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

So, most of you know that Jon and I are "involved" in helping Obama win this very critical election..... Jon, with his gift of "soothing rhetoric" (as Stella calls it) has been canvassing and phone calling voters in Western Montana almost every day for the past month. But this morning, he had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. At her request, Jon drove a 63 year old woman to the courthouse, where she voted (for Obama) for the first time in her life!!! WHY did she want to vote now? Because this time, it was "important".

Get out your hankies. then go grab your elderly neighbors, uncles, grandmas and give them a ride to the voting booth!

Look here to the right! The Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry has almost met our goal of $30,000 raised for Barack Obama. The national level group of "Knitters for Obama" has raised over $89,000!!! How cool is that?! The knitters I know have always been readers of good books, opinionated thinkers of interesting thoughts, great hands-on parents, willing to lend a hand to one in need, and great hearted friends!!! Now I know that the vast majority of knitters are also politically involved and willing to help build America anew. Congratulations! Now, go VOTE, then go pick up those needles and know you are part of a lineage of wonderful people. :) Edited to add/YES I am knitting like a fiend these days - if I weren't I'd have chewed my fingers right off while watching the nightly news for the past month!!! 3 Colorimetry headscarves, a few dishcloths, and half a pair of glittens. I will post pictures sooner or later - likely after November 4th!

Visitors a few weeks ago thought it would be fun to see periodic up-dates of my favorite gadget-of-the-moment, since I do like "the right tool for the job"! So, here are a few kitchen tools I would never give up: A really good CROCK! Mine is a Gairtopf fermenting crock from Germany, made with a deep lip so you can pour water into it so that there is an air-lock while fermentation is occurring. This means no scum to gross you out while you make pickles, sauerkraut, kim chee , etc. We always have something brewing in the crock now :) Currently is the 2 nd batch this year of Icicle Pickles - using English cukes and a slightly different timing schedule. My darling mother has hinted broadly that she might be willing to give me one of her mother's crocks if I promise to be very careful with it - and that's the most exciting idea! I could have 2 things fermenting at once!!! Next up: the VITALIZER water machine! Jon really had to talk me into this, because it was (whispe...

Last night - letting the doglets, Pippin and Zuzu, out for one last pee before bed........ bark! bark! yowl!!!!!!! Jon is out with a flashlight, the stench permeated the yard, Pippin comes blindly out from under the deck frothing at the mouth and stumbling, Zuzu running about yipping her head off...... yep. Skunk. Under the deck. Pippster took it full force in the face, but he was the hero because he was "saving" Zuzu from the evil skunk. So, there we were, out in the dark, in our p.j.s, running for towels and Hydrogen Peroxide (lucky I had just bought a new bottle a few days ago!) and Baking Soda. Pippin went in the sink first - oh poor baby, he hates baths but he willingly sat still for this one, even when we dosed his face over and over. I'm afraid there is still stink in his wrinkley nose. When we let him out, he rolled over and over on the carpet trying to rub more out of his face - which meant that this morning, when we came downstairs - L'aire du Skunque wafted...

Here's a picture of the white board for our Obama Hub house activities this week!

Stella voted (early!) in her first Presidential Election and sent me this for posterity.... I am astonishingly proud of her - for lots of reasons, not the least of which is her dedication to an America that includes all people in those "constitutional rights" :)

FANTASTIC news, "my friends"! Here's the link to this morning's AP News from Helena (state capitol) Montana of the new poll showing OBAMA leading McCain 44% to 40% in results from Montana State University-Billings poll released yesterday (Wednesday). Obama ahead of McCain in Montana Now, go exercise your constitutional right to VOTE and if at all possible, give him more $$ so we can accomplish the PRO-American goals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for all of America!!!

While I was always the "black sheep" in my original family (only girl, only "liberal"), it has only been over the last 8 years or so that I have begun to feel that I might be a "black sheep American" as well. Let's see.... I was born in Montana (last time I checked, still part of the "real" USA) to parents who had both been born in the USA (dad Bob in Deer Lodge Montana, mom Bev in Rugby North Dakota). I'm certain my father's parents were both born in the US,and even though my mother's mother spoke German, I'm pretty sure both those grandparents were born here. I have done all the following "American" activities: hunted, fished, eaten elk, moose, venison, buffalo, antelope, all kinds of wild swimming things, - in fact almost all the meat my family ate while I? was growing up was "hunted" or "fished", or we raised it on our ranch-ette (chickens, beef, and lots of vegetables from the garden!)... I s...

Stencils available for download at: http://yeswecarve.com/index.php

It's almost over; Gov. Palin has im-palin-ed herself on Saturday Night Live , and John McCain has mea culpa-ed all over David Letterman this week, so here's a few lighter scenarios!

were finally canned last night after an exhausting 2 week process that involved brine fermenting, rinsing daily with boiling water and alum, and then vinegar/sugar/spice rinsing and boiling and fermenting ..... using the lovely, ever useful crock method!! We started with 3 pounds of little pickling cukes, purchased at the farmer's market from a sweet elder Russian woman who kissed the bunch of dill before putting in my bag :) We netted only 4 pints of these precious babes and there was plenty of room available in the crock, so I think next year we'll go for about 9-10 pounds of cukes to start with! Friend Gina told me about this recipe, which she got from her grandmother; research found many variations on the inter-net. I ended up hybridizing them into my variation, and if the bits that accidently popped into our mouths while canning were any indication, these are going to be delicious!!!

This past weekend, we drove to Portland - the city we always want to move to- to visit darling Stella and Mr. Marcus. We had to accomplish quite a bit, including getting Stella a Mio 50cc Scooter! and then, the meeting of the families when we had a day with Marcus' mom Becky, dad Paul, and sisters Hannah and Kellsie. Pictures are of Nash and Ned trying to teach Stella proper geek-scooter technique at www.ScooterStation.com , Stella and her Mio 50cc, Stella's roomates and Marcus, and The (most charming and wonderful) Lund Family :) Oh, I got in a bit of knitting as well - made Stella a mini-colorimetry headband (in the first picture) with some leftover sock yarn, and finished Mr. Pippin's Bark Obama sweater. I am a mess at intarsia, and I did some major revisions of the pattern: Knit in the round (not flat), added 1" of smaller rib at the neck, fiddled the dancing dogs and stars across the bottom a bit, added the Obama logo for the "O" and knit "Bark...

Last week, we had a visitor from the past, and were sooooo delighted!! Elena Bayrock, now of New York, is Jon's step-daughter from an early marriage, and as a young child, was often cared for by myself, and we both adored her and have talked about her and wondered about her. And at age 26, she is a wonderful, interesting woman whom I think we will always adore!! Elena came to visit Montana and we hung out all day, catching up, reminiscing, and taking a walk along the Blackfoot River together. Later, we had dinner at "The Edgewater" where Jon used to take her as a treat - as an option instead of McDonalds!!

This is so inspirational! And well made :)

This just forwarded from Reporter Redli: 'Palling Around with Meteorologists,' Guv Claims Alaska governor Sarah Palin went on the attack today, claiming that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had longstanding ties to The Weather Channel. "What does it say about our opponent that he thinks this nation's weather is so imperfect that he needs to be allied with The Weather Channel?" she asked a crowd in Tampa, Florida. "There's a fine line between hating America's weather and hating America herself." Gov. Palin said that she learned about Sen. Obama's ties to The Weather Channel last week "when I was trying hard to read The New York Times." "They said that Sen. Obama was hanging out with weathermen," she said. "Do we really want to elect someone who has been palling around with meteorologists?" Gov. Palin's latest attacks came on the heels of a new poll showing that the only demographic group that stil...

We are off toPortland OR early tomorow morning to meet Stella's boyfriend, Marcus' parents. We also spent the last few nights working until 11 at night on folder orders so that we could take this trip..... but we are very excited to be going. And, we always have great conversations during car trips - we finally work through some glitchy "relationship" thing (because we are stuck in the car with each other after all :)), or we have some great "ahah!" moment regarding a business thing, or we just get silly with each other and have a ball!! Usually it's a combination of all these things, so "tally ho"! for now, and here's a few comment from the political fronts and a little knitting humor!

Knitters for Obama are trying to save the world.....Looks like we might have a chance :)

Things that have finally, at long last occurred: We completely finished moving out to the "little house", and are snug as bugs nestled in for the winter :) the Obama campaign sent us 2 lovely Seattle-area women to stay for a week while they worked on the campaign here. next, the U 0f MT asked if our "big" house was still for rent. We said "of course! but for now we have agreed to let the Obama campaign office use it to house out-of-area-worker-bees". U 0f MT has someone interested in renting at our asking price .... we are hoping they can wait until after November 4th. Obama Campaign asked if the "big" house could be used as a neighborhood "hub", providing a place to rest, pick up more literature, make phone calls, eat a snack or have a cup of tea. So as of today (Saturday) if you are canvassing in the East side of Missoula, our house is your house :). This will go on through November 3rd. I'm thinking that Jon and I might as well...