Kris’s family goes to the Maryland and Delaware beaches each summer and we always join them for a long weekend.  It’s a tradition-filled excursion; we tend to visit the same places and do the same activities each year.  It’s quite fun to have these same activities and compare them year to year.  One of the longstanding traditions is a trip to Assateague Island and the Assateague Island National Seashore, a barrier island off the coast of Maryland.  The island, as you may recall from previous posts on the subject, is home to dozens of wild ponies, descendants of the horses from a shipwreck centuries ago (date is unknown, but figured to be in the eighteenth or nineteenth century).

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…

Over a year and no socks in sight… and then the sock bug bit me again right before the Vancouver trip in February.  I finished a cuff on the plane ride out there and knit a few more rows, but just as quickly as it came on, the sock bug went away again.  However, I pressed on.  A few months later, I now have a pretty pair of socks to show for that tenaciousness (heh – yeah 4 months of persistence!)

Canada Socks
Pattern: Canada Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Red and Ivory = Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima /
Gray = Tess Designer Yarns
Needles: Size 0 and 1 US

The socks were a fun mix of stranded colorwork and simple stockinette – two favorite combination.  The yarns work well together.  I altered the pattern’s cuff slightly, choosing a simple ribbed cuff instead of the vikkel braid outlined in the book.

The pattern was fun, and by virtue of the name – I will think of Canada when I wear these socks.  I have seen the east and the west of Canada… now I just have to see some of the in-betweens!

The socks were the final knit in my Stanley Cup Stashbusting knitalong with my friends on the Ravelry Puck This group.  We had about 20 participants (all hockey-loving knitters like myself!) and many projects – from blankets to washcloths and sweaters to socks.  It’s a fun chance to talk about what we are knitting as we cheer on our teams as they play towards the Cup.  Last night, the beautiful Stanley Cup was awarded to the fabulous Chicago Blackhawks team.  They played a great season, and it has been so much fun watching this team build themselves up after many years of abysmal attendance and indifference.  I adopted them as my “Western” team last year, so it was a joy to see them hoist the Cup only one year after my #1 team – the Pittsburgh Penguins – did they very same thing.  Congratulations to the Hawks!  So happy for them!  and happy for hockey in general – great ratings, top tweets on Twitter, and so much promise for the future.  Maybe the best-kept sports secret isn’t really a secret anymore?

So, in this quest for the Cup (and a few days before the playoffs started) I have been on a stashbusting kick – and I have some nice things to show for it!

My results:  1 blanket, 2 garments, 2 scarves and a pair of socks!

April – June 2010

…

Do I win an award for stashbusting?

“One day, I will stop by… have a look around…” Sitting at the traffic light, with my blinker on to turn left.  Looking directly ahead at the historic grounds and the small gravestones peeking above the grass.

“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?

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!

They may be a little gnarly and not quite the prettiest of the bunch – but they are OUR strawberries!  This is our magical third year, and our little backyard patch has produced a pretty steady stream of these juicy delights.  When Kris and I get home from work, we spend a good hour piddling around in the garden – weeding, harvesting, watching the plants grow.  It’s amazing to see the progress day to day.  We pick our choice ingredients and then go in for dinner.  The best part is when we can make the harvest part of the dinner!  Our most abundant harvest right now is our salad greens - so we have delicious green each night.  This heirloom variety provides yummy diversity (and some laughs at the names of the lettuce – “Amish Deer Tongue”!)  Add some strawberries and a balsamic vinaigrette, and you have an instant meal.  Perfect.

I have been reading like a speed demon – and if you keep up with me on GoodReads, than you know that I have been devouring graphic novels… still loving this genre.  I read the newest Sookie Stackhouse guilty pleasure, Dead in the Family,which left me a little non-plussed, but entertained.  I have plans for much more reading this summer – I am going to the library once a week trading in the ones that I read for the new ones I had on hold! Another book review post will be coming soon.   I should be turning my eyes to the shelves full of books in my house…

Also watching season finales of some favorite television shows, name “LOST” and “Chuck”.  I was happy with both, for the record

The downtime would usually translate to more knitting time, but I haven’t been picking up the needles that much lately.  I am continuing my stashbusting efforts, but it seems like a lot of other things are vying for my time… and winning right now.  I did finish this scarf – a simple garter stitch number that was knit  side-to-side.  I used a wool/alpaca/silk blend (Elsbeth Lavold Silky Flamme).  I am calling it my Tree Bark scarf because of the ripply texture [Ravelry Notebook page].  The yarn has some thick and thin places which adds to the effect.  I threw in a couple of purl rows for some interest.  I like it, and it will be nice this next fall/winter.

I joined a new gym and am enjoying their “theater” room where you can work out on the equipment (ellipticals, treadmills, stair climbers, bikes) while watching a movie on the big screen.  What a novel idea!  They play fun movies too… I just got back from the gym and they were playing Mrs. Doubtfire, which I hadn’t seen since it came out.  So silly that I found myself laughing out loud more than once while on the treadmill!  I have a great friend who goes with me, so it’s fun to have that little standing date together each weekend.

My youngest sister is in town this weekend, and we are all looking forward to the visit from Mimi, Daniel, and Baby V at the end of June.  This coming Monday, my dad leaves for a 4-month assignment in  Juneau, Alaska.  …and you know me well enough to realize that the wheels started turning in my head planning a trip to visit!  We don’t have a date pinned down quite, but we have every intention of going.  Should be a great opportunity to see my dad, and for some amazing photography!

After a good deal of reluctance, I decided to join Twitter.  now I am wondering why in the world I waited so long.  I heard a lecture last week at a work-related conference that extolled this social networking tool and I realized that it could be a good thing… so, I gave it a try this past week.  And yeah, it’s great.  So, if you want to follow me… I am there.  It’s like mini-blog posts!