On the road to somewhere

Moving the blog

2011-01-02T16:55:00.002-06:00

I have moved this blog over to http://plantecologist2.blogspot.com/

so that it is on the same account as my facebook account.
Hope to see you there!

Well the summer has passed

2010-10-04T07:28:00.000-06:00

and fall is upon us. Things have been changing. And while change is hard, in the end it will be good.
More later.
Jennifer

Happy Summer Solstice

2010-06-21T07:41:00.002-06:00

This time of years seems more appropriate for new beginnings than Jan 1., at least to me. So - I am beginning again.

Don't know where this will lead this time. No big plans - just want to document the adventures, big and small, and my thoughts at this time in my life.

I expect there will be pictures of plants. Of knitting. Of spinning.
I expect that there will posts without photos.
Beyond that, I have no expectations.

Today's small adventure: wading along the creek that runs near our house. I am collecting stones from it to place along the edge of my rain garden. The rain garden doesn't look like much right now, it is filled with native perennial plants (except one non-native, but how could I say no to a corkscrew rush, pictures to come soon). They are just getting started so there is more mud than plant right now. The water has cleared up a bit, we have had a ton of rain the last few weeks. Saw a snapping turtle in the creek. Very cool. It was small as snapping turtles go, but the largest non-human animal I have seen in the creek. Well non-human and non-canine. Walking along the trail today I did see a family's dog who was wading in the creek.

Ok - well off to adventures at work in a few minutes. The main goal today is to work on getting my tiny little lab space cleaned up. I am going to have two students working in there tomorrow to do some plant identification.

Cheers
Jennifer

Botany Joke of the Day

2009-11-23T05:00:00.003-06:00

I offered my Plant Biology students a rare opportunity - extra-credit for botany related jokes. Some of the students pursued this with gusto, and so I have a nice list of botany jokes. Not all good, but still fun.

Why are plant capable of consuming cars?
Because they are auto-trophic.

And just for fun, a cactus from Puerto Rico (Melocactus intortus) from Guanica dry forest on the south part of the island, which was my favorite part of the trip.

Relaxing Saturday

2009-11-22T07:27:00.003-06:00

Steve and I had a great day yesterday.

We went for an early morning walk . . . really early, like 5 am.

Did some shopping for the upcoming birthday/holiday season. Got my nephew a book about
Knights and Castles for his Birthday.

I knit while watching "Arsenic and Old Lace" - if you haven't seen it, you should.

I knit some more later while watching football. The football was on more for the background noise.

We went on a short bike-ride.

Also went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore, just to check it out. We found a beautiful piece of granite, but since we have no clue what we would do with it, we left it there.

Cooked dinner together, which was a lot of fun.

Went out to the Plaza, where he bought me a new knitting book as an early birthday present.
"Knitting New Mittens and Gloves" by Robin Melanson.

He has some big plans for my birthday on Tuesday - I am really excited to see what he has come up with.

Snapshot of Puerto Rico Part 2: Unknown Red Flowers

2009-11-22T05:35:00.005-06:00

One of my goals while in Puerto Rico was to learn some of the flora.

I have never felt so over my head. I have never been botanizing in the tropics. I did mess up by forgetting important field equipment . . . oh how I longed for my hand lens. The books available to me left a lot to be desired. Sure I had the 5 volume Flora of Puerto Rico to key out plants. This book, however, did not have a family key. No family key????? I was completely lost, and felt completely spoiled by "Flora of Missouri". The families you find in the tropics are completely different than what you commonly find in Missouri. Very few mints, roses, scrophs, milkweeds, asters, or buttercups. Lots of Melastomaceae and Lauraceae (which we do have here, but not a family I am overly familiar with). I have been able to work through some of the plants that I found, but there are still a lot that I have no clue.

So here are some of those plants that I took photo of, but still don't know what they are.

Snapshots of Puerto Rico: Part 1 The Canopy Walk

2009-11-21T15:23:00.004-06:00

This August I spent two weeks traveling around Puerto Rico with my friend and colleague, P., who has conducted research at El Yunque National Forest for about 10 years. My hope is to get involved with research on Puerto Rico and take students down. P. was a great tour guide through the different habitats found in Puerto Rico.

It was an amazing trip and between us, we took over 300 photos a day. I have decided to share this trip as a series of snapshots of some of my favorite photos and experiences. Not the detailed travelogue I had originally envisioned, but hopefully you will enjoy it nonetheless.

On the first full day wandering around the jungle, we visited the canopy walk at El Yunque National Forest. It part of the El Verde Field Station, which is not open to the public. I don't remember how high up we were. Hope you aren't afraid of heights!

The view from the canopy walk.

Looking down on top of a palm tree.
Another view looking down showing the rigging we climbed up.

P. at the other end of the walk.

The little Anolis who is eating the termites that hitched a ride on P's backpack.

Long Time No See

2009-11-20T14:41:00.005-06:00

Been looking back over my blog, and I love being reminded of things I had forgotten about. For example, this post on snowman diversity. Or this one.

As such, I have decided I need to put time back into my blog, for myself, though I hope my friends and family will return to reading this blog and hopefully enjoy it.

So, what do I have to say for myself today. Not much it turns out, or perhaps to much to recap. I am viewing this post as starting new. There is no way I can recap everything that has happened since, what, June. So, I am not even going to try.

One fun thing this week - we completed the natural dye lab for my plant biology class. We used three dyestuffs: madder root, brazilwood, and logwood.

Here are all the yarns together - the brazilwood gave the pinkish colors, logwood the dark purples, and madder the orangish tones. I am looking forward to knitting this all up.

Really cool lace knitting website

2009-06-03T09:08:00.001-06:00

Look what I found: a really cool blog about historical lace knitting.

House Photos

2009-05-25T07:26:00.002-06:00

As some of my friends and family are aware, we are in the process of purchasing a house in the town where I work. I am incredibly excited about not having a 20+ minute drive each way to and from work. Despite the worries about being an owner instead of a renter (i.e. having to deal with the tree in you living room at 3 am yourself), I am also looking forward to having a house that is mine. To paint, to plant, to whatever however I want. Well, I will have to take Steve's tastes into account.

We have passed all the major foreseeable roadblocks (pre-approval, inspection, appraisal), and so I feel secure in posting pictures of the house here. We close on June 19th. By the way, where did May go to?

Anyway, here are the pictures.

The front door - Steve loves the "atomic" style of the 1950's and 60's, so he was really excited about this detail of the front screen door.

There is also a great shed in the back, built by the previous owner. It has electricity. In my dreamworld it becomes a dye-studio with electricity provided by wind or solar. I want to put a window or two in the side (Steve is unaware of this). It is painted to match the house and the inspector was really impressed with its quality.

In fact, overall the house is in really good shape.
The kitchen - love the wood cabinets, all appliances are staying. Hooray!

Most of the other rooms are pretty unremarkable - nice wood floors, white walls. All decent size. There are three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. The dining area is small. Also, all the windows are new energy-effecient, easy-to-clean windows. After living in the draftiest house in Independence, this will be wonderful. Seriously, in the winter their is a breeze from our bedroom window strong enough to ruffle your hair. We kept our heat 0n around 62-65 all winter to prevent wasting too much energy. So not only should we see a major savings on gasoline, but on energy costs as well.

Another aspect of the house we love is the basement - I see great potential here.
The basement

Love the fireplace, the finished portion is about 2/3 the width of the house and runs its entire length. Oh - and that is not paint on the walls but some kind of ??? acoustical fabric, carpet? It sounds weird, but it looks pretty cool. I really want to turn this into a multi-use party spot. One area for dining, another for sitting.

The other really nice thing about this house is the neighborhood. We actually saw some houses I personally liked better, but the neighborhoods were not as nice. We will be in walking distance of grocery, post-office, library, and community center. There is also a greenways trail down the road. I think it will be too far to walk to school, but I will try it just once to see. Biking may be an option. But driving will only take me about 7 minutes, shorter if I find a way that does not involve so many stoplights.

So - hopefully this time next month we will be moved in!

Handspun Hats

2009-05-23T15:47:00.002-06:00

I have not been documenting my knitting as well as I should - which is sad really, as I enjoy looking back on my past creativity.

That in mind, I present today two hats knit entirely out of handspun wool.

Handspun #1 - In addition to being handspun, all of the yarn in this hat is either naturally colored wool or hand dyed with plant dyes, with one exception. That exception is the lovely coppery orange that makes up the ribbing. The purples and yellow were dyed with annatto and logwood by my Plant Bio class last spring. I love the way this hat turned out and can't wait to wear it next year. I might have to make some coordinating mittens.

Handspun Hat #2 - This hat started with a special button for a friend who collects glass. I bought this button at SOAR several years ago. I had thought I would make her a sweater, but that has not happened.
Then one day, I noticed how great it looked with some blue handspun I had. Then I saw the cover of the book Boutique Knits and knew it would be perfect.

I love this hat. I am excited to give it to my friend. I may make one for myself (sans button), but the ruffled hat band was boring to knit. I also don't know if I have enough of my blue handspun to knit another one. Oh well.

My knitting has been a bit slowed this past school year, I hope to pick up the pace this summer. I have a couple of pairs of socks on the needles right now. A shawl from last summer that needs finishing. And suddenly many of my friends are having babies. So there will be lots of baby knitting in my future.

A day at the prairie

2009-05-21T14:13:00.004-06:00

Yesterday my husband and I went visiting a couple prairies in central Missouri. It was great weather - perfect for being out in the field, though the sun was a bit bright for photos.

Here are some of the plants that we saw:

Dodecatheon meadia (Shooting Star)

Castilleja coccinea (Indian Paintbrush)

Lobelia spicata (Spiked Lobelia)

2009-03-04T17:41:00.003-06:00

In addition to the ugly socks (which are probably destined for the frog pond), I have been knitting on successful projects.

Some fingerless gloves: my husband calls them hobo gloves. The pattern is Berry Hill, which I found through Ravelry. Both yarns are left-overs from other projects. The tan is alpaca and the slate blue is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. I am very happy with this color combination.

Next up are some socks, now finished, made from Tofutsies sock yarn I bought when I was botanizing in New Mexico a couple of summers ago. The yarn is made with soy fiber, wool, and chitin. The chitin is supposed to provide antibacterial protection. The colors pool on the leg, which is not really visible in this picture. I like the yarn, I am less happy with the pooling. This is the third pattern I tried with this yarn. Overall, I am pleased with the results.

Finally a pair of socks made with yarn I got for my birthday. If I remember correctly, the yarn is from Pagewood Farms. The pattern is called scrolls, and it is from the book, Knitting More Sensational Socks, I recieved for Christmas.

Currently I am working on another pair of socks: Blackrose from knitty. They are being knit in a rusty red sock yarn.

Ugly or Cool

2009-02-16T09:08:00.001-06:00

I can't decide if I like these socks for their funky color combination or if they are just hideously ugly. What do you think?

The secret hats

2009-02-14T17:38:00.004-06:00

In the last post before my prolonged hiatus, I mentioned a couple of secret hats I was working on. The hats have long since been delivered to their new homes and I want to share them here.
The idea came from CosyMakes - she started a word-along on Ravelry. The basic idea was to knit a hat and to embroider a word on it that was an action. So I chose to create two "Think Caps" for two of my friends who are professors at different universities. I know sometimes I need a "thinking" cap.

So I present
Think 1

and Think 2

Still hanging on

2009-01-29T07:30:00.004-06:00

Blue Sage (Salvia azurea) - a reminder of warmer days.

It has been a while since I have updated. First, I was preparing for classes. Then, I got caught up in the elections, then the holidays, now school has started again and I have been busy, busy, busy. I have seen three beautiful sunrises from my office window the last week, an indication of how busy.

I am stating here my intention to get back into blogging, as I like having this recording of my thoughts and I enjoy sharing these thoughts with my friends and family.

We will see how it goes. Off to prepare for class, but I will offer a more, satisfying post soon.

Over-indulgence

2008-07-29T10:11:00.002-06:00

This weekend, I allowed myself an extended weekend full of knitting, Friday afternoon, most of Saturday, Sunday evening, and Monday afternoon /evening. In all, over 18 hours of knitting - enough time to completely listen to Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" and begin listening to "The Monsters of Templeton" by Lauren Groff. All that knitting had a price. Last night, my elbow was too sore to play our new Wii (a birthday gift for my husband from his parents) and today I woke up with very sore shoulders. I have to remember to take breaks and stretch. Oh, and not to over-indulge.

So what did I accomplish is all this time.
1.) I have almost completed the Icarus Shawl. I just have the few border rows, which are not charted for some reason and, from what I have heard, the never-ending bind-off. I started in on the first row of the border, but messed it up somehow.

2.) 1.25 hats, of which I do not currently have pictures. Plus, they are a bit of secret, shhhhhh.

3. ) Metaluna Mutant Mitts - I have been wanted to knit fingerless mitts for a while. I have had some Frog Tree Alpaca sitting in my stash for a while and when I recently checked out from the library this book, it all came together. While in the throws of creativity, I saw my husband's Metaluna Mutant Toy, and the colors reminded me of my mitts. Thus the name. Here are a couple of "In Progress" pictures.

Hmmmm, those really don't give you a sense of the overall pattern. At this time, I have actually finished knitting both mitts. But some of the fingers are too tight and need to be re-knit. Oh, I forgot, I still have one thumb to do as well.

4.) Re-knitting cuffs for my husband's alligator or lizard or baseball socks. I don't remember what we ended up naming them. I had the same problem with my stuffed animals as a kid.

Anyway, these socks were a birthday present for my husband last year.

After he wore them a couple of times, they developed holes in one sock, mostly in the cuff. I think the yarn was weak in places. I have fixed the hole in the leg and cut off the bad cuff. I am now ready to re-knit the cuff.

The Swap Complete

2008-07-28T19:04:00.004-06:00

One evening last as I was making dinner the door bell rang. The UPS man had left a package at the door. I knew it was my package from my felted nest swap partner, Knittrips. I forced myself to wait until after dinner to open the package. Here is what was in it.

The nest, embellished with a beautiful blue flower pin.

The Extra goodies - Stickers for my student's papers, a lovely green bag of glass hearts, a sample of Eucalan Wool Wash, and wonderful tea called "Ancient Happiness".
What a wonderful set of treats. I am always on the lookout for new stickers for my students (in my experience, college students enjoy getting stickers on their papers). I have been wanting to try Eucalan for a long time. My favorite is the tea - it smells and tastes delightful. Plus there is the added joy of saying I am drinking Ancient Happiness. Thanks Knittrips, you have helped to make my first ever swap a great experience.

Embroidery

2008-07-12T14:00:00.005-06:00

I embellished my Blue Skies hat with motifs that remind me of giant kelp and red algae. I suppose a name change is in order. I am thinking about adding some orange starfish, but I'm not sure.

I have been doing a lot of knitting while watching Lily. My husband is also sick, so it is convalescing day at our household.

Our Furry Friend

2008-07-12T06:18:00.002-06:00

Pets are part of the family. This is not a stunning new insight, but it is true none-the-less. Our cat, Lily, is beloved by my husband and I, and by many of our friends.

We aren't sure how old she is, but in the 12 years or so that she has lived with us, she has always been really healthy. She does not act like an old cat, still running around on wild tears through the house on an almost daily basis. Thus, when she stopped eating and stopped playing, we became worried. On Thursday, we realized she had not eaten all day, and then we started thinking, the last time she was really frisky was about 2 weeks ago. We had both assigned her reclusiveness to the visit of my rowdy and loud nephews. So I started watching her and noticed that she kept licking a spot by her tail, and she was sitting down really slowly.

Yesterday morning we went to the vet and the diagnosis is an abscessed anal gland. Not a serious condition if treated. The abscess was lanced and drained. We now have to give her antibiotics and clean out the wound twice a day.

The hardest part for us is that we don't want to lose Lily's trust. She looks at us like, "what have you done to me and why are you torturing me". We have blocked her access to under the bed, as it is too difficult to lure her out. I don't want her to have negative associations with special food treats. Nor with us picking her up. So we have been holding and petting her alot, not just when it is time to "doctor" her. She is annoyed - she want to be left alone and she wants under the bed. We know we have to do these things to help her heal; I just wish we could explain that to her.

Things that make me laugh . . .

2008-07-10T12:16:00.002-06:00

. . . include coming across funny scientific names while reading an other wise dry book chapter about isolation buffers.

I give you Sedum burrito.

Knit-Along

2008-07-10T10:35:00.002-06:00

A pervasive theme in the "knit-blog" world has been the knit-along. For those of you not familiar with this idea, a knit-along is where a few to hundreds of people knit together in cyber-space. The knit-along may focus on a single type of item (i.e. socks), a single book, or an individual pattern; the possibilities are quite endless. The idea of knitting-along has been so popular that recently a book was published - not surprising called "Knitalong". One of the authors, Larissa, also writes one of my favorite knitting blogs - Stitch Marker.

I have not been much of a joiner of knit-alongs. There have been a few (including one for the Blue-Ribbon Wrap pattern in Larissa's book), but mostly, I don't like to have external deadlines associated with my knitting. I have enough stress in my life. The life of a teacher is filled with small daily deadlines - papers to grade, lectures to write and present, etc.

Thus, I am a bit surprised at myself that I have joined, or am contemplating joining, several knit-alongs. Maybe it is the unstructured summer schedule or maybe it is wanting to share my knitting, I don't know.

Here's the rundown.

1. Felted Nest Swap - Based on the felted nest pattern in "Knitalong", the idea of this swap is to knit, felt, and embellish a small bird's nest and trade it with a partner. This swap was set up by a woman named Heather through the Ravelry web-site. My partner is Knittrips, someone I have never met. I have finished knitting the nest and I felted it last night. Currently, it is setting in the sun on my back step. No pictures - it is a secret until Knittrips receives it.

2. The TikkunTree Project - A community art-project advocating peace.

3. Ravelympics - To celebrate the summer olympics, a group of people over at Ravelry have organized this event. The basic idea is to choose a project (or projects) that would be a challenge, but not impossible, to knit during the summer olympics. I have joined in three events.

W(ork) I(n) P(rogress) Wrestling
Mitten Medley
Gift Knit Pentathlon

I haven't yet decided exactly what my projects will be.

Aunting

2008-06-30T19:23:00.002-06:00

This week, my two nephews, age 7 and 9, are staying with us. So far, so good. Today we: played outside with the hose, went to Crown Center and Union Station, drove through the Plaza looking for fountains, played video games, explored the sculpture park at the Nelson Atkins, and watched a movie about giant ants (Them!). My goal - get them to bed before 11 pm.

In knitting news: I have gotten past the first chart on my Icarus Shawl. Right now, it has over 375 stitches per row. The shawl grows at the rate of 4 stitches every other row. I just figured out that I messed up a row and will have to pull it back. UGH!

Science and Junior High Kids

2008-06-25T11:57:00.003-06:00

Last week and this week, I have been teaching "ecology" to 7th and 8th graders as part of our science camp. Last week we had the girls, this week the boys. I have placed "Ecology" in quotes because our lesson about determining species diversity has collapsed into - what is the insect? what is this plant? Which is fine, but if I do this again in the future, I want them to see that ecology is more than natural history.

Surprisingly, the girls seemed more enthusiastic collecting spiders than the boys. They had no problem with going into the tall grass and though there were screams when they found large spiders, they were really into it. The boys - not so much. They would have stayed at the edge of the field if we would have let them. Though once I told them "The girls last week had no problem getting into the tall grass", they finally went into the grass. While I don't like to appeal to stereotypes, I felt like I had to do something to get them into it. And, I knew it would work.

I have really enjoyed the experience and hope that I have been in some way a role model to these kids, even if it just demonstrating that most insects and spiders won't hurt you if you touch them.

Visitng the other side of the color wheel

2008-06-17T17:49:00.004-06:00

In balance with all of the cool blues of recent knits, I have also been knitting on the warm side of the spectrum.

Clockwise from the top we have

Icarus Shawl - Very easy lace knitting so far. I actually knit on this quite a lot during my recent road trip and at the conference we attending. I am now someone who knits during conference talks.

Corn Head Scarf - I have started collecting plant based yarns (linen, hemp, bamboo, etc), and I saw this yarn at the recent MisKnits sale. I have also been wanting to knit headbands to hold my hair back in the summer. Perfect timing, and so I came home with corn colored corn yarn (A-MAIZing in the Ducky colorway). I chose a pattern that reminded me of ears of corn.
Purple Gauntlets - I have more to say on these, and I plan to post a more in-depth post soon. Let's just say that there are issues. These purples are warmer in real life than the picture shows.

Love yarn from the Vicki Howell Collection, also purchased at MisKnits. The color is called Peter and Mary Jane (awww, how sweet). It is a blend of 30% silk and 70% bamboo. I am not sure what this yarn will become. I had my eye on a beret pattern, then I remembered I already have an orange beret. Suggestions?

And finally, the newly named "Flame Azalea" socks, previously known as "Candy Oranges". I decided to change the name because (1) this picture of flame azaleas reminded me of the socks, and (2) these are going to Sparkling Squirrel.

The final leg

2008-06-17T16:27:00.004-06:00

For completeness, I want to finish updating the highlights of my roadtrip with SS. After the day of plant hunting described previously, we started hotel hunting. We had about the same success rate, in that the first two towns we stopped in did not have hotels. Ok - one did, but the door to the office was locked with a sign that said, "Please call 555-1234 from the pay phone (there will is no charge)". But then there was this semi-scary guy who was involved in a conversation on the pay phone. We decided to move on to the next town. Finally, in Elizabethon, TN we found a decent hotel that just happened to have a Long John Silver's. I know LJS is not the best food for you, but I think SS and I have eaten there for every roadtrip we have been on together. I might be wrong, but it is kind of a tradition. Plus, we were too tired to do anything more elaborate. So we brought our fish, chicken, hush puppies, and cole slaw back to the hotel, watched a couple of episodes of "Top Chef" - a real treat since neither of us have cable at home, and knit. In a phone call to her husband that evening, SS learned of the 4.5 feet of water in her basement.

Despite knowing that a hard day of work lay ahead of us, we had a lovely time on the second day of driving.

We stopped at a winery (which I cannot remember the name of) and took a few minutes to knit on the patio overlooking the vineyard. Most of the wine was pretty good and we ended up bringing some home to Mr. SS.
We did not stop at too many places - we were both tired and we needed to be at the car rental place by 3 pm. We did stop at Tamarack, a huge store featuring crafts and products made in WV. We had also thought about eating lunch there, but the line was really long and none of the food sounded particularly tempting. In retrospect, I think we should have taken the time, because instead, we drove around the sad downtown of, I think, Beckley looking for a local restaurant. We finally found a place (again, I don't remember the name - I need to write my travelogues much closer to the actual days of travel), but it was not good. At least it was cheap.

We took a brief stop at the New River Gorge to view the bridge. You have to walk down lots of stairs.We did find a bird's nest on the way down.
You are rewarded with a wonderful view of the highest vehicular bridge in North America.

All in all it was a great roadtrip. I love traveling with SS. We have covered a lot of miles together and have always had a great time.

The next day - I helped SS and Mr. SS with basement cleanup. It was wet. And messy. And dirty. The national guard came by to pick up garbage from the flood. The fire department came by to wash the layer of mud off the streets. I swept up a lot of water and mud. We were all tired at the end of the day. But, we were all too muddy to take any photos.

The next day, we went to Pittsburgh (I flew out early the next morning), where we ate brunch, watched a Pirates game, and ate Indian Food.

Thanks SS and Mr. SS for your hospitality.

Blues Run the Game

2008-06-15T16:50:00.004-06:00

Knitting update.

Despite any reference to knitting in recent weeks, I have been productive. For your consideration, three projects in blue.

Blue Republic - Knit in yarn I spun from Bonker's Merino Top. My goal was to knit soft, bulky weight 2-yarn. I am happy with the yarn (though I need to work on consistency) and the hat. It still lacks a button embellishment.

Blue Skies Hat and Scarf Set - also from hand spun. I still need to weave in ends and block.
Close up of the scarf. This time I wanted a soft three-ply yarn. Again, need to work on consistency in spinning.
A secret sock project - the first Christmas present knitting I have finished.
Notice also the ceiling - no hole! Finally after over a month, the hole in the ceiling is repaired. Now we just need to put our living room back together.

In other news - the vertigo has subsided a bit. I actually did some gardening today!

The search for Trilliums, Mountain Laurels, and Rhododendrons

2008-06-15T06:14:00.005-06:00

In continuation of the travelogue of Jennifer and Sparkling Squirrel from Durham NC to Glenville West Virgina . . .

We planned to make our trip back to SS's house a two day trip - our mission was to search out cool blooming plants native to the Appalachian Region. We had three main targets were Painted Trilliums, Mountain Laurels, and Catawba Rhododendrons. Our eventual plan was to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).

On our way to the BRP, we stopped at the town of Boone, North Carolina for lunch. Both SS and I were surprised by the town - it was lively, seemingly, progressive, and really beautiful. We ate lunch at Melanie's, because the sign was covered with dancing vegetables.
The service was terrific and the selection was surprisingly varied. As the sign suggests, they have a lot of vegetarian and vegan offerings, as well as plenty of variety for carnivores. Cute decor on the inside - retro, vintage, chic. Later, as we were driving around town, we realized that Boone, NC is home to Appalachian State .

The coolest plant we saw in Boone - this beautiful Solanum, growing as a weed in the hedgerow of the parking lot.

From there we went to Julian Price Park in search of Painter Trilliums. We suspected we were a bit late in the season, but hoped that maybe there was a late bloomer or two. One the trail to the Trilliums we did see - Hawkweeds. I don't know why, but I am really enchanted with hawkweeds. They grow as lawn weeds in that part of the country, looking like delicate dandelions with really hairy leaves (Seriously, if you have hawkweeds in your yard, take a close look at the leaves)
We also saw a club moss.
And lots of buttercups.
We finally did find the Trilliums, but they were not blooming. Here is picture of what we hoped to have found.

From there we drove to Linville Falls, in search of Mountain Laurels. In the parking lot we saw flame azaleas . .

. . . and more hawkweeds.
Up the trail we did find blooming mountain laurels, which I was able to photograph before my camera battery died. Unfortunately, I did not have the spare with me, so I don't have photos of the falls themselves. The falls are worth the hike.

Our next stop was the Rhododendron Gardens - where we hoped to see Rhododendrons. In the parking lot, I became enchanted with these bluets, also called Quaker Ladies.
While we were too late for the trilliums, we were too early for the Catawba Rhododendrons. Imagine this scene full of pink blossoms.
We did see some blooming, but at lower elevations.

One treat at the Rhododendron Gardens was one late blooming Trillium, different species from the painted trillium.

V is for . . .

2008-06-12T12:16:00.002-06:00

Vertigo, which has left me in bed the last 1 1/2 days. This is something I have experienced before, and have been told is due to an inner ear infection. A . . .

Viral infection at that, so there is nothing to do but wait it out. The last time it lasted about 4 days. If I move around to much, I become very nauseous. If I lay on my right side, the room just spins, and spins, and spins. If I keep my head very still, I am ok. Until I get up again. It is incredibly . . .

Vexing. There are so many other things I would like to be doing. Gardening, working on my research, working on my classes for next semester, exercising, . . . you get the idea. This is also going to prevent us going to Steve's family reunion this weekend. However, I am getting a lot of moving watching in. So far I have watched: "From Russia with Love", "Marnie", "To Catch a Thief", and "The

Village". My other main activity, besides staring at the wall, has been reading blogs on the internet. I can't do much typing (too much turning my head), or internet research (again, the need to turn my head to write things down), but I can read blogs pretty easily.

I hope finish blogging about the West Virginia trip soon.

Raleigh, NC

2008-06-09T04:10:00.004-06:00

My friend and traveling companion for this trip, Sparkling Squirrel, is in an unusual competition with her family. The goal, to visit all of the state capitols first. This has been an long-term competition, and SS was able to gain an advantage this week - she is know the only one in her family to have visited Raleigh, North Carolina. The North Carolina capitol was only about a 30 minute drive from Durham, where we were staying for the conference. I was honored to be a part of her family tradition.

The capitol

The Presidents from North Carolina

An old water tower

At this conference (Annual Meeting for Economic Botany), I learned about iconography, and how it can inform us how about the use of plants in past cultures.

North Carolina Iconography

Live plants in Raleigh.

We had a fun side trip - only slightly getting lost. We have come to the conclusion that North Carolina does not feel the needs for signs, as we saw no signs for either Duke University or the State Capitol. Luckily, we were, eventually, able to find both.

Plants at Duke

2008-06-07T17:04:00.005-06:00

I have a lot I want to write about my recent trip. SS and I left Thursday morning and drove up in the mountains of North Carolina to view to Mountain Laurels and rhododendrons. It was a great time, but on Wed. night, her basement flooded with over four feet of water. We returned to her house last night and have spent the day today cleaning out the basement. I am exhausted. So the long post about the roadtrip will have to wait for another day. In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the cool plants we say on the Duke Campus.

A view from a gazebo at the Sarah P.Duke Gardens.

Turn-about - Poison Ivy with a disease on it.

Jayhawk in Blue Devil Teritory

2008-06-03T20:40:00.003-06:00

They are small things.

1. The check-in personnel for the dorms leaving 10 minutes before the listed check-in time was over.
2. Being told to bring towels, when in fact they provide towels in the dorm (towels take up a lot of space in the suitcase)
3. Maps with roads that don't exist, and lacking roads that do, resulting in getting lost.
4. No hot tea, except Lipton. (I have become such a tea snob)
5. A huge splinter in my tea from the stir stick.
6. Getting lost in the gardens.
7. A knitting needle, found broken in the morning when it was perfectly fine when put away the night before (size 1, dpn, wood).
8. The incorrect internet password.
9. Changing internet password on Monday morning without telling us.
10. Really skimpy pillows.

But they do add up. Makes me wonder if the Duke Blue Devil somehow senses that SS and I graduated with Ph.D. from KU.

Actually, most of the people associated with Duke have been great. Today we were lost (again) on campus, and a really friendly woman gave us directions. I am just glad that we are not staying at the University of North Carolina.

On the road to Durham

2008-06-02T14:36:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, Sparkling Squirrel (SS) and I drove from Glenville West Virginia to Durham North Carolina to attend the 49th Annual Society for Economic Botany Conference. We drove a combination of Interstates and more scenic routes. It was a good trip - we did see mountain laurels and azaleas in bloom. We did not find a good place to stop and take pictures though.

As we ere driving through White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, we started talking about the fancy resort there called Greenbrier. From what SS tells me, this is the oldest resort in the country, which once catered to Thomas Jefferson. On a whim, SS decided we needed to check it out to see what it looks like. We pulled up to the little gate house, and the very nice security guard welcomed us to look around and enjoy the shops. We drove around and the place was gorgeous, in that perfectly manicured, clean way. Very Great Gatsby.

They had wonderful, vibrant displays of snapdragons. Another highlight was a perfectly manicured croquet lawn. My camera battery ran out, so unfortunately, I did not get many good pictures.
After driving around a bit, SS asked if I wanted to see anything else. My reply - "The bathroom". I had to go and I knew they bathrooms would be nice. We went into the main building, through many of the fancy shops and into the main lobby. Very elegant. The website, linked above, has nice interior shots. The bathrooms were nice - they even had cloth towels for drying your hands.

From there we drove through Virginia, stopping at Napoli's in Alta Vista for a delicious lunch.

I did some knitting along the way. Introducing my newest sock, which I am calling "Candy Orange ", as the color of the yarn and the pattern remind me of those jelly, candy orange slices. The pattern is "Primavera" by S(t)ockinette, which is available as a free download.

We arrived safely at Duke yesterday afternoon.
Tomorrow: The challenges of a Kansas Jayhawk in Blue Devil Territory.

Cedar Creek, WV

2008-05-31T16:16:00.003-06:00

I am currently sitting at the kitchen table of my good friend, Sparkling Squirrel, in West Virginia. I have come to visit for a few days before we head off to the Economic Botany conference at Duke tomorrow. What a wonderful time, and what a luxury to get to spend so much time with a good friend. Yesterday I helped her plant flowers. Today we went on a hike with her husband at a local state park - Cedar Creek.

We were on the Parkview Trail. It was not a long trail - about 3 miles, but it was steep. Although I argue that Kansas is not that flat of a state, we do not have mountains, not the long extended climbs up and down. I am definitely tired- my legs were shaky after the extended, very steep downhill portion of the hike.

I do enjoy the physical activity and it was beautiful out there. Unlike the last time I visited, 1.5 years ago, I brought my digital camera. It was cloudy at times, and my camera does not deal well with such light situations. I did get some nice shots though. Below are some of my favorites.

West Virginia Woods

Stone Steps on Fisherman's Trail

My favorite plant on the trail - Wild Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum). I did not get a good picture. I love the shape of the leaves. I would like this in my garden at home!

Sori on the back of a fern. I just loved the pattern they made.

Hawkweed flowers (Hieracium sp.)A sycamore tree leaning over the creek

A close up of moss sporophytes and some lichens

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Herbs

2008-05-30T21:19:00.006-06:00

Red Fuschia and Blue Lobelias

The pots on the front step
The pots on the side of the house

My garden has made me happy. Each morning, I walk around my yard, examining the plants I have planted, checking to see if they are doing well. I really enjoy planting and planning. I love watching the plants grow and blossom. I just feel cool when I go out to collect spinach or some herb to use for dinner. Granted the last does not happen all that often, so I think the next additions to my plant collection will be culinary herbs.

Herbs I have currently
Basil
Thai Basil
Pineapple Sage
Rosemary
Cilantro
Lavender
Sweet Woodruff
Elfin Thyme (though I don't know if you eat this, I'll have to taste it).
Chamomile

What I need/would like to have
Regular Thyme
Sage
Parsley (though I have planted some seeds in the greenhouse at school)
Lemon Thyme
Mints
Dill
Fennel
Bay Laurel

Collecting

2008-05-22T10:14:00.004-06:00

Today we woke up to thunder, lightening, and rain showers. I am happy for the rain - it hasn't rained since Mother's Day weekend. I don't have to water the plants today. Plus, I am slightly more motivated to get some work done in my office. Which is good, as I have a small grant that I am submitting that is due tomorrow. It is done, now I am just waiting to get some signatures on it and I will be ready to send it off.

Collecting
My husband is a collector. Right now his current collections include robots and bobbleheads. I have not been as much of a collector. Yes, I do have books, and yarn. But I don't actively collect them. For example, if I were to collect yarn I would search out all sorts of different types of yarn - different wools, handspuns, cottons, strange yarn made from different plants, etc. Then I would not use them, but rather keep them for their own sake. Maybe I am splitting hairs here.

Anyway, Tuesday afternoon I decided I am going to collect plants. All plants of all different types. I partially feel guilty for planting non-native plants, but really, I love all plants: herbs, cultivated flowers, native plants. Ok - there are a few exceptions - I am not overly fond of stinging nettles and begonias I just don't really like. I also would not collect species invasive to where I live. I just want to be surrounded by a high diversity of really cool plants. I now find myself scheming on ways to increase my plant collection without spending a ton of money - can I take a cutting of oak-leaf hydrangea? What about hosta's? What about the red flowered honeysuckle growing over the fence from my neighbor's back yard? (NOTE TO SELF - check to see if it is considered invasive, as many honeysuckle species are). I am really becoming obsessed!

Here is one plant I am thrilled to have in my collection - The Missouri Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa), the plant I worked on for my Master's Thesis. It does not look like much now, but wait till the flowers open! Actually, I quite like the plant even when it is not flowering. It has nice glossy leaves with that wonderful white mid-rib. Also - red stems and red spots on the sepals of the flower buds.

Adventures in mulching

2008-05-21T12:44:00.003-06:00

The sweet smell of mulch
Since planting up my pots, I have wanted to give them a layer of mulch to help prevent water loss. I knew I did not want to use the big, chunky cedar mulch I had used in my flower beds, and I had a vague recollection of seeing a small, almost pebbly-looking, mulch. This is what I wanted to use in my pots.

Yesterday, I stopped at the nursery on the way home from work. Yes, I did buy more plants - details will be forthcoming. As I was checking out, I saw they had a display with small samples of different mulches. I found just the mulch I was looking for - small pieces and a really pretty dark brown, called "Cocoa Mulch". It was a little pricey - about twice as much as cedar mulch ($8.99 I think), but it was exactly what I wanted, and I only needed one bag (2 cu. ft.).

When I got home and opened the trunk, it smelled delicious - like chocolate. I thought this was strange, as I did not have any chocolate in the trunk. But as I was unloading the mulch, I realized where the smell was coming from. I also realized that the "Cocoa" did not just refer to the color of the mulch, but to the source material. Trust me, I felt like a complete idiot for not realizing this sooner.

If you are not familiar with this mulch, it is actually made from the dried husks of cocoa beans. These husks are the by-product of producing chocolate. They smell like chocolate cookies, or cocoa puffs, or a chocolate poptart. An entirely pleasant smell, though not one usually associated with a garden. Apparently this mulch has wide usage amongst rose gardeners.

I really do like the look of the mulch.
Here are some of my potted herbs all mulched up. (Clockwise from top: Lavender, Basil, Rosemary, and in the small black pot - Lady's Bedstraw).

Since I had lots extra after mulching my pots, I also used it on my prairie patch, which was only lightly mulched in the first place.
I am not sure how I feel about the scent - it does smell wonderful, but it makes me hungry for chocolate and it seems out of place. I did read somewhere that the scent fades after 2 or 3 weeks.
A WARNING: since this mulch is produced from the cocoa plant, it does have the same chemicals that are toxic to dogs as chocolate has. Thus, use with caution if you have dogs.

An observation about mulching and experiential learning
Earlier this spring, I dug up two beds for planting flowers and vegetables in. At that time, the soil seemed nice and I did not think to mulch the beds. Well, not only did the soil become really hard on top, but more weeds were popping up than the seeds I planted. Of course mulching would have helped with both problems, and I knew this somewhere in my brain, but still I did not mulch. Even though one chapter in my dissertation dealt with how soil disturbances (i.e. bare ground) encourages the germination of weed seeds, I did not mulch. So I definitely had the "book" knowledge to know that mulching would be beneficial. It was not until I experienced what happened without mulching that it all came together. For me, this has been a lesson in how people learn - hand's on experience is a good thing! Now, I just need to keep it in mind as I am teaching next year.

But now . . .
It is summer, and I can work from home and enjoy the wonderful weather. This is one thing that makes all the hard work of earning my PhD worth it.

This summer, I am in vacation mode!

Going overboard

2008-05-19T16:04:00.002-06:00

Right now I am working on a small grant proposal. In the process of generating the budget, I am in pricing clipboards. Actually, I am searching for a particular kind of clipboard - one of the storage clipboards that is not made from bright silver metal, so either a painted metal or a plastic one. In sunny days, these would have less glare and not get so hot to the touch.

Anyway - I have not found what I am looking for yet (I have just started looking), but I did find antimicrobial clipboards in both plastic and metal. I think this is taking things too, too far.

In the Garden

2008-05-18T06:47:00.002-06:00

I have spent the last three days in complete happiness as I have been creating and planting small garden beds. I am tired and sore, my fingernails still have dirt under them (I really need to get gardening gloves, even though I do love digging my hands in the soil), but I am so excited about my plants. If we owned our house instead of renting, I would have big plans for the yard. As it is, my "garden", so far, consists of three fence-side flower beds and many containers. I have not taken pictures yet, but I wanted to make a list of what I planted (see below).

Two comments

On Thursday, I saw a hummingbird sitting on our dogwood tree by the front door. This heavily influenced my purchases towards hummingbird flowers. I also bought a feeder, and I think I will try to make other feeders throughout the summer.

One of my colleagues from school has prairie garden in which certain plants were taking over and needed weeding out. This meant free plants for me!

Fruits/Vegetables
California Wonder Sweet Bell Pepper
Strawberries – Ozark Beauty
Sweet Hungarian Banana Peppers

Flowers
Lobelia – Riviera Sky Blue
Portulaca – Sundial Mix
Upright Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrida)
Salvias
Lady in Red Texas Sage
Pineapple Sage
Black and Blue Sage (Salvia guarantica)

Sanvitalia – Sunbini Creeping Zinnia
Euphorbia – Diamond Frost
Red Geranium
Gaura

Herbs
Scented Geranium – Fingerbowl Lemon (Pelargonium x crispum minor)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officnalis)
Provence Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia)

Prairie Plants (and I need to look up the scientific names, which I should know)
New England Aster
Sky Blue Aster
Smooth Blazing Star
Rattlesnake Master
Coreopsis
Two other yellow composites, which I don't remember what they are nor do I recall their names just from seeing the leaves)
Purple Poppy Mallow

I love plants! I will post pictures soon.

In Love with Yarn

2008-05-08T06:38:00.003-06:00

Prior to, and following the tree excitement*, I have been spinning. Quite a lot actually. The yarn I refer to in the title is this.

A three-ply merino wool that is about light worsted weight. The pictures are not great. They do not give a true sense of the subtle color variation. They do not allow you to feel how soft the yarn is, how springy, how wonderful. As soon as I washed it and the yarn was dried, I had to start making something with it. It knits up nicely.

After much exploring on Ravelry and flipping through books and magazines, I remembered a scarf from the Vogue Knitting On the Go: Scarves book I have had for years. That one was made with sock yarn, but it was not hard to adapt. Here is the end of the scarf early in its development. The scarf is much longer now, and I hope to finish it this weekend.

Once I started spinning again, I have not stopped. I created this bulky weight 2-ply from a dark blue merino top. My goal here was to spin a consistently soft and bulky yarn.

I think I have the soft down, but I do need to work on my consistency. I think this yarn will become a hat.
Then I moved on to some silk. This was dyed by my Plant Biology class this semester using brazilwood. The silk is about a light worsted-weight. I am not crazy about the color, and I am not sure what it will become.

The joy I got from spinning resulted in me buying some new top from Yarn Barn. This is a teal colored merino wool, the same brand as the sky blue yarn was made from. I love that the colors in the top are vertical.

Here is a close-up of the color variation in the top.

I am trying to be very consistent and spin a 2-ply sock yarn. I want to make a pair of knee-high socks from this yarn, specifically Nancy Bush's Highland Schottische Kilt Hose from her Folk Knits book. I have about one bobbin of the singles spun up. I am very excited about this project. So, off to spinning for a few minutes before I have to leave for a meeting at school.

All we lost was sleep

2008-05-05T11:49:00.001-06:00

As those of you who are in the KC area know (and perhaps the rest of you know as well?), Thursday night very strong storms blew through the area between 1 and 2 am. Here in Independence, we had 82 mile per hour winds blow through ahead of what they are calling a bow echo.

At about 2 am, Steve and I woke up to the loudest, scariest winds I have ever heard. The walls and the windows were shaking. I turned the TV in the bedroom on, saw a huge line of red on the radar, and said "Steve I think we need to go to the basement". My job - to grab the cat. Steve's job - find the flashlight (the power had at some time during these few instances gone out) and take our basket of important stuff into the basement.* Lily, our cat, of course ran away as I tried to grab her. As I was looking to see where she went, I heard a noise I can't even describe - a crack and a thud all at once. Then a split second later - a more solid thud and crash. Then I hear Steve say - "The tree is in the living room". I look in to see a scene much like this (it was much wetter then, and darker, though Steve had found the flashlights and lantern).

After that, thing were a blur for a few minutes. The winds had died down, so we did not feel in danger any longer. They lasted about as long as the microburst did in Lawrence a few years back. But in the next few minutes, I found Lily hiding under the bed, we moved the CD's that were directly under the hole, I put towels down to mop up the water (ha - that was useful), and called the landlords. We then began moving the rest of the DVD's and CD's, the TV, the TV stand, and one small bookcase (and the books in it). Somehow we did all of this in about 45 minutes in the dark. Adrenaline rushes are amazing. Oh - and I also found old pots and things to catch drip of water in.

Our landlords came over about 3:30 that morning, bringing more lanterns, tarps, and buckets. They were amazing, and I feel lucky to be renting from them.

In fact, our luck in this incident was amazing.

1. If the branch had hit almost anywhere else in the house, we would have had damaged furniture, books, yarn, etc. As it was, only a few of our DVD's and CD's that have cardboard cases have water spots on them.

2. If the branch had hit our bedroom, we could have been hurt.

3. If the branch had blown towards our house a few more inches, the windows would have been busted.

4. Our landlords already have the holes patched and the debris cleaned up. The insurance adjuster is coming out Wed. to have a look.

5. We did not suffer the type of damage they had in Gladstone or North KC - there roofs were blown off, or in some cases, the whole house was blown off of its foundation.

So all in all, we lost a night of sleep. And we are both grateful that was all.

Here are some additional photos. The tree was a Silver Maple. I will never have one close to my house, they are notorious for breaking in high winds. In fact, the majority of the branches down in our neighborhood were from Silver Maples.

We were also lucky that the car was put in the garage (though we knew it was supposed to storm). If not, the car would have been smashed.
* A 9 pm that evening, the tornado sirens had gone off. Since we were not in immediate danger from that storm (the sited tornado was well to our south, but still in our county), I took to time to grab some important items in a laundry basket: my purse, the digital camera, some of what I thought were Steve's rare CD's, and my recently completed handspun yarn.

April Update

2008-04-26T06:19:00.003-06:00

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy.

First, there was cheering on the Jayhawks as they made their way through the basketball tournament. It was fun watching them win. My friend Beth, who attended grad school with me at KU, called during the last few minutes of the game so we could watch it together. Which was great fun.

The joy of that Monday evening was marred, however, by the passing of my husband's grandmother. On Wed. we drove up to the Quad Cities with his parents for the funeral, and stayed until Sat. Of course such trips are always hard. I did not know his grandmother very well, had not seen her for several years. And there was some family politics going on that neither I nor my husband were directly involved in. But overall, the trip was good. There were some fun times - playing rockband with the younger cousins (ages 10 - 16), eating Whitey's Ice Cream and Rudy's Tacos, staying out until (get this) 3:30 in the morning hanging out with the older cousins (i.e. the cousins that are our age). The late night included running out of gas at 3:00 am in our cousin's Camero. It seems his dad, who is a tinkerer extraordinaire, had changed the gas gauge such that when it is on E, you are out of gas. It was rather funny.

I came back to my classes behind schedule and have been trying to figure out how to get back on track. Oh- and with our taxes not started. Two late nights of working on taxes . . . and getting your taxes in at 10 pm on April 15th is much different in Kansas City than it was in Lawrence. At the Lawrence post office, they have a "party" with a band playing. And, we could walk to the post office and drop off the taxes. Not so easy in KC. First, we went to the local Independence post office - not open, no messages about where you could drop off your taxes. We were able to get postage from the automatic kiosk.

When we got home, I called the post office phone number, and they said that there were extended hours, but they all ended at 9 pm. At this point I panicked a bit. Then I thought, wait, its 10 pm, and they always show last minute tax filers on the news. Sure enough, there was the local newscaster at the downtown post office. Off we went. We were stuck in a very slow moving line of traffic coming off the highway, though once you got to the post office things went really smoothly. I was glad we already had our postage purchased.

Last week, we had senior thesis presentations on Monday and Tuesday until about 8:45 each night.

Friday was the last day of regular class. Yes, I still have finals to write, give, and grade. Yes we have a ton of meetings coming up. Yes, I have a huge stack of grading to finish this weekend.
But - I have made it through my first full year of teaching college, and I am excited to start back in the fall.

Oh - and spring has finally made an appearance here in KC. I do have some pictures that I will post later.

Random Pictures

2008-04-10T06:40:00.003-06:00

It was time to remove Misery and Suffering as the first post on the blog. My poison ivy has cleared up. I spent a nice weekend with my mom and grandmother last weekend. We had one day of sunshine before the torrential rain hit.

Misery and Suffering

2008-03-31T14:47:00.004-06:00

I have poison ivy - on my face, around my eye. Also on my wrists, neck, stomach, back of knees, and thighs. You would think I had been rolling around in the stuff.

No - I just forgot one of the cardinal rules of fieldwork - take a shower not a bath when you return from the field. Poison ivy rashes are caused by plant oils, which, while in a bath, float around on top of the water. The oils on the water can thus come into contact with any part of your body.

See on Thursday, for my plant biology lab, we were collecting twigs to ID. It did not sem like field work as we did not leave campus. I didn't even cross my mind that evening as I prepared my bath, that I may have come into contact with poison ivy.

The students in my freshman biology class are hoping that my eye swells shut so that I cannot write their exam for Friday. I am touched by their concern (I think they were in part joking). Alas, I can see out only one eye, so no reprieve for them.

Burr Oaks Woods

2008-03-30T18:20:00.000-06:00

I had planned to post this earlier, but the week got away from me. During Spring Break, Thursday was a terrific day - temperatures in the low 70's, with lots of sunshine (I am really glad we did, it has been cold and gray since then). We took a trip out to Burr Oaks Woods, a conservation area that is actually located fairly close to us. I was looking for signs of spring. I am so ready for green, and flowers, and growing things. But, spring has been slow in coming this year. About the only green we saw was moss growing on the stones, but there was some green.

My Spring Break

2008-03-24T10:52:00.005-06:00

Today is the last official day of my spring break. Sigh, but I am really glad to have today to get ready for the coming week instead of having to teach today. And since I did not accomplish as much work as I had hoped, I really need the extra day.

So what did I do over spring break?

Knitting
I made a hat. Le Slouch - a nice orange floppy beret. I have been wanting to have a floppy beret for a long time. Needless to say, I have been wearing it all week.

Due to my fickle knitting nature - this WIP

becameIn order to become the Aleita Shell from the Spring 2008 Interweave Knits. I am close to being done with the new vest and hope to have pictures soon. I wasn't happy with how I knitted the cable on the first vest, and I really, really like the Aleita Shell.

Reading - I did a lot of reading this weekend - while knitting, through basketball games, until late at night. The books I read over the break are highlighted with an asterisks over in my book list. I really love reading.

Building - A really crude compost pile, from fallen branches and an extra gate we had in our garage. Once this was finished, we were able to rake up most of the leaves in the yard.

Enjoyed the weather - we had a couple of fantastic days weatherwise in KC. We took one afternoon and visited Burr Oaks Conservation Area. I will post a photojournal of that hike soon.

Other fun spring break activities - Dinner with friends, party last Sunday celebrating the fact that there was no school on Monday, watching the NCAA basketball tourny (my bracket is a mess after the first two rounds), eating ice-cream, and playing with the cat.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T18:08:00.002-06:00

Countdown to Spring Break

2008-03-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

One class down. I still have two classes (one I am lecturing in, one I am giving an exam), 1 faculty meeting, and 2 student research presentations to go. Then - relief and joy can set in. I have never looked forward to spring break so much. We aren't going anywhere. I don't have any major plans. But I do have lots of minor plans

1. Get at least three lectures ahead in each of my classes.
2. Learn how to do flow cytometry - a cool technique that we actually do have the equipment for here.
3. Sleep
4. Plan for my garden
5. Clean out the garage, and finish unpacking.
6. Read at least one novel - maybe even two.
7. Watch Basketball
8. Listen to Spring Training games on the radio
9. Knit
One project I hope to finish are these socks that I started back in January. For my birthday (back in Nov.) my husband gave me these two wonderful skeins of Claudia Handpaints Yarn. I started making some colorwork socks, based off a chart in Anna Zilboorg's sock book. But other than that chart, I don't have a pattern I am working from. I hope that I can figure out what I did so far on the first one so the second one will match.

The Stocking Cap

2008-03-12T20:42:00.000-06:00

Also from Charlene Schurch's "Hats On!". A long stocking striped stocking cap that I made for my husband. It was fun project - I was able to use up a lot of scrap yarn.

Toque Number 3

2008-03-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

From Anna Zilboorg's "45 Fine and Fanciful Hats to Knit"

There are a lot more hats I would like to knit from this book - interesting shapes like berets, cones, stars, onion domes, Egyptian Hats, Pentagons, and stacked hats. But it is a library book, and I had to return it. Maybe after I finish some of the projects I have started now, I will request it again.

Giving in to temptation

2008-03-09T18:11:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been filled with school work. I still have to get together one lecture for tomorrow, but the class isn't until 11:15 - I will have a couple of hours tomorrow to work on it. So I am giving in to knitting temptation. As I have been working, I have been taking little internet breaks to check out knitting blogs and Ravelry. And I really, really want to knit. So - it is time to put on a Mystery Science Theater, pull out my knitting basket and get to work. I will probably be working on this:

Fair-Isle Hat from Charlene Schurch's "Hats On!".
Have a great evening!

WIP: Unamed Socks

2008-03-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Earlier I had posted a picture of my frothy leaf socks in progress. Well, those socks are no more. I liked the way they were turning out, but in my current knitting reality, in which I have less time and feel more brain-dead in the time I do have, it was too much to keep track of. So after messing the pattern up several times, I stopped, reevaluated, and changed my plan. I used the same yarn to knit up Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. Much better - this pattern I can pick up and knit on without much thinking. I have finished the first sock, using yarn left-over from socks I made for my Mom a couple of years ago. I have started the second sock, but haven't worked on it much lately. I think later today I will get back to it.

But I still have a problem - What to call it? I am not very good at naming things. Any suggestions? The picture below is fairly true to color.

My ideas so for -
Forest Floor Socks
Dappled Forest Socks
Pile of leaves

Fana Cap

2008-03-08T13:47:00.002-06:00

Despite the lack of posting in the last month, I have been knitting. I have finished three hats and one sock. I have started another hat and another pair of socks. I am spreading out the updates, so that I will at least have something to post each day. In addition to having been on a hat knitting binge, I have also been doing a lot of stranded color-work.

Fana Cap
From Hats On! by Charlene Schurch
Paternayan Yarn

My thoughts on this hat - I still need to block it - but the band curls up a bit. Blocking may help, but I am not holding my breath. The yarn I bought at a yarn shop in Parkville MO called Florilegium. They had a whole wall of Paternayan yarn in about 200 colors. I was mesmerized by all of the colors, and had a hard time picking two. At the time, I knew I wanted to do a colorwork hat with two colors, even though I did not have a pattern picked out. In retrospect, I think the yarn is a bit too itchy for a hat. And the hat is a bit tight on my head, it has a tendency to creep upwards and off of my head.

Spring Fever

2008-03-06T21:00:00.005-06:00

It has been colder and grayer than normal as winter winds down here in KC. I am so ready for spring - warmer days, sunnier skies, and the return of green and flowers. I hope that plants start emerging and blooming soon, my plant biology students are supposed to make a small plant collection. I am getting worried that spring won't come in time. Until then, I found some pictures I took last May. Hope spring comes soon.

What I learned today

2008-03-05T19:59:00.003-06:00

Translocon - a complex of membrane-bound proteins that function in inserting other membrane bound proteins into the membrane. What I want to know - how do the translocons get into the membrane?

Thanks to everyone who commented on my post yesterday. It is motivation for me to post more often.

I have now been at school for 13 hours today. It is time to go home and write my plant biology lab for tomorrow.

Luck

2008-03-04T21:38:00.003-06:00

Wow - I can't believe that over a month has passed since I have last posted. Time flies and all.

In honor of my good friend - Sparkling Squirrel, I have entitled my post "Luck". For the last several years, SS has been exploring different themes each year - past themes have included: pink, sparkling, rodents. This year, it is luck. She has several interesting posts about luck on her blog. And it got me thinking about luck.

I have had some bad luck (but thankfully, not in any major way). Most of this bad luck has expressed itself in my plant biology lab. First - measuring pigment light absorption using a table-top spectrometer. It turns out that acetone (the chemical which we used to extract our pigments) will melt plastic cuvettes. Second - failed seed germination experiment in my plant biology lab. We were attempting to germinate the seeds in petri dishes on moist filter paper. The problem - mold. We are going to set up the experiment again after Spring Break. In hopes of not repeating the mold problem, we will rinse the seeds in a very dilute bleach solution.
Hmmmm - maybe the issue here isn't luck, so much as lack of preparation on my part. As Edna Mode says - "Luck favors the prepared"

In addition to dealing with failed experiments, I have been doing some knitting. In fact, I have somehow managed to knit three hats since I last updated. Though in the last few weeks, my knitting time has been almost non-existent. In fact, I do believe that it is the least amount of time I have spent knitting since I began knitting 7 years ago. But I know these things go in cycles and I will have more time to knit in the future.

Well, it's off to bed for me. Hope you have a good night.

Time is short

2008-01-24T16:18:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I left home at 6 am, got to school at 6:35 am, left at 5:30 pm. Still had work to do when I got home, did not finish it all.

Today - went out to my yard at 6 am (in the freezing darkness) to collect twigs (their lab today was learning how to identify trees from their twigs) for my students. Left home at 6:50 am. Got to school and collected more twigs for class (it was light, but felt much, much colder than at my house). I am hoping to leave in the next few minutes - after I get my stuff gathered up.

Sigh - I have managed to get a few rounds knit on my latest hat. I have not had a chance to photograph my progress. Maybe this weekend - it is supposed to be in the mid-50's. This morning the temperature was -2 F.

The news this morning had a poll - which would you prefer, a 100 degree day or a 0 degree day? I would most definitely take the 100 degree day. How about you?

And since I have not had any pictures lately, a reminder of warmer days.

Jan. 22nd - Hibernation

2008-01-22T17:15:00.000-06:00

Hibernation describes my weekend (perhaps psuedohibernation would be a better). It was cold. I did not leave the house. The weekend was filled with quiet relaxation - reading books, watching movies, knitting, cooking.

I finished another hat - but no pictures at this time. I am in a period of hat-mania right now. There are a lot of different types of hat I want to knit. Berets, watch caps, onion domes, star shaped hats, pillbox hats, stocking caps, with stripes, cables, colorwork, lace. Since hats knit up so quickly, it does seem like I can easily flit from one to another and yet finish a project. I am trying to refrain myself from casting on for 10 different hats at once. I still have my gloves to finish, and I wish I had them today - it was 8 degrees this morning when I left for work.

Movies - We checked out from the library a 4 movies set of Boris Karloff movies (Boris Karloff was the original movie Frankenstein's Monster and also narrated the cartoon version of the "The Grinch who stole Christmas").
The movies - in order of most to least favorite
1) The Boogie Man Will Get You - A comedy also starring Peter Loree. One of the best comedies I have seen in a while.
2) The Black Room - A dual role for Boris - He plays an Evil Baron and his twin brother, who are under a curse that the younger brother will kill the older (the older is the Evil Baron).
3) The Man they could not Hang
4) Before I Hang
3 and 4 were almost the same movie - a brilliant doctor has either found a way to bring people back from the dead (3) or to create everlasting youth (4). Each is found guilty of murder that is sort of in the gray area of murder (for different reasons) and in the end, their discoveries drive them to be true murders.

Overall, I really enjoyed these movies and would recommend them, especially if you like older movies. We also watched "Rear Window" which was excellent.

Well - I need to get back to work. I need to finish prepping for my classes tomorrow.

Jan 18th - AM

2008-01-18T10:48:00.000-06:00

This last few days have been full of much preparation for class, and a bit of knitting. Also, preparations (mostly mental) for the arctic blast that is to hit us today. The coldest days of the season so far with temperatures below zero (F). I imagine my friends in Iowa and Chicago have already felt the blast.

Wed night - I took the evening off from working, instead watching movies and knitting. Yesterday, we pretty much held with our no TV night, we watched Wheel of Fortune while eating dinner (onion pie and salad - mmmmmmm). I spent the rest of the evening preparing for classes today.

This weekend - probably more cooking, watching movies, knitting, and preparing for classes. I plan to be a real homebody (I am a big wimp when it comes to cold temperatures, especially this cold). I also hope to have some updated pictures of my knitting,.

Jan 15th - The ways of cats

2008-01-15T15:36:00.001-06:00

We have a cat, Lily, who has lived with us for about 10 years now. She has never liked being covered up by blankets. If you covered her up with one, she would soon move out from under it. Even if she was in a deep sleep, she would wake up and get on top of the blankets.

That is until last week. She has started wanting to get under the blankets, to sleep in a little cave of covers. Much to our surprise, she has even taken to sleeping under the covers between me and my husband.

The ways of cats are mysterious.

Jan. 14th - Knitting update and Garden Plans

2008-01-14T16:58:00.001-06:00

This week marks the first full week of teaching in the spring semester. I should get a better sense of how busy I will be.

Since finishing my Christmas knitting, I have been working on new projects, I just have not shared them here.

Bugged Out Onion Dome
My in-laws gave me a gift certificate to a yarn shop in Springfield, MO. I did not have a specific idea of what I wanted to buy, but I knew that I wanted to try a new yarn. When browsing the store, I kept coming back to this brilliant blue yarn (Nashua Creative Focus Handknit Worsted). So I decided it must come home with me. I have been wanting to knit some hats and have very little worsted weight yarn right now. In the end I paired it up with Natural and a deep chocolate brown called Espresso. I have also been itching to do some color-work. The pattern is from Anna Zilboorg's hat book (the name escapes me right now) which I borrowed from the library. I made "Onion Dome" #2.
In progress

After a Saturday morning filled with knitting, a finished hat.
The photo is not all that great, there are only three colors. This photos makes it look like there is a light blue as well. My gauge was a bit off - more stitches per inch than called for, so I don't have the nice onion dome shape as in the book. But it fits my head and I really love it. My husband thinks the motifs look like insects - thus the name.

I am currently knitting a second hat from the same book with the same yarn - one of the toques. This time at the correct gauge.

Autumn Froth Ripple Weave
I also started a new pair of socks - Ripple Weave Socks by Charlene Schurch from the Fall 06 issue of Vogue Knitting. So far, this pattern has taken a lot of attention and I have not gotten to the point where I can not look at the chart. But I am pleased with how it is going.

Winter Mist Gloves
I also started a pair of gloves - from A Gathering of Lace. I am really excited to have a new pair of gloves, I am less excited by knitting the fingers.

Boy my thumb looks wrinkly.

I do think it is cool how the fingers become part of the whole. And I enjoy looking at the palm side as much as the back side of these gloves. I still need to work on picking up the finger stitches and creating a tighter join.

Finally - a list of plants I would like to grow in my garden this summer

Vegetables
potatoes
corn
leeks
tomatoes (small yellow pear shaped, cherry, and a good sandwich tomato)
sweet peppers
banana peppers
carrots
eggplant (the purple stripey variety)
fingerling potatoes
Beans
Celery
lettuce
spinach

Fruits
Strawberries

Herbs
basil
lavender
fennel (the bulb-eating variety)
borage
garlic
parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
savory
coriander
cilantro

Am I being overly ambitious?

Jan. 13, 2008 - Thoughts and Christmas Knitting

2008-01-06T20:10:00.000-06:00

As I have mentioned before, I am having a hard time keeping up with the blog - everyday I think about the things I could write in my blog, everyday I feel a twinge of guilt thinking about writing on my blog, instead of writing to my friends directly. On top of this dilemma, making time to do either is difficult. But writing in this blog is important to m - e - I have never kept a journal for more than a handful of days. And I have kept up with (to varying degrees) this blog for a year. I like being able to look back over the past year and see the things I made, the thoughts I had, the events, the challenges, the changes.

So - what to do.
First. - spend about 20 minutes at the end of each day writing on the blog. This does not seem like too big of a time commitment, but enough time to write. Second - on Tuesday and Saturday, allow myself to write a longer post if I want. Third - do not feel guilty about not meeting one and 2.

Update on Eating Resolutions:
We made it one week without eating out. Due to spending a bit too much at Christmas, we have severely curtailed our food budget for the rest of January. Thus, we are eating through the food we have in the pantry. I am hoping that by the end of the month most of the highly processed foods we do have will be gone. And in Feb. will be the big push to replace those items with "whole" foods, organic foods, local foods etc.

Another development - we got a new stove/oven this week. When we returned from New Year's at my in-laws, our oven was not working. The landlord replaced it (one of the great benefits of renting). It is just a basic stove/oven unit - but it is clean and it works. So I may do some baking this week. But I discovered I need to by both baking soda and powder.

Food Plans:
Honey and Feta Flat Bread
Soak and Cook Black beans in the slow-cooker. This is in an effort to reduced the amount of canned beans we eat (which are really high in sodium). I have been cooking more beans in the crockpot.
Balsamic Lentils and Potatoes

We currently have a lot of pasta in the pantry, but my husband does not like tomato based sauces, neither of us are fond of mushrooms, and I just cannot bring myself to buy basil in the store to make pesto. Any suggestions for other pasta sauces? We did make home-made macaroni and cheese on Friday.

I am also in the planning stages of our garden for the summer. Since we are renting, I am questioning how much effort I want to put into making garden beds vs. planting vegetables and herbs in containers. Next time, I will share my list of plants I want to grow so far.

Finally, today, I want to share the rest of my Christmas knitting.
A hat for my aunt.

Socks for my mom and sister.
Tidepool revisited - for my other sister.
Hat for my stepdad.
Scarf for my stepmom.

Post 155, Jan. 5th - In which explanation of resolutions are given

2008-01-05T07:36:00.000-06:00

I am finding it difficult to separate out the motivations for my three categories of New Year's Resolutions. They are closely intertwined. All have been ideas roaming around in my brain for years. So why now, why 2008?

Because of a class I am preparing to teach starting next week - "The Ecology of Food". We will be exploring the ecological, cultural, societal, and health implications of the current American agricultural practices. In preparation for this class I have been doing A LOT of reading, including:
"Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
"Fat Land" by Greg Critser
"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser
"Eat Here" by Brian Halweil
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond
"Against the Grain" by Richard Manning

All of this reading has helped solidify ideals that I have long held and motivated me realize those ideals in my daily life.

One of my main goals I have this year is to get off the "agrobusiness grid". That is - to buy foods that have not been processed by one of the major food processing companies in the world - ConAgra, ADM, etc. Most of the food in our supermarkets are funneled through the processing plants of these companies - and we are not talking about grinding wheat to make flour. Rather, the plants do things like - break corn down into its chemical constituents - sugar, oil, etc, which are reformulated to make thinks like "fruit snacks".*

This won't be an easy goal to make - it will require more time, energy, and money spent by me to get my food. But in the end - both me and the planet will be a bit healthier. And the money I do spend will be to support local farmers, not agrobusiness giants.

The specific steps to meet this goal:

1.) Plant a garden: We have the space and permission from our landlord to put a garden in. I want a garden with a lot of variety, that contains fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Jan. and Feb. will be spent researching and planning out the garden.

2.) Buy foods that are less processed. My first step is to reduce the number of items I purchase that contain "corn syrup" or "high fructose corn syrup". This includes my favorite bread, many cereals, soda, and many processed foods. There are other ingredients that are also processed from corn and soybeans, but corn syrup is one of the most ubiquitous. It will also have a big health impact on me.

3.) Buy fruits and vegetables from local farmers - a frustrating goal to set in Jan. but when the farmer's markets start popping up - I am buying all of my produce (which does not come from by garden) from local sources.

4.) Find a source of grass-feed meat - Two big reasons for this. 1.) Beef that is grass-fed has not been shipped to a confined feeding lot. If you have been within 5 miles of a big confined feeding operation, you have a glimpse (or should I say whiff) of the environmental damage created by such operations. Not to mention how poorly the animals in such operations are treated. 2.) It turns out, that what our meat eats has health implications for us. Grain-fed beef has more of the "bad" fats (Omega-6 I believe, but I am not certain if I am remembering correctly) compared to the "good" fats (Omega-3?). Grass fed-beef has a higher ratio of the "good" fats. Plus, most grass-fed cows do not require high inputs of antibiotics.

5.) Reduce the amount I eat out - and when I do eat out, try to eat at local restaurants, and not the big corporate chains. Also - trade quantity for quality - eat out less often, but at nicer places.

Meeting this goals will help me 1) be healthier, 2) feel like I am living a fuller life (Gardening and cooking will reduce the amount of time I watch TV, which I feel I do to much. When I binge on TV watching, I often feel like I have missed out on the real life), and 3) spend less of my money at corporate chains.

* Fruit snacks are on my mind - our 6 year old niece made my husband and I "lunchboxes" from wrapping paper for Christmas, each containing Care Bears Fruit Flavored Snacks. She can be a sweet girl. After eating mine, and realizing they did not really taste like food, I looked at the label. These snacks containg: Fruit juice from concentrates, corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, pectin, dextrose, citric acid, Vitamin C (abscorbic acid), sodium citrate, malic acid, potassium citrate, mineral oil, color, natural and artificial flavor, carnauba wax, sulfitting agents, and beeswax.

Jan. 2nd - In which resolutions are made and knitting is shared

2008-01-02T08:55:00.001-06:00

In the past I have not been big on making New Year's Resolutions. This year is different. I want to change certain aspects of my life and I feel like I am in position to do so. I have been a bit intimidated by writing out all of my New Year's Resolution here, because they are many and I want to explain (at least to myself) in writing my motivations, plans, and thoughts about them. A long post, needless to say (it is the potential length of the post, not the content that has been the roadblock). So today - I am listing the three main areas that my resolutions fall into, exploration of motives and specific plans will come later.

1.) Be healthier. Not original I know, but both my husband and I want to eat better and get more exercise. This a joint resolution and I feel that we are both pretty committed to it.

2.) Live life fuller. This will entail two types of changes in my life. First, reduce the amount of time watching TV. Second, consciously decide what I want to do and frankly, just do it. I spend to much time worried about how I should spend my time, and the net result is a lot of time is wasted.

3.) I am not sure the best way to word my third major resolution. The idea is to live my life less under the influence of corporate America.

All three ideas are actually interconnected, but that explanation will have to wait until another post. I need to get off to work, and I do want to share at least one of my Christmas knitting projects.

The swimming pool socks which were knit for my mother-in-law. Last Christmas I gave her a pair of handknit purple socks (purple being her favorite color). She told my husband that she would really like a pair of blue socks. The yarn is Claudia HandPaint, Electric Blue if I remember correctly. The pattern in from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks - Child's Sock in Diaper and Citrion Knitting (or something like that). The socks turned out nice, and my MIL really loved them. I did not enjoy knitting the pattern, though maybe it was because I had to knit it three time.

No Excuses

2007-12-18T06:32:00.000-06:00

So, the ice storm did come through our area, but luckily we did hit the warmer temperatures, so most of it came down as rain. Thankfully, we did not lose power. Which means I have no excuse about why I have not posted for a week.

Christmas knitting is almost done! I just have the foot of one sock left to knit, and finishing to do on three projects. I am hoping to get all of that done tonight, so I will have plenty of time for blocking and, most importantly, drying, before we leave for my Mom's on Friday.

Because the gift knitting is almost finished, I have actually started my next projects, so I can have knitting to work on with all the traveling we will be doing for the holidays. Hopefully, I can get some pictures today of those small beginnings to share.

Have a great day!

The magic numbers

2007-12-10T07:20:00.000-06:00

28, 32

Here in KC, we will be getting precipitation tomorrow - but whether we get rain or freezing rain depends upon the temperature. And we are not talking about just a small amount of precipitation, but somewhere between 1.5 and 2 inches. If the temperature today gets up above 28 degrees F, then it is more likely that tomorrow our temperatures will get at or above 32 degrees. Great, this means rain. If not, and the temperature tomorrow stays below freezing - we could get up to two inches of ice. *

So tomorrow, Tuesday, is potentially going to be a really messy day. Or, it might not be. As a result, I have decided to work from home tomorrow instead of driving over the large bridge across the Missouri River** . I don't want to get stuck at work. . . I used to think I was a complete wimp for not going into work on bad weather days. After all, lots of people have to go to work and risk driving in the dangerous conditions. But upon reflection, I am really thankful that, as an academic, I have a job that allows me to honor the limitations imposed upon me by winter weather. I can stay home tomorrow; no one will die or be sick if I am not there tomorrow. But it is more than that - I don't have to worry that my boss will fire me if I don't show up. I don't have to risk life and limb to go to work because I don't have any vacation days left.

Hopefully we will get plain, boring rain instead of ice tomorrow. If we get ice, I hope that people in the area will be safe.

*This is according to my favorite news Channel in KC - 41. Both the of the main meteorologists are terrific. They tell you like it is without predicting gloom and doom.

** Incidentally, I also drive past a landfill everyday to work. Lovely, no. Often the song "Over the river and past the landfill to biology class I go" runs through my head.

Busy, Satisfying Days

2007-12-09T14:41:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks have been busy - both in terms of work and getting ready for Christmas. Thankfully, the busy days have also been productive. My biggest accomplishment this week has been finishing preparations for a seed germination experiment. In preparation, I needed to till my plots (there are 35 of them, each about 3 meters long). There have been a few roadblocks in getting this tilling done (mostly my fault), but Wednesday my field went from . . .

to . . .

with the help of . . .
I have never used a tiller before. At first, it was difficult because I was fighting the machine. Once I got the hang of it - the work went quickly. It was a cold day - about 20 degrees F, with a stiff wind. Luckily, the area I was working in was protected from the wind, and the work was physical enough that I actually shed some of my layers.

I finished the tilling just in time, as the following day looked like this . . .
Since last Thursday, we have had light snow, sleet, or freezing rain. Thus, I still don't have the actual experiment in the ground - but I am hoping that we will have a day that is warm enough before Christmas to get my seeds planted. Though, it does not look hopeful for the next week - we are supposed to have "ice pellets" all week.

I have also made good progress on the Christmas knitting. Since they are secret projects, I am only sharing sneak peaks - I plan to share full project details after Christmas.

We have also been doing holiday decorating - fir the first time in about 7 years we have a real tree. It is small, only about 4 ft, but it smells wonderful and I am so happy to have a real tree. We have a lot of our shopping done and most of those presents wrapped (I have to wrap in stages or else I get so sick of it). The other large project for this week is to get the Christmas cards out. Another task I can only do in small doses.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season - and staying warm.

Shhhh - It's a secret

2007-11-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

or -lots of secrets.

I have relatively ambitious Christmas Knitting plans this year; so far all plans are for family. So, while I have, and will be doing lots of knitting in the coming weeks, I won't necessarily have a lot to show until after the gifts are given. I am not exactly sure which of my family reads this blog - I don't think many of them do, but you never know.

I have cast on, and been working on the first round of knitted gifts. So I am offering a sneak peak of the projects that are part of the first round. Some have been featured here before, others have not. This rather colorful pile of yarn represents four pairs of socks, one hat, and one scarf.

Will there be a round two? Only time will tell. Though - it will be likely if I quit making stupid mistakes in my knitting and don't have to redo my work.

Gingerbread House Mid-Century Style

2007-11-19T10:47:00.001-06:00

For the last few years, a friend of mine in Lawrence has hosted a gingerbread decorating day at her house. Her mom, who is really into gingerbread houses, drives in from Colorado with her candy stash, construction knowledge, and expertise in frosting making. We are to bake our gingerbread house pieces ahead of time and bring them baked, cooled, and ready for construction and decorating.

My idea was to make a mid-century style gingerbread house. I had a good plan, but
as usual, I baked my pieces at the last minute (it is best to make the pieces a few days in advance so they get stale and hard, and of course the dough has to chill for several hours). So the pieces were burnt and uneven. I am so jealous of the others who had nice, pretty, even pieces.
Anyway - the house turned out fine and it was great fun to decorate.

Notice the pink flamingos (thanks to my friend D) and the War of the Worlds Style Alien (thanks to E) attacking the house. We blame the alien for the hole between the roof and the side of the house you cannot see.

It was a sticky, sugary mess - but a lot of fun to create.

Denmarks Finished

2007-11-18T10:13:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, while watching the KU/Iowa State Game, I finished the Denmark Socks. Now they are on the line drying with leaves floating down around them.

Quick Update

2007-11-16T08:26:00.001-06:00

A few posts back, I mentioned some spinning. It is a blue, but not quite as pale as in the picture. The roving is mostly blue, but with subtle vertical stripes of yellow, red, and deeper blue. I feel in love with the roving and I am really enjoying spinning it. I bought the roving at Yarn Barn in Lawrence, but it did not indicate what type of wool. Originally, this was going to be part of the stalled skyline project (which is still in the planning stages), but now I don't know what I will make of it. I am spinning the singles now, with a 3-ply yarn in mind.

I have also been knitting a Denmark Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the road. Just have to finish the last toe and weave in ends.

A tale of two socks

2007-11-12T08:22:00.002-06:00

Way back in July, I started two pairs of socks. The swimming pool socks and the Blazing Sky Hiking Socks. Since then, I have not really provided much of an update.
So what has happened to these projects? Both have, for different reasons, been sent to the frog pond.

Let's start with the Blazing Sky Socks
I was not happy with the combination of pattern and yarn. I think the yarn (handspun by me) needs a simpler pattern and the pattern needs a solid color yarn. I have some new ideas, and I may cast on later today.

Now for Swimming Pool - I finished the first sock. I am very happy with the results. I did not cast on right away for the second sock. Actually, it was a couple of months before I started the second sock. I made great progress on the second sock. I finished it on Friday night. I put the two socks side by side and . . . the second sock was HUGE. I was wondering why I ran out of yarn before finishing the second sock, but not the first. Then I realized, I must have grabbed the wrong sized needles when I started the second sock. I checked the pattern - it calls for size 1 needles. I was using size 2. ARGGGHHHHH. I had even sewn in all the ends.

You think I might have noticed the difference a few weeks ago when I took this picture - but no.

So I have restarted the second swimming pool sock, on the correct sized needles. I am so sick of knitting this pattern. It's for a Christmas gift though, so I must carry on.

Sigh.

Multi-Tasking?

2007-11-11T17:40:00.000-06:00

This morning on the "news" they had a piece about multi-tasking (this was one of the national morning news shows). And it got me thinking. Do I multi-task? Should I multi-task?

To me multi-tasking means doing two things (or more) at the same time. In thinking through my day, I realize . . I don't really multi-task. There are lots of times when I am doing one thing (writing my lecture) and I get interrupted by something else (a student needing help or an e-mail I remembered I need to send). But rarely do I ever actually do two things simultaneously. I cant write a blog post while I am waiting for something to print (as I am doing now . . . I had better check on my printing). But now that my paper's are done printing (it's an exam for tomorrow), I can't proof the exam while I am writing.

It turns out, that I can't do two things at once. If I attempt it (ie surf the web while talking to someone on the phone), neither task is done well. The only time I can multi-task is if one of the two things I am doing requires no thinking. I can talk on the phone while doing the dishes. I can knit while watching TV. I do very simple knitting while reading, but even then I find myself drifting towards one or the other task. And I cannot even imagine that it is physically possible to do more than two things at once. Even when I knit while watching TV, I find that my focus inevitably ends up either on my knitting or on the TV program.

So I wonder - do people really do more than two things simultaneously? If not, what is considered multi-tasking? And the bigger question - why is multi-tasking so valued in our culture?

I think we need to slow down. Focus on one thing at a time and do that thing well.

Fall Break

2007-10-23T07:23:00.001-06:00

Professors and teachers look forward to fall break more than the students. I have been in both roles, and I really do look forward to the extra days off more as a professor. Our fall break started Saturday and extended to Monday and Tuesday. So what did I do over my fall break?

1.) Laundry - Saturday was a beautiful, warm, sunny, windy day. Perfect for hanging laundry out on the line. The clothes line is one of the things I love most about our abode. And hanging the laundry our has become one of my favorite chores. It seems strange to me that something I enjoy so much is a symbol of domestic drudgery. I enjoy figuring out how to fit all the clothes on, I love seeing the colors grouped together (the red load, the blue load, etc.), I love watching the clothes flapping in the wind. I also like that hanging the clothes, in a very small way, offsets the extra fossil fuels I now have to spend driving to and from work 15 miles away.

2.) Mowed the lawn - Well, my husband did most of the work on this. But I wanted to mention it here, as this is another way I try to offset my addition greenhouse gas emissions. For the last 7 years, we had lived in apartments or duplexes where we were not responsible for the yard work. In our new abode, we do have to take care of the lawn. I really wanted a "Leave-it-to-Beaver" reel push mower. So we got one. And I love it. No keeping gas in the garage, no fumes while mowing, and no noise! I love how quite this mower is. I could mow the lawn at 6 am or 11 pm, if I so desired. Which, when summertime temps hit 95+ F, may not be such a bad idea.

3.) A personal fiber fest - I did use some of the extra time off to do some knitting and spinning. I mostly knit on the Clementine Shawlette. But I spent more time spinning. I guess I could take pictures of my spinning as well as my knitting. Something to consider. I am currently spinning a three-ply yarn out of a beautiful blue roving I bought at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence Kansas. Pictures will be forthcoming.

4.) Visited friends in Lawrence - Even though Monday was a gray and rainy day, we took the 1 hour trip back to Lawrence to visit friends there. I had a great time catching up with people. We had a lovely dinner with friends at a local Mexican Restaurant, even though the food was bland.

5.) Catching up on work stuff - No so much fun, but it is nice to get to have an extra day with no teaching to get caught up with work.

Tidepool Revisted Progress

2007-10-22T08:27:00.000-06:00

I have finished the first of the Tidepool Revisited socks. I think these are turning out nicely.

It is interesting though, the striping on the cuff was different than the striping on the foot.

Cuff

Foot

Both the cuff and the foot have the same number of stitches, the only difference is that on the foot half of the stitches are in stockinette stitch, while on the cuff, all of the stitches are in the slip-stitch rib. At first I was unhappy with this difference in the stripping. So I had to let go and just let the yarn do what it wanted to do.

Sweater Vest No More

2007-10-22T08:10:00.000-06:00

My attempts to design a funky-colored vest have failed. While I think I got the colors right, 2 things derailed this project. 1.) lack of orange yarn. 2) the way the ribbing did not flow into the color work. It mad a really ugly rolled ridge. Perhaps I decreased too much between the rib and the colorwork. This is as far as I got before deciding to frog it (Ha - I just noticed the little stuffed frog in the picture, which was not planned). But with the frogging of an unsuccessful project comes the potential to start something new. Something that might allow the yarn to be used successfully. So using the blue yarn (and the color in the first photos below is more accurate), I started the Clementine Shawlette from the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits. So far so good. The pattern is easy to remember and enjoyable to knit.

A close up picture with some of my rock collection.
A super close-up of the stitch work. I could see this pattern working well with some variegated yarns.

Swimming Pool Socks

2007-10-21T10:19:00.000-06:00

I started on these socks in July. The last time I showed them, I had barely started the ribbing of the cuff. The pattern is from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks - Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting. I have yet to figure out which part of the sock is the Citron pattern and which the diaper knitting. The yarn is Claudia's Handpaint Sock Yarn.
The color has always reminded me of a cool, deep swimming pool full of water. I chose this pattern for the yarn as the central portion of the pattern reminds me of the ripples made from someone swimming through the water. The side portions of the pattern remind me of tiles that might be lining the pool.

Cardinal Socks

2007-10-09T08:15:00.000-06:00

Since I did not post for a while, I have projects that were started and completed without a mention on the blog. The socks below are one such project. I bought the yarn because it contains bamboo and I love red. Our mascot here where I teach is the Cardinal. So these have become my "team spirit socks".

Yarn: Trekking pro natura (75% Wool, 25% Bamboo)
Pattern: Nancy Bush's Little Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks

Tidepool Revisted

2007-10-08T10:17:00.001-06:00

Remember this?

This was the first of the tide-pool socks I was working on over the summer. The yarn was Socks-That-Rock yarn, the pattern was Nancy Bush. While I love both the yarn and the stitch pattern, the two together were not pleasing to me. So, tidepool went to the frog-pond.

I am currently revisiting tidepool - using a slip-stitch rib pattern from Charlene Schurch's book.

I am much happier with the results. The slip-stitch pattern breaks up the pooling and looks really nice to me. Of course the color did not turn out well in the picture above, so I will have to try and get a daylight picture.

A New Project

2007-10-05T12:57:00.001-06:00

I have wanted to make a funky colored, color-work sweater vest for awhile now. So I created a swatch. Of course the colors are not quite accurate in the photo, but pretty close. The bottom pattern is a slip-stitch pattern, the top is a stranded color-work pattern. I have had this swatch pinned to the bulletin board in my new office in order to make sure I really do like the colors. They sorta border on the obnoxious, but I have not grown tired of them yet (they have been hanging here about 2 weeks now).
I think I like the bottom pattern the best. I have started knitting the actual sweater vest, but have only gotten to the ribbing. I will start the color-work portion this evening, as we are driving down to visit the in-laws. I am a bit worried that I will not have enough yarn. But I am going for it anyway. I will post a picture after I have finished my weekend knitting.

Have a great one!

Anniversary in the Jurassic Gardens

2007-09-28T06:36:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday was our wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we went to Powell Gardens on Saturday to take advantage of absolutely gorgeous weather. It also happened to be one of the last weekends of the Jurassic Park exhibit, which featured "life-like" statues of dinosaurs hidden around the park. I really could imagine what it might be like to have living dinosaurs wandering around in the woods. Here are some of favorites.

The Water Lilies were also in full bloom, looking absolutely stunning.

Willow-Leaved Sunflower

2007-09-27T08:57:00.000-06:00

Helianthus salicifolius

Hello

2007-09-24T14:22:00.000-06:00

I am still around and doing fine. I love my new job, but it has been keeping me busy. I haven't had the time or the will to finish the travel log, and this has, to some extent, been a roadblock for me posting at all. So to finish the travel log - we had a few more adventures, I saw lots of cool plants, and eventually made it home. Since then, I have moved to a new city (though still in the KC metro) and started a new job teaching at a small liberal arts college. So far so good. I have also joined a city softball team (we are not very good) and that has been fun.

I have been working slowly on my "Skyline" project and doing some sock knitting. I will try to post updates soon.

Cheers!

New Mexico Day 14 - The Gila Box

2007-08-17T07:49:00.000-06:00

The morning following our camp-out was amazing. Gorgeous weather and a fantastic sunrise.

The morning sunlight on the hills surrounding our campsite was perfect.

As we were walking to our first site for the day, we saw a Gila Monster. He/she was just plodding along, mostly ignoring us. They have a really funny walk. I tried to get some video, but, a videographer I am not. But I did get some great photos.

Before we left the campsite, I did take a photo of the tree I sat on the night before.

The canyon where we camped had these really cool rock formations. After completing our work for the morning, and on our way to the next site, we stopped at the base of the cliffs in order to collect some ripe cactus fruits.

After leaving Nickel's Canyon, we headed deeper into the desert to what is known as the Gila Box (as in Box Canyon). Here is view of the canyon from atop a hill. It amazes me how green the desert is near the river.

We had to hike down into the canyon to reach our sample sites. The hike into the canyon was pleasant with nice trails. Again, there were fabulous rocks. My favorite was this rock that only looks like it is falling out. I wonder how long until it does fall.

Once in the canyon, however, getting to the actual sampling plots was pretty gross. We had to walk over huge piles of dead branches, many of which were covered in Prickly Russian Thistle (both dead and living plants). You are probably aware of Prickly Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus), even if you do not recognize the name. Salsola is a tumbleweed, and in fact is THE tumbleweed that Americans associate with the old west. So one of the symbols of the American West is from Russia. And it is prickly. And difficult to walk through. And it was hot. I was really glad to have those plots done.

After finishing the plots, and hiking back up out of the canyon, Q and K wanted to hike around to see scout out the rest of the canyon from up high. I decided not to go because I was pretty tired. No, I was really tired, tired almost to the point of tears (it was a hot day, I was dehydrated). So I decided to sit in the shade of juniper tree until they returned (I really learned to appreciate shade on this trip, it can be a lifesaver). As I was looking down the cliff face into the canyon, I noticed this small opening in the rocks. And surrounding the opening, what looked like man-made walls.

When Q and K returned, we got closer and saw that the opening was man-made. It was probably used as a granary by the Native Americans who lived in the area several hundred years ago. If you notice, the crossbeam has a hole in it, indicating that someone had taken a core of the wood in order to date it. I cannot imagine having to climb all that way in order to store and retrieve food. It was a really cool find, and I would never have seen it if I had not taken the time to sit still.

New Mexico Day 13 - The campout

2007-08-17T07:40:00.001-06:00

5 of our research sites were south of Cliff, near the town of Redrock (link is a pdf of a map). Because it takes a couple of hours to drive down there we (Q, K, and myself) camped out on Tuesday night. To get to the sites we drove over the Burro Mountains. As someone who grew up in the midwest, I am always amazed at how quickly the habitat changes as you go up or down in elevation. This is true even if you travel just a few miles. Going up the mountains, we went from pinion-juniper grasslands to Chilopsis forest to Ponderosa Pine. On the other side, we found very desolate and dry conditions - mostly mesquite. After sampling the first two sites we headed over to our camp site in Nickel's Canyon.

After setting up camp, we set off to survey the third site of the day. One the way there we saw this really awesome plant called sand verbena.

It is in the Nyctaginaceae family (the same flowering tobacco family, or sometimes called the four o'clock family). The flowers are not really showy (but I like them).

What really stands out are the fruits. Here are developing fruits and "ripe" fruits.

Apparently, this species was really common last year in the plots, but I did not see many at all (in or out of our sampling plots). Last year it was a much drier year.

Another common plant species that we saw, both in an out of the plot was prickly poppy (Argemone sp.)

We had a visitor at the campsite - a lovely scarab beetle.

Photos of the campsite. For dinner we had tamales cooked over the campfire.

That evening, I had one of those perfect moments in life. The men (Q and K) had decided to hike up the cliffs behind our campsite. I was tired and knew that the next day would be hard. So I decided to stay behind and hang out at the campsite by myself. While they were gone, rain clouds moved in. I took a few pictures, but then it started raining (I have been to the desert twice in my life and it rained both times).

After packing up my camera in the truck, I went over to watch the sunset on a huge fallen cottonwood tree. Sitting on the trunk, with my back against a branch I was probably 5 feet off of the ground. Those moments were perfect - the sun was setting between two hills, the colors of the sky were changing, I could see the rain falling in the distance and feel it falling on my face, and the temperature was perfect. It was a moment of perfect peace, and my favorite experience of the whole trip.

New Mexico Day 12

2007-08-17T07:33:00.001-06:00

Not much of great interest happened on Monday. We were refreshed after the weekend off. And work went well. I did see some really cool plants

Evolvulus sp. - A really tough little plant. I picked a sprig and left it in the car. After three hours in the hot car, the flowers were still open and fresh looking. Though after 5 hours, they had wilted.

One of our sites this day was a gravel bar - not a lot of structure, but surprisingly, a lot of diversity. If I remember correctly, between the three plots at this site we had over 75 plant species we found.

Pectis sp. - my other favorite plant of the day.

New Mexico - Days 10 and 11 - The Weekend

2007-08-17T07:24:00.001-06:00

After one week of hard, hot, long work days, the weekend off was highly anticipated and welcomed. Apparently, last year they did not have the weekend off, and everyone was really grumpy the second week. I was glad that this policy changed. The plan for the weekend was for Hillary and I to leave the Licthy center, where we had been staying (near Cliff, NM) and meet up with the Lake Roberts crews in Silver City, and then head up to the Lake Roberts cabin for a weekend in the mountains.

Throughout the whole week, I had been delighted by the antics of the dozen or so hummngbirds that frequented the feeders at the Licthy Center. Saturday morning gave me the opportunity to try and photograph them.

After breakfast and packing up on Saturday morning, we drove the hour to Silver City - our goal was to get to the farmer's market. We did make it, but it was a bit disappointing. We did get some squash and few peppers. There just were not many stands.

Silver City is an interesting town. I would definitely go back for vacation (I was completely enchanted with New Mexico and really want to go back). The town of Silver City has a population of about 10,000; Grant county, where Silver is located, about 30,000. Despite this, Silver City is a thriving community with a really nice downtown (Maybe the size and vibrancy of downtown Lawrence, but with a completly different feel). We went to three thrift shops, a coffee shop, a great Mexican restaurant, a yarn shop, and a outdoor outfitter (i.e. hiking and biking). Listed on the Silver City web site are 28 Art Galleries and 33 Restaurants/Bars (only three of which are fast-food chains, thought I think this listing is incomplete). It was a really neat place. In addition to the strong artistic community, people come to Silver for the hot springs.

Some images from Silver City

Even the fences were artistic.

The downtown - highlighting the movie theater.

Some glass art in and on a brick wall.

The public library, which was having a book sale. I got a whole box of books for $7. Including a vintage knitting/needlework book, a book about classic movies, and one by Theodore Dobzhansky

After visiting Silver City, we went back to the cabin in Lake Roberts and rested. We did spend quite a bit of time keying out plants, and organizing data sheets, and things like that. But most of the time, we spent on the porch chatting. It was a cool and rainy weekend (I even had to put my rainjacket on). It there was a great view from the porch. We did take a short walk up one of the canyons to see the pictographs (Believed to be left by the Mimbres people) on the rock walls.

And on this hike I did see lots of cool plants (and while I feel like I should take the time to look up the scientific names, I am going to skip it. I really want to finish the travel log so I can talk about Skyline)

Sunday was a cool and rainy day (I actually had to put my jacket on). Driving across the mountains on the way back to Cliff, it was foggy. Amazing to see the fog lifting over the hills.

New Mexico - Days 8 and 9

2007-08-14T10:46:00.001-06:00

Days 8 and 9 were the last days of the first work week. More sites, and more scenery. I realize know that I did not take many pictures of the plants that we most commonly saw. Often my picture taking was limited to the hike to or from the site, and even then I did not take many pictures. At the beginning of the day, I did not want to hold up the work. At the end of the day, I was often too tired to care. In fact, I need to get a copy of the species list we created so I don't forget what I learned over the summer.

I did see a new Helianthus species - Helianthus ciliaris, common name Blueweed. I am always excited to see new Helianthus. Though I should have gotten a picture

Most of the pictures I did take seem to be either of scenery, or special events.
Scenery

Cool Rocks up close

Clouds building up behind the mountains

One of our research sites

A special event - On Thursday, after picnicking under the shade of a huge cottonwood tree, we decided to take a brief nap (about 15 minutes). While I was laying down, I hear rustling in some rocks about 20 meters away. And it was this little lizard eating some food. With my zoom, and by laying really still, I was able to snap this shot (the picture has also been cropped and enlarged).

More scenery - mesquite bushes.

Another one of our sites. Many of our sites were like this - a few shrubs on cobble/gravel bars. The gray-foliaged shrubs are rabbit brush - Ericameria nauseosa, though I am not sure what is nauseous about this species. I thought it actually smelled quite nice.

Special Event - Friday was special because of the wildlife we saw - namely rattlesnakes (which was later ID'd as a Black Tailed Rattlesnake). Below is the first one I saw. I had put my backpack down in the shade near a downed cottonwood log. After doing this, I noticed the snake. Though it was not rattling, I still jumped back about a foot. Luckily, my camera was with me and not in my backpack, so I was able to snap this picture (I have a great optical zoom on my camera, so I was not really all that close). We then got a big stick to retrieve the backpack. Though the snake was calm (not even rattling), I did not want to test its patience with me. It was nice to know where the snake was, and I would check on him/her from time to time to make sure he/she had not moved.

We did see two other rattlesnakes that day, in a different plot. One rattled at me as I was placing a flag on a tree branch. It was not all that close, but I had jostled a stick that was near it. This snake was also hanging out in the cool shade of a downed cottonwood. Later in that same plot, as I was writing notes in the shade, I heard rustling from a nearby log. When I looked up, I saw a rattlesnake coming out from the log, straight at me. So I asked him/her to please stay where he/she was as we would be leaving soon, and we did not mean to bother him/her. Once the snake realized I was there, it curled back up and went to sleep. Several people, particularly people I know who are not biologists, have asked me if carried a gun so I could shot these snakes. And my answer is no. Even if I had a gun, I would not shot the rattlesnakes. They are not aggressive, and really just want to be left alone. The rattles is a warning to let you know they are there. It is only if you don't respect them and continue to bother them that they will bite you. I really enjoyed seeing these snakes, and in fact would have been disappointed if I had not seen any on this trip.

Cool Cloud

NM Day 7

2007-08-13T11:02:00.000-06:00

Another Day, another site. This time we had a long drive, but the scenery was gorgeous. Notice the cloudy skies in the picture. We were in NM during their monsoon season. Every afternoon for the two week I was there, the clouds would build up behind the mountains, and eventually it would rain somewhere. Though we never got rained on while doing field work, the cloud cover and the rain cooled air were welcome. I never looked to see what the temperatures were at our sites. A part of me did not want to know. But we baked, especially when working on the gravel bars. I really learned to appreciate shade and these afternoon storms. We stayed in the shade whenever we could (if you are standing around looking at plants, you might as well start in the shade).

Juniperus deppeani - called alligator juniper because the bark resembles alligator skin.

Sotol - Dasylirion wheeleri
This was one of my favorite plants in NW. I love the tall flowering stalks (about 12-15 feet tall), the provide an interesting structural component to the scrub land. This species is a relative to Agave. It has been used to create an alcoholic beverage called sotal, which is supposed to be very strong.

Many of the agaves were blooming. They were also amazing. The flowers, when open, drip with nectar, but I never did find one that was open.

Finally - a smaller plant, a tansy aster (Machaeranthera sp.)

New Mexico Travel Log Day 6

2007-08-13T08:35:00.001-06:00

Day 6 was a beautiful day. We had been up late the night before keying out plants (this was to be the status quo for the trip), and had an early morning. But I was really excited to see new sites. We had decided survey the plots that required the longest hike, to get them out of the way. I don't remember the distance of the hike, but it took us about an hour to get to the furthest site. We did have to climb a hill to get there, but this afforded me a great view of the river valley below.

I was surprised by the size of the trees along the river. I knew there would be trees, but I did not expect such beauties. The largest trees were the Arizona sycamores (Platanus wrightii, the white-barked tree below) and the Fremont cottonwood (Deltoides fremontii).

Here is a closeup of one of the sycamores.

I also fell in love with these ant mounds (I should really look up what ant species they are). The ants clear most of the vegetation surrounding their mounds.

New Mexico Travel Log - Day 5

2007-08-11T20:17:00.001-06:00

The fifth day of the trip was the first day of work. We were involved in a project looking at the biodiversity along the Gila River. This research will be used to help assess the potential impacts of diverting water from the river during periods of heavy flooding. There were three groups involved in this work, our group was assesed the vegetation, other groups took data on birds and herps (reptiles and amphibians). In all, we had about 48 sites along the river that needed to be sampled and each site we sampled three circular plots (18 m diameter). This was the second year of the study.

For the first week I was lucky enough to work with Hilary, a terrific botanist and a wonderful field partner. We go along wonderfully, which makes the work go more smoothly. Basically, each day we located a site along the river using maps and a GPS unit. Once at the site, we had to locate the plots by finding the rock cairn marking the center of the plot (which is not as easy as it sounds). We then flagged the perimeter of the circulat plot using a meter tape. This was often the most tedious and difficult part of the work, as the sometimes thick vegetation preventing us from simply walking a circle. Instead, there was a lot of walking from the center of the plot to the edge over and over again. However, sometimes we would get lucky and the plot would be a on a gravel/cobble/sand bar with little to no woody vegetation.

After the plot was laid out, then the fun began. We would walk around the entire plot and record all of the plant species we saw. If we did not know what a plant was, then we would collect it to be identified later that night back in the lab. Once we ID'd all of the plants, we had to determine for each species what percentage of the plot that plant covered.

Site from the first day -
The first day went slowly, as there were many, many plants that I had to learn. The landscape surrounding our site was gorgeous, mostly juniper-pinyon pine scrubland.

Here is the Gila River at our first site. I am told that the river is usually crystal clear, but fire upstream in the last year combined with recent flooding resulted in water the color of chocolate milk. Which doesn't bother me, I grew up in Oklahoma and am used to swimming in muddy lakes. One very pleasant surprise was the coolness of the water.

Of note on the first day were two amazing beetles we found.

New Mexico Travel Lot - Day 4

2007-08-11T18:51:00.001-06:00

Sunday morning I awoke at Lake Roberts, which was to be one of two "bases of operation" for the field work. Although field work would not start in earnest until Monday, Sunday was to be a day of training. Most of the field crew worked on this project last summer, but this was my first time to New Mexico as a trained botanist (I had been when I was about 11, but did not really pay attention to the plants). Kelly, the head of the project, was leading a plant walk around Lake Roberts for the local chapter of the New Mexico Native Plant Society. So this was my opportunity to get start learning the local flora. Learning to recognize new plant species is one of my favorite learning experiences, especially when you have the help of an expert out in the field.

Here is a picture of Lake Roberts. They have had problems with algae in the lake and there are these robotic mechanical "bees" which aerate the water in an attempt to reduce algal growth. You can see one towards the bottom of the picture.

I did learn many new plants that day, but for many of them I was unable to get good photos. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the plant walk.

The green gentian (Fraseria speciosa). Earlier I posted a close up photo of the flower. If I am remembering correctly, this plant stands about 4 feet tall. Despite having little color (other than green) it is a stunning plant.

Lotus wrightii - a delicate plant with these amazing bi-colored flowers.

I was also able to get a cool picture of a common plant, that is very familiar to me (Lactuca serriola, prickly lettuce). I really like how well you can see the small spines on the leaves.

I am embarrassed that don't remember the name of this plant species. But I really love the photos. We can just call it a DYC (darn yellow composite), composite referring to a plant family.

Later that evening we went to the Gila Hot Springs for a soak, a first for me. The hot springs themselves are natural, but the pools containing the hot water are completely man-made. The experience of soaking in the springs was enhanced by the charming folk art scattered around the pools and the stunning rock cliffs along the river (not the mention the fabulous company). I did not get a picture of my favorite folk art piece, which was a bird cage with a model of a T-rex skeleton inside. Really funny, and I would like to duplicate it. I also learned that getting up close to the hottest pool in the hot springs will fog up your camera (I know, common sense should have told me this, but sometimes I just have to learn by experience). If you are in the area, I highly recommend these hot springs. It was a wonderful experience and I will definitely seek out hot springs in the future.

New Mexico Travel Log - Continued

2007-08-11T18:17:00.001-06:00

I have decided to continue the day-to-day travel log. The last post travel log post described the second day of the trip, in which my travel companions and I had spent the day botanizing with a friend in southeastern Colorado.

DAY 3 - From CO to NM

On the third day we woke up to

We left the Comanche National Grasslands via a sunflower-strewn road.

From the grasslands we headed to the town of Trinidad, CO. We had two objects in Trinidad, breakfast and a new tire. My traveling companion, Q, had been in this town before and described it as a rough and tumble town, reminiscent of the old west. While it was calm and quiet on that Saturday morning, it looked as if Friday night was rough. At least 13 windows of downtown businesses appeared to have been busted with a baseball bat. Several business people were out and about boarding up their windows.

We did have a lovely breakfast (burritos covered in chili sauce) at the C and H restaurant downtown.

And we lucked out on the tires at the local Wal-Mart. Apparently the tire we needed is not normally kept in stock, but a woman had ordered them but then decided not to buy them. So after an hour delay we were back on the road.

Our final destination was Lake Roberts, NM, located in the Mountains near the Gila Wilderness Area. After driving all day through New Mexico (including the town of Truth or Consequences), we arrived at Emory Pass, which goes over the Continental Divide of the Mimbres Mountains. The view was gorgeous.

The road from Truth or Consequences to Lake Roberts (which was one of our base of operations for this project), was a windy mountainous road, but absolutely gorgeous with wildflowers. Luckily, I was not driving and thus I was able to look at the plants. We arrived in Lake Roberts at around 7:30 pm. There we met up with the rest of the field crew and had a great dinner.

Inspiration

2007-08-10T05:47:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday night we went to a live performance by the California Guitar Trio in Lenexa, KS. We have long been fans of this group - three terrific guitarists (Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya, and Paul Richards) whose music spans from arrangements of Bach to Queen. They also write, record, and perform original pieces (which tend to be my favorites). Excellent musicians. Excellent music. I highly recommend giving them a listen.

So at the show, there were only about 35 people, which was in no way a reflection on the quality of the performance or them as musicians. And, while I was sad they did not have a better turnout in the KC area, I really enjoyed the more intimate setting. Here is a link to a pictures of the show taken by one of the CGT.

The show was awesome. I feel that the CGT put all their heart and energy in that performance. One piece in particular really made an impact, Skyline, written by the CGT. As I was listening, I thought "Wow, I wonder what it must feel like to have created something that beautiful, and to have shared it with the world". Since then I have really wanted to create something that beautiful with my knitting. I know that I have made a few items that are nice. But, they have, by and large, been made by following patterns created by other people. What I want is to be the creator, the artist, of the piece.

Of course the first question is - what is this piece going to be? A garment? A blanket? Something less "useful" such as a wall hanging? I have a couple of ideas, but I am not certain yet what I will choose.

Since "Skyline" was the inspiration for this burst of creativity, I want the piece to relate to the idea of a skyline and to the music itself. So how literally do I interpret the idea of a skyline? Is it a city Skyline or a natural skyline? How influenced by the music should the piece be?

I also go back and forth about writing the CGT and asking about what inspired them when writing the song. On one hand it would be really cool to know, on the other hand, I am concerned that my own creative process would be overly influenced by theirs. I will probably ask after I have committed myself to my own vision, whatever that may be.

Changes

2007-08-06T08:52:00.000-06:00

Whew, the past few weeks have been a bit strange. I have gone from doing field work under the blue skies of New Mexico to unpacking boxes in the haze-filled skies of Kansas City (we have had several days of orange level ozone alerts). I have gone from living in a tiny duplex in an neighborhood filled with Victorian houses to a decent sized house in suburbia. The biggest change for me though is going from being a student to being a professor. Now technically since December, I have not been a student and I was teaching at the University of Kansas, where I earned my Ph.D. But I was never a part of the department as a faculty and I had been working with my advisor getting some papers published, so I still felt like a student. Even this summer, I still felt like a graduate student. But now, as I am slowing settling into my new office, it has hit me. I am no longer a student. For the first time in my life. And it a good, though strange, feeling.

I have a lot to updates to write - my trip to New Mexico, my new stomping grounds, and even (believe it or not) some knitting. And these will come in the following days. I will say that I knit less than expected on my New Mexico trip. And, I did not pick up my needles for a week after returning. But last night, while listening to baseball on the radio, I grabbed my knitting. So expect a few knitting updates.

Have a great day!

Some Eye Candy From New Mexico

2007-07-17T20:06:00.000-06:00

Break in the Travel Log

2007-07-17T06:08:00.000-06:00

I have not been writing the travel log in "real time", i.e. Sunday was the fourth day of the trip, not the second. This is because I had several days without Internet connection.

Yesterday (Monday) was our first real day of field work. I know realize that I will not be able to keep up the travel log with the degree of detail that I want. So, I will resume it when and if I have time. Otherwise, it may have to wait until I return home.

New Mexico Travel Log - Day 2

2007-07-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

I began the second day of my trip by photographing sunflowers in the early morning light. We had spent the night with our friend B.K. in the Comanche National Grassland. The morning light was beautiful and I was able to get some nice photos. Since I worked on sunflowers for my Ph.D. dissertation, I am always interesting in taking pictures of them.

Our goal for the second day was to head up to Rourke Ranch, on the Comanche Grasslands to help B.K. collect plants. The Ranch was located near the Purgatoire River within a nice canyon. Driving out there was really interesting. For most of the way you are driving through shortgrass prairie and rangeland. And it is fairly flat (though not completely). You see lots of grasses, several hundred cows, and some cholla cactus. But then the landscape starts to change. It becomes hilly and the hills are dotted with juniper trees. Getting down to the ranch there were some pretty rough roads. But it was totally worth it.

Of course there were some stumbling blocks along the way out there.

We had a full size spare, and Q had changed the tires on this vehicle before, so it was not that big of a deal. Though I did learn that the spare is not in the back of the truck, but rather underneath it. I had no idea. One good thing about the flat, was that we got to see this guy up close. This lubber grasshopper was about 4 inches long.

Here is the view from the ranch. It is pretty amazing to think that this hilly and woody area exists in the middle of the shortgrass prairie.

We stayed the night in a research building on the property. I really loved the posts carrying in the electrical wires to the house.

Once we got settled in, we went for a hike and plant collecting trip. There were a lot of interesting plants. Close to the river, in the flatter areas, there was mostly brome grass and other weedy plants. In the picture below the tan is all brome grass mixed with some weeds. Not much fun to walk through.

But we soon climbed up one of the slopes and found all sorts of wonderful plants.

My favorite was Dalea aurea, the golden prairie clover.

We also waded through the river, but I seem to have deleted all of the pictures that I have of that part of the trip. Which is too bad, as I had some really cool pictures of a milkweed just completely covered with yellow aphids. Wading through the river was fabulous. I really like getting in the water and the mud.

We ended the day hanging out and eating frozen pizza, chips and salsa, and the best Rainer Cherries I have ever eaten.

New Mexico Travel Log Day 1

2007-07-15T07:38:00.000-06:00

For the next two weeks I am on a Botany Expedition to the Gila River in New Mexico. I will be sharing my travel log with you, hopefully on a nearly daily basis.

On the first day, we (myself, Gi, and Q), left Lawrence, KS to head west. Our destination was the Comanche National Grasslands in southeastern Colorado, where our friend B.K. is working on her Master's degree. The first day was filled with driving. And we did not really stop much on the way. One stop that did surprise me was Salina, KS. I had never been there before, but the town is really nice. A cute little downtown with really neat looking shops. Including a yarn shop, but I did not take the time to go in. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant called Capers. I highly recommend their brownies.

There were a few interesting points of interest that I did get photos of.

Wind Farms
They look really alien and futuristic. Seeing them in person, I can understand the concern of windfarms killing off migratory birds. The windmills are massive and placed closely together. It is an impressive sight, the photo does not do them justice.

Cheyenne Bottoms
One of the largest wetlands in KS, and very important for migratory birds. I have never been there before, but know people who have worked out there. Recent floods in Kansas has left the Bottoms overflowing. The water was nearly to the road. The amount of water was impressive.

Pelicans at the Bottoms.

At about 7:00 pm we arrived in Springfield, CO and met up with B. K. We had a lovely dinner on the patio of a burrito place. All in all, a good first day.

Back from travels

2007-07-07T11:30:00.000-06:00

I am home for a few days from a Chicago wedding and field work in Nebraska. I was hoping to have better internet access at each location. I have finished the green socks. I had plenty of yarn - yeah!!!. But no pictures today. Now I am worrying about having enough of my handspun yarn!

I have made some progress on my swimming pool socks, but the fabric does not feel as soft as I would like and I may start over with larger needles.

Other than that, we are packing away and getting ready to move.