Sandhill Cranes

This fabulous picture was taken by Bill Schmoker who kindly permitted me to post it here. I was hoping to have some images of my own but quickly realized the inadequacy of my equipment.

Saturday, we drove up to the Lodi, CA, area, about 60+ miles from home to see the Sandhill Cranes. Rick had read Carolyn Jones's article in the SF Chron last week about these wonderful birds.

We took the scenic route: 680 north to Hwy 4. We took CA - 160 across the Delta to CA - 12. We waved to Christine at Winnowings on her island out there. On our route we saw lots of birds, including raptors, egrets, and probably swans.

It was a cold, clear day and lots of other people read the article, too, and joined us at the windy Phil and Marilyn Isenberg Sandhill Crane Reserve which is actually on Woodbridge Road, north of Lodi. Because of the huge turnout, there was no organized tour but two volunteers and one person from the Department of Fish and Game were there with lots of info. California budget cuts to F&G prevent the department from taking tour reservations.

The "birders" all shared info at the Reserve South Unit meeting area on Woodbridge Road. We did not go to the North Site for the fly-in at sunset but we poked around nearby county roads adjacent to farmlands until after sunset and saw squadrons of birds stitched against the darkening sky.

This was our first trip to see these marvelous birds but I'm sure it won't be our last. Good binoculars are on my wish list.

The International Crane Foundation has pictures and some audio clips of the cranes' vocalizations.

Greater Sandhill Cranes are a protected species in California. Lesser Sandhill Cranes are also seen in this area.

Check out many amazing sandhill crane pictures at Bill Schmoker's sandhill crane page.

If you go, good maps are a must. Google maps provide good detail. We saw many birds on Cotta Road and Guard Road farms.

Merry Christmas!

Green Idea--Garlic Slush!

How great is this. The Tone Bros., makers of Adams Spices, donated 18,000 lbs. of garlic salt that was destined for the landfill, to the City of Ankeny, a Des Moines suburb, to use for de-icing their roads this winter. Garlic-flavored slush is making the road crews hungry but that seems to be the only adverse effect. Here is the story.

Introducing Casey, my blog dog!

I don't have any grandchildren. I don't have a puppy.

I am seriously lacking in cuteness to post about.

I decided to ask my friend Bev, who just became a dog mother, again, if I could adopt Casey, her Puli puppy, as my blog dog. It would be a sort of cheating because she had to get up with him this morning at 4:45 (and it was raining) and I would get to do all of the fun things, as I practice for such time as I may be blessed with grandchildren to spoil.

Puli's are seriously cute puppies but they are amazingly cool dogs. I am hoping that my cats might become jealous of Casey and start doing cute things again.

So Cool!

We subscribe to The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle. Too much data! Today I discovered a great design column by Zahid Sardar in the Chron that I've been missing out on.

My friend Linda has been doing fabulous things with recycled sweaters from the thrift stores, including felted cashmere baby blankets, and I immediately thought of her when I saw these terrific handbags. They are by Berkeleyan Josh Jakus, a former architect, who makes purses and handbags from recycled felt.

It's All About Color!

Luscious pictures! Color, color, color!

I had no intention of buying another book on dyeing but Lynn Koolish's Fast, Fun and Easy Fabric Dyeing is a great new addition to my bookshelf. I've done some dyeing but I don't dye regularly and I'm always thinking I should dye some more fabric. I would call myself a novice dyer. I really believe in serendipity but the more I dye, the more I want to achieve good results.

Lynn's book is very inspiring. It reminded me that a dye project can take as little as 30 minutes to set up. It can take even less time if you have your dye solution and your soda ash prepared.

I like to keep records. Lynn has some great tips on keeping track of your results. That's really important if you want to reproduce your work.

I've done some solids and mottled, almost-sold fabrics, but I am looking forward to trying rolling as a method of creating texture. Lynn's sections on creating patterns using shibori and thickened dyes are exciting. The fabrics she created with a rag roller are very cool.

I'm thinking about slicing off the binding of this tasty book and inserting it into my Dyeing 3-ring binder.

As we've come to expect with C&T books, Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Dyeing is clearly laid out with lots of scrumptious color. And that's really what it's all about, isn't it? COLOR.

Happy Beethoven's Birthday!

Bark with Lichen

I've been thinking about lichen for over a year and haven't done a thing about it except to collect specimens. I can't resist the sticks and clumps that fall from the trees. And bark!

Day After Thanksgiving Walk

Wild Turkey Feather

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's our first Thanksgiving without the boys. Andrew is in New York and Steven is in Boston. Rick and I are going to Linda (of G4 fame) and Richard's. I guess maybe I'm over compensating but it has been great fun making a bunch of stuff, none of which is necessary.

I've been watching Spain On the Road Again so I decided to try to find some Cava that Mario was going on and on about. With bubbly, one needs nibbles and I've been addicted to David Lebovitz's Spicy Glazed Nuts recipe so I had to make some of those. I had all of the ingredients in my pantry except the small pretzel twists (someone must have gotten into them...) and I was too lazy to make a trip to the market. Oh well, a new variation.

I always like to make and eat cranberry chutney, in addition to the more traditional cranberry sauce. One can never have too much cranberry garnish on the great day. I found a terrific recipe for Cranberry Chutney with Chrystallized Ginger and Dried Cherries on Orangette's blog. I made it on Tuesday and I was worried that the ginger was overpowering. I brought some to my Wednesday Quilt Group and Susan and Suze reassured me that it was okay. On a whim, I added some cayenne to a small portion. I tasted both today and the harsh ginger overtones have evened out. I really like the heat from the cayenne.

Originally, Linda had been thinking about making Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie and I was going to contribute a pumpkin cheesecake. When I saw the picture of the pie (from Fine Cooking, Thanksgiving 2007), I begged her to let me make that instead. She made it last year. I made the pastry last night and baked it blind. I got up this morning and made the filling. The recipe seems really good. I am looking forward to tasting it.

Last month, I discovered Clothilde's recipe for Chocolate Frozen Yogurt at Chocolate and Zucchini, another of my favorite food blogs. It is fabulous. I raved about it when our book club met and Robin said, "That's what you should bring for Thanksgiving." It seems a bit like gilding the lily but maybe it will be a comfort to someone. Who said Thankgsiving dinner is the superbowl of meals?

Sprouting 101

I can no longer buy sprouts in bulk at my local market. They come pre-packaged. So the drill is, search around for the package with the best sell-by date, (were they really $1.50?); take them home; put them in a sandwich or a salad. In a couple of days they seem funky.

New Victory Garden activity: grow your own sprouts in your kitchen! Before kids, Rick was a sprouts grower, hobbyist variety. I found some tops from that era that never got tossed. They work great with a mason jar.


You can get a whole sprouting setup at Pinetree Seeds or you can buy just the seeds and the Sprout-Ease tops.

Sprouting is really fun. Measure out about 1 T. of seeds for starters. Place them in a wide-mouth jar (use a jar that holds at least 20 oz.). Cover with about 3 inches of water. Use the appropriate jar top, depending on the size of the seed. Soak overnight. The next morning, drain off the soaking water, rinse, drain, and place the jar at a 45 degree angle in a bowl (so that the water can drain out), in a dark cupboard. Morning and night, for the next 2-5 days (depending on the seeds), rinse and drain, and then return to the dark cupboard. During the last two days of their growth, the sprouts can be grown in the light and they will green up. You can change the jar top as the sprouts grow, using a top with larger holes so that you can flush out seed hulls while rinsing.

After ordering seed from Pinetree, I discovered a wonderful new-to-me health food store, Harvest House, in Concord, CA. They have seeds in bulk as well as all of the sprouting paraphernalia, and a seed mix, Zesty Sprouting Mix, 16 oz. for $4.99. The mix contains radish, crimson clover, fenugreek, and alfalfa seeds.

As soon as I started eating/harvesting the first batch of sprouts, I started growing a second batch. If you wanted to grow the individual seeds to see the differences in taste and germination times, you could have three batches going at once. It's a simple pleasure...

Ah, the '50s!

Northern California Seasons

I know everyone says that California only has two seasons: rainy and not rainy. It's just not true. We have been having a glorious autumn. I can't remember such a perfect October. November has been more of the same. We are all worried about the dreaded D-word. We have had two storms, the last of which (Halloween weekend) dumped 3-1/2 " of rain on our garden. It barely moistened the soil. We do need lots more rain but our rainy season is really just starting. The hills are starting to green-up. Many trees are shedding their leaves but the foliage has been spectacular this year. I try not to feel guilty relishing these perfect days. This is a picture of our street. Semi-rural. These are Japanese Maples, Acer palmatum. I am putting them on my garden wish list.

Election Day 2008

FINALLY!

I voted, did you?



I'm not sure how this relates to anything but it made me laugh. It could be fabric relate because it came from Tanya Brown, Fabric Illustrator. I found it at her blog.

Water

I finished this 12 x 12 Water piece that I made for the G4. I’ve been indecisive about posting a picture because it has issues. I used Melody Johnson’s facing technique instead of her pillow case finish or a binding because it was very heavily quilted and that method of finish permits “quilting off the edge.” The instructions are excellent and the technique is great. I’ve done facings before but it’s been some time and I certainly learned something: be gentle when turning. I also think I might have squared from the back (is that possible?) instead of the front. I have my next 12 x 12 ready to be faced so I will have more data soon.

I have been cleaning up old email files and I found something I’d saved from Marilyn Belford about work that might not feel “worthy.” She said words to the effect that it is done, and “you can’t win them all.” She does not discard, nor does she redo. I've taken that to heart.

I loved the “fabric” that I made for this piece (gelatin printing from Rayna Gillman's book, Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth) but I am not happy with the finished work, but I learned so much and I really should immediately start Water II.

Happy Birthday Rick!

Yes, I still do. Yes I will...
\\

Safe, Prosperous, and Free

I saw this video on Gerrie's blog on politics.

Elizabeth Peyton and Creativity

I'm always behind in reading the New Yorker so I just discovered the profile of the painter Elizabeth Peyton by Calvin Tomkins in the October 9 issue. Unfortunately, the entire article is not available online but there is an abstract and a slide show with 9 pictures of her paintings.




There is a lot of interest in her at the moment because of a mid-career survey of her work at the New Museum on the Lower East Side. The New York Times published a review of the show by Roberta Smith. There is also an audio slide show.

Both articles articulate similar themes. Peyton seems to need to almost fall in love with her subjects. If the attraction is ther, she returns for further explorations. She works from both art/photographs and life. I love that she acknowledged in an interview with Tomkins that she makes lots of bad art.

I would love to see this show especially because the pieces are small. Smith's words are that "few are larger than your face."

Additional images can be found at the artnet page for Elizabeth Peyton.

I Did It!

It’s not really such a big thing. I can say that now. I didn’t swim yesterday because of an ear issue. I was sure it was related to swimming. So, despite glorious weather, I skipped a day. But today was even more glorious and I knew it would be so much easier to swim in warm sunshine.

The pool at the Soda Center today was fabulous. I had a lane all to myself. I was worried because it is deeper than Park Pool: something about getting in. I discovered that there is a deeper end (10’) and a not-so-deep-end (7’). It’s funny: I told Andrew that it felt as if the pool was slower than Park Pool. Everyone says it is a FAST pool because it is so deep and so big. And even though I know it is 25 yards across, it felt longer. He says I’ll get used to it.

I met Betty, who swims 3-4 times a week at Soda, and she was very encouraging. I also saw Dorothy from Park Pool! Del was right! Everyone was very friendly!

I brought my camera to take some pictures for the blog but ran out of time. I found the following link for a photo taken during a big meet at the Soda Center. I tried to get permission to use it but to no avail. I found the following link for images of the Soda Center. There is one really interesting picture that shows the pool half-filled with water.

Swim Journal

Sunday was my last swim of the season at Park Pool. This was my best season ever. I started swimming in April and swam every day for the last nine days of the season. Kind of obsessive but here is what I wrote in my journal: April, 3 swims; May, 9 swims; June, 10 swims; July, 16 swims; August, 18 swims; September, 15 swims; and October, 5 swims. (As I look at it, there is ample room for improvement next year!)

Steven taught me how to do turns in August. My workouts for August, September and October were about 45 min. and 2000 yards. Steven suggested that I think in terms of hundreds and 500s. I couldn't imagine doing that before I learned to turn.

My next goal is to try out the beautiful pool at the Soda Aquatic Center. I have been trying to psych myself up to keep swimming during the winter months. I've never done that before. With the earlier pool closing this year at Park Pool, it seems as if this is the time to try it. October can have brilliant, beautiful, warm days. I thought about it last year but never made it. I'm a little anxious about this because it will probably mean sharing a lane with a stranger and I'm not feeling very confident about my abilities.