved to Minnesota, I grabbed one of the iris plants in my VERY large iris bed, hoping it was one of the yellows. And I lucked out. But it also had trouble blooming, until this year!

Blown over by the high winds, but still blooming.

Next to roses, peonies are my favorite flower. I love the look, and the smell of them. At the same time that I took the last batch of iris from my parent’s home, I took some pieces of my mother’s peonies. This is their third year here and the first year to bloom. I took four different plants; one name I know, the other three will have to be researched. Those of you that know peonies know that it will take about 3 years for the bloom to develop into its prime. After that, if taken care of they will bloom for years and years. My mother got her original plants from a friend’s mother sometime in the mid to late 60’s. And that woman had them for years before that. So these 4 peonies should have been hybridized sometime before the 1930s. That means they are a heritage flower. But what means more to me is that they were my mother’s and I will someday give some to my daughter, nieces and granddaughters.

Festiva Maxima (Miellez, 1851).

Unknown bloom. The last two are mid to late and haven’t bloomed yet.

And speaking of peonies, I spent the last two years here rescuing small peony shoots that kept coming up around my trees and in a wood pile east of the house. I have figured out that they were planted along the original fence line. My house was built in 1910 and we bought it from the family that moved here in 1950. Her mother was not a gardener, and never grew peonies. I have a picture of the house taken around 1920 with that same fence line and some small bushes (too fuzzy to tell what kind). So I think my rescue peonies were planted here somewhere around 1920. Because of this rescuing, I have about 23 peony surprises growing. I was told by a peony expert online that given care and years to grow, someday I would get blooms. Well…..after 2 years look what I have now! And there is one more with buds that will bloom next week. The bushes are small yet, but in a few years...what a picture they will be.

Laura Dessert (Dessert, 1913).

Possibly Avant Garde (Lemoine, 1907).

Probably Mons. Jules Elie (Crousse, 1888).

And finally the Memorial Day Peony that has been around since the middle ages.

Memorial Day peonies, Officinalis Rubra Plena, were carried across America in covered wagons. It is also called Old Double Crimson. For anyone that wants to research their peonies the Peony Database and the Heartland Peony Society are good places to start.

And finally Mother….It Made It!

Grandpa’s White shrub rose.

This slip of a slip of a slip of a slip is from the old shrub rose that grew at my Great Grandparents homestead in Big Stone, South Dakota. And I don’t know much more of the history of it, except I think it was originally brought from Germany. Mother had a huge one at the house, and when it was taken out, she put a piece up on the hill. This is the first time in all the years I have been gone from home that I have been successful growing this rose. I think it has finally found a new place at Anniversary Grove.

Hated Telephone

2010-05-28T09:17:00.003-05:00

Right now I can say I am not happy Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. It is amazing that such a little instrument can bring so many emotions to people. Happy, sad, scared, angry. And the caller ID is the worst. You can pick up a phone expecting to hear the voice you know so well and instead hear “Aunt Candy, this is CJ.” and know immediately that something is terribly wrong.

Oh how a phone call can change your life. Over eleven years ago, I got one of those calls and it wrecked my world. My sister, Cara, had collapsed and was in a coma. Her heart had quit, but when they revived her, she was brain dead. So the family opted to take her off support and she died peacefully after 3 days. She was 50. And on May 13th of this year, I got another call. My brother, Charles, had a massive heart attack and died on a highway in Oklahoma with his wife of 3 months by his side. He was 64.

Charles and wife Donna.

Well, that spoiled this year and shocked me back to life’s realities. I was so happy in my little slice of heaven, thinking life would stay this way forever. But nothing stays the same, does it? His death leaves our family down to 4. Along with my sister Connie, both of my parents are still doing well at 90; as well as you can expect after losing a second child.

I sometimes long for the bygone days, when technology wasn’t even a word yet. The days when good or bad news came via telegraphs. At least then you could see the Western Union man coming and have time to prepare.

Catching Up

2010-04-27T10:18:00.004-05:00

Well, I’m home again. For the next eight months. Then back to Marshall for yet another tax season. It’s good to be home. I missed my Hubby, my dogs and cats, my plants. And I missed the peace and quiet. Marshall is a great town with wonderful people, a great grocery store and some very nice restaurants. I’ll be happy to go back for some “people” time, but I also enjoy “alone” time. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones with the best of both worlds available.

A lot of things have changed since I last wrote. The snow is gone. The trees are leafing out. The flowers are coming up. All of my peonies, even the rescued ones, are up. Many of them have buds this year. Keep your fingers crossed. I might get blooms. All of the bushes are back, even if some are very short (thanks to the deer and rabbit population). We lost a few big trees this winter in the grove, but many are growing to take their place. The wild yellow, white and purple violets are blooming in great abundance. I think spring is here.

Mother, this is one of your peonies. Look at those buds.

Black cherry or chokecherry? It’s about 10 ft tall right now.

We still have 3 dogs, but not the same three. Noah, my beautiful Aussie/border collie cross is in a new home, happily chasing Frisbees. He was just too unhappy here, living with two sedate retired people and fighting for dominance with our old Ren. So the Border Collie Rescue of Minnesota took him and found him the perfect home. My new boy is a better suited to our lifestyle. Obie is a 6 month old Papillion. He gets along with the other two and is very happy to curl up on the floor at my feet or in my lap for long periods.

Obie (short for Oberon).

The three cats are still here. Poor Bob is looking a little strange, but happy and healthy. The hair on his bobbed tail has not grown back yet. I am a little concerned that it might never grow. But at least he can run and climb with the best of them. And he and Pickles are no longer fighting, so peace has come to our little homestead.

Funny looking but happy Bob.

I have had some wool fun since I lasted blogged. I went to Little Red Oak Farm to help with the shearing of Gail’s Shetlands and Finns. I purchased two fleeces from her (one was Maple’s of course) and got a free Jacob sheep fleece from the shearer. I had a great time and met a lot of nice people. Then this last weekend sister Connie and I went to Aberdeen to the Weaving Weekend put on by Marie and Kelly, to spend a glorious 24 hours spinning, talking wool, knitting and watching others weave. I also took my 2010 free Shalom Hills corriedale cross fleece (washed and dyed) to Kelly to card into a spinners web. I can’t wait to see the results.

Now back to reality; house to clean, bills to pay, clothes to wash, yard to mow, gardens to weed and wool to process. It’s a lot of work, but worth every bit of it. I'm glad I'm home.

Working and Ice

2010-03-09T19:11:00.003-06:00

Let’s see. What have I been doing lately?
Working….snow…..hummmm…..knitting….oh yeah….working, snow, knitting, frogging, casting on, frogging. Working, snow, knitting, frogging, casting on….freezing rain, slipping on the ice….not working, laying on my sore back, watching TV, knitting, frogging, casting on. Working, snow, working, freezing rain, slipping on the ice, putting ice on my bunged up arm, knitting, frogging, casting on. Working, rain, walking gingerly, finally knitting more than two rows. No Olympic medal for me from Yarn Harlot.

I guess I have been busy, doing little of nothing but working. I have however, made some major decisions in my life. I will come back next year and work the tax season again. It’s nice to be appreciated enough to be asked back. And I will not step out of the house unless it is to go to work until the snow is melted. I refuse to take a chance on falling on the ice AGAIN, and getting more award winning bruises.

So that’s been my life the last couple of weeks. I did get home once (and fell there). The Hubby, dogs and cats were all happy to see me. And I was happy to see what I could of the place. Still snow up to my …. But Hubby says it’s melting slowly, which is a blessing. That’s a lot of moisture to find someplace to go. And I did get a couple of photos before I fell there and spent the rest of the weekend on heating pads. They’re just what you wanted to see. More snow.

Gee Look! Another snow picture.

Bob surveying his kingdom.

Heading Home

2010-02-18T18:34:00.002-06:00

Finally, there is a weekend without snow predicted. And hopefully the winds will stay down. So I am heading home tomorrow for a couple of days. I haven't gotten home since the 23rd of January. And I only live 45 miles from here. It's hard to believe, but the weather has been so bad that I would not try driving it in my little VW Bug.

So home to some good meals cooked by Hubby, a lot of dog kisses and maybe some cat purrs.
I'll have pictures to share when I get back.

When is it Enough?

2010-01-24T14:10:00.007-06:00

Some would guess by the title that I am going to talk about the weather…the snow, ice, cold, more snow, and now again, more cold that we have been getting in the upper Midwest. How the weather has given me some hair-raising drives home on the weekends; and how it kept me from going home at all this weekend. That I will be talking about how Hubby has been spending all hours of all the days trying to keep the driveway open, the buildings from collapsing, and the animals warm and fed in the heavy deep snow, the fog, the freezing rain and the knock down winds.

Another drift to move.

Nope…I’ll let others talk about the weather. Today I’m going to talk about Bob again.

Hubby posed a question to me the other day. “When is it enough? How much are you going to spend on this cat?” So I have been trying to decide…when will I give up trying to keep Bob healthy? I guess my answer would be…when nothing else will work.

You probably all remember Bob…the drop-off cat that came to our place, starving, worm-ridden, broken tail and weak back legs. We have never been able to figure out where he came from, or what caused his injuries. A person can guess all day, make up scenarios, even ask the neighbors. But the fact remains, the poor unwanted cats (and dogs) out there can never tell their story. We just have to take it on faith that they need our help, and not stew about the why.

Anyway, I told you about the fight with Pickles that left Bob with a huge abscess and the trip to the vet. That wound has healed. Then Bob got into a fight with something…we aren’t sure what (we suspect a raccoon) and he had bites on his head that needed major cleaning. That time we still had antibiotics left over…So no trip to the vet for him, just a trip for me for additional medicine to supplement what I already had. Then Pickles and Bob started fighting again. It is now the season for the female cats to come into heat, and Bob was not fixed. Pickles is, but I guess when a big male cat jumps on you, you defend yourself. And Pickles is also big, in excellent health. Bob may have started the fights, but Pickles always finished them.

Gracie and Bob snowshoeing with Hubby. Notice his tail hanging crooked.

It became apparent that it was time to fork out more money and get Bob fixed or send him down the road. Because Bob is special to me, big, scarred and disabled as he is, I decided to get him fixed. And to get his tail taken care of. Bob’s broken tail seems to have been part of his back leg problem…in fact; it seems to have been most of his problem. While trying to find information online about the structure of a cat’s tail…I discovered information on the problems broken tails can cause. I won’t give you all the details. You can check them out on this link . But I did find out that Bob’s problem with fecal incontinence, and the problem with his back legs all stem from the pain of his broken tail.

This was as high as Bob could get his tail.

So it was decided to have them bob his tail and see if it would help him. Since I am up here in Marshall, Hubby took him into the vet (in the freezing fog) and then picked him up the next day. Hubby says he looks funny but is doing great. Poor Bob. First his back was shaved, now his butt and tail (what’s left of it) are shaved too. It’s going to be a long cold winter for the poor guy. Good thing he has a heated bed. (Sorry. No photos until I can get home).

The good news is that Bob IS doing great. He is climbing trees and Hubby says he is even RUNNING. So the broken tail was debilitating to him. It will take a while to see if his incontinence has gone away (Hubby is leery of picking him up due to too many prior incidents). But I am in hopes that it too will be fixed. Maybe when I get home, I will be able to pick him up and let him sit on my lap without a towel.

All this is wonderful news to me. However, doesn’t good news always come with a price? And this time the price was $250. Not too bad considering the results, but still…. Is it feasible to spend so much money on a stray cat (let’s see... medicine + vet + medicine + vet and medicine = BIG BUCKS)? The life expectancy on outdoor cats is not much longer that that of a feral cat (by the way Boots is still alive somewhere in our grove). And if the neutering doesn’t work and the two boys continue to fight, was it worth the money when I have to send him somewhere else? If somewhere else would take him.

This is where Hubby and I have agreed to disagree. Being on a fixed income leaves little room for extras, and he doesn’t want to spend any more money on the animals. Not that he doesn’t love them. He feels we should quit “collecting” more pets and not replace the ones we have. And that we have spent too much money on a cat that may not stay. I feel…and since it’s my blog I get the final say… I feel that if there is a way, no price is too great. Granted, a couple of thousand dollars might be asking too much…since there is no way we could come up with that. But I am working for a few months and I can afford to help Bob. And as long I can come up with the money and not take away from… say, the electric bill, I will continue to help Bob. He and I will, however, have to have a little talk so that hopefully, he will stay out of trouble and live a long life with us.

So when is it enough? Not yet. But the next time something happens, I may have to start panhandling. Is that legal in Minnesota?

On the Road Again

2010-01-04T07:44:00.004-06:00

Good morning everyone. Isn't it a beautiful morning? What a way to start the New Year; only -20 degrees at Windom, the closest weather station for my Weather Bug online.

This is just a quick note to let you know I am heading out to work again. This time I will be working as a receptionist in Daughter Brook’s town and will be living with her. It is close enough to home that I will be able to be here on weekends, schedule and weather permitting.

If I can get my laptop computer to work, I will still be writing some blogs and getting my emails. And I will be spending my free time knitting and spinning. Yes, my wheel Belle is going with me and I’m taking Maple’s locks to spin. I only have about 800 more yards to spin before I start my shawl.

Plied and ready for the edging.

And speaking of shawls, I can now show the graduation shawl I was knitting before Christmas. My friend Nancy has changed her career in midlife and is now a nurse. I am so happy for her.

This is the Knit Pick City Tweed Drop-Stitch Shawl.

It was my first drop stitch project and I found it very easy after the initial panic. So my next shawl project is going to be the Wool Peddler’s Shawl from the Folk Shawls book. Wish me luck.
I’ll close with a couple photos of my projects in progress.

Toe up socks using the magic loop method.

Just starting Bella’s Mittens, also using the magic loop method. Notice the Christmas Harmony needles.

I hope you all stay warm in this arctic weather. I’ll be in touch.

A Hard Choice

2010-01-02T12:34:00.006-06:00

The other day I mentioned our missing cats. So before I go any further I will say, happily, that all three cats are accounted for and now doing well. And....all these photos were taken at earlier times…it is way to cold for me to go out taking pictures!

Most of you already know that we had decided to feed the feral cats that pass through. Both of us (Hubby denies it) are softies about any animals. Dogs are his favorites and as much as I love dogs, cats are very special to me. If I had to make a choice, and thank goodness I don’t, I would have a couple of indoor cats. But I promised Hubby that I would be happy enough if I had a least a couple of cats around. So we have set up my little garage/shop as a “cat house” with heated beds, a heated water dish and unlimited food so my friends can be safe and warm in the winter.

Cat house with barn behind it in December’s first storm.

The trouble started when we left for Christmas. Sister Connie and her hubby were going to check on the cats every other day. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. They made it over 1 day to get the kids snuggled in before the big storm. But they could not make it back in. We don’t know for sure what happened before we got home, but we think we figured it out.

Bob.

The cats have a cat door so they have free accesses to the 3 beds, water and food. And there was a little cat path going in and out, so we knew they weren’t snowed in. However, when Hubby finally got the snow blown away from the “people” door and got inside, no cats were found. (Now this was the morning that we snow shoed in at -2 degrees. And our cats are not brave souls that like to be out too long in the cold.) As he was in there looking for the cats, I saw Bob from the kitchen window, coming in from the north grove. He was trying to walk in the snow but could only move a couple of steps at a time. I ran out, picked him up and took him into the cat house. He was so cold and stiff he could barely move. So we knew he had been out for a long time. I put him on the stand so he could eat, but he just sat there. Then we put him on the floor to go into a warm box, but he just stood by the door of one and stared into it. Hubby had checked all the boxes when he got in, but the bright sun outside had made seeing in the cat house very hard. So he checked this box again, putting his hand in. Out jumped the huge black and white feral cat that we had been feeding in the barn. He scrambled around the cat house and scurried out the cat door. As our eyes adjusted to the dim we saw cat hair all over the place, dishes upturned, and my office very messed up. It was apparent that there had been fighting going on. And it was now apparent to us that Socks or Boots (or whatever I call him various times) had chased out our cats and taken over their house. We got Bob comfortable in a warm bed, and continued to look for the other two. We couldn’t find them. So I went into our house to unpack, and Hubby headed to town for mail, milk and gas.

Gracie.

While he was gone, I decided to look again. Noah and I went out and I started calling for Gracie. I finally heard a loud meow down in the grove. So I went slowly (24+ inches of snow is hard to walk though for a 5 ft, older woman with heart problems), trudging down big drifts of snow with Noah leaping ahead of me, making a slight path. And I found Gracie in a wood pile, cold but in better shape that Bob. I carried her as long as she would allow, going slowly back up to the cat house. She immediately jumped on the stand and started scarfing down food. When I started to leave, Pickles appeared from who knows where and also started immediately eating.

Pickles.

So now all three are home, and last night they were locked in the cat house. It was -24 degrees and we are taking no chances that they could be pushed out again.

Noah the Trailblazer.

Our hard choice or rather my hard choice is whether to get rid of Boots. Hubby was going to head out with a gun that day, ready shoot him. I am not so inclined. I love cats and don’t want to kill any, even the ferals. And if Boots would stay in the barn with the bed in the straw and eat his own food, all would be well. But then I don’t want our pet cats to suffer either. Sister Connie says living in the country sometimes means hard choices. Hubby says Boots must go. Maybe they are both right. I will probably give in and allow him to put the big feral down. We have put too much effort in trying to keep Bob alive, raising Pickles from a kitten and giving Gracie a warm home to allow a stranger hurt any of them. I won’t like it, but I’ll make the hard choice to protect my beautiful friends.

Let It Snow?

2009-12-30T10:59:00.007-06:00

Well, we made it. The trip home was mostly clear, and very beautiful, until we got off the interstate and headed up Hwy 60 at Worthington. Still beautiful, but the roads got steadily worse. And when we got onto the county road, it got interesting. Drivable, but snow packed in some places and ice in others. As we headed north, the snow got deeper and deeper. When we hit Storden, MN, we got a little nervous. If they had that much, how deep was ours going to be?

Frosted pine trees in Rapid City.

Frosted prairies in South Dakota.

Interstate windbreak in Minnesota.

County road at Heron Lake, MN.

Storden, MN snow.
Well, as hoped, Charlie, our road maintenance man had taken his BIG Pay Loader and cleaned out our driveway and the yard area. But unfortunately, he had done that on Sunday, and by Monday afternoon, it had drifted shut. We could not get in the driveway. Days like this are the reason most people raised in the north carry “survival” gear. And along with our insulated coveralls, packs, hats, scarves and heavy gloves; this year we had new snowshoes and poles in the car, courtesy of Cabalas and a used sporting store in Rapid City. So Hubby geared up and headed down the driveway on his snowshoes to check the house. The yard and the driveway by the house were fine, but 2/3 of the driveway was impassible for our car. Hubby shoed back up the hill and we headed to Sister Connie’s for the night. Happy puppies and warm soup awaited us.
The Big Pay Loader.
Then yesterday morning with -2 degrees temperature and a heavy south wind, we came back to the house and both of us shoed in. It was not as fun as normal snowshoeing, because of the extreme cold. But we made with only some very cold fingers. Hubby started blowing snow to open the cat house and look for 2 missing cats (I will talk about that tomorrow), Charlie’s son came and redid the drive, and Hubby walked back up the drive to get the car. We got the car unloaded and headed back to Connie’s to get the dogs. Then went to Storden for the mail, Westbrook for milk, back to Connie’s for items forgotten, then got home and snuggled into a warm house. By the time all that was done, Hubby was too tired to finish blowing snow. So today he plans to blow a path to the barn to get out the tractor and front end loader. Then he can clean some more paths so we can get around to different buildings and the animals can get around the yard better.

Usually, if we are home when it snows, Hubby can get a jump start on cleaning off the drive and the yard. However, with this much snow, I don’t think he could have kept up with it. We can’t get an accurate depth reading, but we have somewhere between 25-30 inches, depending on where you measure.

We had a wonderful time in Rapid with the folks for Christmas, but we are glad to be back home, and thankful we made it safely. Now we just have to worry about Daughter Brook, who is driving home today….AND IT IS SNOWING AGAIN.

The beauty of winter skies…one of the many reasons we live here.

Holiday Blessings

2009-12-26T13:54:00.001-06:00

Over the river (the Missouri) and to the woods (the Black Hills) for Christmas 2009. We made it a day before Snowstorm of the Century (as some were calling it) blew in. And we are still here. The storm totals at home are over 23 inches. There is not as much snow here, but the wind has made the trip back to Minnesota impossible right now. Hubby and I are waiting for a calmer Monday to trek across South Dakota. By then the man that plows our township roads will hopefully be able to get into our place and plow us out. I’d really rather not walk in ¼ mile in 20+ inches of snow. And that doesn’t include the drifting.

But while we are here, we had a wonderful Christmas with my parents. And daughter Brook with granddaughter Erin made it in to town for a short Christmas Eve. They had to hurry back to her other family 20 miles away before Interstate 90 was closed. So they are also spending extra time in South Dakota.

Now we are enjoying staying in a beautiful apartment, swimming and hot tubbing, playing Skip-Bo and of course…..eating. I'll share photos when I get home to my computer.

We were blessed this Christmas to be able to spend the holidays with our parents and that our whole family was somewhere safe from the storm. I hope your holidays were happy and safe too.

Early Christmas

2009-12-17T06:45:00.004-06:00

My Christmas present from Hubby is here! And I am so excited.

Now we have been married almost thirty years; second marriage for both. And I am sure it is the same for other couples that have been married awhile, the idea of a surprise Christmas gift is non existent. Not only do we have most of what we need, we also have most of what we want. And what we wanted 6 months ago may no longer apply.

So as usual at this time of year it is “What do you want for Christmas?” “Nothing” or "Let’s just give it to the kids”. But this year Hubby was paying attention when I was wishing for more knitting needles. He said he wanted to give me a gift certificate to “that yarn place you always buy from”. I have two favorites for yarn. The Purple Iris in Marshall, MN and Knit Picks on line. And Knit Picks has the needles I like. So Hubby gave me some money to spend as I pleased. This is what I got.

Yarn, needles and a new book.

The yarn is lace weight Shimmering Bayou. The needles are sizes 5-8 Harmony wood interchangeable tips with 2 extra cables. And the book is “A Gathering of Lace” by Meg Swanson. I have never done lace knitting before, but have fallen in love with the looks of it. So I purchased the “Folk Shawls” by Cheryl Oberle a couple of months ago, and now this book. And I WILL learn to knit lace; I am determined. I started with a simple shawl pattern for a gift (the Drop-Stitch Shawl) which is almost done. Next I am going to do the Wool Peddler’s Shawl out of Cheryl Oberle’s book. I already have the beautiful red wool to do this.

Then I figure I will be ready to knit a shawl for myself. And I have changed my mind (a prerogative that Hubby is always puzzled by). My wonderful Maple wool that I have been spinning will be used for the Highland Triangle Shawl from "Folk Shawls".
Maple's natural and peach dyed 2 ply.

I have about 400 yards of Maple’s wool plied and ready to go. I think I’ll need about another 600 yards, which I will start spinning on after the holidays.

And what did Hubby get? With age comes tired eyes. And he was having trouble hitting the target with his 22 rifle. A scope was what he wanted and so a scope was what he got. And he is very happy. As am I. No surprises, no strange gifts that you have to politely smile over, no gifts that you can’t use; all equals less stress for the holidays. I am always trying to find ways to reduce stress. And for me, fiber and fiber tools are better than jewelry.

Bob's Unhappy Adventure

2009-12-08T10:28:00.005-06:00

What is it about certain animals that grab your heart? I’ve had a lot of pets in my lifetime; dogs, cats, fish, a hamster and even a bantam chicken. I have loved them all, but always one a little bit more than another. I actually had trouble starting this blog. Just thinking about some of those favorites that have been long gone put me in a funk for a couple of days. The death of some of my pets was expected, or sometimes best for the animal, and a lot have been sudden and devastating. But the passing of some, no matter how logical or right or necessary, is hard to take.

But this is not about all the loved pets that have gone out of my life. This blog is about Bob.

What do we know about Bob? We know he is not a feral cat; way to easy to approach. We know that he is not a barn raised cat; he wants to be too close to me and in the house. We know he was hurt at some point, possibly being thrown from a car; his tail is damaged, probably broken part way down, and he has trouble running with weak back legs. We are pretty sure he’s not too bright; couldn’t figure out how to use the cat door into the cat house. And…. I know that he has beautiful pale green eyes and a cute speckled nose, he is affectionate, and loves me almost as much as food.

And we now know that even though he is still a tom, he is not much of a fighter. Right after I had written about him last time, Bob and our neutered cat Pickles got into what I think was a “king of the hill” fight.

Pickles.

And Bob lost. He ended up with punctures on his back. The holes got slightly infected so we cleaned them and used some antibacterial cream for cats and dogs (we get a lot of little scrapes here) on the wound. It looked great. For about a week. Then the day of Thanksgiving (why do emergencies always happen on holidays), we noticed that his back was swelling and he would not let Hubby touch it. He did let me look at it, but with a lot of complaining. Black Friday arrived and we called the vet. The swelling had increased to the size of a golf ball. Our vet got us in that afternoon, so Bob got his first (at least first for us) car ride in a crate. Now Bob is a fairly big boy, 10 pounds and still filling out. So he was uncomfortable in our cat crate. But he only cried until we got in the car and started talking. It seems that he was not as scared knowing we were there (see, not a barn or feral cat). He was very well behaved in the vet waiting room, and even though scared, he was very good in the examining room. His real trouble started when the vet suggested that the wound be flushed out.

I am very grateful to that vet for having the foresight to ask us to go to the waiting room. I didn’t see what happened, but I heard it all. Bob was screaming with pain and fear and anger all at the same time. I was in the waiting room almost in tears. The vet had told us this was the only thing to do, unless we wanted Bob knocked out to deal with the wound, in which case he would have had to stay in the clinic over the weekend. I knew he would be unhappy there, so I opted for the flushing. As I heard him crying, I changed my mind, but too late. They were finally finished. Now most of you that have had children or beloved pets know how I felt in that waiting room, hearing him cry and not being able to help him. I felt, oh I don’t know how to describe it, except broken hearted. Even thinking about it now hurts. And Bob? Poor Bob was so scared that he did the 3 Ps in his crate; pooped, peed and puked.

Bob checking out my shop in the cat house (note the shaved back).

Anyway, time heals all. Right? So Bob is home, with a shaved back and 3 weeks of antibiotics. We felt so badly for him, Hubby told me to get yet another heated cat bed, and he has been moved into the cat house (as close to the lap of luxury that Hubby will allow). Then we put a towel over the cat door so Bob can go in and out. He just can’t grasp the mechanics of the plastic flap. And we will leave the barn to the feral cats, with a big dish of food and beds in the hay.

Bob today.

So for now all is well, except our checkbook. Any grants available to take care of abandoned cats? And hopefully Bob’s next trip to the vet will only be for neutering and a tail dock. But then ….that will be another Unhappy Adventure for him.

Just Some Things

2009-12-01T14:42:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. Joining us was Daughter Brook, Granddaughter Erin, Sister Connie and her husband Norm. The food and company were great. Then Brook and Erin spent most of the weekend here (they only live 45 miles away). While Hubby messed around outside and Erin read, Brook and I crafted some Christmas gifts for her. I can’t tell you what we worked on, because some of the recipients read this blog. But I think they will all enjoy the final product. We also got to see one of my nieces; Connie’s daughter and her husband from Seattle. We don’t get to see them too often, so we really enjoyed it.

Let’s see…..oh yes. They are finally done harvesting around us. Last night was the last of the combines, working into the wee hours of the morning across the road from us. When we woke up this morning, they were gone. And the farmer that does the land to the east, south and west of us got the field chiseled yesterday. So Hubby was out this morning dragging the driveway (it’s a ¼ mile long) and fixing up the mess they make with the HUGH machinery. That should be that last time he’ll need to do it until next spring.

Harvest is done.

I think Minnesota’s topsy turvey weather has straightened out. We had snow the day before Thanksgiving, which took a couple of days to thaw. Today is in the 50s, but the cold is coming in tonight. So winter is on the way. Hubby and I even took some time to check out the new fancy snowshoes online today (ours are old wooden ones). We are (at least I am) looking forward to some snow. I love snowshoeing. And we have all this land around us that we can use including our grove. Last year, there was so much snow in the grove that we were snowshoeing up in the top branches of some of the trees. That’s an eerie feeling. I bet we scared a few squirrels out of hibernation. And of course, nothing looks the same from 10 feet up, so I’m glad we only have 3 acres of trees. You can’t get lost in that.

Last year’s snow.

Hubby wants me to tell you…. He got his deer after days of sitting and watching does go by. A good sized buck that has blessed our freezer with hamburger, steaks and sausage. No, I didn’t take his photo. I’ll just say he was beautiful in life and leave him with some dignity.

And now, an update on Bob. Well, I’ll wait until later to write about it. I don’t want to make this blog too long. I’ll just say, Bob had an adventure…and it wasn’t the best….. But he’s fine now.

Another Gray Minnesota Day

2009-11-12T11:22:00.005-06:00

It’s been a little bit since I last blogged. Bob is fine. Thanks to everyone that asked.

This morning I am looking out the window at gray and brown, a bleak winter picture with high winds. But yesterday morning I saw another beautiful sunrise. Our sunsets are hidden by the grove, but the sunrises can take your breath away.

Another Minnesota sunrise.

I will stay in the house today, for several reasons. 1. The combines are harvesting and there is DUST, CORN DUST and MORE DUST in the wind. So bad for the allergies. 2. It is cold…well not cold like Minnesota can get cold…but with the high winds and 50 degree temperature, it gets cold to me. I keep blaming it on blood thinners, but maybe I am just a wimp. 3. Hubby is out hunting in the grove; deer season here in Minnesota. So the dogs and I will stay in, bake bread, frog a couple of sweaters, and keep quiet.

For years I have been very vocal about my feelings on hunting. I have always accepted that Hubby hunted, but I never wanted to eat the results. I was a Bambi lover. But I also have always stated that if I was hungry enough, I would shoot Bambi myself. Well….we aren’t that hungry, but the economy has cut down on the meat in our freezer, and a buck would fill it up. I have started eating buffalo, so I figure that some deer mixed with that or hamburger won’t taste too bad. It’s sad how my principles go out the window for food. What does that say about me?

Sister Connie and I just got back from a quick trip to St. Joe, Missouri. We went to meet our brother’s fiancé. And I will have to say…I will be very glad to call her a sister. Donna is a wonderful woman, and what’s even better, she makes my brother’s eyes sparkle. We haven’t seen Charles that happy for a very long time. Thank you Donna. Welcome to the family.

Charles and Donna at the Missouri River.

On the way down to St. Joe, Connie took me to the Steamboat Bertrand Museum. For all the Archaeology friends out there that haven’t seen it, I’ll show photos later. Renee….Now I know what you mean about Museum Quality and Quality Museums. WOW.

We also saw the Patee House Museum, the Pony Express Museum and the Jesse James House. Can you tell we all like history? I was impressed with the Patee House; wished the Pony Express Museum had more; and not as impressed with the Jesse James House. But its Renee’s fault…she taught me how exhibits should be done, so I look at all museums with a critic’s eye.

Sunset on the Missouri River.

I liked St. Joe. Beautiful old buildings, nice people. And the roses are still blooming there. But I was surprised and disappointed. We were told St. Joe has about 80,000 people.......no fiber shops were found, not one! What’s up with that?

What About Bob?

2009-10-30T17:28:00.004-05:00

There are some things that make me very angry: someone abusing children; people who cheat the government, system and other people by lying or omission; and anyone who will abuse an animal. And because I want to save all abused animals, most of the pets I have had over the years have come from animal shelters, rescues and drop-offs. And we now have another one.

ANOTHER DROP-OFF! “Bob” as in “What About Bob?” is a skinny, worm infested young tom cat that showed up this week. Hubby makes a lot of noise about getting rid of the feral cats that wander through from time to time, but Bob is no feral cat. As scared as he was, he was hungrier; and allowed me to touch him while he was dining in the dumpster. So I coaxed him into the barn where Hubby (softie) had put a dish of cat food for the ferals that pass by. Any domestic cat knows the old “shake the food dish” trick. Bob responded and started eating immediately. As he was eating he allowed me to pet him, and then pick him up to move him. He then cuddled up on my lap. These are not the actions of a wild cat. And the fact that he was not at all scared of our 3 dogs finally convinced me. So far he isn’t purring and you can tell he hasn’t groomed himself for awhile, indicating stress….as if I couldn’t see for myself.

It is evident someone decided they didn’t want Bob. Or they couldn’t find him a home or maybe instead of paying to neuter him, they just sent him on his way. Whatever the reason, the action was cruel. Some fools feel that turning them loose is allowing them to “run free and wild”. Bull! If an abandoned animal can’t find someone to “adopt” them, they will most likely die in a horrible way.

But Bob got lucky. We need another cat to handle the mice in Hubby’s tractor barn. So he gets to stay. He will be neutered and vaccinated as soon as we can get the money together and I’ll go to town on Monday for worm medicine. His food dish will always be full (just in case he can’t hunt) and he has already laid claim to the warm nest we made for him in the hay.

So welcome Bob. I hope you will be happy here.

Back to Normal

2009-10-27T12:02:00.002-05:00

Well, Carissa has gone home. And it is quiet and lonely. I hope she had as much fun as we did. She did want me to post that “Grandpa played 12 hands of Skip-bo before he got ANY points”. I won one game, Carissa won one game and Granddaughter Erin won one game. Guess who lost big-time?

Carissa did get enough wool spun so I can crochet her a small table mat. She really loved spinning and I hope she will continue with it.

Spinning away.

Carissa’s first wool.

So today I am taking it easy: finishing up my I-Cord hat, starting a friend’s graduation gift and possibly combing some of Maple’s peach fleece. The sun is shining and the temperature is in the low 50’s.

Look at all that blue sky!

Unfortunately the south wind is “a bit breezy” so it’s not as warm as I had hoped. I wanted to spend some time outside because we have had so little enjoyable weather lately. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Wonderful Granddaughter

2009-10-24T07:12:00.004-05:00

We have been having such a good time this week. Oldest granddaughter Carissa has come for a visit. She is eighteen and taking a short break before starting college in January. Her focus right now is to find a career that will allow her to work with children. What she really wants is Occupational Therapy, but says she is concerned about the math. However, after spending this time with her, I think she can do just about anything she sets her mind to. We are so very proud of her.

A hot game of Skip-Bo.

It’s been so much fun teaching her to spin (she is really catching on and DETERMINED), going shopping in Mankato, or listening to her yelling with Grandpa while watching their show “Survivor”. I can’t stand that show so it’s nice that Hubby has someone to share his excitement with. Yesterday, while it was snowing and raining, we made bread, practiced spinning, played cards and watched favorite TV shows.

Pure adoration from Ren.

Intense play with Noah.

Carissa and Gracie sharing a moment.

All the animals love Carissa too. And she is a cat person, so Gracie is in her glory, getting extra petting. It is too bad that the weather has been so awful. She and Grandpa finally gave up waiting for clear weather and took their walk through the grove in cold and drizzle.

Carissa is a remarkable young woman and we have had a wonderful time getting to know her. We will miss her very much when she goes home.

A Good Day

2009-10-19T10:28:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a very good day. It started out with an actual sunrise. We couldn’t believe it. We haven’t seen the sun for what feels like weeks. And it stayed all day. No gray clouds, no rain, no mist and no fog. It was almost blinding. The wind blew, but that is just helping to dry out the wet fields.

Sun peaking through the trees.

I decided I didn’t want to waste such a day, so I hauled buckets of water out to my shop, aka “the cat house”. My shop is a closed off room in a small garage that we use to store the snow blower and lawn tractor. It also houses the cat’s food, heated beds, and heated water bowl.

Shop door and the covered cat beds.

They have a pet door so they can come and go as they please. In the summer, they only go in to eat. However, in the winter, they can be found most of the time sleeping in the heated beds and getting fat. Anyway….

I started a fire in the stove (I have a wood stove, wash tubs and a ringer washer in the shop) and set the water to heating. I tried some jar dyeing on a Corriedale roving that I had.

Shades of blue. This didn’t work like I wanted.

Then I tried a new method of dyeing fleece that I had read about. I dyed some of Maple’s fleece while I was washing it. I put soap, vinegar and the dye in warm water. Then I added the dirty fleece and stoked the fire. I let it heat up and keep it hot for about 20 minutes, took out the fleece, drained the water and then rinsed the same way. When I left the shop last night , it was draining and it looked great. This morning it looks like it came clean with 1 wash and 1 rinse. And the color is stunning.

A gorgeous shade of peach.

I wanted a peach to comb into some of her natural color and think it is going to be beautiful. I found a shawl pattern to make for myself with Maple’s wool, and hope the peach blend will add an extra zing to it. And I did get to comb a lot more of the fleece that had already been washed. Now there is more to spin.

My brother from Oklahoma is here for the weekend staying at Sister Connie’s house. He and Connie’s husband came over in the afternoon. Hubby and the boys had a football party and watched the Vikings win again. Since they were occupied, I cranked up the music in my shop and I had the best time singing and combing wool. It’s scary what makes you happy, isn’t it?

And although the wind was howling outside, with the new windows we didn’t hear it in the house. No rattling windows, no extra cold drafts blowing through.

New and Old.

OK, I admit it. The new windows were a good move. Next year….. new siding?

PS. As I post this, the clouds are back. The gray is back and rain is on the way. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Is New Better than Old?

2009-10-13T07:45:00.003-05:00

Today we get new windows! I am excited and I am sad. This house was built in 1910 and we have the original windows in. With the wavy glass and ornate hardware. We even had the ropes and weights until last year. Hubby took them out to try to insulate against the cold. It helped, but not enough. So today the new windows will be put in.

I guess the problem is: I love antiques, old houses and the idea of them. And I hate to see the past get pushed aside so carelessly. But I also hate being cold; hate the heating bills; hate not being able to see out the frosted winter windows.

So logic won out over sentiment. And thanks to some help from the west, we are getting sixteen new windows today. They don't have the beautiful wood on them; in fact they are white PLASTIC frames. But they are insulated, don't have the second and third storm window covering them and can be cleaned from the inside.

I'll mourn the old windows.....while seeing the view out my window soooo much better. In this case, I guess new is better than old. (Sigh!)

Fall? at Anniversary Grove

2009-10-12T11:47:00.005-05:00

It had started to look like fall here. Although most of the trees still had leaves, they were starting to turn various shades of yellow and brown. There are no beautiful red leaves here. Well, there weren’t any. Since we moved in, I have been steadily planting some bushes and small trees that hopefully will give me either bloom in the spring or color in the fall. Anyway… I went out in the grove, looking for some color. It was hard to find good photos in the rain.

My little red maple.

Wood vine in a flower garden.

The south trail in our grove.

In the last 3 weeks, we have had gray days and 6 inches of rain. Then 1 day of sunshine…..AND THEN…

Frost on the corn.

And now snow.

We all know this weather is way too early. And most of us are feeling pretty grumpy about it. Where are our beautiful October days, with the sun on golden leaves and the crisp clear nights? Now most of the leaves are frozen, brown and dropping fast. And there is a lot of worry for the farmers. Most in our area have not gotten their soybeans out yet. I’m afraid a lot of them will lose their crop. Hopefully the corn will be alright.

So what does a Minnesotan do on days like this? Well…Sister Connie and I went to visit a wonderful woman and her beautiful Shetland sheep. We drove 2 ½ hours in the rain to Hamburg. Gail from Little Red Oak Farm was so sweet to allow us to spend the day with her. We talked sheep and wool, apples, cooking, families and just about everything. We met some of her California relatives. Then she made a very tasty chili, egg bread and zucchini bread for lunch. After that we all spent some time sitting out in the pasture in the rain, getting to know her ewes. One of which is Maple, who gave me the beautiful fleece I am now spinning. Connie and I both reserved fleeces for next spring and left with apples and fleece in the car. I hope to be able to go back again soon, when the weather is a little better.

Next I spent time reorganizing my craft room and stringing my loom for a new project.

That’s Magic sitting on the loom, guarding it from the smelly Asian beetles.

Since my disastrous life lesson on the last project, I have decided to try Rayon Chenille. It is very soft and drapey (is that a word?). And hopefully it will be stronger than the last warp.

I finished knitting a hat, tried it on, and found it was too big. So I pulled it out and am starting over again. I am working on knitting the second sock for my daughter and knitting an afghan with some alpaca I got from Knit Picks. I researched the internet and found a shawl pattern that I am going to try using Maple’s wool. Then I started teaching Daughter Brook to can. She now has a winter’s supply of marinara sauce. Hubby and I spent the only nice day we’ve had in weeks outside, cleaning up for winter, putting away the garden art, empting the pond and all things necessary to get ready for snow. Guess that was a good idea. I put away the light jackets, took out hats and scarves, and found Hubby’s favorite winter bibs. Guess that was a good idea too. And I canceled a trip to Rapid to visit the heart doctor, parents and friends. Good idea? I don’t know….but it’s STILL snowing.

The only really exciting thing about the strange, early winter weather is that the adorable (NOT) little Asian beetles are having a hard time finding our house in the cold and snow. Maybe they have found a new habitat. One can only hope.

Maple is not White

2009-09-27T11:19:00.005-05:00

Today I am looking out the window, watching the leaves fall. This part of Minnesota is right on schedule this year with the Equinox. Autumn comes and the leaves start falling. Our ash tree is always the first to go, and this year she is almost empty already. Next the box elders, with yellow leaves and brown seeds. With a good wind, coming this afternoon, they will be empty too. Our American elms, mulberries and buckthorn are the last to go. I haven’t been down to the black willows to see how they are fairing. It’s too depressing. In a horrible wind storm last month, we lost the biggest and probably oldest of our black willows. We knew it was just a matter of time, but it is still hard to see something that tall and stately fall. Fortunately we had taken some branches this spring and have gotten 5 sapling black willows from him. So he will live on in our grove. It probably seems strange to some of you that we give personalities to our trees. But they are living things and when you spend as much time with them as we do; you start to think of them as family.

I want to share some promised photos with a blog friend. You might remember me talking about the Shetland fleece I got from Little Red Oak Farm. When perusing the Shetland blogs this spring, I ran across Gail’s. And feel head over heels in love with her little ewe Maple. I was lucky enough to get Maple’s fleece and have finally had time to work on it. And I promised Gail photos. So all you non-spinners please bear with me.

Looking at a photo of Maple, you would think the fleece was grayish brown. Nope. Cleaned up, Hubby said, “Oh, it’s just white.” But there is white and then there is white.

White is not always white.
All you out there that spend hours going over paint chips know that there is no such thing as “just white”. There’s bisque, buff, cream, ecru, mushroom, oatmeal, biscuit, beige, lait, milk toast….and the list goes on forever. So I will try to describe this in my own way.

On the combs.
The combed wool has a sheen or luster to it that I have not ever seen on other wool. Is this a trait of Shetland or is it just Maple?

Nested and ready to spin.
The color is a warm, soft oatmeal (Yes, Renee, I can hear you laughing from here. But that’s just the way I’d write it up). And the waste that I have taken off the combs to be carded later is more of a mottled mushroom.

To be carded later.
I am more than pleased with this fleece. I am excited. I can’t wait to spin it up and knit something. So Gail, please, please, can I reserve Maples fleece for next year?

Then quickly, here’s a photo of the BFL, re-dyed and plied with the natural color.

I have to tell you, I am not impressed with this wool. I have heard such good things about BFL, but this yarn, to me, is course and stiff. Now, I bought the roving off line a couple of years ago, and have no idea of the origin. So is it 100% or is it blended? I don’t know. Next year I will get a fleece from a breeder that stands behind their wool, and try it one more time. But now I have to try to figure out something to do with this yarn. Any ideas?

Life's Lesson #..??

2009-09-15T10:46:00.003-05:00

How many life lessons have I had? Oh, who knows.... Too many to count and some I don't want to share. But I will share this one with all the Majacraft spinners out there. I had wondered why I couldn’t find a lot of info on dyeing the spun yarn directly on the bobbins. Now I know. The beautiful rust colored bobbins that I showed you yesterday have been put on a niddy noddy. Majacraft Dyeing Lesson #1: The yarn does not dry very well on the bobbins. Majacraft Dyeing Lesson #2: The color does not, I repeat, does NOT go all the way through the yarn. So it is only dyed on the surface. Now this could be cool, if that’s what you wanted. But I wanted rust yarn to ply with gray. Not rusty gray yuck...

What a disappointment.

And finally, Majacraft Dyeing Lesson #3: Have enough dye powder to re-dye, or better yet, just dye when the fiber is in a skein, as roving, or as locks. Perhaps Majacraft should take that off of their list of features. It doesn’t work. But I have nothing bad to say about the spinning of my Belle. I still love this spinning wheel.

On a better note: Hubby was watching the hummers and saw a little female trying desperately to get nectar from his silk flower art. So he quickly set up a new feeder, getting buzzed all the time and now she has her own. And she guards it diligently.

Are we spoiling them? Of course.

And here’s a couple of photo’s of Hubby’s new obsession. Searching the grove for varieties of fungus. And he has found some beauties.

No, the photo is not upside down. This tiny mushroom is hanging from the log.

These are the size of dessert plates.

We have no idea what any of these are. But that doesn’t stop us enjoying their beauty. I wish you could come and explore the grove with us.

Another Week Gone

2009-09-14T13:54:00.005-05:00

It’s been a good week. I’ve been too busy to write, but we have gotten so much done. And we actually had some time to relax yesterday.

The garden is almost done. I got the last of the tomatoes made into salsa and some more cucumbers pickled. Today I am going to make elderberry jelly, Hubby’s favorite minty plum jelly and raspberry jam. I have frozen lots of elderberries for friend Nancy to make wine with in the hopes that she’ll share (my wine room is still not ready to use). And I made a quart of raspberry coulis and froze; we’ll have a taste of summer for the winter. I think that’s all the canning I have done. With the days so busy, it’s hard to keep track of what you’ve done and when.

Then Hubby and I worked on the gazebo. The “rocks” were already in and we finished the edges with rocks from our grove. So we spent some enjoyable time searching out just the right ones and hauling them back up the hill to the yard. And while I am writing this I am waiting for him to come back from town with the sandkrete to mortar the rocks in. We should be able to use it in a couple of days. The first thing I want to do is light the little stove and some candles, and sit out there watching our hummingbirds finishing up for the day.

The floor is done.

And speaking of the little guys, we were invaded this weekend. It must be migration time. We have been very busy trying to put up enough feeders to satisfy all the little ruby-throated wonders. But of course we don’t have anywhere near enough feeders. Now, I have seen lots of photos of one feeder with “hundreds” of birds eating. But at our house the rule is One Bird for One Feeder. I don’t know why ours are so greedy, but they are constantly trying to keep others away from THEIR feeder. And if you have two feeders placed close together, one poor hummingbird will try to defend them both. So yesterday was full of hummingbirds darting everywhere, chasing each other and dive-bombing us. They come right in your face, beating those tiny wings and chirping at you. It’s a good thing I can’t understand Hummer talk; I’m sure it wasn’t very polite.

They got so tired; they rested on the clothes line.

Can you see the second one coming in for a fight?

This weekend was Stitches, and I spent almost all day spinning. I got some of my black Icelandic plied and ready for the vest I am going to TRY to knit. Then I got another bobbin of the BFL done. I only have about 5 ounces of the original pound left to spin. But I ran out of bobbins on Belle. So yesterday I threw 2 of the bobbins in the dye pot along with some brown Finn locks. And I am very pleased with the color; pure Rust from Cushing’s acid dye. I plan on blending the Finn locks while combing, and plying the BFL with some of the natural gray. And now, finally, I will have time to wash, comb and spin “Maple”, the beautiful Shetland fleece I got from Gail at Little Red Oak Farm. After that will be the Targhee ram fleece from Cousin Mark in South Dakota. Then the fleeces will be done for the year. Gail, since things are slowing down, maybe it’s time to do a road trip to meet your “kids” and possibly pick out fleeces for next year. What do you think?

Black Icelandic.

Brown Finn dyed rust.

Bluefaced Leicester spun on Belle and dyed rust.

And lastly, we are so excited here. Our oldest granddaughter is coming for a visit from Michigan. Son John will drop her off on his way west for hunting and she’ll be with us for about 6 days. We are really looking forward to seeing them both, and to have her stay with us. She is taking a break before starting college next semester. And to top it off, she wants to try her hand at spinning. Does life get any better?

Photos for Another Candy

2009-09-04T15:51:00.005-05:00

This will be a real quick blog today. Candy D from Country Life and All the Fixings is going to learn rug hooking. She has asked to see some of mine. So here are some finished and some work in progress.

The Yellow Lady Slipper, 10” x 16”, is being done in a #3 strip.

This it the top to my rug hooking tool box. Done with #3 strips. 2.5” x 9”. That is gold thread embroidered for accents.

My first project, still not done. A big rug of primrose, 28” x 35”. Don’t start too large, Candy. Done with hand torn ¼” and #8 strips.

A Scottish Thistle. It will someday be a pillow. 19” x 21”. Hooking with #5 strips.

A Is For Apple. A kit done in a class, 7” x 10”. My first finished project. Done with #8 strips.

You have probably already seen this. My best piece yet, a gift to Sister Connie. Still Night at Murphy’s Landing, 18” x 24”. Hooked with #3 and #5 strips.

There you go Candy. I really hope you like “Hooking” as much as I do. Have fun and let us see your projects when they are done.

Harvest Season

2009-09-02T14:33:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was the first of September. That was a huge surprise to me. Time has again passed by at an incredible speed. This time of year is busy for so many people. Garden harvesting, canning and freezing the produce, and getting ready for winter are all very time consuming. Then you have state fairs, county fairs, and fiber fairs. So much to do.

So why is fall my favorite season. And did I say harvest was my favorite time? What was I thinking? But it really is, even with so much going on.

Sister Connie and I had a successful weekend at the Butterfield’s 43rd Annual Steam and Gas Engine Show. The threshing bee has hundreds of antique tractors displayed and paraded; antique cars and trucks; antique steam and gas engines; a pioneer town; displays and demonstrators; and of course good food. We were demonstrators this year, a first for me. Connie showed spinning on our Great, Great Grandmother’s wheel, weaving and knitting.

Connie showing a lady how to spin.

And I had a wonderful time, showing rug hooking and combing wool. And talking and talking and talking. (Thanks Renee, for making me get up in front of the public and talk. I can do it now with no fear.) I could not believe all the people we saw, talked to and helped with some of the crafts.

Our tables in the Engine House #1.

Then I have been canning and freezing all of our garden produce. Some of you may remember last year when I finally threw up my hands and said “NO MORE TOMOTOTES”. Well, we planted fewer plants this year and got as many or more tomatoes. So I came up with a salsa recipe that we love and have been canning that. Then Daughter Brook said she wanted to learn canning and wonder of wonders; she wants my marinara sauce and tomato sauce. So she gets to have it all: learning to can both using the rest of our tomatoes.

And I decided that I wanted to learn to make dill pickles. I had found a hand written recipe in a 1880s Peoples Home Recipe book that I was working on this spring in Rapid City. So I copied it, threw some cucumber seeds in the ground and waited impatiently to make pickles. Well, our cucumbers have hundreds of blooms, but I have only picked a few. They are not setting on. So I got some from other people and tried the recipe. Oh, that old recipe is good.

And finally, Hubby and I have been working on our gazebo floor. For those of you that don’t know; we took an old corn crib and moved it to our yard. We have been using it for a gazebo for about a year. But I wanted a floor in it. And when a friend redid his patio, we got the used cement “rocks”. This weekend was spent laying the floor. We just have to finish the edges with rock and grout. Then it will be an even better area to just sit and relax.

Almost finished.

Oh, I have to tell you…..we found another “treasure” in our grove. Hubby had been tripping over a curved piece of metal and finally decided it might be part of a metal wheel. So we dug it out. Most of it was buried 6-12 inches below the surface. We were so exited. It is a 54 inch iron wheel, probably from a buggy or a hay rake. We cleaned it up and painted it. Yes, it was originally red.

Our new addition.

Possibly an old International Harvester rake wheel.

And finally, I have decided to name my new wheel Belle. She is a beauty. And she is making short work of the BFL that I’ve had for about 2 years. I’m just about ready to dye two bobbins. I’ll let you know how that goes.

A Busy Week, and It's Not Done Yet

2009-08-12T10:46:00.008-05:00

Today we woke up to beautiful fog on the fields and a cool breeze. It was a perfect morning. Now the sun has come out, the wind has died and the heat is building. It is going to be another one of THOSE days. I will be working in the house today and staying out of that sweltering air.

But first I want to introduce you to my new spinning wheel. I don’t have a name for her yet, but she is the Majacraft Suzie. She is an older model with the older style wheel. What a beauty. Maybe I’ll name her Belle. Anyway, Detta (from Detta's Spindle) did it again. She had the perfect wheel for me at the perfect time. How does she do that? She let me try the Lady Bug, which spun nicely, and the Sonata, which is pretty. But the Lady Bug is plywood and I prefer real wood. And the Sonata has an orifice that is too far away for me. And I would have had to stand up anytime I needed to use the orifice hook. You can’t see the holes sitting down. So Suzie was it. This wheel was a trade in. The woman said she clanked. But Detta, in her spinning guru way, adjusted a few things and the wheel spins sooooo smoothly. As Detta said, “That Suzie is SWEET!" And sweet she is. I know my castle wheel is a good wheel. But no way is she as smooth and easy to spin as this new one. No wonder Majacraft is so well reviewed. I had not even considered a Majacraft for two reasons. One is the price. I knew that I could not afford one. The price is along the same lines as the Schacht wheels. And the second reason was the plastic bobbins. Now, I’m not too much of a spinning snob, but the idea of plastic on a wheel really bothered me. But I read that you can take the bobbin right off the wheel and put it in a dye bath. And that sounds like fun. I will be trying it soon. And as soon as I spun on the wheel, the plastic bobbin made no difference to me.

Look at the beautiful golden glow on the wood.

Now, what to name her?

Hubby went along with me to Detta’s for the company and to test drive his new toy. His van died last week, and he got a 2001 PT Cruiser. The car he has wanted since they first came out. What a nice driving car. Our trip to Maple Plain was very comfortable.

Look at that grin.

Anyway, Hubby was very enthralled by the spinning wheels at Detta’s. In fact he fell in love with the little Kromski Prelude. So when we got home, he started trying to learn to spin. With his hands as gimped up as they are from arthritis and his UNKNOWN disease, he is having trouble doing a lot of the crafts he used to do. So he thinks spinning might be easier for him. And I have to agree. He is intrigued by the mechanics of the wheels and he is starting to get some twist on his wool. We’ll see if he continues to like it. I hope so. Then I (I mean we) can get even more wool in the house.

So other than picking up my new best friend, we have been very busy here at Anniversary Grove. The harvest is starting. We picked the first cauliflower, and I have started to pick my Peregion beans and get them drying. They are wonderful for soups. The squash is finally getting ahead of me; the onions are hanging in the basement in their pantyhose; the green and yellow string beans are STILL producing. And the tomatoes are finally ripening. I have baskets and bowls all over the house storing and drying the vegetables. It’s been a good year for the garden.

Peregion beans before shelling. This is only 1/3 of the plants.

Some of the beans shelled and drying.

Gracie checking out the onions.

Hubby with the cauliflower. Can you say “bountiful harvest”?

Now I have to go start gathering everything I am taking to the Butterfield Thrashing Bee. Sister Connie and I will be demonstrating various fiber crafts. I think I’ll do drop spindle, wool combing, the blending hackle, silk flower embroidery and rug hooking. Maybe we can get some more crafters interested in our monthly Stitch in Time meetings. I’ll let you know.

Updates

2009-08-04T10:57:00.005-05:00

Do the rest of you have so many robins? Our yard is filled with them every morning; bathing, sunning and stuffing themselves on mulberries. Some are so fat you’d think they couldn’t fly.

I just wanted to update everyone on a couple of things. In my July 19th post, right after I had gotten home, I showed you a picture of the tall corn. Take a look at it now!

Hubby’s stick is 10 feet tall, so some of the stocks are over 12 feet.

And his sunflower is even taller.

And in the spinning wheel dilemma; I am heading up the Detta’s Spindle to try out a Kromski Sonata, a Schacht Lady Bug and a Majacraft Rose. The Rose is a used model, so it will be in my price range. She has each of these on the floor, assembled, so I can try all three and finally make my choice. I WILL be coming home with one of them. I imagine Sister Connie will be glad of that, since I have been emailing her night and day with reviews and photos of the different models, trying to get her opinion. She has been very gracious in answering all my questions, but in the end has reminded me that I need to make the final choice.

Detta’s is where I bought my Lennox Irish Castle Wheel. Detta has been very good to me, allowing me to make payments on Fiona for almost a year. And she is very knowledgeable about all types of wheels. Even fixes them if needed. If you live anywhere around the Cities and need spinning or weaving supplies, look her up. It’s worth the trip.

Just a few more updates: The broccoli is about done, the yellow squash is overwhelming, and the tomatoes are starting to ripen. I had my first tomato of the season last night (I refuse to eat store bought ones). It was delicious. I have frozen 8-10 quarts of green and yellow beans and they are still going strong. I have 8 big cantaloupes, but they are all still green. The onions are huge. I harvested the red ones last night. The yellow onion tops are still standing, so I’ll leave them longer. And the elderberries are starting to ripen. I can tell, because the birds are really eating them. I may not end up with any. I had thought that the birds would be so busy eating mulberries; they would leave my elderberries alone. BUT NO. I hope I can save some, Nancy. Or neither of us will get wine this year.

So for me the fun part of summer is now starting. With harvesting, thrashing bees, Stitches and a new spinning wheel, I will be as busy as I am happy.

What To Do

2009-07-28T09:35:00.007-05:00

Good morning. What a glorious day today. It’s 6 am right now and I am looking out my west window. The robins and all their fledglings are at the pond, drinking and bathing, getting ready for another day. It’s so much fun to watch the young learning life’s skills. Hard to believe these bumbling babies will someday be graceful birds.

Hollyhocks in the morning sun.

I think I have finally gotten caught up with all my backlog of projects and now have time to start some new ones. One project that was a constant problem to me was the lap robe I had on the loom. I have a 36 inch, 4 harness loom that Hubby made for me; Black Walnut and Birdseye maple. It is beautiful and weaves great. But the first “real” weaving I did on it was not working. The warp that I picked was not strong enough and it kept breaking on the side. So I have finally given up, cut it off the loom and tied the ends. The envisioned lap robe is now only a knee warmer. Still as pretty as I had hoped, but basically useless for anything more than a chair drape. Lesson one learned. I am sure I’ll have many more mistakes, but weak warp will not happen again.

Charcoal and gold warp and weft.

I have another problem that I need to solve; hopefully with your help. I know that some of you readers are spinners. And I need your advice. I have a beautiful tall castle spinning wheel that I told you about earlier. But she is so hard to transport. And while working in Rapid for those 6 weeks, I really missed not spinning. The drop spindle helped, but to me it’s not the real thing. So while most of my earnings went to bills, a portion is going to get me a portable spinning wheel. If funds were unlimited, I would get a Schacht Matchless.

Schacht Matchless. Schacht Lady Bug.

I also like the idea of the Schacht Lady Bug.
Kromski now has the Sonata, which is where I am leaning right now.

Kromski Sonata.

Lendrum has a folding wheel that looks pretty good. Then there is the Little Gem, the Wee Robin and the totally unaffordable Mach II.

Lendrum. Little Gem.

Mach II.

My last choice would be the Ashford Traveller, Joy or Kiwi.

Ashford Traveller.

Do you have any thoughts on these wheels? I really would like some input. If any of you have one of these wheels or have spun on one, please let me know what you think. And if anyone knows of a used Matchless, I would love to hear about it.

Now I need to get busy. Hubby made me a hackle out of plastic horse combs and I need to try it. I have wool strips to cut for the rug hooking and STILL have the two fleeces to wash. It’s going to be a fun day.

Home Again, Home Again: Jiggity Jig

2009-07-19T09:32:00.003-05:00

Well I finally made it home. After working in Rapid City for about 6 weeks, it is nice to be back. I enjoyed my time there: enjoyed seeing friends, spending time with my parents, good restaurants and shopping, and all with the added bonus of making a little money. But now I can enjoy looking out MY window again.

I was so surprised when I got here. South Dakota is so green this year, more so than I have seen in years. But it does not compare with the green of Anniversary Grove. I have been home for over a week and still get startled when I walk outside and see the landscape. When I left here, it was just greening and the corn had barely started to show. Now the corn is over 7 feet high. The trees are all leafed out, the grass is emerald green and plants are blooming. The grove is so heavy with plants that you can not see the ground.

The corn is as high…. Hubby is 5'11".

Elderberries. Wine in the making, if I can keep the birds away.

Hubby’s sunflower.

The northeast view. Can you see the red barn on the right?

The south view. If we can’t see the road, they can’t see us.

I have been so busy unpacking and getting reorganized. Also, busy getting reacquainted with friends and neighbors. Our closest neighbor passed away while I was gone, so I needed to go visit with his wife Clara. And I needed to get reacquainted with my garden. Plants are up and blooming that I didn’t even remember were there. Hubby did such a great job keeping the place going and the burdock at bay. He even harvested, blanched and froze the first broccoli. I have since picked beans, squash and more broccoli. And soon the tomatoes with be ready.

The garden is really growing.

And life went on while I was gone. My oldest granddaughter graduated from high school. My youngest granddaughter has left on an adventure with her other grandmother. My oldest step grandson was here for two weeks with his grandpa, learning “guy” things, like tools and tree trimming. Then we lost Emmy, my tortoiseshell cat. She disappeared about 4 weeks ago and has not been back. Hubby and the dogs looked everywhere they could think of, but I am afraid she is gone for good. We have coyote dens less than a mile away, large owls in the grove and hawks cruising overhead. Any of them may have taken her. And I am afraid I will never know. Now I will forever be watching for her to come home.

So I am now ready to dive into the projects that have been waiting for me. I have two fleeces to be washed. The rest of Shalom Hills' wool is waiting to be combed. And lots of wool to spin. Connie and I are starting a small cottage industry of wool and we need to get that organized. I have to get ready to demonstrate historic and vintage fiber crafts at the Butterfield Thrashing Bee in the middle of August. And I need to get the canning supplies counted, replaced and washed.

It is so good to be home.

Spindle vs the Wheel

2009-07-01T20:19:00.004-05:00

I know it’s been awhile. Rapid City has kept me very busy. But I am almost done here and will be heading home next week.

Now I want to talk about spinning..... I know better. But it still seems to me that the drop spindle was invented for times likes these; for spinners like us that can’t take our wheel on the road. It’s hard to believe that such a simple tool that has been around for eons, is still so useful

I have at home a beautiful spinning wheel. It’s a Lennox Irish Castle wheel, “Fiona”. She spins like a dream. Fiona and I learned spinning together and I love it and her.

Picture of Fiona. And No that’s not me. A staged photo for booklet.

Nope, that's not me either. But proof that my type of wheel has been around a long time.

But Fiona is very big, and hard to transport. I always wondered why sister Connie had so many spinning wheels. Now I know. A different wheel for different reasons. Some spin one type of wool better than others, some are easy to put in your car and go, and some are for Historical Interpreters because they are historically correct. Connie has all of the above. But when I got Fiona, I really felt I wouldn’t need any thing else. How wrong I was.

So I had Hubby make a drop spindle for me. I thought I wanted a bottom whorl. Wrong again. OK. Then I bought a top whorl drop spindle and brought it with me to Rapid City. I think I’ll have Hubby fix the one he made for me into a top whorl. Then I’ll have two sizes. And I have enjoyed spinning the small amount of wool I brought with me on that spindle. But I miss the hypnotic feeling you get with the wheel. So now I am thinking, like many other spinners out there, that I do need a second wheel. I need some sort of traveler. Now I will have to start researching the traveling wheels to see what is out there and what I like. It took me a year and a half to get to this point, the realization that I need a second wheel. Some get here quicker. But I’m a stubborn learner. And when or if (no…WHEN) I get my second wheel, I promise Fiona I will not desert her. She will still be my main spin.

My drop spindle with spun wool.

This picture is of the wool I have spun while here in Rapid. The red was spinners web from South Dakota Natural Colored Wool Studio and the yellow blue is the Shalom Hills wool that I showed on the blog earlier. Fun; but not as much fun as my castle wheel. And much harder work for me.

A close up of the Shalom Hills wool. Single ply at this point.

Another thing I have learned along the way is the types of wool. What is good for what project and what I like. It is such a wonderful feeling to have that wool sliding through your fingers and knowing that you made that yarn. I started out spinning anything. But have learned through time what wools I like and wools I don’t like. And every spinner has their favorite. Mine right now are Shetland and Finn. I have some beautiful black Icelandic, but I don’t like spinning it as much as I had hoped. The Shetland I got from Little Red Oak Farms is a dream. Do I like it because of the wool, or because I love little Maple, the ewe it came from? It doesn’t really matter. I just love the feel of it. And I have tried a small amount of Finn and really liked it. I’ll get more later. Then my next trial will be some Rambouillet from 2nd or 3rd or 4th cousin Mark in South Dakota. I have heard wonderful things about that wool and am anxious to try it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So next week, I’ll be home again. I’ll be able to dye and comb the fleece from Maple. And finish combing the Shalom Hills wool. By then I’ll have more Finn to work with too. And hopefully a short trip back to NE South Dakota for the Rambouillet. I guess Minnesota keeps me busy too.

The Right Move

2009-06-07T18:25:00.004-05:00

Today I am looking out my south window. But it doesn’t look like my regular view. There are trees, but there are also houses. And people. And cars. I am looking at the south side of Rapid City. I told all of you that I was coming, and I have now been here for a week. I am staying with my parents, who have graciously opened their apartment for me. I have my own set of keys, so I am free to come and go. I am also free to graze in the refrigerator whenever I feel like it.

The view out my window. A very cold, wet day.

And I’ve been back to work, doing a job that I love; cataloging and packing up artifacts from a historic homestead. I’ve also gotten to see a lot of the people I had worked with. And it is so wonderful, working again with one of my closest friends. What is it they say? Oh yeah, it’s priceless. It skips through my mind that maybe I shouldn’t have left. Why did I retire? And when I see how beautiful Rapid City is right now, all green with flowers and trees blooming everywhere; why did I leave?

I think it is natural to doubt the choices you make. When I first get back to Rapid City, when I see the beautiful Black Hills right next door, when I see the lush green lawns and landscaped yards, when I see the beautiful houses with siding and decks, I do wonder if we made a mistake moving. I miss parents and friends being just a few minutes away. I miss the convenience of the stores. I miss the cheaper utilities, the paved roads, and the weekly garbage pickup. But…

At Anniversary Grove, I have acres of trees, birds too numerous to count and sunrises that take your breath away. Our dogs aren’t fenced and the cats roam freely. Deer, raccoon, pheasant, and coyotes are right next door. I have neighbors we have only meet once that will help you in anyway they can. We are 2 miles from a paved highway, and only see a few vehicles a day. We don’t hear sirens, motorcycles revving, car tires squealing, or neighbors fighting. At night it is so quiet you can almost hear the stars moving. And yes, you really CAN hear the corn growing.

I now have the time to pursue my dreams. And Hubby is so happy working around the place. I’m finally meeting new people, most who share my passion for fibers. And my daughter, granddaughter and sister are just a few miles away (now if the rest of the family and friends would just move closer).

So I think we made a good choice. In fact, I know we made the right choice. When I am here in Rapid, I do enjoy it. But I miss, really miss my Minnesota home. And I will be happy to head the little car back to the east again. Just not too soon.

The End Result

2009-05-30T06:59:00.005-05:00

It’s early this morning. The sun is barely up. I can tell it will be a blue sky and the sunrise out my east window has all the colors of the rainbow. The birds are starting to sing. In fact, it was the constant call of the oriole right outside my bedroom window that woke me up at 5 am. But it’s hard to get angry with him when I get to hear the mourning doves and other birds waking up, and I get to see this beautiful sunrise. I’m going to miss this place.

My sunrise this morning. Wouldn’t this make nice colors for spinning?

Oh, I probably haven’t told you that I am heading back to western South Dakota. I will be working with one of my best friends (who happens to be my former supervisor) for the month of June. She called last week, and since it’s hard to turn down seeing family and friends while earning a little money, I will be leaving tomorrow morning.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about today. I want to show you my first hand made roving. I am so excited about doing this. A couple of months ago, I learned how to do drum carding. Although I was pleased with my black Icelandic, it was not quite what I expected. I wondered how everyone got the beautiful roving that they spin. Did everyone send them off for processing? Now I told you that I was new to world of wool processing and I had not even heard of Combs, or Viking Combs or English Combs. So I was excited to try something new. And I want to show you the results.

The locks ready to comb.

These are the colors that came out of the dye pot. The blue is called Hubby’s Blue. He didn’t like any of the pure Cushing colors, so I mixed this one up for him. I figured if he had a hand in the processing, he would be more understanding about all the various stages of fleece sitting in bags and boxes all over the house. I was right; there has been very little grumbling.

Connie (who has all the tools needed for processing wool) told me she didn’t really care about combing, and lent me her set of English combs. But she didn’t really explain how to do it, and there were no instructions. So I went to You Tube. Have you been to that site? Just about anything you want to learn is on a video now days. And I was not disappointed. I found the instructional video done by Amanda Hannaford from England. She is considered one of the premier spinner/dyers of that country. Her videos are very good and are easy to follow. And Amanda is so very nice. She really helped me. I had a question about the ratio of oil to water used in prepping the locks. After looking on the web everywhere, and not finding an answer, I sent her an email. She answered very quickly and even complimented my yellow locks in the last blog. Aren’t fiber people wonderful?

After I got my answer, I put her videos back on and did my first combing while watching her. And here is my first batch of yellow. Thank you Amanda, it worked.

The yellow slivers, ready for planking.

Then I combed some of the blue. Since I had to start getting things ready to leave, I did not do any white. I’ll do that when I come home. But I couldn’t wait to do some blending, so I made a small roving from the yellow and blue I had done. It’s my first, and certainly not perfect. But I think it’s beautiful. And I hope it will spin well. Since I’m taking my drop spindle to Rapid, I’ll wait and try it there.

My first roving.

I am really excited about these combs. I know some people think they are labor intensive. But I found it relaxing, like combing a small longhaired dog on my lap. So I will buy the combs from Connie for a very decent price. And when I get home, I will finish combing the Shalom Hills fleece. Once it is spun and knitted, I will be able to say, “I made that” and really mean it.

Well, the sun is up. Hubby and the dogs are still not stirring, but I’m ready for another cup of coffee. Then I need to start my day, cleaning and packing. Too bad I don’t have time to comb some more. Oh well, next month.

Wool in Sheep's Clothing

2009-05-25T11:41:00.003-05:00

It is amazing to me that when you see white sheep in the field, they really look white. White and curly and cute. And when you buy roving, it is so soft, white and clean. So when I started learning to deal with wool from shearing to roving, I got a big surprise.

Sheep Grazing, New Zealand by Mick Roessler

Shalom Hills, a Lutheran retreat and working farm, is only about 9 miles from here. My brother-in-law, Norm, is one of the hired hands there. He does a variety of jobs, but one of them is care of the animals. They have goats, sheep and now a llama. We don’t have any idea what kind of sheep these are, except they are part Corriedale. This year, Norm called Connie and me over when they were shearing the sheep. We had asked to buy a fleece and he wanted us to pick it out, on the hoof. Now I know absolutely nothing about how to pick good quality wool, though I am trying to learn. I am so inexperienced that I’m not even sure of the correct terminology. I was expecting course short wool and didn’t care. I really wanted this fleece to learn the process and to practice on. So the shearer picked out one of last year’s lambs for me. I was pleasantly surprised with the length and the crimp. But I was very dismayed to see the color, all the dirt and the straw and grass. The big yearling had looked so white in the corner of the barn.

My raw white wool. Yuck. Will it ever be white?

I definitely had second thoughts about spending any money on this dirty stuff. Do I really want to buy this? It looked like I would never be able to work with it. But then Margaret, co-owner of the farm told Connie and me that we could have the fleece, because Norm does so much work for them. She wouldn’t charge us anything (thank you, Norm). Well, for free, I’d try it. So I brought it home and put it in my shop to deal with later. I read articles and more articles on washing wool, picking and carding wool and combing wool. According to them, even the dirtiest wool will come clean and can be worked with. And after reading them, I realized this wool was not THAT bad (I hoped).

Well, later is here. I have been washing wool for 2 days. And since this was at no cost, I decided to experiment and have also been dyeing it. And look what I have now.

Canary yellow, ready to comb. Blue is in the dye pot right now.

I guess all the books and articles really do know what they are talking about. After washing, dyeing and sorting for the combs, it looks like I have some very nice wool. And the wool I left natural really does look white. Hubby is thrilled….no more smelly raw wool in the house.

So now on to the next step, combing the locks. I have decided to try combing, since I have already done the picking and carding thing. Connie lent me her English Combs (didn’t I tell she was good to me?) and I will try them in the next couple days. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Pond Story

2009-05-22T15:36:00.003-05:00

Looking out my window it’s another gray, humid day. And with the gray, we hope the rain will come. The high heat and hot hard winds have dried out my beautiful green haven. So if the rain doesn’t come today, I’ll be out there with buckets of water, giving all my plants and the new trees a little help.

That reminds me of the garden I left in Piedmont. I had different flower gardens all over the yard. And it was a very big yard; a full quarter of a city block. I had the Iris Garden, the Shade Garden, the Pond Garden, the Butterfly Garden, the Bog Garden and various other themed ones. I had 52 rose bushes. It took all my free time just to maintain that yard, and when I got sick, poor Hubby had to take over. When we moved here, he pleaded with me to not do so many gardens. So I have tried to concentrate my flowers in 2 areas and mostly planted hardy perennials. I now have my Orchid House Garden, used for bringing out my house plants in the summer. That is planted with hostas, peonies and iris. I have peonies brought from Piedmont and slips of my mother’s peonies around the house. I have the day lily bed that was here when we moved in and a scattering of lily varieties in both areas. The last flower garden is my Shade Wildflower Garden tucked up against the house. And now I have my Pond Garden again. It also is planted with hostas, peonies and iris.

The Orchid House and last fall’s new garden.

The pond garden has a long story. I have already told you about my second, or third, or fourth cousin Ester’s house with the cement pond in the back yard. That was when I was about 10. It took over 35 years to get my own pond. For years, garden ponds were out of vogue and you couldn’t find any information or supplies for them. Then about 10 years ago, they came back into popularity again. I lucked out when a coworker decided she didn’t want to deal with maintaining a pond in her yard. I got the pond and pump with all the fixings for nothing. So Hubby put it in for me, tucked away in the Shade Garden surrounded by hostas, ferns and lily of the valley. It was a wonderful haven after a day at work. I spent hours out there with my feet in the pond, my toes being nibbled on by the goldfish, and the wind chimes whispering in the breeze.

My Haven in Piedmont.

But we moved, and my pond, and in fact the gardens were a huge selling point. So it got left behind. Hubby promised me another pond which I finally got last summer. And we spend hours clearing trees and burdock to put it in. This one too was put in a shady area, cut into the grove, to protect it from the hard south winds. I planted hostas, lily of the valley and left the beautiful wild violets. I had the wind chimes going and again sat with my feet in the pond (no goldfish this time. I am afraid the raccoons will eat them). All were growing and my haven was complete.

Then last August, the septic system gave out and we had to put in a new one. Guess where? Yep. Right in the middle of my Pond Garden. So Hubby and I spend a horrible 10 hours, in high heat and humidity, scrambling to move my plants and pull the pond out. We cleared another area out of the grove, beside my Orchid House garden and planted all the plants. The pond would not work there, so we put it up in the barn and concentrated on making the new shade garden and hoping the poor plants would take the transplant in late August. And as of today, it looks like all the plants made it.

The start of the Pond Garden this week.

So finally this week, we re-did the pond garden. I had been gradually clearing another area and had planted some bushes already. We dug the pond in and moved a lot of BIG rocks from all over the grove. We got the pump working yesterday and filled the pond. There is still a lot to do; like finishing the mulching, moving over wind chimes and defining edges. But I again have my pond, and I can again sit with my feet in the water and relax. It just doesn’t get much better for me than running water, flowers, wind chimes and the birds singing. And all this in a green haven.

The Pond up and running. Just a few things left to do. (No, the swans aren't real).

A Quiet Thank You

2009-05-16T10:23:00.012-05:00

OK, I have been thinking about this for awhile and I decided to do it now. Then I don’t want to talk about it again.

While looking out my east window (the sunrises are incredible), I was trying to think of all the things I love about being here. One of the reasons is I have time to work with fibers. For years, I have loved working with fibers, learning about heirloom crafts, and working with wool. I started my wool journey with Traditional Rug Hooking, and have evolved into spinning, weaving, knitting and crocheting with it. I now start with the raw fleece, and someday hope to have my own sheep to shear.

Still Night at Murphy’s Landing; a rug hooking of Connie’s home.

Hubby and I found this place while staying with my sister, Connie. Now Connie is older than I am, and growing up, I really didn’t know her. In fact, she was in a completely different generation. While I was a Hippie, Connie was already married and living in the responsible world. I never understood her, and I know she didn’t understand me. My other sister, Cara, and I were closer in age and closer in lifestyles. And we were good friends. But in 1999, all that changed. Cara died at age 50. Now they say that some people die for a reason or that because of a death, lives change forever. That is the case with Connie and me. Because of Cara’s death, we became closer, and we became friends. I finally started looking at the lifestyle she and her husband had chosen, and I liked it. A simple homestead way of life. They earned their money with Historical Interpretation; Connie as a spinner and weaver and Norman as a wood worker. So when we started looking for a place to retire, we looked around their neighborhood. And found Anniversary Grove, just 6 miles north of them.

Connie weaving at Murphy’s Landing.

Since moving here, Connie has taught me to spin and lent me one of her wheels until I could get my own. She taught me to weave and lent me one of her looms until Hubby could build mine. She helped me hone my knitting skills, introduced me to all the fiber people she knows and shared her knowledge. And finally, she has supported my dreams and ideas; encouraging me to try them all.
My first weaving, Autumn under the Maple Tree.

May Mulberries; a weaving I did with roving I dyed myself.

I am good at expressing my emotions to some, and not so good expressing them to others. And I have a hard time doing so with Connie. Perhaps because we have only really known each other for a few years. So I want to thank Connie here, for everything she has done for me. A quiet, long distance THANK YOU.

And now, I don’t want to talk about it ever again.

A Wonderful Weekend

2009-05-14T19:04:00.006-05:00

Today, I was looking out my south window. It is humid and green, with a lot of branches on the ground. Tuesday’s wind was terrible. They said the gust were up in the 45 mph range. I will have to disagree. I think the sustained winds were at least that and the gust up in the 60. But it doesn’t really matter what the speed of the wind was, only that it did some damage again. The wind from the south is the one that hits us the hardest, and the poor trees take the brunt of it. So today I will have to go out and pick up branches AGAIN. And later, we will have to go through the grove and see if any trees got broken or blown over. But I still love it here.

While mentally cursing the wind I was also remembering this wonderful weekend. It was one filled with meeting new people and reconnecting with others. All that, and wonderful weather too. What’s not to like?

Saturday was the monthly meeting of Stitches in Time. My sister Connie, friend Jody and I started a group to try to bring together natural fiber crafters, with the emphasize on heirloom crafts. It’s a gathering of crafters who would share their talents and teach others. Between Connie, Jody and I, we can spin, weave, knit, crochet, embroider, tat, and do various other old time crafts. We now have a lady that does hardanger, a couple of women who do net darning, a woman that does Swedish or huck weaving and some who come to learn. Others bring their projects and just come to socialize. This was a great Saturday; nine women, including my daughter, who came to knit and relax.

Making New Friends: Jody and daughter Brook.

Tatting Lesson: Katie, Connie and LeAnn.

Then on Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, Connie and I headed to South Dakota. We meet our mother at the farm of her cousins. Actually they are children of her cousin, and we had never met them. Jerry and Ruth, brother and sister, are some of the nicest people I have met in a long time. We were greeted very warmly and welcomed into their home. Sunday was spent looking around the 4th generation farm and learning the history of their segment of our family. The house is built overlooking the north fork of the Yellowstone River in NE South Dakota. Ruth is an avid gardener and the flower gardens are beautiful. I would like someday to go back and see the rest of her flowers in bloom. Jerry takes care of all of the bird feeders, the chickens, and the guinea fowl. Monday we were taken on a tour of the towns that our grandfather knew. We saw the house of one of our great aunts; a house I remember visiting when I was young. I have always remembered that trip, because Cousin Ester had a cement pond in the yard and I helped her bring out the water lilies from her basement. I always wanted a garden pond after that. And yes, I have one now. That will be another day, another story.

Looking from Jerry and Ruth’s deck to the river.

One of Ruth’s gardens.

One of the best discoveries was that Ruth has Great Aunt Millie’s spinning wheel. We didn’t even know she was a spinner. I guess it might be in the blood after all. Ruth gave Connie a box of wool that Great Aunt Millie had been spinning from. Now Millie was born in 1878 and died in 1963 so that’s some old wool. It is a beautiful wheel that the family has taken wonderful care of. Both Connie and I were drooling. Then we met Ruth’s son, who farms the place and raises Rambouillet/Targhee sheep. We missed the shearing this year, but I hope that next year Mark will let us get a couple of fleece to try out. And his wife may start spinning, so the wheel will be used again.

Great Aunt Millie’s Spinning Wheel.

Tom Turkey across the River.

I saw two things this weekend that I have never seen in the wild; a beaver and a loon. Along with that were the many birds, the turkey across the river and deer. Their place is truly a haven. It was a lovely short trip, and I am so glad I went. Thank you Ruth and Jerry, take care until I see you again.

Birds, Birds and More Birds

2009-05-08T15:31:00.007-05:00

Another nice day in SW Minnesota; nice if you like drizzle, which I do. We have planted so many new trees and hedges that I am grateful for the rain.

Today I was looking out my east window with a cup of tea, watching the drizzle and the birds at one of our feeding stations. And I remembered I wanted to tell you about our birds.

Anniversary Grove has 5 ½ acres, most of which is trees. So we get hundreds of birds. It helps that we have 2 feeding stations that we use year-round. Every year I keep a list of birds we have seen, and when they come in. Every year the list gets bigger. So we now have an idea of when some of the species will come in. This year the list is up to 39 different birds, so far.

We have the normal yearly residents like the goldfinch, the hairy and downy woodpeckers, both varieties of nuthatch and the black capped chickadees. The juncos come in the fall and leave around the middle of April to head north. We are in a migration flight path and see thousands of geese, swans and cranes going over our area starting in March. They do the return migration in late fall. We’ve seen the male cardinal twice, but cannot get him to stay. Hubby’s favorite visitor is what he calls “the yellow butts”. Yellow-rumped warblers come through in the middle of April and stay about a week. They are headed north too. The last visitors passing through came in last week, and are still here. The Lapland Longspur is a very pretty medium sized bird with a big appetite. They are supposed to be on their way to the arctic to breed. They’d better get going, or the short summer up there will pass them by.

Lapland Longspur. Sorry it’s fuzzy. He would not hold still.

The summer residents started with the robins coming in on March 7 this year. Then on the 5th of April, hundreds of them showed up. I have never seen so many birds of one variety together, ever. Hubby and I lost count of them. After about 2 weeks of eating everything they could find, most of the robins moved on. We still have about 20 breeding pairs left that will stay all summer. We get most of the varieties of blackbirds, from grackles to yellow-headed ones. Cedar waxwings came in the middle of March and I think they are still here, down in the grove. I can hear them, but not see them. And of course, my favorite, the mourning dove shows up April. We have a large variety of sparrows, some wrens, warblers and flycatchers. The elusive veery and brown thrasher stay in the bottom of the grove and are mostly heard, but not seen. The yellow bellied sapsucker, flicker and red bellied woodpecker have joined our other woodpeckers. We have one very confused male hairy woodpecker that thinks he’ll find a mate by tapping on sheet metal; ALL DAY! I think he’ll be very disappointed this year. The rose-breasted grosbeak showed up a couple of days ago and this morning we finally saw our pair of wood ducks.

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. More beautiful than this picture shows.

OK, OK….Hubby keeps asking me, “Did you tell them?” So I’ll tell you. The hummers are here. They came in 2 days ago. For someone that claims to not care about “those stinking birds”, he is always letting me know what he has seen. And he spends hours in the summer, watching the birds with me. He is so excited to see the hummingbirds show up. He’d been pestering me to put up the feeders, so I did on Wednesday morning. And within an hour I saw a male ruby-throated eating.

As excited as I was about the hummingbird, I got a bigger surprise about an hour ago. While trying to get a photo of the Lapland Longspur for you, an indigo bunting showed up at the feeder. They are the most beautiful blue bird. So now I have proof that they actually come here.

Indigo Bunting at the feeder.

We’re still waiting for a few late stragglers to show up. The Baltimore oriole, the orchard oriole and the sleek catbird should be here soon.

I hope this gives you an idea of the bird life here. I didn’t name all the species because this blog is getting really long. And yes, at times the noise is deafening. But most of the time it is like listening to a mystical choir sing.

Country Dream

2009-05-07T10:24:00.007-05:00

Well, one day into this blogging and I think I may have made a mistake. I didn’t sleep well last night. I had so much going through my head, so many things I want to write about. I didn’t realize that I had so much to say. Will all these thoughts make me crazy? Or will the blog help me keep some sanity? This should be an interesting journey.

First, I’d like to thank everyone out there that welcomed me so warmly to Bloggerland. It’s nice to be part of such a friendly community.

Today, I’m looking out to the east. The day is warm and humid. I love this kind of day. Coming from western South Dakota, where humidity is scarce, this is so refreshing for me. When Hubby and I started looking for a place to move, I only asked for a couple of things; somewhere green and somewhere we could do the hobbies we enjoyed. We found all that here. Don’t you just love country living?

This brings me to the point of today’s blog. Why did we move to the country? Why did we move to SW Minnesota? Many people have asked me this. And I really don’t have a clear answer. Or a simple one. The pat answer that I give is we got tired of living in the Black Hills, which to us have gotten overcrowded, stressful and greedy. But that’s a rambling for another day. So we looked for something better. And we started looking by going to my sister’s place here in SW Minnesota. After coming over here a few times, we finally found Anniversary Grove. Hubby originally said, NO. He wanted in a town, close to hospitals, with city water and someone else to plow the roads. But it only took the 7 hour trip back to South Dakota to decide we wanted this place. So when we got home, he called the real estate agent. And things just clicked. You know it’s the right move if everything works; if there are no bumps in the road. And he loves it here as much as I do.

But I think the real answer is that I wanted out: out of the city, out of the hurried life there. And on to somewhere that I had dreamed about for years, in the back edges of my mind. Somewhere quiet, somewhere alone and especially, somewhere safe. Safe from what? I don’t know. I just know I feel safe here. And in finding my safe place, I also found what I want to be when I grow up. I want to have a couple of sheep and use my own wool to spin, weave, dye and sell. Unfortunately, I am growing up too late.

No Room for Sheep

Hubby says no to the sheep. He is supporting me in all other aspects of my dream. But to be fair to him, he is probably right about the sheep. There are several reasons why it is impractical. #1: MY HEALTH AND HIS HEALTH. We are both young retirees, but I have heart problems (triple bypass 6 years ago) and Hubby is physically disabled. He doesn’t want me out there in the middle of winter trying to care for animals and vice versa. #2: WE DON’T HAVE THE LAND TO SUPPORT SHEEP. Or we do have enough for a couple of sheep, but it’s not fenced (see reason #1) and most of it is wooded (see blog #1). And lastly, #3: WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT RAISING HERD ANIMALS. Our experience has been most dogs, and some cats. I mean, what exactly is scours?

Shetland Lambs (not my photo, but I can wish)

Where's the Sheep?

So right now I am living vicariously through my sister, who has 2 sheep, and the many blogs that I read about women out there raising their own sheep. But I haven’t given up my dream. I may just have to take a different path to the same end.

An Introduction

2009-05-05T11:23:00.000-05:00

I am starting this blog with excitement and some trepidation. I have been reading my sister’s blog, Ash Lane Farm, for a few years and from there I have found others that I have really enjoyed. So I finally decided to join in the blog community.

I spent some time wondering, what will I write about? Will it be interesting enough for someone else to read, will I have enough to say? Then I decided to just write for myself. And hopefully you will enjoy reading about my life here at Anniversary Grove.

This is the photo of our house built in 1910. The photo was taken around 1920. You can see bushes and a fence with a shed to the north. But notice there are no trees. The second photo was taken yesterday.

Original photo of our house built in 1910.

Our house today. A major work in progress.

Not only can you see all the work that it will take to fix up the house, but you can see trees. And more trees, some of which are very big. There is a large grove to the west and to the north of the house. It was not taken care of for years, so it is overgrown with buckthorn trees. And the mulberry trees are trying to take over the buckthorn. The original elms are dying of Dutch elm disease, so falling branches and dead trees are everywhere. But here are some very nice trees that we are trying to save; a huge scotch pine, a very large maple and some huge old black willow trees. Every year we get a little more dead wood burned and more of the nasty buckthorn and mulberry saplings cleared out. Hubby has made cleaning up the grove his new hobby.

Since the name of the blog is “The View out My Window”, I would like to describe to you the views that I see. Out my west window is the grove, with some areas cleared for my flower garden and a pond garden. Not all the trees are in full leaf yet, but the predominate color is green. The wildflowers are starting to bloom and the birds are everywhere. I’ll give you the varieties of birds on another day.

Wild Violets in the grove.

Out the north window you can see our north yard, our outbuildings, the old windmill frame, some more of the grove and then a field. The last 2 years the field was planted with corn, so I imagine that this year it will be soybeans.

Out the east window is a windbreak, then cornfields and CRP land. At least I hope it will be corn this year. Corn is much nicer to look at then soybeans, and it also serves as more of a windbreak. The photo at the top of the blog was taken looking east during a beautiful foggy sunrise.

Out the south window is our front yard, full of maple, ash, elm, and large mulberry trees. And beyond that is another field, which again, I hope will be corn. We have planted a hedgerow of lilacs, a hedgerow of red twig dogwood and a hedgerow of honeysuckle across the front. We are trying to slow down the horrible south winds that we get here. That predominate south wind blows most of the year now.

So that is what I see out my windows. Right now it’s green and beautiful. But in the winter, it is still wonderful. The closest neighbor is ½ a mile away. And normally, we only see 2-3 vehicles a day on the county road, which is a ¼ mile from the house. So it is calm, peaceful, and quiet. And I never want to leave. This is my forever home.

I hope that gives you an idea of my little slice of heaven. Please come by again. We’ll have a cup of tea and you can share the view out my window.