Back from the Holidays... (long, lots of pictures)

I made a whirlwind trip down to San Diego for Thanksgiving, with a stop in Reno to hook up with my sister, with whom I carpooled down.

I don't have any pictures of my car - suffice it to say that it was stuffed full... I had made a dairy run to Hood River and Portland (my first experience with snow in the new car see this post - passed with flying colors), and got to stay with LindaLou on Monday night. After talking about weaving, what we wanted to be when we grew up, and having a wonderful dinner (it's always good food at Linda's!), I headed out Tuesday morning into a vicious headwind and torrential rains. Because of the rain, I had to run the defrost a lot - this is a point to remember for later...

The wind was so stiff that I couldn't coast down the hills as I approached the Siskiyous - I was slowing down!  So I pulled off at a rest stop in Canyonville, which boasts a casino on the east side of the freeway, and a travel center on the west, and found that my car was making very bad noises. Like from the middle of the engine, bad pulley noises.  I called my son (left a message), then called my nephew, who was in class, but called me back. The upshot is that I burned out the clutch on the AC compressor running the defrost (the compressor runs when you use defrost to dry out the air). Fortunately, it is run by a separate belt than the rest of the pulleys (water pump, alternator, main pulley), and I was advised to cut it off - which I did. I'm now the proud owner of a small, serrated paring knife, purchased at the travel center to do the job. After removing the belt, I started the engine - YAY, no noise. Did I mention that I wasn't even out of Oregon yet, not even halfway to Reno? I was happy to be back on the road.

Got to my sister's, and we took off Tuesday morning for San Diego. We had a wicked headwind all the way south to San Diego (El Cajon, which is east of SD), but made good time.

I should explain that in years past, we have met at my sister's for Thanksgiving, because it is mid-way between my dad and me. This year, my dad was getting committed - it's not what you think, really!

He has found a life partner, Wilma. They are so happy - it's like they are both teenagers again. Since my dad is 87, and I won't print Wilma's age... It really does both family's hearts good to see them.

In this post, I talked about the turkeys that I had gotten, one of which would be the guest of honor at dinner. I took the smallest one, at 24.6 lbs., and because Wilma and her family were bringing pies, and Mary (my sis) had made cranberry sauce ahead of time, we "only" had to make the turkey, potatoes (blue from Mary's garden), gravy and stuffing.

I don't think I've ever had a turkey get done early... This one, this LARGE turkey, cooked unstuffed, was done a hour early... Ok, so we had time to remake some rolls to replace the ones that had gotten a little over done, and to finish up all the rest of the stuff, but geez - who ever has a turkey get done early! You're always waiting for them at the end!  I used a recipe that had fresh rosemary (from Dad's front yard), basil, olive oil and garlic that was blended like pesto, and then rubbed under the skin. The remainder was rubbed in the cavity.  I think this was possibly the best turkey I've ever made/had.

Just before eating, Dad and Wilma did their ceremony. I think most of us were pretty teary-eyed. It was very moving.

And the next day, we did it again at Wilma's with all of her extended family in attendance. My niece, Harmony took pictures at Dad's, but used my camera at Wilma's -

Mary and I singing (in harmony, with feelin')

They wrote their own words

The KISS!!

After Cutting the Cake!



While at Dad's, Mary and Rich (BIL) went to the beach, and I played in Dad's shop, making warp holders like Sharon's. I found a piece of cherry, and we interpolated dimensions from the picture that Sharon had sent me. I'm increasingly distracted when warping, and needed a way to hold the cross while I went off on a tangent...

The best part? I got to play with power tools, ahr, ahr, ahr...

On the way home, I had a quick visit with Amy (saw Sadie - what a hoot), and stayed at Sharon's on Sunday night, very quick visits, but so very fun. We figured out that Halcyon Yarn carries UKI cotton, and since Sharon had UKI's color card, I made a spreadsheet listing each with the respective colors so we can order what we want in the future. Contrary to what Sharon says, I am not always right...

I stopped at Mim's on Monday morning, saw her sheep, and talked fiber. When I left it was with a slight tail wind, and nobody on the road for most of the trip home. I got 29.6 mpg, even exceeding the speed limit by a fair bit (LindaLou would be proud)...

I was just south of La Pine when I snapped this sunset:

The colors were much more intense than it shows - way more pink and purple... But it was beautiful. You'll note that I was pulled over to the side of the road at the time...

Now that I'm back, I'm farmsitting for a friend until December 20. She has a smattering of sheep, goats, alpacas, one llama and 11 chickens. Oh, and 2 cats who are not happy about my dogs being here!

This gig comes complete with breathtaking scenery:

(the place is literally just inside Smith Rock State Park), but also with a complete dye studio! I plan to wash a couple of fleeces, but also brought along the little loom to do some weaving.

I feel kind of disconnected - but at least it's pretty!!

Sometimes, when you have a deadline...

You're presented with learning opportunities...

See FiberVoodoo blog here for all the details!!

Turkey Run

I was very fortunate, when I called a couple of weeks ago, to obtain a butcher date for the turkeys yesterday. This time of year, it is packed, and I usually make the appointment for next year when I take them in to be butchered (as I did this year). 

Correy came along as navigator, and we combined a couple of other things into the trip. With snow predicted for Friday night, we moved up our departure from home to Thursday, after yoga. One of the added in stops was to take fleeces to Creekside Fiber Mill in Lebanon, Oregon. They do a great job, and I needed to find some off-site storage for some of my fleece. Because we were going there first, the turkeys went in the truck with a barrier between them and the fleece, cooler, etc.

Once all the fleece was in, you couldn’t even tell they were in there!

I treat the animals that I’m going to harvest for meat with a great deal of respect, especially on their last day. There is another processor closer to home (by about an hour), but they a) never called me back, and b) want all of the day’s birds there at 7 am. Those that aren’t processed until late afternoon are pretty darn stressed by the time their turn comes.  For that reason, it’s worth it to me to take my birds to the farther of the two. I have a specific appointment time, and usually there’s not much of a wait until the birds are taken in, one or two at a time. I hand them out to the folks who take them in to start the butchering process. The birds know me, they have had a curious ride in this mobile coop with all their buddies, and then they leave, handed out by me. There’s not much stress involved, on their part.

This weeks’ turkey run actually worked out well having them in the truck overnight. I always give them only water the night before, because their system has more or less emptied out by the time they’re butchered, which the processor appreciates. Since I had them on grass for the last week, and had no place to coop them up, taking the trip early helped make the usual possible.

So (drum roll please), weights were as follows: White tom – 39.94 lbs.; White hen – 30.36 lbs.; Bronze tom – 34.34 lbs.; Bronze hen – 24.57 lbs. These are all broad breasted birds, and ideally should have been butchered about 2 ½ months ago, but I didn’t own them then!

I have taken the toms to be smoked and then quartered, the hens are in the freezer.  I’ll take the smaller one down to San Diego for Thanksgiving, and the other will be used later, I’m sure.

One of the other things we did was to stay at Michelle's, so that I could give her a spinning lesson in long draw. She had been given some "mystery" bats by a blog pal, who suggested that she spin them that way. She was an avid pupil; between Correy and I, we had her on her way.  She was so excited, that she spun up and plied both bats that evening! I made some Zucchini Spice Cake muffins, which were a hit with the McMillins!

Meanwhile, the promised snow started today, and is now (in late afternoon) moving our way. We moved some round bales of hay (with the truck – they weigh 600 lbs) to a more usable location (and away from the prehensile lips of the ponies…).

By the time we’d completed that, the wind had come up and it was just time to head into the house to warm up.  This is what’s heading our way:

I got old hay bales around the base of the trailer to help block most of the wind from going under. This should help some to keep it warmer. Last week, I busted the dinette seat out, and set up a small computer desk as a workspace and wire cubes for my clothes. This dramatically opens up the space in my little box, and will also give me room to have my radiant oil heater instead of the loud, only partially effective, ceramic heater.

I knit an ear warmer headband, but it’s being blocked and not completely done – check my fiber blog for details in a day or so.

So, winter is on its way – we have wood, hay and lots of food put in.  Bring it on!!