July ending, August beginning

 I haven't blogged all the July pics yet, and here we are in August. Some dancing shots of Daniel and Tertia at Ian and Ashley's wedding...

Tertia dances with such complete joy, even when her feet hurt from dancing all night.

 My July birthday girl made her own birthday cake. It was a Mocha Toffee Crunch cake, and it was delicious! She is seventeen now.

Also, Tertia and I entered the Harry Potter trivia competition on July 31 at Latte-Da Coffeehouse and Wine Bar. We won second place! Tertia is the trivia whiz... I provide transcription and spelling assistance, and I know Latin so if she remembers  something that sounds vaguely like "priori incantatem" I write it down.

 A shirt, a Dobby poster and a special vial of Felix Felicis (for decorative purposes only) were the spoils of victory. She is already making plans for the next event on Halloween.

 The Clark County Fair is  now open. Pygmy goats are always photogenic.

 I didn't enter any quilts, but enjoyed looking at those on display.

And the girls doing a silly shot in the 4H cats and dogs pavilion. Not pictured: our annual stop at the Dairy Women's booth to buy milkshakes before leaving the fair.

The plum tree is doing its thing, we are making plans for camp, the Megaquilter is semifunctional again and I am binding Grand Illusions quilt, which really deserves its own post. I'm also doing  genealogy semi-obsessively - which needs its own post; and I'm working on my Latin course for Wikiversity, which needs its own post. The random number for August is 9 - that means that my randomly selected UFO's for this month are (1) to resurrect the ancient Mariner's Compass rug hooking project from... maybe 18 years ago... and (2) work on knitted gifts for my stash. Neither of those is happening so far but I have finally turned the heel on my purple Sara Elin socks. 

Ravelry is still being a booger though, so I'm spending very little time there. They have lifted the restriction on me posting but they have blacked out my profile and are showing no signs of restoring it even though I purged it of everything political and asked to have it restored. And it wasn't even political in the first place! For the record, I oppose censorship. And the people who run Ravelry ... well, I can't say anything nice. But hey, at least they aren't spitting in my food or trying to get me de-platformed everywhere else. Their lunch counter, their rules. It's just one more symptom of a broken culture, where disagreeing with the Left on anything makes you a racist, and Twitter mobs can force the New York Times to take down the bland headline "Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism" because it wasn't anti-Trump enough. Yes, definitely time to tune out of Twitter and Ravelry and any other triggering sites for awhile.

Well, back to your previously scheduled summer. I want to prep a dehydrator full of plums today. Quarta has already made a load of plum-roll-ups for the winter. I also need to tackle Tertia's clothes and bag up the surplus ones so she can actually get them put away in her dresser. And there are a few quickie baby quilts I would like to make, but probably not until after camp.

Chasing Summer

Summer tends to run away from us. There have been several instances of family movie night: this was Nine Lives. Muffball was disdainful of any screen portrayals of cats that were not her.

Youngest child Quarta is now Fifteen. I Am Thai is a great restaurant, whether your occasion is "early birthday" or "I don't want to cook tonight."

 This series of photos was the result of my instructions: "look happy and dignified."

 Gooey Chocolate Caramel cake, with Heath Bars and Cool Whip.

 The county fair, as it looked when I dropped off the Farmer's Wife Quilt two days before opening. I have always said I don't want to go on any ride that is delivered by a truck.

 I discovered by chance, while looking through quilt books, that Tertia was awarded the Elder Wand for good conduct at school back in June. This seems like a dangerous precedent, but so far no Death Eaters have dogged our steps, and she is the first Hufflepuff, to my knowledge, to gain this distinction.

 We have had some record-breaking temperatures this summer, and last week we enjoyed this idyllic afternoon at the Washougal River with some friends who own property there.

 The dog, Argos, was the sweetest ever, playing the fetch game with Tertia, dropping and rolling the toy to her over and over, and pointing at it if she was slow to pick it up.

 The Farmer's Wife Quilt won a red ribbon, which seems to be the best I can get out of the quilt cabal at the fair, and is in a place of prominence. To its right is a 50-state star quilt made by a lady who was in my informal beginner's quilt class more than 10 years ago. It was so nice to bump into her again and see her still going strong!

Plum season is in full swing, after a slow start because of the cold winter and spring. I can always pull up my plum recipes by the tag "plums." I'm not picking quite as diligently because the tree is so much taller now. There are a lot of bugs around too. But we have one dehydrator load almost finished and enough to start another, and even though we have some still in the freezer from 2 years ago, I should get busy and make pflaumenmus and plum jam and freeze a few bags at least. I don't think I'm up for picking hundreds of pounds to donate to the food bank but if anyone wants to come, they are welcome to pick for themselves.

This is what plums look like when they are dropped in boiling water for a few seconds, then drained. The skins slip off easily, leaving what I used to tell the boys were "elephant eyeballs." They never believed me! But then you can puree the plums after the seeds are removed and use the puree for plum leather in the dehydrator. It has been a long time since I did this, witness the fact that the girls were ignorant of the "elephant eyeballs" thing. So we'll see whether the plum leather is worth it.

This has been kind of an extended Randomday, trying to catch up with neglected blogging. I'll have more, including knitting, next time, but it's already a fairly picture-heavy post.

Randomday

Once again it's Randomday, when the blog eats leftovers and is happy to do it.

That awkward moment when Secundus, trying to back Dad's car out without hitting Grandma's, manages to wedge it between Grandma's car and the garage with less than an inch to spare in either direction.  He did, eventually, have to come back in the house and ask for help.  Neither car was damaged, but he was a little late to his job at the fair.  Now that the fair is over, he is plotting how best to spend his earnings, researching used pickup trucks.

Zucchini recipes here and here.  Surely you will find something to do with your zucchini.  You know you have them!  This is Quarta's blue-ribbon fair zucchini.

Speaking of the fair, here are my results and the judges' comments, clockwise from the top:

• Feathered star, red ribbon, "some quilting is not straight but I applaud you for doing it yourself."
• Mayan Spring shawl, blue ribbon, "nice tension. One end needs yarn worked back in, easy to do."
• Orca Bay quilt, red ribbon, "some points do not quite meet up and some are puckered. Nice use of scrap."
• Jack's Chain quilt, red ribbon, "some points don't quite match up.  Very nice binding.  Sweet retro quilt."
• Wingspan shawlette, blue ribbon, "very nice.  Keeps shoulders warm."
• Handspun BFL yarn, red ribbon, "Great color in yarn, nice twist - no info as to use and source of fiber."
• Argyle socks, blue ribbon, "very nice, lovely colors."

I have decided I will probably never win a blue ribbon on a quilt, if those three didn't qualify.  I tend to think my quilting skills are a little better than my knitting skills, especially when it comes to design and color choice, but the clothing department where I entered my knitting had more generous judges.  Oh well, it was still fun.

And a random book review: The Ionia Sanction, by Gary Corby.  This is the second book in a series of historical mysteries set in ancient Greece.  Nicolaos, (whose kid brother is a hilariously geeky Socrates), is called upon to pursue an investigation of the murder of a city official with ties to Ephesus.  He rescues a slave girl and travels to return her to her family, along the way reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend, the priestess Diotima, and the great general Themistocles, now a traitor to Greece and in the service of the Persians.  And though the book is meticulously well-researched, and the dialogue is witty and hip so as not to turn off the modern generation of readers, and the main characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, I can't recommend it wholeheartedly.  Graphic, sickening violence and gratuitous sexual situations are woven into the plot, making it a bit too disturbing, in my opinion, for the lighthearted tone the author is trying to create.  Definitely not for kids or sensitive adults, but a fascinating glimpse into history.

History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances  

- Donald Creighton

Fair Report; Monday Designs and Stash Report

I'm still basking in the glow of finishing my Ravellenic Games project yesterday; I also picked up our Fair exhibits this morning.  The Clark County Fair is over and everyone needs a few days to recover from that let-down feeling.  So fun to read all the comments, and we'll definitely enter things again... there's also a small check for winning ribbons, which is nice.  Quarta's pink applique "tea time" quilt got a blue ribbon and was much raved over by the Fair ladies.  "A keepsake item, enjoy!"  My Jack's Chain, Junior quilt only got a red ribbon: "Some areas pucker with quilting.  Kind of small for a baby."  Framed In also a red ribbon: "good idea - no points to really match. Binding needs help, many uneven places.  Miter corners a little tight."  Hmm, ya think that might be because I used many different weight scraps?  But the ladies in the "clothing" department were more generous.  My handspun Targhee yarn got a red ribbon, but then later also collected a Superintendent's Choice purple/gold ribbon. "Beautiful colors - watch for over spinning in spots."  Lady MacBeth garnered a blue ribbon and was apparently considered for Judge's Choice: "What a gorgeous piece of art!!!" And I loved the judges' comments on Nautilina, which seemed to inspire people to think about going on vacation: "Wonderful. How perfect with any color while walking the beach after a nice dinner in Mexico (I'm going in March)."  Sorry, nameless judge, but you can't borrow it!

On the design floor was this quilt from Steve's mom.  Isn't it charming?  I pinned it for her yesterday.  I love the flower prints and the different cream backgrounds.  She says people were pleased to see her again tying quilts in the activity room the last time she went.  I guess she took some time off after Steve's dad passed away.

My own design wall hasn't changed any since last week; Feathered Star still waiting for me.

Stash Report:

Fabric used this week: 0 yards
Fabric used year to date: 53.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 28 yards
Net used for 2012: 25.5 yards

Yarn used this week: 540 yards to finish Rhinebeck (total yardage for sweater 1444)
Yarn used year to date: 5850 yards
Yarn added this week: 0 yards
Yarn added year to date: 3503 yards (all handspun, not purchased)
Net used for 2012: 2347 yards

Division Day

I've made lots of progress knitting over the last few days: Wednesday I spent 2 hours in the Vancouver DMV and Thursday it was about 2 hours altogether with Daniel driving to the Kelso DMV, and waiting for him to take his drive test and get his license (whoo hoo!) and driving back.  The Kelso DMV is totally the way to go.  Only about 5 minutes wait time from the time you take your number.  And Daniel is a licensed driver now!

Daniel drove the girls and me to the fair this morning... we got in with our free admission tickets for the pancake breakfast, but we'd already eaten at home.  We parked way out in the far G section and were already tired after looking at the animal exhibit (baby lion who slept in people's arms, a wallaby that hopped obligingly the lenthg of his cage, giganto pythons, a wise old tortoise) and some of the animal barns (Tertia is still terrified of cows, or any animal significantly larger than herself.  She probably doesn't remember the close encounter she had with an unruly bull as a toddler at the fair, but her subconscious sure does!)

Quarta's quilt had a blue ribbon, and my 2 quilts had red.  My 2 knitted items had blues and my yarn had a red.  Of course, it does seem that just about everything gets a ribbon.  Everyone's a winner at the fair!  Not a bad way to celebrate the summer, really.

Olympic knitting continues.  I celebrated Division Day today.  That means I completed the 15 inches of the "lower body pattern," which I affectionately think of as the waffle stitch, and divided the right front, back, and left front.  The left and right fronts are hanging out on holders or scrap yarn while I continue in plain stockinette stitch on the back.  Yay for no more ribbing, it's going to go a lot faster from here on, even though it's bulkier and harder to maneuver.

From the cast-on at the bottom edge, here are the skeins/colorways I've used so far:

145 (copper/bronze/embers) - 96 yds.
345 (flame/bronze/embers) - 98 yds.
135 (copper/flame/embers) - 118 yds.
134 (copper/flame/bronze) - 96 yds.
113 (double copper/flame) - 106 yds.  This was a little finer than the gauge I wanted so I started alternating every other row with
553 (double embers/flame) - 82 yds, and finished the waffle stitch section to divide for the 3 sections; the back started with 553 and continues with
235 (caution/flame/embers) - 108 yds., about 2 inches so far this evening.

Still to blend in on the yoke are 123, 225, 125, and 115, plus any others I might need.  I've caught up with where I wanted to be if I hadn't had to frog my first 2 days' work.  It would be nice to speed through some of these stockinette sections and actually pull ahead of my goal.  So I suppose I better sign off and actually knit, right?

WIP Wednesday - County Fair entries!

Yesterday Quarta and I headed up to the Clark Co. Fairgrounds to drop off some exhibits for this year's fair.  We've never done anything like this before, and we're so excited!  From the archives of the blog they are...

Quarta's "Tea Time" quilt... her first quilt!  She designed and appliqued and embellished most of the pictures...

My "Framed In" quilt...

Jack's Chain, Jr. edition...

Nautilina Shawl...

Rose Lace Stole (a.k.a. Lady MacBeth, but she's out on parole now!).  Note the difference between a "shawl" and a "stole."  If I had taken before pictures of the thrift store sweater the yarn came from I could have entered it into a whole different category for recycled or upcycled items...

and finally, handspun Navajo-plied Targhee wool yarn from the Tour de Fleece.  I hadn't even washed and thwacked this yet, but it was fun to contribute these and I look forward to seeing them at the fair Friday.  Get your free admission tickets for the Fred Meyer pancake breakfast at your neighborhood store; most of us skip the long line for free pancakes and head straight to the other fun.  I'm going to try to convince the girls to let me spend some quality time in the sheep barn this year.  But it will be fun to see some of our family's things on exhibit!

As far as real Works in Progress are concerned, I'm mainly all about the Ravelympics right now.

Today's picture, Rhinebeck goes Ravellenic is laid on top of my 2009 Rhinebeck by Proxy so you can see they are really 2 different sweaters!  You can also see this one is slightly larger (but not too much larger like the one I frogged Sunday) and has a slightly different blend of colors.  I like it! I'm 10 inches in, thanks to a 2-hour wait at the DMV this morning.  That's just about where I should have been at 2 inches per day if I hadn't frogged my first attempt, so it removed some of the frustration associated with long waits at the DMV.  Everybody, wish Daniel success on his driving test tomorrow... in Kelso!  (I think I'll have him drive there, and knit some more on the way... the earliest local exam time was going to conflict with his departure for college). 

I'm also linking to Ginny's Yarn-Along, but unfortunately I don't have a book.  That's because my reading has really slowed down to a crawl... does Facebook count?  (NOT!)  Online news articles? How about the Veritas Press catalog?  Variety Sudoku puzzles?  I'm blaming late nights watching the Olympics and the general busy-ness and lazyness of summer.  I read Family Circle for the recipes and celebrity gossip magazines for the inside scoop on the Cruise/Holmes divorce when I was at the eye doctor's waiting room.  Seriously, I need to mend my ways and do a book review soon!