Knitting, Singing, the Universe and all....

Here are a few pictures to show the garden project currently underway on the west side of the back yard. Friends, Sam and Scott are helping provide the "back"! We are trying a method called "Lasagna Gardening" - layering dirt, newspaper, alfalfa hay, chicken manure (yumm!) and soil pep, and then repeating that a few times. The two large rectangular beds will be for vegies, and the "after-thought Triangle" will be over-flow; most likely flowers. We went up to Potomac today, to our friends', Kathy and Mike Settevendemie, Blackfoot Native Plants nursery and picked up several sage plants, 2 junipers, a chokecherry bush, and a couple of wild rose bushes for the back alley garden re-do as well. They will all be watered kindly this year (using the 2 rain barrels back there that we have filled from the hose, since there has been such insignificant rain this year!!) Laugh if you will, but we are hoping that next year and thereafter, the plants will be more wa...

Guess who stopped by for lunch today? Pippin was barking (what's new?) so I went out to call him in. There on the other side of the fence was a beautiful 1 - 2 year old buck - flirting with Pippin! They tossed their heads at each other, and after a few minutes, I see another one sauntering over to check us out. I had seen signs that someone had been sleeping in the yard. Pippin eventually got in the neighbor's yard, and chased them down the alley - but they were amazingly unfazed by the whirling bull dog. It was more like "he's irritating, let's split!"

Just a few more notes about the recent "big trip" yes, with gas sometimes costing $4.591/gallon, we ended up spending almost $500 on gas - mmmph the trip total mileage was 1850+ (well, we did have those lovely days of diversion when we knew not where we were headed...) our average miles per gallon, in the V-6 Rav4, pulling the Boler was 15.7 - not as bad as it could be, but worse than we expected, Jon was particularly surprised at how often we had to fill up. The Prius has spoiled us, All I could think of was how much worse it could have been if we had a less efficient tow vehicle. Zuzu & Pippin stood at the front gate staring up at the Boler with hope and anticipation most of the past two days. In my ears recently : The Full Monty - we went to see it up in Whitefish on Thursday night - fabulous production. I liked the movie, I really like the musical!! Alpine Theater Project (ATP) is a summer theater company that employs equity actors - and many of them are rather famou...

We are finally back from the great adventure of 2008. Yep, we took the dogs, the coolers, packed the Rav and pulled the Boler all the way from Western Montana, over 1750 miles, to the Southwestern Oregon coast and then back again. First stop: scenic Pasco Washington; 100 degrees (and "cooling down" according to the campground owner!) where Zuz and Pip tried out the tie-out stake and play-pen. Both got a paws-down, but we instigated a no-whining rule asap. We actually were glad to have electric hook-up since we had brought a small fan. Sleeping with 2 furry monsters, and a 6' spouse in flannel sheets .... a lovely time was had by all. Second day, we left early, thinking we would get to Lewis River Campground in SW Washington about 4 pm-ish - in time to swim, have a beer, chat with the fam and friends... you know. Well, we made a large (200 mile +) loop around the campground site. Wending our way through the fairy-forest, we finally got to camp at 10:30 that night. Whew! Th...

Yesterday was spent biking to the Farmer's Market to pick up some new spring cabbages (to start the next batch of sauerkraut) and split a giant cinnamon roll and coffee. After we got home, Jon helped me finish up the little canopy for the Boley :) Here's a few pictures of our day. We did finish the awning, and it's riding along the top of the Boler, but we won't know if it "really works" until we get to a campground and put up the extend-a-poles and see how it looks! I'll put another picture up then. Meanwhile, the sauerkraut pictures are to the right.... Today (Sunday) will be spent packing and anticipating. I am going to start some chili on the stove top in the morning before we leave, put it in the thermal cooker, and then when we stop for our first night, we should have a wonderful hot meal all ready for us. Add a beer and some tortillas and we will be camping pretty :)

I am busy sewing up a little shade canopy for our Boler camper trailer, out of a canvas drop cloth. Except for minor friction with my darling husband regarding the construction of said canopy, things have gone well. He has something....... more expensive, more extensive, more expansive in mind ...we should just enclose it in a gazebo-like confection of fringe and traditional paisley. This project came about because we signed up to attend the West Coast " Bolarama /Egg Gathering" next week. It seems that most of the attendees are actually other variations of fiberglass trailers. Bolers were made in Canada and Minnesota from the mid '60s to 1979. Our little 13' egg-home is the top-of-the-line from the last year they were manufactured. As part of the get together, there is a "trailer tour" so people can see what adaptations and decor you have. Ours is simply "vintage", so no worries there, but when Jon suggested I bring Stella's (hibernating) sw...

I have progressed through the second mitten of Jon's lovely Blue Fish Mittens. I am doing much better on mitt 2, since I got past the brain-cramp about reading a black-and-white pattern where the black squares mean color and the white squares mean black !!! I must have frogged at least 1/4 of my rows on the first mitten just because my brain saw black..... and I, naturally rather obedient, knitted black. Hmmmmmph. Next pair will be using a varigated yarn so I can have "Rainbow Trout" Mittens! I have also been musing over the two full, in the grease, fleeces my brother Todd gifted me with several years ago. They have been residing in the storage unit, and are beginning to whisper to me about washing and carding and spinning. I must investigate the idea of sending them, grease and all, off to be cleaned and carded, then all I have to do is spin and dye. Meanwhile, in "other life" news, Zuzu (Pomeranian cross piece-of-fluff-worth-spinning) is likely going to survi...

Well, POOP!! We did not go camping this weekend..... bah! Due to a variety of circumstances... however, I am attempting to "accept" reality gracefully. So..... I spent most of today knitting!!! Jon will soon receive a lovely pair of Norwegian mittens with a fishy-fish- motif. I have adapted a whimsical pattern by Jorid Linvik (www.joridweb.com) for Jon's wide hands, and have had great fun watching the fishies emerge :) Jorid also has patterns for Cat and Frog mittens whose pdfs are lurking in my in-box whispering "possibility".... We will be going to Washington and then Oregon mid-July to see the Rose-Hascall clan at Louis River Lower Falls and then on to the Bolerama in Southern Oregon. Our little "Boley" is all packed and ready to go. And I may have to start another pair of mittens so that I have something to knit on the trip - wait, 10 days = 2 pairs of mittens and 2 pairs of socks! Better go rifle through the stash :) Meanwhile, Stella is off to ...

Happy July!! We get our first delivery from our CSA tommorow, and are looking forward to TOMATES this summer. After that, we are taking the doglets and the Boler and going camping, so I am trying to decide what to knit on the road and in the woods...... alas, Pi-shawl-R-Boring at the moment, and I am desperate for some color-work. I am thinking mittens. Maybe red ones...... with little tomato themed icons....or dancing, musical tomatoes :) ---------------- Now playing: Pink Martini - Hang on Little Tomato via FoxyTunes