The surprising things

I think that it is often the little things that we know about in life that can be the most surprising when we finally pay attention and take the time to really see what is going on.

I had my hair cut and coloured on Thursday night and loved playing with it all that night, braided it back that night to sleep, fussed with it in the morning and admired the cut and colour and only now, Saturday Morning after my shower realised, really, how much hair 6″ is. I went from bottom layers to my waist to mid-shoulders all around. My curls that were then so weighted down now have the perfect spring to them. I needed half the shampoo in the morning and I didnt soak a towel with hair water. My hair is dry less than 2 hours after washing which is amazing all in itself. I love it more now than when I was thrilled with its brand-new status.

I realised that while I LOVE Egg Nog lattes, the ones made from real eggnog are torture on my stomach because of the milk. Not that this is a surprise to me. I have known for years that unless it is a fermented milk product, I cant enjoy the digestive process. Going in its lovely, its the churning, cramping, bloating and the coming out that is horrid. I’ll stick to the fake eggnog flavouring that Starbucks uses or a peppermint tea thankingyouverymuch.

I took the time to jot some thoughts one of the multiple journals that I use/carry/have/love and realised that most of what I have been writing pertains to multiple “future” thoughts/plans/ideas/wants/wishes/dreams and that most of the ideas are mutually exclusive and therefore not only confusing but damn irritating. I like to be prepared, darn it, and not having a clear pathway causes tears, depression and general malaise. SAM-e is helping the last 2 and now the moon has phased the first isnt as much of an issue. How can I prep for a journey if I dont have any clue as to the destination? That doesnt bother me as much as the idea that if I dont know the weather on the way, I cant dress for it. I think that I liked my early 20’s more than my late ones

I saw that coming back to Sitka is really like coming home in all possible ways. I really wish that I could have Sisu here with me because it would have been just perfect with her company. Considering the nearly constant rain though, I am glad she stayed in Nelson Lagoon. A soggy doggy is never the most pleasant of companions!

I noticed that just the idea of a funny movie, pizza, beer and a friend in the coming evening is enough to lift my spirits enough to make me focus on microbiology for just a few more hours, no matter how hard the slog thru the text.

What have you noticed today?

Spooky findings in Sitka

#1: There are trees

#2: They change colours!

#3: They have been changing for a few months now because it has been getting colder for a while.

#4: That means there is snow soon.

#5: The snow has been dusting the far mountains for a few weeks now.

#6: The near mountains got dusted for the first time a few days ago.

#7: It hasnt melted completely.

#8: Its been creeping slowly down the mountains every night.

#9: The “Snow Line” was halfway down the mountain this morning.

#10: It is supposed to snow ‘down’ here very soon.  Like…tonight.

Scared yet?  I am!

Oh. My. Gosh

A new post

Some days its been beautiful…

Other days its a bit more……wavy

But always its a good day Especially if, at the end of it all, we’re tired out.

More pictures and a real update on life, thoughts and knitting to come soon…from Sitka!

New Feature: A Map!

So, I know I have been remiss with updating things on the blog but I really dislike posting without pictures, like there is something major that is missing.  Looking back over the past few months, there is a MAJOR lack of colour and that just doesnt feel right to me.  Instead of not posting again, I thought I would add a feature that you all could help me with…A map!  I would love it if you wonderful readers and site visitors could add yourselves to the map so I can see where you all are.
Thanks in advance and I promise, there will be posts with pictures coming in the near future!

The Thrill of the Hunt

There is something magical about searching for something elusive in a way that you have never done before.  If you are searching for your keys, for some a daily ritual, there can be that one magical day where you really do know where they are; exactly where they are supposed to be which is unusual in and of itself.  For someone who loves knowing where things are, labeling boxes, bags and totes with its contents, hunting for things really isnt a fun thing for me.  My keys are always in the same place from years of issues with ‘losing them’ (I kept them in the door while at home in college and hung them from the wall beside the door when I shut it to go to bed), my sock yarn has its own box as do the odds and ends, spare balls and sweaters worth of yarns.  Roving has its place, WIPs are in the living room and there is always a sock in my top desk drawer.  Dog snacks are on top of the fridge and I can tell you where any item in my chest freezer is if I have it.  Clothes are organised, each type to their own drawer (but socks remain unmatched in the drawer )  and all dishes have their place.  Its crazy orderly underneath the layer of messy and that layer of mess is really shallow.  I dont generally have to ‘hunt’ for anything and I like it that way.

Except…

The berries are ripening here.  Yes, it IS September but when you have so few sunny, warm (ish) days, it takes ALL summer to ripen those wild berries.  Wine berries are dark, merlot coloured and have a light, sweet almost dusty flavour that is completely opposite of what you expect on first bite.  Crow berries are barely visable, 5mm black berries that are so sour that *I* dont even want to eat them.  You have to make them into jam, jelly or pie filling which, while yummy, takes a lot of sugar and is far from my favourite thing to eat.  Blueberries are hard to find out here in the sand but just outside of Anchorage, they are fun to gather, if a bit hard on your back and knees.  Bog Cranberries are fantastic dried and only barely remind you of Thanksgiving in the summer but once dried, their flavour concentrates and you can only wish for turkey to savor alongside.  All these berries are low bush which means they grow between 0-3″ above the ground.  Yes, 0″ is correct because my last successful hunt was for a berry that vines out along the sandy ground and then hides its fruit in dense patches of leaves just barely above the flat of the dunes.  Wild Strawberries.

I have fond memories of strawberry picking in Michigan with my Mum and Sister and friends in a field where there is now a subdivision and a mall.  Hot sun beating down, sweaty t-shirts, huge berries and long rows to lug flats along.  Eating one or 5 for every one in the basket and then weighing the flat before bringing it home to hull and make jam.  Yes, that is my memory and its a good thing too because that is not what its like here.

On the tundra, its a hunt.  The bushes do grow in clumps and that is the only ease you are given by Mother Nature.  The bushes are so low the the ground, many of the berries are actually growing into the sand.  The leaves are so dense that you have to move each and every leaf to see if there are strawberries underneath because, despite their bright red shining against the black sand and green leaves, they are devilishly hard to find.  And all this hunting is done wearing jeans, sweatshirt/sweater, and knit hat because not only is it chilly (50 F) but the wind is blowing at 25knots and there is misty rain driving into you.  Hunting and gathering for over 3 hours in the best spot in town and you can have a gallon bag of strawberries too!  Why so little?  Because the fruit is less than 10mm long.  Why go through all this work and clothing to have a gallon of strawberries? A sweeter, more intense flavour I have yet to find in nature.  There is nothing that compares to the intense, smack upside the head of flavor that you get when you taste a wild strawberry and that my friends is worth every moment of hunting.

Maybe

It takes roughness abraiding against you to smooth out all your own rough edges.  An odd concept in theory but one that really makes sense.  All the people I know and have known have worked in some way in shaping me and softening those rough edges.  But deep down, I’d really like to find that one person who will stick around and want to be polished with me as well.

I’m a traditionalist despite my “Womans Lib” exterior.

I want to support my husband with my love and encouragement, body and soul.

I want to dye yarn as a “side” business to being a SAHM

I want a house and a yarn and neighbors that I have known for years, not months.

I want marriage and a family.

I want to be a stay at home mum and for the raising of my children to be valued as a respectable and honoured job.

I want stability, a regular schedule and recognition on the street as someone who belongs and is important.

But maybe the most permanent thing in my life is going to be the major path divergence that happen every few months.

Maybe my path is leading into service to others.

Maybe I’ll dye as a side business to whatever job I currently hold.

Maybe I’ll have pangs of sadness when my friends and family announce their pregnancies.

Maybe I’ll just share my bed with a 4-leg who takes her half out of the middle.

Maybe the only thing I’ll have forever is going to be my ‘SisuGirl’ tattoo and its deep meaning within me.

Maybe I’ll always be ‘Auntie’ or ‘Ms’ and not “Mummy”.

And maybe I’m finding peace with that idea.

Just maybe.

Almost there

It has been just under 3 weeks since I came back to Sitka for training and while it has been wonderful being back here, I’m ready to get home to put my skills into practice.  Dont get me wrong, I absolutely love Sitka and I’m looking for ways to eventually get myself back to Southeast but in all honesty, I really miss Sisu and my things and can’t wait to get home to her.

One week left.  The crunch of paper testing, skills testing and EMS – style skills and then I am back to Anchorage for a few days and then home again.

Remind me to buy dog cookies

And then there was body art

For years, I have been admiring body art.  My uncles S and A both have tattoos on their arms, friends have tattoos on the small of their backs, sadly referred to as “tramp stamps”; a boy in High School had Jim Morrison covering his entire back (amazingly cool then but I wonder now what he thinks of it; someone else has stars on the back of her neck leading down to a cluster on her back right shoulder; my good friend S has a frog between her shoulder blades and is thinking of trailing snowflakes down her back; tribal bands and Asian symbols/kanji abound; all with meaning (or just “Pretty”) to their bearer.  I have always thought, ‘Wow’ and left it at that.  I wasnt really interested in tattooing myself and kept my rebellion to piercing my tounge a few days after my 18th birthday.

I had been a ‘good girl’ all the time up until then in college and wanted something just for me my junior year that was a bit crazy.  I told my Mum right after and I still have the email that she sent me about hoping I was happy with my ‘tounge thing’ and that she knew it was brave of me to get it and then tell her and how proud she was of me for having the guts to tell her in the end, even knowing that she would be upset.  It meant a lot then and still does   Either way, I wasnt going to go as far as a tattoo (though I thought about it) because I had no idea what I wanted and a cute little butterfly on my hip, a short-sighted place for a tattoo on a girl anyway, nor for having it on my back where I would never be able to see it anyway, just wasnt for me.  If I were to get something that would be with me forever, I wasnt going to make that decision when I was in my teens or early 20’s because I was still trying to figure out who I was.  I still am in a way but now I know who I am and who I will remain.

In thinking about a tattoo, I knew what I wanted and what I would never get.  I wanted words, not a picture.  Something that would be easily read from both sides so that I could always see it and know the meaning of the words and that whomever saw it could read it and ask what it meant and not just “Oh, now what does that say?”  Something with colour and descriptive of the me that I have been, am now and will be forever.  And this is what I came up with:Oh Wait….

Thats better.  Much nice to show a bit of Sitka in the background too   Before anyone gets nervous, the colour is a bit off because I am peeling, a normal process.  The lighter blue in the middle of the ‘U’ is the closest to the true shade that this camera can capture.  It looked a bit tealy-blue originally and is really a light blue…think perfect sky blue in the summer.  I like it much more than black.

My view (top) and yours (bottom).  I love the way it looks, the placement, the colour, what I chose to have done; just everything about it was wonderful and all I expected it to be.  The bonus was that the pain was much less that anything I had thought and worked myself into thinking it would be.  A lot like scraping myself with a pin forgotten in a shirt.  Yes, its a lot of scraping but after the first line, you kind of forget what is happening and the endorphines kick in.  It helps when you have someone to talk to you the whole time (Thanks a MILLION P, I hope you enjoyed your  hike ) and thankfully, the artist was great and easy to talk to.

There is only one downside to this.

This is bloody addicting and I’m thinking of another.

Back in Sitka

As the plane touched down, I actually teared up.  The ocean with all its little islands and the trees, the harbors and the mountains all where I left them…I felt like I was home again.  Thats the best part of being back here in Sitka for training.  I was originally a bit sad not to be back in Anchorage because I had a whole slew of new friends to visit but really, now that I am here, I can imagine being happier in Anchorage.  I am exactly where I need to be and I am loving it.  I knew that I missed Southeast but I didnt know how much until now.  I do like my new home but there is something about Southeast that is quintessentially “HOME” for me.

I am in training for the next 3 + weeks and while I cant check Facebook, I can check my email and comments here

I can tell you already that I didnt pack enough yarn for knitting for keeping my fingers busy during lectures…good thing that there is a yarn shop just a few miles away.  Walking there will be my ‘earning’ of it!

Tour de Fleece

Last August, I made the wonderful purchase of a Schacht Ladybug Spinning Wheel from Far North Fibers in Anchorage.  I had been using a friends Louet s10 for a few months before that and had desperately failed at using a drop spindle months before that.  I wanted to use a spindle, really I did but I wasnt spinning the yarn that I wanted so I stopped.  Yes, I know thats not how you learn how to do anything but since the spinning was a mere whim at the time, I was OK with putting the spindle away.  When my friend told me that she had a wheel, I wanted nothing else but to jump on and give it a spin   And right off the bat I was creating yarn that I was almost happy with.  Yes it was thick and thin in places, over-spun and under spun in places right next to each other, but it was more about what I liked…the rhythm of the wheel, my feet on the treadle and the quick feeling of creation in my hands.

Every year since 2007 (I believe), spinners have been participating in the Tour de Fleece, a spinning challenge set to run right along side the Tour de France beginning July 4th-26th.  The point is to challenge yourself to spin…something that is challenging for you to spin.  Art yarns, a new technique, new fibers, your own handdyed, half your stash, all your stash, a mile…its up to you!  Ravelry has made creating and being a part of a group even easier and there is a HUGE TdF group over there!  I am a Rookie (because this is my first TdF) and part of the Team Suck Less group because my goal is not only to spin daily and a mile of singles but also to suck less once I get thru this month   My other  is to spin through my Spunky Eclectic club stash of 6 months of 8oz of fiber which I have admired and fondled but havent put a twist into. It has just sat there looking beautiful at me and daring me to make something of it.  The fun part of this challenge is that not only am I going to spin her dyed fiber, I also ordered Amys book, Spin Control from Amazon.com so that while I am spinning, I can be making the yarn that I want!

Here is my fiber stash in full force:

My progress thus far:

Those lovely singles from the first 3 days became this amazing 4 ply (my first ever):

The Original roving is The Felted Sheep (now Northern Lights Fiber Co) – Imagination colourway in her Merino/Tussah silk blend 80/20.  I cant rave enough about this roving or K’s dye job…its is just beautiful and so…so…just wow.  I really do like it that much.  I have now spun my way through all of the fibers that I have bought from K, both in person and via her Etsy site, and as soon as I finish this challenge, I know that I will be buying more.  I have used a 100% silk Hankie, a Merino/Tencel 50/50 blend and now this one and I couldn’t have been happier with any of it.  I’ll post a “Raving about Northern Lights Fiber Co” post soon with all the pictures of my finished yarns but if you get the chance, go visit her Etsy store…and tell her I sent you!

And I finally got to dive into my SEFC rovings, beginning in January! It is spinning like a dream and I dont think that I would be happier spinning anything else.  Just this morning I finished 2oz and will start the second half at lunch time.  Who wants lunch when there is yummy roving to spin?