All Good Things Must Come to an End

This is a pretty sad photo. Not the photo itself, but the subject: the very last bowl of fresh blueberries from our orchard. We have been blessed with a bumper crop of fruit this year; our blueberry bushes and apple trees have outdone themselves. Over 40 gallon of blueberries have gone into the freezer, jams, cobblers, pancakes, muffins and little boys mouths from this years crop. There are still berries scattered here and there on the branches, but not enough to bother with. Those that remain will be gleaned by the birds (and my husband). In addition to a bounty of berries we have gathered bushel after bushel of apples---Summer Treat, Empire, Cortland, Jonalicious, Red Delicious, Blushing Golden, Golden Delicious, Mutzu, and Adina---and there are still apples ripening on the trees---Winesap, Fuji, Granny Smith, Arkansas Black. Almost all of the trees have looked like this Winesap looks right now.





































Last year there was a very late freeze that wiped out most of the tree bloom here in Western NC; then, we had terrible drought conditions through the summer and fall. There was very little in the way of fruit and nut crops as most trees had to put out leaves/blooms twice. This year it is almost as if they have compensated. Every fruit and nut bearing tree in the area is loaded. Hedgerow apple trees that usually have only scattered fruit are bent with the weight of their crop. My husband and I have been discussing this and I have decided we will probably have a tough winter. All the signs our ancestors looked for are there: lots of fruit and mast, early frost (last Thursday, Sept. 25), bees nests on or near the ground, fall flowers blooming early, Katydids singing early... I hope I'm wrong. I guess we will find out.

Blogging in the Classroom

I am trying to come up with ways to integrate blogging into my classes. I teach Visual Arts and Appalachian Arts & Culture at the secondary level in a very rural area. My students have very limited access to museums, galleries, etc. For the most part, they do not enjoy writing, esp. with pencil and paper. Most of them do use My Space and/or Face Book on a regural basis and send/receive tons of email. I have been trying to think of having them set up a blog account and then give assignments from my own blog for them to respond to. Assignments my include critiqueing artworks, journaling about creativity & the role of the arts in culture, as well as posting digital photos of their work and writing about that too. I would love to have ideas/suggestions. My principal and media specialist have already given me the OK on this, I just need to figure out exactly how I want to go about doing it. I also need to think about the security of the kids in my classroom. I know the comments will need to be moderated and student names and personal photos will be taboo. Any Ideas?Suggestions?

Great Minds Think Alike

Early this year I picked up a skein of Austermann Step in the Petrol colorway at Silver Threads and Golden Needles in Franklin, NC. I chose the colorway because it reminded me of my well loved turquoise jewelry. When I began swatching for socks, I chose the gull and garter stitch pattern, which resembles the fletching on an arrow, because it was yet another connection to my Native American turquoise. Swatching was finished and the socks were underway when I received my issue of Knitter's magazine announcing the Think Outside the Sox contest. I thought my socks were pretty good and discussed entering them with my family and friends. Around the end of May, with my "Fletching Sox" complete, I began swatching for a different design idea. A couple of weeks ago I purchased Shear Spirit (by author Joan Trapper with photography by Gale Zucker) from Knit Picks. What did I find on the cover? a pair of socks virtually the same as mine. Inside I further investigated Sheri Franz's Welsh Traveling Socks and found only a few differences. My socks feature 1x1 ribbing on the cuff rather than Sheri's 2x2 ribbing and I gave the sole of the sock a different treatment. Since I have a very high instep, I often choose to use 1x1 ribbing on the sole so that the sock hugs the bottom of my foot rather than bunching up like some socks tend to do. The only other major differences were in the yarn, guage, and number of stitches cast on. It's back to the drawing board (or swatching board) for the Sox contest, but, like I told my husband, at least I have good ideas (and so does Sheri!). Check out Trapper and Zuckers collaboration. Both text and imagery are wonderful. It is inspiring to an aspiring shepherd to learn how others got involved with their herds. The designs are great; just my style. I highly recommend this book to spinners and knitters alike. I have already earmarked several of the projects for my own homespun.