photography

Winners and losers

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Not all my projects can be winners. I was eager to get back to the loom and make six placemats. I measured, wound and secured the warp without difficulty for a change. In all, I had about a mile of cotton; 280 ends, each about 6 yards long.

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Looks good so far, right? After this it became a disaster and I was in no position or mood to photograph it. I tried to follow instructions to dress the loom from back to front and ended up with a snarled, tangled mess and a backache to boot.
So on to the winners. Remember that batch of beer I made about two months ago?. It’s ready! And good enough to drink! A winner!

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We struck gold, black gold, Texas tea

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In more ways than one. We are sailing again, on Lake Champlain. As pretty as Maine without lobster traps. In fact the lake is often more than a hundred feet deep.

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We anchored in a lovely bay, all by ourselves, just a half hour from home.

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Our home port has the High Peaks as a backdrop. And our little dink looked so cute bobbing and waiting for us at the mooring.

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But now for the real news. Simple composting works. I began a pile last year when Hurricane Irene damaged our bridge and made garbage pickup impossible. It was simply a ring of chicken wire. Yesterday, I shoveled 3 plastic toboggan’s worth (poor woman’s wheel barrow) and distributed our recycled kitchen waste to enhance our sand. It had compressed, broken down and even had worms. The critters seem to really like coffee. The clean filters were littered in a path behind the pile.

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Sew what

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No time to blog. Obsessions overtook me. I wanted to finish knitting ( actually modify) the Na craga sweater I made my son, just in time for his summer graduation.

I found beautiful fabric and decided to make my own wrap dress for his graduation (photo to follow, I’m on the road without my laptop). Perhaps a little frumpy but the fabric was beautiful. I prepared and presented a talk about ob/gyn EMS emergencies.

Then on to favorite daughter’s birthday. I made her a potholder, to remind her of her favorite cat, and finished her quilt. I had it waiting for her on my hotel room bed! The quilt not the cat.

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This was my first attempt at free form, machine quilting a queen size quilt and oh what fun I had. Really. I use an old Singer and had bought a special darning foot but couldn’t get the darn thing to sew properly. For two whole days! So I loosened the feeder foot, put a business card over the feeder dogs, and away I went. It was like doodling on fabric.

Now, to the loom before my sewing thread sets the needle and hauls me in, back to the machine … For a blouse, another dress, linen pants, finish two quilts and begin my next large quilt (planning in process).

Fiber monkey on my back

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My love of all things fiber continues to grow and expand. It began with knitting an Aran sweater in 2005 and, today, includes knitting, spinning, dyeing, weaving, quilting and sewing. In addition, I’ve always had a love of linen table fibers, as evidenced by the dining room drawers jammed with lace, damask, tatting, linen and hand crocheted doilies, tablecloths and runners, a few even hand made by yours truly.

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My true addiction was revealed
yesterday. I couldn’t pass up a yard sale I saw on my way home from the recycling center. There were hand crocheted tablecloths, linen-hemstitched napkins, and embroidered table linens, all meticulously clean. They sparkled in the sun and smelled so fresh. I decided upon a crocheted tablecloth and set of linen napkins.

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I got home and decided to organize the linens. Unlike my other fiber stashes, which are sequestered and scattered throughout the house waiting for inspiration, table linens have to be accessible. So they are. Stuffed in drawers.

Lo and behold, I already have a set of hem-stitched, linen napkins. But you can never have too many. I hung up the tablecloths, which were wrinkled because they had been jammed in the drawers, and, since it was a sunny, breezy day, washed a few of them and hung them on the line to dry. My domestic goddess is happy.

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Birdwatching

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Shirley and the hummingbird

We all enjoy birdwatching at our house. There’s an abundance of activity right outside. Shirley watched this cute, unsuspecting hummingbird for a while and it’s hard to capture her attention these days, since she’s about 16 years old.

Evening Grosbeak

I saw a goldfinch on steroids the other day on my drive to work. Its coloring reminded me of a bird wearing a doctoral hood but I only had a brief glimpse of it on the roadside. They came to visit the feeder and posed for photos. They are not jacked goldfinches but Evening Grosbeaks. Sweet.

Low ceiling

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Low ceiling

We hiked Hurricane on Mother’s day. Our concern before beginning was the cloud cover would be too low to provide views. Close, but views were far reaching and beautiful.

Views to the Lake

We finally remembered to bring binoculars and could see clear to Lake Champlain and Vermont. It’s a fabulous spot to hike to and spend time on the rocks for lunch. We forgot lunch. Happily the black flies were still sleeping.

Hurricane fire tower

The fire tower is a little too rickety for my taste to ascend and it’s one of those instances when the view can’t get much better. The fire tower was a target of controversy recently when the DEC wanted to dismantle it. Public sentiment prevailed and the tower remains. It stands as a beacon on the mountain near our house.

Bad hair day

It was a bad hair day but I worked on some self portraits while the others clambered around. Sadly this may be the best of the lot. I’m sporting my new jacket, which was a birthday present. Light, light, light and waterproof AND breathable. Go figure.

Muddy boots

My ability to rock hop across streams is abysmal. I just can’t do it. I tense up and all is lost, even if the water is only 6 inches deep. I gave in and chose to wade through when needed. No pressure. After all, I was wearing wool socks and I could take off my wet boots when I got home.

Fiddleheads

Ferns were popping their heads through the dead leaves to signal the start of spring in the Adirondacks. We passed two other mothers on the hike. One in her thirties and the other in her eighties. You have to love the Adirondacks!

For the birds?

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We can tell it’s spring by the variety of birds that stop by at our feeders during their migration north. Every day has brought new species the past week or so. This flock of red breasted grosbeaks stayed for a few days. Red seems to be the color du jour. We’ve seen cardinals, purple finches, northern flickers, hairy woodpeckers, all with a splash of red in their coloring. I hope the turkeys keep a low profile until noon every day though. It’s our local hunting season, which for some reason ends at noon daily. I have seen one turkey around, we’ll see if it’s still here at the end of May.

We are new birding enthusiasts. Most of the time, my identifications are confirmed if the bird is thought to be common in our area. Not always though. This may be a white crowned sparrow, which is considered uncommon in my Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. The coloring in the photo isn’t great but we never saw yellow above the eyes, which would differentiate it from the more common white throated sparrow.

We saw the food chain in action the other day. We had just returned home and saw a hawk swoop down and snatch a bird from the lawn and fly off. It was a good meal because the bird had been fattening itself at our feeder. Are we feeding them for them, for us, or their predators?

Hill walking

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Not hiking nor mountain climbing, just Just hill walking. We drove 15 minutes to the trailhead and headed out from there. It was perfect hiking weather, cool and the clouds had lifted.

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There was only one small mishap. Luckily I didn’t break my new iPhone (it’s a long story), a hip or my newly repaired ankle. I only injured my pride and got my pants muddy.
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There was a terrific 360° view from the top of the fire tower.
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I was able to identify at least a few of the wildflowers as we climbed around what seemed to be a lot of new blowdown.
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Grey day at Storm King

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We drove south today to look at a couple of boats for sale. It iS so disheartening. They look good online and at first glance. Closer inspection reveals problems — big problems! Like the bolts that help keep the mast (that tall thing for the sails) upright are screwed into a thin plate of rust with absolutely no strength. It’s hard to overlook a problem like that.

The day wasn’t a complete loss other than eight hours is driving. I started knitting a new pair of socks for myself and we visited Storm King Art Center. I visited here years ago and remember this amazing stone wall.

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I used to work downtown manhattan and the building was known as the Red Cube because of a sculpture by Noguchi. Right when I mentioned his name, we found a sculpture by him! Go figure. Tim tried lounging on it.

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We capped off the day by eating dinner at one of the student restaurants at the Culinary Institute of America. The food and service were outstanding. Next time we look at a disaster boat, dinner here can make it all seem fine.

A walk in the park

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Actually two walks, very different, but both were lovely. On Tuesday, we bushwhacked to Clements Pond and enjoyed beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, fields and trees along the way.

I think this is looking west. The only hiking obstacle was dry, slippery leaves on steep slopes.

This tree can be seen from the road, perched on a cliff.

Yesterday we walked through low forest and fields. We found early wildflowers, ferns and animal carcasses.

Spring at home. Trees in bloom and frost on the ground.