Spincerely yours: what’s life without a little twist?

I had the same batch of sprout seed for way too many years.  They were losing viabilty and only about 50% seemed to be germinating.  It was time to buy new ones.  Of couse, I did a google search, and what I found was Sproutpeople!  Yum!  Here are the sprouts I received in my order (I’m a llittle in love with the bokeh in this photo, btw.):

They are the Spicy Salad Greens mix and Nick’s Hot Sprout Salad.  I also bought a Brassica Sampler too.

Here is what the Spicy Salad Greens look like when sprouted:

This is the second time that I have made these. The first time I used 3 tablespoons of seeds and that was way too much! I’m going to put some on my salad for lunch today and we’ll have some with our dinner salad tonight.  This was only 2 tablespoons of the seed mix.  I would say that they pretty much all germinated.  One downfall of this mix is that some of the seeds are very tiny and get washed out through slots in the bottom of the seed sprouter.  I think I may need to pick up some cheesecloth for the first rinse or so.

Hey - so this makes 2 blog posts in one day!  Well, the first one doesn’t really count because it is just for weather documentation purposes so next year when the weather rocks, I can compare and contrast.  Like for example, this was last June and hopefully will be next June too.

As always, I’m going to try to get back to blogging more even if it is just a photo here or there.  Maybe I’ll even have some knitting or spinning to show soon!  Have a great day and and thanks for reading!

June sky: clouds of gray

I wasn’t going to blog about the weather but then I decided that I need to write at least one post for historical information.  I just took this photo out my back door at 7 a.m.  This is pretty much what our sky has looked like everyday this month.  The last day we had a truly sunny morning was June 8.  We did have one morning last week with a couple of breaks in the clouds.  Overall though, dreary has been the predominant theme; sometimes with rain and sometimes with fog.  There has been no severe weather–not really even a scary thunderstorm and certainly no earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

I was looking forward to June seeing as each of the previous months didn’t have much good weather to boast about either.  I was ready for really building up my hand-dyed roving inventory.  My plan was to dye at least 3 to 4 days a week.  I think I may have dyed only 2 or 3 times this month! July and August–I’m counting on you!

The weather is not doing much for bringing on the joy of summer vacation either.  Yesterday was the last day of school and it was rather anti-climatic.  It is hard to get excited when you can’t even imagine what it would be like to go swimming or even for a bike ride!  Agent J has had her last 3 softball practices canceled due to rain.  Agent K who has a job picking strawberries keeps coming home waterlogged.  When I talk to my dad every morning, the featured conversation is “yeah, it’s raining again…”  People are running out of clever and sarcastic things to say about the weather on Facebook even!  Sunshine - we need you back!

No sunshine for solar dyeing

Clouds, clouds, clouds...

I’m using the self-watering garden boxes from Gardener’s Supply this year for the first time. So far they rock.  Check out these “then and now” photos:

Flower box May 10:

Flower box June 10:

(The hummingbirds really like this one.)

Herb box May 10:

Herb box June 10:

(I have a feeling these guys are stretching to reach some light)

I’m also trying the self-watering hanging pots and Dave has more window box shaped planters in his salsa garden.  We are also using the self-watering container mix from Gardener’s Supply too. Organic for the herbs and veggies and regular for the flowers.  So far I think these are worth the price.  They are well made and seem to work very well.  The brackets on the window boxes are very strong and of good quality.  The key will be seeing how these hold up from year to year and if they are easy to clean out and reuse without taking too much time in the fall.

This is the outer view of the herb box on June 3 (ah, sunshine, where did it go?):

The color I bought was Loden (I think, maybe it is bronze, now I can’t remember). I would have preferred Terracotta, but it was out of stock at the time I ordered.

So, to sum it up:  Love the container boxes, would recommend them, wish the weather was better (as per usual)…

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

All holidays need a fiber component.  This past weekend was great because mine had 2 different fiber events.  (It also had gardening, parades, and whiffle ball, but this part is about the fiber.)

This is certainly a case of a picture tells a thousand words. So briefly, the photos in the top left box show some of my purchases at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolfest.  I bought a kit for needlefelting backyard birds.  I thoght if I can get one to come out nice it would be a good gift for Agent B’s Jr. Audubon leader.   I’m even thinking that Agent B might like to try making one herself.  I also bought a roving and an inexpensive drop spindle from Spunky Eclectic.  Her booth is our favorite (as you can tell from the expressions on Cheryl and Sarah’s faces in the photo box on the bottom left.)  What else did I get?  I also bought some banana fibers to try in my drum carder (bottom right of the top left photo).  Not in the photo, I bought some lavendar scented wool wash and some lavendar colored Cushing Dye. (I love that one in particular. It has cool ways of being.)

We had a very nice trip up to Cummington.  I had mapped out some shortcuts which we managed to miss, but the drive is so easy around there that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Sarah was very patient with my driving and Cheryl’s navigating. I think we could have just driven around all day and she would have happily knit away on her vest without a complaint.

The night before, Sarah and I were also in Massachussetts for a Post Cummington Loot Fest at JessaLu’s.  (For us it was pre-fest, for everyone else it was post-fest.)  It was fun to meet up with some new fiber friends who speak the same fiber/ravelry/blog language.  I have a list of names/blogs in my purse.  I’ll go get it and be right back…  Okay. So, of course there was JessaLu and you have all been to her blog and seen all her talents up close. (Everyone has one of her bags, and you could have one too!)  I’m having a little trouble remembering real names/blog names/ ravelry names, so bear with me a moment.  Ok, also there was Tina from RowsRed and Harriet from Writing and Knitting and Spinning, Oh My.  And Risa from CrazyFiberLady? (yup)  Textile Junkie from Geeky Fiber News?  (yup, and is Harriet’s husband. I didn’t know that.  Sometimes I wonder about me…)  And Michelle and I don’t know where she is from but she was very nice and I would like to find her.  Maybe someone knows and can add that in my comments?  I didn’t take any photos, but if you click on the RowsRed link above, she has some there.  She is knitting the most fantastic shawl; creamy, lacy, and beady–very fine work, indeed.

(ETA: Please see Harriet’s comment below.  Michelle is Textile Junkie (gorgeous blog!).  Now I get it.)

It has been a long time since I have really done any significant knitting other than working on my sock blankie, but the other night I cast on a sock and I’m ready to turn the heel.  Note to self:  It is very important to always have a sock project going because you never know when you are going to need the comfort that fanatical sock knitting provides.

So, can you tell that I upgraded to Picnik Premium?  Here is the clue. This is what my Woolfest collage looked like before the upgrade:

kind of boring, huh?

I do love Picnik though. It makes me happy in its cleaverness.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Ours started out with a parade.

Agent J marched with band:

Agent B marched with Softball (Actually they rode on the Lion’s Club float and threw candy to people.):

At the end of the parade, there is a ceremony and the middle school band played again:

Yesterday, I spent 5 hours mowing lawns so I could enjoy this weekend. Tonight we have picnics and tomorrow is The Massachesetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair (aka Cummington). I’m looking forward to going as I’ve been reading about all the other Sheep and Wool fairs with such fibery envy! It should be nice once the skies clear.  (It is actually perfect out right now. For once, I can’t complain about the weather.)

Have a great weekend!

Second blog post in a row!  I have such a back load of yarns and fibers to blog about.  I’m starting to think I’m just going to have to move forward and not try to blog retrospectively.  I spent some time on Picnik tonight.  I’m considering upgrading to the Premium version.  It is only $2.00 a month. Has anyone done this?  What do you think?  I think that my girls would really enjoy it so I think I will show them and see if they would use it. Summer is coming and they are going to need things to do.

Etsy Stuff: I participated in my second Phat Fiber box. The May theme was “showers and flowers.”  I was in “shower denial” so I chose flowers.  The fiber samples are in a colorway called “Chloris” and the yarn samples are in “Narcissus.”  I hope to get some Chloris listed in my shop tomorrow, and the Narcissus is already there in case you were wondering.  Feel free to go check it out!

I’m also participating in the June Phat Fiber box.  The June theme is “oceanic.”  The colorway that I’m dyeing for that is called Sandpiper.  I had some out in the sun today–to be rinsed tomorrow. I can’t wait to see how it comes out!   I had dyed a couple of rovings in this colorway a couple of months ago, this version is very similar - just a couple of tweaks.  We’ll see…

Children Stuff: The other day when the Swine flu was on the news continuously, Dave said that he hadn’t realized that so many people had died due to the Spanish Flu in 1918.  Agent B said, “Yeah Daddy, that’s how Edward’s parents died, don’t you know?”  (And you didn’t know that Twilight was educational, did you?) When we commented on her connecting the two things she said “Well, you know, that is how I learn everything I know, from reading…” And if you know Agent B, you would be able to insert the proper tone and eye rolling to go with these statement (of course, don’t you know???).

Since we are on Agent B, I can bring this whole topic back to yarn (of course, don’t you know???)  When she went to Sturbridge last week, she thought of me when she saw this:

I think I would like to make her a little case to hold her Bella Sara cards.  It is a very nice handspun and natural dyed yarn.

Reading: I read a couple of memoirs for my book clubs during the last couple of months.  Now, I’m not really one for non-fiction or biographies and I started these with such an attitude that I was NOT going to like them, but I was SO wrong!  The first is  The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer I was convinced that there was no way that I was going to like a book filled with sports and gambling references that takes place in a bar on Long Island, but I loved it!  It was interesting and funny and there were nights that I couldn’t put it down.  The second is The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper.  I didn’t finish this one in time for the book club meeting (which was weeks ago and I just finished my reading last night), but once I started, I wanted to finish.  I thought that I would never like a book about war and politics in Africa and that it would all just go over my head, but Helene Cooper has a clear and concise writing style and she explains the history of Liberia from the beginning and in a way you really feel like you understand.  These 2 books are similar in that both authors are about the same age (Moehringer b. 1964, Cooper b. 1966) and they are both reporters for major newspapers. They are different in that in J.R. Moehringer grows up poor in a wealthy society whereas, Helene Cooper grows up wealthy in a country full of poverty.  I recommend both books and even reading both books together, as I did, as I could go on and on with the compare and contrast.

What’s next: Oh-so-much to write about when the weather rocks!  I have fiber, yarn, and  upcoming knitting projects. I have some nature photos including an audubon trip to Bartholomew’s Cobble and a Jr. Audubon trip to the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Sanctuary.  I have tons of gardening photos especially now that I have a super-addicitive macro lens…  Oh so much to photograph and so little time!

It has been a long time since I’ve blogged regularly.  Way too long. The weather this spring left so much to be desired, and most days I just didn’t think I could remain upbeat long enough to get through a blog post. But today, today is a good day. The weather is fantastic and I should be outside planting my second flat of marigolds* so this is going to be just an oh-so-quickie post!

So, I bet you can’t guess what I got!!!  Ok, here is a clue:

So, I’m off for now. I’ll try to be back sooner rather than later this time, ok?  Have a great day and if you live in New England, enjoy the weather!

* I always feel like I have to defend my love of marigolds.  Yes, they are ordinary, but they are also wonderful little plants.  They bloom all year, grow well in my yard, few things eat them, and I have just always loved them…

Last Thursday was cold and windy and there were still very, very few signs of spring in my yard. Since then we had a mini heat wave and spring is everywhere!  It is truly a beautiful day!  Not too windy, not too hot, very few clouds, the leaves are starting to come out so everything is covered in a blanket of green haze.  Gorgeous!

We are also on a home maintenance marathon this spring. We are trying to get things done that we should have done 9 years ago like finally getting our water fixed.  Our well water is way too acidic and needs to be neutralized.  Thusly by altering the pH, we must also condition it so it is soft enough for soap to lather.  While acidic water may not be good for copper pipes, it is really good for dyeing wool.  Of couse pH is easily altered with citric acid, so I wasn’t too worried, but I was happy to learn that the netralizer has a bipass valve.  Happy day!

I have some great new yarn and fiber photos to post soon, so stay tuned!  I hope to get back to at least posting once a week as soon as we catch up a bit.  Thanks so much for visiting and have a great day!

One more day…  I think that is what we have to get through here in Connecticut to make it to some nicer weather. Of course what counts as nicer weather around here is temps in the 50’s!!!  I can’t believe we have waited all winter for April just to have snow flakes flying in the air!  I’m trying my best to get through this.  What this involves is trying (usually unsucessfully) to not complain too much about the weather and spinning a lot of pretty wool.

I dyed this color the other day.  I wasn’t so sure about how it would look spun up so I decided to spin a roving myself.  I’m still in the process, but I did make a small plied sample to see how it would look.

I’m enamored.  The colors are so subtle - the 2 darker colors, blue and apricot, are diluted out by the gold, cream,  and light green so they are not bold and flashy, but much more gentle and alluring.

OMG!  I just looked outside and there is SUN.  There is blue sky and sun!  Oh glorious SUN!  Actually the colors out my window look a lot like the colors in this roving.  I still have a lot of oak leaves out there showing up in the woods that look a lot like the apricot and gold colors.  The grass is starting to look a bit green, but still quite a bit of dead and it looks like the cream and gold colors and well, the blue and white looks like the sky.

The girls only have one more day after today before Spring Break.  They are already worried about how much homework they will have.  Agent B, my fifth grader, will have a project to work on over break and  I just hope the other 2 don’t get too much.  I think more than they need a break from going to school, we, has a family, need a break from the homework.

Tomorrow I’m going on a mini-scrapbooking retreat with a couple of girlfriends.  I can’t wait to get all my scrapping supplies out!  Scrapbooking is really quite a bit like dying in that you get to play with combining different colors.  I think it will be good for me to take a bit of a fiber break (and QuickBooks break) and reboot my creativity with paper, scissors, and glue dots.

So today, I have tons to do!  Thanks for reading and have a great day!