The O-Zone

It is always so fun to unpin a blocked shawl, remove the blocking wires, and magically it retains the shape.  It feels like magic.

The lace blocks are square and well defined now, instead of being basically invisible in the pre-blocking phase of their existence.

The finished size is 102 inches on the diagonal, and 79 inches the longest direction, and I think 72 inches wide but since it was almost 24 hours since I blocked it, I can’t remember that far back.

The difference between blocked and unblocked is dramatic.

The shawl was in grave danger when I draped it over the stair railing to take a picture.  A well-known danger as lurking, and the poor little thing got yelled at several times while I was photographing and then folding the shawl away for safe-keeping.

A shawl predator lurks at my feet, attempting a look of innocence and failing to convey that reassurance that he wouldn't DREAM of shredding the yarn or eating a hole in it.

So, Bev’s shawl is done and will be mailed to her at the appropriate time.  Can’t wait for her to see it in real life.  She picked out the yarn and has been patiently waiting for me to finish the project.

I have a couple of UFO’s (unfinished objects), upstairs, and they are calling my name.

I finally finished my latest lace shawl project, a Norwegian inspired pattern called Block Lace, from a pattern book called “Folk Shawls.”  This is the first thing I’ve knitted from that book so far.

Here it is all crinkled from the needles, and just draped over the stair railing. At the top of the railing you can get a hint of the pattern lurking beneath the crinkles.

I covered the upstairs guest bed with some rigid foam boards and covered them with an old flannel sheet.  The shawl had been soaking for several hours in a tub of cold water and Eculan wool wash.  This yarn is a blend of 70% alpaca and 30% silk, so it is very soft and has a beautiful shine.

A couple of hours later, the rigid blocking wires are threaded through the edges and the shawl is stretched out tight, and pinned to within an inch of its life.

Dan helped me with a tape measure to make sure this shawl is as close to square as possible, and the edges were pinned straight.  Without his help I’d have taken more than twice as long.

A slightly different angle showing how the color changes with light.

The view from the upstairs window shows how white things are getting outside now that winter seems to have arrived.  We have about an inch of snow on the ground now, and it may stay there for a while.

The pattern is very geometric so it was important to try to get it square and the lines even.

What is really neat to me is how the variegated colors of this yarn look like waves in the ocean.  So, now I wait until the shawl is completely dry before unpinning it.  It is safe from Mishkin, who seems to really like this yarn.  I have to watch him like a hawk or he starts trying to eat it.   Bad kitty!

Another successful gluten free bread - Cranberry-Orange-Walnut

Back last year when I was still making normal breads, this was one of our favorite combinations of flavors for the fall.  It was neat to see this recipe in one of my new books, and when we were in town last week to pick up my new glasses, we stopped at our favorite health food store where they had some fresh organic cranberries.  The fates decreed it was time to try this recipe.

A great success!  Can’t tell it from the old recipe.  Hurray!  Time to start seriously exercising so we can eat more of these good breads.

As we approach the Winter Equinox, the sun rises and falls lower across the southern sky, and the morning sunshine is the most dramatic after an evening snowfall.  Last night provide the canvas.

Here the sun has just come from behind the mountain.

We can’t see the mountain to the east due to the topography and heavy trees.  Sunbeams are a clue that the sun is ready to start providing our solar panels with food.

Wet snow coats the brush, now devoid of leaves, transforming them into lacy sculptures.

The trees barely feel the weight of the early snow fall.  Later they will bend to the full weight of heavy snow accumulations.  Silence decends on the woods at such times, when sounds are muffled with snow.

I love the color contrasts after a snow fall. Light looks more luminous than ever.

Another study in contrasts between dark and light.

We’ve been listening to streaming audio all morning, classical music from Venice Classical.  It suits the landscapes.  Fog is lifting now over the valley following the river at the base of our mountain.  It’s a good day.

I’m finishing a shawl knitting project and tomorrow I will block it so the lace pattern is shown.  A very different sort of pattern, geometric.  I can’t hardly wait to see it.

Prince Mishkin the Idiot got a present today from his uncle Kerry.

The ears say it all.

Hilarious, he sniffs it deeply and then sneezes. All in all, this is going to be a hit with the cat creature. Thanks, Uncle Kerry, says Mish.

Yesterday it snowed all day long, off and on, with barely any accumulation on the ground, just enough to remind us of the colors of winter.

This hilltop directly across from us rises barely higher than our home's elevation. The morning shadow cast by the mountain behind us creeps lower as the sun rises; all colors intensify.

Golden grass still shines through the thin blanket of snow.  Some hint of color also remains on the Larch trees interspersed with the darker hues of the pine and fir trees adjacent to them.  Soon, when snows are deeper, it will all just be a contrast of dark and light, whites and grays and blacks, against an azure blue sky when the clouds depart, as they have today.

At sunrise the hills and mountains far to the west of us take on a rose glow. Our mountain shadow is incorporated by shadows from other higher peaks farther to the east. Dusk retreats and the horizon glows brighter and brighter.

Pastel pink painted peak. Say that quickly 3 times.

It’s a nice day to stay home and do fun things like house cleaning, laundry, and bake something yummy in the oven.  Fortunately for us, this is exactly our plan.

Our resident Pygmy Owl has made his presence known again in the yard.  He joins the young Sharp-shinned Hawk in making life interesting for the smaller birds, and they both provide a source of entertainment for the jays who delight in tormenting them.

Backlit as he is, only his silhouette is distinctive. This is a beautiful little deadly predator.

This was a very bird-filled day.  The first thing Dan saw this morning when he opened his eyes was a Ruffed Grouse perched on the tiptop of the bare Aspen trees.  A few minutes later, a woodpecker of some description was whacking on the side of the house, and jays were screaming through the woods.  We saw a small flock of quail snacking on gravel and running around looking confused.  They excel at that looking confused activity.

Stark white and gray, bereft of their shimmery golden leaves, these branches tower above our windows. Soon they will capture falling snowflakes to replace their leaves.

Covering the ground beneath the trees, remnants of leaves remain.

When the gold is faded and the fallen leaves are rimmed with frost, they resemble antique coins.

Standing tall above the fallen leaves, ripe grasses wave in the slightest breeze.  Their gold color reflects that lost by the trees.

Small finch like Goldfinches love this type of grass. Their tiny body weight bends it over while they busily harvest the seeds, only to stand tall again when the bird moves to the next clump.

Sparkling in the cold crisp air, commonplace grass takes on a shine and shimmer, and the color intensifies.

This is what grass would look like if it was made of spun glass. Soon it will be buried in a blanket of snow.

The hills around us have a dusting of snow on the top; distant mountains have more than a dusting.  Tomorrow we have a weather prediction for 100% chance of precipitation.  Considering the fact it reached the freezing mark for our high temperature today, we can make a very good guess as to what form this take.

Even now, as the sun has set, not a cloud is in the sky. The solar panels were happy today, producing copious amps to fill the batteries, and let me cook in the gas range using the power of the sun.

The second thing Dan saw when he got up this morning was one very excited and proud cat.  Mish had caught a mouse and wanted Dan to throw it for him to chase since the mouse was too tired to make the effort.  Dan threw the toy mouse, and Mish took off after it like a shot.  But then, the jig was up.  Dan said Mish turned around and gave him a look that said, “Hey!  I been robbed!”

This what a deadly predator looks like after a busy night defending the castle.

Earlier this week, Terry really wanted a bath, and so we turned on the shower for her.  She was one happy creature.  Mish really wanted to know what his sibling was doing, and as he was being overly curious about the shower, when Terry was done I didn’t drain the tub, I added a cat.  I didn’t get scratched at all; Mish was too busy trying to disprove the theory of gravity.

She gleams. One perky parrot. And she didn't mind sharing her leftover shower water. She laughed when Mish scampered into the livingroom shaking all four feet. A wicked sense of humor.

A new experiment, an Orange Crumpet which is a quick bread.  It uses a gluten free four flour mix, baking powder, baking soda, an egg and orange juice, among a couple other ingredients.  The texture is exactly crumpety, hurray, light and delicate taste.

No yeast, no milk, and could be made with no eggs. Actually quite delicious.

It will be interesting to see how they are when they are eaten cold and/or toasted, which is the recommended way to eat them, as toast.

We had a White-breated Nuthatch at the suet feeder today, the first time we’ve seen one in our yard this whole year.  They will tell their other little nuthatch buddies and we’ll have them all winter.  How nice!

Some people say the fishing season is over for the year.  They don’t know about this future Olympic event.  There are several ingredients.  First you need a little pole with some brightly colored stretchy material attached securely to it, and a cat.

Mishkin LOVES this toy, and he will chase as long as we can stand to drag it around for him.

He jumps entirely off the floor and his reflexes are becoming finely tuned.

He squeaks at the toy and tries to grab it with claws and fangs.

After trapping his prey he stands on it, or sits on it, or wraps it around himself pretending it’s got him in a death grip, and then he flails around, with his toes and claws spread wide, upside down, and having a wonderful time.

Here he has it trapped under his front paws and considering how best to wrap it around his neck.

He also jumps and bats mice out of the air, attaining amazing heights for such a small creature.  No pro tennis player has anything on this puddy-tat.  This is a pairs event.

His supporting cast. Cast... get it? Fishing....

I suppose if you have to explain a pun, you shouldn’t have made it in the first place.

Snow at the lower elevations has all melted.

It will be an amazing day weather-wise up here on the mountain, with temperatures above freezing, no wind to speak of, and completely clear skies.

Our bird feeders are up and active now.  We are getting our normal variety of winter birds showing up, first being the Chickadees who found the feeders within 24 hours, and they spread the word to all and sundry.

A Flicker in a small Ponderosa Pine, near one of the feeders. They spend a lot of time yelling and thwacking into the sides of trees. A very exhuberant species, indeed.

We still have hopes that someday the Pileated Woodpeckers will discover our suet feeder.   So far, they haven’t managed it.

Right before I snapped this picture of a Stellar's Jay, he was pretending to be a Red-tailed Hawk. I don't think anybody was fooled, but the call was an excellent imitation.

Last night we had a Ruffed Grouse strolling across the front lawn.  And the Snowshoe Hares are about half white now.  One was streaking around the yard at full speed, practicing avoidance maneuvers from Goshawks which will be actively hunting soon on the mountain.  We also had a Sharp-shinned Hawk making strafing runs through the yard.  Opal wasn’t in the least bit happy about that bird, and neither were the Chickadees or Juncos.  Terry didn’t seem to care, one way or the other, and Mish just yawned.

This is a very early real winter storm for the start of our fourth winter living here.  We may not get as much snow as predicted since it seems to be lighter now as the day goes by, but the clouds are by no means gone.  We will just have to wait and see.

Snow sliding down the front of the solar panels.

Barely above freezing, the snow slides easily down the slope of the solar panels.  But even without a snow cover on the panels, the cloud cover is so thick that it will not produce much power today.

We decided to stay at home instead of making a trip into town which we had planned.  We’ll give the other drivers a couple of days to get used to the idea of snow on the roads.  It tends to freak them out.

Florissantia quilchenensis is an extinct flower species found in western North America. This flower is part of the Malvaceae Family, which also includes the Cocoa (chocolate) and Mallow (marshmallow) plants. The best preserved specimens of Florissantia are found in at the Stonerose fossil site.

Next spring I’m planning on going fossil hunting with my friend, Susan, who gave me this specimen she found.

It looks like a rose, but smells like a rock. Go figure.

This delicate little flower is 50 million years old.  Wow!