New arrivals

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My new trainer arrived yesterday.

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It’s very colorful, weighs three pounds and breaks down into segments for travel. Just what I need on a tiny island.

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Apparently, hula hooping is the latest craze. This isn’t your lightweight Whamo version. It’s hefty and promises bruising the first couple of weeks. The instructions recommend limiting hooping to one to three minutes daily, initially. My friend told me about it, my librarian is already doing it and others know about it. Must get out of my vacuum.

This morning, I heard a new bird song outside the bedroom and was trying to find it on my Audobon birding app. I couldn’t identify the call but I attracted a cheeky, little American Goldfinch to the window.

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Kitchen produce

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This photo shows why I must exercise.

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On the left, is my latest loaf of sourdough bread. The recipe is loosely based on a PBS episode with Julia Child and the owner of La Brea Bakery, Nancy Silverton. .

From the episode, I learned three important facts about bread baking. I made my own sourdough starter with red grapes, flour and water, which sits on my counter and ferments away; keep one hand clean while kneading dough; and taste the raw dough and adjust.

I’ve made several delicious loaves and hope to keep the starter happy. This was my best one yet.

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Next to the bread is a fruit pie, not really one of my vices but dear Tim loves them and I go along for the ride. Any fruit will do. I only like pie the day it is baked. After that, I’m only interested in the filling.

Next up is white bread, albeit a bit overdone. I make two loaves a week (whether we need them or not). This is definitely not a gluten-free household.

Finally, pasta. I received an Atlas pasta maker for Christmas and love it. I roll out a batch of fresh pasta a week. Semolina flour, salt and water. Run it through the machine several times to get the right thickness, then put it through the cutting blades. Because it cooks so quickly, the whole process doesn’t take longer than boiling boxed pasta. And clean up is a snap.

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Other kitchen additions include an old fashioned, metal bread box with holes and a magnetic knife rack. Aah, domestic bliss.

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I’m waiting for my new hula hoop and jump rope to arrive so I’ll be able to exercise on that tiny rock of an island in Alaska.

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My fiber is killing my garden

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Maybe not killing the garden but, at least, preventing it from flourishing. I should be out there weeding and planting despite our November-like weather.

But the loom beckons me to finish a blanket I have started after “tying one on”.

20130611-074714.jpg There are two more weaving projects in the pipeline. Next up – not sure of the order yet – two rugs for the cabin and a few more placemats for my darling daughter. Her first set was a trial and I only ended up with three plus a little mat.

20130611-075246.jpgNot exactly great for entertaining. The mat will become a purse but she needs at least one and probably three more. While I’m at it, I’ll make a few ( more than three) for myself because the colors are so cool.

I just finished knitting a bathmat and a scarf. The bath mat

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is from Knit 2 Together, by Tracy Ullman and Mel Carter, which has several go-to patterns in it. I love the baseball hoody,

20130611-075702.jpgballet slippers

20130611-075855.jpgand little cape. Here’s a link to the book on Amazon.
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The scarf is my second Swing scarf, knit with Ripple by Tahki. I gave my first one away and wanted a replacement. It’s a quick knit and a nice spring (summer here) scarf.

Next up, I’m going to knit a cotton linen skirt. Call me crazy. I’m obsessed.

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Preparations begin

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Our departure is a month away and our thoughts point west to Alaska. I was googling Five Finger Lighthouse and came across this link about our temporary home.

Just when I have embarked on a regular running regimen, we head out to a three acre island. Three acres! 130,680 square feet or 361.5 x 361.5 feet! Oh my. That’s a lot of laps – 3.6 laps to run one mile. Luckily the island’s size doubles at low tide. I’ll have to watch out for slippery rocks.

We’ve asked the three most important questions: Is there internet service; is there cell phone service; and is there hot water? Happily, the answers are yes, yes and yes. There aren’t mosquitos or gnats but spiders were mentioned twice. Can’t be as bad as Australia’s huntsmen spiders. I hope.

We will miss prime boating season on Lake Champlain so yesterday we boarded our sailboat, Boreas, and headed up the Otter Creek in grey, misty weather to Vergennes, VT. We only hit one log in the water but this one is waiting to make the dive over the falls!

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We could hear the falls before we saw them and I’m glad we approached from the downside.

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Very dramatic.

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Enough weather

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This is my last weather post for a while.  It should settle into normal spring weather at this point, right? No more snow.  IMG_9044Good old thunderstorms instead.

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We had a slew of visitors, 4 sets, last week!  The first set arrived the day we learned our well had bacteria in it.  Ouch.  I began boiling water and advising guests.  Then the rains came and the rivers rose.

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It was very dramatic at the local gorge.

I found a quiet moment or two to get back to spinning.  The funny thing is, I don’t think I took this photo but there it was, on my camera.  Very nice.  Andre?

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I am spinning a local alpaca fleece from the lock.  I washed it last year or so and now  I just grab a lock, flick it on a brush and spin away.  I have been plying it with some Blue Faced Leicester and may dye it with my lichen stash.  What will it be, what will it be?

The Indigo Bunting woke me yesterday and I managed to get a better photo of it later in the day.  Dawn is about 4:30 here and the birds sing their little hearts out.  Better than an alarm clock but  I wish I could set it a little later.

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Sailing with snowy mountains in the background

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Yesterday, Memorial Day, a dry high pressure finally moved in and we went sailing. The temperature was in the mid 60’s, like a nice fall day where I come from. We donned sweaters and I considered, but did not wear, long johns.

It was lovely; early on Lake Champlain, which rose a foot after the week of rain. Little to no boat traffic and we ate lunch in a quiet, picturesque harbor.

In the distance, there was snow on the mountains in New York and Vermont.

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Memorial Day like November

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This is why I am still eating root vegetables in May.  There was snow in the mountains today!

So while those of you downstate are munching on fresh lettuce and tomatoes, I am still eating the remains of cold storage.  Potatoes and kale are finished but beets, carrots and parsnips abound.  I started a hydroponic garden about a month ago and this weekend, we shared about 8 pieces of arugula, mustard greens and lettuce among four people.  And it was good.

image  There comes a time in mid spring, where I have to have fresh greens and fruit after a long winter of root vegetables.  I threw slow food to the wind and bought mangos, pineapples, oranges and cherries.  Don’t judge me.

 

More spring visitors

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Avian and mammal.  Spring brings feathered friends and family.  All welcome.

Bluebirds found the new house by the cabin and are making a nest. IMG_9017

My sister-in-law and I walked through the grasslands and she spotted a Chestnut sided warbler by the road.  You can just make it out hidden to the left in the brambles.  It’s not the large tan leaf in the upper rightChestnut sided warbler.  IMG_9020She also spotted an Indigo bunting just outside our screened in porch.IMG_9004

The lilacs are in bloom all around us. Their scent is the harbinger of spring.  With nice weather, cool (40f) nights, visitors return to the Adirondacks in heaps.  I love hosting guests during this time of year although there was snow in the forecast for tonight (Memorial Day Weekend)!

So I clean my house before guests arrive.  Tim likes to wait until they leave.  Any thoughts?
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Cosmopolitan

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Travel time. I arrived in Washington, DC to have a staycation (for her) with my daughter and help her out after oral surgery.

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I made myself at home in her beautiful apartment and tried to make a cup of coffee while she slept in. I finally found a coffee maker but no coffee. So I opted for a cup of tea instead. There was plenty of tea, hot water, milk and sugar. I had to look hard among all the bar ware to find a mug though. I spotted martini glasses, champagne flutes, beer glasses and a shaker.

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Ice packs were stored among several bottles of liquor in the freezer. I did spot a package of frozen peas in there too, if needed in a pinch.

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Post op, I visited my favorite DC yarn shop, Looped Yarn Works, and bought some lovely yarn to crochet boot toppers for the long DC summer. These were super quick and will just peak over the top of work boots.

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I benefitted from the generosity of family and friends and helped eat the ice cream she received while we watched scary TV, The Following, and Romantic Comedies. Bittersweet.

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