Day: January 9, 2011

Turkey Tracks: Jane Smiley’s PRIVATE LIFE

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Jane Smiley’s PRIVATE LIFE

 I finished reading Jane Smiley’s new novel PRIVATE LIFE (May 2010) last night.

I highly recommend it.

It’s the work of a mature author writing at the top of her form.  It’s engaging at all levels:  character development, plot, mystery, profound engagement with issues and ideas. 

It’s a bit of an epic, since it chronicles the main character’s life from teenage years to mid-sixties–beginning in the late 1880.  Margaret is well on the road to spinsterhood in a small Missouri town 300 miles from St Louis, when a marriage is arranged with a locally famous, seemingly brilliant but socially awkward man from a prominent family who might become a nationally famous scientist.  They move to coastal California near San Francisco and live on an island with a naval base, and her decades-long discovery of who her husband is–and who she is–actually begins.  (No, he is not a serial killer–this is a serious study of character and the changing conditions for women and the culture in general through this period.)  The Japanese have a settlement just inland from the island, and the Margaret brushes up against a particular Japanese family for many years.  She is devastated when they are swept up and put into internment camps when WWII breaks out–an occurrence that brackets the novel’s opening and closing pages.

I wish I could go back and read it new once again.

Turkey Tracks: Taking the Sail Out of It

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Taking the Sail Out of It

 

We have this huge white pine directly back of our house.  This picture does not do its height  or the steepness of the hill justice.

 

Here it is, looming over the back of the house.  As Tom Jackson, our resident expert said, ” it’sthe biggest boy in the woods so there’s nothing to stop it.”  Note the “sail” at the top of the pine–all the green lollipop growth at the very top. 

 

 

You can see the growth pattern of the pine–which is very typical of Maine woods, which are in many places, like around our house, new woods filling in where the land was clear-cut.  The first growth from cleared woods is all quick-growing trees for the most part:  ash, birch, beech, “prollies” (poplars), and white pine.  We do have some hardwood oak and sugar maples and a few old-growth conifers, like hemlocks.  The white pines grow very quickly, and as they are surrounded by quick-growing trees, they all develop “sail” tops and lose the green on their mid to bottom branches.  Thus, this white pine was scary because white pines have shallow roots, topple over easily in high winds or rain-soaked ground.  This situation is worsened by its location on a steep hill slanting toward our house.  

This tree gives me nightmares.  It’s big enough to cleave the house if it came down our direction.

So, the tree experts came, and their solution was to take out most of the “sail.”  They also trimmed up the dead branches.  They say it’s healthy all the way to the top, and with the sail trimmed out, unlikely to fall on the house.

You can see how big the tree is in this picture:

 

I hope they’re right!

Turkey Tracks: Liam Whittle’s “Teddy Bear Tales” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Liam Whittle’s “Teddy Bear Tales” Quilt

 

 I fell in love with this quilt panel when I saw it a few years ago.  Maybe it’s because I’ve always loved Teddy Bears.  It told me it wanted to be sent to Liam Whittle, who is just the right age for teddy bears sleeping on his bed.  I made this quilt to be tough, washed, dragged around, and loved to pieces. 

This is the first quilt I’ve quilted on the long-arm.  It came out pretty well.  I just kept to the basics, but the machine is so much fun to work!

Here’s a detail of the front panel.  I hope Liam and his parents and his sister will make up stories that explain the pictures.

Here’s the backing fabric.  Is it perfect or what?  I really love the childrens’ quilt fabrics available now.

Enjoy, Liam.  Many hugs and kisses and love!  Your Great Aunt Louisa

Turkey Tracks: Ball-band Dishcloth

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Ball-Band Dishcloth

I finished the Ball-Band Dishcloths I talked about some time ago as an unfinished project.  I have no idea why they are called “ball band” discloths.  Maybe it’s the pattern…

I used red and green Peaches & Cream cotton for potential Christmas use–though they are looking very pretty on top of my yarn pile at the moment.  I got the pattern from Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne’s MASON-DIXON QUILTING.  But, as they note, the pattern is on the inside of the label of many of the P&C yarn balls.

Here’s what they look like:

I added the little braided end. It’s easier than weaving in all the loose ends.

These beauties hold up really well.  I have some that are three years old now and going strong.   As Gardiner and Shayne say:  THEY MUST BE USED!!!  Plus, they’re fun to make.

Turkey Tracks: Elaine Gottschall’s Muffins

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Elaine Gottschall’s Muffins

Since reading about the 1980 USDA food guide that changed the scientifically recommended guidelines for grains from 2 to 3 servings to 9 to 11 servings AND since realizing that my own food allergy problems are related to gut dysfunction, I censor grains in my diet.  I wrote about this USDA debacle in some of my Mainly Tipping Points essays which I have posted on this blog.  Along the way, other reading showed me a whole new way to get a bread-like product with ground nut “flours.”   

In the 1950s, Elaine Gottschall was, at first, a lay person with a seriously ill child when she discovered Dr. Sidney Haas’s work on gut dysfunction in the 1950s.  She adopted his Specific Carbohydrate Diet, now called the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), and cured her child.  Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, among others, has discovered the connection with gut dysfunction and neurological disorders, like autism, ADD, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, depression, and schizophrenia, and is having a lot of success helping those impacted.  Dr. Joseph Mercola has a book called the NO GRAIN DIET.   

Anyway, this nut-muffin or nut bread recipe is from Gottschall’s book BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLE.  It’s delicious and very filling.   Two of these muffins hold me for hours. 

Use organic nuts if you can.  AND, you REALLY DO NEED paper muffin cups.  (Don’t use foil as it will be aluminum toxic.)  The recipe makes about a dozen muffins–more if you add bulky items like banana.

2 1/2 cups ground nuts.  (You can buy nuts already ground at co-ops and stores specializing in nutrient-dense whole foods.) 

 1/4 cup melted butter, or yogurt, or small amount of fruit juice, or pure apple butter (enough to moisten well)

1/2 cup (or less) honey

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs

Additions:  1/3 cup dried fruit, and/or grated lemon/orange rind, and/or flavoring (almond, vanilla).  Fresh blueberries are nice.  For a banana version, add two mashed, ripe bananas and an extra egg.  For coconut, add dried/unsweetened coconut for part of the flour.

For nut bread, add one extra egg (4 eggs) and put into well-greased 1-quart baking dish.

Mix all together and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

Gottschall’s book has many good recipes.  But, she wrote it at a time when we did not know how dangerous artificial sweeteners are.  Don’t use them.  Some of my essays cover artificial sweeteners as well. 

 

Turkey Tracks: Red Fish Quilt In Progress and Copyright Laws

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2011

Red Fish Quilt In Progress and Copyright Laws

 

Two summers ago, I took two quilting classes from Jo Diggs, at our state-wide Pine Tree Quilting Guild (PTQG) annual show.

Jo Diggs is an amazing quilter and an effective, caring teacher.  She cuts fabric free-hand and hand appliques the shapes to make her designs.  She does landscapes, floral compositions, and underwater fish and vegetation.  She relies on fabrics she can buy.  She does not artistically manipulate (paint, stamp) fabric.  You can an idea of the kind of work she does on her web site:  www.jodiggs.com.  But, there is no substitute for seeing her work in person.  And, she will be teaching at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Norfolk, VA, in February.

Before I took Jo’s class on landscapes, I had been doing landscapes.  I can clearly state that I will never be able to be the kind of artist she is.  Her visions are unique and enormously satisfying.  And I did learn more about method from her.  The fish class, though, was formative.  Prior to this class, I had no idea how to go about creating a picture of fish from inside my own head and with fabric available to me.  I did not know how to “think” a fish by combining various shapes in layers.

The small quilt top I started stayed pinned to my design wall for 18 months.  I finally picked it up and started hand-sewing just before going to Charleston for Thanksgiving.  Hmmmm, I thought.  Maybe I can do this work.  Last week, I picked up the top again, in the middle of two other quilting projects and three knitting projects, and quickly became obsessed.  Here’s what it looks like so far:

 I’m getting better at the applique as I go along.  My circles have improved immeasurably already.  The fish will all get eyes via embellishment at the second stage.  The large green fish, for instance, will get a button eye.  And, already, some of the foreground has changed.  It does have more depth when you look at it straight on… 

I haven’t a clue how to quilt it, but will figure it out. 

Meanwhile, if this quilt does turn out to be good enough to think about hanging it at the annual Pine Tree show, I will have to get Jo Digg’s permission since it was developed in a class she taught.  Pine Tree recently sent out new protocols for displaying quilts.  If you developed a quilt in a class, made it from a pattern in a magazine or book, or from a pattern you purchased, you have to get the permission of the designer to display the quilt.  I don’t think you can sell such a quilt without getting the permission of the designer either.  Exceptions involve using traditional blocks.  Amy Butler, who designs patterns and fabric, clearly states that if you buy one of her patterns, you may not sell the item to anyone without her permission. 

I’m all for a designer getting credit for his/her work.  I think having to get permission for using a pattern in a published magazine or a book is a bit silly and defeats the purpose of the said magazine or book.  One must give credit, yes, but getting permission is an overload for everyone.  I think selling products made from a published pattern should be ok, too, provided one gives credit to the designer. 

The big problem I have with how to negotiate this terrain with regard to taking classes is deciding where there is a novel, copywrited product and where there is a method to be learned.  No one else can combine fabric in the way Jo Diggs does.  She is an artist and the work she does comes from inside her head.  She can teach me “fish,” but I’ll never create them or put them into a quilt in the way she does.  I could not if I tried.  What she does is unique.  So, did I learn a method from Jo Diggs.  Or am I forever bound to call her for permission whenever I make an applique quilt using anything remotely resembling her fish method?

I don’t know.

But, I can tell you that I’m not likely to take any more classes if these interpretations prevail.  I already refuse to buy Amy Butler’s patterns or fabrics  and would encourage you not to do so as well until she mitigates her legal stance in writing on her patterns.  And, if my little fish quilt turns out ok and if I can reach Jo Diggs without too much trouble and if she gives permission, I might hang it at PTQG.  But if there is any hitch, I will not.  So it will be interesting to see how many quilts PTQG hangs this year.

Clearly this whole terrain has gone over the edge of sanity.  I will be interested to see how much of an impact it has on teachers, books, and quilt shows.

 

Turkey Tracks: Annie’s First Egg

Turkey Tracks:  January 8, 2011

Annie’s First Egg

Yesterday I was in hurry and rushed down the wooden boardwalk to my car.  The chickens were out, and I walked through them.  When I reached the end of the boardwalk, I was aware that our rooster, Napoleon, or Coq Au Vin, depending upon whether you are talking to John or the grandkids, was chasing me.  Mercy!  He has been so docile all winter, often letting me pet him while he makes all sorts of contented noises.  Here’s a winter picture of the chickens hanging out at a back door.  They are very social and come visiting on the porches often.  Annie is closest to the door.

When I got home, I visited the coop to check food and water levels.    There was a dark brown egg in a depression in a corner, under a lower roost!  It could only be Annie’s since it is the smaller size of a pullet just starting to lay.  Here’s a picture of Annie’s first egg  in the middle of Rose Thomas’s eggs.  (The blue eggs are from her wheaten Americaunas and the light brown ones are from, likely, her Red Sex-Links.)

The fact that Roo chased me suddenly made perfect sense.   One of the hens was laying again!

For those of you who don’t know chickens, when the days grow shorter, hens stop laying and rest.  You can see in the picture of the chickens that Annie’s comb is much redder than the older hens.  Depletion of comb and leg color happens because egg production takes everything out of the hens.  You can keep hens laying by artificially lighting them to extend what they think of is daylight.  We don’t do much lighting,  preferring to let the hens rest.  We only light (using a red light bulb if we can find one) for warmth on the coldest days and nights.  But, our days are already getting longer now.  And, lighting the coop with a white light recentlyfor a few hours at dusk to get it warm while we are waiting for ordered red bulbs to come may be a factor.

In any case, you can see why eggs were so valuable around the winter holidays because they would have to have been saved since about mid-November if one wanted a special cake.  And, you can see why Easter is a celebration involving eggs because eggs would, once again, be plentiful.