Seem to be chasing autumn

There has been a bit of weekend camping going on.  I love it.  It does mean there seem to be less hours to do in the week but I will take the relaxation every time.

I have been doing lots of little steps recently.  I have to do a so I can do b.  It all ends up in a finished product but the stories are not really worth telling until I have everything together.  And I am working on Christmas already.  That will be be able to be shared until the gifts are delivered.  Or maybe a few pictures of the process.

I am feeling better.  I had a conversation this morning that made me realize that my feeling the under the weather, whether allergies, easily injuring myself, arthritis, or infection, has probably something to do with stress.  The biggest stress factor happened about two months ago with Harvey. 

I am very much one of the lucky ones.  As well of most of the people I know.  There was a roof to repair and the inside repairs due to the leak.  But nothing was lost.  But if a helicopter circles for too long, I can tell.  Since I am one of those who has a tendency to just get on, I am thinking that my body is reacting for me.  At least the Black Hawk helicopters are no longer trying to change my heartbeat.  They flew that close.

Chasing autumn.  Camping more.  Trying to slow down, which I am horrible at.  All these things are helping.  As well as good friends, good food, quiet when needed.  But Harvey still keeps popping up and there is still a lot of recovery that needs to happen.  Whether that is emotional or physical for the Texas coast and anybody who was here during the storm.

quilt festival

I went to the International Quilt Festival earlier this week.  I always find something inspirational there.  Usually in the festival and not the trade show.  I feel like the trade show is very much a place of chaos.

In the festival, I realized that I was drawn to the quilts that were mostly neutrals on the whole.  I also want to play with digital printing on fabric at some point.  I have too many projects!  I will have to move something to work with other bits.  

There were other quilts I liked then the neutrals.  There were also a lot of quilts about social issues at this festival.  I was very impressed on how people chose to approach many different subjects.  Pictures do not do any of those justice.

Today I have been working on fiber.  I am working on washing another fleece.  It is about half done and I will let that dry before I was anymore.  It is so humid, it may take a week.

More camping this weekend!  Maybe I will heal from the convention center floor.

just a day in the life

I have been working on a quilt for my shop this week.  It is my Etsy shop which has more things.  Experiments.  But this quilt has been a nice slow process.  I need putter.  There is a cold front coming through, which is really not that cold, but the pressure changes have definitely aggravated new injuries.  It is how my body reacts.  I have just been puttering away and trying to make progress.  Also, trying to remember to stretch and rest.  It is not what I am best at!

Since the city did not like my front garden, I have been trying to decide what to do with that space.  A tree will be planted.  A burr oak was a recommendation for the health of the planet and the tree population.  But I want more then a tree.  I picked some sage branches on one of the many walks I take.  Into water they go and hopefully roots develop.  I miss having sage.

Also, grocery shopping for vegetables was a disappointment today.  I do not think of myself as a big vegetable eater.  Because I mostly like vegetables roasted, in soups, or raw.  I like roasted romesca.  It is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.  It is the time of year it should be coming into grocery stores.  Not this year.  I can get bean to bar chocolate made in house but I cannot buy romesca.  I am thinking seeds will need to be started soon.

As I said before, I like roasted veg.  But roasting veg leaves a lot of very edible veg after cleaning.  I also found some wrinkly potatoes and moldy onions in the refrigerator.  Once I cut off the mold, into the soup pot everything went.  Browning happened.  Water was added.  A long slow simmer took place.  This vegetable broth was created.  It looks like it should be meat broth but it will cook beans well and it will thin soups well. 

The documentary Wasted got me going back down this path.  It is a good reminder that we all can do more to cut down food waste.  I highly recommend it.  Chickens are being also considered to eat more of the leftover food as well as producing eggs.  There is only so  much vegetable stock the freezer can hold.  Now that the apartment has a tenant, there is someone around most of the time to help care for livestock.  Rabbits are being considered as well but they are just more of a meat source not a way to limit waste.

just trying to get caught up

This weekend was all about getting caught up.  I am not caught up yet but I am closer.  There were three bowls of dough going at one point.  Cake, bread, and mjurstat.  Tacos for dinner!  Bread for eating.  Lately, there just has to be cake.  I tried a different one which is also good.

I have also been doing a lot of crocheting for my Etsy shop.  Hats and cowls mostly.  When I need to sit, like with my tweaked back, I sit with yarn and a hook in my hands.  I do try to spin about an hour a day as well.  There are only so many hours in the day and I seem to fill them well!

My back is healing and I hope to get a quilt basted this week.  I might not be able to crawl around the floor for very long lengths of time.  I am also hoping to get another fleece washed but again it is back dependent.  There is a lot of lifting involved.  I just have to be careful about the weights.  I know the tweak is due to a twist and not a lift but that does not mean I do not need to be careful.

I was hoping to go gallivanting this weekend.  But I do not think I will be able to sit very long and since I would be doing all the driving . . .  It is the curve in the road in life.  I have enough other stuff to do.  Thinking about chickens is part of it.  Thinking about trees and what else to grow in the garden is part of it.  Documentaries and science books have been reinforcing ideas recently.  It will be interesting to see where I go.

Idyllwild

Koda Bear was promised camping.  We went to Idyllwild, California and stayed in a state park there.  The other campground we had stayed in Mount San Jacinto State Park was closed for winter.  I was pleasantly surprised on how nice it was.  Especially since the campground was two blocks from "downtown" Idyllwild.  It is a very small town.  Population of 1500 without day visitors or tourists.

We got there and set up the tent.  When we got there, it was not too late but we were all tired.  Koda Bear had fallen asleep in the car.  We just crawled into bed.

The next morning was chilly.  But there was tea and oatmeal.  The day warmed up quickly.  We lucked upon a festival for kids where all the fire departments in the area were presenting.  Koda Bear thought that was great.  He dressed as a fireman and did the obstacle course.  Played games and colored.  Sat in a fire truck.  I am not sure how impressed he was with the fire truck because it was green and small.  He has sat in a red larger fire truck in Lehi, Utah.  He still talks about Lehi, Utah.

We took the day fairly slowly.  We spent almost two hours in a playground.  There was a bakery snack.  The skateboards came out.  Fallen leaves, pine cones, acorns, and pine needles were collected to make slop.  It is from a Gerald and Piggie book.  S'mores were made after dinner over a small fire.  I controlled the fire because the boyos would have made a bonfire and we would have been up all night.

The next day, we hiked up to Suicide Rock.  And back.  12.5 miles in total because we started at the campground.  Koda Bear did really well.  I did have to pull him up at times but he ran all the way down.  The last half mile his feet were coming out from under him though.  Another bakery visit seemed to help that.  

The hike was longer then I expected because the map does not take into account all the distance.  The internet description of distance is better.  I thought the internet description of moderate was a good description of the hike.  Which I felt was more of a walk.  But other people were making it out to be much more difficult.  And we were told it was a difficult hike.  It made me feel like when a nurse in the past has told me something will hurt a bit.  No, that means it will hurt a lot! 

To me, this was not a difficult hike.  It went up!  It went down!  It was long.  It was very pretty.  I was told it would have been better if there had been a bakery at the top.  

After the hike, camp was broken down and Koda Bear was taken back to the Tall Short Person.  There was school Monday morning.  But it was so good to see him.  He is very missed.