Family and Folly

A couple weeks ago I traveled to visit my mom and brothers. First stop was Colorado Springs. We drove to the mountains and stopped by Bishop's Castle, a sort of roadside attraction. Bishop is a man with an alternative agenda who started building this castle in 1969 and has been working on it nearly daily ever since. He is very anti-government and cannot live in the castle even one day or it will be considered a home and therefore taxable.


It really is quite amazing. One can walk to the top of the turrets (signing a waiver first). Bishop has done all the welding and beautiful scroll work. The dragon even breathes fire!



Hand made signs abound.





On the way we saw this really cool totem in front of someone's cabin.


This is my adorable mom, Darlene. We saw these letters in Anthropologie (one of my fave stores!) and we didn't even arrange them like this.



My three brothers and mom enjoying some cool ones.

Felting Day

I've just joined a felting study group associated with Potomac Craftsmen. This group started just a year ago with a small group of women. There are now about 12 of us and nearly all of us are novice felters, taking up the craft only recently. Well, you couldn't tell that by the items these women brought for show and tell. Many of them have taken workshops over the summer, some classes lasting 2 weeks. These women are a talented bunch. Above and below are photos of two felted rugs that Nan is working on. They are so beautiful in person, the colors are amazing and the felting is so well done. She raises alpacas and uses their wool in the felting process. We ooohed and aaaaahed, and of course, fondled.





Roz made this autumnal jacket at one of the summer workshops.




I can't remember who did this tam but we all loved it.


Sharon took a class on creating Victorian clothing. She even welded a hoop for a hoop skirt! This is a head piece that she felted with a lovely flower on the side. Sharon is a clothing designer and has crazy sewing skills. She can take felt material and create a tailored jacket fit the runway.



And then Sharon brought out this device and asked everyone if we knew what it was. There was dead silence (quite a feat for 12 women!) and then someone asked, "Where do the batteries go?" That got us all laughing, because we were all thinking the same thing! It really is some sort of tool for pulling the felted wool into shape. I can't remember the official name though, but I'm sure it works great.

Cut up Cardigans

I was cleaning up my office (crafty space) and discovered many UFO's (unfinished objects). It seems I like to knit a back, two fronts and one sleeve of a cardigan. I then get bored with it and set it aside for a number of years (gasp!). I found three, yes, three cardigans like this. One other cardigan I'd managed to get nearly everything done except the collar but I didn't really like it. So instead of ripping all those stitches out, I gathered them all up, marched into the laundry room and threw the whole motley bunch into the felting machine, I mean the washing machine. Hot water wash, cold water rinse should do the trick. Pictured above are a few of the pieces before felting.


I had used some non-wool yarn in the striping of this sweater so of course the novelty yarn didn't felt.


This is the back of one of the cardigans in 'Mermaid' color. I think I'll make a purse out of it.


Before and after felting a front of a cardigan.


The purse is from the front of the cardigan pictured in the previous photo. I cut flowers out of the felted pieces and sewed on buttons. I'll probably use these on other purses.
I have enough 'felt material' to make a few bags and lots more flowers. So now it's time to start another cardigan. Maybe I'll be able to get this one completely finished. I'll keep you posted.

Animals on a Summer Day

I am lucky enough to live right next door to a field that's home to two gorgeous horses. I look out my kitchen window and there they are, just 30 feet away. I don't have to feed them or groom them or pay for any vet bills. When I walk down to get the paper in the morning, I say good morning and they come over for a pet.



I keep thinking I'll see one horn coming from is forehead!






The sheep I do own and have to feed but they don't have vet bills. I take care of most of their ailments or I call Super Vet, Annie, who's not a real vet, but can do most anything for a sheep or cow. This is my oldest ewe, Brambles, a Jacob with the standard four horns. Jacobs are a skittish breed but she'll eat out my hand but with sidelong glances and a stomp of the foot first.


This is Annie's cow, Marble, I believe. She's a sweetie, with huge brown eyes and long eyelashes that she batts at you and you just fall in love.
This being the last weekend of summer I wanted to share this poem. It's from Peacock Pie and was published in 1913.
'Summer Evening'
The sandy cat by the Farmer's chair
Mews at his knee for dainty fare.
Old Rover in his moss-greened house
Mumbles a bone, and barks at a mouse
In the dewy fields the cattle lie
Chewing the cud 'neath a fading sky.
Dobbin at manger pulls his hay,
Gone is another summer's day.

Goody bye to another summer.

Tough Day in the Trough

The Trough is a beautiful straight section of the South Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia. We kayaked it with some friends, Mary and Mike, on a hot, sunny day last weekend. It was a great day to be on the river, splashing water on ourselves or stopping to take a dip in the bathtub temperature water. There were only a couple sections that were 'white water', with most of the river looking like the photo above, still, and glass like, but still with a bit of current. It took us four pleasant hours, including a restful stop on a pebbled beach for lunch. Mary said the last time they paddled this section it took them 2 hours because it was just below flood stage.


There were massive boulders jutting out of the river.


Mary and Mike taking it easy on a hot summer day.


Cliffs arose on both sides for most of the 7 miles of the Trough. A bald eagle flew right over us, riding the currents of the wind as we rode the current of the water.
After loading the boats up, we drove back to Mary and Mike's cabin in the woods where we prepared a delicious apre paddle meal of grilled veggies and turkey burgers and for dessert we gathered around a big fire and made s'mores. Can it get any better than this?!

My Sheep Go To Greener Pastures

Saturday was moving day for my two rams, Pip and Knickers, and two ewes, Violabelle and Maybelle. My pastures need to have not so many sheep on them and also the nights are getting cooler so I'm afraid the rams will get ALL the ewes preggers. The sheep are in the back of the truck, looking sheepish. They don't particularly like riding in any vehicle, especially one with slippery footing.



But here they are delivered safely to their new field. They jumped off the truck, kicked up their heels and went "Yippeee, fresh grass!"





The farm next door has a flock of sheep that was watching the goings on and were quite interested in the new neighbors. They were a bit skeptical but later on I came to check on everyone and both parties were as close to each fence as possible.

Plenty of Painters

My friend, Francisco, and his crew of house painters traveled with me to Cumberland to scrape and paint all the windows of our Cumberland house. That's Louis, Orlando and Francisco in the front and Wilson in the back. They spent 3 days and did a splendid job on the windows which look brand new. In my typical ADD way, I kept distracting them with my own agenda. "Hey, let's put up the shade triangle in the back, help me move the bed upstairs, can we bring the porch swing down form the attic?" But they insisted on finishing whatever task they were on first. Jeesh! But we did get everything done. They were all up by 6:00 (luckily I'm an early riser too) and they were out on the ladders by 6:15. I had to put a stop to that though because the ladders make a lot of noise and I don't think everyone in the neighborhood is up at 6:00 a.m. I let them start by 7:00 and made them drink coffee in the mean time.


We all went downtown to have lunch. That's Seal in between Francisco and Louis. They'd been in Cumberland for 3 days and hadn't seen much of the town. Cumberland has a charming downtown area with turn of the century brick buildings lining a pedestrian mall. Thursday is the Farmer's Market with live music and folks were dancing and everyone was having a great time. The weather was perfect, sunny and not so hot, with a nice breeze. Francisco was smitten with Cumberland and may be interested in opening a Salvadoran restaurant there. Yeah!