Down on the bayou

A huge red metal crawfish adorns the kitchen counter of Debbie and Rick's open kitchen.  A promise of the hospitality to come!

Over the Easter weekend, I took a road trip to South Louisiana.  It is one of my favorite places to go because I get to spend time with my friends, Debbie and Richard, who I have known since BK (Before Kids).  That, folks, is a very long time!  The mid-70's as a matter of fact. They are the epitome of welcoming, generous Southern folks. I pull into their driveway in Pontchatoula, Louisiana, and I think:  Laissez les bons temps rouler!  And .... they do!

This time I brought with me two gallon bags of frozen figs from last year's harvest with the idea that Debbie and I would make fig preserves. It was also time for strawberries from Ponchatoula's area farms to be for sale on the roadsides and street corners.  So, Friday and Saturday, she and I spent our time together "jamming", while Richard ran to the store for more sugar, more pectin, more jars, and once for a new blender so that we could chop the strawberries more efficiently.  He also kept the Diet Cokes (Debbie) and beer (me) coming.  He had a vested interest in all of our activity.

We got 7 pints and one quart out of the 2 gallons of figs I brought.

You see, Rick is a Certified Fig Fanatic.  He loves them.  I mean, REALLY loves them, and he was keeping track of where each filled jar was at all times. Upon opening and tasting from the first jar, Richard declared that our fig jam tasted just like his grandmother's and that he claimed every jar as his.  " They can have strawberry!" were his exact words, as I recall.  Richard is one reason I am trying my darnedest to root some fig twigs.

We bought a flat and a half of freshly picked strawberries, still warm from the fields!

They smelled like strawberry cotton candy, full of sunshine and natural sweetness!

We made 5 batches of strawberry jam, and they have been declared "scrumptious" by those who have tasted them.  To one batch we added cracked black pepper, and another, vanilla extract per some recipes we came across.  Not bad, but  not especially interesting either!

Friday night it was time for boiled crawfish and shrimp, potatoes, corn and "real" French bread ... the kind they only make in South Louisiana..... wonderfully soft in just the right places and perfectly crusty everywhere else!

I had another good reason to visit the bayou country that weekend. In mid February, Debbie had asked me if I would be able to knit an afghan for her that would go in a very special friend's living room in a very special home in the Garden District of New Orleans.  I would have a deadline, that being May 15.  Could I do it?!  I said yes.  

She told me that it needed to be very particular colors:  a very grayed blue (no lavender, no green), ivory, buttery yellow, and a peach that was not too pinkish, but was more orange and brownish.  She wanted a variety of yarns for textures and no squares (too "quilt-y"), but stripes would be okay.  I was excited!  No problem!

Well, yep, problem!  Hard to find yarns in these colors.  Hard to make these colors work in one piece.  Hard to find a variety of textures in yarns in these colors.  Before long, I began to hyperventilate and lose sleep.  Fortunately, I had already planned that road trip to Pontchatoula because I was going to need her input on this.  I couldn't do it alone!

In the meantime, I gathered up yarns I thought would work from my own stash, Hobby Lobby and from some of my online sources.  There was also a budget, mind you!  I knitted at night after work, and most of the days on the weekends.  I planned and knitted, and "frogged" what I had knitted and started over again.  I did not like what was coming off my needles!  Panic!  Hyperventilation!  Oh, NO!

The blues and peaches were just not right.  I needed to dye some yarns to get what I needed in those specific shades.  I thought we should add some greens after looking at a photo of the room itself.  I gathered up several shades of Rit dyes,both powdered and liquid, that I could mix in my dye pot and, hopefully, come up with what I needed.  I absolutely love to dye, and prefer to use Kool-Aid, Rit and sources from Nature itself, so this was exciting.

I gathered my dyeing pot, my dyes, my salt and my vinegar, and skeined off yarns for dying.

And I got to work in my kitchen!

A break in the rain that weekend allowed me the pleasure of hanging my new yarns out to dry on the clothesline.  A colorful sight!

And now, back to Easter weekend in Pontchatoula.  After the wonderful jars of jams were made, I brought out my yarns and swatches for Debbie to look over and tell me what she thought.  We culled some colors and yarns immediately.  Debbie said "no!" to any green and praised the shades of peach I had produced.  As expected, the blues were the hardest to decide on as to which would work and which would not.  She loved the textures, both in the knitting and in the yarns themselves, that I had produced.   And the stripes she wanted, were what I would call "bands" of color.  In the end, we had a plan and there was Excitement on both our parts.  For me, there was also Relief!

This is what Debbie and I ended up with as our Afghan Plan.  This shows 4 of the 5 color bands

that we decided on.  The fifth was a beautiful blue chosen from a small sample I brought with me.

Back home, I began ripping out squares and re-knitting them into the chosen bands, but the blue chosen from the small sample did not coordinate well once it was knitted into a larger amount of color.  Dang!  It happened to be my favorite of all the yarns, but I just could not make it work!  My friend, Judy, and I took a road trip to Tyler on the following Saturday to check out the brand new JoAnn's Fabric store, and there I found a blue yarn to use for that final band.  It was a much thicker yarn, but I felt it would work.  The color was just perfect.  I breathed a sigh of relief!

As the deadline quickly approached, I finished the five bands of color, joined them with a mattress stitch, and knit several rows of edging on all four sides, with smaller size needles, to give it stability.  The various textures and thicknesses of the yarns needed to be controlled, you see.

I steam blocked it, pinned in place, on my bed.  This helped it maintain its shape.  Very important,

as the different yarns had different weights, as well as a mind of their own!

Under the ceiling fan in my bedroom, the afghan dried quickly, and while it dried, I gathered and cut the ribbons and yarns I  planned on using for the long fringes that Debbie wanted.  At this point, I was still not yet confident in the design of  this piece.  Something was missing.

As you can see from my photos, these colors can look so differently in
different lighting.

The fringes are 8" long and made of narrow ribbons and textured yarns.

Once the fringes were on, it looked beautiful and all the colors and textures came together, and I sighed a HUGE sigh of Relief.  And smiled!

I got the afghan in the mail to Pontchatoula in plenty of time for the events at the New Orleans home, and Debbie said she loved it and was pleased with how soft it was.  I want to see a photo of it in the room on the back of that sofa before I can know for sure!

With this project I learned a few things. One is that "simple is usually better", especially with things that are complicated.  Also, when you are doing a project for someone, find out as soon as you can, EXACTLY what they have in mind .....  BEFORE you start working on it!  It turns out, Debbie said "knit" when she really meant "weave"!  When she said "stripes," I thought no more than an inch wide, possibly thinner.  She was thinking wider, more like what I would call "bands."  Ask them to show you what they mean, because once they do and you are both on the same sheet of music, you can have your Ah-Ha moment without pushing the Panic Button  .....  hopefully!  


Now, for those of you who didn't see my post on Facebook of the photo of my first little leopard frog:

Leopard froglet.  Is it not just the cutest thing you have seen in awhile?!

Here you can clearly see his "leopard spots".

I named it "Prince," but I did not kiss it.  I thought about it, but I didn't.  Within the week, Prince had left the tadpole habitat and gone off on his Life's Adventure.  I hope he is able to live a long and happy life, eating as many mosquitoes and flies as he can around here. It will be a good year for those mosquitoes what with all this rain!  Meanwhile, another tadpole is growing hind legs, and soon there will be another little froglet here on HeartSong Farm's back porch.

And crawfish has made another appearance in my life!  

Last night, Tammy and Chris brought me some boiled crawfish because they had too much! Now wasn't that nice of them to think of me?  I sure thought so!  There was enough to enjoy right out of the bucket, and some reserved for making etouffee later.  Almost as good as being back down on the bayou!

And Richard ......  it looks like we may have another bumper crop of figs this July and August!  YAY!

Figs developing on my fig tree, loving all the rainwater this spring.

It is still very very muddy here on the farm, but we have not been involved in any of the tragic flooding of this past week, and for that we are grateful.  Prayers to all those affected by those recent storms.  More evidence of Global Warming, I wonder?  Hmmm....

Today, we are enjoying a day of mostly sunshine here on HeartSong Farm!

OMG, did we have fun at CPS #3!

The lodge facility directly across from the Activities Room and Pool at Lone Oak Ranch Retreat.

The last weekend of January 2015 found me on a wonderful road trip with my friend, Wanda.  We were headed for the Chix Packin Stix Retreat about an hour north of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.  I was so excited that I didn't even care that it was also Super Bowl Weekend.  That says a mouthful, if you know me well enough!

Wanda was quite excited, herself.  She was looking forward to finally learning how to knit.  You see, Wanda is left handed, and that makes it hard to learn knitting and crochet because almost all directions for everything is geared towards being right handed.  So unfair, right?!  She desperately needed help and there would be at least two left handed knitters at the Retreat!

It took us the better part of 5 hours to reach Lone Oak Ranch Retreat near Gainesville, and, I am not kidding, we talked non-stop about anything and everything.  I had to hunt for my chapstick before I left my car.  Finding it amongst the stuff in my purse was a godsend, because I was going to need it quite often during the rest of the weekend!

The fun began with the opening of the door of the Activities Room on January 30, 2015, at the Lone Oak Ranch Retreat venue and site of the 3rd Chix Packin Stix Retreat.  I could hardly wait to see who would be attending, and what projects we would be exploring.  Pictures are said to be worth a 1000 words, and I think the following photos say a lot about how much fun we had!  Enjoy!

Early arrivals found a table to call home base and got to work on a project of their own.  Hugs and screams of delight were abundant as each new attendee entered the building!

After a Friday Night Potato and Soup Bar, we started things off with a "Get Acquainted" game that

involved trading lengths of yarn with everyone.  In the end, we were each able to make a Friendship

Scarf by tying, braiding or whatever we wanted to do with our colorful strands.  It was a loud,

rambunctious and crazy way to make new friends and greet the old!

There was crocheting and weaving on a peg loom going on.

At each Retreat, we make something for a charity.  This time we brought
fleece and crocheted around the edges to make blankets for the kids at
either Parkland Hospital or Medical City Dallas.

A finished blanket ready to be loved by a child at a local hospital.

Crocheting edges to blankets and crocheting a shawl for someone special.

A colorful tower of blankets for the kids at the hospitals to enjoy!  Mine
is the plaid one on the very bottom.

Gathering beads, button, ribbons and other pretties for making our Inspiration Flags.

And the process begins!

Each Inspiration Flag was unique!

Each was beautiful!

Each was ....  inspirational!

This Retreat,several of the ladies brought their spinning wheels and set them up in a group.  I wish I had brought my Joy, but I decided at the last moment not to do so.  Next time, she will definitely accompany me on my trip to the Lone Oak Ranch!

Oh, the colors, creations and equipment!  A fiber gal's dream weekend!

Sharing is what it is all about at Chix Packin Stix Retreat.  We all learn from each other throughout the weekend.  Sometimes it is about a technique; sometimes it is about life.  But we all learn something new.

Concentration on our projects did not interfere with our visiting and sharing.

As usual, I am talking with my hands .... even while doing
some handwork on my Inspiration Flag.

Some of the ladies learned how to use a small triangle loom.

Oh, my, YES!  There were plenty of snacks to keep us going throughout the day and night!

Saturday night we had an impromptu pajama party, and a fire in the
fireplace kept us all cozy.  A perfect place to handcard some fiber!

A new spinner shows off her handspun and crocheted alpaca shawl!

Saturday night we stayed up late working on projects, making new friendships, and catching up with old friendships.  

Lots of laughter and lots of smiles!  Busy, busy, busy!

Linda J. of Wildflower Studio brought each of us a kit and gave instructions
for needle felting an Easter egg!  What fun!

The kit for the needle felted egg came complete with a bandaid ....  just in case!  I started my egg!

Some of Linda's wonderful needle felted creations!  Visit her at
ljswildflowerstudio.com

After a bit of instruction from Linda, we got started on needle felting our eggs.

Lots of concentration and creativity going on here!  Mind those sharp needles, gals!

Needle felting is not hard, you just have to get in the groove!

The special felting needles are VERY SHARP, so you must be careful as you jab the fiber into your

design.

Let me just say that there are some people that, if  you hang out with them, craziness just has to happen!  That is all I am saying.  I am not calling out any names.  You know who you are!

The lamp post outside the Activities is just screaming for a yarn bombing!

Here is the whole gang right before lunch on Sunday.  Does it look like we have had some FUN?!

Another project was card stamping.  Here are the four I made.  Mine were

made in a hurry because I was so busy visiting and talking that they were

cleaning off the table when I finally decided it was time to make mine!

I hung my Inspiration Flag on the mantel in my den.  I like it!

Me and my roomies shared a hug after Sunday lunch, before packing up and heading homeward.

And then, Wanda and I talked non-stop the 5 hours we were homeward bound!  I was, by then, on my second tube of chapstick, but it was all very well worth it!  We were almost home when we noticed the most amazing sight to the west ..... a rainbow around the setting sun within the most gorgeous sunset I have seen in a very long time!  A rainbow around the sun, folks!  It is called a solar halo.  Awesome!

Well, I haven't finished my needle felting project yet, but I am working on it.  We also received several skeins of yarn and patterns for shawls, cowls and fingerless mitts.  I haven't had a chance to play with any of those yet either.  Maybe this weekend.

Retreats like this are a place for the communion of the souls of women, a coming together to share and learn and support each other.  Sure it is about the fiber and the yarn, the knitting, crocheting and creating, but it is much much more.  I know that I always leave such a gathering of women with a sense of worth and energy that allows me to return to the Real World and go forth on my Path with more confidence and happiness than I had before arriving.

And so, I came home after this Retreat so "tired, but happy" that I accidentally wore my Wednesday shirt with my Friday jeans to work on Monday!  Oh, my!



BTW, I have joined with the organizers of the Chix Packin Stix Retreat and will be helping to come up with door prizes for our twice a  year events.  I have chosen to call myself the Goodie Goddess!  (I have some nerve, eh?!)  And, there just may be a costume involved ....  Stay tuned!

SO ..... if you have any ideas for acquiring some goodies for our door prizes, please email me at chixpackinstix@gmail.com, attn: Sara.  I am looking for some sources of interesting items that would charm a knitter, crocheter, fiberist, woman's heart.  Yarn, fiber, fabric, notions, books, chocolate, soap, etc. is what I have in mind.  So, please put on your thinking cap (hopefully a hand-knitted or crocheted one!) and help me come up with some great sources!


And, if you would like to find out more about Chix Packin Stix and to sign up for the next Retreat  (August 7 - 9, 2015), you should visit the Facebook page and sign up to "Follow" us!  There is already a registration form there on the page.  Or you can go there to find even more photos of the fun we had.  For those of you who attended, it will be a walk down Memory Lane, for sure!



Feeling better after a bout of pleurisy and a sinus infection here on HeartSong Farm.