A Family Raised on Sunshine

I received this book for Christmas in 1977 from my father and step-mother. I was in the 10th grade. While I enjoyed reading it, since I have always enjoyed living a more simple kind of life, I seldom had the opportunity to use it very much. When I was in my 20's I was not so concernd with homemaking as I was in working outside of the home.

Now that I have a great new life with my husband and daughter it is important for me to make a good home for them. I have pulled this book off of the shelf many times in the last eight years. If for nothing else for encouragement. It is filled with lots of tips on raising a family in a healthy wholesome atmosphere. I have a lentil soup recipe that I use all of the time for dinner that I found in this book. Today I pulled it off the shelf to give me a push on making my own bread crumbs. Seriously, I know that it is not that hard to make bread crumbs but how often do we find ourselves tossing that stale bread and running to the store to buy bread crumbs for a dish we are preparing. Today I went to Whole Foods for bread crumbs and the only ones they had were both gluten and wheat free. Now if you have problems with these two items that is important but I just want plain bread crumbs.

So I did buy the package but I also popped some cubed bread on a baking sheet into my oven with the pilot on to dry them out. This evening I ran them through the food processer and put them in the freezer in a re-used jar instead of wasting a ziplock bag. We had roast chicken for dinner so I cut up a chicken into 10 pieces and also put the back and neck into the freezer for some soup stock. For me I just have to remind myself to plan ahead and work smart.

The book "A Family Raised on Sunshine" by Beverly K. Nye is no longer being published as far as I know but if you do a google search for it you can order one directly from the author or get one used on Amazon or some other book dealer. The library is also another possible resource. I recommend her books especially as reminders to keep it simple.

Swedish Weaving on Huck

When I was in the fourth grade I had the opportunity to learn how to do Swedish Weaving on Huck Toweling. I enjoyed learning more and more intricate patterns and loved the bold exchange of bright threads on white fabric. Somewhere in storage I have a sampler that I made while in high school.

India has also been enjoying learning how to make different sewing stitches so I decided to give her the opportunity to learn this simple embroidery. I did the more decorative row and India was focusing on the rows of straight threads. She really enjoyed herself and I look forward to teaching her more. It is great to see a seven year old focus on a new skill.

En Plein Air

After India and I were talking about the artists in France Painting "En Plein Air" we decided to do a little Plein Air painting ourselves. After we were done with a few errands today we went up to the Getty Center Museum to get down to business.

It had been a few years since I had been there so I was surprised when I discovered that the parking rate had gone up from $5 to $15. At least you get in for free. Still a deal in the long run. However, I often like to get the opportunity to buy passes so that I can visit a place multiple times instead of just once. With kids you never know how long they will hold up at a place you visit. Sometimes you need to leave shortly after you arrive and I don't like to feel presured to stay.

So back to the painting at the Getty. We had a nice time down by the garden doing a little sketching and painting. Then before India got too tired of it all we went and saw the impressionist paintings and took a photo in front of Van Gogh's Irises. I think that one of the things I appreciate about living in Los Angeles area above all others is the access that I have to such world class museums.

Painting in France

Tonight my daughter and I were watching Rick Steve's Europe on television and at one point in the program he was talking about the people who love to draw and paint in the open air in France. It reminded me of the three months that I spent in France back in 1998. In no time I was inspired to try my hand at being an artist in Paris. I started to wander around with my sketch book in hand drawing the sites around me. I was encouraged to find an art teacher who could speak English and take some lessons while I was there. This first picture is one that I worked on while I was taking a lesson with my teacher, Boris Slovinsky. It is a copy of a painting by Amedeo Modigliani. At the time I had very little exposure to the arts but somehow I really fell in love with this Women in the Red Shall. After I worked on this piece I went around to the museums in Paris that had some of Modigliani's work. I Love his style. This next picture is of his original.

Spinning Carbonized Bamboo

After my meeting on Saturday and the opportunity to try some new fiber I decided to finish up the Carbonized Bamboo that I sampled. I have about 1/2 an ounce of it so I expect I can get quite a few yards. From what I can tell Carbonized Bamboo is Bamboo that has been pulverized, turned into a sludge, heated and then somehow turned into this soft and silky fiber. So at this point it is no longer considered a natural fiber but a man-made one. That having been said I would probably not be interested in using a lot of it, but, it is fun to explore. It is very soft and silky. When you spin it, it is both slippery and grippy at the same time. It takes up the spin well yet you can still work with it once some spin has entered the fiber. I would like to see if I could use some of it in making some tatted lace or some bobbin lace. It is supposed to finish very soft and drapey so bobbin lace may not be possible unless I create lace with sewing edges on both sides to support it. We will see how it goes.

Learning to Weave

After my recent addition of a floor loom I had to accept the fact that I have been putting off educating myself in the finer details of weaving. Like all crafts your learning is life long. However, there is a point where you step off the cliff and start to immerse yourself in the subject at hand. Since I am a book addict I started to sort through my weaving acquisitions and chose "Step-By-Step Weaving" by Nell Znamierowski as my place to start. It was only about 92 pages long so I could break it down to a small bit every day and still finish it in under 2 weeks. It was published in 1967 so it truly has that 60's hippy flavor to weaving. Getting a chance to read it actually gave me some of our more mainstream types of crafts a starting place. For instance the Rya Rug is the forerunner to the hooked rug that so many of us bought kits for back in the 70's. It is nice to know how to build one from scratch.

I already had a hand loom warped up so since I started reading this book I have started to putter a bit more on this loom. The book actually tells you how to make an easy hand loom that is able to complete all but the last few projects that it lists. I had a good time with this and can't wait to start exploring making my first Rya Rug.

Casserole Night

One great thing to have for dinner when you have no idea what to fix is a casserole. Tonight I made Broccoli Mushroom Noodle Casserole from "The New Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen. This is a nice alternative to a Tuna Noodle Casserole. When I was a kid I could not stand the taste of tuna. Now I enjoy it but I also enjoy having a vegetarian option on a regular basis. I especially like the recipes in this cookbook because they use ingredients that are readily available.

I think that the one thing that I would change in the future for this recipe is to make homemade egg noodles and homemade bread crumbs. I think that would increase the value of the flavors in this dish. With store bought it can be a bit bland. Which sometimes is good but not always.

Dish Drainer?

One of the things about living simply is that you are always looking for ways to use the things around you in new ways. Ways that make your life easier. Now in general most people would say that using a dish washer makes your life easier. However, it does come with its own sets of issues. For instance here in our apartment the plumbing does not seem to drain well so you can only use the dishwasher every other day or it backs up. Knowing this particular quirk I find I have to hand wash a large portion of the time.

Now I actually like to hand wash but my finger tips tend to develop nasty little splits unless I use gloves. Since I have such a small space I do not have a dish drainer on my very limited counter space. So as soon as I have washed some dishes I end up taking off my gloves. Drying dishes. Putting on my gloves. Wash some dishes. etc. etc. etc.

Then the other day it finally occured to me. Why not just let my dishes dry in the dishwasher racks. Simple, more space, and much quicker in the long run. I know its sounds obvious but I finally figured this one out.

Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild

I finally took the opportunity today to join my third guild. I was really looking forward to my first meeting at the Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild even though I did not know what the program would be. To my happy surprise it was a fiber tasting. The presenter offered up 10 different types of fiber with several different kinds of preparations to try out. I got to try some fiber that might have taken me years to get around to trying otherwise. Such a great opportunity.

The fibers are as follows... Starting on the top row on the left we have #1 - Silk Hankies #2 - Carbonized Bamboo #3 - Optim (Chemically treated Merino) #4 - Wensleydale #5 - Rameldale Roving Second row starting on the left #6 - Alpaca/Shetland Rolag #7 - Cotton Puni #8 - Loose Cashmere #9 - Merino, Cashmere, Nylon Roving #10 - Cotton, Merino, Tensil Batt.

Funny how fiber can just open up your world to new possiblities!

Knitted Gnomes

Every autumn at my daughters school "Ocean Charter" Lady Autumn comes for a visit and she gives each of the children in the kinder program a little gift of a little knitted gnome. This year we are adding an additional 24 children to our program so I decided to get a head start to making these special little gnomes for our 84 kinder students. So far I have 20 made as you can see in the picture. They are fun and easy to make with bits of left-over yarn and large size acorns. Which are hard to find in coastal Southern California, you have to go more inland for the big ones.

The original pattern for these lovely little gnomes comes from the blog... www.environmentalhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2008/04/gnome-oakies.html Check it out they are great fun to make.

Dried Tarragon

One of the nice things about having a garden is to have a good supply of fresh herbs whenever you want them. However, I often like to dry them for use during the winter months or also for use when I make my own salad dressing.

I like to make a version of dressing that I originally got from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Essentially I use 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, and then some dried herbs of your choice. This is where my herbs come in. I especially like to use tarragon in my dressing. Unlike other drying instructions I like to wash the cut branches in cold water then remove the leaves that I want to dry from the branch. This eliminates wasting time drying leaves that I do not want anyway. Sometimes when they are dry it is hard to determine which are the best leaves. Once I have picked the leaves off I then put them on a paper towel on a cookie sheet and put it in my gas oven. I do not put the heat on. The pilot light does all of the work. In a couple of days the leaves are ready to chop into smaller pieces ready to be stored and used the next time I make salad dressing.

The other herbs that I like to use in my dressing are parsley, thyme, and basil. All of which are also available in my garden.

On a final note. If you do not have your own herbs and buy fresh ones from the store. It is a good idea to dry your leftovers instead of having them go to waste. Your result will be much more satisfying than anything you would buy off the shelf.

Suffolk Wool

I had been spinning roving for quite some time and was getting a bit tired of paying the price of already processed wool as well as being limited by choice.

I was concerned about the idea of working with a raw fleece because I just did not know how to deal with the bulk in the small one bedroom apartment that we live in. So like I usually do I went on line and found some instructions on how to wash small portions of fleece in my sink.

I was inspired. Shortly there after I found this Suffolk fleece on E-bay and the rest was history. The day it arrived I started washing some of it and then discovered the frustration and joy of picking the wool clean once it has been scoured. I then had to learn how to hand card and spin from my less than stellar rollags.

I have discovered that this particular fleece does not quite suit me when I spin it by itself. However, I have since tried it with some Alpaca and am really happy with the results. I have a lot of Alpaca fiber right now so I will continue to explore the mixing possiblities.

My New Baby!

On sunday I got the opportunity to receive a four-shaft Herald Loom from one of my Weaving Guild friends JoAnne Cook. It came originally from the estate of Edna Barton who was also a SCHG member.

The Herald Loom was made in Lodi, Ohio. The company is no longer in business.

I was able to just fit the loom in the back of my Element and my husband helped me get it into the crafting studio that I use. I have spent some time the last couple of days working through some issues with the treadles and I think I have worked through them. One of the nice things about trying to figure these issues out is that they help you learn more about your loom. I have never worked on a four-shaft loom before but I am looking forward to what I can do with it. So far I have only had my small two-harness table loom that is on its last legs. While there are many things that you can do on it there are also many things that you can't. This new loom opportunity should keep me busy for quite a while.

I am not sure what my first work will be on it yet, but, I hope to get started soon. Maybe a rep weave or some twill. Oh the possibilities!

A Faery Home Companion

As parents we all like to believe that we see our childrens future career within the arena of play. I like to imagine that India will one day become a famous architect that specializes in the innovation of houses for a greener, happier, healthier, planet. The fact of the matter remains that I have my ideas, and for the most part she just likes building Faery Houses.

She had just turned seven and my sister sent her a box of craft sticks along with other art materials for her birthday. For about the first 15 minutes that she was working with the craft sticks she seemed unsure as to how she would use this new medium. Within no time after that, however, she started to develop ideas, encounter structure challanges, and then overcome them. If nothing else I know that the future of Faery housing is safe in her hands.

AHH! Tomatoes

All year long I purchase tomatoes in little plastic clam shells. Usually I choose either tomatoes on the vine or romas at Trader Joes. Sometimes I go for the little grape ones. All of them serve the same purpose. To give my cooking color, texture, and a certian ketchup type of flavor to my food.

Then some time in late winter I decided what types of tomatoes I would like to plant this year. I had great plans to start all of my tomatoes this year from seed directly in my garden. It all started out well at first. They popped up from the ground in plenty of time. Then after a brief moment the snails found those juicy little sprouts and my crop was over. I tried this a couple of times and the only plant I could save was a Japanese Triffle heirloom. I finally went and bought a Black Cherry plant, and a Momotoro plant.

Time and patience have prevailed and the tomatoes are coming on now. The other day I made a salad with the first "Black Cherry's" I had picked. I got one in my mouth not really thinking about it. The next thing I knew I did not care what else I put in my mouth at that meal I just wanted the tomatoes.

Now when we go to the park every day I pack some tomatoes as part of our snack. Talk about natures candy. My life is good with a home grown tomato. The most expensive restaurant could not do better.

Torchon Lace German Spider

This month at the Freeway Lace Guild meeting the program was on the Torchon German Spider. I always like doing spiders in Torchon Lace. You take one group from one side of the lace to the other side, switching places with the same amount of threads from the other side. Then you take them all back again. Simple, straight forward, and the hardest part is getting the tension right.

This spider is different in the fact that instead of it being in the center of ground work it extends to the outside edge of the lace. I usually do all of the ground around a spider first. Then work the spider. Then go back to ground work. On this particular pattern that process just does not work. You have to work a section. Then do some ground. Then work another section. Then work some edging. Then work on the spider some more.

You have to constantly be rechecking where you are in the process. One of the tricks that helped a lot in the project was to color code the diagram to help keep track of where the pairs were to go next. Taking your time and focusing was also a must. I personally think a glass of merlot along side was also a plus but since we meet at a church that was not to be.

As you can see from the photo I am not very far along, but, hopefully by the end of next week I should show some progress. I just have to really find focused quiet time for this one.

The pattern for this spider is from Alex Stillwell's book, "Drafting Torchon Lace Patterns".

Tatted Beginings Part One

When I was 9, almost 10 years old I went to live at my Mother's Parents house with my Mother and my Sister. I was suddenly in a new suburban environment which was very different than my rural one. I adapted quickly especially since there were next door neighbors exactly the same age as myself, and there was also a small creek on the property with a bridge. The creek had its share of frogs, crayfish, and water skimmers so I had plenty to keep me busy.

I had always, at that point enjoyed doing handwork with my Mother and when I saw my Grandmother doing tatting I was immediately intrigued. My Grandmother agreed to show me how and at the age of 10 or 11 (I am not sure which), I realized that I did not yet have the patience to figure out the knot. It just kept locking up on me and in my frustration I would try to pull and pull, ultimately making the whole thing worse. Needless to say the whole thing ended in frustration.

I soon decided to quit trying but deep down I knew that I would revisit it one day. I knew that I just was not ready. The time would come when I would learn but that is a story for another day....

Bobbin Lace in the Park

At the last Freeway Lace Guild meeting that I attended I found out how important it is for us to demonstrate lace making in order to support the IOL and our Guild.

So this week I have been spending my time at the park working on my Lace. India gets a chance to play and I get a chance to work with wonderful natural light. The only thing to worry about working outside is to stay out of the direct sunlight, but lucky for me this park has lots of great shade.

Most people ignore me and what I am doing, but every so often someone expresses some interest. I know that if I keep it up long enough more and more people will begin to realize that there is more to do at the park than talk on the phone while their kids play.

Since I took a long break from lace making and never had gone much beyond an advanced beginner I have decided to work on some simple patterns just to get my rhythm up. The pattern I am working on only takes eight pair and is from "The Torchon Lace Workbook" by Bridget M. Cook. I can see using this simple lace on something for my daughter or one of her dolls.

Fresh Air and Lace what more could I ask for.

Dorset Wool

This big ball of fluffy wooly goodness is actually only one third of its original size. When I received it, it was just shy of 15 ounces. My mother sent it to me from Ohio. It was some wool raised on a farm near her and the neighbor sold it to her already processed into roving. When it arrived in the mail I could not help but think that I had just received a lovely base of a snow man. I don't miss the cold but an occaisional snowman certainly would be nice from time to time.

At this point I have all but 5 ounces spun into a "worsted" weight yarn. I then plan on dying it into about 3 different colors of young girl friendly shades. I plan on making my daughter a granny square vest for her to wear this coming winter. I not long ago was re-introduced to the granny square and just can't resist doing my part to revive such a tried and true design.

Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Quiche

Tonights dinner was one of my favorite dishes to make. The recipe comes from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.

This dish is a very simple quiche that has a real French cuisine flavor. The ingriedients are simple. Butter,flour, milk, eggs, onion, cheese, Thyme, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and paprika. Almost everything I have on hand at all times. The only thing I really have to think about is the mushrooms.

One of the main things I believe in doing that makes my life simple is having the ingredients on hand when I need them. If I have to run to the store to get something that I only use on that dish I find I am doing little more than wasting time and money. For the most part most French style receipes revolve around some basic delicious ingredients. Butter, butter, and butter. It's worth it.

Navajo Churro

WOW! I just cannot pass up fleece. This lovely 10 lb fleece is from a Navajo Churro named Shiloh. This great sheep resides at the Santa Anna Zoo in their petting Zoo area.

I have no idea what I am going to make with it yet. I was so excited that I had to hurry up and skirt it down in the parking garage. I now have a bit scouring in the sink. Hmmm, I wonder how long it will take me to clean this huge fleece one colander full at a time in my kitchen sink.

Just a reminder that not everything that goes through my kitchen should be nibbled upon. He He He I always have to warn my husband.