Life Happens~ January 2014

Life around here, January 2014

Fog in the orchard. 

Love how it shows just how craggly and awesome our old, old apple trees are. 

Paul and Eve hiked straight up our mountain on Christmas day to find Squaw Face, a rock formation that looks like the profile of a face.  

This shot was after the Yacolt Burn in 1902, a major forest fire.

They found her. She is directly south of our house, up the mountain, facing north. So cool. And creepy! 

She is too big to get a good photo of though, and now very mossy and ferny with trees all around her.

 This shot shows our teeny house, as seen from the top… and the fog in the valley.

 January has brough some heavy duty bread study for me. I am in love with it!

Made a sourdough starter from scratch and 

fed and fermented it for two weeks before attempting baking.

Been getting some yummy sourdough loaves, and am now simplifying the recipe to be less time consuming. So far so good! 

Started with the Tartine bread book, but now working out my own recipe and timing.

We harvested our last pig (Lulu) in December, and Paul built a smoker and cured and smoked our first bacon and hams. The smoker worked beautifully, but is temporarily in the driveway. It can be reassembled in a permanent place now that we are finished.

 Bacon hanging. 

 Smoker in action!

 Our over achiever homesteader breakfast, made from our own eggs, 

bacon, bread and apple cider.

We amuse ourselves.

The bacon seeds are very happy since we extended their pasture to include a large chunk of the woods.  

This photo was taken right after we released them into it. They walked the fence line the entire perimeter, then got to work rooting the deer poops and moss. Pig Nirvana.

This is Walter, who loves to talk and for some reason always has his mouth open. 

Such a character! He was very excited about some moldy oranges.

 Ruby is now six months old and just 5 pounds lighter than Stella (her big sister)!

This photo taken on the car ride home from her spaying appointment. She was drugged, drooly and pitiful. Next day she was back at her hyper cuteness.

Rainy day and my new lamp, rescued from our friend's trash. A bath and a new shade and it fit perfectly in our living room. Makes me happy every time I look at it.

I got reblondificated. It's not quite as light as it looks in this photo… 

there was a light was RIGHT over my head.

Not ready to fully embrace the ashy/whiting hair under there. 

Perhaps someday, but for now I still feel 

young and skippy and the blonde me I was in my younger days.

Sewing. Planning. Cats. So many cats in my head.

Knitting. Been on a hat marathon.

Ruby and Stella. 

Branch manager and Assistant Branch Manager.

Our old man walnut tree. It's been a foggy winter!

(photo taken by Eve)

Loved the silhouettes. Cats. Dog. Elf. Chicken planter. Mossy tree.

My word for the year. Cultivate.

 Heart bread bubble.

Today's sunny sunshine. 

We moved the egg layers and basked.

Bam! Sun in your EYES! Yay vitamin D!

Paul having a chat with the bacon seeds.

 More sun celebrating.

reenie out.

Inspired~ Muhu Island

I have to admit it.

I am an inspiration junkie.

I love the mornings when I take some time to browse the blogs in my reader and the designer sites that I admire so.

Yesterday brought me in touch with Muhu Island.

Muhu is an island off the coast of Estonia. With working windmills, sleepy fishing villages, stone and thatched homes and a vibrant textile heritage.  

Found on the deliously rich and colorful website of Gudrun Sjödén, one of my all time favorite designers.

Click here to see her Gudrun's World page, with her Muhu inspiration board and info about Muhu Island.

 Click here to view her Homeware Page, inspired by the designs of Muhu.

Click here to see the Muhu inspired winter clothing line.

drool

off to sketch... I have a ton of ideas now if I only had more hands...

Muhu Island Links~

Visitestonia.com

Muhu Info

Intro to Muhu Island

Gratitude~ Three very special Gifts and a very clear Message~

Yesterday was a special, odd, goosebumpy kind of day. 

A normal day, routine, running, chores, meals....

But I received some really profound, meaningful and relevant gifts. 

All in one day.
Sometimes life, routine, and my thought patterns tend to make me feel like I am stuck and in a haze with no clear idea of where I am headed. Foggy, depressed, moody.... stuck.
Then the clarity hits... the inspiration, the passion, and the very clear messages that I just love and appreciate so much.
Here is my story of yesterday...

Gift #1 is THIS...

An early 1940s Singer 201-2. With a direct-drive motor, which means no treadle and no belts.

She is all metal and black and completely GORGEOUS.

I am in love.

I plugged her in and ran her for a bit.... she purrs like a kitten.

She now sits next to my sewing table where my much younger Singer Heavy Duty 

(which now seems, not so heavy duty, in comparison) sits.

A real treasure and a very special gift from our friends Joe and Sally. 

She belonged to Joe's mother, and he wanted to pass it on 

to someone who will cherish and use it, which I already do.

I will call her Betty, after Joe's mother.
Joe sent me a bio of his mom, which I will print out and keep in the drawers with the manuals.

Here are photos of the manual cover and inside front... (click to see larger images).

This video describes the model, takes you on a tour of the machine, 

explaining what each part is... plus tells us that this model was used by 

Rolls Royce in their factories to sew the leather for the interior seats!  

So very heavy duty! Watch out! haha. This girl will sew anything!

I have not sewn on her yet, I am still absorbing her energy.... 

and I have yet to go through the treasures in the drawers in super detail.  So far I have found some lady gloves from the 50s and a gianormous sweater shaver (see it in the drawer? It's mauve and so awesome), plus a lot of feet and parts and notions.  A treasure chest!

 Ezmaralda has given her approval, which is good because she now sits in Ez's spot in the studio. 

The perfect spot to watch the bird feeder and remain invisible to the birds.

She came with a bench too! (which I shall promptly reupholster in a Kaffe Fassett print!)

The top of the bench lifts off for storage.

When I closed her up to take a photo, I discovered THIS... 

A scissors holder on the side! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Perfect fit! 

Just wait! It keeps going!

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

Then I received a text from our friend Marty. 

While we were running errands he delivered the second and third treasures... 

Gift #2 is a knitting machine from the 80s(?).  

From Marty's mom Allie (thanks so much Allie!). 

I am overwhlemed by Allie's generosity as well as the parts in this box! hahaha

Time for "Knitting Machine University" (when ever we get obsessed by something around here, which is almost every day, we name it, "______ University").

I need a lesson in knitting machines and it will be an adventure trying to put this creature together, but I am sure if I cannot figure it out, there is someone local who can teach me (anyone???).

There is a Bulky (worsted) part... (I don't even know what the part is called yet, a carriage?)...

and an Intarsia part!!! 

 The ideas I have for this are already overwhleming my brains, haha, 

as if there was any room in there before yesterday. 

BUT... the third gift???

This one did me IN.

Marty brought me my dear friend Ruth's yarn bin.

We lost Ruth in Dec. of 2012 to Melanoma.

I met her in 2008 at a local yarn shop just after moving across the country and missing my yarn friends in PA so very badly. Meeting her was such a gift at a very lonely time.

I still have not gone through this bin in a lot of detail. I saw a "UFO" she had started for her young daughter and never finished.... I had to put the lid back on.

Going through this will require some alone time and a cocktail to toast to our Ruth.

So, the Message sent to me today was a very CLEAR one.

Life is short.

I am on the right path. I love fiber arts. 

I love knitting and sewing and designing. 

 I am so very THANKFUL for these amazing gifts I received today, 

for the time I have to play with them, 

for the ideas they have already generated, and the opportunites they present. 

I do not want to take anything for granted. 

~Gratitude.

reenie out.

xo