I met up with my friend Isel and we had the best time talking to the farmers and vendors, feeling the yarns, and planning some knits. All the farms represented were Maryland farms, so it was a great way to support these local businesses. We both had a good laugh over the two alpacas with pop culture names: Bad Romance and Hot Toddy. Their owner was telling us that they are just over a year old.  They were communicating with each other with these little hums and grunts.

There are two types of alpacas: the Suri with their silky locks and the Huacaya with the fluffy pillowy hair.  Both are native to the Andrean regions of South America. They are a domesticated camelid, but smaller than the llamas and camels you see – some only about 3-4 feet tall.  Their wild ancestors, the vicunas, still roam in the Andes.  The alpaca was domesticated long ago, with their fiber prized for its silkiness, and hypoallergenic qualities.

Isel dabbles in spinning, so she brought home some roving and some lovely green yarn.  I happened upon some burnt orange yarn that was hard to pass up.  It’ll be perfect for a cardigan…

Calder’s Sky Hooks

Smithsonian Castle and Gardens

The atrium of the National Museum of Natural History

Roxy Paine “Graft” – National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

Sol LeWitt “Four-Sided Pyramid” – National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

Blue skies over Washington, DC as Kris and I went to the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival (see photoset) last Friday. En route to the National Mall, we walked through the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden.  I hadn’t been in awhile, so the Paine piece above – installed in late 2009 – was a new sight for me.  It is a scene stealer: we had to wait in line to photograph it.  The sun was capture the glint on the steel just right at that time of day!

The last week of June was our annual trip to the beach.  We read lots of books, rode our bikes for several miles, and played miniature golf (twice in a week – which is more in one week than I have played in two decades…)  We had a nice time with the family and enjoyed the lazy days and sunny weather.

After the time away, today is the day back to our routine. Kris went back to work, and I went back to tracking the job boards. I remain optimistic that the right opportunity is out there; this experience is constantly teaching me patience.  In the meantime, I am using my time to be and explore.  The creativity is flowing and good things are on the horizon.

While I had nothing on my shopping list, I did come home with some things:

A vintage fabric refashioned into a hobo-style bag…
filled with some other goodies:

That is 11 skeins of yarn (7 of the dark purple) and a pack of sheepy pun notecards.
Not too shabby.

Looking over these skeins, it appears that I am into deep saturated colorways right now (with the exception of the light mint green). I spent some time on Ravelry looking at some different patterns.  I tend to get overwhelmed easily by the sheer number of patterns, and I also like finding great patterns that few people have knit.  Sure, I get why some patterns “go viral” but once that happens, the likelihood of me casting on sharply decreases. (With the notable exception of the Lacy Baktus and the Textured Shawl, interestingly enough… want to make both even though thousands of others already have) so I tend to look for those *undercurrent* patterns and relish in them… or write my own!  The search continues – I’d love to hear about a pattern that you know of (or have made) that doesn’t have a lot of project pages…

I met up with some dear long-time friends at the festival – people I “see” online everyday on Twitter, and it is so great to just continue the conversation in real life.  That transition still amazes me!  We met up on the grass hill outside the main barn and sat out in the sun for a bit (this is where I got the sunburn on my face and shoulders, no doubt…)

…And then I spent some quality time with some of the four-legged cuties…

A beautiful & relaxing day with good people and animals
and a wonderful way to usher in spring in Maryland!

]]> http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/05/09/sheep-wool-recap/feed 23 http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/05/03/constant-change http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/05/03/constant-change#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 17:00:09 +0000 lolly http://lollygirl.com/blog/?p=3368 After thirteen years living in one state, I guess I can call Maryland my home now.  When I moved here in 1998, we were on a schedule to move every 3-4 years.  Our family of 5 traversed the country – one side to the other and back a few times before we landed in Maryland when I was 17.  I grew up with this cycle of moving to and fro, and when things “settled” a bit, I had life transitions and growing up to keep my mind busy: moving to college dorms (albeit only about 20 miles from my parents home…), and then move to new house after the wedding.  Hard to believe we have been in this house for nearly 10 years.  Even now, we are keeping things fresh with the renovations (so close to being done – can’t wait!) but we have no plans of leaving the area.

My parents will be moving to Pennsylvania this summer.  Not across the country, but still a few hours away.  I am thrilled for them and very excited about being able to visit and discover the sights in their new area (eastern PA, western suburbs of Philly).  It is a bit of a transition though, knowing that my parents will be moving on and picking up the cycle again – this time just the 2 of them.

It is only May, and 2011 has been full of changes:  moves (in addition to my parents, my sister and her family will be moving from California to Virginia this fall), career changes, and I even have a new little niece/nephew on the way… so many good things, and a few challenges.  Change is the only constant. And with my “on-the-go” childhood, I am pretty good with change.  Maybe you could say I even embrace it.  Looking at each little step as a new opportunity.

:: :: ::

I took a walk yesterday.  I pass this place often and think that I will check it out and snap some photos…  This time, I had nowhere to be, in particular, and with Project Spectrum on my mind, I decided that today was the day.  Project Spectrum has always been more than color for me – it is really an exercise in mindfulness.  Just being aware and observing the things around me. Sometimes this amazing beauty is just down the road and around the corner.  Sometimes it is right in front of us and we just don’t take the time to notice it…

Little did I know that this amazing bridge is actually a National Historic Landmark – the Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge.

]]> http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/05/03/constant-change/feed 12 http://lollygirl.com/blog/2010/08/03/local-snapshots http://lollygirl.com/blog/2010/08/03/local-snapshots#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:57:59 +0000 lolly http://lollygirl.com/blog/?p=2965 Crossing Baltimore’s Key Bridge

Kris and I went northwest of Baltimore – a part of the state we don’t get to very often – to do some exploring over the weekend.  We found a lovely hiking spot (Gunpowder Falls State Park) and a photogenic pre-Revolutionary War historic village (Jerusalem).  The pristine weather and the free time gave me the chance to try some photographic techniques that I have wanted to try for awhile…

This kind of shot is called HDR – High Dynamic Range.  I had seen hundreds of HDR shots on Flickr, and recently Kris and I decided to give it a try.  (His first HDR photographs were done in Alaska – and they are stunning.  See his shot of the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls, and his other shot of the Treadwell Mines on Sandy Beach).  The process is relatively simple; for the photograph, I used my tripod and our 5D Mark II camera.  You shoot three shots at the exact same spot – one at a lower light, one at standard, and then a higher light exposure.  Using PhotoMatix software (specifically designed for HDR shots), you layer the three photos on top of each other and the result is this multi-tonal image – the highlights and the lowlights.

It has an otherworldly look to it because it picks up on all of the colors – unique and “hyper-real”.  For that reason, there are several critics who say it is too much processing. Of course, like anything, there is a *right* time for HDR, and a *wrong* time.  I figured that Jerusalem Village was a nice chance to try it out.

These animals have adapted to their environment and can drink the brackish waters of the marshlands and can eat and survive on the limited vegetation.  Because of this, their growth has been stunted over the generations – which makes them “ponies” rather than “horses” because they are not as tall as the regular horse breeds.

This year, we saw more ponies than ever before – between 20 and 25.  (Every other year we saw about 5 or less)  Luckily, we also had our new camera and some lenses to play around with as we photographed the lovely animals.  It was a highlight year!

We came across this large band of ponies – lead by an alpha male.  When another male came towards the group, the alpha chased him off with hoof stomping and neighing.  The last picture shows a foal, only a week old according to the ranger.  Baby’s hair was wavy ~ so sweet!

The ponies have free reign over the island, but there are still areas for sightseers and campers to park their cars.  It was quite a funny juxtaposition to see the ponies lined up in between the cars in the campground parking lot:

…and even ponies like to hear the sound of the waves…

“Why not today?”

Blinker off. Drove straight ahead into the small lot.  Exploration time.

…

I pass the historic landmark road plaque nearly everyday.  The plaque refers to the grounds of Christ Episcopal Church, established in 1711, and the church that was constructed a century later.  “Old Brick” is nestled right alongside several busy roads – tucked back behind some large poplar and oak trees.  You pass by it on the way to the market… the post office… the library.

After a lovely day with my mom (we spent it searching for a few key pieces at local thrift/consignment shops), we also stopped by “Old Brick” to walk the grounds of the old church, and the adjacent cemetery. Luckily, I had my new camera with me to capture the moments.

I felt like I discovered a little gem – so close.  I had every intention of stopping *some day* but having lived in this area for nearly nine years, I still hadn’t done it.  What places are on your “someday” list?  Do you think you could find a moment to explore and document that place within the next few days?

]]> http://lollygirl.com/blog/2010/06/06/one-day-i-will/feed 21 http://lollygirl.com/blog/2010/06/03/picking-and-jamming http://lollygirl.com/blog/2010/06/03/picking-and-jamming#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:25:59 +0000 lolly http://lollygirl.com/blog/?p=2839 Larriland Farm days are back!  And this time, we went to the wonderful pick-your-own farm with the nieces.  It was all about the strawberries~

About 90 pounds of strawberries!  We had three rows (about 20 feet long) that were assigned to us – a group of 6.  They say it is the best picking that they have had in recent memory – I guess Snowmageddon was good for something!  Each plant had about 15 strawberries each, and they were like rubies under the dark green leaves.  So beautiful.

Since we had a clear plan for our berries, Kris and I took the most of them.  We split it 60/30.  It was an afternoon of washing, hulling, and freezer preparation.   The ripest and most delicate berries were taken out, cleaned and then sent through the juicer.  The juice is then frozen in popsicle holders and consolidated into plastic baggies in the freezer.  These little juice pops are used throughout the year for punches and sangria.  The majority of the berries were frozen whole – laid out on wax paper in the freezer shelf (so that they wouldn’t freeze together in one giant block after washing) and then consolidated into baggies.

…and with the others… we made some jam

My sister Sarah was in town for the long weekend, and she expressed an interest in learning how to can.  I picked up some jelly jars and pectin beforehand, so once she made it over, we were ready to go.

We made two batches of jam – the first was strawberry lime jam.  For this one, I used the Ball No-Sugar-Needed Pectin.  It called for apple or white grape juice for sweetener, but also gave instructions for adding some sugar.  Since I did not have the juice on hand, I did in fact add a bit of sugar to the recipe ~4 cups according to the recipe.  I found the recipe and adaptation on Ravelry’s Canny Crafters group page.  The original recipe was adapted from this one - just subbing lime juice and zest for the lemon.

The second batch used the same recipe as a guide, but a different flavor.  This was strawberry vanilla jam using Pomona’s Universal Pectin.  I saw several recipes for vanilla varieties and nearly all of them used a vanilla bean – but since I didn’t have one, I subbed 2 Tablespoons of vanilla extract.  I used the guidelines for sugars from Pomona’s box.  We had approximately 10 cups of strawberries, and I used a mixture of cane sugar and agave nectar for the batch.  And, it came out perfectly!  Such a nice gel and quite yummy too!

13 jars in all – 8 of vanilla and 5 of lime.  It was a great day.  Sarah, Kris and I had a lot of fun doing it all!  Now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor over the whole year.  Planning to make more preserves, jellies, and canned goods this year – it’s fun to do!

… I slept in… read three books from cover to cover…  made some progress on my knitting… ate way too much candy…  went to an arboretum… walked on the beach with my nieces… took many photographs…  went on a boat ride…  stayed up late…  my vacation in a nutshell 

The Adkins Arboretum is a privately owned sanctuary on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, near the Delaware state line.  They are dedicated to the native plants and trees of Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states.  Kris and I so enjoyed strolling around the trails and looking at all of the flowers, trees, and mushrooms.  [Full Photoset Here]

Since I got back earlier in the week, my knitting progress has been so slow… this is why I hesitated to blog, honestly… truth is, I have spent a lot more time with my nose in books,  in the garden,  in the kitchen, or in the yoga studio rather than knitting right now.  So, at least for a little while, I will be sharing blog posts of book reviews, recipes, and gardening shots – hope this is agreeable!  I won’t be such a stranger…