THE COLLECTORS

What a week it has been! Iris' fourth birthday on Wednesday, a day spent with Nonna on Thursday, and the 'party' on Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Iris what kind of cake she wanted this year, and she said a bunny. She was quite definite about it, a white frosting and the chocolate cake. She added at the time, that she didn't want it to have a body, but she never noticed at the party, that this bunny surely had a body. She was pleased with it!

If you have been following this blog, you might remember my mentioning and perhaps showing pictures of her Zucchini doll(s)...as we've been through several. This prompted me to make her a more permanent zucchini doll, and I must say, much to my surprise, this was such a success...her first words upon opening it were "now I can take it to bed".

If you can't tell, the doll is in the middle...

...and on the left.

Perhaps one of my favorite days of the week, well to be honest there is no perhaps, is Nonnie Day, which this past week was Thursday. Iris is always filled with adventurous things to do, and this day she suggested that we 'do a collection'. I asked her what she meant, and she said we should each take a bucket and go outside to collect things. This was such fun, and she led me all over the yard, the garden and surrounding land to fill our buckets.

After filling them, she wanted to spread them out, so we took them into the garage and spread them on a couple of small tables. I was astounded at the beauty of our collection!


...and at her true devotion and love for all we gathered. She arranged them beautifully, I must say.

This led me to finally do the 'photo collection' I had been itching to do for several days. Just beyond our house is a pine grove planted many years ago by Anne (the former owners' daughter) for a 4 H project. It always seems to have been a wonderful place for mushrooms to grow in the fall, but this year the amount and beauty of the mushrooms is far beyond any I can recall.

And so....My Collection

This is a large and quite stunning blue mushroom...

which when you step on it...reveals this astounding blue color.

Surrounded by such beauty who can help but be enriched?

...AND IT'S NOT DONE YET!

Probably none of you who do in fact read this blog have noticed the absolute absence of any reference to the basement of my cabin, for what seems like several months now. The absence is mostly due to the 'depression' that set in oh, I'd say about Junish when I realized this was going to take far more time and MONEY then ever I dreamed. Way, way back in April, when this endeavor began, it was supposed to be not too much longer then a month to its completion. Let's see now, April to September...closing in on six months, and still not done. A lot closer yes, but not by any means complete.


Finally, though the kinks that have held it up seem to have been conquered, not always to my delight, but conquered. Mostly the hold up has been due to my wanting the basement to extend out beneath the deck (to increase space) and not be confined to the cabin proper. When I was given an estimate, the contractor said it would be 'problematic' but could be done. Little did we know how problematic it was going to be, as with every rain, and there were plenty this summer,
the abutment between the deck and the cabin ceiling leaked in several places. Many things were tried, some rejected, and one of the final solutions (a rubber mat on the deck floor) is, at least to my eyes

DAMN UGLY!

I have been looking at various outdoor floor coverings but have yet to find something that I think is less ugly. Hopefully, something will come to me.

Conquering this portion of the leak problem was only one step in the right direction, there was lots of cutting, replacing, caulking, and foaming before the leaking discontinued. (At least I hope it has stopped, and it's not just a consequence of the rains stopping.)

The landscaping is in progress, retaining wall nearly complete. Junk being cleaned up on the outside.

Now I need some really dry days to paint the outside, hoping I can match the color of the cabin!

Shots from the inside reveal bags and bags of trash to be disposed of...and work still in progress.

Here I need Freddie to determine what of this 'trash' he can find use for and wants stored in the barn. Hopefully this will be taken out SOON.

Dry wall needing painting.

I have, at least at this point, decided that I want the rafters left open. At first I thought I'd paint them, but now I think I'll paint the cement walls, the ceiling between the rafters, but not the rafters themselves.

When this ceiling was just the floor of the basement, and exposed to the ground, I had blanket insulation and board insulation stapled to it, to increase the heat value in the cabin. It was a good idea then, but now it is killing me! Freddie and Andy crawled underneath the cabin to install it, and boy did they do a great job, using, I think, nothing less then a million staples

like the close up of this one. They are all along the bottom portion of each rafter, and in most cases still have the blanket paper attached to them.

Yes, that is my hand, removing each and every one of those million staples. This is how I am spending a couple hours per day...not all at one time, however, as the crink in my neck and the twist of my wrist can only take it for about 30-40 minutes at a time.

Facing the back of the cabin basement, this is to the left...and relatively clean of staples, though there are a few stubborn ones I will need to leverage out with a knife before pulling with the pliers. Then it will all have to be vacuumed.


Then on to painting the inside, after which I can begin to move in all of the many items...tables, shelving, cabinets, lamps, etc., that I have accumulated since April. (I hope there is room, as I also want to bring down one of my three looms.)

So, even though after this very long six months, where I have said to myself more times then I can recall..."I wish I had never started this project!" there is still more to go. I actually do not anticipate being settled in surely not before Christmas at the earliest. What a journey!

I HAD BETTER LOVE THIS BASEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS

Having grandchildren is surely a blessing, having grandchildren if you love to create is a double blessing; having little girls as grandchildren (despite loving little boys, too) is a triple blessing; having imaginative little girls for grandchildren, exceeds it all. The little girls in my life are always prompting me to create something...sometimes by straight out asking and sometimes I am inspired by their play.

Not too long ago, while Freddie and I were at her house, my eldest granddaughter, Morgan, came out with a lovely, fancy dress for her American Girl Doll, and asked if I could make one. I said I didn't have a pattern, but if I could take a dress home I'd be able to do it. She ran into her bedroom, grabbed a pink knit doll's dress and said I could take that home, as it was a winter dress and it wasn't winter yet.

After much scrutiny and 'pattern making' here is the completed project. All of the fabric is reclaimed, and the lace was a very lucky Goodwill find, all 4 plus yards of it for $2.99. With little girls, I figure I'll eventually use it up.

Fancy Dress


Then while tending Iris this last Wednesday, she wanted to play fairies, (after about a million other games we played). I had a couple of 'angels' that she got out and we played Fairy Land with them. Of course, right away I started thinking about making fairies.

I have had these dried milkweed pods since last fall, when I could not resist picking them on a hike...thinking how lovely they were. They looked like wings to me. Since then I have picked them up many a time while in the workshop , but today was the day I was fully inspired to transform them...I think they have been waiting!

Wanting the Fairy to stand up created somewhat of a problem, but it was solved after trial and error. The stiffest facing I had worked.

Fairy number one in progress...I think of her as the Sunshine Fairy.

Fairy number two nearly done. I think of him as the Earth Fairy.

And here they are pleased as punch, just waiting for a little girl to come along and play Fairy Land!

Little Labor this Labor Day

It seems like Fall came in a matter of hours...going from very hot and humid, to a mere 38 degrees one morning a few days ago. The garden is on the wane, even the ultra-prolific cucumbers (a half bushel per day) have more dead leaves then live. The vineyard, which was poor to begin with this year, has been harvested of its few grapes, and is looking dreary at best.

Still, there is something lush about Fall, with its aromas of moist earth, crisp leaves, and the smell of the brisk wind. Although I am reluctant to completely let go of summer and my garden, I welcome Fall and all that it brings.

Yesterday we traveled not very far from home so that Freddie could try out his new La Crosse waders. Warner Creek, only a couple of miles from here, yielded beautiful surroundings if no fish.

Warner Creek

One of the stunning outcroppings along the creek.

Beautiful little yellow button flowers.

Freddie spent a couple of hours fly fishing, while I spent time looking and snapping a few pictures. It was a lovely afternoon, despite the multitude of mosquitoes.

Then home to make a fish-less supper.

Although the garden is yielding less and less, the basil is still big and bushy and begging to be picked. As I had bread dough rising, the basil beckoned to be cut up on a pizza.

Just ready for the oven.

Just out of the oven.
(I must say, we never seem to get tired of pizza, and have it at least once per week.)

And as the cucumbers are still plentiful enough so that we are eating them daily (and I can honestly say that neither one of us has grown tired of a cucumber salad a day, eaither) we accompanied the pizza with yet another cucumber salad.

The end to a peaceful and lovely Labor Day.

IF YOU WAIT LONG ENOUGH....

In the mid 1970's I became interested in weaving, and as I was teaching at the University of South Dakota at Vermillion, and they offered a weaving class, I signed up for a year long course. I was lucky, as the instructor was a consummate weaver, well-known locally, throughout the state, and nationally as well. I will always recall our first assignment as a small class. We had to measure out the warp, on a warping board, for our first project. Grete, our instructor, had chosen a white (perhaps cream) cotton warp for us to use. After we had wound the first section on the warping board, I was struck by the dense beauty of that yarn. When Greta came by, I mentioned to her how beautiful it was, and she kind of laughed, thinking, I'm sure, it is only white. But I have always loved the beauty of white and cream...

...as evidenced by the beauty of this Queen Anne's Lace...

...and this cotton warp on the loom...

...and the beauty of this cream-colored yarn waiting to be knit...

Several years ago, far more then I want to precisely count, I took some lovely very fine, cream-colored wool warp yarn obtained from Fairbault Woolen Mill, and measured 10 yards on a warping board, at 24 strands per section, eighteen sections. A friend was going to help me warp my loom in the traditional manner. When she arrived to help me, she looked for the 'cross section' necessary to warp the loom, and much to my deep regret, I had forgotten to do it...on every single one of the 18 sections. At the time, I was of course, devastated, thinking among other things, what a waste. I was never able to throw that yarn away, and it has sat all these years in a basket with all of my weaving yarns....waiting. I would look at it over the years, exclaim at its beauty, and think, one day I would find something to do with it.

For some strange, unplanned reason, last week, without forethought, upon entering my workshop I went directly to that basket, picked up some of the chained hanks, and with rapid thinking, took them all into the house. Now, as much as I loved the cream color, I did not have a warped loom on which that would look good. I did have, however, some Jacquard Acid dye, dark blue and burgundy, which I also went and dug out, and proceeded to dye this already lovely yarn.

...chained hanks before dying, after washing...

...in the dye pot...the third use of the water, as I wanted graduated colors...

On the line, drying after dying.

Assembled on the loom, ready for......whatever happens...

Here you can see the eighteen strands that make up one pass through of the boat shuttle.

The rug in progress.

The completed rug. As I have always wanted to hem a rug rather then leaving fringe, I thought this a good time to try that.

The colors go superbly well with my thrift-store-find blue vase and my zinnias.


I used up 9 of the 18 chained 'hanks' and am anxious to discover what the other 9 will reveal. The loom is ready and so am I.

FROM REAPING TO EATING

I am beginning to think I need to add a few extra words to my blog title...like food, cook, eat, etc. It seems like I spend more time blogging about food in general then on kneading and weaving.

Given that it is high summer, and the garden is spilling over into my kitchen two and three times per day, it is difficult not to be thinking about food...picking, preparing, eating, preserving, savoring, sharing, and then thinking about it again. Right now, cucumbers and tomatoes are the most fruitful, with basil coming in close behind. I have made and frozen lots and lots of pesto, and will do a few more batches before I let the basil go to seed.

As the tomatoes are coming in a bucketful or more each day, I bring them in, line windowsills, and benches on the porch and let them ripen a bit more.

Tomatoes washed and ready, along with the basil, for roasting.

Even on the hottest and most humid days, I fire up the oven to roast tomatoes.

Two pans of cut up tomatoes, onions, basil, fresh garlic, and olive oil, and a tiny bit of sugar. (The pan on the left also has oregano, as this will be pizza sauce. Sicilians NEVER put oregano in pasta sauce, at least no Sicilian I ever knew. If it has tomatoes and oregano, is cooked and it's not a salad, it is pizza sauce.)

Looks good enough to eat right here!

(When I walk into the house and the sauce is roasting, I wish I could take a picture of the aroma, it is almost enough in itself!)

Just out of the oven, ready to cool, put into containers and freeze. In the winter, after defrosting and heating, it is simply delicious just like this over pasta.

And speaking of pasta...I once saw a photo of Pappardelle Pasta (a very wide fettuccine) and longed to try some. So I decided to make it, and it turned out not to be difficult at all. I actually made it and froze half of the dough, which I took out to have with this meal yesterday. I kneaded it through the large rollers of my pasta machine until...

it is thin enough to see the light through. The I cut it into wide strips, and just as my father did when I was a child,

hang it over broomsticks suspended between chairs to dry.

I'm inclined to say, and then comes the rewards, but there is so much reward in the making that

despite the beauty and utterly indescribable flavors of this finished plate, I can't. However, this pasta melted in your mouth, and the fresh garden vegetables that came almost directly from the garden to our plates were truly a reward. Add a great glass of red wine, who could ask for anything more??

SHERIDAN AND BACK

It seems that we just do not have uneventful trips west anymore!! We left last Wednesday, August 4th for the Big Horn Mountains and fly fishing. We drove all day Wednesday and all day Thursday to arrive in Sheridan, WY around 4:00. We drove directly to Albertson's Grocery Store where we generally do our pre-mountain climb shopping to stock up. Once in the mountains there is little to buy. As Freddie shut the truck down, he sensed something amiss, tried to restart it, and wouldn't you know....no go! Luckily (?) we were across the street from several car shops of one kind or another and it wasn't yet closing time. So, with only a little depression, we walked across the street and explained our situation. As the mechanic had already gone home, and there was no tow truck on the premises at that time, a youngish fellow said he'd be over to take a look. He drove up in a monster truck with a monster 4-wheeler loaded on the back, and said, referring to Freddie's 1993 GMC, I brought my 'little' GMC. Ha, ha. Anyway, he said he thought it was the starter and recommended an outfit across town who did 'house calls'. After a short wait, Allen showed up. Nice, nice kid. He also looked it over, and said he needed to get parts, etc, and would be back in the morning as soon as possible. A bleak beginning to our vacation...the first night spent in Albertson's parking lot, just a stones through from Wal-Mart. Nice that bathrooms were within walking distance. I must say I became quite intimate with Wal-Mart, and probably walked its aisles more in those two days then in my entire life.

So, on the early side, Friday morning, a truck pulls up and this guy gets out. Of course I think he is from the shop Allen worked for, but no, he was curious and just wanted to help. Did he have any mechanical skills, well no, but he was a guy and commiseration was always good. Believe it or not, before the REAL guys showed up, this man was on the ground, squished underneath the truck, and almost unable to stand after he pulled and tugged himself out.

At 10:00 Allen and Buck show up and at one point, heads beneath the open hood, were, Freddie, this guy and Allen/Buck...did I feel 'out in left field', you betcha!! The testosterone was pretty heavy, and I just backed off. Allen and Buck proceeded to work the entire day, running back and forth to various parts shops and to their own shop across town, more times then I can remember.

Being privy to their conversation was an experience, especially when a woman and young boy (I'd say about 12) showed up and spent an hour or more hanging out with them.

At one point Freddie got beneath the truck, hammer in hand, to knock on the starter. Well, he knocked on the starter AND the clutch line as well, knocking a small hole in the clutch line which blew out fluid! So, now we need the starter replaced, but only after replacing the clutch line.

This is how we spent much time, sitting in the camper in the parking lot, reading.

I spent time lying down and reading, and looking out the window at this view!

While Freddie was off on a walk Friday morning, this gentleman parked nearby. I saw him get out of his car, walk around the camper, peer in (at me??) squat down, etc. Lying in the camper with someone peering around it was odd, I asked through the window if he wanted something? He said, no, he was just looking. Mmmmm. It turns out he was interested in buying the camper...hallelujah, I thought as I got out. We walked around it and talked about it, but I told him he'd have to come back when my husband returned. He did, and they looked it over carefully.

In the end, he decided he should probably buy a new one.

We spent another night in the parking lot. Saturday morning we visited friends in Sheridan, returned to Albertson's to buy groceries before the trip up the mountains and then, somehow, given that Freddie did not feel the clutch line was 'quite right', headed straight back to Wisconsin! Our vacation....two days drive to Sheridan, a day in the parking lot, and two days drive home. Another trip to remember...along with *hooking a fly in my lip; *shattering my knee cap; *being locked inside the car; *arriving at the cabin to find no heat or electricity. Always an adventure!