Perfect place to swim after dinner. I did.
Can you guess this mountain’s name?
This may be it. These photos don’t really do it justice. Elk Lake Is a pristine lake surrounded by, dare I say, majestic mountains. We arrived in the afternoon and paddled a canoe for a bit. Then we retired to cocktails on the porch, dinner and a swim. Nice day.
Someone told Tim this is the most glorious summer she has ever experienced. I agree.
Warm days, cool nights, wildflowers, wildlife.
What fun!
Summer is all too short. After a long, cold, dark arduous winter, the carefree days of summer fly by way too fast. There’s so much to do, besides quilting, knitting, weaving and spinning. My dye garden is beginning to bloom. Now I have to be willing to cut off the flowers instead of enjoying them in the garden. We’ll see how that goes. I’m even conflicted about weeding. Some weeds are just too pretty to pull.
Tim had to bribe me to go sailing the other day. I’m not sure why it was so hard to leave home but I was engrossed in a couple of projects. I went and it was glorious. The breeze was steady and consistent, as usual there were hardly any boats on the lake and we swam when the boat was tucked away. And I collected my bribe: dinner on the water.
Yesterday, I went paddling on newly acquired state lakes with some old and new friends. It was a beautiful day. I counted ten loons, three swims, three beaver lodges and one dam holding back at least four lakes.
There was a neat culvert, which ran under a road, between two lakes. I, of course, had to do my echo cry.
A lot of time was spent paddling through lily pads and watching frogs splash into the water.
Thankfully, rain is predicted for today and I can take a break from all this outdoor fun.
Three plants may yield 4(!) blueberries if the deer don’t get them before me.
I hope the rest of my garden yields more.
I wish. But I have made some inroads. I started a queen size quilt yesterday using only material from my shelves. I have to make more room on those shelves because I acquired two nifty fiber devices last week.
First, a neighbor passed along a Brother 929d serger via freecycle. She thought it had some issues, but I read the manual, threaded all four strands carefully, spun a few knobs, watched to make sure I didn’t cut off a finger, and away I went. This will be especially useful as I start to sew with my woven fabric. It binds along the edge to stabilize it then slices off the excess. When I make my next bathing suit it may be helpful too. As an aside, I wore my homemade bathing suit to swim laps yesterday and it’s holding up fine. Today I think I’ll have to wear a wetsuit because I am going to venture into Mirror Lake where the water temperature is only 68 degress f.
Next I purchased a Louet drum carder from Goodwill. I have a lot of alpaca fiber, maybe part of a wool fleece, that has been sitting in bags, after I washed them, waiting to be carded. And waiting. I have visions of blending fibers to get new colors but at least making some headway on my fiber so I can empty those shelves to refill them again. Tim’s getting nervous. We just read about a woman who was a hoarder and died among her possessions when the first floor of her house collapsed upon her. I am a only hoarder wannabe.
I made quick work of some alpaca fiber and carded two beautiful batts.
After the girls left, I sat back and tried my hand at a couple of potholder looms. What fun. Every weaver should start with this rather than return to it after using a floor loom for a few years.
This baby blanket came off the floor loom and has been shipped to the new baby. I love the colors and it is quite soft.
I am so lucky to have my daughter and three friends visit me at Camp Adirondack. They are experiencing it at its best, despite the fact it’s still black fly season and the pine pollen is falling in clouds. They’ve hiked locally and afar. We went for a sail on a blustery day, played board games and of course have explored arts and crafts. Now they’ve crossed the border and have headed to Montreal.
In anticipation of their visit, I invested in a //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=islandnorcoul-20&marketplace=amazon®ion=US&placement=B002EDNZD0&asins=B002EDNZD0&linkId=&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true” target=”_blank”>Harrisville Designs Pro Loom and a couple of bags of 10″ loops. The larger version is an improvement (in my humble opinion) over the original 7″ design. I never could have imagined the fun they would have with it or how competitive they would be – hoarding loops and judging the finished products. In a couple of days, on their own, they have explored color work, texture, twill and sett. It’s amazing. It may have allowed them to appreciate the thought that goes into even the simplest project. Plus they have a useful reminder of their time in the North Country.
I also played with some yarn necklaces before they got here because there were a few – and why not celebrate them all – birthday celebrations. We saw a version of this in a craft store in West Virginia and it looked easy to replicate. I bought a little jewelry making kit and practiced bending and twisting wire. I think the wrappings are smooth enough and hopefully won’t gouge anyone.
![IMG_9574[1]](https://one2travelfar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/img_95741-e1401803535694.jpg?w=640&h=853)
One morning, during breakfast, my neighbor pulled up in his tractor to tell me there was a fawn next door. We must have walked by it the previous afternoon and had no idea it was there. We returned with cameras and found this beautiful little fawn lying in the grass. We gave it a wide berth and I used my zoom lens to capture its image.
Their weaving enthusiasm inspired me to complete a scarf, which had been languishing on my rigid heddle loom since December. Now the loom vacuum is begging for another project.
Over the past couple of days I have scored a Louet Drum Carder and Brother Serger. So much experimenting to do.
Thirteen boat cushions are complete and mostly a success. There were a only few minor glitches. But they brighten the boat and aren’t ripped. Hopefully only my eyes will focus on the errors. Next time I’ll do even better.
Tim got to use my favorite gift for the boat. I bought it when we were living aboard a boat with a ginormous mast. As the lighter of the crew, ahem, I was the chosen candidate to be hoisted to the top to do various repairs. Then I found the ATN topclimber. Now Tim can climb himself up the mast and I just have to stand by and watch in case he comes tumbling down. Best purchase ever.
The boat is afloat and my mind turns to the garden and my loom. I’m planning a dyeing garden, that’s dyeing in the color sense not the end of life. Who needs food when there is fiber to be dyed? Actually, I may have bitten off more than I can chew because I’m planning three gardens. A raised bed mostly for veggies, a flower garden for cutting and dye and a perennial garden to keep the butterflies and hummingbirds happy.
We may be beyond frost but one never knows in the Adirondacks. The hummingbirds are back at the feeders and I witnessed a near hummicide the other day. Two birds met at the feeder, flew into one another, held on and spiraled to the ground. Then one pounded the other for about three minutes. They both were males so I guess they were staking out the territory. One pinned the other to the ground, pecked at it, sat on it and covered it with its wings. Very dramatic. Not so sweet after all.
Finally! The last time I hung my laundry to dry, everything froze solid. Spring! Still no sign of my 200 daffodils but my cold frame arugula looks good and rhubarb is sprouting.
Here’s my favorite quilt before it is put away for the summer.
Spotted hanging out around the hot tub yesterday. She is an American Toad and should be heading down to the swamp to fool around with her male counterpart. She may be a he but the male is supposed to be in the water calling her with a sound like a cricket.
Double rainbows. No flowers yet.
Island and North Country Life 
