Coming and Going... in the Sacramento Valley

Yesterday was the third time in a week that I have driven to the Valley. Twice I have gone to the hospital to see the eye doctor. Thursday for an eye exam and to order the eye glasses... then yesterday to pick up my new glasses. That's a record for getting a new pair of glasses. That's five days with a weekend in between. I've never received new prescription glasses that fast... ever. When they called yesterday to tell me the glasses were ready, I was stunned. Do you suppose that they are getting stimulated by the government?
On Saturday I drove down to Elk Grove for our monthly goat meeting. This was fun. The day was beautiful. I got to see Dick and Jane's farm, again, their big ol' dogs and their flock of Alpine Goats. We had a good meeting. Talked about the Cal-Am Goat show in Plymouth on May 7th and what needed to be done before the event.  I will host the next meeting. Guess I had better let Brownie Goat know that we are going to have company. I don't want him to stress out.
At one point after the meeting, I asked the really important question.... "Where can I get some goat fleece?" This was the right group to ask. I now have three different sources for wool fleece and yarn in this area. Thank you Jane, Elenore, Rebecca and Gwen for all the information. Especially Gwen who emailed me all of the names and phone numbers of the sources. I REALLY appreciated it

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Yesterday I drove down the highway to South Sacramento and picked up my new eye glasses, had some lunch and then (as a treat for all the weary driving and .... and for having to drive in all of that traffic.... and for the strain on my country bumpkin mentality.) I went to....

I needed a very small sized pair of needles for the knitted flowers that I've been making. I walked out of this store with a bag filled to the brim with MORE YARN and some wool fabric.

This wool fabric is so beautiful. I can't find it anywhere in the mountains. So I grabbed it up when I saw it. I thought it was on sale. There was this sign above the bolts of fabric that said 30% off. Well, I just grabbed it and had it cut before I realized that it wasn't on sale. I also didn't look at the price. I thought I did.... but obviously, I didn't. I'm embarrassed to tell you what it was per yard. I just can't tell you. All I can say is that I will save and use  every little sliver of this fabric... if I have to saute the pieces and eat them  for dinner.

The Paton's Classic Wool Roving is wonderful to work with. I just had to get more of it. and then I saw this yarn...

This is Paton's Classic Wool yarn that is wonderful for felted projects. This one is called "Harvest" but I think it's way too bright to be called something so autumny. I think "Gypsy" would have been a better name. It does have some orange and green in it but it also has purple, dark red and a bit of dark gray in it. This yarn is very pretty when it's knitted but I felted a swatch of it last night and it's even more beautiful when felted.
I did buy the needles I needed. I almost forgot in all my excitement.
Then, as I walked up to the check out stand, I saw the magazine rack and stopped in my tracks.  Low and behold, there was this magazine waiting for me. Isn't it funny how this happens. As if it was set out there for someone special. A MAGAZINE ON FELTING.... from Australia.

I had never seen this magazine before and I believe it's the only FELTING magazine on the Pacific Rim.... so I grabbed it. Most knitting magazines will have an article on felting once in a while but this is a whole magazine filled with everything felt.

Lots of articles by felt artists....

 How to make "Wannabees"...

and little pink pigs....

and beautiful purses...

I haven't kept the promise I made to myself... to finish each project before starting another. It's a promise I should have never made . I just can't do it. Too many ideas. Too many wonderful yarns.....
In this magazine there was an ad for a business called FIBREWORKS- hand dyed felting supplies.

And look who gets most of the credit..... THE ANIMALS.  Where would we crazy, knitting/felting maniacs be without these wonderful animals.

AUSTRALIA, YOU ROCK.


So now it's back to making some little flowers and handles for the purses in my head. 
What do you think? With or without the button???

To My Friends...

Please have patience..... all of you who are braving the longest winter of your lives. I hear you out there. You are trying to be optimistic and brave but Ol' Mother Nature is chewing you up and spitting you out in so many areas of the country.
I just want to say....Hang in there.

I see the snow that covers everything and makes it so difficult for you to get in the car and drive anywhere. Everything you do is an effort and the threat of another storm looms. To my farming friends.... the water will thaw and the mud will dry. To my city friends.... the snow will melt and the sun will warm your faces.
One day you're on the dark side of Winter.....

And you find yourself only facing one side of the world. 
But the sun will come back and the warmth will return with it.

  It always does.

Life is two sided.

  Pull back the dead leaves and the lingering snow. Take a look at what is coming.

How the Pittosporum prepares for it's yearly fragrant show.

and the little frog who winks at you from the yard art in the lavender.

Come sit on my porch, in the sunshine. Warm your bones and feel the sun on your face. I'll fix you some tea and bring you a sweater. The air is still cold but the sun feels so good.

Read the wall hanging that I gave to my mom many years ago and now hangs next to my front door.
 
  Sit here as long as you want.... until you know, in your heart, that Spring is coming. Until the sun sets.... as it always does and life feels good again.
 

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons ...” J.R.R. Tolkien (English Writer -The Lord of the Rings, 1892-1973)

"...perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us."

~Rainer Maria Rilke~ Austria-German lyric poet~ 1875-1926 ~ 

I had to drive down to South Sacramento yesterday. I had an appointment for an eye examination so I could order new glasses. This is one of the big issues in my life. I'm losing ground ,as I mature, and continue to need stronger glasses to see the things that bring me pleasure and to discover new points of view. 

After seeing the doctor and ordering glasses, I sat in the pharmacy waiting for a prescription I needed and watch the news at noon on a TV suspended over the waiting room . Someone in Placerville, who worked in an elementary school as a custodian, shot the principal and killed him. This happen during school hours and the screen was filled with the chaos of parents trying to get to their children and the news media trying to get information. Oh no, not another angry person... and another..... and another.

The man accused of killing the Principal was picked up at his home and arrested. No one seems to know what the motivation was for this killing. The police are not talking, so the media is focusing on the parents, teachers and the children who knew the two men and of course they are all speculating as to what happen.

I thought, as I waited for my medicine, that this seems to be happening more often... more the way that people deal with adversity in their lives now. Some people reacted with so much anger that they fought and argued with the actions of the police who were trying to keep some semblance of order and deal with the frightened parents who wanted answers.... and their children. 

 The news continued and folks were standing near the TV watching and talking to each other, shaking their head and walking away. My name came up on the board so I got in line, paid for my meds and left the hospital. I still had to drive over to Costco. 

I always have a list when I go to Costco. It keeps me from impulse buying. BUT.....Sometimes I just start looking around, especially in the book section, and then I see something that I can't live without. Impulse buying is usually not a good idea but yesterday I had a reason. The premise, this time, being that my oldest grandson has a birthday coming up next month and I need to start looking for presents.

I found two. One I can't tell you about because it has to be a surprise.

Now, the reason I'm telling you about the other one is because I'm in a dilemma about it. I love this book. The Bean would probably love it too..... but I think I really bought it for me.

It's called DRAGONOLOGY; The complete Book of Dragons. I don't get too goofy about books. I like some and I keep  the ones I fall in love with.... but this book is beautiful. To really enjoy this book you have to maintain a small part of you that believes dragons just might still exist. I think I do or I hope that somewhere at sometime, they did. But this book takes dragon dust to a whole new level.

You have to suspend your logic and  believe in spells, Merlin, Beowulf, the Origin of Species and Marco Polo .You have to become a child again and remember "not to discuss dragons with people who do not believe in them, or with those who merely seek to amuse themselves."  

This book is about DRAGONS.... 

Fierce, fire breathing dragons that fly and have shiny eyes ..., and are an endangered species.

This book is the encyclopedia of Dragons and opens with a small envelope that says...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN written on it. When you open it up there is a letter inside from Dr. Ernest Drake of St. Leonard's Forest~ April 1904

He writes that he has written this book, "...not that you might seek out and destroy the few dragons that remain, but that you might learn about them and, indeed, help them to stay concealed. For the wise learn much, see much, know much, but disturb little." and he wishes to, "pass on this knowledge to someone worthy of its keeping." 

He tells you how to refute the skeptics and how to befriend a dragon if you have the amazing opportunity of finding one.

He even classifies the dragons by habitat and shows you where you might find them on this planet.

There is a chapter for Dragon Biology and Physiology...

and The Life Cycle of Dragons. I think I'm in love with this little newborn infant. Something about him reminds me of Carl, my corgi.

The illustrations are beautiful...

And he adds a record book, riddles & puzzles and how to fly with your new "pet".

But wait, I've saved the best for last....

A real sample of dragon dust. I had no idea. You can use it for spells and charms, like making yourself disappear. HOLY DRAGON DUST!  All you have to do is take four freshwater pearls, ground them into powder with a dragon horn or jade. Mix the powder in the grease of  a freshly killed , seven-day-old Koi ( that's a big goldfish) and massage it liberally all over the clothes and body repeating "She zheng wang dong. li pa!" Nothing to it. This will last four hours. Now tell me.... haven't you always wanted to just disappear for four hours at some point in your life? 

I need to find a Dragon. I need to market this dust. I would be a wealthy woman.

Maybe these Dragons are like the gold that the Prospector and I seek. Maybe Dragons really do exist but they are as elusive as the gold of the Mother Lode here in California. All I know is that I will be looking for these beautiful creatures for the rest of my life and I have decided that I may wait for a few years to share this knowledge with my grandsons. This is some heavy information and I want to choose the opportune time to share this with them. I want them to be young enough to have an open mind but old enough to not be afraid. 

Also, they need to be old enough to do some field work with me because I see lots of "Dragons" in this world, in other forms.I see many dragon  metaphors in our lives and in the vast territory of our minds we seem to create them as part of our life stories. I want to teach my grandsons how to see the difference between the real dragons in our lives and the dragons that fly invisibly over us and live in magical places. Children need this. It's where Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman live and if it's in my lifetime we will find it together. 

We can't tame the men who choose to kill one another, but we can start with them as children and teach them about goodness, love and the magic of Dragons. It's all about dreams, hope and being brave and it's about the dust..... that beautiful, magical and shiny dust that humans came looking for here in the California Foothills  thinking that it would be the answer to their dreams. It's all about the limits of our imagination and how we can soar above it all  if we choose.

I think I will keep this book for a while longer. It has given me back something that I thought I had lost... the magic of my childhood and the the fire breathing dragon inside of me.

 

Monomania.....I have found my new middle name.

In 19th century psychiatry , monomania (from Greek monos, one, and mania) is a single pathological preoccupation in an otherwise sound mind.
Wikipedia.org

Cookies, Treasures and Sunshine

Yes, you know what time it is. 

It's Cookie time.  When the urge to bake something sweet strikes.. ..When your better judgement breathes it's last breath and the hounds of hunger for something sweet and sinful ride across your landscape of resolve.... It's time to bake cookies.

This happens to me frequently. It's a weakness in my DNA.  I did listen to my long ago Weight Watcher lecturer who said...."If you don't have the bad stuff in the house, you won't have it around to eat." ... but that doesn't stop me when I really want something like Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream . The store is only 10-15 minutes away, so I usually fabricate a list of things that I need (to make the trip worthwhile), including Ben and Jerry's and then I drive down the hill and into town. NOTHING stops me from my craving for the sensual delight of really good ice cream. Well, I'm sure there is something that would stop me but last Thursday I couldn't remember what it was. So, on this very lovely California dreamin' day, I got the urge for something sweet and went looking into the cupboard and online for anything I could make without getting into the car and driving somewhere

I was alone because the Prospector was treasure hunting with friends... spending the day digging in old outhouses, foundations and chimneys in the gold camps around this area for the elusive hidden gold treasure he thinks is still waiting for him in the ruins of yesteryear.

I found treasure too. I found a bag of Heath Toffee Bits in the cupboard. I have no idea how it got there. HA! It was glowing with light and shinning in it's beautiful bag. There must be a connection here. Heath Bar Chips and Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream?? It must have been a sign from my inner child saying..." This will satisfy your craving but you will have to work for the pleasure." 

So I did. First I went out to the chicken house for some fresh, unrefrigerated eggs. That's so I can eat the raw cookie dough without fear of some horrible ailment that they say hides in store bought eggs. I really wonder about that.

 Then, I found a better recipe online than the one on the back of the toffee bits package ...

 Adapted some ingredients and ...

And baked some cookies.....

These cookies are delicious. You must let them stay on the pan for a minute or two and then remove them fast. The toffee bits want to stick to the cookie pan. It says to grease the pan but they still seem to stick. I used my mother's old metal spatula. It works better than a Teflon one does.

Eight or nine minutes at 350 degrees seems to be just about right.

This is a very sweet cookie. I think that you could reduce the sugar even more than I did.  Also they tend to stick to each other in the cookie jar and I found they don't stick if you put them in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator.

The Prospector came home with some muddy broken pieces of ironstone, which I cleaned up and a really cool little, twelve sided  bottle that still has something inside of it and a cork in it.

This little bottle reminds me of Alice In Wonderland..... the bottle that said "Drink me." Remember? Only we thought it might have Nitroglycerin left in it because it was found near an old mine so we didn't want to move it around very much. I don't think that's what is in it. The Prospector had to dig it up and move it around a lot and it hasn't exploded yet. OK, I tested it. I carefully rolled it across a slab of quartzite outside and it didn't explode.Maybe it's just water. We don't know and we don't want to dig the cork out... Better to leave it as it is.
It's been in a  fire. The glass is so beautiful because of this. The glass has a rainbow effect, almost a mother of pearl look to it. I love these little treasures that we find around here. It's almost better than panning for gold and you find more of it. I will put it in the window with the other little bottle that my friend "C" gave me last year.

So we had dinner and ate cookies. It was a very satisfying day.

 

What are you guys doing in the goat house?

It was after lunch yesterday when I went outside to pull some weeds, play with the dogs and talk to the goats.
Mind you, the sun was shining, it was warm, and there was a slight breeze. One of those perfect California winter afternoons.... and where were the goats? In the pasture? Lolling in the sunshine.... faces to the sun? No, those silly goats, who have been praying for the sun to shine in the past weeks of fog and cold, were inside their goat house. The door was open. They were not being prisoners denied their rights.
They heard me as I came out to the fence....

"Hi, guys. What's up? Why aren't you outside standing in the lovely sun... eating the grass and enjoying the nice day?"
Bart came over and gave me his "Hi, Farmlady. I'm so handsome. Aren't I wonderful." look. He breathed on me and got in my face,as he always does. Then Murphy gave me the cutest look and said "Hi Farmlady. Wyd mortl dayth ." I don't know what you think about goats, but this goat is very special. It sounds like Gaelic but he could be channeling my ancient Welsh ancestors. I'm not sure. Whatever it is, he's a magic one for sure.

Freckles just posed for a minute,looking toward the entrance to the pasture....

And Brownie.... well, he didn't say a word. He just looked toward the house and back at me.

Then he spoke...
" It stinks out here. When are you going to clean this pen up?"
"Well, hello to you too, grumpy. What's the problem?"
Brownie continued... "We were glad that the Prospector cleaned out our house last week but this part.... well, the extra straw on the ground it just not working. The sun never comes here near our house and it's damp and cold."
"Brownie. The gate is open all day. You can go down the run to the pasture and it's sunny there. You don't have to stay up here."
"Well, I've been watching the sun lately and I think that it is lower right now, and the house is blocking the sun from this place."
"You're very observant, Brownie."
"Observant? Is that like being annoying? I know you think that I can be annoying Farmlady. I just..."
"No, Brownie, that's not what it means. I'm paying you a compliment. It's means to be aware of things.You are a keen, perceptive goat that notices things that other goats don't. You just get a little obsessive about things and you need to lighten up a bit. The sun is shining. It may not be shining right here, but all you have to do is walk down to the pasture and you can have all the sunshine you want. The great being that oversees the world does wonderful things for us but he expects us to help too, once in a while. The two of you, together, can make your world a beautiful, sunny place.
"Oh bother, Farmlady. That was speaking out of both sides of your mouth. You tell me I'm a smart goat that notices things that other goats don't and then you say that I need to lighten up and go where the sun shines. I would rather stand right here..."
"And complain?" I asked.
"Well....." Brownie looked away.
"I suspected that, Brownie, but let me tell you something. That sun is going to move higher in the sky soon. In fact it has already moved and pretty soon it will be shinning on the goat house and this area too. You just have to wait for another month or two."
"What? Two months, three months? That's crazy. I'm not waiting that long."
"Then you can walk down the run to the pasture. The sun is shinning there."
Brownie thought about this... then he said,
"I could do that."
"Yes, sweetie, you could."
"Farmlady?"
"Yes Brownie?"
"Do you love me?"
"Oh, Brownie, I love you so much it makes my heart ache."
"Even when I complain a lot?"
"Yes, even when you complain."
"Even when I'm OBSESSIVE.?"
"Yes, I love you, even when you worry too much."
"No... obsessive. When I'm obsessive."
"Right, sweetie. The words means worrying about things too much."
"Oh!... I do that, don't I?"
"Yes you do, but it's OK. I love you no matter how you are."
Brownie looked over at the gate and then at me....
"Do you have a carrot coin for me?"
"Yes, I do. Would you like one?"
"Yes, I would love one."
"Can you come over here and get it?"
"Do I have to?"
"Yes Brownie, you do."
"OK."


Later in the afternoon, when the sun was only on a small part of the pasture I saw Brownie and the other goats standing on some rocks, heads toward the last remaining rays of sun, with what seemed like smiles on their faces.
I guess we all need to know that we are loved, even when we are sometimes unlovable. If it works for a obsessive, insecure old goat I guess it can work for anyone.
Have a good day.....

"Honey, I don't know where your wool sweater is. Honestly."

It's more felted wool madness. I just can't get enough of this.
First I would like to show you some finished pieces so you don't think that I'm just going berserk with this new hobby and not finishing anything. This is a scarf that I knitted with two colors of the same yarn (a light and dark gray) together and a rib stitch.

I knitted two separate pieces and attached them after they were felted. The ribbed pattern still shows and gives the scarf a nice texture. I used two vintage buttons . The ends flare because I shaped them that way where I was fulling the scarf and let it dry that way.

It's a heavy scarf because I used two yarns together but the extra weight is nice and it's really warm.

Then I made a long scarf for my niece.

It was fun, quick and acrylic, so you don't felt this one. Felting can only be done with natural fibers. Scarves are great for practicing your stitches and experimenting with different yarn.
Then I made a neck scarf, also called a "scarflette", for a friend's birthday. She lives in Michigan and needs to keep her neck warm in this year's long and very cold winter. Little bear wanted to model the scarf... then she didn't want to give it back.

I used Lion's Brand Hometown USA yarn. It's 100% acrylic and super bulky which, with big needles, makes the knitting go fast and easy. Then I crocheted all the way around it with Lion's fun fur yarn and added a big red button. It's also stretchy so you don't feel like it's choking you.
I made a few other scarves for Christmas but they are gone to their new owners and I forgot to take photos of them.
So..... Now I'm working on a purse. I knitted the purse with Lion's brand Fishermen's wool. It even says on the wrapper that it's perfect for felting. I knitted it with HUGE needles (plastic-#15) and then I double crocheted the sides and around the opening at the top.

It was quite pretty this way but very loose and open, so I threw it into a mesh bag...

and machine felted it in hot soapy water for about 10 minutes. Here it is after it was shaped and dried.

Now it feels like fabric only it still has an open texture. It will need a lining. The crochet on the sides almost disappeared so I turned it inside out. I love the top though. The double crochet made ruffles.

What was it that someone said about arts and crafts?.... you don't make mistakes, just "happy accidents". For me, this process of felting is one "happy accident" after another and, each time, I learn something new. This edge is much prettier than a straight one and it gives the purse a wonderful frilly look. I only did the crocheting to sew the sides together and strengthen the piece. Who knew that it would look so pretty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, look what we have here. SNAKES in the kitchen sink.

Oh, no... sorry. These are the I-cords that I knitted. They are in the process of being hand felted in the above photo. They will be the handles for the purse. My sister showed me how to knit an I-cord, in the round, and I think this will make a good strong cord to attach to the purse. The cord looked something like this before I started the felting process. This is the yarn that the purse is made out of.

This is a smaller I-cord (above) but it's the same yarn.

You dip the cord in hot soapy water and start rubbing it back and forth in you hands, like rolling out ropes of dough. Lots of pressure and turning makes those little fibers felt together until you have a strong solid rope of knitted yarn that doesn't stretch or pull apart. It's just a magical thing and finally, after your arm muscles feel like they are going to pop right out of your arms, you get this...

And when they are dry.... these.

Generally, knitted felt shrinks 15 to 20 % in width and 25 to 40% in length.  You can control this by how long you felt the item. All yarn shrinks differently, so it's a good idea to make swatches (a small knitted piece that you can felt to see how much shrinkage there will be.) with the size needles that you will be using.
I will line this purse with a cotton fabric and add some decorations.... maybe. It's all an "add as you go" process and I love it. Please feel free to offer any ideas that you might have. I'm always open to creative ideas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I better stop now. I have two new pieces of clothing hanging in the laundry room that are calling my name. I bought them at the local thrift store for $3.50 and $4.00 a few days ago, felted them in the washing machine and there they hang waiting for their rebirth.

 The vest is an Eddie Bauer and the long sleeved sweater is an Old Navy. Both are really good 100% wool sweaters that , after machine felting, look like they might fit my grandchildren. They were medium sized adult  sweaters and they shrank down considerably. But , look at them. I can cut them up anyway I wish. I didn't have to knit them first (that saves yarn and time) and they were very inexpensive. Purses?, scarves? artwork? The possibilities are endless. Hmmm, I wonder what's in my husband's closet.