We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful location. This stream runs around two boundaries of our yard. Not only is it visually inspiring but it makes music transcending that of any symphony. When he visits, our oldest grandson likes to sleep in the upstairs window seat with the window ajar. He says he "likes the sounds". He isn't the only one; if it isn't bitterly cold the window in our bedroom next door is also ajar because we also like the sounds. Right now I am anticipating warmer weather and the arrival of the spring peeper frogs. Nothing lulls me to sleep like the sounds outside my own bedroom window, regardless of the season. Thank you Lord for allowing me the pleasures of living in this place.

Finally finals are final

It is official. The semester that wouldn't end is over. Tomorrow is another semester with all new students. Another chance to make a difference; another opportunity to instill a love of the arts in a student. Wish me well.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

This is a pretty sad photo. Not the photo itself, but the subject: the very last bowl of fresh blueberries from our orchard. We have been blessed with a bumper crop of fruit this year; our blueberry bushes and apple trees have outdone themselves. Over 40 gallon of blueberries have gone into the freezer, jams, cobblers, pancakes, muffins and little boys mouths from this years crop. There are still berries scattered here and there on the branches, but not enough to bother with. Those that remain will be gleaned by the birds (and my husband). In addition to a bounty of berries we have gathered bushel after bushel of apples---Summer Treat, Empire, Cortland, Jonalicious, Red Delicious, Blushing Golden, Golden Delicious, Mutzu, and Adina---and there are still apples ripening on the trees---Winesap, Fuji, Granny Smith, Arkansas Black. Almost all of the trees have looked like this Winesap looks right now.
Last year there was a very late freeze that wiped out most of the tree bloom here in Western NC; then, we had terrible drought conditions through the summer and fall. There was very little in the way of fruit and nut crops as most trees had to put out leaves/blooms twice. This year it is almost as if they have compensated. Every fruit and nut bearing tree in the area is loaded. Hedgerow apple trees that usually have only scattered fruit are bent with the weight of their crop. My husband and I have been discussing this and I have decided we will probably have a tough winter. All the signs our ancestors looked for are there: lots of fruit and mast, early frost (last Thursday, Sept. 25), bees nests on or near the ground, fall flowers blooming early, Katydids singing early... I hope I'm wrong. I guess we will find out.

Blogging in the Classroom

I am trying to come up with ways to integrate blogging into my classes. I teach Visual Arts and Appalachian Arts & Culture at the secondary level in a very rural area. My students have very limited access to museums, galleries, etc. For the most part, they do not enjoy writing, esp. with pencil and paper. Most of them do use My Space and/or Face Book on a regural basis and send/receive tons of email. I have been trying to think of having them set up a blog account and then give assignments from my own blog for them to respond to. Assignments my include critiqueing artworks, journaling about creativity & the role of the arts in culture, as well as posting digital photos of their work and writing about that too. I would love to have ideas/suggestions. My principal and media specialist have already given me the OK on this, I just need to figure out exactly how I want to go about doing it. I also need to think about the security of the kids in my classroom. I know the comments will need to be moderated and student names and personal photos will be taboo. Any Ideas?Suggestions?

Great Minds Think Alike

Early this year I picked up a skein of Austermann Step in the Petrol colorway at Silver Threads and Golden Needles in Franklin, NC. I chose the colorway because it reminded me of my well loved turquoise jewelry. When I began swatching for socks, I chose the gull and garter stitch pattern, which resembles the fletching on an arrow, because it was yet another connection to my Native American turquoise. Swatching was finished and the socks were underway when I received my issue of Knitter's magazine announcing the Think Outside the Sox contest. I thought my socks were pretty good and discussed entering them with my family and friends. Around the end of May, with my "Fletching Sox" complete, I began swatching for a different design idea. A couple of weeks ago I purchased Shear Spirit (by author Joan Trapper with photography by Gale Zucker) from Knit Picks. What did I find on the cover? a pair of socks virtually the same as mine. Inside I further investigated Sheri Franz's Welsh Traveling Socks and found only a few differences. My socks feature 1x1 ribbing on the cuff rather than Sheri's 2x2 ribbing and I gave the sole of the sock a different treatment. Since I have a very high instep, I often choose to use 1x1 ribbing on the sole so that the sock hugs the bottom of my foot rather than bunching up like some socks tend to do. The only other major differences were in the yarn, guage, and number of stitches cast on. It's back to the drawing board (or swatching board) for the Sox contest, but, like I told my husband, at least I have good ideas (and so does Sheri!). Check out Trapper and Zuckers collaboration. Both text and imagery are wonderful. It is inspiring to an aspiring shepherd to learn how others got involved with their herds. The designs are great; just my style. I highly recommend this book to spinners and knitters alike. I have already earmarked several of the projects for my own homespun.

Ancestors

I haven't posted in a while. I know, a long while. I have been otherwise occupied with working on our (hubby's and mine) family trees. I have spent many hours looking through books/records and gathering/scanning photos. Wow, what amazing family roots we have. It's been a lot of fun and we have learned sooo much about our ancestors. We have been amazed to learn how our families, though some branches lived in separate ends of the state (or in other states), wound up in the same places at the same times and interacted on several occasions. I am still digging, and finding lots of skeletons, I might add. The couple in the first photo are my paternal great grandparents. The men in the second photo are my husband's paternal great grandfather and his nephew.

First Day of Summer...

the big yellow taxis with the flashing lights on top just left with their last fares for the 07-08 year. Yippee! School's out, let the summer begin. Today is summer solstice in the life of a teacher.

Going through a valley?

Upon the summit we find
'Tis easy to see afore and behind
But in the valley so deep and low
'Tis only here and now we know
If we but humbly look to thee
You help us more clearly see
This lone vale wherein we stand
'Tis but the hollow of thy hand.

Guess Who Was Born Today?

Happy Birthday
to my beautiful daughter



Guess what daughter mine?
It didn't snow on Feb 11...
I think the first time in your life!
I love you...you know you're my hero!

Old Knitting/New Spinning

This scarf was knit for my daughter Christmas 06 from some of my early handspun. The leaf stitch pattern came from an OLD Montricot stitch pattern book borrowed from a friend. The yarn is 2-ply natural colored gray/brown corriedale spun S and plied Z on my Mazurka wheel.

I have recently been spinning from a Jacob fleece I bought from Perfect Spot Farm at SAFF in October. I spun the fleece without washing or carding so that I could keep the fleece colors from blending. I first tried flicking the locks with my dog brush, and finally settled with randomly picking individual locks and pulling them across my cards while tightly grasping the end. After doing one end, I turned the lock around and brushed the other end in the same manner. When I had a nice basket of locks, I began spinning. I spun a bobbin full of yarn S-twist, wound it into a ball and then plied Z-twist from both ends of the ball. The final yarn has areas of both solid and twist/spiral color with medium to long color areas. I knit a pair of ankle height socks for grandson #1 with the sample ball, using some corriedale I had previously spun for the heels and toes. I am getting ready to remove the cast on row from the top of the socks and make the cuff longer because he was not comfortable with the short length cuff. I really like the way this fleece spins and the knitted fabric as well. I had originally wanted to make a sweater or vest with the fleece, but I'm not sure the color changes will be as long as I would like for them to be in a garment.