That time of year

It is that time of year: October! Oh I love October. The chill in the air, the apples, the squash, the smashed pumpkins all over the neighborhood. I'm trying to put a bit of the season into each Prompt a Day journal page. A bit of Halloween themed paper in the background or a stamp or sticker...this one is obvious.

The colder weather has me wanting Fall foods. In the last week I've made Soup and a Potato & Kale dish made with curry spices. I bought a winter squash at the grocery and the Apples at Paul's Market are Wonderful. Honeycrisp is my favorite this year.

The cooler weather has me actually picking up the knitting needles. I have been seriously neglecting those. I vow to pick up that sweater that has been on the needles for years! Of course socks are always on the needles and I just had to start something new that is mindless for those evenings the TV is on all evening. It is called Baktus and if you click on that link you can see a picture of one colorway and the pattern too. I found this on Ravelry. I've spent quite a bit of time on Ravelry looking at pictures of things other people have knit.

Viki

It's getting chilly!

We've had a cold snap here in KY!

I'm pulling out the wool socks and a sweater!

The Folk forecaster Dick Frymire

is predicting the First Frost for October 1st. That is Tomorrow!!

We'll see if he's right.

It is time for me to start decorating for Halloween! I LOVE October.

As you can see the Prompt a Day is on going. I'm still loving it.

Mom got sick and then fell and broke a rib last week. (Boy that sentence seems short for everything that has happened!) Anyway, I've been knitting on a pair of socks while sitting in

immediate care and sitting at her house. She did comment on the socks I'm knitting, I'm glad she likes them as they are her Birthday socks! She just doesn't know that yet.

For a good listen go to my friend Cindy's Yarnspinners Tales podcast number 36.

Then click on the link to go see the video. That is me spinning on the Charkha and her daughter Andrea doing the description! We had a great time getting together to put this podcast together!

Viki

Art Journal

Sept 16
Originally uploaded by cobweb1st

Lots of collage being made not a lot of knitting.
I did knit on a sock last night while watching DWTS.

Any way, don't you love this girls eyebrows?!

If you'd like to check out other pages, click on my
flickr in the side bar.

Viki

If you like Elizabeth Zimmerman

then you need to go check out Brooklyntweed's blog:

http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2009/09/ez-was-here.html

And the Twist Collective:

http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/component/content/article/35-features/369-channeling-elizabeth-recreatiing-a-family-heirloom

What a cool sweater and what a cool story!

Viki

The spiders

are busy spinning.

I'm not.

This web was near my car in the side yard last week.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is Jordan is no longer pregnant.

The Good news is that she can get pregnant again.

School has started for my little class of 3 year olds.

The are absolutely adorable. My favorite line so far is from

little Robert..."no no Mommy will change it when she gets here!"

Okay so the line was adorable, the smell was not.

I have been busy with the Prompt a Day class again this month.

I've been having fun and turning out pages. Check out my flickr account for

some of the pages I've made. I continue to be amazed by the quality of the art

the woman in this class are turning out.

Viki

News!

August was packed with activity, I just haven't had the time to record it here.

We went to Utah (Snowbird)Which was really a lot of Fun. Mariah started school 2 days after we got back. She has an extremely heavy class load complete with 2 math classes. (Algebra 2 and Pre Cal.)

I'm getting ready to start teaching the 3 yr olds again. I have a really young class this year.

But it is small so that will work out well. Meet and greet is scheduled for tomorrow.

Art Journaling has been done. Another finished book for August!

The most Exciting news is Jordan is Pregnant!

Feels like yesterday that I was pregnant with her. Where does the time go?

Viki

Bubbie follows me around the house.

Thought I needed to post a Bailey picture. He has been following me around and so when I was taking pictures of Art Journal pages, I snapped one of him as he came in the door to see what I was up to.

He went to the vet yesterday and now weighs only 76 lbs.

Viki

When the wind blows

Friday was a big day here.

Mariah got her impacted wisdom teeth extracted.

The oral surgeon said it was a good thing we got them out now and not 6 months from now.

Evidently they were "17 yr old wisdom teeth" already.

So we have been feeding her soup and shakes and she's been holding ice packs to her face.

She looks a bit chipmonky. Overall it hasn't been nearly as bad as we thought it would be.

Jordan brought over pudding and jello and helped me make jello. She also brought over chap stick and bright lime green nail polish to brighten Mariah's day too.

We are watching lots of movies this weekend and trying to keep Mariah entertained.

I have done a few art journal pages though. The one above I really like for the movement it shows. Now I need to do a card on Fears.

Viki

p.s.

i wrote a haiku for the picture above

the wind twists and turns

bells chime outside my windeow

lulling me to sleep

July 10

not getting much knitting done, but the art journal is going strong.

Wish I had another copy of this image.

Viki

Prompt a day

I am totally enjoying the prompt a day online class with Kelly Kilmer.

This is my page for today.

Sometimes there is just too much noise.  

Music, computer sounds, TV it all makes me long for quiet.

So 

sometimes I go outside to read in the heat.

It is quiet for the most part.

Okay, the dog barks sometimes.

It was so cool last night at the Park watching Romeo and Juliet with the night sounds.

We heard an owl and lots of night insects.

Viki

Book making spree

In the last 24 hours I've made 6 little books.

Once I start I have trouble stopping.  I even have another one in the works.

The cover of the yellow one (6 x 9 inches) is actually a very old Manila envelope.  I bought a whole stack at an estate sale last Winter.  I like incorporating envelopes in books because you can store things in the envelope.

  The blue and white one is 6 inches x 9 inches and mostly watercolor paper inside.

  The 2 green and white flower books are 6 x 6 inches and are filled with a combination of reclaimed papers from old books and security envelopes.  You can see part of a security envelope on the one standing open.

  The 2 smaller white ones are approximately 4.5  x 6.5 inches give or take a few cm.  Hopefully one of them will become quite colorful very soon.  I'm taking an online class with Kelly Kilmer during July.  Which was the impetus for the book making spree. 

 Three of the books are simple single signatures and 3 are stab bound.

On another note, Mariah and I went to World Market today to pick up a few bottles of  Italian syrup for mixing Italian soda's.  I have figured out that making our own costs about $1. compared to the coffee shop version at almost $4.

Viki

Art Deck card 2

The prompt I posted for this week was Balance.

My card as you can see has a stack of balanced rocks, an out of focus clock face and a hand placing the last stone.

If you have every seen a rock stack, they are incredible works of art and balance.

They seem to defy gravity.

Some see it as a sacred form of art.

While I see how this art form could be meditative, I like the hands on art, the way they look, the history behind rock stacking is interesting too.  This article talks about how rock stacks are also called inuksuk and they are a tool used by nomadic people to help others find their way. "There aren't many natural landmarks on the tundra, but apparently there are lots of rocks."

I think I learned a lot this week.

Viki

Claudia's MS Ride

In case you haven't heard Claudia rides a Tandom bike in the MS Ride every year.
Last year she had the coveted Number 1 because of all the money that was donated.

She rides this weekend and she hasn't met her goal yet.
As incentive to donate at least $10. Lots of people have donated to her prizes.

Yes, if you donate $10 or more you are signed up for the prize drawing.

If you are interested check out Claudia's blog at http://www.claudiasblog.net/

Then click on MSRide and you can give as much money as you want.
Go on you know you want to.

Viki

Art Deck card 1

card 1
Originally uploaded by cobweb1st

One of the groups I belong to has been extremely slow. Real life sometimes gets in the way of creating. So some of us are trying to make 1 card a week for a personal art deck. Meaning we are keeping the cards we make instead of swapping. The cards I'm making are 4" x 6". Hopefully this will get some of us over the dry period and back into mixed media.

Viki

The BIG Day!

We had a big day here yesterday!

Sweet!

Simple!

Quick!

We wish Jordan and Christopher a beautiful life together!

Viki

p.s. Mariah took most of the pictures.

black bean and sweet potato quesedillas

We don't eat a lot of meat anymore. We do eat some, but not often, Maybe once or twice a month we will eat some beef. Chicken about once a week and Fish once a week. The rest of the time we eat a vegetable based diet. That is pretty good, but we are trying to eat even less chicken and beef. (Mariah hasn't eaten beef in over 2 years)

I have bookmarked a blog that I visit fairly regularly called Vegan Dad. He has a cookbook coming out. (As a side note, I find it amazing that so many people who blog have ended up with book deals of one sort or another.)

Back to Vegan Dad. He had a recipe on his blog that sounded so good and I had All the ingredients just sitting here so I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesedillas for dinner the other night. I didn't follow his recipe exactly, of course, but used what I had and what we like and they were outstanding!

I used 2 smallish sweet potatoes chopped and cooked in water, then drained and mashed.
1 can black beans drained
1/2 a large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of leftover corn
1/2 a jar of Frog Ranch salsa
cumin
a few handfuls of spinach leaves cut up or torn up.
chili powder
hot pepper slices

cooked the onions til clear and browning, added the corn and garlic then the beans and mashed potato and salsa and spices and spinach. I spread a few tablespoons of the mixture on whole wheat tortillas and browned them in the iron skillet.
They taste great with guac and sour cream too.

Anyone else have a great meatless meal recipe?

Viki

Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch

This is the chair I sat and read in most of the weekend.
A terrible picture of the pretty little tree.

Okay I don't have a patch.

I have one little paw paw tree, or is that Papaw?

I'd have to look it up.

I am trying to find another little tree. You need two for fruit. I got this one from an older gentleman who lives in the neighborhood.  He is related to paw paw/papaw growers in Ohio.  Evidently they provide the fruits to restaurants around the country.  I haven't seen this gentleman for a few years.  My mother is trying to contact him for me to see if he has any of the trees to sell this year.

Why am I even going on about paw paw/papaw trees?  Mine Bloomed this year!  For the first time.

Last week I had an allergic reaction to some guys aftershave while I was in the bookstore for Odd Tuesday.  Yes, I have "issues".  Evidently that reaction opened me up to infection... 

I Lost my voice by Weds. evening.  Thursday I called into work and then crawled back into bed and even had Jordan pick Mariah up from school.  I just couldn't stay awake and I had no voice.  Try answering a phone in a whisper.  

Friday, I had an appointment to have labs drawn at the doctor and they kindly fit me in to see the Nurse who filled me up with meds. because the virus was leading to a sinus infection.  It is now Monday.  I finally have a little bit of a voice.  However, I am not talking when I don't absolutely need too.  This Laryngitis thing is really a hassle.    Five days of no voice.  I am ready to talk again.

Remember that beautiful shawl I posted a while back.  Well check out my friend Anita's finished shawl on her blog.  

Beautiful.

My friend Cindy has finished a beaded stole and you can look at it on her blog too.

Now that is a lot of work.

Also on her blog is a link to her podcast.  Check it out.

Viki

Blues

I've been spinning this endless pile of blue merino on the AA Wheel.

Usually while watching American Idol.

I plied the first bobbins and I have under 300 yards!  I really thought I'd spun more than that!

I took the skeins (yes skeins, the singles broke while plying) outside this weekend when the Sun was Shining on Saturday to take pictures.

Pretty yarn.

Viki

Stash Enhancement

Spring Break we went to visit Dave's Dad in York PA.

Which just so happens to be very close to one of my favorite fiber shops: The Mannings.

What a pleasant place.

This time I even spun on a few wheels and fell in love with the Ladybug Wheel.  Don't know if it is in my future or not, but I  really enjoyed spinning on it.  Easy to treadle and enough ratio's to make me happy.  The price is pretty too.

I of course participated in stash enhancement.  The cotton yarn came from a high profile hobby shop.(I have been requested to knit some dishcloths)  The square sock needles and the flat feet came from Uncommon Threads in York.

The spinning fiber, and the Noro sock yarn and Trekking sock yarn came from The Mannings.

Not shown is Mariah's new wooden needles and silk merino lace weight yarn and pattern for the shawl she has decided to knit.  That all came from The Mannings too.

On another note, I took my Kindle on the trip.  Not only could I read books I had downloaded, but if I knew an exact web page address I could read online.  I spent hours in the car and in the house reading online!  Without dial up costs or WiFi.  I am so glad they have that experimental section on Kindle.  Their Whisper Net works Even in the Mountains of Maryland.  It was great.

My Kindle is version 1.  The Newest Kindle came out a few months ago.  Check out the web site.

The interesting thing is that the handbook doesn't tell you everything you can do with your Kindle.  I downloaded a $4. book onto the Kindle that tells how to download books from free sites and how to use the Experimental section of the menu. 

If you want to see all the relatives check out my flickr account for an amazing amount of pictures.  Gosh those kids have all grown!  Everyone missed seeing Jordan.  The visits with relatives were much too short.

Some knitting was accomplished.  Part of a sock on the way up and cotton dishcloths on the way back to KY.

Viki

wants to go to The Woolery, which has relocated to Frankfort KY only 45 minutes away!

Spring Spinning

Bright and light!

On the AA wheel is a bright blue merino that I spun while watching Idol last night.

The white fiber is a mystery fiber from my stash.  I know I should label those bags of fiber.

I am spinning the white on my Bosworth Moosey.  I actually spun this at work yesterday afternoon while the kids were napping.  Those that were not asleep had fun watching me spin.

Trying to figure out what to take to PA this week to keep me busy.

Wish I had a truely portable wheel.  Anyone have a little hatbox wheel?

Maybe a hitchhiker wheel would work...but the ratios aren't what I usually use.

Guess Spindles it is.

Viki