News From The Nest

Update

Here we are at Day Three of the Bluebird updates. Today, everyone was hungry! Four out of the five, at least. When I open the door to the nest box, the babies get jostled. This makes them think that dinner has arrived. As you can see, they're ready and waiting to eat! Today, you can see more feathers and better wing definition. 

In Bluebird Box #3, Ms. Tree Swallow has laid yet another egg bringing the count to five! I wouldn't be surprised if calls it a day with these five. As these birds hatch and grow, that box is going to be very full!

Tonight, I took a soapmaking class. Yes, I already know how to make soap but you can never know it all and you can always learn something new. It's good to be a student. Even when you know a lot about the subject.

I met Margaret (Nature's Touch Soaps) last year at the Ohio Soaper's Gathering and we became better acquainted this year when we shared a table for the day. She mentioned that she taught classes at various locations of Greene County Library and had a couple classes coming up. I signed up for Soapmaking 101 as soon as I could. 

The class was fun - well organized and full of important information for the beginning soaper. The class started at 5:15 PM and ran until 8:00 PM. Class size was ten and she was full. Some people had taken classes from her before. Others were strict newbies.

First, she did a safety talk and then she demonstrated making a batch of soap. The ingredients she used could all be obtained at the local grocery store. This was great for people who might just want to make a batch or two. I was wondering about equipment but Margaret provided everything for each table - scale, stick blender, cups, spatulas, etc. She brought a lot of different additives so people could personlize their soap. 

Once all questions were answered, we headed to our tables and got to work! I was paired w/ Debbie and we decided we'd use the Wildflowers Fragrance Oil and color our soap with ground rosemary. We used small milk cartons as soap molds and cut and then taped the end up with Duct Tape to hold them in place and prevent leakage. They made perfect soap molds! I couldn't let well enough alone so added poppyseeds to the tops of my soaps. In the picture to the right, my three soaps made tonight are in the middle, a piece of Margaret's lavender soap is in the lower left, her honey almond soap is at the top, and another bar of her soap is at the lower right.

Everything went so smoothly! Ten people making soap together! Very cool!

Afterwards, Margaret took the lead again to show us several mold ideas, to let us cut a recently made log of soap, and to pick a bar of other soap to take home. She also gave out hand-outs that were neatly tucked in plastic sleeves. 

In all these years of soapmaking, I have never taken a class. I found it very interesting watching and listening to the other people. I enjoyed seeing the soapmaking experience through other people's eyes and enjoyed their questions. 

Margaret, thanks for sharing yourself with the community! You're a super teacher!

Tomorrow is FRIDAY! It couldn't get here soon enough!

Oughta Be Illegal...

...to have this much fun with friends! 

Saturday was knitting as usual but it wasn't usual. It was our last get together before Christmas. So, we had a gift exchange, cookies, pizza, and lots and lots of fun. There were fifteen of us there and many were busily knitting - trying to finish gifts for Christmas giving.

The highlight was a special song by Merry. She took The Twelve Days of Christmas and wrote knitting lyrics. We all joined in as she led us in singing The Twelve Days of Knitting Christmas. It was wonderful! She gave me permission to post it here. If you need to, click on the picture to enlarge it. If this doesn't work for you and you want me to email a copy to you, just leave a comment asking me to do so. 

Merry also had her finished snowman to show us. Crocheted entirely of single crochet stitches, he was adorable. I love his scarf. Merry was also the recipient of this beautiful shawl and treble clef shawl pin from Diana. (Diana is the mother of Sara, our turbo knitter, I've pictured on the blog before.) The shawl is gorgeous -- the subtle variations in the purple and the beads. Gorgeous!

I've been handing out my Emergency Yarn Ornaments. Certainly don't want anyone to be stuck without during the holiday season.  

After knitting on Saturday, I drove down to Main Street Yarns. I'm going to be teaching beginning knitting classes there starting in January. I'm excited about that! I LOVE getting new people addicted to knitting. Lise is steadily adding more and more to the shop. It continues to be a bright spot to gather and knit.

Well, I have soaped myself to death in the past week. I made Ginger Fig, Juniper Sage, Pearberry, Gingerbread, Sleigh Ride, and Almond Biscotti. Already had available, Love That Lavender, Lemon Drop, Dreamsicle, Peppermint Twist, Scented Geranium, Minty Fresh, Herbal Essence, Rise & Shine,and Pineapple Cilantro. I finally dug out all the ingredients to make my cream lotion, too. I made fourteen jars of Pearberry and Love That Lavender. Love this stuff! I just slather it on. I also painted more cans to make snowmen. I'm putting a bar of soap or a bottle of body oil in the cans with black tissue paper for gifts. They look so cute if I do say so myself! I LOVE snowmen!

Speaking of snowmen ---- the tree is up. I still need to put the sheet around the bottom and wrap the few gifts there are to go under it. Slowly getting there with the decorating and house cleaning. I need a clone!

Mom and Daddy are supposed to come the middle of this week. We're keeping a close eye on the weather. The weatherman is calling for wintry precip in one form or another just about every day this week. I think Tuesday and Friday are supposed to be the worse. Hopefully, they get here in between the bad weather days. 

Leaving you with a few very wintry pictures taken today. Icicles hanging from the rocks at the Caesar Creek Spillway, a view of the Caesar Creek Gorge, and a view across a field down the road from home. The last photo is of our house - it was taken in the driveway out near the road.

They just make you want to go "Brrrrrrr!", don't they?

I'll post a Christmas tree picture soon!

Take care and wishing you speedy needles this week!

 

 

 

 

More Fall Fun

After another busy work week, I could hardly wait to get to Panera's to knit with my peeps on Saturday!  I  was running late but still had plenty of time to knit, ooh and ah, and eat my weekly Fuji Apple Chicken Salad.  

Karen was working fast and furious to finish a baby blanket with this really pretty Dark Horse yarn.  The yarn was so soft and had flecks of turquoise in it.  She got all her ends threaded in and proudly held the blanket up for all to see.  She had enough yarn left over to make a hat for the baby, too.  Karen was also knitting a scarf for the big sis of the blanket recipient.  Goodies for everyone in this package!

Lynn showed us this great striped cardigan she knit  for her grand-daughter with a chunky yarn.  She lives out west and will put this sweater to good use.  This sweater looked like such a comfortable "go-to" sweater -- one her grand-daughter will pull on or "go-to" over and over again to stay warm and cozy.  Made me want to knit myself a "go-to" sweater for this upcoming Ohio winter.

This pink fluffy hooded cardigan is being knit by Mary Anne for her grand-daughter.  Check out the bit of froo-froo on the cuffs and the edge of the hood.  How cute is that!!!!?!  Just the right touch and perfect for a little girl.  

Debbie was working on shoulder shawls for her daughter's bridesmaids to throw on to keep the chill away.  Beth showed us some very pretty baby bamboo yarn she purchased.  We also got a glimpse of the pink and brown baby afghan  squares all laid out.  The gals have done such a great job.  

After leaving knitting, I stopped to get groceries and then stopped at a couple of farmer's markets and took some pumpkin pictures.  I also bought a butternut squash and need to find a good soup recipe for it.

Sunday morning, Andy went to Dayton to pick up Gerald - the fellow who works with him that still flies back and forth between Virginia and Ohio.  I know the traveling and being away from his family has got to have long ago gotten old for him but it's enabling him to  keep his job and he's very good help  for the plant here.  Anyway, Gerald had agreed to help us move stuff - boxes and furniture.

First things first, though.  We all had to go across the way and check out the Harvest Festival at Caesar Creek State Park's Pioneer Village.  It was a beautiful day but very cool - 29 degrees overnight.  It looked like we were the first ones to arrive even though it was supposed to have started at 10:00 AM.  We walked around and toured all the open houses.  Andy was a little disappointed that the blacksmith wasn't working today.  His shop was open and there was a fire but we didn't see the smithy or ever hear the ring of the anvil as we walked around.

We met up with up with a British soldier and learned about life back when.  At the moment, he was busy using his housewife (his sewing kit) to sew a button on his uniform jacket.  He said that every smart  soldier kept a housewife with him to make repairs to his uniform.  It was neat to see that he was wearing fingerless gloves.

The village was crawling with critters.  Pumpkin critters!  Very clever!

We were treated to a couple tunes but this father-daughter team on the hammered dulcimer and the merimbula.  I LOVE the hammered dulcimer and have dreamed of playing one since college.  The merimbula (here and here) was new to me.  I had never seen or heard of this instrument.  A merimbula is also known as a thumb piano.  When played , it sounded a little like a bass.  Deep and resonating.  

As I walked around and talked with people, I learned that the merimbula player would really like to have a wing chair for his house in the village.  I went over and told him that we had two very worn wing chairs that he was welcome to have.  He was thrilled!  I stressed to him that they were VERY worn.  He said it didn't matter and he has a friend that refinishes furniture.  We later took the pair of old wing chairs to him and he declared them perfect!  

In the herb house, there was a roaring fire that Gerald and Andy had to check out.  There was also a very nice display of herbs and things made from herbs  on the long table.  Look at these little bows made out of Lamb's Ear.  I haven't  seen these before.  I had tons of Lamb's Ear in Virginia but never knew about these little bows.  Very cute and oh so soft! 

After our visit to the Pioneer Village, we all returned home and got to work.  We hauled extra furniture down to the basement and some up from the basement then some boxes upstairs from the basement and others down to the basement.  We have so much hand-me-down furniture -- all old from my grandparents.  It would have looked great refinished and placed in our old house if it ever got finished.  Here in the new one, it all just looks very old and  almost ratty.  And, some of it - we just don't have the space for.  It's so nice to finally have more space to walk.  Now, I need to get super busy going through boxes - organinzing, throwing away, etc.  

By 5:00 PM, we were all pooped!  Andy started the grill and we fed Gerald a meal of steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans, and apple pie with ice cream.  We really appreciate his help!

Hope you all have a great week!!

  

Festival Fun

Can't believe I haven't blogged since the 6th.  Time flies.  This new Typepad is really bugging me.  First, when readers leave comments I no longer get an email notification with the reader's email address and web site if applicable.  So, I'm not able to email the reader back.  I can respond to the comment on the post but I like responding privately.  Second, I just typed this whole post and lost it.  The new Typepad doesn't save automatically save periodically while you're typing nor does there seem to be any way to retrieve a lost post.  GRRRRRRR!

So, thanks to everyone who is reading and/or leaving a comment.  Please know that I appreciate it even if I'm not able to email you back.  Hopefully, Typepad will fix these issues VERY soon or For The Love Of Fiber may be forced to look for a new home.

*************************

Friday, I spent the day driving to/from Columbus, OH for an all-day staff meeting.  When the meeting was over, I got in the car to head home and wondered how far Knitters Mercantile was.  I punched it into the GPS and found it was only about 6 miles away.  Then, I was off!  I enjoyed my visit but with visions of all  the yarn I had just unpacked in my basement fresh in my memory, no big purchase was made.  I couldn't resist however, Cat Bordhi's new sock book and a couple of patterns.  I also got to fondle some yarn so I left happy.

Saturday morning I was so indecisive about what to do.  I wanted to go meet the ladies at Panera's and knit but also wanted to go to Yellow Springs for their Street Fair.  I wasted a lot of time looking for my knitting needles in the basement.  Gave up without finding them and headed to Panera's.  I was very late but did get to visit with them a bit.  I almost finished the back of the baby sweater - am down to the last rows before I bind off - but have decided that it's going to be too long so I'm going to pull it out and start the decrease rows again but a few rows sooner.  I also started a baby blanket so I'll have a simple-to-knit project going.  I'll show a picture when I get more done.  

After lunch, I met Andy and we headed to the Yellow Springs Street Fair.  It was very interesting.  Lots of different food vendors and craft booths.  If your tie-dyed T-shirt has worn out, you could replace it with a newer version from several of the booths.  There was also musical entertainment.  We stood and watched this one interesting ensemble.  Costume is everything.  This one fellow in the foreground of the picture had  on curved toe shoes and a tail - looked like from a horse.  I told Andy I should have brought him the chipmunk that the kitty cats so graciously deposited in the garage that morning.  The fellow probably could have used it for a headband or something.  Different though they were - we enjoyed the beat of their Middle Eastern music.  As the vendors were packing up, we got a really good deal on some metal garden art (a heron, cattails,and a fishing pole with a fish hanging from the hook) that I'll place around the pond once it's cleaned out.

On the way to Yellow Springs, we stopped and took a picture of this cute little Corner Market.  There were lots of pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, etc. for sale.  Displayed was a Gulf gas sign.  My uncle used to deal with Gulf so he'll really like this picture.  

Sunday morning, we headed out early to the Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville.  We picked up the fellow from Virginia who works with Andy.  Gerald still flies back home every second weekend like Andy used to.  This is his weekend to be in Ohio and the plant worked Saturday but not Sunday.  He doesn't have a car in Ohio so he really enjoyed getting out of his apartment for the day.

The thought of last year's Sauerkraut Festival's attendance of over 300,000 people was a slight put-off to  me but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  They had great weather both  Saturday and Sunday and what looked like great attendance.  We got there early so had no problem parking near-by and made it about 3/4 way down Main Street before the crowds got heavy.  The street was lined on both sides with vendor tents and there were more vendors down the side streets at the intersections.  The newspaper said over 400 vendors were participating this year.  

There was a lot of quality craft vendors.  We purchased some metal garden art (very cool flowers that hold food for the birds - I'll show you pictures later), some curly willow branches, 12 oz. of perhaps the clearest honey I've ever seen, and I bought some sunflower prints from Leo (the artist I photographed the weekend of A Wool Gathering as he painted the field of sunflowers in Yellow Springs).  

Then, there were the food vendors - sauerkraut balls (tasted like hush puppies with sauerkraut mixed in), Reuben sandwiches, German sundaes (potato, cheese, bacon, sour cream, sauerkraut, and an olive on top), sauerkraut fudge and pizza, cabbage rolls with sauerkraut (a local church made 13,600 of them for the festival this year), bratwurst with sauerkraut, mini-doughnuts, funnel cakes, etc.

As at the Yellow Springs Street Fair, costume is everything.  The Sauerkraut Festival raises a lot of money for different school groups and other groups in the town.  These kids were really in the spirit.  You can say --- they really have "kraut"!  

Please look closely at the street photo - at the line of people in the street between the white tents.  The festival is the whole length of Main Street, Waynesville - probably at least a mile long.  I was not at the end of the street when I stood on my tip-toes and held the camera above my head and snapped this shot.  Do you see the street FULL of people????  Did I mention over 300,000 people over the two-day festival in 2008????  

Fall crept into the area and is showing off her beautiful colors.  These two pictures are my recent view as I cross over the Caesar Creek Gorge on one side and the lake on the other.  The view never fails to disappoint.  The other morning, mist was rising  between the trees on the gorge side - it was just beautiful but I didn't have time to stop and take a picture.  Sunday morning, we had to scrape ice off the car windshield.  As we crossed the bridge, the mist had totally encompassed the gorge and was shielding the bridge, as well.  Again, it was beautiful.

I'm enjoying this area as you can probably tell from my posts.  I'm really impressed with how much there is to do for free or for just a nominal fee.  There's so much for families with young children to do and so many outdoor offerings - parks, hiking, a wonderful bike trail, river sports (canoe / kayak), etc.  I'm also impressed with how well maintained the areas are.  Way to go Ohio!