Garden 2020, part 5

Last week, when the first few indoor seeds were sprouting... I said I was running out of suitable indoor space to start seeds.

Then a few hours later, at our (awesome, locally-owned) grocery store, I found a handful of seed varieties I've been wishing I had on hand, including Parsnips and Roma Tomatoes and a couple of herb seedlings.  :-)

Then I found a long/skinny water-tight container to start the Romas indoors.

The first of my early-season seeds have started to emerge from the ground outside and the late-season seeds are really fun to watch inside.

As of this morning, I have tomato, melon, pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini, borage, lettuce, chard, onion, and garlic sprouts.... and my fruit trees are getting very close to leafing out.

I'm not sure if there is a better metaphor for hope than fresh seedlings emerging from the ground.

Fiber Arts Friday: New Normal, part 5

I'm onto the last page of instructions for my New Normal Scarf.  Which makes this project a little over 2/3 complete, having knit 30 years (1947-1977) for this update.

97 years are currently represented in the scarf.

I marked three more milestones; two birthdays and the beginning of Overnight Shipping in 1973.

I retired two more blues... Arctic Pool in 1964 and Ciel in 1976. Which makes the five darkest blues now retired.

I still have only used up thru Clarity, which are all blue shades and have not yet started any of the yellow or red colors.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Garden 2020, part 4

We got a significant amount of snow over the last week.

While it is melting very quickly, it will be at least a week before the garden will be dry enough to sow more seeds.

So I decided to start two varieties of corn.  I wanted to plant more corn this year, but I'm running out of suitable, indoor, space for water-tight containers.

In the category of exciting news, my first round of late-season starts have begun to spout.  As of this morning, I have tomatoes, melons, acorn squash, pie pumpkin, and borage poking out of the soil.

In the category of less exciting news, I was laid off from my day job last week.  Thankfully, Hubba and his hunting friends have been keeping our freezers full of game.  I am also grateful to our local friends for helping us stock our freezers with quality farm-raised meats, and for the bit of canning and other freezing I have been able to do each year.  So while we are not fully self-sustainable, we have made huge progress over the years.

I hope you all are staying happy and healthy!

Fiber Arts Friday: Estes Park Wool Market 2020, part 4

The Estes Park Wool Market is cancelled this year.  :-(

I got the notification early last week, but the organizers have confirmed with the instructors, so all of the instructors and classes will be available next year.  :-)

So the good news is that I will be able to take Exploring the Drum Carder and Finishing with Excellence, and my homework is already complete.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Introverting

I shared this meme on my Facebook a few weeks ago...

As an introvert, it made me laugh.

But the reality of it is true.

So if you happen to be an extrovert and are reading this, I ask you to consider the anxiety you've been feeling over the last month.  Have you been anxious or uncomfortable about having to stay at home?

If so, acknowledge that anxiety.  Make a clear note about how it feels.  Then think about the relief you're likely to feel when we are on the other side of this crisis.

Now swap it.  This is how your introverted friends are feeling right now.

Right now we feel relief for not having to do extroverted things.  Of course this situation is concerning and even scary... but not having to be in the public, face-to-face, interacting with people we don't know is a relief.

And when we're on the other side, this anxiety you are feeling today will be back to being a daily part of our lives.  Please consider that when you're worried that we don't extrovert as much as you do.

Stay Healthy,  my friends.

Garden 2020, part 3

While today is quite lovely, we are expecting hard freezes over the next several nights.  So I decided to hold off again on planting my mid-season seeds.

My early-season seeds have about two more weeks before I should see them starting to emerge... tho a few weeds are waking up now.  :-/

My fruit trees are getting ready to leaf out.... fingers crossed for a good harvest of Cherries, Plums, and Apples.

I took advantage of the beautiful day and started the remainder of my Amish Paste Tomato seeds.

I'm looking forward to canning tomato sauce and paste over the summer. :-)

I hope that you are having some fun improving your sustainability during this COVID-19 Shelter Order and I hope you are having a blessed Easter and Passover Season.

Stay healthy, my friends.

Fiber Arts Friday: Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast - This breed is new to me.  I'm not certain what the difference is between Gulf Coast and Gulf Coast Native, but it seems to be two names for the same breed.

In my SE2SE quest for prepared roving, I had exhausted the Colorado sources for roving, so I started to focus on the most critical breeds.

In my search, I found a farm in Connecticut that is breeding two of the most critical breeds, Gulf Coast and Santa Cruz, along with Shetland.

While I already have a Shetland provider, I felt it was important to support this farm's work.

She sent hand-prepared batts of Gulf Coast and Shetland as well as washed Santa Cruz.

Unfortunately I was disappointed to find that the Gulf Coast has been dyed.

I recognize that the majority of people who purchase yarn and roving like it to be dyed.  I saw that at Stitches West last year.  But, my preference is natural.... especially for an initiative that is focused on using each breed individually.

I sent a note to the farmer thanking her for the lovely fleece samples, as I have been doing for all of the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em farmers... and in a lovely turn of events, the grower offered to exchange the dyed fleece for natural.... if I was willing to wait for her to finish shearing her herd.  Which, of course, I was!

As a shearer and farmer myself, I understand how busy the spring can be, and I would not be spinning this sample for several months anyway.  :-D

The un-dyed fleece is a beautiful off-white.

This sample has a staple of about 1" and was processed into batts by the farmer.

The batts are quite lovely and soft, with a small amount of vegetable matter.

and feels very cottony.  I'm so excited about this fleece.

It spins very much like Yak down.  I love this wool so far.

Since this is a hand-sheared sample, there are a good amount of second cuts.  I don't really mind them, sometimes I like a slubby yarn.  I decided to run the batts thru my diz collection in order to align the fibers a little more.

I'm shocked that this sheep is considered critical... this wool is just wonderful.  The next time I spin this breed, I would like to spend more time with the preparation.

The spinning and plying of this breed has gone very slow... partly due to the preparation, partly due to the gauge, and primarily due to time spent.

From the Livestock Concervancy:  The Gulf Coast originated from sheep brought by the Spaniards to the New World.  The Gulf Coast is listed as Critical, meaning that fewer than 200 sheep are registered in the US each year and that the estimated global population is less than 2000.

Final Yarn: Gulf Coast
Single Duration:November 27, 2019 - February 9, 2020
Ply Duration: February 9 - March 20, 2020
ounces: 3 5/8
yards: 211, 2-ply
wpi:  12
Ready to Submit:  March 24, 2020

SE2SE Status:
Total Breeds: 22
Breeds Sourced: 16
Breeds Spun: 8
Breeds To Go: 14

Months Remaining: 21 (12/31/21)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Dog Show: Tibetan Mastiff National Specialty

I have wanted to attend our National Specialty for quite some time.

Since the Tibetan Mastiff is a rare breed in the US, I would like to see dogs from across the country...  To be able to see the best of the best in one location would be a great experience.

I see that other breeds have multiple Regional Specialties along with a National Specialty.  Still other clubs have multiple shows at their Specialties.

The Tibetan Mastiff club has only one Specialty each year.  It is the National Specialty and, at least as far as I know, is only held on the coasts... alternating between Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD.

So it's always at least a 2 or 3 day drive for us, in the spring, when the weather is unpredictable and other things in our life are extra busy.

But this year, after Ramen did so well at the Denver Shows, we decided to go.

This involved cancelling two major activities that were also scheduled for the same weekend and coordinating the trip with a friend who was planning to be in the same area, at the same time, for a different event... and getting two weeks of vacation approved from the Day Job.

I made all of the arrangements and schedule adjustments.... then the spread of COVID-19 started gaining steam.  Dog Shows have been cancelled from mid-March thru most of May and into November (so far).

We were supposed to be leaving next week.

So while I am disappointed that we won't be going this year, I am still hoping to attend our National Specialty someday.

Garden 2020, part 2

It was cold over the last several days, so I decided to hold off on planting more early-season seeds this weekend and figured I should give another week before I start planting the mid-season seeds.  So yesterday, I started some late-season seeds in the house.

I love my little newspaper pot maker.  :-)

I made about 40 newspaper pots and added them to the few peat pots I had left over and filled them with some commercial soil.

I now have tomatoes, melons, chiles, herbs, okra, winter squashes, and summer squashes started... 19 varieties in total, in our guest room.

Most of these seeds are at least a few years old, so I'm hopeful some of them will grow.

Fiber Arts Friday: New Normal, part 4

Now that I'm into the second page of instructions on my New Normal project, I have retired a second and third color.... Delft in 1929 and Winter Night in 1933.

This makes the three darkest blue colors retired, and I've used every color up to Clarity, the lightest blue.

I completed 27 years (1919-1946) for this post, with a total of 50 years currently represented in the scarf.  No new lifeline/milestones were added.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!