Garden 2020, part 10

My garden has sustained damage due to hail and extreme heat, but we have also had small harvests so far... mostly onions, spinach, and chard.

Most of the transplants have not survived, so several have been replaced by directly sowing into the outside garden.  I think I will wait to do any more seed starting until I have a greenhouse... or at least a different house with better light.  ;-)

There were a good amount of cherries (that the birds enjoyed) and only about a dozen apples that I can find.

Our neighbor brought over duck eggs from their family farm... so pretty and delicious.

The melons and squashes are all looking good so far.

The onions and rainbow chard have been delicious sauteed with mushrooms and the spinach has been enjoyed raw.

I've gotten some use from the tiny herb garden... in here are rosemary, basil, winter savory, and chives.

The rabbits ate my peas and fava beans... :-(  But I'm still holding hope for tomatoes and corn.

For future reference, I think my garden needs to be in the dogs' territory, but protected from the dogs and alpaca, in order to keep the rabbits out.

It does look rather pathetic from this point of view, but rest assured, we are eating from this garden.

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 2

This will be the first Tour de Fleece where I have two wheels.  It will also be the first Tour where I have mill-prepared roving from our farm.  So I am planning to keep two wheels busy this year, one for Shave 'Em to Save 'Em and the other for our farm product.

It's pretty wild.  I've been spinning a lot over the last few weeks and have completed three yarns that I expected to be working on during this Tour.  I'll talk more about them some other time.

So here's my plan for this Tour de Fleece.

The first is the Mill-Ends Roving (Huacaya+Tibetan Mastiff+Shetland) that I already started.  I have 42 grams remaining in this sample.

I also have Huacaya+Tibetan Mastiff, Huacaya+Shetland and Huacaya only, but since I've joined the Chiengora Team, I will prioritize the Tibetan Mastiff blends for this tour.  These yarns will be worked on my Clemes&Clemes wheel.

For my original Louet wheel, I'll continue working on my Shave 'Em to Save 'Em initiative.  I have six breeds in queue, so I will not run out during the next three weeks.

Usually my goal is to spin just 10-15 minutes or 1/2 inch each day of the tour, but this year my intent is at least one hour each day, 30 minutes on each wheel.

Both yarns on the Louet wheel (left) have been completed since this photo was taken.

I'm toying with the idea of making some "art yarns" on the challenge days.  I have some carded Tibetan Mastiff that isn't planned for anything, so I feel ok if this fiber gets messed up.

There's still time to sign up if you want to play.  The Tour starts tomorrow!

Tour de Fleece Dates

Begins: Saturday, June 27
Challenge: Sunday, July 5
Rest: Monday, July 6
Rest : Monday, July 13
Challenge: Thursday, July 16
End: Sunday, July 19

As mentioned last month, the Tour de Fleece, is easy to do remotely and individually, so it is moving forward using the dates for the original Tour de France.  The 2020 Tour de France has been postponed to August/September.  If this does indeed occur, there will be a second Tour de Fleece this year.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Juneteenth and Black Lives Matter

Today is Juneteenth (June 19th 1865, 155 years ago).

Juneteenth is the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States.... 30 months (2 1/2 years) after the Emancipation Proclamation (effective January 1, 1863, 157 years ago).

The 53rd anniversary of Loving vs Virginia was last Friday, June 12, 1967.

The 66th anniversary of Brown vs The Board of Education was last month, May 17, 1954.

Tomorrow I will be listening to President Barack Obama speak, along with several other prominent leaders of our country and state.

I designed a scarf in support of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations.  Once the test knitting is in complete, I will make the pattern available.

So far with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Colorado is seeing movement in the following areas:

• Statewide Police Reform is in progress
• Police are being phased out of Denver Public Schools
• The Stapleton neighborhood is dropping it's KKK-linked name

This week, the US Supreme Court voted to uphold Civil Rights for LGBTQ People and in support of DACA.

Progress is progress.  I'm feeling hopeful.

Solidarity

Why Blog?

I've had my blog for nearly 12 years, so far.

I've had periods of active inter-pollination with other blogs, but that isn't happening much these days.

I think contributing factors are that people are spending more time on other social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TicToc.  Also there are a lot more podcasts and vlogs being produced...  but mostly, I think it's because I don't spend as much time commenting on other blogs.  Part of that is due to the tools I'm using to read them, which don't facilitate commenting.

However, I do make it a priority to continue to blog.  Primarily because it's a good way for me to organize my thoughts, track progress on projects, and mark milestones with respect to our farm- and art-related endeavors.

I try to write with readers in mind, because I believe that thinking of others, no matter the circumstance is an important skill to practice.