Camping with Mom

 Every year Mom and I camp out at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool. Sometimes we have classes to attend, sometimes others join us. We camp in the same spot each year for a few years now and have friends we have met there as neighbors each year. There is a pavilion right where we camp and the bathrooms - with hot showers - are just across the way. We are far from the action at this spot but that has its charm too. After we got out site set up out came the spinning for me and knitting for Mom.

Mom took these pictures to show the family how we were doing. The van was parked there to try to block the wind, it was fairly cold for September.

This is my Mom, Robin.

I got a few shots in myself. We bring a hot plate, a toaster oven and this year a electric kettle and make our meals. We both love cooking and tend to fix ridiculously complicated things for camping. This year's highlights are Mussel stew, crepes, Yorkshire pudding with three mushroom hash, and a steamed lemon pudding, and scones for tea time. The kettle was a great addition helping not just in tea and coffee making but also in clean up time. 

This little guy was also camping out at the festival. These are Shetland sheep. The darker sheep is full grown, the brown and white spotted sheep is a Jacobs and that breed in average sized for sheep. Shetland are tiny.

New year - old thoughts

A few years ago I decided that instead of making a resolutions list, I would come up with a thematic word for my intentions for the new year. I rededicate myself to that idea.

I would like to work on being a HAVEN for my life.

My mind and body a haven for me. I have set a goal of reading 200 books - and I would like few of them to be pulp fiction. I would like to put into practice more of my ideals of how we should live our lives and less living practically. By which I mean faster and easier not actual practicality. I would like to make my body healthier and stronger. To camp and hike more.

I would like for my company to be a haven for my family and my friends, that they can take comfort and rest in my love. For them to know that I am always there for them, but I also mean that I want to make my life such that dropping everything for a friend in need does not put my family into a tailspin that I must scramble to keep ahead of. I want to focus on showing love to my family and my friends.

I want my house to keep my home a Haven for all who enter, but especially for my family. I want them to feel special and comfortable in a house that is ready for use not one that needs frantic tending before we can let anyone in.

I want to use my resources more responsibly, to focus on our family's goal and dreams rather than on ease for the moment. I don't want this to be a strict diet destined for failure, but rather a change in outlook.

I want to grow as a business owner and writer and to make certain that the choices I make in those spheres of my life enhance the rest of my life.

I would like to do all the things. Make to family cookbook, finish the projects, use what I have, write more, cook more, be more present. Fingers crossed.

Update on my Dad

He cruised through the surgery! The Dr was very pleased with how well it went.

The story:
Mom and I sat out in the waiting room worried and fussing at each other. My Mom is disabled and has strong nesting instincts, she can't go anywhere with a hundred things. The morning of the surgery she had a tote bag, a purse, and a basket to take with her. and her walker. and her thermos bottle of soda. I brought my purse and the weather blanket -wanting a pattern I didn't have to think about. Mom's purse along weighted 30 pounds! The tote was overfilled and when Dad grumbled at her she grabbed her knitting bag out of the basket jammed in into the tote and we left for the hospital. Dad had his overnight bag for the stay which was to be left with us. Once dad got checked in and taken back, they told us it would be an hour until we could see him while they got him ready, then we could wait with him until it was time for the surgery. I decided, that as I was the one expected to carry all this stuff it was getting downsized. Mom -who was going to be with me the whole day and expected to go home that night - had 9 magazines for herself and 2 as a present for Dad, three coloring books, three packs of colored pencils and a book of crayons, a newspaper, 3 knit picks catalogs, 2 lion brand catalogs, a Mary Maxim's, and a Shopko ad., four knitting projects (included a beaded knitting project and several thousand seed beads,) nine tubes of lipstick, three compacts, 4 smushed candy bars, and all her meds and wallets. Plus about 30 expired coupons and some broken candy canes. I edited her take about 40 pounds of stuff, dad's bag, and everyone's coats back to the car.

We saw Dad, they took him back and the waiting began again. She knit, I crocheted. Three rows later she informed me she left the size 6 needles, she needed next, at home. Frustrated as I was at her having brought so much unnecessary stuff with her and left the thing she needed, I also found the whole thing funny. We decided the sweater would be just fine finished on the 7's. She has been working on her first ever sweater for a cousin's baby since the baby was born, mistakes have been made luckily one of them on the size of the sweater and nearly a year later she is almost done.

They told us he had done fine and asked us to wait another hour while he woke up and was moved to a room. She finished the sweater although the seed stitch end is about half seed and half k1/p1 rib. Stress knitting.

Dad did great got up and walked the first day, decided that he needed mom to stay with and we discovered his love of the cookies at the hospital. Like Scooby snacks Dad worked for those cookies. He is home now and working to gain back his mobility.

Mom and I both caught a terrible cold at the hospital. Hoping to feel all the way better soon.

Julia

Tiny Ones and tiny knits.

At long last I am posting this picture of the baby knits I made for my friend. Her baby is here and all is well! I caught a terrible cold over the holidays so I haven't met her yet, but hopefully, I will get down there this week. I plan on making some soup and a loaf of bread to take with me. 

I also made two of these sweaters for my sister's baby who I will call Beluga here - that is my sis' favorite animal. Little Beluga arrived in October. I got to go visit them for a while this past month. I rode the bus for 20 hours to get there. Buses are an interesting way to observe society, but not necessarily the best way to get to somewhere. I wanted her not to have to drive to a different town to pick me up and in that at least I got what I wanted. If I ever want to write a paper on how to pay to be irritated and inconvenienced I may ride the bus again. I think I'll try the train next time. My sister and family are looking to move back closer to home, which I couldn't be happier about. I cried on the way home at the thought that my nephew wouldn't know who I was the next time I see him.  Hopefully, we can use technology to circumvent that a little bit. 

Oh the sweaters... Well it seems that my thinking that my sister - who knits and crochets - would be safe to make the sweater out of wool for... yeah I neglected to consider my brother in law - who also crochets, I'll point out. He washed it. In the university's machines. I had asked my sis how they fit, she told me, while I was knitting the long white stripe one, that he had already outgrown the one. I was so worried that the sweaters I had made for my friend's baby wouldn't fit! Nope, the sweater is now sized for a doll. Maybe I will make Belgua a doll to go with his sweater! 

My younger three decorated this tree in the yard.

~Julia

Bits and bobs from this month

This is Badger, we hit a great park to play in while waiting between husband's cousin's wedding and reception. We spent almost two hours playing at North Beach Park in Racine. This is an amazing park.

Mom knows everything. I hope they always think so. They found this feather in the yard. Who lost it? I don't know. Guess who I asked, my Mom.

This is the star jasmine plant I bought myself as a remembrance of my trip to LA with Beaver. He wants to go there for college (not yet!) and had the opportunity to meet some people who might be able to help and have his work reviewed. He wants to do set design/monster creation type work.

Every year I help a friend harvest her grapes and she helps me harvest my apples. I took home a big bag of green unripe ones she was not planning on using. I found a recipe for sour grape pickles. We shall see.

I made jam out of the rest of the unripe grapes, it is tarter that the ripe ones but these grapes are seriously candy sweet so that is not a terrible thing.

Mouse surprised us all with wanting to go out for Cross Country this year. We asked if he knew it involved exercise and being outside... then agreed quickly. He loves computers, and unless we force him would be on them all the time, so this was a surprise. He loved it and worked hard. He came in at the middle of the pack and his school took 3rd over-all. He is the one with the curly hair.

Triangle loom weaving project. I enjoyed it but will need a much bigger loom to make anything not for my girls.

Butterfly reading her birthday card from my sister. I have a beautiful new nephew.

He is moving so he is blurry but that is Beaver. He loves his team.

Monday Morning Musings

Linking up with Nadja at Patch o' Dirt Farm.


Right Now...
 I am sitting in my quiet kitchen, cooking up some leftover baked potatoes to go with some eggs.  I have a cup of hot decaf chai at my elbow. The older three children are off at school and Badger is still in bed. As she has been sniffly I am letting her get her rest. Jim is working and the snow is falling fast, last Monday of winter. It is 8:50am.

This Weekend...
Friday, I was all excited to go to a spinning guild meeting.  I had never been before but found their website and the Badger and I gather up our stuff and drove over. But there was no one there. very disappointing. That evening I went to a gathering of people from school, some of whom I haven't seen since my graduation. One of the Professors hosted and made chicken curry, we watched a Thai horror film, not bad, and a Lithuanian movie about a warrior and a princess. Wolfhound was very good, a bit Conan like but more likeable. I got home late but had a very nice time.
Saturday, I slept in while Jim played with the kids. That evening we went to close friends' house to play Star Wars so part of the day was spent building a character.  I am playing an Archaeology professor and had a nice time translating what I really would do on a dig to both my friends and to the Star Wars universe. It was not my idea to play myself, as I normally try to play something completely different, but since he was starting us on a dig, everyone said it made the most sense for me to be the professor and them to be students or guards. As a side note if I could get a real life crew to move that much dirt in a two month season I would be a very happy archaeologist. We all had fun, and so did the kids who had a movie night with their friends.
Sunday, we got up for church, early as I remembered as I was falling asleep that we were supposed to bring the snack for Sunday School. I wanted to bring something shelf stable, so they could use the extras another day, so we stopped for granola bars on the way into church. Adult class was a continuation of the program we have been doing on Sabbath as resistance. Looking at ways to focus on God and Family on Sundays as a method of resisting the ways of the world and as a way to recharge in faith and love to face the work ahead. I find that this course is resonating with my sustainability and simple living reading, focusing on the thing you are doing and doing it well then doing the next thing. I have been wanting to do family dinners on Sundays, and think I will start. Maybe one weekend each month invite my parents, then the next month invite Jim's and his sister's family.

Some plans for the week...
I want to work on cleaning the house well this week, I feel like I have been just getting enough done for awhile now and really want to get more than enough done. I also want to work on Mouse's sweater, make more crocheted flowers, finish Bec's skirt, and make some Easter dresses and an Easter Kilt or two (depending on whether Beaver would wear it, I know Mouse will.) I also want to place my garden orders this week.

I am grateful for...
Mom was released from the hospital Friday and is resting at home!! Bec is settling into a new home and job, that if I had sat down and created for a job that would be perfect for her I could not have done a better job. My brother in law got a new job that is much closer to home and is making him, and my sister happier.

Some prayerful intentions this week...
I want to set a little time aside to pray for all of the people on the prayer request list from church.

been so long

 Life has been racing by so here is a view from my car window - Beaver took the shot - as we drove down to grandma's.  I recent weeks so much has been amazing, tiring, inspiring, disappointing, joyous, and draining. I did not lose my voice but spent a long time thinking about what this space brings to my life.  During that I thought about the great wide blogosphere version of you and also the individual you - who I view as a friend. I find myself recommitting to a lot of projects and programs, hopefully this time I took for myself and my family will allow me to return to them refreshed and re-energized. I did a two fauna analysis workshop that reaffirmed my scientist's  heart followed immediately by a three day crafting retreat.  I love both and aside from a brief moment of panic looking at the bone thinking - you want me to add glitter? - and an acknowledged tendency to be as concerned with the planning and system producing the art than the art, I found my balance again.  I am looking into taking the master spinner course from Olds College - next year - and plan to dedicate more time to crafting and perhaps begin to sell some of my stuff - advice would be most welcome.

 These are coddled eggs.  Milk, cream, spices, bacon if you have some, and eggs. Baked in the oven. This, some toast and a cup of tea can make you believe anything is possible. I got sick over all of December and accidentally gave up caffeine and soda. My husband had read that some people with bright red bumpy checks like mine saw improvement from cutting caffeine from their diet. When he told me that I laughed - never gonna happen - but since I had already started... So it has been 9 weeks now.  I honestly did not really think it was working, maybe a little less bumpy, and truthfully I did not want it to work. I have had 2 decaf cappucinos with no problems in that time, but when I got a large cup of decaf coffee (loved it), later that night I had a red bump raise on my cheek and it hurt so badly. I suddenly realized that the change had not removed the redness but I had no bumps and no pain other than this one spot. So what started as an experiment seems to be staying. Soda tastes weird and I have no desire to go back to that - aside from it's convenience - but I truly miss my coffee.  Decaf chai is good but not the same. I also suspect that it is something in coffee that I am having trouble with, not necessarily caffeine, but I think I give my body a rest before testing that theory.
 

 Current knitting project.  One of the disappointing things is that my crafting store will be closing. She has been struggling for a while now, and while she is an amazing crafter and one of those people that naturally works well with people, her business skills needed help. Worry and stress have driven her under and I truly believe she is making the best decision for her family, but it is a loss to my community and to me. She is hoping to run beading, knitting, and spinning parties from her home for extra income, as she can't legally open a shop there.  I hope it works.

 Please excuse the terrible picture I will try again in better light. I have been spinning up quite a lot.
This is wool from the Sheep Shed.

 I am working on thinner and thinner yarn. This is polworth and tussah silk.

Black homespun, a strand of mary maxium wool that I strung beads on then plyed together.

tea parties and other fancy things

For Butterfly's birthday she got to invite a bunch of friends from school over to the house for screaming... I mean for a tea party. They were delightful.

Friendship is...

Funky tea cozies and scones eaten together late at night.  It is get togethers started much later than expected and paused as they start because of violin practice (Butterfly started taking lessons two weeks ago) and parent teacher conferences. It is it does not matter how odd our days were now we are together planing of the days of our lives and catching up. Hope you had a nice drive home - I am holding your phone ransom for another girl's night.

Old world walk.

 It has been a while since I wrote, no real reason just very busy and with the kids back in school I am hoping to get more time to write.  I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been doing.  In the above photo, are my kids walking with a friend's kids or in the cases of those specs in the distance, running ahead.  We spent a lovely day at Old World Wisconsin. 

 This is a kettle pond and very low due to the drought.

 One of the farmstead on the site.  We had perfect weather for being outside all day.

 At the German heritage are they had activities for the kids. Wearing wooden shoes...

 Sweeping the porch... um playing Harry Potter and mowing the lawn.

I love old barns.

welcome to the studio

I was help out at the Pike River Rendezvous explaining the artifacts that had been recovered from the Resique Tavern site, which is at the same place as the Rendezvous.  The tent next to us had this beauty for sale.  I hemmed and hawed about it all day, then decided to buy it.  I was driving my Saturn, but the lady told me it fit in the back of their car... Yep you guessed it.  I am hot, sun-burnt in fact, and standing there with the man who sold it to me, no way to get it in my car and it is threatening to storm. Neither of us have any tools with us to take it off the stand.  Disaster!  When suddenly, a very nice total stranger said "if you are not going far, it will fit in my mini-van. I'll follow you."  I live about an hour from where we are standing, but a dear friend lives only a mile or so and I saw her at the Rendezvous.  So we load it up and take it to her house, but she is not home! luckily her porch was, so we unload it as the rain starts.  I call my parents, who only live about 20 minutes away.  Dad is at a woodworking conference in the next state and won't be home until late.  I call another friend - it was her wedding I was making dresses for - and she is home.  She and her husband race to rescue me.  It won't fit in her new car either!  They have not moved their tool bag into the new car, so her husband drives back across town to get them.  We manage to get it disassembled and into my car, then go back to their house to relax, wait out the storm, and eat some yummy homemade chocolate hazelnut ice cream.  When we got there I realized that not only did she drop everything when I called she did so in the middle of her dinner!  They say a real friend helps you hide the body, in my world a real friend drops everything to help you, even when the help you need is completely due to your own poor planning.