My Mountain Home

Snow

In anticipation of the summer camping season we drove up to Upper Lake. The entrance was blocked by about 4 feet of snow. Maybe next month!

Eat Your Vegetables

I admit I've always had trouble getting enough vegetables on a daily basis.  After watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead I decided to act on the suggestion of juicing in order to increase veggie intake.  I've had a Green Star masticating juicer for several years, although it hasn't gotten that much use.  This week though I pulled it out and have made a green drink for one meal each day.  

First I make sure to have my fridge stocked with a variety of vegetables!  Then I pull out a big heap and prep them for the juicer.  I peel ginger, cucumber and any of the dirty dozen.  I buy organics when I can. I believe in using lots of different colors and flavors!

Here are the ones I used for this morning's juice.

Carrots, scallion, radish, celery, bok choy, spinach....and...

 

kale, cilantro, tomato, apple, cucumber, lime and sweet peppers!

 

It made enough for two servings, so I vacuum sealed a pint jar and put the rest in a glass.

I added a T. of ground flaxseed to the glass and Na Zdorovie!  To good health!

Always Something New

There was enough lettuce yesterday, from the window garden, for two plates of salad.  I've been adding the fresh baby lettuce to butter or red leaf, but the leaves on our own plants are finally getting bigger. It would take building shelves, adding lights and planting many more seeds to supply all our lettuce needs as we have salad once or twice a day, but the leaves we do harvest are full of green goodness!

In the crafting sphere, there is weaving.  A new loom has joined the collection, this one a 12" Ashford Knitter's Loom.  It is just right for scarves, sampling and small projects.  

My first FO was a wool scarf of really nice sock yarn. 

Currently I'm working on a chenille scarf.

On the Glimakra Ideal, my "big" loom, I had a rug warp on for far too long.  I had cut off the living room rug, woven the Pendleton wool selvage rug and then abandoned it for other interests.  That seems to happen to me as I cycle through my craft projects.

 Finally I completed the warp and got the resulting rugs finished today.  Here is the one for the kitchen:

I'll be adding four more shafts to the Ideal, which means a change to a countermarche tie up.  My next project will be linen handtowels. And, I'm adding a second heddle to the Knitter's Loom.  So much to learn, so many challenges ahead!

More Interesting than Football

I know there are many fans glued to their tv sets today, but I'm not in that crowd.  I did some quilting, weaving, baking (bread, crackers and pretzels) and spinning today, but the big news is our dinner featured several leaves of fresh lettuce!

I carefully snipped about 7 leaves for each of us and filled out the plate with butter lettuce.  The butter lettuce comes with its roots so I'm going to plant it and see what happens!

I finished up 50" of the yellow rag rug for the summer kitchen.  That warp, what's left of it, will be a quite small rug to go under the dogs' water dish.  

This next picture illustrates what the right tool for the right job can do.  Our Craftworks plates have a bad accumulation of stainless marks.  I've tried everything, bleach, Comet, 3M pads, and nothing would take them off.  On Pinterest I saw a tip, to use Barkeeper's Friend glass stove top cleaner, and it worked!

Next week should see the warp off the loom, a skein of brown Border Leicester lambswool ready to knit, a new Block of the Month (pictures to come), and hopefully the sashing finished on the Dresden Plate quilt.  That's the plan anyway.

Tuesday is Weaving Day

Marcia and I are determined to jumpstart our fiber endeavors this year by setting Tuesday as a weaving day and Thursday as a sewing/quilting day.  This has worked for me, being only the first week but getting my brain in gear to accomplish something.  

This Tuesday though I had something else come up so the weaving bench was not occupied until Wednesday, but I did actually weave--and it was very satisfying.  Too long a hiatus contributed to this feeling, I'm sure.

I'm continuing on the warp in place.  The first part of the warp turned into a living rug, posted previously.  A year ago?  The next piece was the Pendleton selvages.  Now I'm cutting up an old sheet with large yellow flowers; it must be 30 years old.  This will be a rag rug, possibly for my kitchen.

I've also returned to the Dresden Plate quilt and am making some progress on that.

I laid the blocks out on the guest bed and decided it should be bigger so I'm working on making 4-5 more blocks.  This will be sent out for quilting, and will find its permanent home on that same guest bed.

Period costumes have also captured my imagination and I've been working on a Victorian cape, skirt, muff and bonnet.  The first three items are finished and I just received the trim and ribbons to finish up the bonnet so I'll be posting pictures in a week or so.  I'm not sure where/when this will be worn.  To the grocery store?  To the community concert?

Another New Year

Should one of my non-resolutions be to post on this blog occasionally?  Either that or quit!  The past year sailed past with hardly a word.

Let me start my attempt to get back on this horse with a Christmas picture:

There is a pitiful amount of snow this year.  All over the valley one can see big patches of bare ground.  I haven't seen this little snow at this time of year in the 40 years I've lived here.  

We had a wonderful Christmas gathering with 19 people around the table for turkey one night and 13 for a Guyanese dinner the following evening.  Everything seems very quiet since the folks went home!  

My friend and I are going to Boise for our Nativity celebration tomorrow!   

 

eCourse activities-1st week

It's been a week since I signed up for the eCourses at Gnowfglins.  I'm really enjoying it and learning so much.  At the McCall Farmer's Market last Saturday I purchased a sourdough starter, something I'd toyed with before and never kept going.  This seems to be a strong strain and can produce a doubling rise overnight in a bread dough.  

The first thing I made was Sourdough English Muffins.  Here's a sandwich I made for Richard with pork loin, tomato, and shredded cabbage (from the garden--mmm so good).  

 

I only grew four heads, but next year I'll do a whole row!  I see lots of sauerkraut in our future.

 

I also rigged up a fermenting jar for some sauerkraut, but today I received two new quart jars with air locks.  I dug some golden beets and carrots and went to work.  The carrots are done with fresh ginger and sweet onion.

Time for bread?  I made a Sourdough Rye, and let it rise, contained in a brotform.  It was excellent with a nice chewy crust, good crumb and deep flavor.

Did I mention the sourdough waffles, with yogurt and berries?

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Yesterday, with company coming, I whipped up a sourdough chocolate cake.  It was insanely good, served with strawberries and whipped cream, both unsweetened.

The testing went on as I set up the sourdough cinnamon-nutmeg-cardamom rolls to bake this morning.  The recipe called for extra gooey goodness in the bottom of the pan but we didn't want all that sweetness so we eliminated that part. 

Actually I made a triple batch and put almost all of them in the freezer.  We did have one each for breakfast with a scrambled egg and it was most delicious.

I soaked some raw almonds in salted water and put them in the dehydrator for Crispy Nuts.  The process eliminates the enzyme inhibitors, making them more digestible.

My last project for the week was winding up a project I started a month ago, Lavender Vinegar.  It was finally time to decant and is such a pretty color.  Makes a good skin toner and I use it after washing my face (in the shower) with honey.

What's in the queue?  Cultured cream cheese and feta in brine!

I'm working my way through the eCourse and making new things every day.
A sourdough chocolate cake, sourdough cinnamon rolls, fermented beets, carrots, and sauerkraut (separately), and crispy nuts.

The sourdough whole wheat waffles were the best ever! Served with a scant drizzle of maple syrup, yogurt and strawberries.

I've signed up for the eCourse on Gnowfglins and hope to update the blog with my progress.
Today I'm dehydrating a shredded zucchini that I just discovered in the garden. It doesn't pay to hunt them down at dusk--this one was at least 18" long. Also, building up a sourdough starter that I found at the Farmer's Market yesterday, and making plans to do some sourdough bread. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.