Twisp of Fate

I haven’t kept up with the blog very well this past week or so.  There’s plenty going on, but not much of it has been picture-worthy. Or maybe I am getting lazy about taking pictures.

Five days ago we had an early visit from Old Man Winter:

October 14, 2009

And it was cold!  It seemed like we had gone from Summer to Winter with very little Autumn in between.

But yesterday it was lovely – warm, almost 70 in the afternoon.  We worked out in the back yard all day, having borrowed a rototiller from our neighbors up the road.  We tilled up and raked out the sod in the rest of the areas where we want to put a shrub and perennial border to the lawn, then Rick used the tractor to haul over soil from the dirt pile and we raked that out.  It is almost ready for a layer of mulch, and then planting next spring.  Very satisfying!

Since the barrier fence across the back seems to be progressing nicely – they poured the concrete after the early snow melted and daytime temperatures came back up – we have decided to hire someone to put in a deer fence around most of the back yard before winter comes.  They started today.  We borrowed a tractor with a post-hole auger from the neighbors, and they are using that to put in the wooden posts.  The fence itself is a rigid 4″ grid, the same thing they use to reinforce concrete slabs.  So it should pretty much disappear visually.

Don’t get me wrong.  We love the deer!  We just don’t want them eating our trees, our future planting beds, our future vegetable garden, etc…

Speaking of deer, this is the week of “modern firarms” hunting.  Meaning hunters with rifles all over the place.  There are hunters camped up in the national forest at the top of Benson Creek, and they cruise up and down our road slowly, “spotting” deer out in the fields.  We keep the driveway gates closed, and don’t go out for a walk, even up the road, much less up in the hills.  It will be over next weekend.

Woodworking: Rick finished up a big installation last week, for the job he is working on up in Mazama.  He had to finish all the cabinets that will have stone tops, so they could come and template the granite.  This involved a 22-foot long kitchen cabinet wall – quite the sight when set up in the shop downstairs – plus another set of cabinets that go in the “snug.”  Sorry I didn’t get a picture!  We will take some up at the house, sometime soon.  He has a part-time helper now, and I am doing some of the finishing to help out.  But it looks like the job will continue on into November, as there is still quite a bit left to do.

Weaving:  I’m working on a series of shawls to get ready for our guild sale the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I am also going to make some shawl pins, but am waiting for some “findings” to show up in the mail, so I have nothing to photograph at present.  I am also getting ready to weave a first project on my new loom up at the guild room – Kay is helping me as I am going to be pushing my knowledge and abilities on this one.  It will be a lace curtain for the guild’s bathroom window!

Knitting:  I am substantially far along with the Tomten Jacket, but it just doesn’t seem that interesting visually at this stage, so I am waiting to photograph later.  I have 2 other projects in mind, but as none of the yarn I have is exactly the right gauge (and I am determined to use yarn I have) it is going to require some recalculating and planning before I can actually start anything.

By the way, the Seattle Weavers Guild annual show and sale is coming up at the end of this week.  I joined the guild recently, and hope to participate in the sale next year.  It’s a pretty big deal – they have a lot of inventory with very high quality, and a loyal following.  So if  you are in the big city, try to get by St Marks Cathedral sometime between Thursday and Saturday evenings and check it out!