Coronation Prep

 I had done a scroll for Robyn the Grey, and she liked it so well she commissioned me to do a matching scroll for her husband. Being a true artist, I procrastinated till I had only one week left to finish it - I just barely got it done to turn in at Crown Tourney, conveniently being held in Veterans' Park in Sylmar (about 5 minutes away from the farm). Here are the in-process pictures

A little over a month later these would be presented at Coronation, conveniently being held in a beautiful gothic-style church in Pasadena. But I very naively volunteered to help with the "potluck" dayboard feast they wanted to have, so I didn't actually get to see them presented in court. I spent the day in the kitchen with Aunt Pat, Carlean, and Sherry Courtney - they were angels in aprons that day for me.

 Wrangling the process of getting donations for feeding up to 400 people was nerve-racking, but somehow as the plates and boxes and coolers poured in that morning, it all came together.

We ended up feeding about 300 for the lunch, refreshing the tables several times over about 2 hours with help from Shaun and Uncle Bear. We also provided light refreshments before and an afternoon "tea" with the left-overs. A huge success!

May Garden Update

 Brassicas, alliums, carrots and other roots are growing well!

Starts of beans, corn, sunflowers, artichoke, eggplant, zuccini, tomatoes and peppers planted a couple of weekends ago are really taking off!

 

I decided to try the peas in the half-barrels that were too hot and dry for the tomatoes last summer. They turned out to be the perfect place for spring peas - I got a nice harvest from about 2 doz plants.

And the garlic that died off last summer came back over the winter. I stopped watering it a few weeks ago, and pulled it for braiding this weekend.

I Swear By My Pretty Yellow Bonnet...

Ok, so it's not yellow, it's peach.... My first attempt at a Regency-style bonnet seems to have worked out alright.

Weaving 101

One of the really cool things about Abi's school, Aveson, is the way they draw in parents and community members involved in arts and projects to enrich the offerings they have for the students. I got to put on a 2-part weaving project in their afternoon arts program. The project idea came from the book "Woven Bag: 30+ Projects from Small Looms" and involved drawing a basic geometric shape on graph paper and sticking pins into the grid intersections whereever they touched the edge of the design. Then the 'warp' thread is strung back and forth between the pins on opposite sides. The 'weft' thread is woven in between these threads perpendicularly.

Of the 6 kids that participated, only 2 finished their projects. But it was still a fun learning experience.

And from the second day:

Sheep Shearing at LVT, 2013

We had a nice sized gathering for sheep shearing this year. There were not quite as many spectators as last year - which was fine, as the weather was very hot! Don got his hands on a couple of sheep, but let Charles do most of the actual shearing. Don still has the knack for throwing the fleece, however!

And now, the before and after pictures!

Abi's Spring Formal

Abi was determined to have a custom-made dress for the Aveson Spring Formal - her first formal dance! Aunt Pat got her the fabric she picked out, and after she layed it out and cut the pieces, I sewed it for her.

The afternoon right before the formal, I took her into Shear Magic in Monrovia, the shop where our friend Laura works. She wasn't in, unfortunately, but a lovely lady there made Abi's hair look gorgeous. The finishing touch was a corsage pinned into place made by Aunt Pat.

 

Abi got several more occasions out of this gown - she went to the Jr. ROTC ball with her friend Aidan, and also wore it to her 8th grade culmination in June!

Dye Party

Fiber group convened at my house this month - and we wined and dined and dyed!

Lots of projects done - from roving to yarn to silk scarves!

Garden Starts

It's already February - seeds have been ordered, and now it's time to hit Green Arrow for some veggie starts for the garden! I love gardening in California :) At least, in February!

We also got some new flowers for Abi's shade garden - fresias, stock, lambs ear, lupine, and pansies. If you are wondering what's in the bags, it's our Foothill blend of semi-composted natural ovine fertilizer (sheep poop!!) for amending the beds.

Cast Iron Chef 2013

We arrived just in time at the park in Lyondemere (Long Beach) to draw straws for order of presentation. Then we set up our kitchen and got our basket of ingredients. Uncle Bear kept our fires burning at a great moderate temperature all day while we put together our dinner dishes.

We got pork, bacon, lard, flour, butter, turnips, radishes, cabbage, onion, garlic, parsley and some spices in our starting basket. So for our dinner menu we put together: Malopolska Sweet-and-Sour Plum Soup with rolls, 'Hunter Style' Pork Stew (Goulash) with Safron Millet Kasha, Celeriac and Pear Salad (Slaw) with Whole Trout braised in a vegetable stock, 'Armored' Turnips with Smoked Gouda and Cabbage, and Baked Pear Pudding.

And Carlean made sure none of us skipped lunch!

 Double-checking the table settings before the judges' arrival...

At the end of the day, we got *lots* of compliments and requests for recipes, and a close second place finish. It was a great learning experience - we're already thinking about next year!