Life With The Crew

Thankful Tuesday - 1.31.17

Today I am thankful for...

~space to wander, wonder, and explore.  Even though it was just a bit more than a dusting of snow, the little babe declared that it was enough for the sled.  So she got herself situated, dragging stick in hand, and I hooked up the beast of burden to the sled.  No, not the Corgi, the Momma.  It was a rough pull and bumpy ride over the rocky parts, but the pulling wasn't bad on the smooth leafy trail.  Through the woods, to the field, and loop back around.  With my walking stick in hand and little babe chattering to herself in the sled behind me, I enjoyed the meditative exercise.  Stick down, step, step, stick down, step, step, slush, slush, slush.  I love these woods and hope the little babe is learning to love them too.

What are you thankful for today?

Fungus and Fog - What Fun!

Oh, silly us.  Since the temps have been well above freezing for the past two weeks, we thought that we'd head out to the lake for a foggy morning paddle.  We loaded the life jackets and paddles into the back of the car and drove through dense fog up and over the mountain.  As we approached the lake in almost 50 degree temps, it looked like we were out of luck.  I asked if maybe we could break through, ice breaker style.  Responding to my question from atop several inches of ice, my husband said the answer was a definite no.

The lake was still definitely frozen.  So instead of paddling, we walked along the shore and headed into the woods.  When we first arrived, we could see two pairs of Snow Geese sitting on the ice.  Several minutes later, the entire lake was hidden by fog.  Water droplets clung to everything and it was beautiful.

Along the path in the woods, we discovered that turkey tail mushrooms are flourishing in the wet and warm weather.  Their scientific names, Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor, mean "of several colors" and indeed, we found some very colorful specimens.

We didn't get to paddle, but it still was a great morning.  I'm hoping that the snow sled that remains in the back of the car will see more use before the life jackets and paddles.

 

Thankful Tuesday - 1.24.17

Today I am thankful for...

~beaver sightings.  We visit this place every couple of weeks and this past weekend we discovered recent signs of beaver activity, something I had never seen before.  I was very excited!  It will be interesting to watch what happens to the stream and it is good to know that the area is "wild" enough to support a beaver population.

~learning new things every day.  Bur oak acorns are the largest acorns in North America.  I had never seen them before and after reading a very appropriately placed informational sign, we saw the empty caps all over the forest floor around us.  

~a happy little babe, easily content with a morning in the woods that most people would have called dreary and damp.  Yet we discovered several cool nature discoveries and were glad to be out exploring.

What are you thankful for today?

 

Dreary Days, Sunny Knitting

This past week's project was another stash buster - 2 1/2 skeins of Quince & Co Chickadee in Carrie's Yellow, that I originally bought for my Petal capelet.  I started off with the intention of making a Lola Shawl, but then just wasn't feeling the lace pattern.  I thought with this bright sunny yellow, a simple shawl with fringe to spice things up would be fun.  Well, I ran out of yarn, so the fringe didn't happen.  I followed the Lola pattern for increasing and after a bunch of stockinette, I made several rows of seed stitch, which I really love.  It is almost as mindless as stockinette, but has a great texture.  This shawl is definitely not the big cozy blanket size shawl that I was dreaming about, but I do love the way Chickadee feels knitted on size 8 needles.  Drapey, squishy, and light, it feels lovely scrunched up around my neck without adding too much bulk under a coat.

 I tried aggressively blocking it to try and make it a size that would wrap around me, but it is not meant to be.  But all is not lost, because I have a smaller member of the family who also has a love of soft squishy knitted items.   

Sometimes I feel that it is ridiculous that we have so many handmade scarfs, cowls, wraps, and shawls, but then when I see the little babe dressed up for a tea party in a sweater and shawl that I made, I realize that knitting provides us with many things:  a creative outlet for me, clothing to keep my family warm, education for my child about making versus buying mass produced, and a whole wardrobe for creative dress-up role playing.  So I think I'll keep knitting.

 

Thankful Tuesday - 1.17.17

Today I am thankful for...

~the luxurious lifestyle of a stay-at-home mom.  I am not rich by monetary standards, but my husband works hard (and we make purchasing and lifestyle choices) that make my days with the little babe possible, which is so much more important than extra spending money.  Yes, being with my child 24 hours a day does get a bit taxing.  But on the other hand, she is my child and so I darn should enjoy spending my days with her.  And I do.  Though I also cherish and need a break in the middle of the day with a bit of time to myself so that I can continue to be a good and patient mom and not a grumpy quick-to-jump mom.  The little babe now seems to be on a 2 day no nap/1 day nap day cycle and it is a bit trying.  However, I am sneaking in small bits of knitting whenever I can to keep me sane.  I am aware that it can be addictive, but I am trying to keep it under control. 

~a fridge full of food.  Healthy chili that my husband made; apple tart made by the little babe (she is in a "I want to help stage") with lard from our friend's pig that we received in thanks for my husband's assistance on butchering day; carrot/banana whoopie pies, which the little babe can eat two of at a time because they are healthy.

~an interesting discovery on a cold winter walk.  I chose the coldest place to hike - a dark gap beside a stream that receives no sunlight at this time of year even when there are sunny blue skies above.  However, my husband spotted these stalagmite-like icicles, formed by water dripping from the rock overhead.

What are you thankful for today?

A Breath of Fresh Air

Tuesday morning - 1" of fluffy white snow and 19 F, perfect for bundling the little babe and pulling her behind me on the sled in the woods.  Dog escort - Lola.  Quiet moments were enjoyed.  A much needed dose of fresh air.

Wednesday morning - 1" of ice encrusted snow and almost 40 F, not ideal for a wood's walk, but a missing wrist warmer needed to be found.  Mom strapped into sled towing position, walking stick in hand.  No dog escort.  Missing item was found.  A much needed dose of fresh air.

Thursday morning - Wet bare ground, dark gloomy clouds and around 60 F.  Left the sled at home, headed out for neighborhood walk.  Dog escort - Ruby.  Ended up in the woods, little babe running wild.  Almost sweating. (In January.  With no coat.)  A much needed dose of fresh air.

I don't know what the world is coming too.  This weather is just too bizarre.  But at least for now, we still have a world to explore, enjoy, and fresh air to breathe.

 

Thankful Tuesday - 1.10.17

Today I am thankful for...

~a senior dog who acts likes a pup again on cold snowy days.  Lola turned 11 years old on New Year's Day, but has been joining the little babe and I on long cold wood's walks.

~requests for hot chocolate from the little babe.  Because she has never had packaged hot chocolate, she loves Momma's homemade healthy recipe.  Raw milk, dark cocoa powder, a pinch of cinnamon, and a drop of maple syrup and she is a happy sipper.  

~the little babe's enjoyment and appreciation of the outdoors.  She started the day with a request for a wood's walk.  I said we'll see what the day holds.  And then when we saw that there was snow?  Definitely!

~my two working eyes so that I can notice the little details in nature.  I am also thankful for the access that I have to eye health services.  I have pretty bad vision in both eyes and the luxury of being able to have contact lenses delivered right to my front door is pretty amazing.  

(Turkey tail mushrooms in the snow.)

~the ability to hear the sound of (almost) silence.  Standing still in the snowy woods, the little babe asks me what I hear.  Almost always the faint sound from an airplane overhead.  And the rustling of dry beech leaves.  That was it.

What are you thankful for?

 

Using Up The Stash

My hands are itching to knit myself a big wooly fringed shawl, but I thought that I should first use up some of the yarn in my stash.  I have a bunch of small balls of yarn, leftovers from previous projects.  For myself, I intended to make a cowl out of naturally colored dark wool and the natural Quince & Co Audouin that I used for my Annabel cardigan and the little babe's Puddle Duck.  I purchased the dark wool about 8 years ago, from a farmer at a local market where we used to sell bees wax candles.  She had her spinning wheel at the market and I loved the chunky natural feel of the yarn - it still had flecks of hay in it.  That might be viewed as sub par by some, but I thought it just made it more authentic from the farm!  I made a hat for my husband and it is still his go-to hat today, though it is somewhat felted and a bit smaller.  I thought the two thick yarns would make a good close fitting cowl, but I didn't want it to be too bulky, so I did a little eyelet pattern.  As I was running out of the cream colored yarn, I tried it on and realized that it would make a nice hat and I was right at the place to start decreasing - perfect timing!  So a hat it became.  (It is a hat for myself, but the little babe is a better model.)

 

For the next stash busting project, I dug out a skein of super bulky Bartlett wool yarn that I purchased in Maine.  We were in the middle of nowhere (really Skowhegan) and I was stuck on part of a knitting pattern.  I happily discovered a yarn shop in an old mill building where we stopped at a farmer's market.  I really didn't need any more yarn, but I felt bad just asking them a question and walking out, so I bought one skein of this yarn.  Mistake.  I like bulky yarn, but this is just a bit over the top.  So it has sat in the bottom of my stash bin for two years.  On Saturday evening I cast on at 5:30pm and by bedtime, the little babe was modeling her new "rustic" vest.  No pattern, lots of guessing, totally rough looking, but she was happy with her new little short vest/shrug.  Kind of impractical, but hey, it used up (only half!) a skein of yarn and it makes both of us smile.

Plus it doesn't get in the way when doing crazy dance moves.

 

 

While We Wait For The White Stuff...

we have a lot of brown.  But brown can be beautiful too.

The Sad Follow-up To Yesterday's Post

In yesterday's post, I shared a photo of a tiny egg laid by one of our little red hens.  We have three mixed mutt chickens that have been laying on a regular basis, despite the shortened hours of daylight.  Over the past week, I have found two little eggs and one larger elongated egg with pointed ends.  Then today, on a miserable dreary morning, with the sky dropping rain instead of snow, making the yard a disgusting mud and poop filled slop, I noticed that one of the chickens had something bad going on with its hind end.  The chickens were all looking bedraggled, but this one had a mess of poop stuck to her butt and a red mass that I definitely shouldn't have been seeing.  My stomach clenched and I ran inside to call my husband, who had just left for work.  I told him that one of the chickens had prolapsed and I needed him to come home now.  Luckily he was doing a job where he could turn around and come home.  In the meantime, I had managed to isolate the chicken in the chicken coop, since chickens love to peck at any type of exposed flesh or a chicken in a weakened state.  If a prolapse is not that severe, it is possible to clean off the area and actually push it back inside the body.  However, as we stood in the shit filled chicken yard with the rain coming down, staring at our poor chicken who appeared perfectly normal except for the obvious thing that was not normal, we knew that we were not going that route.  My husband got the ax, stump, and two nails; I grabbed a plastic trash bag, and we debated where he would do it.  I didn't want the other chickens to see, but we couldn't do it in the open yard where the dogs might fight over the blood.  So the back garden it was.  I walked back to the house, but stood outside and saw the frantic after moments.  I believe that if people were forced to watch or participate in the transformation of a breathing creature to the unrecognizable piece of meat that they consume, people might make different eating choices.  Not everyone, but some. 

When I came back inside, the little babe asked me what that chicken's name was.  I said that the three red ones do not have names since they all look the same.  She said that she thought a good name was "Little Red Hen."  Well, Little Red Hen, you were a good layer, one of the friendliest chickens that we have had, and I will miss both your presence and your eggs.

*I do not know why the chicken prolapsed and I do not know why we have been seeing the tiny eggs.  There are a whole bunch of possible reasons, but none of them really apply to our chicken, and apparently it is just something that can happen.  I don't know if this was the particular chicken who has been laying the odd eggs, since we have 3 that look the same.  Some sources say that too much calcium can cause white spotting on eggs, which we do occasionally see.  However, some sources say that abnormally shaped eggs can be due to a lack of calcium, so I don't know if calcium is even our problem.