Ahhhhutumn...

Autumn.  My favorite time of year, heralded by a crispness in the air, cooler temperatures, changing leaves, candy corn and, of course, the anticipation of Halloween, or as my Auntie Karen says, my"high holy days".  There really is no other time of year that makes me feel the way I do at this very moment, almost giddy with child-like excitement and wonder.  The place where I grew up was, in alot of ways, like the town of "Perfect" in the Walgreens ads that were out  a couple of years ago.  Fall meant thinking of and making the perfect costume and going to the annual Halloween carnival to play games, participate in the cake-walk and enter the costume contest.  My dear, late brother used to design and make me the best costumes!  They were so good, in fact, that I won "Best Costume" for my class every year but one!  Trick-or-treating was safe and always with good friends in the the little village that was near our school.  Sadly, the village no longer exists, but the memories will always remain.  I can still feel the brezze on my skin and see the leaves dancing as we went form house to house. Oh, how I miss those days!  To have them again would be great, but now as an adult I have found ways to instill that spirit into the season by decorating the house and having a big bash for all of our friends.  This year may be just a small gathering with our intimate friends and children, with all the goodies and trimmings I can manage, but Halloween will be celebrated in some way.  Off I go to enjoy the scents and sights that are already here and, maybe even break out the decorations!

I think it is the dogs' favorite time of year, too!

 

Gomez always goes for a traditional Jack-o-lantern and I try to be a bit different.

15 Years and Counting

This last week saw the arrival of our 15th anniversary and it was cause for some reflection and reconnection.  Time really does fly when you are having, er, fun!  Most of  the time we manage to squeeze in some fun!  Life really is easier and more fulfilling when you have your best-friend/soul-mate at your side.  I don't know what I did to deserve Gomez, but I am glad I did it!  What an amazing, kind, generous, sweet, loving, loveable, intelligent, corny, strong, wise, self-sacrificing soul he is!  My in-laws are amazing, too!  Always ready to help and love each other, no matter what.  I am so blessed to have them in my life.  (If any of you read this, I mean it!  That means you, too, Clan F!) 
It is disconcerting, however, when people you have not thought of in years no longer have a name that flashes right into your head and you have to search for it.  We are both searching for a couple of them a few days later, but they will eventually come back at 3 AM with the frustration of not being able to sleep. 
We reminisced about meeting each other and those who filled our lives then, as well as our sweet little girlillas who left us way to soon.  RIP Liffy and Nellie!  We love and miss you!  It is astounding that life changes so much and so drastically!  This has been a great exercise is perspective and really has made me thankful for the people who are now in our lives, whether it be everyday or less often.  Eash one of you means so much and I hope you know it.
Here is to the last 15 years and, hopefully to at least, 50 more!

When Gomez goes away, Morticia plays! (With Artisan Bread!)

My sweet man was called away on business and while he was away I dabbled in the kitchen arts, yet again.  I love the ladies in my fiber arts group!  So many ideas flying around, but this one I caught and have managed to try!  Artisan Bread sounds scary, but it isn't.  One of our group members brought a great book for another member to peruse and after I looked at it, I went online, found the dough recipe and instructions and whipped up a batch of dough.  The first baking attempt taught me that baking stones, sadly, do not last forever.  Mine was 10 years old and had enough "season", i.e., old oil and butter in it to smoke up the house.  FUN! NOT!  My second attempt was with an overturned cookie sheet with parchment paper and the results were incredible!  Crusty on the outside and chewy, soft goodness on the inside!  Yum! 

Subsequent attempts have been even better and the lucky few that have received a round all said it was really good and I think one even said it was "amazing"!  If anyone is interested in trying it, let me know and I will get you the link to the recipe.  It is super easy!

Thanks to my great friend, Miss K., for the unselfish gift of a Pampered Chef baking stone to help my efforts.  It works perfectly!

Mesa Verde with the Nieces

Another summer, another vacation with the "Girlillas"!  Mesa Verde was incredible!  Loved the architecture and learning about the ancient culture.  Can't wait to go back!  By the way, Barbara A., I know where you got your southwestern giftwrap!  Does Teec Nos Pos, Arizona ring a bell? :-)

Long time, no blog...

Spring has never arrived and summer is trying to come forth and I have not blogged in quite a while.  Let's see what my brain spills forth...
My latest endeavor is cheese making.  This afternoon will be my first real attempt at it, but my friend, K,  and I took a class last Saturday and it was fascinating.  We found that it is not unlike making soap in many ways, but it is quite easy as long as you pay attention to what you are doing.  The class taught us how to make a 30-Minute Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Cream Cheese and Ricotta.  My challenge is to now try to make them with goat's milk instead of cow's milk.  I will post my results as they come.

Round 2 of the "Crud" is upon me and I have to to cancel a trip to my mom's this weekend and stay house-bound.  Nothing like not really being able to do anything when you are the type to ALWAYS be busy with something!  Hopefully by Monday I will be mostly back to my old self.

The drop-spindle spinning is coming along nicely.  I have spun around 200 yards of wool in a color combo called "Burning Bush" and it is quite beautiful.  Pillow covers for my couch are what the future seems to be holding for it.

"Burning Bush" before and after spinning





    This yarn may be my first attempt at plying, which is when you take two yarns, similar or different , and spin or twist them together.  This makes a thicker, stronger yarn.                                            

Second Handspun Skein

I have been spinning when I can over the last couple of weeks and managed to come up with a second skein of about 75 yards.  Gomez and I took a daytrip with a friend a couple of weeks ago and went to a fiber arts store where I found some lovely red and brown dyed roving.  I started spinning it and love the resulting yarn I am getting out of it.  The roving is 8 ounces and it will be interesting to see how much yardage I get out of it.  I may make socks out of it!  Here is a sneak peek!

Dyeing Yarn with Icing Colorant

Spinning is fun, but dyeing what you have spun is even better!  My first official skein of yarn came out to around 55 yards.  I used the back of a folding chair to wind it into a skein from my spindle.

 After researching different methods online, I found that Wilton's Icing Colorant can be used to dye yarn and fabric.  Naturally, I drove straight to my local craft store and got a set of twelve Wilton Icing Colors for about $7.50 after using a 50% off coupon I had.  Not too shabby, right?  The main reason I wanted to try this method was because I could easily obtain the needed materials and I can use any utensil that I dye with for food again after I am done.  Wanting teals and purples I mixed up three differnt colors using 1 tsp. colorant to 1 cup water and mixed thoroughly.  I wetted my yarn in a water bath, using 1 cup vinegar as a mordant, for a couple of hours.  You can soak your yarn longer, but I was excited and couldn't wait to get started.  After removing the yarn from the water bath, I used an old towel to roll the yarn in to absorb any excess water and then it was time to dye it!  Painting yarn is my favorite way to dye, so after covering my counter surfaces with plastic, I used a foam brush to paint the skein in thirds, using a different color for each 1/3.  Next I put the yarn into a microwave safe glass bowl, trying not to overlap the colors too much.  I then covered the bowl loosely with cling wrap and zapped it in the microwave for 5 minutes, let it cool completely and then zapped it again for 5 minutes and let it cool a final time.  Keep an eye on your yarn and microwave so that the yarn does not burn!  Mist with water if yarn starts to dry out.  After it was cool I rinsed the skein in cool to tepid water, used the towel again to soak up any excess water and used a clothing hanger to hang it up to dry.  The end result is in the picture below.

I then decided to dye some merino wool yarn purchased from an online company to see if I could change the time in the microwave and also try a "pot" method.  The second skein I spot painted with the same dye colors and let the colors bleed as they liked, then put it in the microwave and zapped it for only 2 minutes with 2 minutes rest time and then zapped  it for 2 more minutes, allowed to completely cool and rinsed and hung to dry in the same manner as my handspun first skein.  The pictures below show the result, which I was very pleased with.

The lower cooking time caused this skein to come out much lighter, but it is still beautiful.

The third skein was dyed in a pot using a method that uses three different colors and dyes 1/3 of the skein at a time.  I was trying for a sunset-like peach, a blue-gray and a gray-brown after this picture my husband took on a recent business trip.  As you can see from the pictures the colors separated and I got pinks and mauves instead!

  

 Colors I was trying to replicate...

Colors I got...

 As a gentleman in his blog I had found on dyeing silk roving said, the great and fun thing about using the Icing Color is that it is not fixed and stable, so you never quite know what you are going to get! 
So, after my experimentation, it my humble opinion that the microwave cooking method is best when using the Wilton's Icing Colorants.  Have fun and enjoy!  Let me know it you have any questions.