Attention Spinners

I met a really great lady recently at dinner at a friends house. Her name is Ellie and she makes custom bags for spinning wheels.

For those of you scratching your heads, spinning wheels are used to spin fiber into yarn or thread.

Spinning was nearly a lost art in this country. It was pretty much relegated to fairy tales. (Remember the poor girl left to spin straw into gold in the tale 'Rumplestiltskin'?)

However, spinning is surging in popularity. It is a hobby now, but in pioneer days spinning was an absolute necessity.

In our area, local guilds meet and have spinning sessions. Thus, the spinning wheels must be transported. A spinning wheel is an awkwardly shaped object for transporting so not any old bag will do.This exposes them to nicks and scrapes. Some of these wheels are antiques and no one wants their property damaged so carrying cases become necessary.

Go visit Ellie's website at www.the-baglady.net
You can find examples of her work, pics, and more.

If you have questions, Ellie can be emailed at thebaglady-1@msn.com

-E

Picture and Quote of The Day

This is not as easy to read as I had hoped it would be. The little plaque in our garden reads " Plant kindness, Harvest love."

wishing you a great harvest,

- Ellen

Eating Lemon Pie

Phil and I had dinner with friends to celebrate his birthday. Patti brought her amazing lemon pie. We would all gladly turn another year older (wrinkles and all) just to get a piece of her pie.

The recipe for this pie is a family secret. Since Patti isn't sharing I beseech someone to share theirs with me. I'd be happy to even approximate something like hers.

Cmon, send me your recipes.

full of lemon pie, happy, and headed for bed,
-E

Has anyone seen this bird?

Weeks ago when I first planted beans at the community, I knew they would take awhile to come up. So I was patient.

But days went by, then a week, then two weeks. No beans. What could be the problem, I wondered? Finally, I planted them all over again. "These will come up!", I tried to reassure myself.

Another week went by- no beans. Today I took my husband with me to check out the garden. " Have you checked to see if the seeds are in the ground?", he asked.

Honestly, I looked at Phil as though he had sprouted a horn right out of the middle of his forehead. Nevertheless, I grabbed a stick and began digging at the ground. Guess what? NO SEEDS!

It's like the opposite of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk. We have magic disappearing seeds.

Phil thinks the crows might be eating them. I think it's time to bake four- and-twenty-blackbirds into a pie. Dang birds.

BTW,the first person to get that reference and reply back to me wins a Dutch Bros Coffee.

much love,
-E

No Trespassing

Maxwell has discovered a new word. He likes saying it. Likes the way it sounds rolling off of his 4-year-old tongue. He experiments using it in a sentence. That word is "Trespass".

As I worked outdoors today Max kept putting his rusty yellow dump truck in my path. "Mommy , no trespassing!" he would say sternly. If I continued past him , Max was put out. "Mommy, you trespassed," he would inform me.

My desire to walk through the yard unhindered seemed pretty reasonable to me. Maxwell's desire not be trespassed upon seems reasonable to him. After the third time or so I was about to get grouchy with him when it hit me: I had trespassed on a friend this week.

I didn't see the signs. They were vague. Or maybe I wasn't looking. It was obvious to the sign's owner, but somehow not to me. hmmm. But the end result was a friend felt hurt.

Suddenly the issues of right or wrong, reasonable or unreasonable no longer matter. God says that ignorance is no excuse for sin.

The person for whom this post was written may never see it. If I could see her right now I would dust my footprints off of her sign, and hand it back with a hug and apology.

Regardless of the outcome, the story is worth telling.

peace to all,
-E

growing challenges and garden pics

The growing season on the Oregon coast isn't as long as in warmer regions. Often to have successful crops we need to plant quick growing varieties of the veggies we want or apply the use of creative gardening gadgets.

There are special "water walls" that when placed around tomato plants maintain the heat they need to grow properly. The use of cloches is another method of protecting plants from the cold and the elements while increasing the temperature of the growing environment. Take a look online or in any gardening catalog for ideas and products that maximize your gardens potential.

One woman I know grows her tomatoes next to her dryer vent. When most people around here are struggling to get just one ripe tomato, she has many. How does that work? Well, a couple of days ago I was told that it is heat, rather than sun that ripens tomatoes. If that's the case, then I may just go to the back yard and plant some tomatoes next to the dryer vent!

Finally, when ordering seeds, try to order from a seed company in your region . Small seed companies tend to carry seeds that work best in the region they are located. For example, I like ordering seeds from Territorial because they offer short season varieties that grow well in our cool climate.

So get gardening! Have fun and good luck!

Newest pictures of the goats

As you can see by the pics, Locksley is large and visibly uncomfortable. Robin, on the other hand, is the same as always.

Someone asked, "Didn't they get pregnant at the same time?"

Answer: No. Because although they were both in the company of the billy goat at the same time, they didn't go into heat at the same time. The billy was with them for 3 weeks so there is potentially that much space between the girls regarding due dates.

We continue to wait.